"Survival" Knives

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"that Schrade is a rip-off of Chris Reeves' work and won't hold a candle to it."

For what it's worth (and that may not be much as I am quite knife ignorant) the Schrade knockoff did quite well in a destruction test, vs. the chris reeve original. Maybe the original is superior in other ways like edge holding ability or balance, I don't know. Nor am I sure how realistic the tests are - I'll never hammer my knife though a concrete block. Still.
http://www.knifetests.com/schradeextremesurvivaldtest.html
http://www.knifetests.com/chrisreevetestresponse.html
 
Nor am I sure how realistic the tests are - I'll never hammer my knife though a concrete block
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tests are not realistic at all , and are more or less laughed at by many in the knife world.

A knife is to cut , you want to chop , get an ax.

Never could understand why people expect a knife to do more than cut .

Simply put , use the right tool for the job.
 
A knife is to cut , you want to chop , get an ax.

Never could understand why people expect a knife to do more than cut .
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I usually carry a hatchet for big chopping. But I also don't think it is expecting to much out of a quality knife to "baton" it to cut down a 3 inch branch or sapling in case I loose the hatchet. For me, a knife is a "tool" to keep me alive if needed. Cutting is just one of the functions.
 
I should have prefaced my post with " in my opinion " , sorry about that.

following also just my opinion:
I don't believe there is such as thing as a survival knife , a knife can be part of a survival kit however.

Too many people view the knife like a pair of vice grips , expecting it to do too many things ( although the vice grips can do many things , it doesn't truly do anything well. )
 
knock-offs

Well, I just ordered the Schrade ripoff of a Chris Reeves knife. I like the design but can't afford $300+ for a knife right now. Hope I didn't waste my money, we'll see as soon as the UPS man gets to my door.
 
Never could understand why people expect a knife to do more than cut .

Simply put , use the right tool for the job.
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In general I agree with your opinion. I do feel though that a knife should be built well enough to withstand harsh use. If needed to fill a role other than cutting.

When I built that figure 4 in my prior post I reached into my pocket for my SAK. It wasn't there, I lost it last week at work :(. So without its saw I used my JK to baton/chop instead.

It feels good to know that if I needed to make one for "real" the JK can handle my light batoning/chopping. Should my SAK be lost, of course as soon as I replace it.

I don't believe there is such as thing as a survival knife , a knife can be part of a survival kit however.
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Again agreed. Just how much stuff you are willing to carry does reflect on how important your blade choice is though. Me I am a minimalist when going out alone on a dayhike.

100_0748.gif

The multi-tool pouch is a mini survival kit with

Mag fire starter
JK tin knife
Cotton ball tinder
25’ of 165# 3 strand nylon twine
Large oven roasting bag
3 fish hooks w/split shot
Whistle

The Altoids tin is a First Aid Kit with

Gauze pads
First aid tape
Neosporin
Imodium AD
Band aids
Tylenol

Along with a USGI canteen with cup and I am good.I see no need to carry a axe on the off chance I am going to chop something. Should "survival" arise my fixed blade can do the job.

If I have someone with me,say my 10 year old son, I carry enough stuff to equip a squad.
 
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cheaperthandirt.com had all for in one of their magazines but I just checked their website and the must've quit carrying them
 
question for HSO

Seriously, HSO - and sorry to misroute this thread - but what is so inferior about the Schrade knock-off of Chris Reeves project knife? I'm not trying to argue, I'm trying to learn. Is the fit and finish not as good? The metal used inferior? The edge improperly ground?

I like the design of the Chris Reeve knives, just can't afford them. And I understand why there might be some resentment of a mass production company ripping off somebody's custom work. So I hope the original designer was compensated by Schrade (or Taylor brands or whoever) but what I'd like to know is what specifically are the differences in quality between the two knives? How do I recognize quality in a knife?
 
I have three knives that I use as bushcraft and survival knives. A Fallkniven F1, Bark River Bravo-1 and I recently acquired a RAT Cutlery RC-5, which is probably the strongest fixed blade knife I own. All are good for a survival kit or camping, hiking, etc.
 

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Can't think of many chores a leatherman Wave can't do. I don't even carry a hatchet away from my vehicle and use a small saw bow when horse packing.
I did trade my Cav Scout kid an Ontario Black Wind Sword for his Ont. SPAX, lord knows were that will end up.
I also got him a Gerber LST? I believe as a gift when he completed training at FT. Knox. What is the word on these knives?
 
My choice of Hollow handle knives are Chris reeve Mountain series or a Randall model 18 5 1/2 version. These are not cheap knives. I would trust my life to either one. But you are going to pay 300.00 to 500.00 respectively. Rat cutlery has a Para chord handle knife that a tube fits in hand under the para cord. Don't ever forget the importance of para cord They handle on para cord knife will give you 20 ft of fishing line.
 
It might be counter-productive to partially compromise the utility of a knife handle by using that cord. A tiny coil of fishing line in a little tin, or using lanyard cord instead, and that can be avoided.

