best survival knife

[chinookpilot77]

The best survival knife is the same as the best survival gun...the one you have with you at the time. ;-)

I think that any knife around 5", full tang, sturdy grind, very sharp and comfortable in the hand will do as well as any other single knife.

I always carry two...one skinning knife, and one knife that does everything else....

I cannot stand trying to skin with anything other than a "hair poppin" blade.

[Winter]

Thanks for your service Ch-47.

Curious as to why you are skinning game in a survival situation. You cut all the fat away and skin is edible and delicious.

[chinookpilot77]

Thanks for your service Ch-47.

Curious as to why you are skinning game in a survival situation. You cut all the fat away and skin is edible and delicious.

I guide for pig hunters down here on 1200 Alabama acres nearly every week. My needs are a little different than most in the fact that I skin, on average, 10-12 200lb+ pigs every time I take a group of 3-4 hunters out with me. I gut, skin and quarter over 1000 pigs a year. I refuse to do it with the same knife I have been cutting wood with. YES, I'm aware it can be done, but I want something so sharp it can cut you just looking at it, and I don't have time out there to be messing with honing an edge unless its back at the house after a hunt.

[hunter63]

.................. I refuse to do it with the same knife I have been cutting wood with. YES, I'm aware it can be done, but I want something so sharp it can cut you just looking at it, and I don't have time out there to be messing with honing an edge unless its back at the house after a hunt.

10-4 on that....it gives me the willies to watch some one beating on a knife.......some say baton...some say beating the ship out of it.

[Winter]

Ahh, ok, that explains that.

[hunter63]

Well I'll tell ya....when I see someone post, "I have a 8" dia. cedar log and I want to baton it in half for a camp bench....what's the best knife?

My head screams, "What a Dumas, no knife, you moron, get an ax or wedges and a sledge,...use the proper tool".....but I digress.....
Sorry, got carried away.......

[randyt]

Another way is to change methods based on equipment. Rather than splitting a log with a knife for a bench, make a bench out of smaller stock. Like a row of 1 1/2" poles lashed together with spruce root or such.

[Winter]

Well I'll tell ya....when I see someone post, "I have a 8" dia. cedar log and I want to baton it in half for a camp bench....what's the best knife?

My head screams, "What a Dumas, no knife, you moron, get an ax or wedges and a sledge,...use the proper tool".....but I digress.....
Sorry, got carried away.......

Hunter, If you intend to build a cabin, you bring the tools you need. Now, if my boat sinks, I will need shelter for the night. Unfortunately I didn't have the foresight to bring my chainsaw. I did have my knife and I made shelter with it.

Take your sig line for instance. I can process wood with a large knife, so, I don't have to carry an axe, a splitting maul, etc.

This is a survival forum right? It's not a "Everything is hunky dory and my truck is right there filled with tools" forum.

[hunter63]

Yeah, I hear ya, good point. Thanks.............was just venting a bit.....You are correct...... mea culpa.
Problem is, a lot of people don't know the difference....and I do try to be helpful and positive......

[Winter]

No worries. I have found myself defending batoning for many years.

[hunter63]

I guess my point is this.....New guy come on and asks about splitting a log with his knife......of course he isn't really surviving, but practicing...good on him.
But he should know the difference on doing something because he has to.....and know how....fine,.....BUT I would advise him against using his knife in favor of a better tool, if possible....just like using your survival knife as a spear tip, or throwing it at game.
Break it, lose it.....and you are screwed.

Sorry , but it still gives me the willies....and I have done it when I had to......and avoided it when possible.

Heck I sawed down a 3" dia. sapling w/my SAK's saw, in an ill advised attempt to knock a coon out of the crotch....thinking "Hat"....and he laughed at me as he rode it down and took a powder.
I won't do that again.....LOL
Anyway carry on, I'll be quite now.......

[Winter]

So you almost got a temporary coon hat? hahaha

[hunter63]

I guess you can look at it like that.......LOL

[Beo]

To me, and this is just my humble opinion, I have knives for different tasks, I chop things with a camp Axe or plants with a machete. I have fighting knives (made for just the taking of a life), I have skinning knives (for skinning game), I have fillet knives (for fish), and what I've come to call "working knives" by which I mean knives that are suited for camp work, field craft, etc. usually having a 6 to 12 inch blade, serrated spine, and good tip and solid handle. I prefer a full tang myself. But what I've found from use is that a good knife is an all around knife that I can use for all of that, I carry a folder everyday, and have my fixed blade on my pack unless I'm in the forests then it's on my person. Generally my fixed blade is my SOG Fixation Dagger. But a must in my pack is a good multitool, for that I have the Winchester and I used that a ton over in Afghanistan. Different knives have different uses, but if I were in a survival situation I know my folder would be up to the task and I would have that on me. Remember a knife of any kind is just a tool, your best weapon for any situation is your mind and clear calm thinking. Just my opinion.

