Nordic knives don't slip out of their sheaths. Losing a knife in the taiga is too much a serious matter. In fact, losing a knife anywhere is not good.

I agree that loosing a knife is a bad thing. If you have knife with a wooden handle and a leather sheath the tolerances in manufacturing may still be big enough to allow it to slip out of the sheath. After all both materials tend to change size slightly when they dry or collect moisture. I´ve seen knives of one type where the fit in the sheath for the specimen varied from really loose to much too tight. This is why I prefer to buy where I can pick one that´s just right.

If natural materials expand and contract so much, and therefore rely on the quality of build, it makes me wonder...
Would, in your opinion, having a knife with a manmade handle with a man made sheath be preferable?
What are the advantages (apart from asthetics) in having natural materials?

Natural materials or synthetic are equally prone to specific environmental wear. Some manmade handle composites may be vulnerable to chemicals, ie DEET, various petroleum fuels, utraviolet light and simple heat. Various natural materials,ie. bone,wood and leather can dry out, rot , fracture from impact or even succumb to damage from animals seeking salt, calcium,fats etc. Natural materials can be stabilised with dressings, such as beeswax or manmade coatings such as varathane, laquers etc. Either material can be fashioned into superior tools with relatively little maintenance required. like any tool, 5 minutes of daily care eliminates 5 hours of repair.

Joblot,

I've had several bad experiences with natural materials. I've owned the Air Force Survival Knife, Kabars, Randall (bought used actually, it already had been fairly abused) and numerous hunting/skinning knives with either natural material handles or sheaths. I've enjoyed them all, and they all have thier place, but in a survival knife, I'd much rather have synthetic/man made materials.

I've been poked in the leg during a tirp and fall incident where my kabar went through the sheath. The handle on my AFSK began to rot and mildew despite my trying to care for it with oils and proper leather conditioning materials. And I've had several stag handles on skinning knives either chip, break, or split altogeather from simple drops.

Keep in mind, I use my knives a lot. Although lately I haven't seen the need for a fixed blade survival knife while carrying a quality locking folder (and usually several other folding impliment like Leatherman Wave, or SAKs.) and a quality machete.

When I do choose to carry a fixed blade it is the USMC Ka-Bar Next Generation. The reason for this is that everything is synthetic. Handles, sheath, everything. And they're reasonable priced so I'm not afraid to carry it afield.

I do totally agree that the natural materials are much better to look at and feel. My KaBar is often cold, and always a bit ugly. But the bottom line for me is reliability.

Thoughts, anyone?

--Luke

Wood handles with an oil finish offer a warm feeling and IMHO a better grip than hard plastic handles and are more robust than kraton. A leather sheath can be repaired more easily in the field than a manmade sheath. My personal favorite for handles is baltic birch as it combines the advantages of manmade and natural material. For the sheath I tend to prefer kydex as it offers more protection than leather.
The shrinkage or expansion of the natural materials is not really dramatic. It can however cause problems in combination with the quality of the build. When you know about the potential problems you can deal with them.

I carry three knives with me everyday, and use them regularly. The first is my Case folding Masonic knife. Open it measures about 3 inches long. It is great for precision work. The next is a Leatherman Wave. This is also my primary service tool for most of my work. It is adequate 90% of the time for fixing electronics equipment. For the hard work, I use a Kabar folding linerlock with intl orange handle. It has an integral belt clip and the stainless is what I would call superior. It handles RG-8 and large coax very well, without rolling or chipping the edge. The blade is less than 4", which is a restriction due to the work environment. It is ergonomically correct for my hand. I have dropped it in the brush 3 times now and due to the flourescent orange handle have had no trouble in expediently locating it. This was not the case with it's predecessor. BTW, the Kabar cost me @ $7.00 new from smoky mtn knife works (yes, a plug, but still a good deal). The Wave was about $60 at Costco. The Case was a gift but probably less than $20. I have about 2 dozen various other hunting, survival and pocketknives, which I can add to my survival kit as the needs suit me. Really, though, I feel quite comfortable with what I have on me.