Right now, I have a kabar and it's ok. But I haven't ever really done anything too extreme with it and I'm not so sure it would hold up under survival conditions. I also know that one should get a good knife that lasts a long time and get used to it and it's capabilities.

Two knives that I'm looking at right now are the Cold Steel Recon Tanto and the Buck Special. I'm going to also get a kukri because Ithink those are versatile when it comes to machete type use and chopping.

I'm a little biased right now to Cold Steel partially because Don Paul wrote a great knife book called Everybody's Knife Bible. Cold Steel is metioned a lot in it. I plan on having at least 3 blades in the field which include a folder, a general purpose fixed bladed, and a kukri. My list right now is this:

Folder - ?
Fixed blade - Cold Steel Recon Tanto or Buck Special
Kukri - Cold Steel LTC Kukri

Any suggestions or reviews would be appreciated. I don't have a clue as to what type of folder I want. I have a Kershaw Blackout right now but I think its more of a defense blade.

For a core survival knife I would consider the Cold Steel SRK. The tanto is a fine knife, but a drop point is a little more versatile. My first dedicated core blade was a SRK, and my only complaint is the epoxy paint coating. It's a inexpensive and durable coating to reduce production costs but is a pain for major reprofiling and sharpening. Now on to Kuhris, I would emphatically not buy a Cold Steel version. www.himalayan-imports.com makes the finest traditional kukhris bar none. Aside from outperforming everythng else, you are supporting the traditional people who invented kuhris: And cultural survival is just as worthy of our support and interest as wilderness survival. The major knife forum websites have entire subforums devoted to Kukhris www.knifeforums.com and www.bladeforums.com keep in mind a kuhkri is NOT a machete and not an AXE. It evolved to fullfill specific needs in it's culture and while it performs admirably there are limits, not excluding a thorough knowledge of this potentially dangerous tool's use. You might also enjoy my friend Ragnars site, www.ragweedforge.com Sometimes you just don't need a sword to spread peanut butter or make a fuzzstick for kindling. His selection of inexpensive nordic knives offer good value for little cost. Grab a few to hone your sharpening skills and toss in various kits as you assemble them.

I'd never talk anyone out of buying a new knife... 'cus that would be extremely hipocritical!

However, I have two Kabar fixed blade knifes. I have a Fullsize USMC Style and a Short "Night Fighter" . Both these knifes have been put through their paces and have held up well. They hold an edge well and sharpen easily. You can pry, hammer, chop and, of course, cut. Best of all, they are cheap!

I personally prefer the smaller Night Fighter, the bigger one is a little heavy and exsessive typically.

Now, you can't go wrong with cold steel... I only have a machette from them but it is well built and very fuctional. My buddies who have them all love 'em... inexpensive and do their job well.

For folders I have found that CRKT make some good ones. I personally have 6 of the M16 Series and have had good luck with all of them
My favorite CRKT is their Craford/Kasper I have an older generation of this knife and it has been USED HARD over the last 10 years and held up well... again this is a knife that held its edge well and sharpened easily. The frame stayed tight and I never lost a screw on this knife (the only one I have ever had). I finally broke it's tip off trying to jimmy a door open and retired it to my turnout pockets after a visit to my shop.

My all time favorite single blade folder is my Gerber Fairborn-Applegate Folder . I originally bought it becuase it was on sale 75% off and looked cool. I like how it fits in my pocket well and how easy it is to open. It has a narrow but strong blade that, again, holds an edge well (but is more difficult to sharpen).

These are just my preferances and there are many more knifes that I ahve never tried out there that may better suit your needs.

You might want to check out Doug's recommendations for fixed blades and folders. I don't think you'd go wrong with one from each list.

Personally, my heaviest duty fixed blade is a Swamp Rat Howling Rat, and I'd feel pretty happy having that with me anywhere. It's not huge and it's sort of ugly, but it's got an extremely useful shape, is very sharp and feels very good in the hand. From what I hear and read, the Swamp Rat knives are darn near indestructible. To tell the truth, though, I rarely carry a fixed blade.

I do carry a folder of around 3" every day, though, and three of my favorites are the KaBar Dozier folding hunter, Doug's RSK MK1 mini, and a Bradley Alias II.

I have a SOG Seal Pup. They also make a full sized Seal model and a Seal Pup Elite which is new this year.

Uhmm.... Going from a Kabar MkII to a tanto? I'd call that a bad idea. Tantos aren't all that suitable for field work, they just look cool. For a fighting knife, sure, why not, but not as a go everywhere, do everything knife. Heck, the chisel-ground tanto would have been looked at funny by true samurai- thiers were closer to a drop point usually, just a reeeeally skinny one.

