Knife/Survival Knife Info.

Golath, here's the site of a knife maker that produces quality hollow handle knives.
Check out what goes into making that design work and what steels are used. Then after you see the quality look at the price tags. I'm a metal fabricator. The tool steel/knife steel good knives are made from cost more than your knife did. Blank stock pieces. If you consider the time involved in polishing, assembling, sharpening, then packaging your knife and the labor costs involved, how much is the metal worth?

http://www.chrisreeve.com/

You all can bark about "quality" knives at $300-400 all you want. I will never own a knife that costs that much. In my mind, that's just nuts. I can own 10 or more good quality knives for that much. Quick, crab a paper bag! I'm hyperventilating.

I'm only talking about that specific design. I received one as a gift. that's the ONLY reason i have one. My day to day woods knife varies between a 50 year old Marble's or one of the other dozen's of knives I've picked up here and there. Mostly used knives and all under fifty bucks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rick

You all can bark about "quality" knives at $300-400 all you want. I will never own a knife that costs that much. In my mind, that's just nuts. I can own 10 or more good quality knives for that much. Quick, crab a paper bag! I'm hyperventilating.

---

I saw a review a year or two back for some titanium fishing pliers. They were in that price range ($300-$400). I'm thinking "yeah, I'll take those in a boat". A $10 pair that won't make me cry if I drop them in the lake is much better for me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yooper14

I think the best survival knife is a fixed blade, about 4 1/2". If you're in a survival situation, you don't need a philips screwdriver and a pair of scissors...you need a blade that will handle all you can throw at it. I really like the Swiss Mora knives. They are super durable, keep a great edge, and are cheap. #1 survival knife, in my humble opinion!

---

This kind of depend on if you are surviving in an urban or wilderness setting. In an urban area a set of screwdrives and set of scissors might come in very handy such as opening some covers to get to an electrical panel to reroute power, or using the scissors to cut away clothing from an injured person. True a knife could be used to do that but the scissors dont require the force needed from a knife with the upward motion and there is less of a chance of a accidental puncture with scissors on an injured person.

Good points Loki - How about heading over to the Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks. You can find it here http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by troutndeer

The glock knifes are great, the handels and scaberd are made from the same pastic as their pistoles. It holds a good edge and they are cheap.

---

I too own a glock knife and while I think that it does ok at holding an edge I do think that the blade profile is to thick for most average chores such as cleaning fish and basic food prep. Try cleaning a hand size brim with it and you will learn to hate the knife.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Strider

I'm just wondering... out of everyone here, what do you think is the best brand of knife? I already have several, mostly buck knives... I've heard leatherman is good... is that true? :confused:

---

I personally don't think any one brand is the best. Different knives for different applications and all makers have their ups and downs. I have over 20 knives from at least 8 different makers and I like them all for different things.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by crashdive123

...you will probably find that 440 stainless and flint do not do a good job at making a spark.

---

Why do you think this? I have a few different knives of 440 stainless. I have experienced no problem getting a nice shower of sparks from them and a FireSteel.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yooper14

I think the best survival knife is a fixed blade, about 4 1/2". If you're in a survival situation, you don't need a philips screwdriver and a pair of scissors...

---

While I think I understand the point you are making, I'm not sure I totally agree with this. Of all the tools on my SAK (a Victorinox Fieldmaster), the scissors get the most used - even when camping/hiking/"surviving." It is actually amazing just how useful they are.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rick

You all can bark about "quality" knives at $300-400 all you want. I will never own a knife that costs that much. In my mind, that's just nuts. I can own 10 or more good quality knives for that much. Quick, crab a paper bag! I'm hyperventilating.

---

With this I totally agree . My most expensive knife (a rosewood handled Buck Alpha Hunter) retailed at about $70 (I paid $45). Most of my knives were considerably less expensive. I have yet to find anyone who could do anything more with their "quality," $300+ knives. In fact, most of these guys that I have met do such a poor job of keeping their knives properly sharpened that they couldn't do half of what I could.

As my dad likes to say, "you could ride bare-a$$ed to Boston on that blade!"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lucznik

Why do you think this? I have a few different knives of 440 stainless. I have experienced no problem getting a nice shower of sparks from them and a FireSteel.

---

Make you a deal. You go to the introduction section and tell us a little about yourself - wilderness experience, general age, general location, etc. and I'll answer your question.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by crashdive123

Make you a deal. You go to the introduction section and tell us a little about yourself - wilderness experience, general age, general location, etc. and I'll answer your question.

