MOD4 Survival Knife review

A quick Knife review of the British Army MOD 4 Survival Knife.

Its big, its heavy (1lb 7oz), its thick (1/4 inch), its industrial and its agricultural. It's supposedly a knife, but is probably more of a pry bar with an easy to sharpen Scandi grind applied with a industrial styled full tang handle in a fibre polymer. Its ugly and its virtually impossible to break. It's a contender to replace a camp hatchet. It's a knife that can be abused and still take it and you won't be concerned if you scratch it up a little. It will also take a reasonable edge (carbon steel) where you can slice a sheet of paper in two, but it won't take the hairs of the back of your arm. It'll be a little tricky to fillet a trout (the Mora 780 will do this) with but if you need to chop and split and baton to build a fire or a shelter then it should perform quite admirably.



The MOD 4 (its the lower one) compared to a Mora 780.



7 inch blade with 1/4 inch thickness almost within 1/2 an inch from the tip of the blade.

That's quite the honking big blade. Way too big for my tastes, but I'd love to play with one. Though I'm not sure I'd want to schlep it around.

Is it a true scandi-grind or is it slightly hollow-ground? It's hard to tell from the photo.

What's with the sheath? It looks like a 'lefty.'

Anyway, neat to look at. Thanks for the photo.

It could be better described as a Sabre grind, its definitely not a partial hollow grind. If anything it is slightly convex.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grind



The knife is worn on the left and extracted in a similar way as in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMLI6BhFV2c

Big blades are usually carried on the left and small blades on the right.

The Leather sheath isn't the greatest but the quality of the knife doesn't really justify another £20 on a 3rd party sheath.

http://www.combatservicesupport.co.uk/pr...ife_sheath.html

I have an Ontario SP8 survival knife that's roughly that big (10" blade, 1/4" thick). It's heavy enough I wouldn't want to carry it on all my day hikes but it's great for processing wood.

Reminds me of Crocodile Dundee... "That's not a knife, THIS is a knife!"

Thanks for the review.
It's robust alright - but looks very heavy.
It would fairly discouraging to haul that thing around on a daily basis. I wonder why they chose the blade profile that was used? Looks more like the kind of knife/tool that would be handy for prying open supply boxes.

Maybe the MOD just had some kind of contract to get 10,000 of these things made in India at a very cheap price??

Pete #2

The MOD4 Survival Knife is actually made in Sheffield by J Adams Ltd, 124 Scotland St, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S3 7DE. If it was made in India I would expect the fit and finish to be off a higher standard. There is actually nothing wrong with the deisgn, it is well thought out, the knife is nicely balanced for a 1 1/2 lb knife and the materials are very robust such as the 3 huge copper rivet which hold the handle scales on, its just that the knife doesn't have that shiny shiny bling factor going on because of the phospated finish to the main blade and the allignment of the tang and handle scales.



Probably because the ease of sharpening was an over riding factor rather than how sharp the edge could actually be made for fine slicing. Its basically a tool for chopping and splitting i.e processing wood.

If their goal was to produce a knife that's good for chopping, I would have thought they might have made the blade a bit more like the shape of a kukri or a parang. Take a look at this machete design from Cold Steel ...

http://www.coldsteel.com/kukrimachetes.html

It's quite handy to have a shape like that if your goal is chopping. I realize the MOD knife is a knife and not a machete, but it seems very "plain Jane". Maybe they just wanted to keep it simple, and so keep the cost down.

Pete #2

Many military knives are designed to be worn on the left side of the body, since there may be a pistol on the other side, or a longer weapon worn on a sling. Of course this all dates back to traditional holsters and slings.

Very long blades are just often easier to draw from a cross draw, which is evident with most sword placement. The MOD4 isn't that long though.

My preferences for a pound of Sheffield steel in the bush would tend towards a Martindale No. 4, Golok, or Paratrooper, but the MOD4 is a tried and tested design.

It is massively robust because you should never underestimate the ability of a british squaddie to break something ;-)

It is well suited to it's most likely tasks - turning the local flora into shelter and fuel, plus the usual prying open crates and the like. (Not for bushcraft really)

It is a rock solid choice, and shares its functionality with the other issue knives - the golok and the clasp knife. All designed to work and not chosen for thier prettiness. Good things to have on you if you have a real crisis on hand

Just wondering what your reasoning behind replacing the camp hatchet with a knife? Its a great blade but wouldnt a hatchet do a better job of hacking and chopping/splitting?

I have a Buck Camp Axe but in the end wasn't too happy with its performance. The edge of the buck axe never really became very sharp, and the Buck Camp Axe was quite expensive and a little bit of a let down and used to chip out quite badly. The MOD 4 although heavier than the Buck Axe is much easier to handle and carry in a back pack.


The el cheapo $20 Draper Expert 09946 takes a very sharp edge. (but I need to make a more substaintail sheath for it though.)

If I ever needed to build a log cabin out in the wilderness then these would be the tools that I would bug out with.

I'd have NO false sense of security,packing that puppy in the bush or Anywhere for that matter,& Knowing it to be Sheffield Steel,the confidence factor would rate-Top'a the Scale in my book!It is a Beautiful Knife,& I'd have no qualms of spreadin'Peanutbutter/Marmite on my Crackers with that Very Utilitarian blade!

I've just noticed this thread while lurking and I thought I would add this: I used this knife extensively on survival exercises during my RAF service and I would not recommend it at all.

It is a poor compromise between a hatchet and a knife and very little use in either application. It is poorly balanced and uncomfortable to use for chopping (though I see they have redesigned the handle scales which may reduce the discomfort) and it is very clumsy for slicing. It is also extremely heavy to carry about with you.

If you want a fixed blade knife, I suggest you buy one of the larger of Doug's designs. If you want to chop, get a decent hatchet. If you absolutely must have a compromise, you might try a kukri, but make sure the handle is big enough for your hands.

Thank you for your comments. In general, I am in favor of smaller knives. They work fine, just as long as they are sharp....