survival knifes

[Certaindeaf]

A Trailmaster'll lop yer leg off. I have two.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It's fine and dandy to play whittlesticks and whatnot, of course, but when it comes to "surviving", dang the 2" jonny law shenanigites.. gimmee a fine swangin thing.

 

[Joe13]

Yea, I agree with cdef.

A survival knife is different then a woods/bushcraft knife. Bigger is better up to a point though.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

That is a deal on the Buck. They've really gone up - along with everything else, as our money devalues. As a foolish youngster in high school, I bought a Buck General brand new for the princely sum of $22 around 1970. I learned that you can break one if you throw it enough, bought another. Life is learning.

We were talking "survival knife," though. I would lean toward fairly thick full tang designs.

 

[Certaindeaf]

A wonderful subject throughout the ages.
All blades are good and I consider every contributor here meritorious.
I feel a "survival" blade should be at least 7" and if I remember correctly, someone before me recommended the K-Bar military knife. Go figure. Those are pretty good. In my younger days, I tried to purposely destroy one and finally succeeded, of course, throwing it like a mule into trees in sub-zero temperatures and beating on the spine with rocks. Good knife.. I think that this would be/is the minimum standard "survival" knife. I own a razor stropped Camillus now to fit in my old USN scabbard.
But!.. to me, that's the bare minimum for a "survival" knife.. it'll probably only lop two or four fingers off and not an actual leg. Anyway, for your dollar parameters you should be able to get some very good steel or multiples thereof.

 

[CamoDeafie]

As an aside, Pawn shops and some thrift stores can be great places to find good old hunting knives of quality makes....... but they are also places you can find lesser quality knives for much less money....
I had two Buck knives, a Skinner and a Fisherman's, sold these two for a slight profit, and they were good deals to the buyer..... I had found them in a small town pawn shop for relatively cheap... by relatively cheap, less than what they were going for on Ebay and on Craigslist, but more than what similar knives from different makes were going for...
I believe you can find good used Imperials, Schrades, Colonials, Camillus, Ontario, Ol Hickory (these are often kitchen butcher knives, great for modding into various knife shapes like bowies, Tracker style, Nessmuk, scandi grindss, and so on if you're so inclined to modify knives just for fun..)
for decent prices.. caveat emptor on some of them though, make sure the edges are not terribly ruined, and that there's no damage on the handles..... a cracked tang hidden by tape is something to watch out for...

I would avoid knives with no brands, and only "China" or "Pakistan" markings...these are often poor grinds and questionable steel quality....my brother liked the looks of a couple he got, but their edges got dulled right away from simple use.... it pays to have a good eye and careful handling.... I think I've paid less than $60 for all 4 of my current user knives.... the Colonial and the Imperial US knives where the more expensive of the 4, the other 2 were gifted to me from family.

 

[Trailboss]

I won't carry a hollow ground blade and try to avoid flat ground. However a good convex ground blade works well for me.

 

[CamoDeafie]

I won't carry a hollow ground blade and try to avoid flat ground. However a good convex ground blade works well for me.

The two hunting knives I have are Flat grinds I believe and they've never let me down... Although I don't baton with them, prefer to use my 80s Fuller camp hatchet for that job Along with the steel bow saw Never seen a convex/scandi ground knife at a pawn shop though.

 

[tfbit]

Cold Steel SRK in Carbon V flavor... good enough for Navy SEALs BUDS training, good enough for me. I've got a couple. They don't make them in Carbon V anymore but they come up on ebay pretty regularly. They are getting expensive. I paid around $70 each for mine.

http://bladereviews.com/cold-steel-srk-review/

Just found this smoking deal on the AUS 8A Stainless version of this knife on ebay. $60 shipped! He has a bunch of them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/361263894797?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Or $72 shipped from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Steel-Kr...qid=1429804633&sr=8-1&keywords=cold+steel+srk

 

[cooperritchey]

I decided to go with the ESEE 5

 

[Sgt Nambu]

A good, solid choice!

 

[Mike aka BandAid]

An excellent choice! Congrats!

 

[Joe13]

I decided to go with the ESEE 5
View attachment 234667

One of those is high on my list of want to haves. Congrats!

 

[rick benjamin]

credit card knife (what's in your wallet, don't leave home without it)
Buck 110 folder
neck knife
gun knife
Utility knife
Fire starting knife
Search n Rescue n Destroy knife

 

[Ant]

That is a deal on the Buck. They've really gone up - along with everything else, as our money devalues. As a foolish youngster in high school, I bought a Buck General brand new for the princely sum of $22 around 1970. I learned that you can break one if you throw it enough, bought another. Life is learning.

We were talking "survival knife," though. I would lean toward fairly thick full tang designs.

I remember as a kid buying a Rambo knife from the flea market in CA. Loved that knife. Ignorance was bliss back then, lol

Like the man said: life is learning. Indeed, sir!

 

[ikemay]

Go to Amazon.com and type in "Mora knives bundle". That will get you two or three decent Mora's at a good price. Then just type in "Mora knives" to see their other offerings.

These are excellent all around knives in either stainless steel or carbon steel.

Mike

 

[erudne]

It's hard to escape the marketing hype built into the knife industry since The Iron Mistress, Rambo, Predator happened.
The heart of a knife is the quality of steel used, after that it's the design/ ergonomics and craftsmanship and lastly the name and hype of the maker

 

[Karen Payne]

Here is mine, not cheap but a good investment because if it comes down to needing a dependable tool I want quality.

Link for more information
http://www.fkmdknives.com/n/en/product/465/israeli_tracker_kapap.html#!prettyPhoto

 

[Joe13]

That's pretty neat looking.

I wouldn't want that back side serrated edge so close to the grip though. But that's just a personal preference.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I think that's jimping.