Survival Blades and Tools

Leatherman Multi-Tool

When you make your own survival kit be sure to include a multi-tool such as a leatherman. A multi-tools small knife blades, pliers, awls, and other tools will come in handy whether you are in a survival situation or not.
I recommend you also carry a fixed blade survival knife for larger chores and even personal protection. A fixed blade knife can be used for skinning game, making a spear, shelter creation, and a host of other uses.
How to Choose a Survival Knife
You need the best survival knife. Choosing the right survival knife is more than an exercise in individuality – your very life may hinge upon its proper selection.
Anyone who has ever spent quality time in the outdoors will vouch for the usefulness of a good knife but to the survival expert his knife is one of his best friends and the most closely guarded of his survival gear. Like a good friend, his survival knife should never let him down.
Every Man Had a Knife
There was a time when nearly all men carried knives, if only a small pocket knife while in town. Whenever one went into the wilds his hunting knife, as they were then called, was always close at hand.
Today many people have forgotten the necessity of always carrying a knife. Indeed it has become commonplace to meet people who are afraid of knives and question those who carry them. It is a sad fact that the majority of modern day people have no idea about the many uses of a good knife.

Buck 110 Folding Hunter Knife

Survival Knives are Required Gear
A good survival knife is the most important item of your survival gear and is one of the 15 essentials that all survivors should have with them. With a good knife you can make or obtain just about anything you need to live and even prosper in the outdoors. With this in mind, your selection of the best survival knife for your needs must be based on solid construction, proper materials, workmanship, and functionality.
Survival Knives to Avoid
To the inexperienced, survival knives often conjure up images of the huge Rambo type knives as glorified in Hollywood movies. Though they look like potent weapons that can take on the world, these over-sized knives are a far cry from the best of knives used by survival experts. The big knives suffer from being difficult to control as they are overly heavy and bulky. Many needs of the survivor require finer detail work than can readily be accomplished with this kind of blade.
Double edged knives are used mostly for thrusting. Because their tips are relatively weak they are prone to breaking. In addition, the second edge is an unneeded edge that can lead to injury.
Many survival knives are sold that have hollow handles, the idea being you can store survival essentials like matches and compass inside the water tight handle. One problem hollow handled survival knives have is that they are prone to being weaker than the solid handle variety. There are exceptions, but generally you are better off storing your survival gear elsewhere. One advantage to this is that should you loose your knife you will still have the remainder of your survival gear to rely upon.
The best outdoor survival knives are actually quite unassuming. Inexperienced outdoorsmen and survivalists will often pass them over to select blades that will mark them as survival neophytes to those who are in the know,
Optimum Blade Length of a Survival Knife
The best survival knives need to be versatile in the number of things they can be called upon to do. At the same time bulk and weight are important considerations as with any survival gear.
Experience dictates that the ideal survival knife blade length is somewhere between four and six inches. This size blade offers good mix of size and control. Any blade larger than that is overkill and merely adds to the weight and bulk of the survival gear you are carrying.
If a larger survival blade is needed then you would probably be better off packing a machete, axe, hatchet, tomahawk, or kuris. In any case, you would still do well to also have on your person a regular sized survival knife.
In addition to a survival knife with about a 5-inch blade, you should carry a multi-tool that has a smaller folding blade. This blade comes in handy for finer detail work that would be too cumbersome for the large knife.
Knife Tang
The best survival knife is constructed of one piece of metal, to which there may be slabs of material attached to form a comfortable handle. This kind of construction is known in the knife world as “full tang” or “narrow tang”.

• Full tang survival knives are made so that the blade merges into the handle. Often two slabs of material are attached to either side of the metal to make a comfortable handle. In order to economize on weight and bulk some knives eschew the addition of handles and the metal is left bare.
• Narrow tang survival knives reduce the size of the blade material as it enters the handle of the knife. A handle is then attached over the narrower piece of the knife. Often the knife handle is composed of leather disks, the placement of which is a skill in and of itself. Narrow tang knives sometimes have a pommel attached to the handle end of the tang.

Cheap survival knives are often made so that the metal blade is separate from the handle. The weak point on these badly made knives is where the blade and handle are bolted and glued together. You would do well to avoid such a cheap knife in favor of the superior full tang or narrow tang models.
Types of Knife Blades
There are two main types of knife blades that the survivor need concern himself with, namely smooth and serrated. Serrated survival knife blades do well at cutting synthetic materials, clothing, and flesh. For self defense and paramedics, etc, serrated edges are a good choice.

Example of a Fixed Knife Blade – Buck 119 Special

A drawback to serrated cutting edges is that they are difficult to sharpen properly in the field. This is certainly a major drawback in a survival situation where maintaining a keen edge during hard use is vitally important. In addition, serrated knives do not have an efficient blade for carving and chopping.
A plain smooth edged blade is the blade of choice for most survival situations. Such a blade is useful for carving, chopping, and cutting. Though it may not slice through nylon webbing, clothing, or flesh as efficiently as a serrated blade, the straight bladed knives will still make short work of these materials.
The added advantage of the regular blade is that you can sharpen your survival knife on a rock or piece of concrete should you not have a regular sharpening stone handy whereas the serrated blade generally needs a special sharpening device and technique.
On the back of many survival knives is a saw meant for sawing through metal or wood. In too many cases, as in the Rambo type knives, these saws only do a poor job at best. If you require a small saw in your survival gear you would do well to add a tool specifically designed for this rather than use your knife for this purpose.
Knife Blade Thickness
The best survival knife will generally have a blade thickness of between 5/32 and 8/32 of an inch. Any thinner and the blade becomes too flexible and thicker blades lack the finesse for the finer work that knives for survival are often called upon to do.
It is important that the tip of the knife maintains its strength, as this is a likely area the knife is likely to fail.
Knife Blade Materials
There are two main types of steel used in making high quality survival knives:

• Stainless Steel knife blades are rust resistant and work especially well in wet environments. They require less care than the carbon steel knives. Drawbacks to using stainless steel in knives is that they tend to be more expensive, are more difficult to sharpen, and may not hold an edge as well.
• Carbon Steel knife blades will rust if not used regularly or coated. Many feel carbon bladed knives hold an edge better than their stainless steel counterparts.

When choosing the best survival knife for your needs you should make certain you do not skimp. Get the best survival knife for your needs and it will serve you well for years to come. And, it may just save your life!