Favorite Survival knife?

hso said: The fish get "poached" to remove the skin or they're stick roasted with it on...

I sure hope you're not throwing away the skins on trout. That's the best part!
 
Livesay RTAK.....Newt makes the best tools for the money. May not be pretty, but I'll bet they would hold up to any other design.
 
Hey Joe, how are the Ontario Machette's? I head bad stuff and good stuff about them, and Ontario in general. Scale of 1-10, how'd you rate it (them)?
 
Tuff:

Ontario machetes are the best $15 you'll ever spend for cutlery! For what they are, they are good solid workers. Cliff Stamp completely demolished his while putting it through the "Stampizer", so keep in mind there's limits to what a $15 1/8"-thick machete will do. But for the things I use it for -- brush cutting, delimbing soft woods, occasionally heavier chopping -- I love it. Performs great, easy to resharpen, ergonomics are reasonable.

In comparison to other machetes, I like the open handle better than the D handles on the Ontario Collins machetes and the Barteauxs.

If I were going for the ultimate machete, I'd be looking at Livesay's Rapid Deployment or whatever he's calling his machete these days. It's what I'd look at if I wanted a machete that could make it through the Stampizer
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I have the 12" beavertail model, and 18" military model.

Joe
 
I'd probably choose my cheap, I mean inexpensive, Ontario 12" Military machette (1095 steel). I'm still looking for a good sheath. The cordura nylon one I have is marginal, and this knife warrants a better sheath.

This is a great chopper and only weights just over a pound.

Or, I might choose my CS Recon Scout with the custom Kydex Sheath. The 7.5 inch blade is more handy (and safe) to carry and what I am more likely to have in my pack (about 16 oz.) or on my person.
 
Mad Dog ATAK or 15" Ang Khola depending on the circumstances. Weight and defense use being the qualifiers. Living in Kalifornia I can appreciate Squid's comments. I often carry a Panther although a Saxon might be even more appropriate! For one knife in a tough urban and wilderness environment, the ATAK is the clear winner. For pure wilderness use with limited defense, the Ang Khola is the winner, provided you can deal with its weight.
 
Remember the original question simply asked what our favorite survival knife was. It said nothing about it being the *only* blade being carried. I suspect most of us carry numerous smaller knives daily and would still have them along in the woods. Therefore to my way of thinking the "survival" knife only has to perform the largest hardest tasks itself. I feel this makes the larger knives more viable in this scenario. FWIW I`d probably choose a large heavy knife anyway since there are some tasks that smaller knives just aren`t really capable of. Since I can`t predict the type or severity of a potential survival situation I want a knife that can do anything it`s called upon to do,rather than assuming that a small knife will be adequate. The middle of a harrowing survival situation is no time to discover that you`re "under knifed".
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Marcus
 
Joe -
For $15, I think I'll give one a try. Can't really go wrong with a knife for $15.
Livesay's? They have a webpage, would like to see what they make, not farmiliar with them. Thanks.
 
Marcus -

When I asked this question, i meant it as the knife that you might be doing all your tree cutting, bush mowing, surviving, type of knife with - the more common stuff to survive with. Yeah, a folder or something smaller would be more ideal for say, skinnign a fish, but you couldn't cut wood with a sebenza either. Assuming you had a folder might change people's opinion I guess, then knowing you don't need to be cutting small things with a ghurki or something.
 
For the money a Livesay RTAK hands down. I have only had mine about a month, but its getting a heck of a workout as I am spending time at my old home of record in south east Arkansas and am cleaning up tornado debris around our property. Mmm! Also got a chance to do one of my favorite blade tests, cutting a tire off of a rim. The RTAK is thin enough, stiff enough, and holds an edge well enough to skin a 30 inch mudder right off the rim. Pine slash can be hell on tires.
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Anyway, its yet to be resharpened, but is still cutting extremely well after a few days of hard use. It may not have the lateral strength to support a tank, but I can't see it breaking, espcially with the full length tang. The lack there of is my biggest gripe about the Busse Basic series. Everybody knows that no matter what synthetic used, flexible polymer handles tend to break down quickly with use. I always prefer micarta or something similar.

