Hi all,

First post here.

I apologize if this has been covered before and I did do a search but the results were scattered. So here is the question I pose.
What type of survival do you have for your kit/bob bag.
My personal belief is not one can do all. I have a small lockblade for the small chores ie. skinning game, repairs of equipment, but I'm looking to upgrade the 7 inch Kabar to something in the 10 inch range and at least a 1/4 inch wide at the back strap. I also believe that the 300 dollar knife is the best way to go either, some were in the 50 to 150 price range.
I've looked at the Ontario Spec Plus Survival Bowie and the Cold Steel Trailmaster Bowie in black.
The knife chosen would be part of the BOB I carry and what will come along during hiking/camping/training exercises. It will be a work horse as a machete/camp ax cannot always be taken.

What are your thoughts? What do you have experience with?

Greetings GreyWolf, Welcome to the fire!

IRT your question,

When backpacking/camping, I carry the following:

Buck 110 lock blade ($70.00); 7" KaBar (USMC issue)($50.00); *M-16 Bayonet ($30.00)*; short Machete ($ unknown); Small camping hatchet ($ unknown but cheap); HoBo knife ($5.00); German Army Issue Entrenching Tool ($30.00 ?).

*There are many cases where I will leave the Bayonet behind.*

When I go Hunting, I carry the following:

Buck 110 lock blade ($70.00); 7" KaBar (USMC issue)($50.00); M-16 Bayonet ($30.00); straight razor ($ unknown); USCG drug sampler tool ($ unknown).

The greatest aspect of a knife is: "It never needs reloading and one rarely bites off more trouble than they can chew."

GreyWolf WELCOME!

Like Wildman, what I carry for a “survival” knife varies from situation to situation.

I have a three knife/tool philosophy when I am in the field and for my survival kits.

I always have either a Benchmade RSK Mk1, or a Bladetech Responder in my pocket. Both are good folding locking knives made with S30V, and both are plain edge knives. I find that one of these two knives can do 90% of the tasks that require an edged tool. I would be happy to have either as my only knife in a survival situation if for some reason I only had one knife. (In fact, I only carry a RSK Mk1 Mini when I am running or riding).

Second, either in the kit itself (in that case of my bailout kit) or on my belt is a Leatherman of some kind, usually a Charge with a bit kit.

Lastly, I usually have a fixed blade knife in my kit. I have three fixed blade knives in my three main kits. First, in my Bailout kit I keep a Chris Reeves Aviator. Since my Bailout kit is not as big as most people’s BOB is (it is kept in a SOTECH Mission Go Bag), the smaller Aviator fits perfectly. In my Large Survival Kit and for most field stuff I carry a Benchmade Ritter RSK Mk3. The RSK Mk3 is my preferred fixed blade knife. My last fixed blade knife is a KaBar 10” that is in my truck kit…

The reality of it is, there are a lot of GOOD knives on the market. You will need to find the tools that fit your needs and pocketbook!

Personally, I think it is hard to go wrong with the Ka-Bar MkII or one of the better clones. If I could, I'd carry one rather than a pocket knife. But a survival knife is, to drag out an old line, is the one you have with you when it all goes south.

For a bigger blade, there are lot of nice ones out there. I guess the question should be is this going to be a large utility blade that will replace the Ka-Bar in your inventory, or something carried with the Ka-Bar?

If carried with, a 12" machete or a kukri are inexpensive but if you give them some TLC with a stone you can make them shine. And at that point, you might also look at hatchet (smaller than a camp axe), just because a hatchet is a better hatchet than a machete is. The Gerber hatchet weighs about 20oz, while a Trailmaster runs about 18oz if google is right.

If replacing, there are a LOT of options out there. The Ontario/RAT RTAK is well thought of, as are the 9.5-10" offerings of Scrap Yard and Mad Dog, along with Ranger Knives. Just remember that it isn't a machete or a hatchet, and in many cases it might be too big. I'd never carry just the one big blade- you do have a multitool or swiss army with you, right?


And since everyone else has shown you theirs, and I didn't:
EDC: Vic Climber, LM Supertool, LM Micra, LM Squirt E4, and a good pair of wire cutters.
Off the blacktop, I add a Ka-Bar, a clone, or one of a couple of older 5-5.5" fixed blades. At times, I'll a bow or folding saw, and/or a 12" or 18" machete, and/or a small hatchet.

frosts (mora) makes a knife/small machete, model c-223.if you have ever owned one of thier SAK or craftsman series you might like this model.

What I carry (usually)
City use..
SAK Alox farmer or One Handed Trekker (the saw is so dang handy)
Bark River PSK as a neck knife
Victronoix Swiss Tool Spirit as a multi-tool.

For "Woods" use, the above plus
Charles May "OSF" custom fixed blade
or
1 of a number of Bark River knives, such as the U.S.M.C Wet Enviro Proto; Aurora; Fox River. The Wet Enviro and the Aurora are paired with a PSK knife in piggyback fashion.
My "moonglo" handled Bark River Woodsman in my PSK - Personal Support Kit.

Knives I have with me when out and about:
A Swiss Army Knife of the large format with locking blade and saw (Rucksack or Trekker), scissors too if I take the Outrider.

A locking folder (either a Benchmade 940 or an RSK Mk 1 (Ritter Griptilian).

A 4"-7" fixed blade. . . depending. There are LOTS of good knives to choose from in this category.

An axe.

I have a couple largish blades from Fehrman Knives but rarely use them -- too big for EDC, too small to do serious tree cutting.

My opinion, YMMV

I basically carry a multi-tool (either a Leatherman Charge or Surge), a small folder (Spyderco Native), a large folder (Benchmade Skirmish) and a fairly large fixed blade (Falkniven A1). The A1 is a very simple, stout, high-quality knife that runs in the $120 to $150 range and can be used for slicing, chopping or batoning. I also have a Scrapyard Knives Yard Hook which is also a very stout knife, but is not stainless as the other are and not nearly as good at slicing as the A1. At the price point, I don't believe that you can beat the A1.

I carry a Swiss Army Highlander on my keys and a Blast in my bag. Other than that I use either a Buck 119 or a KaBar MkII from 1943. I will be getting a Lee Reeves double bit axe and one of theose small hand axes I found on a different forum. Once the set is complete I will pos pictures.

I guess I'm a walking posterboy for Doug Ritter's knives. They have the features I like in knives, especially the fixed blade version.

I EDC the mini Rittergrip.

I carry the fullsize Rittergrip when outdoors - camping and such.

I carry the fixed Rittergrip in my bag when outdoors. I LOVE that knife!! I prefer a 4-5" medium-thickness blade (no pry bars for me) and a handle with a lanyard hole.

I bring a Trailblazer Buck saw for cutting fallen wood. I have both sizes (I stumbled upon the big one REAL cheap), but prefer the smaller 18" bladed model. Nice saw.

I'm still hunting for a favorite log-splitting axe. Though lots of folks like the Fiskars axes, I'm not so thrilled with them. The Granfors Bruks axes are real expensive, but real nice.

The smart thing probably would be to just buy the GB axe and be done with it and KNOW that I have a great axe. Instead of being smart though, I bought a Snow & Nealley Penobscot axe and a Snow & Neally 3.5 lb "Our Best" axe, but haven't had a chance to get out there with them yet. I'm headed out tomorrow and hope to put them to use.