Recommend a survival knife under $50...

[Davo]

I have the need for a decent full sized knife that may be used for survival purposes, and will be taken out backpacking. I dont want to spend a fortune while Im still really learning to "use" a survival knife. Simplicity is good, sturdyness is good too. Im open to different blade shapes, lengths, materials etc.

 

[longwatch]

For simplicity and economy how about the Air Force Survival knife or a KA-BAR.

 

[Davo]

Ive always liked the kabar. Does the USAF knife come with synthetic handle/sheath? I could see leather holding moisture and rusting.

 

[longwatch]

The M6s still have leather handles but they only cost $30. Another option might be the USN dive knife, it has roughly the same features but has synthetic handles. Its around $53.

http://www.armynavysales.com/Mercha..._Code=01&Product_Code=MA163&Category_Code=KNF

 

[Brian Williams]

An Old Hickory 6" Boning Knife, about $10 at a good food store. It is one that I grab for camping and canoeing. You can find a good sheath just about anywhere.

 

[Boats]

What you might find as you learn to use a "full-size" survival knife, is that such a tool is vastly overrated on the internet.

There is little that amuses me more than when I see someone in the back country lugging a 10" chopper that is made out of the flavor of the month steel and micarta, and sometimes sports a camo-painted blade. Thankfully, these sightings are just above Sasquatch level. It's like seeing someone carrying a cast iron stove "just in case."

I have personally found that carrying any knife that is over 4.5-5 inches in blade length is just lugging more weight for no apparent return in capability.

What if I have to chop? Well, it is exceedingly unlikely that one will have to make an improvised shelter via chopping up the wilderness, but even if one does find the need for such a shelter, a decent folding saw is going to be lighter, faster, more precise, and a ton cheaper than the superknife.

From fuzzing sticks, to cleaning fish, to making a digging stick, or a frog gig, a trap, on and on, a handy knife that is sharp and easy to resharpen is going to beat the daylights out of a quasi-machete or seven inch combat knife.

This continent was opened up by mountain men using carbon steel trade knives that were rarely larger than six inches in blade length.

For centuries, 2.5-4 inch thin bladed puukkos with generous handles kept men in Scandinavia alive in one of the most unforgiving climates on earth.

There isn't a $40 "full size survival knife" out there that would be my first choice for a backpacking blade.

http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html

About any blade on the above page would fill the need for a serious survival knife when coupled with a garden variety folding saw. If you trust yourself, get one without a guard, if you don't, get one with a guard.

Just don't get sucked into the "fact" that you "need" a "big" knife in the woods. If you need a weapon, make a fire hardened spear. If you need a building tool, carry a small axe or a folding saw. If you need a bushcrafting knife, carry one, not a machete or a man-killer.

 

[Fosbery]

Fallkniven F1 is a superb survival knife (a proper one not these "RAMBO SPECIAL FORCES SAS KNIFE 12" INCHES SAW BOWIE BLOOD GROOVE" ones you get on eBay). I'd trust my life to it.

 

[gdog]

I have a Ka-Bar I really like. It is styled after the USMC knife, but has a short area of the blade that is serrated. Has plastic of some sort for the handle and a Kydex sheath.

 

[Davo]

Boats I agree with much of what you said. I think larger knives are over rated. Weight will be an issue too, I use a swiss army knife, or a camillus military pocket knife right now, and am happy-but I think a fixed blade is good too. Ive never had the need to saw anything, but I carry a wire saw for that reason in my emergency kit (never used the saw though). Ive also wondered about those lightweight hatchets I see around.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

I have done a lot of camping, backpacking, Boy Scouts, and some mountain climbing. I usually bring two knives with me when I go camping, a small folder and a larger fixed blade. The folder I use for small task around the camp from cutting twine to cutting steak. The fixed blade is my work horse.

The important features of a survival knife are edge retention, blade strenght, and quality. Those Rambo knives that have the compass, saw, fish hooks, and store it all in the handle are crap. Most of the equipment that comes with them is of poor quality and the hollow handle make the knife weak. Better to carry a proper knife and a proper compass and any other gear you might need.

There are lots of good fixed blades out there, Ka-bar and Buck are two good choices. Serrations are personal choice, I don't like them and find that a properly sharpened blade will do anything that a serrated blade will.

Now lets talk about use: The 2 main uses I have for my knife are choping wood and cleaning game (there are other uses but they fall under general cutting). Is your use going to favor one or the other? If you are going to be cleaning a lot of game you might consider a knife with a gut-hook. If you are more concerned with cutting wood you will want strenght and weight (although I have seen some one split 6" logs with buck knife). Keep in mind that a knife is not an ax or a saw but can be used to get by in a pinch.

If you want something that can make short of anything from toothpick to tree trunks, this is what I use:
http://www.atlantacutlery.com/webstore/eCat/swords_and_knives/knives_of_the_world/eastern/genuine_gurkha_kukri.aspx
Under $40, sharp as a knife, sturdy as an ax, and scary as the devil.
I even used a home blueing kit to blue the steel and now it looks wicked, it is the ultimate camper's pal.

