Best hunting/survival knife?

Folder - Kershaw Black Blur ( I have the serrated Model)

www.viewonline.com...

Fixed - Ka Bar USMC Fighting Knife ...SEMPER FI!!!

www.defensetech.org...

There are many very nice knives to choose from. I have several.

I own a Bowie I got from cheaper than dirt, s.s., full tang, very strong construction. Great for cutting just about anything you would need to cut, including gutting animals/fish, and good for chopping small brush. I would highly recommend this one to anybody for survival purposes.

I have a cheap survival type knife, s.s. hollow end that holds survival items, though it's attractive looking &functional, it may break if you use it for chopping or prying. I've used it for camping a few times.

Another I have is a massive one...made my united cutlery, designed by Gil Hibben. 18 inches total, full tang, it's a genuine Rambo III reproduction. Beautiful piece, I have zero doubts this one would have any trouble performing if I called upon it, excellent construction, you can tell it's just a well built bowie knife. The knives in Rambo 1&2 are attractive, but again, not full tang.

I would definately get something big enough to defend yourself with, full tang a must, something you could chop/cut small brush with.

I love knives, and have owned many over the years, can't go wrong with a good knife You don't have to reload them.

Ka-bar makes some nice ones, as does Winchester, and Gerber. Not a bad idea to have a good sized, durable bowie, and then a small lock blade pocket knife for back up/smaller jobs.

I've used machetes in the past as well, very cool, but most people want something more compact, and easier to carry.

choices choices.

As far as "survival Knives" go most articles I have read lean toward a good full tang fixed blade and a practical folder. I have several knives but for the most part I carry either a buck vangard or a SOG seal pup in the woods. For a folder I really like knives by victorinox (Swiss Army). I recently got a victorinox german infantry folder that features a one hand opening locking blade and is quite comfortable for daily carry.

I'd probably lean towards a good quality, medium-sized folder. The reason? I can carry it virtually anywhere in the United States without running afoul of the law. Once you get over 3.5" or so, most states start considering them a 'concealed weapon' if carried in public, usually carrying a misdemeanor charge, but occasionally is a felony in a few states.

Considering that a survival situation could easily occur away from home (in fact, its probably more likely it will), I'd consider the folder as my primary knife and budget accordingly. Its legal virtually everywhere and will be available to me if I ever needed it.

[edit on 23-2-2008 by vor78]

has anyone had any experiance with lofty wiseman survival tool? just wondered what folks think of it?
m x

www.himalayan-imports.com...

I haven't used one lately, but plan to get another one soon.

[edit on 3-5-2008 by Ihavenoidea]

Okay so i've read this topic for about a week and I myself have been looking for the best survival knife out on the market today. I think in any situation a multi tool would be a great in any situation. If your looking for a knife to to handle a situations look into the GERBER LMF II ASEK! it has good reviews and you can see the abuse i goes through on youtube. It cost around $95.00 to 75.00 U.S. Dollars. In my mind best knife for the money and it has a sharpener on the sheath. Check it out i hope it helps!!!!!

Okay so i've read this topic for about a week and I myself have been looking for the best survival knife out on the market today. I think in any situation a multi tool would be a great in any situation. If your looking for a knife to handle a survival situation look into the GERBER LMF II ASEK! It has good reviews and you can see the abuse i goes through on youtube. It cost around $95.00 to 75.00 U.S. Dollars. In my mind best knife for the money and it has a sharpener on the sheath. Check it out i hope it helps!!!!!

i am making my own, high carbon steel blade (best for sharp edge and staying sharp) not too much carbon or it becomes brittle, full tang for strength, horn handle, lovely. for cheapness i would recommend Frosts Mora 740 High Carbon Bushcraft, Survival Knife, you wont believe how sharp you can get them. but as i always say get as many as you can, go to raymears.com learn from this man about blades, there is a reason his knives are £400 +, he is the god of survival knowledge

Hm. Stumbled upon this thread now. Funny, as I was just in the process of aquiring a new fixed blade survival knife, as my survival knife through at least 10 years was recently stolen (the knife itself sucked, but it was good to have and it have survived quite some use through the years)

I agree to Gerber. I owned a partially serrated gator folded that I sadly lost while traveling in Oceania in 2005. I loved it and will reccomend it to anyone as a compact folded knife to have in your survival kit, or better, keep with you at all times. I usually don't like serrated blades, but I usually carry two knives and like my folded to have a partially serrated blade.

