The Best All-around Survival Knife under £100/$160?

After spending a few hours searching for a decent and cheap all-around Survival knife, and finding many conflicting reviews,the best I have come across are the Fallkniven F1 Swedish Survival Knife for £94.95, the BUCK Special hunting Knife for £69.95, the ESEE RC-4 for $126.95 or the KA-BAR USMC for $49.97.

Anyone know of any faults with these knives or can recommend any better Survival knives?

Thankyou

Edit to add: Does anyone know the exact laws for knives and knife carrying in the UK?

The Becker Campanion is the very best knife for the price. You can't beat the quality and durability for that price. Their may be better knives, per se, but nothing will be better for under $100. It's a 5in blade made of 1095 cro van tool steel and the slab of steel is 1/4in thick. That's one tank of a knife.

The SOG seal pup is also a very good quality knife that is inexpensive.

And a Kukri made of a good quality steel. Something like a 1075 or 1085 carbon steel would be a good choice. Kukris absolutely kick butt.

www.tomarskabars.com...

Originally posted by Dionisius
After spending a few hours searching for a decent and cheap all-around Survival knife, and finding many conflicting reviews,the best I have come across are the Fallkniven F1 Swedish Survival Knife for £94.95, the BUCK Special hunting Knife for £69.95, the ESEE RC-4 for $126.95 or the KA-BAR USMC for $49.97.

Anyone know of any faults with these knives or can recommend any better Survival knives?

Thankyou

springassistedknife.blogspot.com...

www.preparedness1.com...

yangfeng-china.en.made-in-china.com...

moralauthority.wordpress.com...

Here u got some nice choices...

reply to post by Dionisius


I had the Buck Knife and still wish I had it to this day...(Lost it running through creek brush and didn't hear it drop) But even though these are Labeled Survival knives they don't strike me as a Survival Knife..I found some hand made Survival knives for cheap at a North Idaho Fair that were better than most I've seen on the Market but I lost those in a storage lol...To me a survival knife has a Compass on a hollow water tight handle that is filled with fishing line,matches.hooks and whatever else you might need besides what fits in the sheath. Usually they will have Bone/Limb saws on the back.

The Hand Made One I Had even had a detachable Handle with screw in studs/blades on the hand guard. Making it into a throwing weapon/Grappling Hook. I've seen similarities to it in stores but not as well done i'll see if I can find a pic..

Originally posted by kimish
The Becker Campanion is the very best knife for the price. You can't beat the quality and durability for that price. Their may be better knives, per se, but nothing will be better for under $100. It's a 5in blade made of 1095 cro van tool steel and the slab of steel is 1/4in thick. That's one tank of a knife.

The SOG seal pup is also a very good quality knife that is inexpensive.

And a Kukri made of a good quality steel. Something like a 1075 or 1085 carbon steel would be a good choice. Kukris absolutely kick butt.

www.tomarskabars.com...

edit on 11-9-2011 by kimish because: (no reason given)

edit on 11-9-2011 by kimish because: (no reason given)

Yeah Kukri's are probably the most Versatile Combat Blade Made...Wouldn't wanna be anywhere Hostile without one.

As mentioned above, take a look at the Becker BK2. I've been trying to settle on a decent fixed blade for a while, and after reading review after review, I think you're going to have a hard time finding something better at that price point, especially in terms of durability. I plan on buying one soon. They sell them for about $60 here in the US.

Of the ones you mentioned, the Fallkniven F1 and the RC-4 are outstanding choices, if a bit pricey.

reply to post by Dionisius


Hi there! Just thought I would shoot this out there but the ATS Survival Radio Show's youtube channel has some good tips on knives and such presented by Semperfortis. It may give you some good info and help you to decide what would work best for you. Here is the link:

Survival Radio Show - YouTube Channel

I just watched that movie "127 hours", that guy needed a better knife, then he woundn't of had to rip and chew his arm off.
He said don't buy china made knife.

reply to post by Dionisius


www.goxplore.net...(UK)
2nd
f

reply to post by NewsWorthy


What do you think of the M-Tech teflon coated? It looks cheap and chearful

ESEE makes very good knives.
ESEE used to be RAT.
very very good knives.

