Survival is the subject less than $100.00 for a great knife is the budget

One thing about this thread is we have no idea where the OP is located. Where the "middle of nowhere is" is important.
 
I'd have to go with the new Esee 4 HM which is releasing very soon. The new handle shape is similar to a plsk style knife which would be a good solid hold for hours of use and numerous grips. Not to mention the Rowen 1095 is one of the best steels you'll get under 100.00. You can take the coating of the back and hit it with a hard rock and get a spark that can be blown into an ember on some punk wood. Pull a decent set of stones from the river rub them toget her for about 10 minutes and you'll have two stones for honing the edge (save the slurry too- rub it into your leather belt for a decent strop). Not to mention when youve made it out of the survival situation, if you did manage to hurt the knife, esee will replace it no questions asked
 
Tough as nails, easy to sharpen; cheap as heck and big enough to handle most jobs IMHO including a defensive role if/as needed.

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"Any good knife shouldn't break", the caveat being that you have a bit of knife understanding and don't push it to its limit. Some knives do seem on the brittle side and now we have "battening" being in vogue everyone expects knives to baton logs. Frankly to get a fire going with dry inner wood requires at most split sticks. If you only have a SAK on you then thats what you can but use, the rest is brain power.

The CS Bushman is made of a spring steel as are so many machetes. They may not keep an edge for long but are hard to break. There are some tough knives that will bend before breaking too, but again their edges don't last long. Or built thick so they can't break with a harder steel. Many are hopeless at cutting and loose too much utility to outright strength. All this thickness and weight isn't necessary or desirable. I think we have been conned, as we are being sold and have bought into some pretty inefficient tools. The sorry story further exacerbated by some over enthusiastic knife reviewers that really don't use a knife for work other than a play in the woods. (I'm one too, but getting less trendy).

One of my pet hate knives is the British MOD survival knife. It may be difficult to break but its a thug of a knife and a brick. Not a good cutter, rubbish grind and too short as a chipper. Its crap.
I respect Busse knives for what they are. Sadly I think they are too heavy and overbuilt to carry far for their size.
Most high cost blades are just too expensive and rare to find in remote places where their qualities might find use.
Note the amount of re-profiling done on many of the usual survival knife suspects. Work to make the factory offering actual do an adequate job.
Another pet hate knife are thick bladed bushcraft knives.
And any knife that is sold to chop more than a sapling.

Survival is using whatever is at hand. Train with great and poor equipment, as then you won't be at a loss that you don't have that gukki kit. Survival is not glamping.
When I do have a choice then I'll have something that good at its job. There are too many vid on Y tube of people chopping through a log with a small knife. That is far too much energy being used and no survival test. It might test the knife a bit, but most are pretty terrible at it all; well they are on the ones I've watched. So many are straight forward poor at being a Knife!

Yes, there are some nice knives made. Knives that are knives and not sharpened slabs, or just so overbuilt they don't cut well. The world was tamed with axes, saws, and little sharp kitchen knives. My preference is for efficient cutting machines made well that have just enough weigh to do the job. Its all a bit like too much scope on top of a rifle to go hunting with. A 21/2lbs sniper scope on a 12lbs plus rifle that is rarely going to ever shoots beyond 200m.
 
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That said. I'd have to agree with the few previous posts that stated the where in the "middle of nowhere" actually matters a great deal. Saying there's a limit of 100 dollars for one knife is very fun to entertain - that said most will probably reach for the upper end of that limit. Thusly we are sure to see the normal repeats and contenders. Not to hijack a thread but if i was certain I was going to be in a survival situation I could legitimately budget myself and spend that 100 on a decent chopper like a schf52 (comes with Diamond sharpener and ferro rod, a mora bushcraft black, a tarp from harbor freight, a spool of bank line and a gsi cup and Gatorade bottle. I'd have my basics covered for under the $100. With the change I'd probably buy some cliff bars aND a bic. Without knowing the location I'd feel much better with the above 100 worth of decent gear than I would a 100 single knife.
 
I'm not sure what I would pick, but I know I would have my EDC. I have only wished I had a bigger or stronger blade with me a few times, and I was wishing for a machete every time.
 
