You call that a knife?

"You call that a knife? This is a knife [pulling out a larger blade]" - Crocodile Dundee

One item missing from my go-kits is a survival knife. I've looked occasionally at stores but haven't found the right one yet. I learned about this one today online. It looks and sounds good; I like the saw teeth on the back and the sheath. But I'd like to hold it, feel it, before buying.

The blog "Equipped to Survive" has a great article on "Selecting The Best Knife". See also The Fighting Knife Blog with an article strangely similar but with several interesting links.

Things to avoid include

• Double edged knifes (these are meant for killing and you may end up cutting your own hand)
• Giant sized, "Rambo", knives. A short blade is easier to manage.
• Hollow handles filled with "survival gear". While there are some excellent models drilled into the steel tang, most are cheap handles that will easily break. And the blogger notes, if you lose your hollow handle knife, you lose your gear too.

Both the "Equipped" blog and a class I attended recommend a non-folding knife (full tang or narrow tang). A folding knife may break at the joint or close unexpectedly when used under great force.

Bottom Line

There are extreme survivalists who can survive with only a knife and their wits. A survival knife is for more than cutting. You can use it to shave kindling, saw a branch, scale fish, start a fire with a piece of flint, skin a squirrel, serve as a spear head, dig a hole, pry something loose, etc. As one knife reviewer said, "Its a hammer, a glass breaker, and a knife in one!" Buy a knife that can handle a lot of abuse.