Machete, or any other blade?

[I am Groot]

OK, this is hypothetical, so bear with me ... if you were moving fast to bug out...and you only had one opportunity to grab a blade, would it be a machete, folding SAK, full tang, multi tool, axe, sharpe shovel etc? No two sharp objects... just one.

I know it should depend on the terrane, but without knowing where you end up? What is the best all around tool for survival?

[natertot]

OK, this is hypothetical, so bear with me ... if you where moving fast to bug out...and you only had one opportunity to grab a blade, would it be a machete, folding SAK, full tang, multi tool, axe, sharpe shovel etc? No two sharp objects... just one.

I know it should depend on the terrane, but without knowing where you end up? What is the best all around tool for survival?

Only one? I'm disqualified off the bat. I always have at least three on my person all the time. A really small pocket knife, I 3 1/2" folder, and a gerber multi tool. To grab another one on the fly, it would probably be a camp axe.

[hunter63]

Around here in Wisconsin, I think would pick an ax.
I do carry a SAK always, unless metal isn't allowed...planes, court house,......etc.

I can see where a machete may be chosen in your area.

Why do you ask...?

If something happens you have what you have....at the time.....so maybe a better question may be to relate a scenario... ...
Hurricane?
Fire?
Asleep?
Flood?

What condition are you in at that moment?........Car wreak? Trapped?...Hot/cold?....Where are you?.....
Why when given a choice as you have stated, would you only pick one?....Are they in big pile?....(Yeah I know your rules)

PS I'm playing along as we haven't done this in a while. ....So sticking with an ax.... at this point.

[canid]

It's going to have to be a medium small fixed blade knife, given those criteria.

[SARKY]

If I have to run out of the house, I am grabbing my bag, and attached to that is my BenchMade Bushmaster. It is tried and true. It has been around the world with me (literally) twice. and has been part of my kit for more than 30 years. I've tried other blades but always come back to it.

[Graf]

My BK2 medium fixed blade, full tang, bush proven. Smaller edge tools can be made from rocks/stones. The BK2 can baton, skin,and perform daily camp and bush chores and holds an edge nicely.

[pete lynch]

I have blades everywhere, all the time.
All my kits have knives, some have machetes, some have saws and hatchets and some have all 4.

[xjosh40x]

I think I'd grab my SOG machete. It has a shorter blade. 16 inches total length and a saw blade on the backside if the blade. I've also drill a small 1/2 inch indention on the handle to use as a pivot for a bow and drill method and the handle has a small compartment enough for some weatherproof matches. Sturdy as stays sharp. Easily to carry and can cut, slice, split and in worst case kill a threat.

[Walter2]

Leatherman wave

[ElevenBravo]

I could not take one, its outside the realm of sensible.

I would take my Mora for smaller, finer stuff.. Gutting, dressing, etc.. and my Condor Golok for shelter, etc.. etc.. The Golok is pretty heavy but I can attest that the last thing you want in a large swinging blade is light weight! A light machete will work you to death! A swinging blade with some weight is much more effective and efficient.

If your a gram hiker than none is this applies, if your a realist then a Golok would be one of the many very practical options.

EB

[Billy13426]

I would probably bring my leatherman sidekick because it has a saw and good knife built in

[I am Groot]

LOL! I guess I was trying to ask the question; what is (in your opinion) considered the best all around tool for survival? The hypothetical "choose one" stipulation was to get us to really think about it..(I guess). I realize that everybody on this forum has a EDC and a bug out bag loaded for their own needs/occasions. If I asked what three tools would you carry, I am sure we would get some repetition. Place yourself in worst case scenario and ask what if only one tool (blade) was available what would I want with me (protection, hunt/skin, chop, etc).

[tundrabadger]

I might take the machete...specifically, if I had a choice, there's one at my mother's cottage that I've used to clear out a lot of underbrush. Probably not the best choice all told, but I'm used to it, I know precisely what I can do with it and what I can't, so for me it's a decent blade to have with me, and any wilderness I'm likely to have to survive in these days isn't far off from that sort of terrain.

Of course, I'm cheating in my mind, because I USUALLY have either my opinel or a swiss army knife on my person, so I'm anticipating having one with me even so. That being said, I really like that machete. My brother in law bought a new one a few years ago. Contemplating taking the original one.

[kyratshooter]

When I woke up this morning, and pulled on my pants, there were already 2 knives in the pockets.

Walking through the kitchen I passed a dozen more.

Leaving the house I picked up my wallet, which contains a metal survival card with two sharp edges.

My keys are attached to another knife that had been their companion for more than 10 years.

Then I got to the vehicle. You do not really want to know what is in the vehicle.

I am sorry, but it is positively impossible for me to play the game.

Even Otzi, the iceman mummy from 5,000 years ago, pursued by murderers, chased through the primal wilderness, wounded and alone, out of arrows and with an unfinished bow, with his dying breath clutched both knife and axe.

See, even a caveman knows there is no one single best blade.

[hunter63]

LOL! I guess I was trying to ask the question; what is (in your opinion) considered the best all around tool for survival? The hypothetical "choose one" stipulation was to get us to really think about it..(I guess). I realize that everybody on this forum has a EDC and a bug out bag loaded for their own needs/occasions. If I asked what three tools would you carry, I am sure we would get some repetition. Place yourself in worst case scenario and ask what if only one tool (blade) was available what would I want with me (protection, hunt/skin, chop, etc).

Your scenario is still seriously flawed....If you had to "Pick" that means you have a choice, that means that there is still more than one available....so why not, two, or three etc.

That's why these questions although are meant to make you think is really not valid.

If something drastic happened .....whatever....then had one of "whatever"....the question becomes how could you use a "whatever" to do (pick an activity)...the idea being to adapt, make do, learn different uses....etc.
Example" Les Shroud "had " a salvaged boat propeller....digging, chopping, prying....but didn't "pick it"....(most likely did because of it being a TV show......

Now that make more sense than the old "if you only had one" of what ever.....

BYW N&A successful couples seems to favor a machete and fire starter....FWIW.

I'm done,.... so back to your regularly scheduled thread.

[Seniorman]

One wouldn't do for me, either, because I always have my old tried-'n-true Camillus Stockman folder in my pocket. Given that I'm in Idaho and the terrain, I'd take one of my good axes, probably my old Plumb. What I could not do with my Camillus Stockman, I could surely do with my Plumb axe. I believe I'd do okay in my area.

S.M.

[canid]

LOL! I guess I was trying to ask the question; what is (in your opinion) considered the best all around tool for survival?

The problem with this is that there isn't one. There are places and circumstances where a full sized axe is as near to essential for survival as one can get. That axe when traveling on foot in an urban emergency could be a huge liability; could get you arrested or worse for presumption of rioting. There are places where a machete is indispensable and those where it would be useless.

[randyt]

I'm gonna be odd man out. I'll grab my SKS bayonet (not the spike style) because there is a SKS attached to the other end.

[canid]

Hahaha. Good call.

[I am Groot]

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I see there are flaws in the question, although I had not thought the question itself (wording) would be so heavily scrutinized...but thats a good thing!

I personally would take a machete, which to me is essentially a big knife with some flex...maybe a 16 inch. I am sure it coud be used to build a small shelter, possibly a defensive weapon, and if I choked up on the blade, used to gut/butcher an animal. Other uses might be skinning bark off tree limbs, splitting small firewood, not to mention clear brush, etc. No not the best case scenario, but pushed to it's limits I think is the most effective survival blade tool.

Thanks for the input!