is there any decent survival knives out there?

Deise Musashi

guys are there any mil surplus knives people would recommend, i was thinking of a ak47 bayonet cos theyre so cheap but thought id ask first

A lot of military issued knives are made so squaddies can't break them, the Wilkinson Sword for example.



Some like the Glock knife are not the best of cutters unless some work is put in thinning the edge.
I don't know about the AK47 bayonet, but it would want to be well cheap to beat a Mora, Hultafors or Cold Steel Bushman/Canadian belt knife.

It depends on what you want, if any decent knife at that price point, there are a lot of choices.
If you want a milsurp knife and that's the main requirement, get what makes you happy and we can make it cutty after

hairypigeon

hi guys looking at this one ithought at 25 quid it was pretty good
http://www.militarymart.co.uk/index.php?_a=product&product_id=511

i really want something solid full tang i looked at the ismesh survival knife but its not full tang

Gews

hairypigeon wrote: »

hi guys looking at this one ithought at 25 quid it was pretty good
http://www.militarymart.co.uk/index.php?_a=product&product_id=511

i really want something solid full tang i looked at the ismesh survival knife but its not full tang

Quick answer: no

Long answer: depends on whether you want a fighting knife or a survival knife. The two are separate concepts. Personally I would not buy any military bayonet for either purpose - they are cheap and tough but that's about it. AK bayonet's don't come with a good edge and are pretty dull... designed for... well, bayoneting people and cutting wire with the wire cutters. That goes for bayonets in general.

A good survival knife will be more like a plain old sensible bushcrafting or field knife with maybe a 4-5-inch blade, give or take. Something like these designs:




A good fighting knife is going to be long, slashy and pointy...

A good, inexpensive utility and field knife would be a Mora. You can get a Mora Robust with a slightly thicker blade from Heinnie's for £15. They also generally come extremely sharp and if you have a sharpening stone it's easy to keep them that way. Not full tang but you wouldn't break one in any sort of normal use.

There are also a lot of cheaper Condor full-tang knives.



For a big knife to chop up random objects with, I would look at a Condor Dundee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai47YFZxyYk it's one big knife.

davymoore

If anyone needs a knife built to their own specs let me know

Davy

eirator

I think knives should be supplied BLUNT with a note on them saying they need to be sharpened by the user to their own requirements.

I don't know about the posters here but in general even amongst otherwise genuinely practical DIYer's I don't know many I'd trust to sharpen a knife.

So what use is a superbly sharp new wonder blade if as soon as it looses its edge the user can't put an edge back on it?

The other problem is that with a sharp OOBE users often let the edge go very dull before sharpening it as they don't want to mess up a good looking new blade, another issue is that the factory used bevels aren't necessarily ideal for hand sharpening so there can be a lot work in sharpening a new blade the first time anyway. You can of course keep it sharp with regular minor work but that also takes a lot of practice which you'd get if you had to sharpen the knife when you first bought it.

In the long run I'm suggesting that users should be forced to learn good sharpening techniques and that won't happen if new knives are supplied super sharp.

By BLUNT I don't mean just a flat piece of steel with no bevel at all on it. You'd have the primary grind (bevel) leaving the user to sharpen a secondary bevel. Debatable whether you'd want to be sharpening the knife blade on a new multi-tool but certainly on a single bladed knife I think the user should take on the responsibly for putting an edge on it before use.

Don't knife shoot me its just a suggestion to see what others think.

Deise Musashi

I prefer to give people their knives as sharp as I can get them. They then have a reference point for how sharp it should be when they touch it up themselves.
A lot of knives aren't sharp out of the box, so lots of people don't know what they are aiming to achieve.
A little maintenance often prevents the need of a major (bevel resetting) sharpening for a long time.

i really want something solid full tang i looked at the ismesh survival knife but its not full tang

Scandi. knives often aren't full tang, or exposed tang at all. The cold temperatures would stick the steel to your hand! Knives like the Fallknivens above are a perfect example. Mora use a stub tang, but in normal use you won't break it. Lots of traditional choppers also don't use a full tang, Goloks, parangs and Khukris for example. It reduces the shock transmitted to the user's hand.

There is something solid looking about the full tang though, have a look at TOPS knives and Busse! I have a TOPS Pathfinder school knife and I like it a lot, nice size and a good sheath system. ESEE Izula is similar but a lot smaller.

The venerable KaBar is a stick tang and they take dogs abuse!

I have horribly abused cheaper knives like Opinel and Mora's, ruined an Opinel heating it in a fire to cut hole for rowlocks in a hard plastic gunwale and snapped the tip of a mora prying with it. Any knife heavier than those is going to take a lot of abuse.

