The Survival Knife

[Chako]

As I sit here on a Sunday with absolutely nothing to do, I got to thinking about survival knives again. As some of you know, I have been acquiring a few models here and there. I realized that I have a thing for survival gear. I profess to not be an expert in survival. My credentials go as far as reading the SAS survival guide trice and understanding about 70% of the information therein. I did this because one year I taught an outdoor education class that required survival knowledge.  We even went on camping trips and practiced some of the things we discussed in that class. So by no means am I a survival expert. Neither am I a knife expert. I don’t follow the latest trends in steels and alloys. To be perfectly honest, I could care less about all that technical stuff. What I do care about is something that is perfectly serviceable and will get me out of a tight situation. If that means improvising, then that is what I will do. Besides, those of you who have had the mispleasure of reading my gibberish will note that I am a fan of the Shrade Navitool. To some of you, there goes any credibility I may have had prior to that tidbit of knowledge. What I can tell you is I have backpacked the Navitool into the forest and I love its form factor and functionality. I usually carry a BIC lighter in the compartment. I also strap the Navitool onto a backpack strap, and forget about it. Yeah, I know I am an oddity for my liking of that tool…but to me, it packs a lot of goodness in a somewhat small package. I am just saying this as a forewarning about the rest of this long diatribe on my thoughts on the “Survival Knife” in its various forms and function.

One could never accuse me of being “Survivalist” or “Prepper” because I don’t fixate on those bad situations that such folks prepare to overcome. To me, life is a lot happier when not thinking of end of day scenarios. Fixating on this kind of stuff just is downright depressing to me at least. I do have a get out of town bag that will allow me to survive in comfort for a few days at least, but that is because I live near the Steel Plant and there have been a few scary accidents in the past that gave me a wakeup call on the what if possibilities. I don’t believe in having my life guided by surviving disasters…this does not mean I shouldn’t be prepared if something does come up.

This brings me around to my original thoughts on survival knives. My definition of a survival knife is anything you have on you when you get stuck, and need to use it in a survival situation. Thus, any knife on you is a survival knife, including those cute and capable Victorinox Classic right up to the specialized survival knives. Of course a bigger knife will allow you do to more things, but any knife is a plus when you need it. If we narrow that definition down somewhat, there are plenty of survival knives sold on the market for the sole purpose of surviving. Surviving what one might ask, is entirely up to the situation you find yourself. Some of these knives aren’t survivors themselves because they have cheap construction and probably wouldn’t survive an outing in the forest. Others have plenty of tricks included. Now I am a gadget lover…if you haven’t surmised this by now. I have always loved gadgets. This is partially the reason why I collect multi-tools, SAKs, and survival gear. The more parts and pieces that come with an item, the higher on the gadget scale it goes, the more I am drawn to it. Just don’t ask how many Dremel tools and accessories I have. Likewise, the same for photography gear.
 
Survival knives are an offshoot of hunting knives. Yes, I also have a thing for non-folding hunting knives. These type of knives are very good in the wilderness and are a boon in emergency situations. By my general definition, a hunting knife is a survival knife. With that said, the hunting knife is to my mind, the precursor to the survival knife, or in the least, what we view as a survival knife these days. Hunting knives do have blade shapes that define their utility, many of which have broad gentle sweeping blades that are ideal for field dressing game. Be that as it may, they still make excellent survival knives. They just lack the gadget factor…but as we will see, that comes at a steep price in terms of durability. I say this because most good quality hunting knives tend to have a full tang and because of this, are very solid. However, how did the specific survival knife come about?