Which brings me to the knife I want to get now. I want some advice, or spesific reccomendations rather.

I want a fixed blade. About 6 - 8" plain edged (main blade side needs to be plain, but a serrated part on the backside of the blade is acceptable). I will use it typically for when im out hunting, hiking or camping. It will be used often to chop heavy wood or young trees, cut strong rope or line and maybe the occational small-scale digging. It should be sharp enough to cut through strong military type tarp and tend cloth with ease, where a smaller folded knife will be a bit clumsy to work with. It should survive semi-extended use in extreme sub-zero temperatures down to -30C.

It will be used with care, so I'm not partial to very high quality and expansive knives (allthough im not looking for a luxury product).

I like the military style for this kind of knife. Black coating is a preferance, as I am not a fan of shiney blades for some reason.. black coating can also help the lifetime of the blade. It should not be a featherweight knife, as I like some weight to it when chopping. I love a good nylon military style sheat, as I have had bad experiences with leather in wet conditions and just feel it is more compact than plastic. I like a sheat that have a seperate storage for a sharpening stone and such.

I have been looking at:
SOG Tech Bowie and the SOG Bowie II.
Benchmade Model 155, Benchmade model 158 and model 156
Fallkniven A1.
Sissipuukoo M95
Different Chris Reever knives.

I have a lack in experience and have not had the pleasure of using any of the typical high quality fixed blades apart from a Norwegian army issue survival knife (not sure who manufactured them), so it's easy for me to get lost in specs and reccomendations irrelevant to my preferances and uses. I have a natural trust in outdoor products manufactured in Scandinavia, and I have very good experiences with U.S manufactured knives. Because of this all the non-US (and Japan I guess) produced SOG knives (about all of their fixed blades) are sort of at the bottom of my list, but I'm sure my skepticism can be killed off by someone.

So do any of you have any experience with any of the above mentioned knives? Or have any reccomendations of products in the same style?

I believe there are only 2 main concerns when buying a survival knife.

1. Full tang construction.
2. 440 Stainless steel.

Then you just have to consider the blade itself and aesthetics to make you feel better about it
.
I would not recommend a serrated blade as it becomes difficult to sharpen without the proper tools. Ideally, you want to have a sharpening stone and that’s it to be able to sharpen. Less to carry, less energy required to sharpen which becomes important if you have not been able to eat. I would suggest a good medium size blade also, about your hand’s length. I would restrain from relying on a short blade solely for survival. I have many knives, but in a survival situation, I would carry at least 2 knives. One about 8 – 10 inches long (good durable full tang with 440 SS) and one lock-back folding pocket knife (good for carving or whittling wood to make whatever you need but the blade is still 440 SS and it is not thin like the swiss army knife is.)

Just some aspects you need to consider.

reply to post by me_ofef_seraph


I have three Chris Reeve knives. I have carried his Sebenza now for 15 years. It has been without fail the best folder I have ever had, and that is saying a lot. I also have two of his fixed blades. One is in my bob the other stays with me in my daypack. They are nondescript and totally indestructable. I have tried! They are easy to sharpen keep a good edge and are the most solid built knife I have ever held. He uses D2 tool steel not 440 stainless. The advantage to this, ease of sharpening, edge maintenance, flexibility, and in a survival situation one can strike a spark from it. You cannot start a fire with 440 stainless steel. there is not enough carbon in it. The downside is his knives are pricey. Take it from someone very well versed in outdoor living and survival techniques. These knives have been used day in and day out in the very conditions that you might need them. Ann added plus is that his handles are hollow. I keep firestarting tinder in mine. Being made from a solid piece of steel this is not a detriment as is the case of most hollow handle knives. Nothing to fall apart or break, just good solid steel!

respectfully

reluctantpawn

The best cheap knife that I know of is one you make yourself. Go to a local lawnmower repair shop and ask the owner/repairman for worn old edger or lawn mower blades. Most times, they'll bring you out a bucket full of them and say thanks for taking them. If not, they may charge you a couple of bucks but for what you getting it worth 10x the price. The blades are tough, rust resistant and can be resharpened thousands of time. The edger blades are just the right size for belt knife and the mower blades make good machetes. I've cut them to shape before with a hacksaw but it can be done with a dremel tool using cut off wheels or a jigsaw using a metal cutting blade. Thicker and wider professional mower blades can also be used for making tomahawks/hatchets. I would sooner be without a smaller knife if it meant giving up a tomahawk/hatchet. .

