Many people think of what I call a military field knife when they discuss a survival knife. Like most things military it needs to be extra rugged. Mad Dog Knives owner suggests a Cold Steel SRK for a field knife until someone learns what they want as an individual. My picture of a survival knife (now that combat is in the LONG past) is what is now described as a Bushcraft knife. The Mora is an excellent example. Blade from 3 to 5 inches, strong but not a prybar, reasonably easy to keep sharp, etc. My current carry blade in the field is a Buddy Small Game 3.5" custom damascus blade. Could I baton with it? I suppose so to a limited degree, but I would be very reluctant to baton with any knife if it was my only one. It will certainly do all the other things noted by Quick_joey_small and all the everyday things you would need to do with a knife in a survival situation. I would much rather have a machete (in appropriate terrain)or small axe (at very little additional weight) for cutting and splitting larger material if that was necessary.

Respectfully,

Jerry

p.s. The old woodsman's addage that the one tool you need to survive is an AXE still holds true if survival is more than waiting for rescue in a day or two.

> It will certainly do all the other things noted by Quick_joey_small >

Pay no attention to me, I'm just guessing at what a survival knife is for. The point of the question is I don't have a clue what you are all talking about.
In the UK I'm known for my awesome knife collection: one swiss army champ.
Awesome; because here it's usually one more than everyone else .
You are the second person to half suggest a machete in response to my question.
So is the answer to 'what is the best survival knife?'
a machete?
qjs

In the jungle? Quite possibly. In the desert? Probably not. A survival knife has to be appropriate to the user's hands and skill as well as to the environment and likely uses.

Often, the knife you have with you is the best survival knife.

Generally, "survival knife" or "wilderness knife" conjures up a fairly long Ramboesque short sword, typically used for combat - the sort of sturdy, tough knife issued to troops in the field. For civilian purposes, such a knife is just unnecessary weight. Today, nearly everyone venturing into wilderness does so on purpose, perhaps with the exception of plane crash survivors (I believe we had a hearty discussion about whether such was even possible). People going into the woods don't do empty handed these days.

Certainly when I have been in wilderness, either the formally designated areas or the de facto kind, I have equipped myself with selected items that take care of basic needs for the duration. Those items have always included a knife-like object that most of the time has been a SAK, but which is now a Leatherman, usually. Occasionally I have supplemented such with a 4" fixed blade like the CRKT Stiff Kiss (minimum weight).

Looking back on numerous trips, have I ever said - "Oh, my! I wish I had a bigger, badder knife!" Well, no. The SAK has done just fine. Remember Aron Ralston? He self amputated his arm with a cheap-o multitool which would meet with utter disdain by nearly all of us here on ETS (me included). A sharp blade is handy and useful. but if worse comes to worse, a substitute can often be improvised, like everything else in a grim survival situation.

Knives are fun and makers today, both factory and custom, turn out some really fine pieces, and folks are willing to buy them, which is fine. But you can get by very well with something far less expensive and spectacular. Most "survival" knives are overblown, overpriced, and overhyped. Moras would appear to be the exception.

And there is too great a chance the survival knife will be sitting in the drawer when you need it and you will be fending off doom with your sturdy SAK. So, CM, your are right - the knife you have with you is the best survival knife.

End of rant......

Personally, I don't tend to think of "survival knife" as a category as much as I try to determine if a given knife is well suited for wilderness survival use. Sort of how I don't think of a firesteel as a survival fire-starter but as a fire making tool that would be useful in a wilderness survival situation (for example).

So, in a wilderness survival situation, I'd hope my knife could handle batoning and other, more heavy duty, wood processing tasks easily. This would allow for both cutting branches & larger pieces of wood for shelter building and fire making. Basically, it should be able to handle all my normal camping tasks, but be strong enough that I could do some of those heavier tasks with it if I didn't have the hatchet or saw I might normally have with me during a planned multi-day trip.

Really, a lot of my criteria in selecting a knife that can serve this role have been shaped by Doug Ritter's articles on this topic. So my criteria would include:

• Fixed blade
• Single, plain edge & without a saw-back
• Full tang
• Moderately sized (around 4 or 5 inches)
• Drop point / spear point blade
• 1/8" - 1/4" thick
• Half guard

Also, like chaosmagnet mentioned, while this makes a lot of sense for the wilderness I'd find myself in out here in Western Canada, other environments might have other considerations that may add or remove criteria from that list.

