Just picked up a few Mora knives to add to my kit, since I've spent so much time pondering the subject that I hadn't bought any dedicated SHTF knives. The plan right now is to have 4 or more Moras as handout knives, and maybe have 2 SOG Seal Team knives for "the heavy stuff." I keep wondering if it's worth it though.
Looking around on knife forums, I always hear about people "batoning" firewood with their knife. That sounds like a good way to break it to me...I figure I can crack tree branches with my bare hands if need be. Anything beyond that I should have an axe or a saw.
Also hear about using the knife pommel as a hammer. The SOG is suited for that...but so is a rock.
Opening cans or "drums." Not sure why that's a thing, but there's probably more can openers than people on this planet. And jabbing my knife in a...what a drum of gasoline that has no spout?..anyway that sounds like a good way to break it again.
From a defensive standpoint I'd rather have the SOG than the Mora. But I also have guns for that.
I carry a Leatherman Charge with me everywhere, so I know the value of a good utility knife. But that's city use, with the occasional trip into the wilderness. What's your take on SHTF survival knives?
Not a real fan of thinking of knives as survival knives. That said I do have knives that I will abuse more, generally the cheaper and less functional ones. If I need to pry something open, I'll use a tool for prying. Images of knives opening steel drum are meant to catch our attention and sell us something. Chances are if the knife will do these ridiculous tasks and still be in the same condition afterwards, the condition wasn't good for much else.
A knife is a daily tool for me: opening boxes, opening mail, splitting wood, cutting string, prepping for a fire. As a result I will always look for function first, does the tool do what I will need 95% of the time. A survival situation for me is likely to involve accessing food, preparing wood, carving wood, cutting wood..... If a person is really concerned about opening steel drums, invest in some hardened steel punchs and a lightweight sledge. Otherwise face reality, survival, shtf, is not likely to be very different in demands on a tool, than what you might traditionally do through the course of a year lived outdoors. If you need to do something that the knife is not intended for, it better get you a huge reward, piles of booty, financial freedom, or a dozen new knives. As you will likely damage the tool and degrade its potential for doing the myriad of other tasks that you need it for, and for which it excels.
As for knives, I love knives, I own dozens of knives. BIg ones, little ones, curved ones, straight ones, bendy ones, but Mora's outnumber every other brand. Reason? They are cost effective, do all normal tasks incredibly well, are easily sharpened, maintain a great edge and I don't cry if I happen to break or lose one. And if I give one away, I can afford it, and I know that I've provided a tool that excels at multiple tasks and not a one trick pony. Not to mention that the Mora/Scandi designs are derived from a couple hundred years of forest dwellers experience and has responded to the demands of a life lived outdoors in the northern and temperate forests. Now if you were to send to me to the desert, or the Everglades, or the Jungle, my choice in tools would be substantially different.
Would I recommend buying a SOG Seal, if it will feed your soul, go for it. Otherwise, buy a knife meant as an everyday tool for ordinary outdoors people. Strong, sharp, maintainable, having stood the test of time and not a marketing ploy. When they quit making the SOG Seal, Mora/Scandi design knives will still be largely unchanged, in use and in production. That said, a Mora just wouldn't look as cool for the glamour shots with my body armour, AR15, tactical gloves and night vision goggles.
Rant over, buy what makes you smile, and shake your head at the grumpy giant over in the corner that just nicked his thumb with his Mora.
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The idea of a survival knife for me is it can do what a hatchet can do no problem, saving a bunch of weight. It should be a thick blade that you can pry with, have a butt end, be full tang and that is it. I prefer a GOOD sheath, I want to climb, swim, run and even fall and know that !@#$ is gonna be there on my belt. Quality of steel in relation to the edge... you should have a stone to sharpen it anyways.
My knife would not be the best knife to clean small game I think.
EDIT- To tell you the truth, i use my knife to start fires. Starting a fire in the rain in the dark ain't easy man. The more prep you put into it the smoother it'll go. I hack dead brown dry brush, shred birch bark, and baton small pieces of wood to get that dry wood in the centre, slice it up fine. That's what I do with mine.
The can opening and all that other crap is emergency stuff but it's good to be able to do it if you have to.
A knife is a fine cutting tool, not a pry bar. Here is a way I can tell a person's financial IQ: Do they buy a $5 pry bar to pry with, or do they buy a $100+ knife to pry with?
A survival knife is the knife you have with you, there is no real survival knife because survival is not just one task. There are hunting aka skinning knives, there are camping knives, there are EDC folders, there are fishing knives, there are carving knives. However, when you are in a survival situation you may need to carve wood, clean a fish, skin a rabbit, cut a tarp stake, ALL with the SAME knife.
For those of you so stuck on this fake concept of a "survival" knife say this to yourself out loud so you understand how stupid you sound: "OMG! I am lost and I don't have my survival knife, all I got is this folder!" or "OMG! I am lost and I don't have my survival knife, all I got is this hunting knife" 😈
Why did I join Canadian Preppers Network?
Well I was going to join the UK Network but those bloody Brits don't know how to speak proper English! 😉
I carry a couple of knives, an old Puma 4" folder with a really nice blade (pocket with lanyard) and a Mora on the belt.
A folding Sierra saw for wood cutting(light and about the best limb cutter I know of).
A knife is a fine cutting tool, not a pry bar. Here is a way I can tell a person's financial IQ: Do they buy a $5 pry bar to pry with, or do they buy a $100+ knife to pry with?
A survival knife is the knife you have with you, there is no real survival knife because survival is not just one task. There are hunting aka skinning knives, there are camping knives, there are EDC folders, there are fishing knives, there are carving knives. However, when you are in a survival situation you may need to carve wood, clean a fish, skin a rabbit, cut a tarp stake, ALL with the SAME knife.
For those of you so stuck on this fake concept of a "survival" knife say this to yourself out loud so you understand how stupid you sound: "OMG! I am lost and I don't have my survival knife, all I got is this folder!" or "OMG! I am lost and I don't have my survival knife, all I got is this hunting knife" 😈
You refer to the stupidity of a "survival" term, yet you seem to not understand that one might not have the option of having a pry bar on hand when they need to open something. I said it was good to have a knife thick enough to be capable of prying something open, IF YOU HAD TO.
Can always tell when someones having a bad day when they have a temper tantrum over a word, but fail to resolve the issue or offer any useful suggestions, and instead chooses to spout vitriolic philosophical drivel. Go scream on someone else, nobody wants to hear it.