During World War 2, knives were commissioned by the military for air crew survival. These guys had to have a means of surviving behind enemy lines once shot down to be able to get back and fight another day. Many of these knives were commercial knives purposed for a specific job, and they varied by branch, and sometimes, by purchase date within the same branch. Things didn’t heat up until the Vietnam War, where purpose built survival knives came into their own.
A custom knife maker named Walter Doane Randall Jr produced many different blade designs, many of which were excellent combat knives in their own right. A very popular design, called the Number 14 Attack model was instrumental in kicking off the purpose built survival knife. This came about from a combat surgeon in the US army requesting a serration on the spine to cut through the fuselage of downed aircraft to rescue trapped personnel and a hollow handle to allow storage of survival gear. Randall who was known for making custom knives from customer specs, produced this knife. It was such a hit that it spawned the genre of the purpose designed survival knife. Of course the next decade only cemented that position with the Rambo series of movies about a Vietnam Special Forces guy who people just couldn’t leave alone. During the height of the Rambo Survival Knife craze, my parents wouldn’t let me have one because it looked too dangerous. Yes, they were right, but man did I lust after one of those knives. Instead, I had another type of knife which my father felt was more appropriate, that being a Hobo knife with spoon and fork. Not as sexy as the Rambo knife, but in hindsight, probably a lot better for a young kid to learn how to use a knife properly.

As mentioned before, any knife on you is a survival knife when the chips are down. This includes folders. Folders are inherently weak by design and aren’t suitable for really rough activities such as battoning, where you wack the blade with a stick or something to split wood. Be that as it may, this does not prevent a few manufacturers in declaring these knives as survival knives. I have two models in mind here, the Gerber Bear Grylls Folding Knife, and the Camillus Les Stroud S.K. Desert Folding Knife as seen in the next photograph.





The issue with these type of folders is one of durability. Any pivot point is an inherent weak point of the knife. This could result in failure when you least need it. These do not have the gadget factor that I like however. Like I said before however, any knife is better than no knife.

Sometimes, you can find folders that come with survival kits. Of course, I like these more as they have all those extras which are nice when the chips are down. This survival kit comes in a nice hard case with plenty of features built in. This knife features a removable blade system. If the fixed pivot point is a weakness, this system is even weaker. Still, the functionality of this survival kit is nice. Nobody can argue about the portability advantage of a folder either. All those extras come at the price of bulk. I guess you could argue that you wouldn’t have to split wood via battoning, with all the extra functionality. Heck, you could theoretically take the blade out and hit it with a stick saving the main body at the risk of injury…but that is the thing about survival…improvising is the key.





Then there is nothing to stop you from adding a small folder to the various survival kits. Many of them come with one already included, or in the least, a razor blade. The Gerber Bear Gryll’s variants tend to come with a small Gerber folder, or a pocket Gerber plier based multi-tool. Still not as good as a solid survival knife for some tasks. Here is a variety of some survival gear kits out there.



Survival kits are great, and the addition of something that can cut is a win win. However, some tasks are best left to a camp hatchet or a larger knife. Gerber and Camillus come to mind when I think of larger survival knives that have a few tricks included either on the knife and/or the sheath. I say this simply because I have them in my collection. There are other knives out there that do the same thing, and probably with better quality and higher price point.

The Gerber Bear Grylls’ Ultimate Survival Knife and the Ultimate Pro models feature a few tricks. Of the two, the Pro is the better knife as the Ultimate model does not have a full tang. Knives with a full tang are sturdier than those that do not. A full tang means that the knife does not end in a rat tail, but are full bodies with handles either attached to both sides, or wrapped around. The cheapest rat tails are spot welded on and will fail on you sooner or later. I have seen rat tails fail with cheap swords, meaning you have a flying projectile which is dangerous. Rat tails in shorter knives are probably a bit sturdier because of the lack in weight of the blade, but I would stay away from those whenever possible. The Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Knife hides this and folks found out when the knife failed when being used in survival situations splitting wood,  The Pro model does not have this weakness…but then, you also pay top dollar for it. Either way, these knives give you an emergency whistle, a sharpening stone (Ultimate model only), and a fire steel for starting fires.



Here is the Ultimate Survival Knife showing the hidden sharpening stone in the sheath.