That's the crux of it: needs may vary depending on where we'll be using a knife and how we personally anticipate possibly needing to use it.

I wonder how many of us on ETS actually spend much time in wilderness. Where I do most of my camping and hiking these days is not "wilderness" (Virginia's Shenandoah National Park) compared to what I was accustomed to growing up in Oregon's Cascade mountains. If you are able to walk in Shenandoah NP, you have only to pick a direction east or west and stick with it and you're not going to be more than 10 miles from a paved road. Of course, if you've badly sprained ligaments or a leg fracture then that 10 miles may as well be 1000.

Some people will have greater strength and willingness to carry heavier gear, including heavier tools such as knives, axe, etc., than others who place a premium on lightweight items.

My longest day hikes are typically 7-9 miles, entail 2000-2400 elevation gain and require 4-5 hours to complete. We make a point of being on the trail at sunrise in the summer months to be off it before afternoon thunderstorms. We always see other people on the trail, maybe just a few but always some others. SAR - a lot of resources - is not far away.

For our typical hikes, the priority packing list puts a knife quite a ways down - underneath cell phone, compass, Bic lighter/matches/firesteel, First Aid, Micropur tabs, bug repellant, hiking pole, etc.

But a knife is still wise for me to have so I seek the happy medium on the continuums of capability, weight and price. Moras are so fondly regarded by so many because not only are they capable and lightweight but they are very inexpensive so scuffing or losing them is not disturbing.

I have a couple beefier knives (Becker BK7 and 9) in the SUV, where weight is not an issue.

Are you saying that knives are "virtually useless" or that outdoor stores that don't sell knives are virtually useless? I would agree with you most heartily if you meant the latter.

Here, from an article I got from IzzyJG99's (very interesting) website is a use for a knife...


Leander Boy Attacked By Mountain Lion
Updated: Wednesday, 08 Feb 2012, 10:03 AM CST
Published : Tuesday, 07 Feb 2012, 7:49 PM CST

A family vacation to west Texas included a frightening encounter with a mountain lion for a Leander couple and their 6-year-old son.

The 17 stitches on the right side of Rivers Hobbs' face may be out by next week, but the memory of what caused the injury will not soon fade away.

“It sneaked up on me,” said Hobbs.

The 6-year-old was attacked Sunday, by a mountain lion, at Big Bend National Park. He and his parents were on a walkway near the main lodge heading to their room when the mountain lion attacked.

“No, not that bad,” said Hobbs, when asked if the attack hurt.

The family is expected to return to their Leander home Wednesday evening. Once back home, Hobbs will have to go though a series of rabies shots.

Next door neighbor, Jessie Brannon, knew the family was on a trip, but didn't know about the attack.

“Just at the wrong time when he's starting school and everything, I'm really sorry about that, people should be very careful in those parks," said Brannon.

Earlier in the day, the mountain lion attacked another family, who say Hobbs’ parents and warned them of the danger.

FOX 7 spoke to Kristi Harris, the mother of the 6-year-old, by phone. Harris said they decided against camping out because of what the other family told them. After eating at the main lodge they walked to their room, when the cat literally pulled her son from her hands.

"This cat ran in front of me, had to cross in front of me and grab my son and dragged me and my son away from where we were walking. I still had him by the hand for a good while and then the animal gave a huge jerk and pulled him to the ground and took him by the face,” said Harris.

Hobbs was saved by his dad.

"The cat was clamped onto his face, I reached down and got my pocket knife out and stabbed the cat in the chest and it let go at that point,” said Jason Hobbs.

The experience will not keep the family from venturing out doors again, but Hobbs’ parents say their walks, in the future, will be much more guarded.




Read more: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/video/Lea...-#ixzz1nOUX2XDE

Note that it was a "pocket knife" that fended off the attack and that it was adequate to the task. A good example of the "knife you have" principle.

True, but my normal EDC 'pocket knife' is a tiny Victorinox Shamrock Classic (pictured here at 75% of actual-size). The shamrock might bring me a little luck, but not that much.

>Are you saying that knives are "virtually useless"

Yes that's what I'm saying. But only for UK camping and walking. We have no dangerous animals and nowhere to make fires or shelters. I've almost never used my SAK outdoors. It's more an office tool.

qjs