[Batch]

Isn't preparedness about having what you need when you need it and making do with what you have when you don't have what you need?

Does having a winch on your vehicle preclude the need for knowledge of how to make a Kochanski Flip-Flop winch. Does owning a lighter preclude the need for other forms of fire making.

Knowing the limits of your tools and how far you can push them is important. But, you can baton a wedge and then use the baton as a hammer.

I have damaged tools using them for an improvised purpose. And I don't advocate it. But, some times you have to take the risk to get home.

An example. I had my ball joinmts done on my truck and they had to take the disks and calipers off to do it. Well, the left a bolt loose and I had to drive about 45 miles of dirt road to camp and then I found a lost bolt just before we hit the pavement on the way back. My dad and Sean found a bolt and an eastern diamond back together. The bolt wasn't mine though . LOL

anyway, I switched the bolt so the brakes locked up if I backed up and got home and then replaced the bolt.

Improvise and overcome. Right?

[SLVRBK]

I carry the Benchmade Nimravus......

[Sarge47]

To me, and this is just my humble opinion, I have knives for different tasks, I chop things with a camp Axe or plants with a machete. I have fighting knives (made for just the taking of a life), I have skinning knives (for skinning game), I have fillet knives (for fish), and what I've come to call "working knives" by which I mean knives that are suited for camp work, field craft, etc. usually having a 6 to 12 inch blade, serrated spine, and good tip and solid handle. I prefer a full tang myself. But what I've found from use is that a good knife is an all around knife that I can use for all of that, I carry a folder everyday, and have my fixed blade on my pack unless I'm in the forests then it's on my person. Generally my fixed blade is my SOG Fixation Dagger. But a must in my pack is a good multitool, for that I have the Winchester and I used that a ton over in Afghanistan. Different knives have different uses, but if I were in a survival situation I know my folder would be up to the task and I would have that on me. Remember a knife of any kind is just a tool, your best weapon for any situation is your mind and clear calm thinking. Just my opinion.

Well said! +1!....

[Beo]

Batch, "Isn't preparedness about having what you need when you need it and making do with what you have when you don't have what you need?"

Well, yes, but that doesn't mean I'ma use a my knife to dig a fire pit if I have small shovel. But if I don't have a shovel and I need a fire pit, then yes. I don't shoot 100yrds with a pistol if I have rifle either.
Tools have uses and each task has the proper tool. BUT in a survival situation one will use what one has on them, with them, or near them.
Personally I don't think anyone, no matter how prepared they are, is truly prepared for every situation, but trying is half the battle, and just may save your a$$ when you need it.
Again just my humble opinion, but great post BTW.

[countryboy10]

this probably doesnt sound like a dream to you but i wish i had a super sharp bamboo knife

[Lamewolf]

This post kinda sorta makes me laugh. Not taunting the one posting it, but what I mean is some of the things you read and hear coming from so called "survival experts" say that a survival knife must be. Some of them will say a survival knife must be big like a machete, some say a small knife. Some say only a full tang knife will work and others say use nothing but a scandi grind and never use a stick tang knife. I'm 57 years old and have run the woods most of my life and used just about every kind of the knives I listed here. I've used some really cheap knives too, but then when I was young, a $3 "Original Bowie Knife" as stamped on the blade actually had some decent quality to it and I still have a couple of them. They were full tang knives with cheap riveted handles but had real leather sheaths ! I've used stick tang German Solengen knives that are very durable and I've still got a couple of them that are over 40 years old and still going strong. I've got a few scandi knives, most of them Mora's that I would trust is a survival situation anytime because they are very durable even though they are only a 3/4 stick tang ! I've got and used quite a few Schrade Old Timers that have lasted for years and one of my favorites is my old 165 Woodsman - a very strong knife ! Bottom line is, if the knife is well made with decent steel and isn't some sort of wierd space cadet design with steel that is as soft as lead, will take and hold an edge, and is a fairly simple design, it will suffice as a survival knife ! Here are my preferences for a survival knife. Blade length around 4 to 6 inches with a handle big enough to fit my hand and feel comfortable. Carbon steel like 1095, 5160, D2, O1 etc. I prefer full flat grind but thats not set in stone. Blade design, something simple like a drop or spear point. Square spine for use with a fire steel, no serations or saw teeth. And I prefer leather sheaths. Again, these are my preferences, your's may be different, but I think knives that fit my preferences will do most of the chores needed of them when the chips are down. I also prefer to carry a small pocket knife like a 3 bladed stockman, and a small belt axe.