What is a good survival knife?

Answer 1

A Swiss army knife is a handy pocket knife for doing fine work while camping or hiking. However, it's too small for chopping firewood. This is where a larger blade knife is needed. A survival knife with a blade length of about 5 to about 7 inches is generally sufficient for chopping and splitting (known as batoning) wood into smaller pieces to be used as firewood. Choose a blade length large enough for this important survival task but not too large to maintain good blade control.

A survival knife needs to be as indestructible as possible, able to take a razor edge, hold that edge, and be easy to sharpen as needed. A knife blade made of a tried and true carbon steel like 1095 meets this performance criteria. There is no need to get caught up in the newest high tech steel for wilderness survival tasks. Stainless steel blades are harder to sharpen and don't hold an edge for as long as carbon steel blades, but do have their place in frequent fresh and salt water environments for boaters, fishermen, and Navy Seals for example.

A useful survival knife needs to be big enough for big jobs like splitting wood, and used as a weapon if need be but not so big that it is cumbersome while doing finer tasks like food preparation, or shaving wood into small pieces to help build a campfire. Other uses for a survival knife can include hacking through ice that a shovel won't cut through, batoning wood for a campfire, cutting rope, making tent stakes, cutting the top off of food cans, hunting, and making traps. The list of survival needs is almost endless.

For wilderness survival tasks, avoid double edged blades and tanto style blades because these are designed more for thrusting as opposed to cutting, chopping and splitting wood. They are not as functional because they tend to have weak tips that can be broken off while doing survival tasks. Remember reliability is everything in a survival knife. A double edged blade also doesn't have a thick spine, so it would be impossible to baton wood with it. A survival knife with a drop point blade is the best all-around blade design for wilderness survival since it is less prone to bending and breaking during most survival tasks.

Large Rambo style knives may look cool and menacing, but are generally too large, heavy and therefore cumbersome for most survival tasks.

Because a survival knife needs to be as strong as possible, a fixed blade knife is preferred over a folding blade knife. Also, the blade length needs to extend from the tip to the end or slightly beyond the end of the knife handle. This one-piece design, called a "full-tang" knife design, is stronger than a two piece design where the blade is attached to the handle using screws, rivets and other attachment techniques.

There is a debate whether or not the blade edge should include serrations. Although this is an option in many survival knives made today, I feel a plain straight edge blade is more reliable since it's is easier to sharpen, does not require special tools to sharpen, and can do the tasks of a serrated edge knife. Simplicity and strength generally contribute to greater reliability for many survival knife tasks.

The spine of the blade runs opposite to the cutting edge of the blade and should be 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick so that it has enough strength for batoning (hitting it with a piece of wood) to split firewood. The spine of the blade should be flat so that it does not chew up the baton (the wood you are using to hit the spine.

Their are many variations of survival knife handles. The knife handle should be solid and should feel comfortable in your hand, provide good blade control, and be durable enough to survive the many tasks required of the survival knife. Hollow handled knives tend to break easily, making them unreliable for wilderness survival tasks. Survival knife handle materials include hard rubber, plastics like glass-reinforced nylon and Kraton(R), wood, and other materials.

When you obtain your survival knife, be careful with it and use it often. This will help you gain confidence using it and will help you find more handy uses for it. Keep it clean. Form the habit of cleaning it before putting it in its sheath. To help prevent blade rust, lubricate it with WD40 or your favorite petroleum based oil. This will help you maintain it for a lifetime.