---

Do you know how much typing that requires??


O.K. done.

I guess it's time for me to pay up. Nice intro by the way.

Quote:

---

Why do you think this? I have a few different knives of 440 stainless. I have experienced no problem getting a nice shower of sparks from them and a FireSteel.

---

If you are getting a nice shower of sparks using your firesteel and a knife, I doubt that blade is made of 440 stainless steel. Stainless steel and a ferrocium rod will not produce a shower of sparks. Without getting too technical, stainless does not have the material in it to make it happen, while carbon steel does. There is also a high carbon stainless steel available. While 440 stainless does have a higher carbon content than some other stainless varieties, and you can get some sparks - a high carbon content blade (like 1095 carbon steel) will produce much more. Try this - use the back of your 440 stainless knife against your firesteel, and then use the back of a hacksaw blade. You should see a huge difference. If the knife you are using is producing a "shower of sparks" then my guess is that it isn't 440 stainless.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lucznik

With this I totally agree . My most expensive knife (a rosewood handled Buck Alpha Hunter) retailed at about $70 (I paid $45). Most of my knives were considerably less expensive. I have yet to find anyone who could do anything more with their "quality," $300+ knives. In fact, most of these guys that I have met do such a poor job of keeping their knives properly sharpened that they couldn't do half of what I could.

As my dad likes to say, "you could ride bare-a$$ed to Boston on that blade!"

---

Since you mentioned the Alpha, here's mine. Oh, by the way mine's plenty sharp. All my knives will shave ya.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by crashdive123

I guess it's time for me to pay up. Nice intro by the way. If you are getting a nice shower of sparks using your firesteel and a knife, I doubt that blade is made of 440 stainless steel. Stainless steel and a ferrocium rod will not produce a shower of sparks. Without getting too technical, stainless does not have the material in it to make it happen, while carbon steel does. There is also a high carbon stainless steel available. While 440 stainless does have a higher carbon content than some other stainless varieties, and you can get some sparks - a high carbon content blade (like 1095 carbon steel) will produce much more. Try this - use the back of your 440 stainless knife against your firesteel, and then use the back of a hacksaw blade. You should see a huge difference. If the knife you are using is producing a "shower of sparks" then my guess is that it isn't 440 stainless.

---

I'm using two knives to test this. The first is a the little green handled lockback that I recieved as a door prize at the Ducks Unlimited banquet. It has "440 STAINLESS" laser engraved on the side of the blade. The second is the little all-stainless skeletonized knife which has "STAINLESS STEEL 440" stamped into the side of the blade. I am using a FireSteel from www.firesteels.com. I get a similar amount of sparks from the knives as I get from the FireSteel Striker that came with the FireSteel. I suppose it is possible that both of these knives could be mis-marked, though I would be a bit surprised.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...nik/knives.jpg

I think the critical matter is the sharpness of the back edge. If it is rounded at all, it doesn't want to work. But as long as it has a good, flat edge you can get sparks pretty easily.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tennecedar

Since you mentioned the Alpha, here's mine. Oh, by the way mine's plenty sharp. All my knives will shave ya.

---

Very nice. Here is mine. Actually, I have another as well. It is the rubber handled one like yours, only mine has the guthook - which, incidentally, I really don't like.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...lphaHunter.jpg

Since we've been discussing getting sparks from a knife I will throw in here that the one problem I have had with this particular Alpha Hunter is the fact that the back edge of the blade has been quite well rounded. As a result, I cannot get sparks using this knife unless I use the actual blade - which I am loathe to do. This isn't a huge problem as the striker that came with my FireSteel is always attached to it, but I would like for this utility to be part of my knife's abilities. My rubber-handled Alpha Hunter does not have this same rounding of the back edge and so I can get sparks from it just fine.

When I get a chance I will probably try to file down a small portion of the back edge to get a area conducive to spark throwing as otherwise this is my favorite knife.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lucznik

I'm using two knives to test this. The first is a the little green handled lockback that I recieved as a door prize at the Ducks Unlimited banquet. It has "440 STAINLESS" laser engraved on the side of the blade. The second is the little all-stainless skeletonized knife which has "STAINLESS STEEL 440" stamped into the side of the blade. I am using a FireSteel from www.firesteels.com. I get a similar amount of sparks from the knives as I get from the FireSteel Striker that came with the FireSteel. I suppose it is possible that both of these knives could be mis-marked, though I would be a bit surprised.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...nik/knives.jpg

I think the critical matter is the sharpness of the back edge. If it is rounded at all, it doesn't want to work. But as long as it has a good, flat edge you can get sparks pretty easily.

