Favorite Survival Knife???

gunslinger1911 · Mar 15, 2011

gunslinger1911 said:
+1 on the BK2...also look at rat/esee RC4, falknivven (spelling?) knives, i have and LOVE my Bark River highland special and BK2

do yourself a favor and check these out...yesterday i came to the conclusion that the becker bk9 was THE BEST for camp activities ie chopping/splitting wood, making tent steaks etc... it is big tho...check out the snody activator 201 as well

nitestocker · Mar 24, 2011

i have a lefty spidy military a leatherman wave a barkriver bravo-1 and a coldsteel gukra kukri carban-v when i venture out in the woods these come with me. but what i carry every day is ether a spidy or benchmade and a leatherman

moose · Mar 25, 2011

Sasquatchvnv said:
Good ol' Buck 119...

I've got a number of bucks. Most any of them would do. I also carry a swiss army knife, just in case while pillaging and plundering, I uncover a wine cellar.

nitestocker · Mar 25, 2011

I also carry a swiss army knife just in case while pillaging and plundering, I uncover a wine cellar. i like that :s0114:

gunslinger1911 · Mar 30, 2011

moose said:
I've got a number of bucks. Most any of them would do. I also carry a swiss army knife, just in case while pillaging and plundering, I uncover a wine cellar.

i just push the cork in!

EZLivin · Mar 30, 2011

Other than my 20+ year old Victorinox Swiss Army, I would have to go with my 12" H.I. Ang Khola Khukuri (made from the finest used leaf springs you can find on any given day). (Plus my Benchmade 551 Griptilian).

jer fly · Apr 5, 2011

Crowner knives of cottage grove oregon makes some of the best wilderness survival knives available. They are hand made out of the best steel you can get, ( 3v, ElMax, 5160.) Their not cheap per say compared to a k-bar, but the quality is top notch. and if you loose your only knife be it any knife your going to cry...

Blitzkrieg · Apr 5, 2011

I have many knives, pocket tools, machetes, hatchets and more in my kit. I have even made custom knives and swords for Highlander and LOTRs re-enactment. I'm not prepared yet to list them all but this little link will burst a few bubbles concerning your favorite production knives.. some of them quite spendy and failed quite early in these torture tests. I was surprised at a few of them, myself. It' s better to be disillusioned than find out in an emergency that your blade can't hack it, literally. There is a page two of tests, link at the bottom of this page

<broken link removed>

In particular the KA-BAR USMC, the BECKER BK9, the SOG FUSION JUNGLE PRIMITIVE and the Chris Reeve Green Beret and Project 1 were quite disappointing

The Cold Steel el cheapo machete survived amazing abuse.. I have one, (it's my enduro's machete for off road) and want the magnum version now

John Gault · Apr 5, 2011

Just bought this one so it's my favorite. ESEE-5

Will_Power · Apr 6, 2011

OFADAN said:
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.

I love history, so thanks for the mini-lecture. Interesting stuff for sure regarding the mountain men and it brings up a point about available resources. If I recall correctly (please let me know if I'm wrong), mountain men often times traveled with an extra pack horse or mule in addition to their riding horse, right? Though I imagine it was for transporting furs after trapping, it still offered them the ability to pack in more tools and equipment than they'd otherwise be able to on foot or just with a single horse.

Likewise, depending on the scenarios, we might be able to bring more than just a BOB with us. Thinking through our available resources would mean we should avail ourselves of multiple blades/tools if we can.

For what it's worth, I love my BK-2 and have my Leatherman Wave on me at all times. Add to that my Col Steel shovel and I feel fairly well prepared in the blade and tool area.