Why are bushcraft knives, and survival knives so different?
- Thread starter HillBill
- Start date
About the only hollow handles knife I'd ever consider (very strong though), not keen on the saw back though it's more for leverage I hear. the Chris Reeve Jeroboam.
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Not sure I would actually buy any of these, but sticking "survival knife" into google image search I got 3 pretty good examples of what "survival knife" means to most people:
![aitor-jungle-king-iii-survival-knife-[3]-10977-p.jpg](http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/ekmps/shops/bduimportsltd/images/aitor-jungle-king-iii-survival-knife-[3]-10977-p.jpg)
Not sure if I would actually choose any of these knives for any purpose. Would rather take a mora clipper and one of the EDC survival kit things polymath products sells...
Julia
About the only hollow handles knife I'd ever consider (very strong though), not keen on the saw back though it's more for leverage I hear. the Chris Reeve Jeroboam.
Pretty much what I would say a survival knife should look like but maybe a bit tackier (I quite like that one)
OK the 3rd knife down in Julia's post
Thats the point I was trying to make. Can YOU post a photo of a survival knife YOU think is functional and fulfills its brief.
That one was infamous for being utter pap. Actually put you in danger by falling apart in your hands.
A perfect example of a bushcraft knife suited for survival situations in my humble opinion. (RJ Evans Bushtool)
Although I like the leather sheath for bushcraft use, I'd like kydex and a secondary means of holding the knife in its sheath in case T****.
But in the end, it's all up to peoples tastes, hand size, experience and so on.
In that case, yes I can. Neither would be what others call a survival knife tho:
The stainless version of:
Neither of these would be consider "survival knives" and I would very much prefer to have both, rather than one on it's own.
Julia
Not wanting to offend anyone on here as they have a few aficionados but some of the more "Ramboesque" First Blood styles with the screw in grapple/anchor points are what comes to mind when I think of OTT survival knives, I think the Jeroboam is paired down enough and certainly strong enough to last you through anything.
I used to belive that a survival knife needed a big blade and tough handle but I really dont belive this now, take the Fallkniven f1 and s1 , cold steel srk and master hunter they are excellent knives for all tasks , not too big , not too small, most bushcraft knives are excellent knives for most tasks you are likely to encounter in the bush l do prefere a micarta or G10 handle for a "survival " knife. You can easily
Make a more utilitarian sheath in kydex with a firesteel, paracord, sharpener and a few other handy gizmos to turn a bushcraft knife into a survival (I prefere utility) knife. I do belive that a shallow scandi grind isn't the best for a utility knife thats going to be put to hard use, I choose to put a steep grind on my knives, I know they are crap for cutting veg but thats why I carry a folder but I also know they are tough as old boots .
I'm no expert on Mark's knives but my advice for a survival knife is a 4-6" blade flat or sabre grind with a secondary bevel , micarta or G10 handle and a kydex sheath with a firesteel and a utility pouch on it.
This is my opinion sorry if ive deviated a bit from the original topic as I type so slow I forget what I originally wanted to say!!!
Make a more utilitarian sheath in kydex with a firesteel, paracord, sharpener and a few other handy gizmos to turn a bushcraft knife into a survival (I prefere utility) knife. I do belive that a shallow scandi grind isn't the best for a utility knife thats going to be put to hard use, I choose to put a steep grind on my knives, I know they are crap for cutting veg but thats why I carry a folder but I also know they are tough as old boots .
I'm no expert on Mark's knives but my advice for a survival knife is a 4-6" blade flat or sabre grind with a secondary bevel , micarta or G10 handle and a kydex sheath with a firesteel and a utility pouch on it.
This is my opinion sorry if ive deviated a bit from the original topic as I type so slow I forget what I originally wanted to say!!!
I think the survival hype is all a bit daft. There's nothing I'd need to do with my knife in a "survival situation" as opposed to any other trip. I always have my shelter, Axe and saw, pots etc. And they're in my bad strapped to me with shoulder, sternum and waist straps so there not going anywhere. Also in the "wilderness" I'm not going to be cutting metal or synthetic materials, as there probably won't be any present. To 'survive' food, fire, water, shelter are want people prioritise. In a given situation the knife will most likely be used to make a shelter and fire by friction if you have no other methods, also to possibly make traps (wood again). With the axe and saw I always have, I don't need a blade to chop at all- so it will mainly be used for smaller tasks that are simpler to perform with smaller blades in the 3.5- 5 inch range. Just my 2p and I have no separate stuff for 'survival' just the normal bushy gear which is what I use for any trips into wilderness areas, so along as I have food and water and haven't sustained an injury that's all I'd need. If circumstances change it's skills and knowledge that make the difference not the blade. As I said just my 2p. 