I am thinking of getting a Bahco chisel knife in the hardware just for abusive use, sure my wife won't mind just one more knife...:eek:

If anyone needs a knife built to their own specs let me know

Davy

If you need something made to your own design, spec. every option down to handle materials, liners and fasteners, you could do worse than to commission a custom built personal knife.

davymoore

During the American Civil war it was common practice to supply blunt swords to the cavalry officers. It gave the officer the option of leaving it blank for ceremonial purposes or sharpening it for battle conditions.

With the advances in steel production nowadays it is possible to make a knife that will hold an edge for a long time. Or produce knives that sharpen easily but dull quickly. I think that if the user took time to study the steels' properties when deciding if it is "Fit For Purpose" to begin with, then he/she will suffer far less frustration when the knife doesn't perform as expected.

johnreck

Thing is with a knife you can get a cheap one and just use it as a beater knife.
but i think you should always have a high quality knife. something that will last a life time.
of course im biased as i make them. mostly for myself and for friends.
hear are two that i have and use, they are razor sharp and hold there edge.
made from professionally tempered D2 steel.
first one is my companion knife. whenever im out in the fields and woods this is always on my belt.



second one is my larger knife very useful around the camp.



finally the belt i use when im out in the wilds.
its full grain leather and can be use for more than just holding up my trousers.
found it almost impossible to find a decent real leather belt so went back to making my own.

johnreck

eirator wrote: »

I think knives should be supplied BLUNT with a note on them saying they need to be sharpened by the user to their own requirements.

I don't know about the posters here but in general even amongst otherwise genuinely practical DIYer's I don't know many I'd trust to sharpen a knife.

So what use is a superbly sharp new wonder blade if as soon as it looses its edge the user can't put an edge back on it?

The other problem is that with a sharp OOBE users often let the edge go very dull before sharpening it as they don't want to mess up a good looking new blade, another issue is that the factory used bevels aren't necessarily ideal for hand sharpening so there can be a lot work in sharpening a new blade the first time anyway. You can of course keep it sharp with regular minor work but that also takes a lot of practice which you'd get if you had to sharpen the knife when you first bought it.

In the long run I'm suggesting that users should be forced to learn good sharpening techniques and that won't happen if new knives are supplied super sharp.

By BLUNT I don't mean just a flat piece of steel with no bevel at all on it. You'd have the primary grind (bevel) leaving the user to sharpen a secondary bevel. Debatable whether you'd want to be sharpening the knife blade on a new multi-tool but certainly on a single bladed knife I think the user should take on the responsibly for putting an edge on it before use.

Don't knife shoot me its just a suggestion to see what others think.

think im gonna disagree with you on this point.. personally i think if you are making or supplying a knife for a user it should come razor sharp. whether or not the person getting it decides to keep it sharp is up to them. i would of course agree that we should all try to develop our knife and tool sharpening skills seems to have become a lost art and hand sharpening really isnt that hard, just takes a little practice.

thehippychippy

johnreck wrote: »

think im gonna disagree with you on this point.. personally i think if you are making or supplying a knife for a user it should come razor sharp. whether or not the person getting it decides to keep it sharp is up to them. i would of course agree that we should all try to develop our knife and tool sharpening skills seems to have become a lost art and hand sharpening really isnt that hard, just takes a little practice.

Just as a matter of interest, and because I really like knives, how much would the smaller one cost?

dipti

Decent knife will not always cover the small pocket knives but sometimes medium sized blade like gurkha kukris are best to own. I know you cant carry them in your pockets but trust me they have so many other important advantages that it will cover one this negative one of it.

lostboy75

that is a ridiculously good looking knife. not exactly to my taste, but beautiful/
I will be posting here later on this evening, currently mulling over my choice of Christmas present on heinnie.
it has always been in my head to try making one, but would not know where to start?
two knife makers posted, so guys how did you start with this. what advice could you give.
where did you learn the craft?

Tabnabs

dipti wrote: »

Decent knife will not always cover the small pocket knives but sometimes medium sized blade like gurkha kukris are best to own. I know you cant carry them in your pockets but trust me they have so many other important advantages that it will cover one this negative one of it.

[mod] Just to confirm, a kukris may be a great knife/tool, but is illegal to own in Ireland. [/mod]

Savage93

ShadowFox wrote: »

Can you post a link to the ak47 bayonet been looking for one for a while

http://www.zib-militaria.de/epages/61431412.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61431412/Products/120003:D:D:D:D

ShadowFox

Might give some ideas http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/11/29/how-to-choose-the-perfect-survival-knife/

corner of hells

I bought an AK bayonet a few years ago online from militaria site , unless you physically hold and see the knife I wouldn't buy it.
Without doubt I got an original knife , but there were and are so many countries manufacturing them the quality of standard and finish varies incredibly.
There are whole sites dedicated to the collection and its possible to see the many variations,
From various eastern bloc countries and Arab countries the list is endless.
East German ones seem well finished with some of the Arab countries ones very poorly finished.In fact Egyptian ones would be more suited to beating someone to death with.

I