How To Choose The Right Survival Knife

If your bug-out bag is currently lacking a good, solid, survival knife… then it`s simply not a bug-out bag yet. And it won`t be until you find that right knife that can satisfy you needs when the situation asks for a quick, simple solutionto a life-and-death problem.

Choosing a survival knife is a not an easy job. There are hundreds of websites and survival stores where you can find a wide array of knives. And – what a surprise! – most of them are described as “the perfect survival knife”. So how do you pick the right one for you?

First of all, you need to know what survival knives can be used for. If you thought they`re only good for self-defense and slicing food, you`d be wrong. There are plenty of other functions and I`ll list them all below:

Self-defense

Survival knives are great to carry around with you, because they`re quite small and easy to handle. Of course, no one wants to get into a knife fight, but the great part is that you might not even have to. There are many so-called attackers that get scared when they see someone pull out a knife, especially when they`re not expecting that to happen. So just holding it in a threatening manner may be enough to scare any attacker away.

Making fire

To make a fire, you`re going to need tinder. And to make tinder, you`re going to need a knife to cut small pieces of wood and mix them with dry leaves. With a good survival knife, you can get your tinder in no time and keep yourself and your family warm or cook a meal to keep your strength.

Digging

A good survival knife can be used to dig a hole in the ground, in case you need to hide something underground, look for edible insects or carving out SOS signals. No matter how rock-solid the ground may be, the blade should be intact after you`re done digging.

Making tools

You can`t carry everything around with you in a bug-out bag. Sometimes, a specific situation will require a specific tool that you won`t have on hand. But there`s nothing a creative survivalist can`t do with the right materials. So don`t panic, just use your knife to make the tool you need and make the most of it.

First aid

I`m not saying you can start operating on wounded people with a survival knife. I`m saying that you can make stretchers by cutting wood and pieces of cloth, that you make your own bandages and tourniquets from clean clothes and you can even drain painful blisters if you sterilize the tip of the knife first (with alcohol or heat).

These are the most important functions of a survival knife. But in order for it to perform these functions the right way, you need to keep in mind a few crucial rules when you go out shopping for one:

#1. Don`t go for the small, folding knife

Yes, it takes up very little space, you can even put it in a pocket and no one would know you even have a knife on you. But the truth is a folding knife will never be resistant enough to perform all the functions above. You can`t dig a hole with it, you can`t cut or slice much besides vegetables and small pieces of wood… And we`re talking about survival here. Not a weekend of camping.

My suggestion is: if you want a reliable survival knife, go for the fixed blade. This way, you won`t have any surprises when you`re fighting for your family`s life.

#2: Don`t buy a thin knife, even if it`s made of kryptonite

Nowadays, survival knives are getting thinner, lighter and – so they say – more resistant. That`s really good, it`s wonderful to see there is great interest in making the survival experience easier and somewhat safer. But this is not the kind of situation where you want to experiment. You want to survive and you want to protect your loved ones. That`s all that matters. So don`t buy anything that`s under 1/8″ in blade thickness. Just to make sure.

#3: Only buy the best brand and the best steel

It may cost you some extra bucks, but it`s not like you`re going to use this knife to chop tomatoes. This knife is meant to save your life! So save some dollars and invest in a good, top notch steel knife that`s guaranteed to last for 10+ years. The most reliable survival knives are usually made from stainless steel, carbon steel or a mix of the two, so you`ve got plenty of option to choose from. Just make sure it doesn`t say Made in China on the label. Choose the brand this time.

#4:  Look for a knife that`s easy to sharpen

Lately, I`ve noticed that plain edges are losing popularity to serrated ones. Undoubtedly, a serrated edge could help you cut or slice cloth or rope much faster, but it would slow down most of the other crucial functions.

I, personally, prefer the plain edge. It`s easier to get used to it, it gets things done quickly and efficiently and, most important, I can sharpen the blade myself whenever I want to. And that`s something a serrated edge does not allow you.

#5: Choose a knife with a comfortable handle

I strongly suggest you to buy a knife from a store, not off the Internet. And that`s because you can hold the knife in your own hand, see how the handle feels, if it fits you hand perfectly, if you`re comfortable with it. This is a crucial criterion and you should not buy a knife if it doesn`t feel natural in your hand. It`s like going shopping for pants. You have to try on a few pairs before you find one you feel comfortable in.

By Alec Deacon