The sturdier and more expensive Ultimate Pro version. Note the placement of the fire steel so that it wouldn't slide out on you in the bush unlike the Ultimate model that places the fire steel upside down. No sharpening stone included though, and for the price, that is a cheap cope out.



Here is a knife that shows a full tang. This one has some paracord wrapped around the handle which can be used for whatever you need to use it for. This simpler survival style knife comes in a nice hard plastic sheath that allows you to carry it in a variety of ways.



At the moment, there appears to be a sort of competition between Gerber and Camillus. Gerber was the first to produce promotional gear with Bear Grylls, a survival TV show celebrity. Camillus came up with some competing models based on Les Stroud, another survival show celebrity. The larger is the Les Stroud Mountain Ultimate Survival Knife. The smaller is the Les Stroud Arctic fixed Survival Knife. Both feature trick sheaths.



The smaller knife comes with a fire steel for making fire, and a back pocket that contains a small survival info sheath that can be used as a signal device. No telling if this is a full tang knife or not, but there are reports that the handles crack under hard use.



The larger Mountain knife has a very interesting sheath that is bulky but adds functionality. There is a signaling mirror on a compartment door. Not much room here but it can carry something small. You get a fire steel and a small LED light, and a built in sharpener of the V rod type. Also, some rope wrapped around the sheath. Much like the above, not sure if this is full tang or not.

[Chako]

Here is a large knife what is billed as an emergency knife and not a survival knife. Geared more towards vehicle emergencies with the built in glass breaker on the pommel, but the size is a bit large for such duties. Talk about an identity crisis. It does have the razor back feature that can be  used to munch through aircraft fuselages as mentioned in part 1, or into wood, or whatever. Might be useful to open windows, but the Victorinox Rescue tool would do a better job. This knife has everything except the gadget factor.




Video of the Victorinox rescue tool in action on a window.



Now the stereotypical survival knife generally has a hollow handle to store a surival kit in, a razor back, and is generally large in size. These little knives are shrunken larger survival knives.



The dagger on the left still contains the hollow handle and survival kit, but the blade gives up some functionality, but you do get another cutting edge.



The survival kit that comes with these type of hollow handled survival knives tend to be meager at best. The basics usualy contain a small fishing kit, and possibly a few matches throw in for good measure. The pommel of these type of knives also tend to contain a compass. These compasses are rather poor in design, and it is very rare to get one that is liquid dampened. If you are lucky, the kit might come in a plastic container that slides out of the handle.



A size comparison of the short models seen above, and the larger survival knives in my collection. Note the size of the above emergency knife on the far left.



The next and larger knife appears to be a somewhat copy of a Rambo knife. For more info on Rambo knives...

http://www.cartertown.com/rambo1.htm

Anyways, the sheath is a bit dodgy made from thin nylon. The handle on the knife is very comfortable, and the blade is polished to a very high degree. The screwed on pommel is a solid piece of metal which moves the center of gravity towards the hand. This is one maneuverable blade.



Included is small zip-lock bag that contains a few safety matches and striker, some nylon fishing line with tiny hook, and a single bandage. There is plenty of room to add more here.



Next is a Maxxam Survival knife with some nice features. This knife includes a sharpening stone on the sheath. The sheath also has a tie point at the tip to stop the knife from flopping around on you while you move. The included survival kit contains the usual fishing kit with some nylon fishing line, a single small hook, and a single split sinker. Both are small and almost useless. Included here also is a sewing needle and thread. The inside pommel contains a small non-liquid filled compass. Of interest, the hand guard appears to have a bayonet mount hole.



Here is a large knife with some neat features. This Maxxan model features a nylon outer handle which is more comfortable for colder weather. The blade does not feature the razor back that is prevalent on many survival knives of this type, but has a serrated section on the back edge towards the tip. Usual fare with the survival kit. This one does feature a spring that pushes out the capsule. Inside, you get the fishing kit, sewing kit, safety matches, and a single plaster. The pommel contains a compass on the inside.