 

[Davo]

If anything it will be used for light chopping, possibly in making a shelter, and for defense(seriously an issue for me in certain places). I would not waste energy by cutting wood for an emergency fire. I like the kukri design but its too heavy for the backwoods, seems like a perfect choice for car camping.
I hunt/fish so infrequently that a sharp pocketknife would do fine for me in that situation.
This one looks ok...
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=78455&kwtid=200417

this too...http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=299466

http://cgi.ebay.com/FROSTS-MORA-TRA...hZ007QQcategoryZ42576QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

 

[hso]

Avoid the Rambozo knives and stick with what hunters and backwoodsmen have actually survived with instead of the "survival" knives that copy writers "survive" with. A multiblade pocket knife, a simple 4" fixed blade and a light axe and you can do anything you ever need to do in the woods. Use a small saw and you can drop the axe.

The Mora is a good choice. The Blackie Collins is just silly as a survival knife, unless you're wearing flippers and got a babe in one hand and a martini (shaken not stirred) in the other.

There are great knives in the thread on "Old Shool Knives".

 

[pete f]

I agree with all the above, I have become a convert to the Bark River knives. I carry a mini canadian and a clip point skinner, which is actually a little big for what I want at 4.25 blade, 8 inch overall, but it is tough as nails and works hard, The mini canadian is only six inches overall with a willow leaf blade about 2 inches long. that is my camp knife. the larger is just the back up. made in A2 steel, they keep sharp for an amazing long time.

If you want a "survival knife" then the Kabar is a great tool, they also make them in the updated line for about $45 dollars with rubber handles.

The only hollow handle survival knife I would trust is the Chris Reeves series. cut out of one chunk of A2, they are supremely tough and useful but do cost close to 300 bucks.

 

[Boom-stick]

(a proper one not these "RAMBO SPECIAL FORCES SAS KNIFE 12" INCHES SAW BOWIE BLOOD GROOVE" ones you get on eBay).

But everyone NEEDS a 12" Rambo, SF, cold-killer, uber-tac, ultra-stealth killing weapon.





How else can you defend an entire planet from multi-jawed xenomorphes just on your little loneless?





Get a SAK or a LM wave and be done with it.

My current outdoor combo is a doug ritter Pocket Survival Pak, a Wave and a cold steel bird and trout knife with a paracord wrapped handle.

 

[Joe Demko]

Second the Old Hickory line, but I prefer the 6 inch butcher knife. If you are the creative sort, you can modify the handle a bit with a rasp and sandpaper. Pretty simple to make your own sheath too.

 

[JShirley]

I always liked the Old Hickory butcher knife.

I'm going to disagree with many here, and say that a kukri makes a good outdoors knife. Maybe it's a strange concept, but the kukri has been around for at least 1,000 years, and probably longer...

And there is a reason this tool has persisted in usage in a a hostile environment in a time before many of the gadgets and gear we have today. Simply, the kukri works. A kukri traditionally comes with a chakma and karda. The chakma is a steel to remove nicks from the blade, and the karda is a small utility knife.

Are there other "acceptable" outdoors knives? Sure. Certainly. It's just not terribly thoughtful to discount everything that's different from your current modus operandi. Who knows- you could change.

Look at the second knife from the left here. This is a Himalayan Imports Chitlangi. It is 18" OAL, and 23 ounces. I carried an identical kukuri when I was a light infantryman at Fort Lewis, and believe me, weight was at a premium! I carried it instead of a heavier E-tool, and used it to cut lanes for our sight poles (11C- you just THINK you have a heavy pack!). It's light enough not to overly inconvenience, and I used it to cut brush and trees up to 6" in diameter (which was a stretch) when I came back to GA and lived in the woods for three months. The only real problem is, that it's outside your price, at $90.

John

 

[22-rimfire]

Personally I think a Swiss Army Knife (SAK) would fill the bill. Perhaps something like the Trekker. You would want one of the large ones.

A SOG Seal Pup Elite sold for about $50 on ebay in the last few days. It usually runs about $70ish. It would fill the bill nicely for a medium length fixed blade. Get the nylon sheath and slide a SAK into the little pouch.

 

[Fosbery]

Kukris are great but I prefer cutlass machetes or parangs for heavy chopping tasks and a smaller knife like a Fallkniven or Woodlore for finer work. Nothing wrong with a Kukri, I just think there's other stuff that works better.

 

[ID_shooting]

I carry one of these in my pack:

http://www.glock.com/knives.htm

Good strudy knife, works real well for seperating breast plates on deer and elk. For most situations a good pocket knife will be enough but there are times when you need somthing more solid.

 

[joab]

I have a few big knives
A SilverStag Bowie, couple of Tomahawk "survivals/mil specs" and some others that are also in the box at the back of the closet
I like gadgety things and loved the Rambo series, but almost always when I am gearing up for a camping trip, or whatever, I take my old USA made Schrade Sharpfinger. I don't know if the new ones are any better or worse than the old but the price is about the same $20.
I also have one in each vehicle and BOB

I also carry a good, short sawback machette , being in Florida I may need that more than some and it also acts as an ax and clips to the outside of my pack

 

[Third_Rail]

FWIW, the knife John is talking about is $125 now and worth every single penny.

 

[Soap]

Cold Steel SRK.

 

[JShirley]

...unless you're on BladeForums. There's still an unsold one in HI forum for $90.

After I carried on field exercises, then cut brush and small trees for many hours, it became glued to another moderator's effective hands.

 

[Third_Rail]

I'm confused. The $125 is to order one directly, where the $90 is from someone selling it, or is that from the company?

 

[JShirley]

Think of it as a sale. At least several times a week, knives with either small defects, or rare runs that aren't usually carried, or just bargains to stir up business or because of a holiday, are offered.

How to order one of these specials...(Paypal is usually used, now.)
One such thread.