Learn about your greatest friend in the wilderness. Be careful how you choose your knife. Know what kind of steel it is made of and if you can use it to start fires with if you needed to do so. Learn to sharpen a knife and learn knife safety.
Knives – Important Tool of Survival
in Survival Knives & Camping Knives
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A Survival Knife is probably the single most important tool in your prepared survival kit. You can do many tasks to survive in the wilderness or on a camping trip with nothing but a good knife.
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Ontario Knife Company Gen II SP-45 Outdoor Survival Knife with Sheath – $84.49
The illustrated Ontario knife is the Ontario Gen II Spec Plus knife, an outdoor survival knife designed by Dan Maragni, that features an 8.25″ recurve blade made of 5160 high carbon steel,.1875″ thick. The blade of this Ontario knife has a non reflective rust resistant black texture powder coat. The Gen II Spec Plus knife has full length tang construction; black Kraton polymer handle with grooves and “s-type” hilt for non slip grip, and a reinforced lanyard hole. The Gen II Spec Plus knife with recurve blade has an overall length of 13.25″. A molle compatible black nylon sheath with plastic insert is included with this Ontario knife. |
Most Survival Knives fall within the range of 6 to 12 inches. Any less and it might not be big enough to do the things you will have to get done in a survival situation, like chopping branches for building a survival shelter or fire wood. Sure, it would work a lot better with a hatchet or saw, but if you Bug Out, you might not have anything else.
However, start getting much bigger than 9 to 10 inches and you start getting the Rambo Fever. This is the point where the knife is getting too big to handle and carry effectively and might be more of hindrance than a tool.
Survival Knives generally come in two types of steel: Stainless or Carbon. Which is better is a huge debate and I won’t recommend which one you should choose but here are the main differences.
■ Stainless Steel is…well it’s stainless steel. Virtually indestructible, can take a beating and last a long time without rusting. However many people say stainless blades lose an edge faster than carbon.
■ Carbon Steel knives are usually known to hold a good edge longer than stainless steel, but will rust faster in the elements.
I personally, prefer carbon steel because you can use this to start a fire with a piece of quartz (we’ll cover that in another article) or with a fire-striker tool.
In my opinion, a dull knife can hurt you a lot quicker than a sharp knife. If you know it is sharp… you will be more safety minded when using that knife, not taking chances. Getting hurt with a knife in the wilderness could mean serious cut that sets up infection or death, maybe both. Stay Safety minded when using a knife any time and any where.
This article by no means covers all you will need to know about survival knives. You will need to know how to sharpen a knife and the better techniques in doing so. The type of sheaths available and which kind is best for your needs. These topics will be covered in other articles soon. So come back often to learn more.
