You have to decide what you mean by the term 'survival knife.'

If you mean a battle knife, to be used mainly for hacking your way through enemy soldiers or silencing sentries, you want the biggest thing you can get. A Bowie, a Bolo, or best of all probably a Kukri.

If you mean "I'm parachuting onto a desert island where I will be living for six months, and am allowed to have one thing in my hand," I'd want a blade with a saw back, a fire striker notch, and a sheath that doubles as a tool kit. Something like a machete might be about right; go down any dirt road from just south of the Rio Grande to Patagonia and that is what the natives are using.

But if you are talking fieldcraft, consider that the Hudson's Bay knives traded to the Indians in exchange for furs were just the same size and shape as this knife. When it comes to field craft, is there anybody here who thinks he knows more than an 1815 Indian brave or squaw, from any tribe north of Illinois or west of the Mississippi??

Me? When I anticipate human opponents I pack a firearm; when I have wood to chop I use an axe (or a chainsaw); and when I just want to cut something I use a good folder, or a knife like this. Too bad it isn't sv30!

WP:

What you said. The knife is for cutting. If you need a spear, you don't make the knife into a spear, you use the knife to make a stick into a spear. That way if you throw the spear into quicksand or a canyon, onto hard rocks, or leave it hanging from some angry pig's butt, you lose the spear but still have the knife. You don't use the knife as a tool; you use the knife to make tools, and use them.

The sk-5 looks like a pretty solid design. Definitely follows the K.I.S.S. principle, which is a welcome change from many of the so called "survival" knives. Many saw back knife spines don't work on large limbs, using a knife pommel as a hammer is a great way to injure a hand, and while being able to lash your knife to a pole and use it as a spear sounds like a good feature, it is not really a great thing to do to a tool that you are betting your backside on. Any time you use a knife as anything other than a knife you are setting yourself up for disappointment or injury.

It's true that my Schrade may be much better-made than current ones now made in China. I can, therefore, also recommend any W.R.Case of similar design.

Dave, curiosity question here. Sweet looking knife, and I'm a fan of most every knife out there, but what makes this one a survival knife? Thanks for your answer. Regards..........

Very appealing blade visually, I would like to handle one. Looks like a multi-use knife that can withstand abuse and remain functional.

Geez, you guys need to study up on your bushcraft knife history. If you want to know why this is a superb "survival" knife (I prefer the term "bushcraft") then go grab yourself a copy of anything written by Horace Kephart, because that's basically what this is, a modern take on Kephart's idea of the ideal woods knife.

A lot of experienced bushcrafters prefer a simple spearpoint blade exactly like this. No doodads, but sometimes simple is good...

I'll keep my Estwing!

Hope it is not 4mm thick, it really reduces the versatility when a knife is too thick.

This "survival" knife thing is overhyped. Like a survival firearm, a survival knife is best described as what you happen to have on your person at the critical moment you need it. Your specialized "survival" gear won't do you any good back at the locked command bunker with your hoard of ammo and MRE's. My Kershaw folder serves me well and it always goes where I go.
Kudos to you fellows that appreciate Kephart, puukko knives and bushcraft skills.

Kilgore Trout, thanks for mentioning Horace Kephart's book "Camping and Woodcraft" first published in 1906. I found that you can download the whole work and have read some of it today. This is what he wrote about fixed-bladed knives:

"Many hunters do not carry sheath knives, saying (and it is quite true) that a common jackknife will skin anything from a squirrel to a bear. Still, I like a small, light sheath knife. It is always open and "get-at-able," ready not only for skinning game and cleaning fish, but for cutting sticks, slicing bread and bacon and peeling " spuds." It saves the pocket knife from wet and messy work, and preserves its edge for the fine jobs.

For years I used knives of my own design, because there was nothing on the market that met my notion of what a sensible, practical sheath knife should be; but we have it now in the knife here shown (Fig. 104). It is of the right size (4-inch blade), the right shape, and the proper thinness. I ground the front part of the back of mine to a blunt bevel edge for scaling fish and disarticulating joints. The sheath being flimsy, and the buttoned band a nuisance, I made one of good leather that binds well up on the handle and is fastened together with copper rivets besides the sewing.

Cutlery should be of the best steel obtainable. Knicks and dull edges are abominations, so use knives and hatchets for nothing but what they were made for, and whet them a little every day that they are in service.

http://www.archive.org/details/campingwoodcraft00kephrich

http://openlibrary.org/books/OL6639931M/Camping_and_woodcraft

I like Moras too.

Looks like an update of the old Kephart knife.

Petzal- Would you at F&S consider a contest with this as the prize??

Yea, I like the spear point blade for a survival knife, and with some BEEFY strength to it makes sense?
Is 154-CM steel a tool steel?

"To Mike Deihl: Hold up a hell of a lot longer."

My Schrade 2" folding knife has served me well for 30 years. The wood's almost a mahogany color from the animal blood it has absorbed but is intact and chip-free. The stainless blade has a slightly different shape than it did as a factory newby, since it's been sharpened plenty of times.

I'll let you know if it ever shows any signs of not "holding up."

@Focus - It's just a knife. You can't start a fire with it, drive a stake into the ground, or fight off a bear with it. If you're in the position where fighting some beasty matters and all you brought was that sticker, you're dead. For survival situations, give me a gun any day.

Sure, if you were back in the paleolithic, it's far better than that Clovis biface or Mousterian core-blade you've been carrying around. But what and when are we talking about that the difference between that knife and any other butchering/skinning knife makes a difference?

It's hard to beat a Mora Bushcraft Triflex knife. Having finally learned how to sharpen them, I must admit that I now try to polish them to a near mirror finish. I believe that the high polish helps reduce friction while cutting and may help to reduce rusting. I do believe that a 4" drop point knife is probably the best shape for an all around knife.

Outdoor Envy, that ESEE looks like a great knife. The only concern I would have is how fast the 1095 blade steel would rust. But, the 1095 would hold a great edge.
http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-4.htm

I have used the Ontario Blackbird a lot, and it has become my got to knife. I own knives from most major knife companies as well as many custom makers. That said, the Blackbird has become my usual carry for all of our wilderness classes.

What will it do that a $20 button-lock folding-knife won't?

Make that hole BIG ENOUGH! I missed it the first 2 times