You can get a TOPS tracker T2 online for under $200 usd. they are also very good knives.
I personally carry a custom made Tracker-style knife, about the size of the T-2 (9.5nchess overall)

For a single, all around heavy duty survival knife, as another member posted, check out Khukuris.
Not the cheap ones,r the thin Cold steel ones.. check out HimilayanImports.com
Their Khukuris are nepali made, and have gotten tons of high reviews from every major knife publication in the last 10 years. usually made from leaf springs from old trucks, these are 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick art the spine and can cut through a steel oil drum.

I also carry more than one knife.

I carry a large tracker, smaller scout style fixed blade, and a sharp folder every time I leave the city..
those 3 are just the basics.

Check out the Gerber infantry knife, designed for special ops. It can cut through aircraft grade aluminum in case if you're trapped in an aircraft crash, has a buttcap nicknamed "skull crusher" by soldiers which was designed to break aircraft windshields. The sheath has a built in sharpener and the knife can be tied down to fashion a spear.

And an FYI, do not get drunk and try to throw it down and try to stick it in the floor, you might just hit your foot

www.amazon.com...

Bark River knives. I have a Bravo 1 and Its one of the best knives Ive ever owned. The prices are around your budget and they make many different styles. Link

Originally posted by Dionisius
reply to post by NewsWorthy

 

What do you think of the M-Tech teflon coated? It looks cheap and chearful

Looks Beautiful!!! Also I like the Above Mentioned Special Forces Knife with the Skullcracker.. I love it's Tactical Versatility...If I had the Choice between the 2 i'd go for the Kukri..It gives me the Crocadile Dundee feel.."That's not a Knife, now This Is a Knife"

The best "survival knife" is the one you have with you when the SHTF. The most expensive knife in the world is useless when it is not with you.

Originally posted by Kutas
Check out the Gerber infantry knife, designed for special ops. It can cut through aircraft grade aluminum in case if you're trapped in an aircraft crash, has a buttcap nicknamed "skull crusher" by soldiers which was designed to break aircraft windshields. The sheath has a built in sharpener and the knife can be tied down to fashion a spear.

And an FYI, do not get drunk and try to throw it down and try to stick it in the floor, you might just hit your foot

www.amazon.com...

That knife looks great, and for that price you cant go wrong, what about the Gerber Prodigy Survival Knife?

reply to post by Dionisius


I have not used that knife and I am not if it is constructed the same as the infantry knife but read this testimonial: Dillard Johnson

upload.wikimedia.org...

I bought a Buck game knife for £27 and it is awesome

www.buckknives.com...

made its first kill today in fact.

reply to post by vor78


Did some checking about the availablilty of the Becker and here in the netherlands i have to pay a wopping 92 euros for one. If I ever want such a knife, that will be the one.....that knife will help you in what ever difficult situation you are.

Here is the site I found the '' Becker Companion". I hope there is a web-store with some more reasonable prices in Europe. I tried some USA stores but most, if not all, do not ship knives international.

reply to post by Dionisius


The Swedish knife looks good for an all rounder. I found using heinnie.com... is great. It's the UK armed forces standard issue knife. It's great for batoning, general whittling and heavy duty. It's around £50 and you can pretty much abuse it and it will keep a great edge and easy to sharpen. No need to worry about breaking it, it's full tang and the one with a wooden handle you can sand down to make it more comfortable to use. I pair mine with a www.springfields.co.uk... to get the best of fine detail and heavy duty. You wont really find a knife that does everything so it's probably best to get a couple to use when your out in the field.

I've tried using the KABAR and it's great, only downside is I don't like the double sided sharpened edge. That's more for stabbing and fighting and you can cut yourself on it if your not careful, plus you cant really baton the top of the blade without blunting the top edge.

I wouldn't recommend using a partial serrated blade because it's hell to sharpen, doesn't do anything special and will get blunt after batoning. Knives that curve up too much are harder to control and you'll end up cutting yourself more often, again I don't see the point of that particular feature. The Jack Adam's MOD survival knife is amazing... It's just simple, no frills and does everything you want a large survival knife to do while the Mora Clipper does all the finer work.


I also wouldn't recommend a folding knife because they are going to snap shut, even with locking mechanisms it doesn't encourage confident knife work.... When you have one snap shut on you that's it, you will never use a folding knife again trust me.

I carry a Leatherman's multi tool as well and use the file to sharpen my other knives. That also has a nice knife on it but it's a fold out one so I rarely use it, maybe to open boxes etc...

Hope this helps!