Survival and Emergency Preparedness

If you were in a situation, perhaps a 72-hour survival situation (be it wilderness or urban), what fixed knife would you want on your person or in your BOB/GHB/EDC bag? What would you want to go with it? What kind of uses do you envision it being tasked with?

I probably have at least 40 fixed blade knives. The following is what I chose to give my now 40 year old son - right handed, no medical issues, no dependents. Can drive hundreds of miles a week on business. Not a sportsman. No training skills. A Ontario TFI.

Reasons:
1. no medical issues;
2. no survival skills;
3. primarily urban;
4. sheath is one of the few sold with a knife in the business which is an acceptable sheath.
5. blade length in the range of 5 -5.5 inches.
6. price is ok.
7. told him to hide it in the car. whether he does or not, I do not know.

Me?
1. no medical issues;
2. survival skills;
3. urban;
4. trained in knife fighting;


You can me anything from a $12 Mora on up and I am good to go.
The following are the 5 fixed blades in my home office:
1. Glock knife - discontinued model
2 .ZT0160 - discontinued
3. an Al Mar - unknown model
4. Russian made Kizlyhar Supreme Model - Vendetta
5. One of a kind knife that I designed and had Barry Dawson (knife and sword maker ) do for me. The special need was for a last ditch two handed combat knife in a bedroom. I had a wee little one and did not want any firearms laying around. The design was based upon a traditional Japanese Katana.

The largest problem people have is that the best knives do not have large production runs. They end up being discontinued. I have original Ek knives. The stuff made today is not the same. Ditto on a couple of Gerber knives - discontinued. Sure, I have ka-bars and Becker items. However, I end up modifying items like the current Seals knife or an excellent Cold Steel knife, the SRK.

Sometimes a knife does not get the press. An entrepreneur in Utah came out with Banner knives. No publicity. The company apparently went under. Some guy got a shipment of the knives from Amazon. The quality was stunningly good. I picked up about three. One sat in the office until the Russian knife came in.

Secondary to the problem of finding a quality knife is obtaining a decent sheath. So, the Glock knife in the office sits in a factory sheath. The one I would carry resides in an Spec-Ops sheath.

I think I have a $13 Ontario old Hickory 7 inch bladed butcher knife residing in a $12 Ka-bar, made in Mexico sheath as a camp knife sitting in the car. Not sure. However, I know that I made up a number of packages like that. Remember, if you are in a group, you have to plan on what other people's skills and uses may be.

I have Glock Knives in my GHBs (go figure right).

I also have some Esee knives, they are at home, but would go with me if needed. I use to have some really cheap 'survival' knives. Took them out to the farm and spent a day using them and three of the four broke with moderate use. That is when I started investing in better knives.

I keep a Becker BK3 TacTool in my vehicle. Basically it is a sharpened pry bar. Definitely not a "stabby" kinda knife. You asked what do we envision as the task of the knife-- I see it as filling out a spectrum of knives. I keep a small pocket knife on me, I will generally have a Leatherman Wave either on my belt or in the car, my GHB has a folding lockblade that is larger than my pocket knife along with a Swiss Army knife. The function, to my mind, of the fixed blade in this type of scenario would be seriously rough use-- chopping, prying, hammering and possibly not on knife friendly materials. It also presupposes the presence of vehicles and buildings. Now if the scenario is wilderness I would go with something different. But these days I am very seldom in anywhere near a wilderness situation.

My primary use for a fixed blade knife would be outdoor survival bushcraft. I'm rural enough that all those tasks are nearby. A Becker or similar camp knife would be fine. I don't generally see knives as weapons, but a good camp knife could be very effective if pressed into service.

In my get home bag I have of all things a Mora. Very generic and if something happens to it I will not be heart broken. It is the carbon steel version and hot (Boiling) Vinegar patnia'ed so it will not rust. It is very sharp and I have a stone in the bag for it. My back up knife is a folder ZT 560. I do not plan on batoning with any of my knives and I think it is a bad practice, use a small axe for that job.

I am not a bug out type of person, I am a gete home person and bug in. I plan to fall back to here in any emergency, We did it during a 7.1 earthquake 3 years ago so we are tested and ready, short of anything other than uprising against the government (That follows a different set of plans). I can not imagine having to run away. I came out here to get away from all the people breathing my air.

I have tried some of the highly touted survival knives – most are overbuilt, over hyped, over weight, over priced and underwhelming when it comes to performance and are easily put to shame by a cheap machete. Few of the survival experts that sell these knives seem to actually use them all that much themselves when not out promoting them. Some others have taken the mass market route and put their name on cheap junk knives from China which won't hold up to much real use at all.

