How to choose the best Survival knife?

The Skinning knife is the most important item in your equipment. It must be really good. Choosing the right survival knife is more than just an expression of individuality - your life may depend on your right choice! Anyone who has spent some quality time in the Wild can attest to the usefulness of a good knife, but for the survival expert, it is one of his best friends and the most valuable item of equipment. Like a good friend, his knife will never leave him in trouble.

There was a time when almost all men carried a knife, even if it was a small pocket knife, when they were in the village. However, when they went out in nature, they always had a good hunting knife on hand.

Nowadays, many people forget the need to carry a knife. It has even become normal to meet people who are afraid of knives and always wonder to those who carry them. Carrying a knife does not make you a criminal! It does not "unlock" in you the desire to use it against people. The crimes in which a knife is used are committed by the person who carry it, not by the knife. It is simply a tool in the hand of a sick mind. The sad fact is that most "modern" people have no idea about the many uses of a good knife. That's why whenever someone asks me, "And why do you have a knife with you?", a wide smile appears on my face, as when a small child asks me a naive question.

The survival knife is a compulsory item

A good survival knife is the most important item in your survival gear and is one of the 15 must-haves for the survivor. With the help of a good knife you can provide almost everything you need to live and even prosper in the Wild. With this in mind, your choice of survival knife should be based on the following qualities: solid construction, good materials, craftsmanship and functionality.

For the inexperienced person, the term "survival knife" evokes images of large Rambo-style knives, so praised in Hollywood movies. Although they look like weapons with the potential to take over the world, they are far from the image of the ideal knives used by survival experts. The disadvantage of large knives is that they are difficult to control. They are heavy and bulky. Many of the survivor's needs require precise work, sometimes with fine detail, which can hardly be done well with this type of knife.

The truth is that the camping knife, the only one you can trust in a survival situation, is the one in your pocket, strapped to your belt or hanging around your neck.

At the same time, the big chopper may be packed in your backpack that has sunk to the bottom of the lake when your boat capsizes, and it can't help you at all.

Most people who love outdoor activities do not carry large knives on their thighs. Most hunters, fishermen, tourists, skiers, mountaineers, rowers, etc. do not travel with a huge knife at the waist. Sailing in a canoe or other boat with a large knife at the waist makes you awkward, and if you find yourself in the water, it can become a good ballast that will drag you even faster to the bottom. Falling from a horse with a large knife at the waist can lead to serious injuries. If you fall through thin ice, the small knife will certainly be more effective than the big one in your attempts to get out.

In climbing, where agility is especially important, attaching a large knife to the body is at least impractical. In the case of Aaron Ralston, the climber who cut off his trapped arm to save himself, the issue was not the size of the knife, but its quality.

Each knife with a fixed blade hung on a belt, as well as the folding pocket knife, are always close to the body. When attacked by a predator, the machete attached to the backpack or placed inside it cannot help you, while the 7 cm folder or the 10 cm knife in the hips can bring you back to the top of the food chain.

Ricole John Hirsch fought a hungry bear and managed to kill it with the help of a folding pocket knife with a 9 cm blade! The whole idea is that the knife he carried in his pocket saved his life.

Double-edged knives are mostly used for piercing. Because their tips are generally weak, they are prone to breakage. In addition, the second blade is unnecessary and just can cause injuries.

Many of the survival knives on the market have hollow handles. The idea is to store things that are important for survival, such as matches and a compass. One of the problems that hollow-handle knives have is that they are generally weaker than those with a solid handle. There are exceptions, of course, but in general it is better to think of another place to store your survival belongings. The advantage is that even if you lose your knife, you will still have things to rely on.

Optimal length of the survival knife

The best survival knives should be suitable for as many things as you may need to do. At the same time, volume and weight are very important features that you need to consider when choosing equipment for survival.

Practice shows that the ideal survival knife has a blade between 10 and 15 centimeters long. A blade of this length offers a good combination of size and control. Any length longer than this is unnecessary and only adds weight and volume to the survival gear. If you need a large blade, it is probably better to put a machete, ax, tomahawk or kukri in your backpack. However, the need for a knife of normal length remains, and you should always have it on hand.

In addition to the survival knife with a blade length of 10-15 cm, it is good to wear a multitool with small folding blades. They are especially useful for precise work with small details when the large knife is too awkward.

The best survival knife is made of one piece of metal, to which other parts can be attached to be processed in the form of a comfortable handle. In "The World of Knives" this type of construction is called "full tang" and "hidden tang".

Cheap knives are often made so that the metal blade is not a whole with the handle. The weak point of these poorly made knives is where the blade and handle are bolted or glued together. Try to avoid such cheap knives and choose the best "full tang" and "hidden tang" models.

There are two main types of knife blades that you should be familiar with. These are the plain edge and serrated blade. Serrated blades (uneven, saw-like sharpening) are very good at cutting synthetic materials, fabrics and meat. They are a good choice for self-defense and first aid. The disadvantages of the serrated blade is that it is difficult to be sharpened properly in the field. This is actually their biggest disadvantage in a survival situation where maintaining the sharpness of a heavily used knife is vital. In addition, serrated blades are not effective for chipping and cutting.

A plain and smooth blade is the right choice for most survival situations. Such a blade is suitable for chipping and cutting. Even if they don't cut synthetic ropes, fabrics or meat as the serrated ones do, knives with smooth blades still do well with these materials.

An additional advantage of the plain type of blades is that you can sharpen them well enough even on a stone or a piece of concrete when you do not have a special sharpener on hand. This is not possible with serrated blades due to the fact that they require special sharpening devices and techniques.

On the "back" of many survival knives is a saw, which suggests the ability to cut metal or wood. In too many cases, as with Rambo knives, this saw does this job worst in stead of best. If you need a small saw in your survival gear, then instead of using your knife for this purpose, it is better to take a tool that is specially designed for this purpose.

The best survival knives generally have a blade thickness of between 4 and 6 millimeters. If they are thinner, the blade becomes too flexible, and if they are thicker, there is no finesse in the precision work for which survival knives are most commonly used.

It is very important that the tip of the knife is strong enough, as this part can most often break.

There are two main types of steel that are used to make high quality survival knives:

Here on our site we offer you a Guide to choosing the best knife steel, so you can make an informed choice according to your needs.

Survival experts such as Morse Kochansky, Ray Myers, and Cody Lundin have long promoted the study of survival habits and skills with a small knife for one important reason: it may be the only tool you have. Your chances of survival are significantly higher if you have a well-established habit of wielding a small knife, because in an unforeseen situation you will probably only have a small knife. Learn to use your knife as a tool of salvation and you will develop not only your habits of living and surviving in nature, but also the will to win!

When choosing the best survival knife, do not squeeze and do not compromise. Choose the best one for you and it will serve you faithfully for many years. And it can even save your life!

Now that we’ve covered hunting knives, would you like to learn how to choose the perfect hunting knife? Check out our blog entry where we offer you some tips that can help you in your search, especially if you are not an avid knife maker. Be sure to check it out!