Buying a New Survival knife

[Meteor]

Have a look at the Nordic range at the bottom

http://www.eka-knivar.se/en/products/2/hunting

[Ds J]

Get yourself a good quality panga / machete / kukri with a rough sharpener en hou op sukkel. They can take most kinds of hammering with a smile and one does not care to abuse them properly. Few things are so versatile as an old fashioned panga, but take care to choose one with a good and solid handle. (The rivet-and-plastic scale jobs don't last.) I prefer those with a more slender blade - they are not so heavy on the wrist. Somehow, almost no-one makes a panga with a nice long double handed handle. It is great for balance as well as the odd power swing.

For smaller camping, fighting and similar jobbs, get a good steel blade. I like the following on a good knife:

• +- 6" blade of solid steel construction with full tang
• heavy handle - saves front arm energy to manipulate the (proportionally) heavier blade if the handle is too light
• NO HOLLOWGRIND in my package, thank you - that is result of the "stock removal" method, and one cannot cut with it properly. Rather a partial hollow grind or preferably a katana-style cutting edge.
• forget about a saw on the spine of the knife
• sharp point for stabbing, opening, fine work etc
• the cutting edge (or one of them) should be curved towards the tip
• my preference is carbon steel due to its qualities, most modern knives tend to be stainless steel. My critic of stainless is that, except for a very few exceptions, carbon steel keeps a better edge.

[flincher]

Ds J

Stock removal is the way the profile of the knife is cut out. It has nothing to do with hollow grind. After stock removal a blank can be hollow grinded, flat grinded or even grinded in the Leatherman style.

Hollow grinded knives cut well. Due to the thinner profile of a hollow grind I would agree that a flat grind is more durable when it comes to chopping etc.

[Ds J]

Flincher,

I run off the beaten track when it comes to knives, and don't want to get into a contest or word duel - especially not on gunsite. I might add that one might consider me a "knife connoiseur" - I really like knives and I shave with cutthroats. My wife has Zwillling, Victorinox or self-made in the kitchen and I keep them really sharp. To me, a knife is not simply a cutting tool - it is specialist equipment, and one needs at least three of them to do proper work. I have a few "scrap iron pieces" laying around for anyone to use, but NO-ONE except me sharpens my knives.

I have always understood that "stock removal" is an umbrella term which includes laser cutting of profiles from steel bars, hollow grinding, flat grinding, halfway hollow grind etc. It basically refers to the process of removing excess stock/material from an existing piece of knife steel. Stock removal is favoured by many knife makers because it is fast and gets good results. The other alternative is forging.

If we are talking about large-bladed knives, my personal choice would be for something like a flat grind with a small or no cutting edge because it is sharper and has less drag when cutting thicker stuff (like biltong from larger cuts of meat).
With a complete hollow grind (which is scarce) the thicker upper section of the knife (close to the spine) tends to create greater drag when cutting meat, but it is still a whole lot better than the "halfway hollow grind" which so many knife makers favour. There is an argument to be made for a stronger spine on the halfway hollow grind, but to cut anything with such a grinding is - to me - a pain. I rather have a knife slicing through a substance and leaving a clean cut than having to force a thick piece of steel through a substance because the halfway hollow grind blocks things.

[Mr_Medic]

Agree with Ds J, depending on what you actually plan to do with the knife (besides the obvious survival function) I would also reccomend a setup like I use, I have a Cold Steel Kukri, a quality hatchet and a fixed 5". All that rides in my BOB/Overlanding bag. The Kukri I paid in region of R400 for, the hatchet was about R450 ( its not a fancy brand name but works a treat) and my fixed blade is a custom job I got for my 16th birthday. Shop around and see what suits not only your pocket but also your needs!