A short 12-18 inch machete will usually cut better, chop better and clear brush much better, without all of the hype. A SAK or some other small cheap knife that actually cuts and a decent saw will do the rest. In some areas a good axe would be a better than a machete. And I'm not talking one of those short handled foofoo bushcraft axes which not only suck at chopping but are quite dangerous to use. If you need an axe,you need a real axe with a real man-sized handle.

I never liked the one big do everything approach to knives, I have always done better with a machete (or axe), a saw, a small 3-4 inch belt or neck knife and a SAK or Leatherman with a saw as a back up.

I like the Ontario 12 and 18 inch D guard machetes. I saw off the D guards, but since they are injection molded handles, there's no rivets to come loose and you can get nice GI plastic scabbards to carry them in.

Some of the Cold Steel, Marbles, Tramontina, Matrendale and Condor machetes are very good also, though there are some that are poorly designed (especially some of the newer stuff intended to appeal to the bushcaft crowd or look like pseudo weapons).

Cold Steel has some cheap but very good items that work great (once you get them sharpened up) including the original kukri machete (NOT the sucky Magnum version), the Bushman (makes a great spear head) and my favorite, the SF shovel (this will out chop most hatchets).

Response to other people's suggestions.
1. machetes. A friend in Hawaii has two of the Ontario military machetes. The friend carries one in the car. People use them to cut open pineapples on a regular basis. So he is armed and not conspicuous.
I have a number of machetes. If you lacking in a sheath, there is an outfit online called Machete Specialists.
My challenge was to find machete sheaths and then modify them for across the back or over-the-shoulder carry. If you are going to walk any distance, you want a machete up and out of the way.

2. Glock knives. If you want flexibility in carry, look at the Spec Ops sheaths. They can be heated in hot water and molded to the knife.

One of my mentors decided to reconfigure the blade. I did not.

3. Esse. This knife can be purchased without a sheath. If you do so, consider a kydex sheath that can be held horizontally on a belt carry behind the back. Think. If you right handed, you probably want to a handgun in a holster on the right side. If you buy a knife with a typical vertical sheath, where is it going to go on you person? On the right of the body and compete for the same space on a belt?? The Esee 4 is a great knife. The situation is that I prefer a 5 -5.6 blade on a knife if and when shtf.

Over the years, I have seen some beginner mistakes in buying fixed blade knives. If you have a local sheath maker and a guy who can reconfigure a knife, you will spend some money, but obtain what works for you. The alternatives are to watch youtube videos, learn how to make sheaths or learn how to sharpen knives.

Example. Too many times, I read a criticism of a knife designed for the military as being dull. They are dull for reason. If you want a sushi knife you either buy one or you get the equipment and make it sharp. My mentor went to a knife smith for his Glock knife.

Conversely, I took a couple of current SP2 (I think that is the designation) inexpensive Air Force survival knives, sharpened them with a worksharp and cut off the top of the ruberized hand stop on the sheath. And, now you had a $100 knife that cost you about $40.

Someone mentioned Moras. Great knives. Watch you tube videos and you will end up a number of them for which you have modified the factory sheaths to accommodate 550 cord, fire starters, emergency supplies.

Or you can buy some low end Schrade survival knives, and if you have sharpening skills, you can have excellent survival knives.

David wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 9:28 pm If you were in a situation, perhaps a 72-hour survival situation (be it wilderness or urban), what fixed knife would you want on your person or in your BOB/GHB/EDC bag? What would you want to go with it? What kind of uses do you envision it being tasked with?

I think you need to go with what qualities should the knife have.

Mora are great knives and the cost allows you to put one in all the bags.

I would want one with part serration in a survival situation so I have options and sharpening can be put off for awhile.

For 3 days, I don't see a lot of use - mostly cutting rope or similar. For 3 days, much of what you would need are with you and prepped.

For 3 days you aren't starting a fire for security reasons.

aerynsun: You are correct. I have probably about 10 Moras. Why? I was taught a lesson by some Marines during the First Gulf War. You did not need an expensive knife. And, if your supply line was in doubt, just have extras. So, given the risk of theft by Homeland Security people at the airport, every suitcase has an inexpensive folder, low end Leatherman, Swiss Huntsman, and a flashlight. No Mora unless I am going to a US destination.

I just came back from a walk around the block (22 minutes) wearing shorts, no belt - carried a plain edge Spyderco Endura.