Survival Knife – What to Look For

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A good quality survival knife is what may be needed in potentially the roughest of times. It is used for survival in wilderness, urban, suburban, and rural areas to deal with life-threating attacks as well as general cutting, slicing, and chopping tasks around your home, vehicle, travels, and/or wilderness camp location(s) during a survival period. A knife must be kept very sharp and well maintained.

A survival knife should be small and light enough to carry on you for daily tasks and large and strong enough to do what you foresee could be the need in the roughest of times, which includes self-defense. Different knives can serve different purposes. I carry Item 1, see photo below, for everyday carry around the home or town (suburban or urban) and Item 2 or 3 when in a rural or wilderness areas.

There are many knives on the market for consideration. The following are things to consider when choosing a survival knife, which must also serve as a camp knife:

Blade Attributes

 – Edge: Long straight cutting edge with an arching belly for slicing, cutting, and skinning.

 – Grind: Flat or saber for edge strength.

 – Spine: .25 can be too thick and heavy, .125 can work, and .20 is good. Rounded or square spine.

 – Length: 4” up to 6” is good. Below 4” is short. Have the blade length that allows the point and full blade edge to be easily controllable with the arm and wrist; some people can control a longer length.

 – Point: Positioned at the centerline of the knife for instinctive use as an extension of the arm and wrist. It has a point with enough metal behind it that it will not break when twisting the blade.

– Steel: 1095 or T1 tool steel requires cleaning of all moisture and oiling to prevent rust; they can also require sharpening often after heavy use. Study other knife steels and brands to find out about other options. I am currently using the following knives (see photo, from left to right):
1. MagnaCut steel Buck® 663 Alpha Guide Elite or S35VN steel
2. NIOLAX steel (T5 model) from Germany on a knife made in Italy by the LionSteel® Company
3. CPM 3V steel (T6 model) by LionSteel®

 – Sheath and handle: Good knife retention (stays in the sheath if you fall or tumble), allows for a firm grip of the handle to remove the knife from the sheath, and the sheath (see first photo of this article) allows for wearing/positioning as you want. The end of the handle can take a lanyard.

Lanyard

Add a lanyard to keep your survival knife in your control during times of an attack (Wrist-Wrap) and stability when using around the camp (Three-Finger Wrap). You can see the size of a lanyard in relation to the handle in the above photo (#1 has a thinner handle):

 – Wrist-Wrap: knife can drop/hang from your wrist, but not knocked away from you in an attack, and you can quickly return the knife to your grip (see photo, left).

 – Three-Finger Wrap: is secure in the hand (see photo, right, close the other finger and thumb around the handle). The knife could be knocked from your hand in an attack; however, it is a solid grip for cutting and chopping (loosen your grip and allow your pinky-finger to be the lever-point, not your whole hand and pointing-finger of the swing). This wrap allows your hand to be under less stress using the knife. Find one lanyard length that works for both wraps.

Other Features

 – Has a handle that fits your hand with no “hotspots” as well as a surface that holds your grip. Has a shape that allows knowing where the blade’s cutting-edge faces without having to look and in the dark (surface definition of the palm-side and the finger-side). Securely fastened through the full tang of the knife.

 – Has a pommel that can be used to break a vehicle’s window and for non-lethal strikes. Also, do not throw your knife in self-defense; a thrown knife is a gone knife (for only one potential strike), but a kept knife can strike many times.

 – Has a weight balance located at the finger choil, and it has a finger guard in front of the choil to prevent your hand from slipping onto the blade during a forward- or reverse-grip thrust (penetration strikes).

Capabilities

Make sure your survival knife can:

 – Prepare food (cutting, slicing), firewood (splitting, beaver-crewing, feather-sticks, etc.), and shelter (cutting, notching) preparations.

 – Clear small trees and branches as well as be used to craft/make camp related items (stools, tables, chairs, pot-hangers, tripods, meat sticks, etc.).

 – Kill, clean, skin, and prepare meat for food and pelts for coverings.

–  Make sure it can cause enough penetration to reach internal organs and is sharp enough to cut through hide/skin, clothing, and meat/muscle to reach the major arteries and the trachea (blood and air flow).

Note: With experience, a person should be able to avoid situations where these knife abilities are needed; do not use these abilities unless it is absolutely necessary, when you are in fear for your life (make it your Last Choice of action).
Story: Facing a full-grown black bear is a sight to behold and an experience to be remembered. I have faced two in my life: one at 25 yards with a .44 magnum handgun drawn and ready (my dad whispered, “do not shoot”) to which we were able to back away, not sure that a .44 mag was even enough if the bear had charged; the second was at 10 yards with a knife drawn and ready, and with a calm aggression from myself, I was able to motivate the bear to move away from me.

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