This example is cheaper copy of the BuckMaster Survival knife. Although cheaper, this is the heaviest of the survival knives I own, and appears to be well made. Not as well made as the Buck however. This one features a real trick sheath that contains two Velcro pouches that are removable. The bottom pouch hides a built in sharpening stone on the backside of the sheath. The knife is heavy and well made. At least this one has epoxy ensuring the nut shouldn't come lose from the small threaded rat tail that all of these hollow handled survival knives suffer from.

 

This knife also has a pair of spikes that thread onto the hand guard. I guess the idea here is to use it as a grappling hook. Included here is a larger and better, albeit, non-liquid damped compass that fits into the top pouch on the sheath. The survival kit also contains the same fare except this one also included a portable wire saw with removable handles. No telling the quality of it, but it is a nice addition.



Here is the knife with the spikes attached.



This knife also has the thickest spine that has the razor back and serrated section. The Pommel does not have a built in compass, but does have a sturdy lanyard connector that rotates freely around the pommel until you  tightly screw the pommel down.

Keep in mind that most of the hollow handled survival knives are weak in construction because they have a short rat tail and a nut that keeps the handle to the blade. The better ones will also have some epoxy to hold that nut in place. Either way, if you use any of these to split wood by holding the handle and striking the blade with a piece of wood, you run the risk of breakage.


Hey, this was a good way to kill an hour or so.   

[Zed]

Rambo would be proud mate  i wish i could get hold of one of those buck copies in the uk  had one like this back in the good ole 80's

[Taxi Dad]

I had a mint condition one of these
http://www.siffknives.co.uk/scripts/adw_img/prodotti/grande/FOX-697FOD.jpg
but sold it in the great cull of 2006

[Chako]

That looked like a nice one Taxi Dad.

[Taxi Dad]

I had lusted at one in a 'survival magazine' advert for some time , then I saw exactly the same thing in a fishing/sporting goods shop (when we had decent shops like that in this country ), I returned many times to fondle it before pulling the trigger. I forget how much I paid for it, but it was enough to be put on a credit card (one of my first cards  ) and that was the start of my plunge into debt. Yet I never regretted buying it 


back to your original comments Chako, I do tend to agree about so called ''survival'' Knives. few people in the world need a dedicated ''survival'' anything. most people either carry a knife, to use, even if only rarely, or they don't . if you carry a knife that would/will be your survival knife. why would you lug around a huge 'swordlike' knife just in case ? TBH I often wonder why people of the 'survival' community have some of these odd firemaking devices that can make 1000's of fires when a simple lighter or matches will solve the problem in the short term. nobody plans to get into a survival situation 'for real' surely ? so you will only have what you have !

[sir_mike]

Yep, Rambo would be proud!  LOL.

I have no idea what a true survival knife would look like but my guess would be something with a full tang and no kit in handle, maybe one in a smll pocket on sheath!

[microbe]

Nice write-up Chako. 
Indeed the gadget factor runs high on some of these knives, and let's all thank Rambo for showing these gadgets to the masses.
In Europe, besides the Rambo clones, the Spanish Aitor Jungle King I was a very strong player in the survival knife market. The features it came with where unmatched, a sheath that could serve as a catapult, a spare Skinner knife, and all the extras most of these survival knives usually come with. The blade was secured with a pin trough the guard, and this was one of the better executed hollow handle knives out there. (One piece designs obviously where the toughest - but that come at a price) The knives are still for sale, pretty much in their original shape as the where in the eighties.
http://www.aceros-de-hispania.com/imagen/cuchillos-jungle-king1/cuchillos-aitor-jungleking1.jpg
Personally, I have moved on from this type of knives, and feel that with a little effort, one can build a much better survival kit then the little kit inside the small handle space. That means the handle does no longer needs to be hollow, resulting in a tougher full tang design.
Even if I am not a real "prepper", I think every man needs some type of larger fixed survival blade - just in case. 
This is what I have waiting for the zombie apocalypse:

[Zed]

I agree about creating another alternative,heres mine 

[AimlessWanderer]

Too late for me to start wrestling with pics and photobucket (which is being a royal PITA lately), but I have a number of knives "marketed" as survival knives. Stock images from the net are used below ...