You can break a Kabar, or a good clone, but you can break any knife. Trust me, I've owned Kabars since I was given on in junior high, and I've never felt the need for anything else. The first one is still my main knife in the woods, I've just collected the others along the way. When it is cold and wet and just plain miserable, you can't go wrong with a leather handle- they don't break, and they don't freeze to you, unlike the synthetics.

The Spyderco Native is available for around $40. The Ritter is excellent. But since you seem to have blades covered pretty well, I'd suggest a good multitool or an SAK, preferably the former. Pliars and screwdrivers are just too handy to be without.

Regards, Vince

Im a fan of the Kabar, with the exception of a Frost Mora, its the lightest fixed blade I carry. I often carry a BK7 instead of the Kabar & if I need a big blade I use either a Battle Rat or BK9. I bought a proper Nepalese Kukri, smashed the bone grips off and replaced with a more comfortable wooden handle. I also dismantled the wooden sheath, painted it, glued it back together & covered in DPM cordura with Nylon web straps & D-rings. The Kukri is good enough to handle virtually anything, as well as being great for chopping, it has a very sharp edge good for finer work & is easily used as a draw-knife.
I also carry a Gerber Applegate Fairbain folder, great little blade & "flicks" open very nicely!

It is good that you are thinking about this subject. I, too would offer a few suggestions regarding your choices:

As a gen purp survival knife, drop points and clip points seem to be a little more versatile. Tanto points have their limits.

If you are looking at the Cold steel Survival line, the most popular seems to be the SRK. In Iraq, most soldiers prefer that knife to the Kabar or the tanto. I have two SRKs, which were with me a good deal of the time in Baghdad, and were effective as throwning knives against those pesky insurgent date palms that lurked around every corner. They are tough, well balanced knives that are just about the right size for gen carry. Since the SRK line is all carbon steel, the coating they put on the blade does help protect it from corrosion. In time it will wear off with use, or if you do as Chris and reshape the blade (as in convexing the edge), it will gum up the abrasive material, but this is not such a big deal. There are ways to deal with it if you need to.

One drawback of the CS recon tanto and the SRK is the tang is indented at the choil, which creates a natural fracture point on the hilt that is prone to failure during heavy batoning or prying. I wish CS would've either left the tang full, or swept the indent so there isn't such a dramatic bevel.

For truly duty grade survival knives, I have gone to the Swamp Rat line. They have an excellent reputation, though retail supply is significantly wanting due to the high demand and the limited production (Swamp Rat knives are made during the graveyard shift using the Busse production facilities). I have a larger knife of theirs that is perfect for splitting wood, lopping branches, fingers and toes, and cutting nail heads off of boards. Their blade edge and the girth of the body make it a truly survival tool, albeit a little bit pricey. You get what you pay for, and for as much knife as you get out of a $50 SRK, you get that much more, and then some, from a $130 Swamp Rat. I dare say my Swamp rat will outperform any khukri out there for similar tasks, and can do a few things I would never attempt with a khukri design.

You'll no doubt notice that no one is commenting on the Buck, and I will here. Buck makes good quality knives, and they are likely worth what they cost, more or less, but they are not the same caliber as CS, Kabar, Benchmade, Spyderco, Becker, or others. They are a lower quality knife; still usable, but not quite so reliable.

If you do go for a Khukri, I will side with Chris and recommend going native.

Good luck, let us know what you end up with.

Read "98.6 The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive" by Cody Lundin. You will see that a $10.00 Mora knife is the all around survival knife. The rest are for ego gratification. I have a Cold Steel SRK, Master Hunter, and True Flight Thrower. They are all great knifes. But ... the Mora cuts wood much easier than any of them. Once you try a Mora you will love the knife but hate that it works so much better than any other knife on wood.

As much as I love scandinavian blades, a dedicated survival knife needs to be robust IF it is called upon to perform duties normally carried out with more appropriate tools. Mors Kochanski is probably the greatest exponent of the humble Mora, but Mors also uses an axe in his woodland, resource rich area of expertise. The best course for buying a knife is to sit down and figure out just exactly what it is your going to modify in Nature for your needs. Sometimes a Mora is just fine. Sometimes you want more.

I use several of the different Mora’s as work\survival knives, but I usually call on one of my machetes to do the heavier work. They make a good team when used together. Most things in knife work call for a good small sharp blade, the rest a machete can handle unless you are cutting something really big.

