If you found yourself in a survival situation, which blade/s would you want with you?

To those who already have these, which have you found the best, most reliable and most durable? Please don't point me to a Rambo special off ebay which falls apart in 5 minutes.

I suppose we could look at axes/machetes as well as knives, a young tree takes a while to hack down with even the best hunting knife!

I'm guessing most would idealy want about 3 with them. Axe/machete for the big stuff, decent large knife capable of skinning and stuff and a smaller blade for the more menial blade tasks.

Any recommendations?

Thanks,

CX.

mod edit: removed survivalist from title due to creation of new forum

[edit on 12-12-2006 by UK Wizard]

Always choose a full tang style construction. These are almost nearly indestructable, because the blade and handle are a single peace of metal. During my survival trips with my survival class, we used pocket knives that fold, a large "rambo" knife, fillet knives (for fishing), and a camping axe.

They are a little bit pricey, but I would stake my life on anything made by Benchmade. I have had 2 in my life, and I am an avid camper, I can not imagine a more reliable knife that hardly ever needs sharpening and when it does only takes a few minutes on a whet stone. While I have not cut down a tree with it, my Benchmade burned through an Aspen sapling, like butter. Nice strong walking stick.

Gerber (I think) does have a very nice little camping axe that comes with a knife stored in the hilt.

I would also look into getting a good camp shovel - if you get one that takes an edge it can do all the rough work that might otherwise fall to your knife. That keeps your knife sharper, longer. A good sharp shovel can almost take the place of an axe or machete should you need one.

Also, anyone who has had to dig a large-ish hole with a small-ish fixed blade knife can attest to the value of the humble shovel.

So, given the choice I would have a 4-5 inch sturdy fixed blade knife, preferably with a couple inches of serration on the back end for cutting lines and saplings, as well as a camp axe, a camp shovel, and depending on the situation, (urban vs. rural vs. wilderness) a sturdy multi-tool and/or a small skinner/gutter.

Multi-tools are nifty if you see yourself having to work on anything mechanical, like a generator, radio, or even a car, but they become infitely less useful if you're in the wilderness. The exception to that rule is if you're pretty handy with traps, and you brought some snare wire along. Most good fixed blade survival knives will have a little notch for cutting thin wire, but I find the pliers to be very handy. My main gripe with multi-tools is that it's sometimes hard to find and pull out the tool you need under normal conditions, nevermind in the dark, drenched by freezing rain, with one or more injuries. I consider them a fair-weather friend, in other words.

It also depends on how much weight you're looking to carry. Less = Better, obviously, so if you don't need an axe and a shovel, don't bring them 'just in case.' A single good knife can do all that in emergencies. If your goal is to get somewhere fast, and remain highly mobile,

I like Gerber's multi-tools - the one I still have has survived a lot of normal wear and tear, not to mention some abnormal abuse, and it's stood up well, works like new in fact.

I carry it with me often, and in an emergency I would almost certainly take it along. It takes the place of a small folder on the hip, and does a lot more (3 Blades > 1 Blade). A camp axe on the other hip (I don't carry a sidearm) and a shovel and a skinner in the pack, and I'm a happy camper.

I think Gerber is okay if you like Chinese steel. What good english or german or even swedish stuff is out there that people know about? I guess there must still be some knives made in the US too.

Japanese knives are very well made. I owned a military style full tanto Japanese knife that has a serated edge near the handle, and a straight edge at the end. I loaned it to my father who is with the US Military in Afghanistan. He and his army buddies all love it and use it more often than their own US military knife. It hasn't worn down any bit, as he tells me.

CRKT Ryan 7.

Half serrated / half razor sharp.

Awesome piece of kit. Used mine on every thing from ropes and belays to animals and other stuff in between.

Great folder, with an unusual second safety feature. Lock the knife in extended position, and then slide the small knurled notch forward to creat an impossible to close knife... safe as houses for real rough stuff. great knife, good feel, and looks the business and does the business.

IMHO the best combat/survival knives in the world are made by Randall. I own the models 1, 14, 15, and 16 Diver in stainless steel.

I think most soldiers would agree on that one as well, and Randall is a company that takes care of soldiers no matter where their AO may be.

For a general purpose utility knife when I am out on my ATV, I prefer the USAF Pilot Survival knife. If I lose it, I am not poor or broken-hearted like I'd be if I lost one of my Randalls!

