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I picked up one of those glock knives a few years ago. keep it in my hunting pack, thick sharp blade balanced for throwing and the saw on back can cut a tree down, i tried.
 
I own a ranger RD7 and love it. But my favorite is my Becker BK-2. Even with replacing the factory handles it was well under 100 bucks. During hunting season I used it for wood cutting, cleaning a dear(to include cutting joints and pelvic bone) all within a few hours and it performed great.
 
My favorite "survival" knife would be my Blackjack #5. Stacked leather handle, five inch carbon steel blade with a clip point and a brass guard.
It is a copy of the Randall model # 5 . These knives were made in America , but I think the company is no longer around.
This is the knife I carried in the Army. The only thing I've had to replace was the scabbard. Andy
 
I own a lot of knifes but none that really are "survival knives". In a survival knife, I'd want a watertight hollow handle so that I could keep some waterproof matches, a compass, maybe some fishing line (for snares) and a small fish hook, inside of it. The blade would need to be curved enough you could use it for skinning, and the saw feature on the Glocks would be nice as well. Having a heavy knife so that you can use it as a machete or to whack some wood to size quickly would be good as well. Most of the knifes I own, certainly the knifes I regularly carry, must be light. I try and get the partially serrated blades as they cut cord and webbing 10 times faster and safer than the smooth blades, and this is a critical function for me.

Anyone using that knife?
 
Survival knife? When one says "survival knife" what do they mean by that? For what purpose and/or what mission?

By survival do you mean for fighting/defense, wack'n brush, building an improved shelter, making wood duff to start a fire with flint 'n steel? Or the "one-size-fits-all-solve-all-the-survival-problems-in-the-world knife?"

The one size fits all knife is always a compromise...it does some things okay, other things not so okay. Specific knives do one or two things extremely well, but others not so well.
 
It would be nice for an extemely heavy duty knife to do all of the above. The bigger the knife the more diffucult some of the small survival projects can be. And I agree that each knife has its own purpose. Unless your the kind of guy that goes into the sticks with a toolbox full of knives then choose your best "all purpose knife".
 
I fully concur with you...one knife especially in leaving in a hurry especially in a hostile environment would be ideal and convenient.

However, if history is our guide and we'd like to learn from those who lived (and not played like many of us do) with and died by the knife and honestly did "survive" within a hostile environment...these folks generally had more than one knife. Both for redundancy (one is none, two is one etc) and for specificity. My research of the Mtn Man era has revealed most carried/packed several knives in their kit. Many had a Hudson Bay or French Chef knife for larger chores, a much smaller paring type knife for medicine (digging out slivers, removing lead shot/balls) and for cooking, whittling etc. Many Mtn Men even brought with them the most effective small/CQC blade the Southern Bowie (and its variants) for defensive purposes which they learned about in St. Louis as they passed through. Not many had And of course many plagiarized from the Native Americans and carried a Hawk. Of course most carried a small and large ax for construction purposes and to procure firewood. None of them I could find would chance ruining a critical piece of kit or waste calories batoning wood with a smaller knife which is all in vogue today.

Yes a lot of iron but this was typical accoutrement for the Mtn Man for example. Some obviously carried more, many carried less...but none rarely from my 20 year study carried just one unless there was a reason such as separated from their group or left behind for dead.

Working with modern warriors who are surviving in Afghanistan and who are operating with indigenous people plus working in small team units as did the Mtn Man (as close as a Mtn man as we can get today), they are generally carrying at least two and often three blades/hawks with them at all times. They've found that the one-size-fits-all survival blade works but not as effectively for their mission.

On several occasions I've have the privilege of training with Bill Bagwell (of Helles Belles fame) and he has spent a lifetime studying both the Mtn Man era (actually living it) and the Southern Bowie era (where he makes his living). We trained extensively in defensive knife work with the Bowie. He showed me pictures and line art drawings of men who carried a Bowie for defensive purposes and all of them carried either a Hawk (usually the men of the Frontier) and the "Gentlemen" always carried a shorter knife usually a dagger or smaller chef knife. Many also carried a single shot BP pistol.

Hey I find this all fascinating and educational. I train constantly with knives extensively both for Urban/Wilderness survival, FMA with the shorter blades, and with the longer Blades (Bowies) & now learning Hawks. The more I train and the more I live with a knife the more I realized the less I know.

I would just say, take a knife - go out and live with it in a simulated hostile environment, or wilderness survival environment, and/or get a inert trainer of the same design and go train with it. After living and training with a tool, any tool, for a while immediately reveals its assets and liabilities. Recently I've tried everything I can to live with a custom Hudson Bay knife in the wilderness and no matter how much I want it to work for everything it doesn't pan out. Yes, I have the capacity and capability of making it work, and it does work on all tasks assigned...but I'm finding I burn a lot less calories (which are critical in a survival situation) by ideally matching the correct tool to the task. Everything is a trade off, I know now if I have to take just one, which one will do most of the tasks necessary; defense, medicine, cooking, food prep, construction, securing wood etc but it certainly is a compromise.
 
OFADAN- Well put, and I agree. I do take a small blade(Folder) where ever I go for smaller tasks. I have worked in many different enviroments such as the desert of Iraq, jungles of the philiipines and guam to name a couple. I agree that having the right tool for the job is a great idea. But there are many survival situations in which you either MUST pack light or wind up in a situation where you have no other tool. It is an excellent point that you make about training with the tools you expect to use and I fully agree. Which is a part or having the ability to conduct many survival tasks with minimal equipment.
 
I'm a big fan of the BK2.

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For me its the old Western Bowie from Coleman. Sadly they are no longer made. I have used one as a camp ax as well as gutting and butchering game. I'm sure it would work as well as any for a fighting knife.
 
I have a custom, one off knife made for me by Shane Sibert of Sibert Knives - Handmade Bladeware. As far as I know, it is the only one in the world. I have used it in every type of condition and deployment you can think of. The only thing left to do with it is to cut the devil himself... and it may just do that too. Thanks for a great knife Shane.
 

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