These 'best survival knife' threads corkscrew around like a whirlwind, going nowhere until they just fade away from lack of energy, only to re-emerge later on. The reason for this is that the question, as posed, is unanswerable. There are simply too many moving variables.


Seems that any large knife is labeled with some pejorative like "Rambo knife". There's a picture of it below. I have several big knives, but not that one. In fact, I have seen a lot of big knives on guys back in the woods, but never seen one like that.

Primitive and pioneer cultures lived close to the Earth, and many of them carried the biggest knives they could get. Machetes, Hudson bay, Bowie, Leuku, teke, kris, scimitar, cutlass, to name a few.

As I write this, I'm trying to envision a Dakota warrior from early Minnesota proudly carrying his trusty Dakota Little Buddy (see below) in a beaded elk hide pouch while heading out into the trackless wild.

In the forests, river bottoms, and ravines where I live I have used my BK-7 or my Ontario CT-1 knives to hack down wild parsnip and water hemlock taller than me and thicker than my wrist. I have used it to dig holes and pry out rocks. I have used it to hack underbrush to make a place for a fire. I have used it to split deadwood to get at the dry core, and chop out pine knots for the fire. I have used it for shelter building. I have even used my CT-1 to cook fish.

Nice as it is, I just don't think a Ken Onion 'Leek' would have done the job for me.

One who actually lived in the woods for a time and has been called the "father of minimalist camping", Nessmuk carried 5 blades: a two edged hatchet, a two bladed pocket knife, and a larger wide fixed blade knife. I have followed his lead to some extent.

In lieu of a hatchet, I carry either my hardwood handled BK-7, or my Ontario CT-1 in a sleeve on my pack, a Mora clipper in the pack, and a Vic Classic in my pocket. If I'm in a non-wilderness area, such as a state park, I may opt to leave the big guy in the truck.

Non-wilderness EDC for me is a Wave, or a Vic Huntsman, or a Vic Classic depending on where I am.

To the OP: Pay no attention to those who say you can get by with the little sharp pointy thing on your nail clipper. Go out and look at knives you can afford, and just buy one that you like and keep it with you. You can use that knife experience as a point of reference for a lifetime. Is it too big? Too small? Too cheap? Too heavy? ........ Could lead to a lifetime of knife collecting.