Cold Steel Bushman and Bowie Bushman.



The blade is too thin and the weight too far back for effective chopping. The spine is also a little thin for battoning which means the baton gets almost as much cutting action as the log  Aside from that, they're not actually bad knives - in fact they are rather good as chefs knives. Would I choose one for a BOB? Probably not .... but I have taken one to a friends house where I was going to be doing some cooking as his knives were poo 

MOD Survival Knife



UK Military issued survival knife. A true sharpened prybar. A fairly soft (50-52 HRc IIRC) lump of steel means it's easy to resharpen if abused, a piece of carbon steel fixed with a blob of weld as a guard, and unfinished slabs of wood securely fixed on either side. A real "squaddie proof" bit of kit. Used for digging, prying, cutting, chopping, hammering and any other brutal use that springs to mind. The edge will be wrecked, but at around 50HRc it won't take long to get a usable edge back on it. Would I choose it for a BOB? Nope - the sheath is pathetic for a start - but it's a good knife for dirty jobs that you wouldn't want to ruin a "nice" knife on

Chris Caine Survival Tool - Military Model:



What a beastie! Handmade in a litle industrial estate in South Sheffield, this thing is a Flourolon coated heavy duty parang with micarta scales. There's not a lot you couldn't do with this thing. The sheath also has got good retention and is very robust. Several times the price of the MOD knife, but the difference in quality is very obvious. Put one in a BOB? No - too bloody heavy! An EXCELLENT knife for "camp craft" if car camping, logging up for the chiminea, or maybe even some heavy landscaping chores, but not something I'd want to lug around all the time. Besides, in a survival situation you want to be conserving energy, not frittering it away lugging round and wielding great lumps of steel unnecessarily. However, if I was venturing into a South American rainforest, I might just change my mind and take this along for piece of mind 

Anton Du Plessis Warthog:



From the same manufacturers as the Chris Caine (and the Lofty Wiseman knives for that matter). This is a much smaller knife that the others, but very VERY good! Great sheath, decent edge retention but still sharpens easily enough, Very comfortable in a range of grips, and it just seems to be excellent at everything. The blade is only 5" long, but stout with weight forward for chopping. I've split big logs with it, and cross cut through 4" thick branches with a baton (taking axe cut type chunks out and rotating the workpiece). It carves well, works well with food and isn't tiring on the hand or arm. Put in a BOB? Absoutely ... although this is carbon steel and will rust, so it needs looking after.

So of these 5 survival knives, there's only really one I'd choose to have in a "prepper" style kit if I was venturing somewhere with a few more hazards than home. Don't get me wrong, I'd take ANY of them over nothing at all, and use them in accordance with their pros and cons, but there's only one of them I'd choose to include if building a survival kit. I do have a lovely stag handled bowie, a few puukkos, a leuku and other "hunting"style knives which would of course all be very useful for outdoors survival - but they're not marketted as such, so I didn't include them here. The only other bladed item I have (unless I've forgotten something) which was actually marketed for survival is the Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Pack which I reviewed HERE

[Chako]

I always thought those Cold Steel knives shown had hollow handles so that you could turn them into spears rather easily. Love the simplicity of the MOD Survival Knife. Not high on the gadget factor though...but there is something about an honest simple knife that I like.

[AimlessWanderer]

I always thought those Cold Steel knives shown had hollow handles so that you could turn them into spears rather easily. Love the simplicity of the MOD Survival Knife. Not high on the gadget factor though...but there is something about an honest simple knife that I like.