---

What make is the smaller knife, Luc., & where is it made? Some companies, like Buck for instance, add carbonto the stainless steel, which is why Buck advertises their steel as 420HC; the initials stand for the added carbon content.:cool2:

The short answer is - I don't know.

The Ducks Unlimited knife has "PRC" (I'm guessing People's Republic of China) laser engraved on the opposite side of the blade. The belt/pocket clip also has the brand name "GunHunter" in the plastic.

The smaller knife was purchased in an auto parts store in Salt Lake City, Utah about 8 or so years ago. It has no brand name nor does it have a "made in ___" stamp anywhere on it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lucznik

When I get a chance I will probably try to file down a small portion of the back edge to get a area conducive to spark throwing as otherwise this is my favorite knife.

---

Why not just try a different area of the knife, such as the flat area between the lanyard hole at the back of the handle and the grooves on the back?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alpine_Sapper

Why not just try a different area of the knife, such as the flat area between the lanyard hole at the back of the handle and the grooves on the back?

---

Good suggestion, but I already have.

In fact, I've tried using every part of this knife. The blade works great, but I'm not keen on damaging the blade in that way. All the remaining edges on the knife have been very nicely rounded, which makes the knife look great and even feel better in the hand, but which also makes it impossible to get any sparks.

BTW, when I went home for lunch (I live right across the street from my hospital) I found another knife that is labeled as 440 Steel. This one is a First Production Run, Taylor Cutlery, Smith&Wesson "ExtremeOps" tactical folder. I tried it and it too is able to produce a good quantity of sparks from the FireSteel.

I know that you need high carbon steel to get sparks from a traditional flint and steel rig like those used by Mountain Man reenactors. However, in this case, it is the flint that is actually shaving tiny particles off the steel and igniting them by friction. It is the exact opposite with modern Metal Matches, Swedish Firesteels, and the like. The blade is shaving small bits off the "flint" and igniting them into sparks. Those sparks are also much hotter than the sparks from the traditional flint and steel set.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kemperor

I got a pretty decent Frosts of Mora knife for only $10. High carbon, red handle so I cna find it if I drop it. SHARP!

---

I would toss the Mora out to the trash can at sight. Mora has one big issue, and that is that the core of the blade is MUCH harder than the outer layers, meaning it is sharp AT FIRST and stays sharp, AT FIRST, but after couble of sharpenings you'll notice that the soft outer layers are wearing down MUCH faster than the hard core. This results you having over extended "edge" of the knife(junk) and it wont cut nearly as well as it used to. Mora is ment to be a disposable and cheap tool, not a knife.

If you want a really good fixed blade knife go with one of these:

Marttiini Big Game Martef:
http://www.varuste.net/tuotekuvat2/701.jpg

Marttiini Skinner Martef:
http://www.varuste.net/tuotekuvat2/698.jpg

Iisakki Järvenpää Koira(Hound):
http://www.healfishing.com/kauppa/im...kki/koira2.jpg

This next one is so old that it deasn't even have any fancy name (couldn't find one), but it is also made by Iisakki Järvenpää:
http://www.lappeenranta.fi/images/20080114103544.jpg

NCO,

Like Kemperor, I also had one of those $10.00, red-handled Moras. However, I too through it out, though not for the reasons you gave. I just found that my hand slipped on the minimalist handle too much which caused me to almost slice off a finger.

i like the martini big game martef

Lucznik - all I can say about the sparks you are throwing off with your knife and flint is that if it works for you, then it works for me. I'll venture a guess though, that if you try a high carbon content metal against it, like a hacksaw blade (flat edge) you will see a difference.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lucznik

NCO,

Like Kemperor, I also had one of those $10.00, red-handled Moras. However, I too through it out, though not for the reasons you gave. I just found that my hand slipped on the minimalist handle too much which caused me to almost slice off a finger.

---

You pay $10.00 for a Mora.... I bought one for 2,40e... That is like $5.00...
"The slipping is not the knife's fault, it's the user's" -My dad used to say this to me when I was a kid and tried to learn to use puukko properly. I think I was like three or four years old when I got my first puukko... OH, those innocent times... :angel:

NCO, I think you described the laminated blade. Mora also makes Stainless, Carbon steel and Triflex. I do agree with you, however, that Mora is a tool. All knives are tools. I wouldn't try to judge it against a Ka-Bar for example. They are meant to fill different niches.

