survival neck knife

Does anyone have any recommendations for survival neck knives?

A 10 bucks mora knife attached with paracord, among other things. That's the way Mors Kochanski recommends wearing your bushcraft knife. You're more aware of its presence that way and it's more convenient when you're wearing a parka. Never lay your knife on the ground (especially in snow country), always put it back in its sheath. A knifeless man is a lifeless man.

Frankie

Becker necker, Got one, nice and the price won't flatten your wallet. I don't think I would buy one of the NEW Becker/k-bars until they start to make them in plain old carbon steel like the originals. And of course the price comes down

try this for a bunch of neck knifes.

http://budk.com/search.asp?t=ss&ss=neck+knife&x=0&y=0

in the following photo you can see my neck knife. A ANZA #2 on a paracord lanyard, with other stuff

Here's a few ideas:

Buck Hartsook (S30V steel)



Buck Mayo Kaala (S30V)



Benchmade Instigator (AUS 8)



Chris Reeve Professional Soldier (S30V)



Benchmade Activator (S30V)




RAT Cutlery IZULA Neck & Survival Kit Knife (1095)




Tons of commercial options out there, with a huge range in price. Even more options if you start looking into the custom stuff or have custom sheaths made.



(Sorry if the pics are a bit large.)

I have the Cold Steel Spike Tanto, from their spike series. Absolutely sharpest knife I own. I can shave my arm with it.

I wonder why Ron Popeil doesn't demo his knives by shaving his arm. But wait, there's more!

One vote for the Benchmade Activator Snody. Very tough little knife that can hold an edge and won't slip out of your hand. Do some searching and I'm sure you can find a good price.

I love Benchmade's Activator knives. I have both the smaller 210 and the larger 201+. The 201+ has become my go-to outdoors blade and favorite fixed blade. It's a strong stout blade, but cuts like a much thinner blade and has a great shape for outdoor work. It's a great size as well, big enough to be useful, but small enough to be easily carried (most of the time I don't even notice it on my side). I love the handle shape too, simple, but very comfortable and positive. I've thinking of having a kydex sheath made for it, like the 210TK, to allow me more carry options.

I wear a CRKT Ryan Plan B with partially serrated edge. It is a stronger bladed knife to complement my Leatherman Wave II.

David Enoch

I neck knife can be a problem is you use a compass. My knife is stainless steel but still throws off a handheld compass. I wear a nice watch with built in compass but I have to put the knife in my pocket to use the compass. I have had the same problem with other hand held compasses as well.

David Enoch

I don't wear a neck knife on my neck anymore. I fell and the knife severely bruised my chest. It was not quite vertical when I hit it, but close. Had it not hit my sternum it may have punctured through between my ribs.

It was of course in a sheath, and although the handle was blunt it realllllllly hurt.

I carry a becker necker on my belt. Hardly notice it.

I modified mine with epoxy, building up a small thin handle and covering of those unneeded (by me anyway) opener and "cutter".

Great knife. I doubt that I would want one of the new ones.

nomad

I like and carry either a spyderco spot or a boker bud neely. For neck carry I tend to like them small and light. You also might want to check out Hide Away Knives, don't have one, but I sure do want one.

-Bill Liptak

Bought a couple different CRKT's off of Ebay. The "Stiff KISS" and the "Dogfish".

Both very simple, skeleton type with a Kydex sheath. The "Dogfish" has a bottle opener on the end, the "KISS" is longer and straighter. I dipped the handles in that rubbery-plastic stuff to give them some grip.

Haven't carried either around my neck yet but I've tried them both out and will carry one of them when needed/appropriate.

Very reasonably priced, the "KISS" was a little harder to find as it's been discontinued by CRKT for a couple of years now.

John E

I'm looking at the CRKT Ringer for something small and light.

But my current neck knife is a Ka-Bar, in a kydex sheath, with a 1" flat nylon webbing laynard. Sure, it is about a pound and a foot long, but I don't mind the weight. *laughs* So I might not be the best person to ask.

Perhaps we need a new thread for discussing the neck sword, or maybe the back sword.

My neck knife is a Camillus CUDA Arclite, the D2 version. Some paracord wrapped around the handle and I have found it very handy. Darrell Ralph design. Love the blade shape.

Greg

Neck Knive CARRY is a very old concept. And when metal was still a rare and precious commodity, ALL knives were smaller because of simple material cost and design limits of copper and bronze.

The size of a neck knife is only limited by the constraints of individual physique. Obviously some wrastler on the TEE VEE with a bull kneck could carry a larger knife.

So, when you look at a dedicated kneck knife, ignore any gimmicks or exaggerated reduction in dimension.All survival parameters still apply, only reduced somewhat in size.

I also take exception with the materials used as hangers. We tout paracord for it's tensile strength and utility. Well, I don't want a 5MM 550 lb piece of nylon garrroting me in an accident. I also want my knife to drop IN FRONT of me should it fall, not fly off 270 odd degrees elsewhere.
My solution, and it has added utility, is LAMPWICKING, that stuff used in -oil lamps and for the best traditional snowshoe binding around. It is flat and comforatable. You can stitch a few breakaway threads and WEAR the stitch behind you. Should you get hung up it will break free and the knife fall forward, or just down your jacket, anorak, poncho. ALWAYS keep at least a shirt collar or hood between you and the lanyard even if the knife is slipped inside.
The second happy benefit is a ready source of TINDER (see oil lamp use.)

My neck knife, and there are some nice ones shown here, is the traditional puukko. I like it as much for the very ergonomic and cold weather friendly handle and deep sheath.

John

I have the CRKT dogfish, and can pretty much guarantee that if you wear it inverted as a neck knife, you'll lose it in about four minutes. The sheath just does not hold, and I've read the same problem in, I believe, this forum and other forums.

I just carry it in the sheath in my pocket.

Greg,

i have the identical CUDA and like it - where did you get the sheath? It looks thinner then the leather one I have. When I bought the knife it had no sheath.

I have actually been looking at neck knives too. But I intend to piggyback it on my machete sheath versus wearing it on my neck. That way, I have a chopper and slicer on hand. I don't really like anything around my neck. If I do put something on, it is in a baldric fashion.

Where do you find this? In hardware stores? Is it made of cotton?

I think even Walmart has it.

Frankie,
Your own SIR mailorder in Canada sells it in 50' rolls. You may have to email them, as their catalog may not show it. If that is to much, an ebay seller named Ben's Backwoods sells 14' lengths. He is a good guy, I've bought from him before.

Ok, fair comment. I personally prefer cross body carry. For the reasons enumerated above.
With regards to the comment on one of the other posts about a knife throwing a compass off, I personally have found this to be a problem if:

You allow the blade to become magnetised.

You use a hi-density steel.

My knives are either VG-10 (Fallkniven WM1) or carbon steel (Frosts Mora).

Yes Chris, indeed, I saw it on their site once but I looked back and they don't show anymore. Apparently they are with Cabela now. I'll email them. I also found a good source of wool blankets made in Prince Edward Island (MacAusland's woolen mills), apprently their blankets are exeptional and more affordable than the Point blanket from TheBaie.

Frankie

I think I ordered it from AG Russell, when they had a run of them in D2.

Greg