They certainly do Dan. Also putting a short handle on them aids chopping by shifting the weight forwards ... in theory. In practice though, that means carrying round a screw and screwdriver to fit the knife on using the hole in the side of the handle, and if it's a handle carved in the field from available materials, that's an hour you just wasted getting it to fit securely and smooth enough to avoid blisters assuming suitable materials are freely available  I've had to get a fire going and stop in through the night with just driftwood before, and none of the materials would have been suitable for an impromptu handle.

Of course you could also fashion something to carry a mini PSK to fit in the handles akin to your knives above - though again you could build something more practical in a small pouch or tin.

All that said, I still kick myself for not getting one of the mini ones before they got discoed

[Santos]

Halfway through chako post i stopped reading, the photo is enough.

Like all survival gear its only good if you have it on you so the 'universal' survival knife for most daily is SAK or a multitool. 

The 'pivot' is a weakness but i think its way overstressed in discussion. Sense and planning when using your blade is important. In a survival situation the amount of times you really need to stab a bear is minimal. If you where smart you'd sharpen a stick. (like spear mounting knives  ) You can baton with pivots too, not ideal but with care. f it does break you should steel have a metal 'shard' blade to carry on surviving. (same goes to hollow handle critics)

On a similar rant i loathe sawbacks, the need to cut through fuselage is very 'niche'.

I own a USA made Gerber LMF II (and the smaller prodigy) Beefy knife and if the world ended i hope its on me but i think its unlikely. I've read people critisising that its not 'full tang' and i think these people need to sell their armchairs cause despite the blade and pommel being seperated it still has a full tang for at least 3/4 of the handle. I got this knife purely off the infamous Knifetests.com destruction videos where after much abuse he finally broke it by striking it repeatively in a vice with a sledgehammer. It actually is to big for a daily knife as i don't live in a warzone.



Amongst my other fixed blades knives the 83 camilus aircrew knife is really good 'hipster'


My ACTUAL survival knife is an Esee candiru with handles, i prefer the Becker BK11 with handles but the candiru is more urban pocket friendly so i tend to be more likely to have it (plus the full length sheath mean i can pull it out without alarm when fishing in my pockets)



That being said i tend to always be on the look out for the right "Big 'Un " for my situation. I have budget one piece cleaver hatchets for my moped and underbone motorbikes. I think of it more as a knife than axe in utilty.


and my 12" blade ontario CT1  global for travels (excellent kitchen knife)



I have a Farson Blade for when i leave the CT1 at home (need to do a proper play with it to see if it really is suitable)

which they now do in a 'hatchet' (in mail  )


I also recently rediscovered the Condor Combat Machete. Everything i ever wanted in an 'End of Days' blade. I want get one and do some hard field testing but its most likely going to live at home as its 'sinister' shape makes it unlikely to replace my CT1.



But the Condor Crocodilian on the other hand may replace it


I do like the british MOD from a historical/nostalgia standpoint but unless one turns up locally in an Australia (slim but plausible) i'm unlikely to own one.

Just goes to show you never quite get off the survival knife 'habit' even if stop buying for a few years and know what you have is 'enough' slowly but surely temptation worms its way back. 

[dks]

The jungle king was an icon in the late 80s....

I remember looking at it in the various survival type shops.

I do not think anybody I knew had one but there were lots of rumours about how good they were, though again I do not remember what these were based on....  I sort of think it was from some martial arts instructors or something... maybe the knfe nuts of the time, or maybe some combat magazine.

It was too much money then and it seems to be the same still.

[Santos]

I totally forgot i own  a Jungle king 2 from hong kong ebay... most likely not an original spanish Aitor.


I got it more for the sling shot sheath and the baby skinner stays in the astray of my suzuki sj413. I am actually really impressed with it cause i abuse the crap out of the JK2 by using it as a gardening implement and cutting up rubber tyres etc . It still intact!

