Ideal size survival knife

Lol! Not around here. You pull a switchblade most likely you will have a sxs 12 gauge suck up you're nose.

Grumpy old farmers..

 

I just keep and John Deere, Case, and Cat shirt and hat in my truck. See what implements they run and change before I knock on the door. Mostly likely get adopted..

 

I would say a machete type blade or now that I have seen it my esee 4.

 

The short answer.....My TM Hunt or My Becker BK16. I find them to be very very similar (the Yuma just being a little nicer to look at and slightly better ergonomics)...around 4.25"blade...a hair over 9"OAL....near 3/16 blade...contoured handle


THE Long Answer: (stop here if you dont like loquacious posts lol)

This is one of those questions that is hard to answer because of the potential of so many variables....urban or rural environment? Type of climate? Will other tools be accessible? Anyone else around? Hostile environment? (A survival situation is any situation in which you are fighting for your life)...
Experts always say the best survival knife is the one you have on you....and I agree. But if thats the case why limit yourself to just a one tool option. I dont ever set foot in the woods without enough tools to outfit a small army (couple blades of varying sizes, ax and hatchet, folding saw,SAK, Multitool,and most likely at least 2 different folders....I love to play and test out things in the woods..plus I believe in using the right tool for the job).
But also take into consideration that even when I go out into the rural areas where I live I cant walk more than a mile without running into some sort of building...

For Poops and Laughs-lets pretend for a second im in a wilderness survival situation with the one knife i chose...here is why I chose the blade I did...
If I'm trying to survive I'm likely trying to conserve energy amd regulate body temp...I'm not gonna want to swing a 6" blade around chopping down trees. I'm gonna look for deadfall or other easy-to-gather firewood. I'm also not going to section it up with my knife.I'm going to look for two trees close together that I can use to break wood. And batonning will be avoided if possibe...its uneccessary wear and tear on a tool I'm trying to preserve the life of. (In my opinion firewood larger in diameter than my forearm is a luxury not a necessity.)
And as far as food, I'm most likely going to be going after small game so a large knife will be too cumbersome to use.


Sorry for the long post... I'm sitting at the oil change shop with no one to talk to and I have to wait over an hour. Plus there's an awful talk show on they won't change channel LOL

 

This is like that moment when the mortician guy talks in Gone in 60 seconds

 

Hey I resemble that remark

 

I had nine knives on me last short dayhike. ranging in length from 18" to 2" . Think im covered.

 

The first 30 seconds of this... Is how I imagine you look like after a "short dayhike"... Heh

 

Now I want to watch the movie. There goes three and a half hours.

 

Extended edition FTW!

 

What Bushman said. I don't think in "survival knife " mode, I think in "survival system" mode. This rig has a machete (R), a multi tool (R) and an Izula in very secure Kydex (L) It has a fire building kit, a compass, duct tape, some 1qt and 1gal HD ziplocks. Also a rite in the rain note pad, fisher space pen, a shortened pencil too. There's a fox 40 whistle,some small ceramic rods, a smiths carbide/ceramic/dmt for the machete. There a roly poly for adding a water bottle or to collect edibles in....

 

Very nice setup...i want to eventually get a kydex sheath for my bk9 and have some sort of baldric style setup...

 

I like blades that are as long as my hand is wide.

 

Thank for the compliment, spent years (actually a decade or so) getting this week excactly how I wanted it. I want a Maxped Jumbo to finish it out.

 

LOL, that is time well spent.

 

That looks familiar

 

Yup switched hands......needed the $$$
Sold all my Busse Knives but one....... damn bills!

 

I suppose it depends on lots of factors. I like to use a knife for processing wood (ie splitting it) but not for cutting down a trees- that's a job for my Silky saws. Ideally I'd rather have a couple of knives with me, but if pressed to choose a single blade I suppose it may as well be my D2 RAT7. It's a great wood splitter but the ergos are good enough to use it for lots of other tasks. The sheath has a pouch that I normally use to stash a Gerber multi-tool (can't remember the model, my dad gave it to me in the late 80's/early 90's) so if I have that knife along there will be a few more tools.

Better still I would have the RAT7 and a smaller knife, either one of my Izula IIs with the orange TKC scales (easy to find if I drop it) or my Busse Bony Active Duty.