Originally Posted By: Phaedrus
I'd imagine that a knife that large would be a waste in the desert, but the extra size is handy if batonning wood is a survival task you anticipate needing to do (although to be fair there probably aren't a lot of times you'd literally perish if you couldn't baton).

I don't know about that, I can baton just fine with a 4" blade (I am really starting to like the control batoning offers over using a hatchet when processing firewood).

A larger blade would allow for batoning of larger diameter pieces, but I don't know if there's a real need to split 5" diameter logs with your knife in a survival (or any) situation.

What I'm thinking the larger blades do give you is chopping power, making them similar in some ways to a small hatchet. For my self, I don't see this as being a really large need, but I'm guessing others may disagree (I seem to recall a thread debating the usefulness of chopping wood with a knife recently).
_________________________
Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck. Roald Amundsen