How To Choose The Perfect Survival Knife

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. Jumpstart Liberty Review This does not include folding pocket knives. This kind of construction is known in the knife world as "full tang" or "narrow tang". A good survival knife will include a relatively heavy blade with a total thickness of around 3/16 of an inch and a blade length of about 5 inches. You don't need a "Rambo" knife as it may look nice but it will be heavy to carry.

The reason you want a full tang knife, instead of or in addition to a folding pocket knife, is because of the way you will likely be using it. When you split wood, you will be placing the knife-edge against one end of a log and with another stick, you will be hitting the back of the knife, driving it into the log. You will continue hitting the back of the knife driving it through the log thereby splitting it. You will split the log several times to create smaller pieces that will be used for tinder. If you were hitting a pocket knife it could fold up on you or break due to the force you would be applying to it. Some survival knives include a pommel on the end of the handle that can be used to hammer a nail into wood.

I recommend that you choose a knife that has a straight, as opposed to a serrated blade. A serrated blade is better for sawing webbing or seat belt like material. The reason for a straight edge blade is that it will be easier to sharpen if it has a straight edge. A high carbon steel is harder so it will hold an edge longer, but it is prone to rusting so it will require extra care. Most military knives are made from high carbon steel. Hunting knives used for skinning are also preferred because the knife will stay sharp longer. Coat the blade with a little oil to help reduce rusting. Stainless steel knives are generally tougher and don't rust as easily, but don't hold the edge as long. There are some new materials which attempt to offer the best of both worlds by either creating high carbon stainless steels or even sandwiching a high carbon steel between two layers of stainless steel. There are several survival knives that I recommend including the SOG Seal Pup, the Becker BK7, and the Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife which are all excellent choices.

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