I went for a walk today with a bit of bushcrafting.
Until today I was a firm believer that folder was the best choice for a survival knife - it is always with you and it can do most tasks. And Victorinox Picnicker was my choice for carving and hiking, while SwissChamp was my choice for a universal tool.
Today, I had to make relatively flat piece of wood about 1 inch thick from a pine log about 2,5 inches in diameter. To make it relatilvely flat, I had to baton my knife (I do not have any large blade knife at home at all) through the log twice with 1 inch distance between each cut.
This was the moment when I damaged Picnicker - it went about 1-2 inches inside the log, got stuck, I applied too much pressure and felt the lock became wobbly. Yes, I knew folders were not tough, but I thought such a work was within capability of folders, I used to do a lot of things like this when I was a kid. No, it was not a good idea.
Luckily, I had my Busse BA3. To be truthfull, in recent times I started regretting buying Busse - it was quite expensive (but with excellent steel) and in real live you would not use all capabilities of this knife. Also, because it was quite heavy, I felt it was not good for common delicate tasks and to carry.
But today I felt completely contrast - of course, it was easily batoned through the log. Then I carved the log the way I wanted. I felt very strange thing while I was carving - the heavy weight of the knife actually helped me carving. It was not delicate carving, but more of delicate chopping. The thickness of the blade did not cause any problem. I can even state - Busse BA3 carved better than Victorinox Picnicker even though it was heavier (or because it was heavier) and had thicker blade. The handle on BA3 was much more comfortable than on Victorinox (until now I felt in contrast).
I also used to find that BA3's blade was too short, but now I feel it is just spot on for wood carving and survival tasks - if you have it longer, you won't have enough control of the tip of the blade. And it will be a heavier and bulkier knife.
Today's experience was a good lesson for me: I would not want to have a folder in my PSK as my reserve knife. If I get into a real problem, most likely I will have some folders with me anyway. And if they fail, surely I would have to have something even better as my last line of defence. I do not know if other folders with other locking system do a better job, but now only fixed blade knife will give me 100% confidence it will do anything.

Hi,

check out the Fallkniven A1. It's IMHO one of the best survival knives around. I own it and it's a beauty. With this there's no need to carry a strong folder in the field, a multitool (my favorite is the Leatherman New Wave) will suffice.

In urban areas I exchange the Fallkniven with my CRKT M16-13T(itanium). But I think actually I'm falling in love with some extremely tough folders from Strider and Extrema Ratio.

Personally I have no need for a Kukri or Machete so I can't comment on this.

I took a look at everybody's suggestions. Thanks for that. I took a look at everybody's knives and you guys have some pretty amazing blades. The Nepalese kukris look like serious business. I believe for my gen, purpose knife, you guys have steered me away from the tanto. I was thinking that the chisel point would be better for skinning food. Upon closer inspection and comparing with fillet knives, the drop point seems to be better suited and you guys are right, all around more versatile. The knife that stands out the most and appeals to me seems to be this last suggestion of the BK7. I think a 7" blade will be plenty for general purp. The weight looks decent. The thumb grip on the back looks like it helps with manipulation. I also plan to get the Buck Special as well. For 1 or 2 days camping I think it would be perfect. I know the buck comes with a leather sheath so I'll also get to compare the nylon of the becker to the leather of the buck. As for a folder, I remember that I used to have a Gerber Gator serrated. That knife felt extremly good in my hand because of the all rubber grip. Sharp too. My current Kershaw is a razor as well. I'll probably go back to the gerber though because I just really like it. It left a good impression on me. Thanks for the help in determining this important peice of gear. If you think I still need to look into anything, go ahead and reply all you want.

Something to think about, to increase the cutting effectiveness of the tip of the blade, sharpen the tip in a very small radius (in profile) instead of keepint it needle like (hard to do on clip or tanto points). This radius will keep the tip from grabbing on whatever you are cutting. An example is trying to cut with the tip of an exacto knife.

Regards,
Bill

IMHO, a knife is a tool, just as there are specific tools to accomplish specific tasks, likewise with knives. Yes, you can often use an alternative tool to complete a task, but often the task is accomplished with greater ease if the tool is designed for that function. Knives come in all kinds of blade and handle designs, materials, lengthens, etc. most are either uniquely designed for a specific task or a compromise to accomplish a series of tasks. Using a wood chisel to open a can of pant may work, but in the process, may inflict serious damage to the tool. Likewise using a pry bar to chisel out a wood joint is possible, but the effort and results maybe less then desirable.

Selecting a knife is much like others things in life, a matter of personal choice, and a compromise over carrying several knives for various tasks. What one becomes comfortable with is often a matter of knowledge, training and practice.

Controlled experimentation and practice (especially not during an actual survival situation) are vital and critical efforts for the decision making process. Doing so, allows one to make appropriate choices in selecting tools and skills.

Pete

That, Pete, is a pretty good truism.

I would offer this caveat: Size does matter. While is may be difficult to whittle out a pipe hollow using a machete, it can be done. Conversely, it is impossible to split good firewood using an SAK folder, or some other pocket knife. Where economics of load and budget allow, it is always better and preferable to have a surplus than a deficiency.

In my experience there isn't much in the way of cutting that can't be handled by a 12" machete (Ontario), Frost's Mora Swedish Army Knife and a Vic Rucksack SAK. And BIG PLUS the combo will set you back about $50, JMHO
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