Originally Posted By: hikermor
Sometimes a knife will be all important - I don't know if this is true or not, but I have hear the Ka-Bar was developed so that a downed pilot would have the ability to cut himself out of the fuselage of a crashed aircraft.




I think you're mistaken on this unless it was a first-revision of pilot survival kit in the 1930's.

Pilot survival knives with sawtooth spines have been around for less time than the Ka-Bar. They are shorter which would make them more liveable in the crowded cockpit environment.

"Best knife" - sounds like an innocuous question but them could be fightin' words :-)

Best for WHAT?

For dayhiking I carry an Ontario Spec-Plus Pilot Survival knife.(I tried carrying a Ka-Bar for hiking for awhile. Darn thing is too long.)

For my BoBs I have folding Buck hunting knives.(plastic handles, stainless blades)

For my pocket at work I have a 1" long SAK (and it's against the rules to have it - Security is concerned that someone will hijack the building).

For peeling old paint and caulking off the house before re-caulking and painting I have a nice Case folding hunting knife I found while out 4wheeling one year.(the knife is way overqualified for this but it works well)

I'm sure that none of them is "the best" for the applications.

I've never skinned an animal so I don't know about the "hunting knife" usage.