One example that spings to mind on the difference between a bushcraft and survival knife
Imagine an old time gunsmith working away on a 20 grand shotgun...he takes his lovely wood handled and blue'd steel screwdriver off the rack above his bench, getting a whiff of linseed oil off the handle as he does so. He'll use the tool and then lovingly place it back in its proper place in his rack
Now imagine a jobbing builder with a screwdriver that has a "hammer plate" on top of the handle.....he's just sawn a notch out of a bit of 3x2 and needs to knock the middle out, so he fishes around in the bottom of the gorilla tub his tools are kept in, finds said screwdriver, smashes it through the wood, then either drops it on the floor where he's stood or lobs it 10 feet back into the gorilla tub
No offence meant to any jobbing builders on here....but you get the point
In use a survival knife will see tasks where the job is more important than the tool, so should be able to cope with that kind of use as best it can
......adam
Imagine an old time gunsmith working away on a 20 grand shotgun...he takes his lovely wood handled and blue'd steel screwdriver off the rack above his bench, getting a whiff of linseed oil off the handle as he does so. He'll use the tool and then lovingly place it back in its proper place in his rack
Now imagine a jobbing builder with a screwdriver that has a "hammer plate" on top of the handle.....he's just sawn a notch out of a bit of 3x2 and needs to knock the middle out, so he fishes around in the bottom of the gorilla tub his tools are kept in, finds said screwdriver, smashes it through the wood, then either drops it on the floor where he's stood or lobs it 10 feet back into the gorilla tub
No offence meant to any jobbing builders on here....but you get the point
In use a survival knife will see tasks where the job is more important than the tool, so should be able to cope with that kind of use as best it can
......adam
OK I think this is down to practicality of use, a real survival knife issued to people like Military Pilots had to do everything and do it long enough to ensure the person is able to get them self's home or be recovered, and it has to be some what universal as to where it's deployed it might have to be used from the arctic circle to the jungles of South America while it will never be the ideal tool for every place an situation it can be used globally.
A bushcraft knife is a tool that is more suited to it's environment, for example the beloved EU scandi is ideal for colder weather use and is simple to make from the materiel at hand, but if you look at the bush craft knifes from other cultures what they need in a knife is different to ours they might need it longer or shorter weighted differently etc.
One has the abillity to be specialised the other has to be more flexible in it's approach to end use case.
Also I am not a fan of the "Rambo" style knife nice idea but I have yet to see one that really can work as it's designed to work, but I am not a fan of lumping multi tools into the same bracket as a survival knife, I have always tended to think of them like a mini tool kit they don't excell at any one thing but can be used to do a number of jobs when a dedicated tool isn't available.
A bushcraft knife is a tool that is more suited to it's environment, for example the beloved EU scandi is ideal for colder weather use and is simple to make from the materiel at hand, but if you look at the bush craft knifes from other cultures what they need in a knife is different to ours they might need it longer or shorter weighted differently etc.
One has the abillity to be specialised the other has to be more flexible in it's approach to end use case.
Also I am not a fan of the "Rambo" style knife nice idea but I have yet to see one that really can work as it's designed to work, but I am not a fan of lumping multi tools into the same bracket as a survival knife, I have always tended to think of them like a mini tool kit they don't excell at any one thing but can be used to do a number of jobs when a dedicated tool isn't available.
(Quite funny actually, did just that the week before with an old Mora Companion. But I get your point! Totally agree)
But where will it end? A supersteel blade (harder to sharpen), an indestructible handle, a beefed up sheath with all bits and pieces... You end up with a very expensive survival knife which will end up in a drawer since most of us don't like wrecking expensive stuff.
Later on in the day our jobbing builder friend may even use that same driver to turn a screw or pry the lid off a tin of paint.....that don't mean the driver has to be be a strong as his prybars, to the point it becomes pretty rubbish as a screwdriver
there's nowt to say the design HAS to go too far, and it would be fairly expensive as mark is a custom knife maker and only the very best materials should be used
Wether you and I would use it to destruction on a camping trip is beside the point tbh mate. You won't LIKE wrecking it. If thats what you have to do....but since youre in a survival situation you may not have a choice
the other thing to consider is, and i'm sure mark will agree, as a custom knife maker his is often not to reason why, but to do or.........lose the commision lol
Ah I enjoyed that, I see they've ditched the flimsy wire saw (which had trouble cutting soft cheese never mind a thick branch) instead the "serrations" magically act as a saw. I particularly liked the way that even the buffalo ran away from it in the video. Cheers for posting it up.