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"Women bring life into the world
and much death, for they sway the
destinies of men." -Anneas
 
Glad to hear the positive comments about the RTAK. Newt and I had our minds set on a no BS blade with common steel when we initiated this project - and of course an affordable price.

For the record, it also cleans fish and dresses out game well with its thinner profile.

The RTAK's designed purpose is an all-around blade for wilderness work without a lot of added weight. Sure smaller blades are more comfortable and more effective when doing delicate chores, but we were looking for a blade that will handle everything while placing emphasis on serious bush chores - whacking trails, digging cat holes and shelter construction. In other words, if you just had one knife to work wilderness, how would you design it. That was our concept for the RTAK.

The 3/16" thickness and edge configuration makes for quick work on vines and small head-bangers. This is an absolute necessity in jungle conditions and heavy wilderness, especially when traveling in small dugouts through overgrown tributaries and swamps. Thicker blades just won't get the job done in a single whack, thus the abundance of machetes in tropical areas. - Jeff

BTW: A big AMEN on your signature at the end of the post.

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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
Tuff,I guess from your last post that I sorta got the gist of your message anyway? Jeff, I haven`t tried an RTAK but I can see what you mean about a big 3/16" blade for this sort of thing. My EDMF is 3/16" also but with a saber grind. Being so thin for it`s size I thought it would be more of a big fighter than a chopper but I was wrong. It`s plenty strong and chops wood like crazy,as well in some woods as my much thicker (7/16")GH Bhojpure khukuri. It works even better on lighter woods and brush. With it`s full flat grind the RTAK must really cut! I have several thicker heavier knives but out of all mine the 3/16" EDMF is still my choice for these situations because it`s more versitile. Marcus
 
Cliff:
I guess you've seen Mel's "The Edge". 13" of CPM 3V steel. This would be my first choice. I have a 6" D-2 utility fighter by Mel, that would also probably do very well in that situation.
 
I looked at Mel's site to see if by chance he made a machete already, but didn't see one. His Edge camp knife looks pretty cool though! Not to mention that new lockback he made.

Joe
 
Hey guys!

When I'm hiking/camping out in the Oregon Cascades, I usually have a Cold Steel Ghurka Light Kukri strapped to my pack and a Benchmade Nimravus taped to the shoulder strap. For chopping I don't think you can go wrong with the Kukri design. I don't want to carry a super-expensive knife out in the woods and--GOD FORBID!--lose it somehow... The Nimravus is my little utility knife for skinning, etc. Both knives are relatively inexpensive, so if I happen to lose/break one I'm not out a ton of cash. I guess if I had my choice (and $$ wasn't an issue) I'd probably go with the Busse Battle Mistress. From the reviews it seems to be bulletproof. Just my opinion...

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"They sicken of the calm, who know the storm."
RFrost5746@aol.com or Robert_Frost@ars.aon.com

[This message has been edited by rfrost (edited 17 August 1999).]
 
The Cold Steel light ghurki seemed thin and looked as if it would snap easily. I take it that it is not as bad as might seem, or people wouldn't praise it.
 
The H.I. WWII models are durable and will handle chopping quite well. I think building shelter and fire would be a priority in many survival situations.

Will
 
Hi guys, we don't have may "woods" left in Holland, and the ones that we have we are not allowed to chop down anything in. But my "survival" combo would be 1. for choping and heavier work the Hill Knives KCT-002 this is a custom made knive with a ATS-34 7.5 " blade and has a solid "plastic" sheath retaining the knife like a military katana. This knife is the first custom handmade knife to be accepted officially as a survival/"combat" knife for our Dutch commando's. It has several ways of being attached to belt harness upside down, packs, leggs etc. Attached to the solid sheath is a corduray sheath holding a 5" diamond whetstone and 2. My Large Sebenza which I use for "lighter" chores. That's 1.5 pounds of knives I'm wearing and that's enough weight for me.
Cheers, Bagheera

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[This message has been edited by Bagheera (edited 18 August 1999).]
 
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