Being a terrible fisherman with a rod and reel, I wouldn't give much for my chances using paracord. (I take it you meant taking the strands out and using those, rather than the none-too-thin paracord directly?) I think I'd build a basket fish trap and use the paracord to help that happen, rather than line fish.

Though looking at it from a broader perspective, most any rough outdoor situation should resolve itself one way or another before starvation becomes a concern. Water, fire, and shelter should generally suffice.

Insofar as outdoor blades go, my view is that as long as you have something like a Mora or better, you can make do. But for life in the lap of bladed outdoor luxury, I feel superbly equipped with just one of these categories:

- hunter/skinner + folding buck saw
- khukuri
- hatchet or small axe (e.g. GB Wildlife Hatchet or Small Forest Axe)
- Son Of Dogfather size/style blade

Each of these on its own can perform a broad range of wood and animal processing tasks, each with its particular strengths. I rotate through them all to keep some muscle memory intact, but I'd say that my khukuris see the most use since they're just so much fun.
 
We've had these discussion before. Somewhat like starboard, I prefer the traditional kukuri model: that is, a very large, efficient chopper for big tasks and self defense, coupled with a much smaller utility knife for delicate tasks and a steel or stone to sharpen. Some potential pairings:

Very large: large kukuri and small knife (Shrade Sharpfinger? Any decent midsize folder).
Fairly large: good large bowie and SAK.
Large: Valkman 7" blade and Bird and Trout.

There are lots more good combinations, but you usually get more out of building your own dedicated kit (Altoids tin, even) than using someone else's idea of what you'll be needing. I used to have many that I'd made, some carried in soft glass cases with velcro closures. I think those usually had Slim Jims or peanuts, a lighter, hooks, fishing line, trioxane tablets, alcohol wipes, and a space blanket.

John
 
I have so many survival knives I don't even know which one I'd choose if I were walking into a survival situation (and knew it in advance). Do I want to mess up my customs? How about my EK Commando Bowie? (That was my original "survival knife") How about one of my Randall's? How about one of the many SOGs I own? How about my CRKT Razel? How about one of the many Spyderco's I own? How about a Case Trapper? SOG Multitool? Unfortunately, the only knife that I know will be in my pocket is probably one of my SAKs. I do have the itch for either a RAT RC-4 or RC-5 however. :)

Like JShirley said, I view it as a two or three knife choice for a survival scenario. The SAK is probably always going to be part of the mix.
 
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I love Rat cutlery. I seen the Rat 4 at SMKW few weeks back for $87.00.
I made something like it. I made two of them. Gentleman in Russia and someone in SC bought them.

Here a pic of of it.
HPIM0652.jpg

One of my next knife is going to be modeled after the Randall model 18 with a Damascus Blade I am making mine a crutch tip of course. I always wanted a Randall.
 
the guy who made the original Rambo knife was this cat.

http://www.jimmylile.com/

he's dead now, but A couple of guys are producing the same knife under his name. I don't know them. I met Jimmy Lyle at a knife show once and he was a cool dude and real craftsman.
 
Les Stroud survived a week solo each time out in many of the planet's harshest places with a multi-tool as his primary. Not my cup o' tea because a folder is too fragile to be the primary in my view, but he proved it could be done satisfactorily, and it gave him something with which to strip a bike, snowmobile, pick-up truck, and even a light aircraft, recreating "lost tourist/traveler" scenarios.

Of course in Northern Ontario, he also had an axe and in polar bear country a rifle.;)

Choose the right tools for the job. One could do a lot worse than to carry a decent SAK or decent multi-tool combined with a compact but tough fixed bladed knife like an RC-4 or a Fallkniven F-1.

Big choppers have always amused me for "survival" purposes. Why hack away at the green forest, needlessly burning energy and dealing with carrying a heavy and beefed up machete when there is deadfall nearly everywhere for the picking up?
 
Having seen this sort of thing before I would say the destructive testing of a knife is quite unreasonable. Actually, ridiculous is a better word.

To split wood with a knife and baton one uses another piece of wood to strike the spine of the knife. To notch or cut a piece of wood one can use the weight of the knife alone in a chopping stroke. You can do this even with a 5" blade of reasonable heft. Belting a knife with a hammer is a rather silly idea; and hard to visualize in any but the most conjured scenario. And concrete blocks??

If you can carry a 3 pound hammer you can carry a machete or a small ax. If it just so happens that you have a regular hammer with you - but no ax or machete - the claw portion of the head will chew through alot of wood if employed vigorously enough. You could actually grind the head of most hammers into an ax on a concrete block with some work.

Something I find very irritating about this is that Shrade has copied a very distinctive knife - in minute detail - that was the fruit of someone else's genius, along with much time, skilled and painstaking work.

If Shrade are capable of producing a superior knife, why can they not produce a design of their own?

I would save my money and wait before I buy a Shrade copy of one of Mr Reeve's knives.

My current advice? A good SAK, and or good 3.5 to 5 inch knife + a 12" Tramontina machete. The latter can be had for a song.
 
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