Survival Knife

What sets a survival knife apart

A survival knife is a fixed blade meant for an emergency in the woods, when most of your gear is gone. That's how the general reference on survival knives puts it. The modern version traces back to knives issued to military aircrew, who might come down a long way from help. One Vietnam-era request asked for serrations on the spine to cut through a downed aircraft's skin.

Here's the thing. A hunting knife opens a deer. A survival knife is asked to split wood, carve a stake, cut cord and throw sparks, sometimes all before lunch. So it gets thicker, longer and plainer.

It belongs to the fixed-blade family, which shares one basic idea: the blade never folds, so it rides in a sheath. The family overview lives on the fixed blade knife page. This page sticks to what's different about the hard-use end of it.

The selection rule for this page is short. It lists full-tang fixed blades with a blade of 4 inches or longer, as the maker or the Amazon listing states them. If neither says full tang, the knife isn't here, even if it probably is. The table shows blade length, overall length, blade thickness where stated, steel, grind, edge, handle material, sheath, and whether the sheath carries a fire starter or sharpener, the maker's numbers first and the listing's where the maker is silent (marked as listing values). Blank boxes get a dash.

How to choose a survival knife

Insist on a full tang

Full tang means the blade and the handle frame are one continuous piece of steel, with handle scales fixed to the sides. The Art of Manliness survival guide says there's no advantage to a partial tang on a survival knife, and calls any joint a weakness.

The batoning guide from RECOIL OFFGRID gives the practical reason. Without a full tang, hammering on the spine can separate the blade from the handle. That's not a repair you make at a campfire.

The table only marks full tang when the maker or the listing says it. On this page that's the whole point of the list.

Pick a size you can carve with

Bigger isn't better past a point. The Art of Manliness guide puts the ideal survival knife around 9 to 11 inches overall. Its example is a 10-inch knife with a 5-inch blade. Too big, it says, and you give up the fine control for detailed tasks.

For splitting wood, one knife maker's batoning guide suggests a blade at least 4.5 to 5 inches long, and says a longer blade lets you split larger wood. So the sweet spot is a blade long enough to reach across a split of kindling, on a knife short enough to whittle a tent stake.

Rule of thumb: if you can't comfortably carve a notch with it, it's a machete with a guilty conscience. Real machetes are on the machete page.

Read the blade thickness column

Blade thickness is the stock, measured at the spine. Few makers or listings state it, so the column is often a dash. When it's there, it tells you how much abuse the blade can take. The same batoning guide asks for a spine at least 5/32 inch thick.

Thicker stock is stronger but slices worse. It's the shop-class trade-off again: the oak beam holds the barn up, but you don't carve a spoon out of it.

A square spine throws the sparks

A flat spine with sharp, 90-degree corners can be scraped against a ferrocerium rod to make sparks. Blade Magazine's fire-starter guide says to strike on that spine corner, not on the cutting edge, because the edge gets dull spots fast.

Blade Magazine also notes that some makers cut small half-moon notches into the spine to spare your hand while keeping a square shoulder. Others include a separate striker with the knife. Run your thumb down the spine of any knife you're considering. If it isn't square, plan on that striker. More on rods is on the ferro rod page.

Single edge, solid pommel

The Art of Manliness guide argues against a double-edged blade on a survival knife. You need the spine for your thumb, for batoning and for the ferro rod. It also likes a substantial pommel, the butt end of the handle, for light hammering such as driving shelter stakes.

That's a tent-stake tap, not a framing hammer. AKTI, the American Knife & Tool Institute, warns against using a knife as a hammer, screwdriver or pry bar; a twisted blade can slip or break and hurt you.

Skip the hollow handle

The 1980s gave us hollow-handle survival knives with a compass in the cap and fishing line inside. The general survival knife reference notes that hollow handles may reduce strength and break more easily when chopping or batoning. A hollow handle can't be a full tang. Keep the fishing kit in your pack, where it can't weaken anything. The knife has enough to do.

Plain edge or serrations

Edges in the table come in three kinds: plain, serrated, partially serrated. Blade Magazine's edge guide puts the large majority of everyday cutting on plain edges, which are also the simplest to sharpen. Full serrations are for rope and straps and need a sharpener made for them. Partial serrations cover small cord like paracord.

For wood and carving, plain wins. If you cut a lot of rope, a partial serration is a reasonable middle.