For a true survival knife I look for a few simple things.
Ease of sharpening
edge retention
durability
comfort

Not necissarly in that order.
The one company that I find that meets these criteria and is afordable is Cold Steel. Some people dont like them but I do. I own several of their knives and have never been disappointed. I have never been in a survival situation so I cannot speak from expierence. My friend who went to Iraq carried several knives with him when he left to go there, all but 1 was a cold steel. They did not let him down.

[edit on 20-11-2006 by ultralo1]

DO NOT buy knifes the are hollow in the handle. Some have some survival items that go inside, but do not buy them. They are very cheap and weak. The handle can break off easily and then it's pretty useless.


No hollow-handle knifes.

I've hear nothing but bad things about cold steel. Maybe that was all incorrect.

enjoies
You're right, many hollow-handle knives are very cheap and break easily - but there are exceptions. Obviously survivalists aren't going to want a cheap piece of crap movie prop, but there are a few manufacturers who make quality blades with hollow handles for storage.

The big test is whether the blade/hilt will come apart from the handle easily. Since it's impossible to manufacture a proper full tang if the handle is hollow, that's where the problem originates. Those cheap knives you're talking about have the handle connected to the hilt/blade with epoxy or a small pin, neither is going to stand up to any serious amount of abuse.

I have my firecraft kit contained separately in a small, waterproof container, and I also carry a magnesium firestarter on a keychain for backup. I reccomend everyone else do the same, rather than rely exclusively on a few matches in the handle of a knife.

The other complaint I've heard often about the hollow handles is that they don't remain waterproof for long under heavy use, probably because of cheap seals and lazy machining. So, don't put anything in there that can't stand a little moisture. I think you'd be fine putting your fishing tackle in there at least.

Anyway, thanks for posting that.

The Gerber Store is located in Portland, Oregon just a few miles from the gerber factory

, not in China!!!!

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
I've hear nothing but bad things about cold steel. Maybe that was all incorrect.

What things have you heard?

I used to work in an outfitters, and we sold a number of different knives. Twice in less than six months, that I can remember, we had returns on Cold Steel product because the locking mechanism was poorly machined, and wouldn't hold the blade securely.

I've also heard that they wouldn't keep an edge, but I never had this problem myself (I own one Cold Steel folder) - I suspect it's just a lapse in quality control. Anyway, you get what you pay for, generally, and Cold Steel is pretty cheap, yes?

I only have the fixed blades in cold steel. The only expirence I have with the folders is trough a freind and he has no complaints. I personally would not consider the Cold steels cheap. I would consider them reasonably priced for what I consider a good knife. Gerber is another decent one, but I feel that the quality is not as good as CS. Now this is in the under $100 range. If you are compareing this to the semi customs that are out there then yes CS is a cheap knife when it comes to quality and workmanship. I unfortunatly cannot spend money on the semi customs and it would definatly hurt my feelings if I lost it also.

I only carry bucks. But then the vast majority of my knife-needs come from hunting.

I don't like serrated edges. It is practically impossible to dress out a deer with a serrated knife, without damaging the meat, and especially the hide. Instead, a small hand-axe for breaking the sternum and the pelvis works much better, and is a lot safer. Anytime you find yourself hacking with a knife, you need to get a bigger knife or a small axe. And that's how people use serrated edges--to hack at away at a job they need an axe for.

my favorite knives are a stockman I've had since I was 9 years old (in my forties now) an alpha, and a strider.

I'm looking for an old-style buck axe; not the new plastic handle, but the old fashioned one, with a wooden handle. My grand-dad had one, but someone else heired it.

I have always relied on my Gurkha Khukri. It is a well proven tool with a long and illustrious history. Unlike many garden variety campers and hunters I have used mine in actual survival situations in remote corners of the world, and it has never let me down. It is sturdy, well suited to a variety of situations/tasks, and far better than a multiplier or Buck knife when survival is the key. Sure you can fix your car with a multiplier, or skin a deer with a Buck, but try felling a tree with one to make a shelter, or raft. A khukri is also an extremely formidable weapon should the need arise.
Yes, I do own a multiplier, I often use my Swiss army knife, and I have a superior Japanese tanto but if I could only have one tool with me in a survival situation it would be the Khukri no question.

terapin,
i have two.

One is a WW2 veteran killer (my grand fathers) multiple japanese and German #confirmed#...

and a modern one from the exchange guys we had when I was in the reserved armed forces in 1992..

they both are deadly sharp, but you know what, if i had to rumble with one of them, it would be the ww2 kukri...no contest.