I had a Smith and Wesson neck knife that had a skeletonized handle. Saturday, I was working in the back yard and needed to cut a few vines which were about 3/8" in diameter. I cut a couple easily and then on the next cut, the blade rotated up. What the heck, then I realized that the blade had broken. Where the blade meets skeleton section it only has about 1/8" of steel top and bottom. It shouldn't have broken, but it did.

I had trusted that knife as part of my kit. I am so glad this failure happened at home. My other neck knife is a CRKT Ryan Plan B is a more solid knife and I feel comfortable with it.

I just wanted to mention this incident to remind everyone to take a critical look at their tools. I don't think I will ever carry a skeletonized handle knife again.

David Enoch

Personally, I don't like neck knives, and I've not liked the few skeletonized handle'd ones I've bought.

However, if you'd like to buy a nice replacement, I have some items for sail in the Around The Campfire section (shameless plug!)

Smith & Wesson makes great firearms not knives. Most of their knives are poor quality cheap imports. I would never buy one.
Skeleton handles are also a problem; less material means less strength. There are some good revolutionized handle knives like the Becker Necker.
If you want a quality "neck knife" try the offerings from makers like Becker, Rat Cutlery or Benchmade.
Yes you can trust your knife but only if you start out with quality.

... and yet another reason to get out there and use your knives and other gear - rather than just stuffing them into bags.

I'm not talking about abusing gear, but using it as intended.

Of course there are some exceptions (some signal mirrors, fire starters, water purifier chemicals, ...), but in most of those cases I try to buy one to practice with and another to pack.

Post a pic of the broken knife if you can. I'd be interested in seeing if it broke at a stress riser. That said, it's good to know your limitations and those of your tools. Now you know that that tool would have been a bad choice in a real survival situation.

As for the question: yes, I do trust mine.

ditto billym...save your pennys and buy top qaulity kit,even the small do-dad items that we like...try not to buy/do'nt buy cheap import stuff or you also might suffer from equipment failure when your life may depend on it..this i preach to anyone who will listen to me...vince g.11b inf

Sorry about your accident but now you have learned the hard way why the concept of skeletonized handles doesn't work well in practice. Any stick/rattail tang knife with a solid grip is going to be far more durable. On a skeletonized handle the frame is going to be heavily stressed and likely to break where it meets the blade, especially if there are any sharp corners. More so if the steel is low quality and the heat treatment wasn't perfect.

I could never understand why people like skeletonized neck knives aside from the "cool & tactical" factor. They're a pain to use because even with a paracord wrap the grip is basically too narrow and digs into the palm too much. I certainly wouldn't carry one as a serious backup blade. If that's all you end up with in an emergency you'll be in trouble - I think you'd be better off with a SAK.

In any case, a small Mora makes an infinitely better neck knife. The size/bulk difference is negligible considering you get a much stronger knife with an excellent blade that can actually stand up to heavy duty work. But again, YMMV!

I trust my Bark River Iknives with my life. Since I use them in emergency kits that is exactly what I am doing.
For the last 3 years, I've EDC'ed a custom handled Bark River Mini Northstar as a necker with no reservations.
I also usually have a Bark River PSK knife in my pocket.

I won't trust ANY single object with my life. My life is just too precious. That's why everything I use and do has some kind of back-up plan. That's how I ended up on these forums.

>>Get me out of trouble plan - cell phone, PLB, plan given to neighbor & family

>>Truck - 4WD, seat belts, air bags, lots of care

>>Navigation - map, compass, sun, north star, watch, GPS

>>Shelter - tent, tarp, plastic bags, truck, branches & debrees

>>Fire - lighter, sparker, folder, fixed blade, usually an axe when out camping, saw (of some size)

>>Water - Miox, pot to boil water in, sometimes a Hiker filter, usually have some bleach along

You get the idea.

When I used to climb, I trusted each rope, figure 8, harness, caribienner, etc. with my life. While firefighting I trusted my airpack, mask and turnout gear with my life, as well as my brother firefighters.
All the grear I have in my emergency kits I trust with my life or it would not be there.

I don't own a neck knife or any other model from S&W, but the Homeland Security folder I got for Christmas has been tough as nails so far. I put it through heck every day at work, with zero problems thus far.

For some reason, I'm not a big fan of neck knives.

Take a classic KABAR, hang it on paracord and you have a neck knife. This is a ancient CARRY MODE, not some genius idea by contemporary knifemakers. They have set parameters of very small or skeletonised knives as this new idea to complement those $300 swords.
I've neck carried Moras and Puukkos for years . This is a 4" blade that I once forgot was on me, walked through a major shopping mall without confrontation or conflict until some girl from Helsinki got excited seeing it in California.
ANYTHING can break. Peter at Fallkniven has deliberately broken his fine blades in laboratory conditions.I have to work at getting mine dull, and he breaks them.
Vines are nasty work, one reason people use machetes and not neck knives.
"Respect the compromise"

Point of clarification- S&W does NOT make knives, any more than Browning, Colt, Remington or Winchester does. They get a royalty from each one marked with their name, but they don't make them. And you usually find it slapped on United Cutlery or lower end from there. I had a folding kerambit-type knife that was $7 at a flea market, but with the S&W markings $20 plus shipping from Smokey Mountain. It was a good knife for what I needed it for, but when it eventually got too loose and had too much play, I retired it. But I don't think I'd ever willingly trust it with my life, that is why I carried a Vic in my pocket and my LM in my bag of tricks.

Harley Davidson doesn't make lighters, either, but Zippo sure does. Same thing, just better quality.

Yes you are right they don't actually make them. More reason not to buy one.

I really like the Becker Necker, but keep it in my pocket, either back pocket for jeans, or side pocket for Carharrts. I hate having anything around my neck, I tried a Mora once, and it lasted about 2 minutes. YMMV.

And if you absolutely must have a neck knife, buy a Fallkniven WM1. In the Kyndex sheath. Other than in a survival kit/tin where you need the cubage, this ultralight skeletonised handle fad is for wannabe's.

Oh, and +1 on the Puukk :)o.

I wanted to say exactly the same. I find the whole idea of carrying any gear around a neck very odd. Especially relatively heavy knife.

I think my Becker Necker is probably stronger than most of my Mora knives, and I KNOW it is stronger than anything I would ever want to use a knife that size for...