Steel: toughness first

One knife maker's steel guide defines toughness as a steel's ability to resist fracturing, chipping or breaking under impact. That's the trait a survival knife leans on hardest. The same guide says tool steels give up some corrosion resistance to get there, and their owners have to stay on top of maintenance.

The table lists the exact grade if the maker or the listing names it and a broad steel type either way. Carbon and tool steels will rust if you put them away wet. Stainless is more forgiving but, as AKTI notes, still not immune to water and salt.

Grind: saber and scandi lead here

The grind column shows how the blade thins to the edge. By the standard definitions, a saber grind starts its bevel partway up and is built for strength. A scandi is the saber's cousin without a secondary bevel, so its wide flat face lies easily on a stone. A convex grind backs the edge with more steel but takes skill to sharpen by hand. A hollow grind gives a very sharp but weaker edge, the wrong pick for splitting.

A sheath that holds on

Check the sheath column, then the fire starter column. Some survival knife sheaths carry a ferro rod, a striker loop or a small sharpener. That's handy. It also means the rod lives with the knife, which is where you'll look for it at dark.

Retention matters more than looks. A sheath that lets the knife slide out when you crawl under a blowdown has failed at its only job.

Survival knife styles and when to pick which

The 5-inch all-rounder

A full tang, a 4 to 5 inch blade, a plain edge and a square spine. It carves, splits small kindling and strikes a rod. If you only buy one survival knife, buy this size.

Heavy choppers

Longer blades and thicker stock, built to chop and split bigger wood. They carry heavier and carve worse. For clearing brush, a machete or hatchet beats any knife.

Survival knife with fire starter

A knife whose sheath carries a ferro rod or striker. The table's fire starter column marks it. Good for a day pack or the glove box. If your fire kit already has a rod and a lighter, you're paying for a duplicate.

Bushcraft knives

Often a scandi grind and a thinner blade, made for carving more than splitting. They overlap with survival knives a lot. See the bushcraft knife page.

Batoning safely with a survival knife

Batoning means striking the spine with a wooden baton to drive the blade through a piece of wood. It's a deliberate exception to the "knives aren't hammers" rule, so do it the careful way.

1. Wear gloves and eye protection, and work on a stable stump or log.
2. Use a wooden baton, never a rock or metal.
3. Pick dry hardwood. Wet wood lets the spine sink in.
4. Stand the split upright and set the edge across the top, with the grain. Leave at least a third of the blade sticking out past the wood.
5. Strike the spine squarely, as far from the tip as you can. Don't baton at an angle.
6. Keep your fingers and legs out of the line of the blade.

The RECOIL OFFGRID guide says prying a stuck knife out of the wood is the move with the highest risk of injury. Don't twist it free. Tap it through or start over on a smaller piece. Don't force the blade through knots.

Carry it, clean it, sharpen it

Carry and storage

AKTI's rule is plain: don't carry an unsheathed straight knife, and don't climb or run with an open blade. For storage, Ontario Knife Company's care page says to keep the knife in a dry place, out of the sheath, and to wipe the blade with clean oil two to three times a year, more often near water. Dry the knife, oil it lightly, store it somewhere cool and dry.

Sharpening

AKTI recommends sharpening often and gives 10 to 15 degrees as the recommended angle, adjusted for the grind. Push the blade away from you. Same number of strokes on each side. A scandi grind makes this easier, because the whole bevel sits flat on the stone.

A survival knife backs up the lighter

My one opinion on this page: a survival knife is the backup fire plan, not the first one. Blade Magazine's fire-starter guide says to reach for a lighter or matches first, especially in the dark, and treat the knife and rod as the backup. The National Park Service's Ten Essentials list matches or a lighter and fire starters under fire, and a knife under the repair kit. That's the right order.

Danny's take: "Pack the lighter, the backup lighter, the matches, the rod and the knife." That's also why his pack weighs what it does.

Who should skip a survival knife

If your knife's main job is field dressing deer, a short hunting knife is the better tool. If you mostly carve and whittle, look at bushcraft and whittling knives. And if you never leave the truck more than a mile, a good pocket knife and a fire kit may be all you need.

Knife carry laws differ by state and town. Check your state's rules before you wear one on your belt.

Here's the honest test. If the knife comes home every November with nothing harder than a sandwich on its record, that's a good season, not a wasted purchase.