Ladies and Gents; Good Evening. I hope all are well. OK, Many threads Re. knives. Probably beaten to death. Very indidual decision. A survival knife is the knife you have on you when in a survival situation,OK! But if you will, a simple request for your opinion. The SERE Knife was designed during the Viet Nam conflict by Col. Nick Rowe (RIP) and built by AL Mar Knives for students in the SERE school, The way I heard the story, it was designed to be 90% tool 10% weapon. It was carried on the pants belt so that if you lost everything else (except yur drawrs), you would still have a viable friend with which "to keep the reaper at bay". That said we are not usually in the situitation of E&Eing from behind enemy lines ( well at least not often <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) but the concept of a strong reliable knife fulfilling the concept of the original to my mind is still viable. Between the 2 schools; In this corner we have the un breakable super knives that you can break cement blocks with Ie Strider Et al, In the other corner we have the "finess school". Cuts like a razor, can cut the print off of news paper. must be handeled with care. Now, I hold no disrespect for anyones choices or knife religions. My question is concidering the roll that the folding SERE was designed for, Its you,your knife and your pocket kit in a world of hurt. What are your choices and why? Thanks Jim

Both. SAK/multitool for working on stuff. A single blade lock blade for cutting needs. If It had to be just one, I'd go with the SAK.

Great knife. And for that cost, I can get a couple of very good knives. Or a very good knife and a lot of other stuff. Al Mar is a top flight name, no doubt about it, but the price is out of reach of most people for what it is. There is a point where the custom gear turns into "survival bling". (Although this isn't as bad as some items I've seen.)

Yes, great is better than very good, but it's like rifles- is half-MOA better than MOA? Yes, but how many people (a) need the improvement, (b) can make use of the improvement, (c) can maintain it properly to keep the improvement, and (d) can afford it. Benchmade does very good to great work, and becuase of thier pricepoint and availability on similiar designs, has snagged away a lot of Al Mar customers. As have a number of manufacturers.

Me, I carry a ten dollar frame-lock kerabit (you save 20 bucks by buying it from the manufacturer before S&W does) becuase I have a bad habit of cutting carboard, wire, heavy rope, all kinds of bad things, and I don't want to kill a great or even very good knife by hitting it with a diamond rod. I also have a Leatherman (razor sharp) and Micra, and usually a Vic Climber with me if I need a super sharp blade.

For the field, a fixed blade is stronger than a folder of equal or slightly better quality. My Ka-Bar can take a shaving edge if I want it to, and it's tougher than a lot of the more expensive knives I bought years ago.

First keep in mind that I'm not in the military and don't carry a knife for "protection". I live in the suburbs with a wife, two kids, two horses, two dogs, two cats, two birds, three guinea pigs, and untold numbers of guppies. I work 8-5 M-F for a moderately well-known corporation, and my time outdoors is with my family and/or the Boy Scouts in the "wildernesses" of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Most of the time (at home & work) I carry a mini-Rittergrip clipped to my right pants pocket. Its uses range from cleaning fingernails to opening packages and bags of dog or horse feed.

When out camping and hiking I carry a fullsize Rittergrip either in a sheath or (more recently) clipped to my right pants pocket.

When car camping I'll usually also throw a Leatherman Charge Ti and a fixed blade knife (Mora or Becker BK10 - still waiting for the fixed Rittergrip!!) into my bag, but I won't carry them around on my belt. I'll likely also bring an axe and a bow saw for fire wood. The Rittergrip is for finesse and misc. uses. The Leatherman is for fixing stuff, though it isn't used very often. The fixed blade is usually used for food preparation, and the axe is for chopping small wood & splitting.

When backpacking short distances I'll usually throw a Swiss Army Victorinox StayGlow Climber in my bag instead of the Leatherman and fixed blade. If backpacking longer distances its back to the mini-Rittergrip in my pocket. When backpacking we don't chop or split wood - we just use whatever I find on the ground that can be broken by hand (or foot).

Ken K.

Great question!

I keep a Leatherman Charge Ti clipped in my pocket 24/7. It is useful for something almost everyday. In a survival situation the saw is great! It works perfect with the ferro rod I pulled out of a Strike Force, I also keep in my pocket 24/7. The saw and knife will make most any survival items I need. The other tools are also valuable. If you see a group of Boy Scout leaders you might notice that most of them have a flashlight and a multi-tool on their belt. Most favor the Leatherman Wave.

The next most valuable knife I have is a Cold Steel Master Hunter, in Carbon V, in my Camelbak. It is comfortable for extended cutting. It is also strong enough to use for battening wood. I have the leather sheath for it. It sits on my belt in a comfortable position. I also have a Mora 510 that is very good!

Last and also very valuable is the Gerber Sportsman Saw. If you need to cut wood, the saw will work faster and with less effort than most anything. It is also very light.

I have the saw on one side, inside the pouch, of my Camelbak and the Master Hunter on the other side. It is a great combo: Charge Ti, Master Hunter and Sportsman Saw. I keep a Ragweed Forge, two sided diamond plate, to sharpen the knives in my Camelbak. As a side note; the Ragweed Forge Viking Stone is a great stone to finish the edge to make it paper cutting sharp.

Knives like the Al Mar S.E.R.E. were designed back in the days when your choices were somewhat limited. The basic concept is a good one. Rule is: Buy the best quality knife that you can afford/obtain/legal in your jurisdiction. Most important point is to consider carefully exactly what your requirments are. Not what you would like - What you need.