Survival

SeanMc · #1

What is the best all around survival knife out there?

jossta · #2

Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Knife. It's in the name after all....

.357 mag · #3

Esee..

KardinalSyn · #4

I always thought that John Rambo had the best survival knife.

Anyway, by survival, do you mean as in bushcraft or something more?

SeanMc · #5

I mean all around just best knife for it all.

jossta · #6

What's the best car for everything? I want great MPG, smooth ride, fast, handles incredibly, uses regular fuel, can haul my whole family with dogs and all my gear, can go anywhere off road, is completely reliable and has inexpensive parts....

SeanMc · #7

jossta wrote:Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Knife. It's in the name after all....

I own the gerber lmf 2 and some people swear by it. And some people curse it. I personally love it.

SeanMc · #8

jossta wrote:What's the best car for everything?

Ok fine for bushcraft.

phillipsted · #9

If I were stranded on a deserted Pacific island - I'd like an Aqua Salt.

If I were stranded in Siberia - I'd like my 20CP Para2.

If I were stranded in the Amazon - I'd like an ESEE Junglas.

If I were stranded in the Desert - I'd like my M390 Mule with Micarta scales

If I were stranded in the Caribbean - I'd like a nice bottle of rum.

TedP

SeanMc · #10

Ok I understand what your saying. All I mean is if you had to use one knife for it all what one would you use? I understand there are you ok better (cars) or knives for the job. But there is gonna be one that you want to drive or use all the time.

jossta · #11

For a folder? My VECP. For a fixed blade, probably a Busse BA TAC.

Spyderco? Military for folder or probably the Buschcraft for a fixed blade even though I'm not in love with it.

FWIW, the WSK was designed to be the answer to your question, but there are conflicting views on it:

The Deacon · #12

SeanMc wrote:Ok I understand what your saying. All I mean is if you had to use one knife for it all what one would you use? I understand there are you ok better (cars) or knives for the job. But there is gonna be one that you want to drive or use all the time.

That would assume I got caught somewhere totally unprepared. In that case the knives I'd use would be the ones I had with me. Currently, that would be a Jester, a Kiwi, and either a Stretch, Chaparral, or Native V.

Evil D · #13

You want a blade that's thick enough to withstand batoning, but not so thick that it won't slice. You want it to be heavy enough to be an efficient chopper, but not so heavy that it weighs you down when you carry it. You want a steel you can sharpen on a creek rock when it gets dull. You want the most ergonomic handle you can possibly find, that has no hot spots and can be used for hours at a time without cramping your hand or causing blisters, and it must provide a secure grip.

For all that, i'd probably opt for something from ESEE off the top of my head, but there are literally thousands of options out there for this kind of knife. The old "John Rambo" knives are honestly some of the worst for it because of the round handle design, it makes accurate chopping a PITA because it wants to rotate in your hand. I wouldn't concern yourself so much with carbon steels rusting because some of the most badass jungle knives and machetes are made out of high carbon steel and are covered in patina/rust.

Beyond all that, a knife that recently caught my attention is in the March '12 issue of Tactical Knives, and it's the Martin Knives T3 S.E.R.E. It's similar to the Bushcraft except it has removable rough linen micarta scales. It's not quite long enough to be a chopper, but it's plenty stout enough to baton the **** out of. Martin will basically custom build you the knife with the options you want, but they don't come cheap. But...would you really wanna put your life in the hands of a cheap knife anyway?

cubsfan1969 · #14

How bout this? :p

[img][IMG]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m112 ... 55cfc0.jpg[/img][/IMG]

rg02 · #15

Out of what I own I would take my XHP Millie and my old Buck 639 Fieldmate

In case you don't know about the Buck 639:

phillipsted · #16

Evil D wrote:But...would you really wanna put your life in the hands of a cheap knife anyway?

Cheap...no way.

But there is a big difference between "cheap" and "inexpensive". I'll take a $60 FRN Endura any day - I can beat the cr@p out of it for weeks and not lose sleep over the fact that I'm damaging my $500 custom blade. :D

Cheers!
TedP

SeanMc · #17

Well thanks for the post. It has been helpfully the reason I ask Is I'm trying to make one purchase on a good all around fixed blade. Thanks guys!!

SeanMc · #18

cubsfan1969 wrote:How bout this? :p

[img][IMG]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m112 ... 55cfc0.jpg[/img][/IMG]

That looks like it will do the trick.

Evil D · #19

phillipsted wrote:Cheap...no way.

But there is a big difference between "cheap" and "inexpensive". I'll take a $60 FRN Endura any day - I can beat the cr@p out of it for weeks and not lose sleep over the fact that I'm damaging my $500 custom blade. :D

Cheers!
TedP

Well, i was thinking more along true "survival" and for that i really would want something more sturdy than an Endura. It would have to be a fixed blade for sure. This is where ESEE comes into play...their knives are pretty affordable for what they are.

As for Spyderco knives, i'd say the Bushcraft is a fine place to start. After all it was more or less designed for survival.

Zenith · #20

The best? Whatever you have with you.