Once it goes beyond an EDC, be that EDC be a penknife or small fixed belt knife, then it had better be a more substantial tool to get some reach and do some heavier work. My new found solution is the Skrama. Beyond that it would have to something like an axe.


Stayinsharp has a point. Is it a knife or the kit to survive? A bothy/bivi bag might be more use.
 
I think part of what makes a "survival knife", as opposed to any other sort of outdoor tool, is that it is not built for a single place or situation or environment. It is more the tool you have, regardless of how you're traveling.

Stupid example: John Rambo has his Vietnam combat/survival knife as one of his handful of possessions when he ends up running around in a forest in Washington state. The knife works for him in both places.

Realistic example: The US and Soviet space programs both included a variety of survival tools. Why? Because a space capsule has the possibility of coming down in nearly any sort of environment on earth - Australia, Himalayas, Sahara, Congo, Andes, Mohave. What knife do you include when you have that sort of range of possibilities.

"Survival" is about being flexible in the face of the unexpected. Flexible tools are always interesting, and that fascination isn't likely to go away - even in the face of the low probability of ever needing such a tool. Modern people can get along fine without a single knife of any description, so we should probably forgive the hypotheticals.
 
A survival knife is whatever you have on you in the moment IMHO; because you'll never know when you'll be thrown headfirst into a survival situation... :foot:

Mine ATM are an Al Mar SERE 2K, custom tanto and a KBar TDI so I'm set for urban survival/sentry removal LOL. JK, JK. :D:rolleyes:;):thumbup:
 
A SAK, an opinel, a mora, Fiskers hatchet, and a tramontina machete. Buy all of them, and still have $$ left over.
 
Akapennypincher said:
What would you buy if you knew ahead of time you were getting stuck in the middle of no where, with only a knife.
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I'd buy a Becker BK16. If for some reason a longer blade appeals to people, the Becker BK9 is also under $100 and is more capable at chopping.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Happy to help, but give credit to GREENJACKET. Never heard of the thing until he posted about it. Has a pretty solid review up on it, as well.
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Yeah, I've been turned on to some of my best stuff by others....

That Skrama is toward the top of my list now to replace anything like it once it breaks. It's one I'd missed apparently.......
 
22-rimfire said:
One thing about this thread is we have no idea where the OP is located. Where the "middle of nowhere is" is important.
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Really why it is the place you bust down in your car, get stranded, or where you escape when the world went to doo doo. Could be by the sea, on the side of a mountain, or in the desert.
 
I'd either use my Gerber Prodigy or my Buck Reaper. Either are a solid blade and are way below the price point. My old go to, a MKIII USN knife from Ontario may even be on my list, it may not be "survival" oriented, but that thing was tough...and I mean tough.
 
Akapennypincher said:
Really why it is the place you bust down in your car, get stranded, or where you escape when the world went to doo doo. Could be by the sea, on the side of a mountain, or in the desert.
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Environment matters. Geography matters. I would probably favor a stainless steel blade near the sea or a machete and a smaller blade if I got stranded (car break down). And since it's a car, I might well have a two or three blades inside to choose from. If the world went to do do, I would not limit myself to one knife. You are likely to cut different materials in different environments. A knife I choose for the SE US is likely to be different than one I would choose in Alaska or Canada. Also depends if I am hunting for food versus just starving and making my way out of a bad situation (long term vs short term).

Bottom line is that I could be perfectly comfortable with a 111mm Victorinox SAK such as a Trekker in most places other than the jungle. I would want a reliable machete in a jungle environment with a folder in my pocket.
 
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I would trade $90 of that knife budget for a water filter. Is that allowed? That buys you time.

Edit: actually, I'd only need $50 of that budget for a good Sawyer Squeeze Filter. So give me whatever 4-5" fixed blade in a tough steel. Maybe a CS Bushman. Its pretty versatile, tough, and cheap.
 
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22-rimfire said:
Those Sawyer filters work.
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Yes they do. I have several since I work for an outdoor company and get them dirt cheap. My original one is going on 4 years and has logged over 6,000 liters. Still going strong. I carry a new backup while guiding backpacking trips, but have never needed to use it. It's the best filter out there, period.
 
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