What is the best budget bushcraft or survival knife?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “best budget survival knife“
What is the best budget bushcraft or survival knife?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “best budget survival knife“
Okay, so I’ve twice been A2A’d so I guess I’ll have to give my two cents.
While I totally respect and encourage survival as a worthwhile hobby, it’s worth noting that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 95% of survival scenarios are avoidable by properly planning, and researching a trip and leaving those details with someone trust worthy.
The whole knife thing seems very phallic to me. The level of obsession people have over steel types, and this and that just seems like over kill. I get liking nice things, and respecting quality manufacturing, but I just don’t get the obsession some people have, and the instance that carrying 1 kg of hulking steel into the backcountry is going to dramatically change the outdoor experience. Anyway, I digress.
If I’m looking for a knife I really want two things; does it cut rope, and how well does it spread peanut butter. Also, I don’t fancy spending more than $35 on a knife.
So I like the Spatha from Petzl:
It cuts rope very well, and it spreads okay. The hole in the middle means I can clip it to my harness for climbing easy. This is handy as I often have to cut cordelette for anchors, prusiks and abalakov. I’ve used my to shave logs when I forgot my paper for a camp fire, and it’s been handy for undoing screws, or whittling sticks. At $20 they aren’t too pricey.
For general use I really like the Opinel knives. Again they are very lightweight, and functional. They also suit the classic look a lot of people feel is required for a knife. Also they retail for $15.
Lastly, this isn’t technically a knife, and I only carry it in winter, but I really like my Backcountry Access Snow saw.
It’s critical to my survival in ways that most knifes could never help with. I use it to make more accurate snowpit assessments, and gauge the safety of a snowpack in avalanche terrain. Knowing whether terrain is potentially safe to ski impacts my survival greatly. It also cuts trees, but I haven’t required it for that…yet. They sell for $25, but it’s money well spent if you’ve got some avalanche knowledge.
Chicago Cutlery Belden 15 Piece Premium Kitchen Knife
So what do you mean by “survival knife?” Are you talking about something that gets tossed in the glove box just in case the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, or something that you take with you when you venture out of doors? Does “survival” mean being prepared to defend yourself from wild critters or blaze a trail or fashion a snare?
To me, a survival knife is a primary tool that helps you with the challenges of survival in the wild — building shelter, making other tools, prepping food, etc. This comes from someone who has spent years backpacking in the wild (or at least as wild as the out-of-doors gets in the US).
For decades, the US Military issued this knife as a “survival knife.” It had a saw back of dubious value, a hammer pommel, holes in the guard to theoretically enable it to be used as a spear, a sharpening stone, and a strong, stout blade, that’s a little on the small side.
While it’s a decent knife, it’s not, IMO, a particularly good survival knife. It’s not particularly useful for building shelter and it’s too small to be much use as a weapon.
Randall knives makes a much improved version, but at $440, “budget” it ain’t. OTOH, it’s worth every penny.
In my younger days (say, 30 years ago), I backpacked with a lightweight knife/sword I made from the blade of a power saw used for cutting massive steel I-beams. The blade was made of some chrome-moly steel alloy. It was about 16 inches long, less than 1/8″ thick and about 1.7″ wide, but it was pretty much unbreakable and was so tough and hard that it never needed sharpening (which was a good thing, because it was almost impossible to sharpen). I gave it away many years ago.
Today this is my survival knife. Knifemaker John Greco called it his “kukri,” although it actually borrows as much from the Greek Kopis blade and nihonto. The blade is made from A2 tool steel, and coated to resist rusting. It’s a meaty blade that can take a shaving-sharp edge but still be heavy enough to use for making a quick shelter. It’s not as pointy as many knives, but a rapid taper makes the point incredibly strong.
The blade is ground in two separate sections — the section toward the point has a stronger cross section for heavy use, while the rear section has a finer, sharper grind.
Greco’s knives were always great quality and very affordable, but unfortunately, he’s retired, and his knives are becoming collector’s items.
But there are some pretty good mass-market choices in the $120 and under range.
TOPS Knives’ Tom Brown Tracker is a compact design that is heavy enough to be useful for making shelter. They list for around $200, but can be found for much less. My son got one at a gun show for about $120, and there are other companies producing the knife for much less.
Ontario Knife makes their RTAK for about $100. The 10-inch blade is carbon steel, coated for rust resistance.
Columbia River Knife and Tool makes this Mah-Chete with a 12-inch, carbon steel blade. It lists for about $100 but can be had for about half that.
Condor Knife and Tool makes a 14-inch “golok” for less than $100. Tools like these are used as survival knives all over Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, where knives and edged weapons are endemic.