Might have to dig arund my junk to make a pvc sheath for it and put it the engine bay toolbox.

Chako if hollow handles are your new collection the look at the
Aitor Jungle King
Aitor Jungle king 2
Aitor Jungle king 3 (my favourite)

[Chako]

I can see myself getting one eventually.

Here is my outdoor companion. It is an old photo, but the Bic is still going strong.

[Taxi Dad]

oh now that I do like

[AimlessWanderer]

@ Santos

Love the JK II. It's the only one I was ever tempted to get, but always knew it would be a "plaything" rather than a working tool for me, so I never pulled the trigger on it

[Chako]

Ok...this is so high on the gadget factor, I will have to get one in the future. 

[AimlessWanderer]

Ok...this is so high on the gadget factor, I will have to get one in the future. 

Dan, it gets even better ...
there's three different models ...
there's BO, camo and all stainless ...
There's generations of them too ...

(and if you find any of the original version at a fair price, gimme a yell  )

Go for it feller! 

 

[Chako]

No, I only need the one. Not going wholesale into collecting these. I view this as more of a side-shoot of the survival gear stuff.

[Dragon Lord]

I will agree with Chako that there is some kind of magic spell when I see "survival" gear

The word "survival" it's so overrated and used in the Knife and camping world that it is meaningless and misplaced most times. Besides that, I like survival knives and gear. 

I you like hollow knives you should try a Schrade hollow knife or a Chris Reeve hollow (if you can afford it and be lucky to get one). Thes are made of a single piece of steel, technically full tang, thes knives are steel beasts.

[AimlessWanderer]

No, I only need the one. Not going wholesale into collecting these. I view this as more of a side-shoot of the survival gear stuff.

 

I have seen these where the handle contents have degraded, particularly any ferrocium rods in the kits. One tip I picked up from somewhere was to paint them with something like clear nail varnish. This will stop them oxidising, but not stop them from being usable if required. I think there was something else which was prone to perishing and ruining other contents, but can't remember what it was ... sorry. Anyhoooo, worth keeping an eye on the contents periodicaly 

[dks]

the rubber band of the slingshot should deteriorate.

[AimlessWanderer]

Yeah, that might have been it 

[daverobson]

Here's a solid looking, though expensive hollow survival knife.
It doesn't have a hollow handle, more of a hollow tang.

The Dartmoor Knife.
http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2011/dartmoor-survival-knife/

[Santos]

the 3 day survival trip was an interesting read in that blog


just realised the farson blade came up twice in my original post.. For those who dont know what an Ontario Ct1 looks like this


One thing i think is funny is people complaining its too thick.

[Santos]

Russian hollow handle
http://kizlyarsupreme.ru/survival-knives/nozh-vyzhivaniia-survivalist-z-aus-8-black-titanium

I'm guessing Kizlyar knives and Kizlyar Supreme are two different firms 

[Chako]

Well I got two more in the door yesterday. One I like, the other is a disappointment.

Lets start off with the disappointment. I quickly contacted the eBay seller, as I knew right away I had a fake. I thought I bought an Aitor Jungle King...instead, I got this...



I might keep this for entertainment value and might have to try again to get the real thing. 

Other than that, the knife itself is solid and thick. No telling what quality metal it is other than possibly poor based on the poor attempt at the English language...or maybe it was done intentionally so they couldn't be sued in their neck of the woods. Who knows.

Also there are a few items missing in this deliberate attempt at faking a good product. At least it did come with the plastic slide out and secondary metal knife. The one feature they didn't remove from this was the slingshot.



On the back of the plastic slide out is a signal mirror and the bottom end holds the slingshot pouch.



And here we have the two knives. The Juhgle King is on the bottom here. 

[styx]

you got a nice collection there. to me it's more in the skill than the design. just like some people prefer bigger while others like smaller hunting knives, it's the same with survival knives. if you can use it efficiently and safely then it can be a sharpened piece of a road sign for all I care