Choosing Your Survival Knife

Please note- This is a new page that I am just now beginning at the end of December, 2007. I should have it filled out in the next month or so, complete with glossary of knife terms, specifications for the knives I recommend, photos of their features, and links for their purchase.

There are many factors that should influence your choice of survival knife. Purchasing a knife can be quite an expenditure- you can spend hundreds of dollars on a "custom made" survival knife, or you can spend the equivalent of a couple weeks' coffee money on a serviceable and functional knife. Before you go looking for your knife, ask yourself these questions: How often will you be using your knife? WIll it sit on a shelf most of the year and only come out for a couple of backpack trips in the summer? If this is the case you may want a smaller, lighter knife for a survival situation only. Will your knife be used for extended periods of time, in primitive living situations for example? If you plan to use your knife for weeks at a time throughout the year, you may want to consider something larger and more robust. Do you prefer a folding or fixed blade? A locking folder as a survival knife is perfectly acceptable especially if your knife is in a survival only kit. I keep a folding locker in my PFD survival kit for river trips. Otherwise I prefer a fixed blade. A fixed blade is safer, and often longer and therefore easier to use than a folder, and more suited to "everyday" or extended wilderness use.

Knowing what kind of a knife you need is the starting point. Whichever route you choose to go, as with all survival gear, be sure to use your knife, get familiar with it and know its limitations before you need to use it. Following is a list of considerations to keep in mind when searching for your survival knife.

• cost
• handle length, girth, material
• overall weight
• blade length and thickness
• blade style- single edge, double edge, clip pointed blade, tanto-style blade
• composition- type of metal
• construction- half tang, full length tang (solid piece of metal entire length of knife), rivets, screws, moving parts
• sawteeth
• butt style-
• guard style-
• sheath- material, security, tie downs, other features

The USAF Sruvival Knife

My personal choice as the ultimate survival knife especially for primitive living exercises is the USAF Survival Knife, seen in the photo to the right. The knife is a bit heavy for ultralight backpacking, but otherwise meets all of my personal requirements in a blade. It is available at most military surplus stores for about 35 dollars. Make sure you get the real thing, and not a cheap imitation. The best price I have found recently for the USAF Survival Knife is about 35 dollars at a website called Bestglide.com.

The sheath is leather, the snap is very secure, it has a number of holes where 550 cord can be tied for securing the knife to your body, and it has a pocket with a small sharpening stone. The handle end of the knife is a piece of solid steel and can be used as a hammer. There are sawteeth on the back of the blade- something I use a lot.

I keep a cordlock compass, a Hot Spark metal match and a piece of 550 cord tied on mine. The 550 cord acts like a sling to carry the knife over the shoulder and is long enough for use on a bow for a bow and drill fire kit. Also wrapped around the sheath and covered with a Ranger band (a 1 1/2 inch length of bike inner tube) is 30 feet of 63 pound test nylon fishing line.

Columbia River Knife and Tool Company

The Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT) company makes a full line of very nice, affordable knives. Most of these are folders, but very safe folders. They have a double locking mechanism that makes them as close to a fixed blade knife as you can get in a folder. I keep one of them, from the M16 line, in my PFD survival kit.

I also have and older model- the Stiff KISS- which I carry as a lightweight survival knife for backpacking and hiking. This is a skeletonised fixed blade knife, unfortunatley no longer available. They do have a newer knife with the same features called the Hammond A.B.C. There are two models- the Aqua model, with a blunt point for scuba and whitewater use, and the Operator's model with a drop point for general purpose use. Blade length for both knives is 3.75 inches. Overall knife lengths for Aqua and Operator are 8.25 and 8.5 inches respectively. Both feature serrated backs.

The Frosts Mora Military Survival Knife

The Swedish company Frosts makes a line of fixed blade survival, hunting and fishing knives that are extremely reasonable in price. The knife pictured below, the Mora Military Survival Knife, costs about 15 dollars including the sheath. The knives are quite functional, although a bit on the light side for long-term or primitive living use. As far as I know, none feature sawteeth. This is a good blade to carry in your pack as a survival knife.