Amazon Basics 14-Piece Kitchen Knife Block Set, High-Carbon
Lots of people on this question have mentioned Mora knives, and I will mention them once again. The most budget friendly bushcraft knife in my opinion is the Mora Bushcraft Black in carbon steel. The steel is incredibly sharp, the blade has a 90 degree spine perfect for striking a firesteel, an improvement over the Mora Companion. Best of all, the Bushcraft Black can be had for as little as $25.
As a survival knife, I would trust the KA-BAR USMC fighting knife. While it does go above some people’s budget at around $65, it packs a punch. It has full tang construction and an extremely sharp carbon steel blade. It is hefty enought to be used for chopping but not too large as to be unwieldy.
I’m sure many Marines and civilians have rested their lives on this, and I’m sure many more will.
Wanbasion Black Stainless Steel Knife Set, Sharp Kitchen Knife
This is part of my EDC and it is what I have used in some pretty nasty survival situations, Its a Benchmade Adamas 275, Benchmade quotes 230$US but I have seen them for less. It is a great knife and is built to take a beating.
Authentic XYJ Since 1986,Outstanding Ancient Forging,6.7 Inch Full Tang
For a sheath knife the Mora knives are hard to beat. They cut well and cost very little. For a folding knife Buck makes a small locking back knife that costs less than $20 and is small enough to be an every day carry knife. Opinel also makes a very good locking knife, So I can also suggest the Opinel gardiner’s knife in stainless steels
ALBATROSS EDC Cool Sharp Tactical Folding Pocket Knife
Most of Mora’s Bush craft offerings are about as good as you’re going to fine as far as value for the money. I personally carry a more a companion because it comes with a better sheath and the classics did. I have Amazon prime so I ordered through Amazon, but ragweed forward jj is another well-known place and Baryonyx knives also has some great deals a lot of the time.
Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops SWA24S 7.1in S.S. Folding Knife with 3.1in
A Mora companion HD is what I’d recommend in my experience. Now if $60 to $120 is still budget to you I recommend a Becker BK16, BK7, Hoffner Beast, or Schrade SCHF1SM. I have owned all of these knives and will attest to their usefulness in the field.
12-Piece Color-Coded Kitchen Knife Set, 6 Knives with 6 Blade Guards
I consider “budget” range to be less than 50 bucks. I consider a decent bushcraft/ survival knife to be a fixed blade, full tang knife with a blade in the 3–5 inches range.
I agree with the the suggestions for Mora if 20 bucks is a lot of money for you. I used one for all my crafting last fall, and the HD is great. However, I still had reservations on it due to the still-thinner-than-most blade, and the rat tang hidden in the over-molded handle. (Don’t think I’m getting rid of any soon, though. I have 4.)
So, I set off on a quest to find a better knife. I have a RAT 7, and I like it as a whole. It’s just longer than I need, and the handle could use some additional sanding. So I wanted something shorter, in that 3–5 inch range. My budget was in Mid-range, what I consider 50 to ~125 bucks. I landed on an ESEE 4, which cost me around 75 because I got a deal on Ebay. I also considered the Fallkniven F1, Tops BOB Fieldcraft, and a Bark River Gunny (which just lands into High-end for me). All are considered great knives.
Now, still on the list are the the Condor Bushlore and the Boker Reel Steel Bushcraft. Both were under 50 bucks, and I have heard great things about both.
The ESEE is the least “buscraft” in profile, so I do plan to pick one of these up. The Boker just jumped 10 bucks in my Amazon cart, so it might end up being the Condor…
If you want a little different different blade profile, I can also highly recommend the SOG Fieldpup. It’s more of a hunting blade, but I have two. They are great blades for dressing game, and work for ducks and squirrels up to deer.
MOSFiATA 8 Super Sharp Professional Chef’s Knife
Honestly, it is a matter of personal preference and choice, but if you want a good survival knife, the things I usually look for are the following:
Make sure it is a fixed blade and not a folding blade.
Full tang is better than half tang.
A carbon steel blade (1095 is the most common)
A blade length between 4″ and 7″
A blade thickness between 0.17″ and 0.25″
A solid, synthetic handle with a good grip.
When you look around at knives, keep these things in mind.
imarku Japanese Chef Knife – Pro Kitchen Knife 8 Inch Chef’s Knives
I’d say the Mora company makes the best budget bushcraft knives on the market. Can’t really beat $20. I think the Mora Companion and Companion HD are really good knives. Given that “bushcraft” and “survival” are quite similar, I’ll leave it at that.
Spring Assisted Knife – Pocket Folding Knife – Military Style