Your Marttiini costs eight times as much so I would expect it to be eight times better.:whistling:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by crashdive123

Lucznik - all I can say about the sparks you are throwing off with your knife and flint is that if it works for you, then it works for me. I'll venture a guess though, that if you try a high carbon content metal against it, like a hacksaw blade (flat edge) you will see a difference.

---

I'll try that at my first opportunity.

I know some people who have sharpened a Mora plenty of times and they are still as sharp as ever. Moras are great items, and if you want to dispose of them, send them my way, I will be more than happy :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NCO

"The slipping is not the knife's fault, it's the user's" -My dad used to say this to me when I was a kid and tried to learn to use puukko properly.

---

Sure, the slipping may be the users fault, not the knife's, but, if it had a proper handle, it wouldn't be an issue. So, who's fault is it? The manufacturer. Doesn't mean I'm going to by a $10 knife that will cause me to slice my hand open, when i can pay $10 for one that has a proper guard.

Like everything else, it depends on the model. Some Moras have single and double guards, some don't have any.

They do sell the little red handled Mora with a double finger guard for about three bucks more.

Edit: Yep, what he said.

sure. I'm not adverse to the mora, I just don't really like knives without guards. Just my preference.

I'm the same. I have this premonition of my hand sliding across that razor steel. Just me but....ouch!

A few years back, the small supermarket down the street had some really fresh oysters just come in. I had 'em wrap up about two dozen and then realized that I hadn't used or even seen my oyster knife in years. The store had a few cheap ones on the rack, so I tossed one in the cart. The owner, a friend of mine, laughed and told me to be careful 'cause they were sharp. Of course, I had to respond that I had shucked thousands of clams, scallops and oysters over the years without a nick on me. When I got home, I pulled the knife out of the plastic and cardboard package and realized just what a cheap piece of junk it was. No big deal, right? On my first oyster, I sliced a nice chunk right off of one of my fingers. Took about two months for that piece to fill back in. Only then did I return to that store........:blushing:

Seems like I posted this before but...I had a buddy that was sitting on top of an empty 50 gallon drum. He had a straight blade in a sheath on his hip. He messed around until he turned the barrel over. He fell backwards, the knife fell out of the sheath and landed on the ground point up. he ran it into his thigh. It wasn't protuding through but it had poked a hole in the top and was still in the back of his thigh to the hilt. He turned out okay with some clean up and stitches but you just never know.

We should start a thread showing our battle scars. I've got more stitches in me than a patchwork quilt. If I could only figure out how to use that new camera. No worries. I'll ask one of the kids to teach me - or to take the pics for me. Next, how do I post those FULL SIZED pics instead of those crappy little boxes? I've read the instructions posted here, but I'm slipping toward the age where technology is passing me up.

No thanks. There's parts of me that even I won't look at.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ken

We should start a thread showing our battle scars. I've got more stitches in me than a patchwork quilt. If I could only figure out how to use that new camera. No worries. I'll ask one of the kids to teach me - or to take the pics for me. Next, how do I post those FULL SIZED pics instead of those crappy little boxes? I've read the instructions posted here, but I'm slipping toward the age where technology is passing me up.

---

If you are easily disturbed by blood, skip this post.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
On Christmas afternoon, my friend was struck by stupid and I had to take him to the ER. He decided to swing a machete the wrong direction on a fallen tree we had already chopped up and proceeded to cut himself right below the knee.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/DSCF0718.jpg

The reason it looks so bloody right there is because we had to walk up a steep hill and to the house. Part of the way was driven in a truck but the part we had to walk was about 1/5 of a mile.


The wound.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/DSCF0719.jpg


Getting the stitches.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/DSCF0732.jpg

And all 5 stitches.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/DSCF0735.jpg


A careless mistake can befall us all…

Daniel

My belief is that you need two knives. One, a folding knife that stays in your pocket. This is used for emergencies, and for eating etc and as a skinning knife. The second, is a good sheath knife. It should be a fairly thick blade, should be a 5" or longer blade and hold a good edge. This is your working blade. It is used with a "wood hammer" (tree branch) to split wood, chop down smaller tree's, cut kindling, skin animals, basically, it is a do all knife. Most people buy a knife that has a thinner blade, and this is a mistake. Also, avoid saw back knives. They tend to "hang up" when stuck into things and are difficult to remove. And as noted, if you have a thick bladed knife, you can use it to chop or whittle thru neede items rather than trying to saw with a poor quality saw edge.

Hey CanSurviveIt - I believe you forgot an introduction. You can find it here http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14