Originally posted by reluctantpawn
reply to post by me_ofef_seraph

 

I have three Chris Reeve knives. I have carried his Sebenza now for 15 years. It has been without fail the best folder I have ever had, and that is saying a lot. I also have two of his fixed blades. One is in my bob the other stays with me in my daypack. They are nondescript and totally indestructable. I have tried! They are easy to sharpen keep a good edge and are the most solid built knife I have ever held. He uses D2 tool steel not 440 stainless. The advantage to this, ease of sharpening, edge maintenance, flexibility, and in a survival situation one can strike a spark from it. You cannot start a fire with 440 stainless steel. there is not enough carbon in it. The downside is his knives are pricey. Take it from someone very well versed in outdoor living and survival techniques. These knives have been used day in and day out in the very conditions that you might need them. Ann added plus is that his handles are hollow. I keep firestarting tinder in mine. Being made from a solid piece of steel this is not a detriment as is the case of most hollow handle knives. Nothing to fall apart or break, just good solid steel!

respectfully

reluctantpawn

Aye. As far as I know, he makes some fine hollow handle knives. I would usually stay 100% clear of hollow handle, but according to a lot of people, Chris Reeves is the way to go for hollow handle knives of good quality. D2 steel is also a plus. I may go for a chris reeves tactical military style knife in the future. I am very much leaning towards a Gerber LMF II for my next knife though.

In any case I decided on the Fallkniven A1 for my survival knife needs this time. I could not be happier. Good handle, elegant look, Sharp and strong VG10 steel that is very easy to sharpen to a shaving edge. I got a SpecOps combat master sheath for it. The short model is supposed to fit the A1 perfectly.

reply to post by me_ofef_seraph


that is a good choice and not near as pricey. Plus it really stinks when you lose a knife that you pay 300$ us for.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

Just wanted to toss in my 2 cents.

Every time I go into the bush I have 5 cutting tools with me. Some times 6 if I include a small chain saw.

1) Full Size Axe (Mastercraft)
2) Hatchet (Mastercraft)
3) Buck Knife (Buck, 6-7" typical model thats been around for years)
4) Small Carving Knife (Kershaw, 4" folding/switch blade action)
5) Fillet Knife (Rapala, typical)

If I were in a survival situation I wouldnt want to be without any of my list of 5 cutting tools. The only one I could afford to drop is the Fillet Knife, but for me I would be fly fishing for a good portion of my food, assuming that resorce was still usable.

I would say with a doubt, yes, but no, somebody can just make the same thing with a diamond edge. Then it will never need to be sharpened

The Becker BK7 is definately the best survival knife made.
It can constantly take a beating and can be used for chopping.
If you can ever find this knife for sale i would buy it because it is a rare find. Luckily i already have one =)

Don't buy a survival knife, most are weak and won't last very long under hard use. Buy a Ka-bar. It's the best knife ever made and are a lot cheaper priced than most good quality knives. You can get one for about $50.

reply to post by CX


For a good all around survival knife you want a fix blade knife, but do not get one with a hollow handle. This makes the handle very weak and prone to breaking, and having a handle-less knife in a survival situation is not good. Some people may argue that you need the survial kit in the hollow handle, but yo are better off just buying or making a mini survival kit and carrying it seperately. Sure it will add extra weight and take up extra space, but it is worth it to save your knife. The knife youll want shouldn't be too big, no more than 5-6 inches, and needs to be durable and tough.
A good knife for his criteria would be an sog seal pup elite. These are very sharp, very tough, and waterproof (there tested to navy seal standards), but they are a bit hard to sharpen so make sure you know how to sharpen it before you go out in the field. These are a bit pricy on the sog website, around 120 dollars, but I have seen them for around 75 on other websites. Make sure you get the kydex sheath, it is tough, waterproof, and has a groove allowing you to cut line without unsheathing the knife, and the nylon sheath is no good. Be sure to double check about the kydex sheath, as I believe the standard sheath is nylon.
As for an axe, be sure to get one with a composite handle and steel head, and depending on what your doing, the size should vary from a 5 inch handle to a much larger size. For a machete I woul reccomend the woodsman pal machete. It is a little big and cumbersome but it can provide a variety of different tasks.
If you are backpacking and need to travel very light, I would carry a seal pup, a gerber backpakc axe, and some commando wire saw. This saw is amazing, as it has all the full capabilities of a full size saw but is as heavy as pencil. Plus it is easy to use.
Hope this helped, and good luck.