Survival knife
Encyclopedia
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...
intended for survival
Survival skills
Survival skills are techniques a person may use in a dangerous situation to save themselves or others...
purposes in a wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
environment, often in an emergency situation when the user has lost most of his/her main equipment. Military units issue some type of survival knife to pilots in the event their plane may be shot down. Survival knives can be used for trapping, skinning, wood cutting and other uses. Hunters, hikers, and outdoor sport enthusiasts use survival knives. Some survival knives are heavy-bladed and thick; others are lightweight or fold in order to save weight and bulk as part of a larger survival kit
Survival kit
A survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboats, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
. Their functions often include serving as a hunting knife
Hunting knife
A hunting knife is a knife used during hunting for preparing the game to be used as food: skinning the animal and cutting up the meat. It is different from the Hunting dagger which was traditionally used to kill wild game....
.
Origins of the survival knife
Prior to the late 19th century, outdoorsmen and military personnel did not use knives that were notably different from the knives used by butchers. BladeBlade
A blade is that portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with a cutting edge and/or a pointed tip that is designed to cut and/or puncture, stab, slash, chop, slice, thrust, or scrape animate or inanimate surfaces or materials...
s were relatively thin and the handles were often no more than two wooden slabs riveted to the tang
Tang (weaponry)
A tang or shank is the back portion of a tool where it extends into stock material or is connected to a handle as on a knife, sword, spear, arrowhead, chisel, screwdriver, etc...
. Around the turn of the century, Webster L. Marble introduced the modern concept of the "hunting knife." These knives incorporated heavier blades, crossguards, and pommels. They very much resembled miniaturized Bowie knives
Bowie knife
A Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife first popularized by Colonel James "Jim" Bowie in the early 19th Century. Since the first incarnation was created by James Black, the Bowie knife has come to incorporate several recognizable and characteristic design features, although its...
. Case, Cattaraugus, and other cutlery manufacturers soon introduced similar knives of their own and it is from these that the modern concept of the survival knife is descended. These knives, along with machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
s and bolo
Bolo knife
A bolo is a large cutting tool of Filipino origin similar to the machete, used particularly in the jungles of Indonesia, the Philippines, and in the sugar fields of Cuba...
s constituted survival knives as used by military, explorers, and outdoorsmen up through at least the 1930s.
During WWII, survival knives were issued to aircraft crew, as it was a real possibility that these personnel might be shot down over wilderness or behind enemy lines. Lifeboats aboard naval vessels also frequently contained survival kits including knives. These knives varied in design from one branch of the service to another and from one nation to another. The majority of them were simply commercial knives purchased in bulk by the military. From the Vietnam-era and to present, purpose-built survival knives evolved. One of Randall's designs which became a popular fighting knife for troops in Vietnam was the Number 14 "Attack" Model. During Vietnam, Randall received feedback from a Combat Surgeon in the US Army's 94th Medical Detachment named Captain George Ingraham. Ingraham's request was for serrations on the spine to cut through the fuselage of downed aircraft to rescue trapped personnel and a hollow handle to allow storage of survival gear. Randall made the changes and the result was the first of the modern survival knives.
Some militaries, including the US, have redesigned the bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
used with their issued rifle to include survival knife features. Historically, bayonets had functioned poorly as field knives, due to being designed primarily to turn a rifle into a thrusting weapon and only secondarily (if at all) to work as a field knife. The newer models function more acceptably for mundane tasks while remaining capable of being attached to the muzzle of a rifle.
Features of a survival knife
Survival knives are designed for work such as setting traps, cutting branches and skinning animals. Most survival knives have blades that are 4 - 6 inches long with a full thick tang. Survival knives made by Aitor, LileJimmy Lile
James Buel Lile, known as Jimmy Lile or The Arkansas Knifesmith , was a knifemaker from Russellville in Pope County, Arkansas, who made the Rambo Knife for the films First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II...
, Parrish, Randall
Randall Made Knives
Randall Made Knives, usually referred to as Randall, is an American manufacturer specializing in custom handcrafted knives founded by Walter Doane "Bo" Randall, Jr. The factory and showroom is located in Orlando, Florida. Randall offers 28 models of knives for different applications, each...
, or Reeve
Chris Reeve
Chris Reeve is an American knife maker, recognized as one of the most influential people in knife making history. Reeve founded Chris Reeve Knives , and is co-owner of the company with his wife, Anne Reeve.-Background:...
have hollow handles, which allow the user to store additional equipment in the handle. Some of these knives feature a compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
in the cap.
On some survival knives, the spine or back of the blade is flat; allowing it to make a good hitting platform when pounding it with a hard stick to aid in splitting wood. Other models such as Lile's and Parrish's feature a serrated spine or in the case of Rob Simonich's and Strider Knives
Strider Knives
Strider Knives, Inc. is a custom and production knifemaking facility headed by Mick Strider and Duane Dwyer based in San Marcos, California.-Materials and design:...
, a band (strapping
Strapping
Strapping, also known as bundling and banding, is the process of applying a strap to an item to combine, hold, reinforce, or fasten it. The strap may also be referred to as strapping...
) breaker near the tip.
The handle material of survival knives differs from one to the next and is determined primarily by user preference. Handle materials can be hardened rubber, wood, bone (horn), aluminium, polymer, or even metal, such as stainless steel in the case of the Aitor Jungle King I, or tool steel as used in the Chris Reeve One-Piece line. Makers like Lile, Strider, and Parrish often wrap these metal handled knives with cord which can be used in survival situations and in daily use provides a more comfortable and reliable grip.
Airmen-specific survival knives
The serrations seen on survival knives are intended to allow air crewmen to cut their way free through the relatively thin metal skin of a crashed helicopter or airplane. Those knives that do include functional saw-teeth still suffer from lack of blade length, limiting the thickness of what can be cut when used as a saw. Features, such as hollow handles that could be used as storage space for matches or similar small items, began gaining popularity in the 1980s. Custom or semi-custom makers such as Jimmy LileJimmy Lile
James Buel Lile, known as Jimmy Lile or The Arkansas Knifesmith , was a knifemaker from Russellville in Pope County, Arkansas, who made the Rambo Knife for the films First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II...
, Bo Randall
Randall Made Knives
Randall Made Knives, usually referred to as Randall, is an American manufacturer specializing in custom handcrafted knives founded by Walter Doane "Bo" Randall, Jr. The factory and showroom is located in Orlando, Florida. Randall offers 28 models of knives for different applications, each...
, and Chris Reeve
Chris Reeve
Chris Reeve is an American knife maker, recognized as one of the most influential people in knife making history. Reeve founded Chris Reeve Knives , and is co-owner of the company with his wife, Anne Reeve.-Background:...
are often credited with inventing those features. Serrations appeared on knives in the 19th century for use as a wood saw or fish scaler.
Examples of Survival Knives
- Aitor Jungle King series. Hollow handled. All are stainless steel Bladed with stainless steel handle in JKI, Aluminum in JKII and Polymer in JKIII
- Chris Reeve KnivesChris Reeve KnivesChris Reeve Knives is a U.S. corporation with international sales and distribution based in Boise, ID. CRK manufactures folding pocket knives, fixed blade knives, and custom walking sticks...
hollow handled knives in the "One-Piece" line - FallknivenFällknivenFällkniven, is a Swedish-based manufacturer of knives and knife-related gear and apparel. Fällkniven was founded in 1984 by company president Peter Hjortberger. The company started by importing knives and, in 1987, began designing their own knives.-Products:...
knives - Doug Ritter RSK Mk3 fixed blade
- Martin Knives - MCEII, MCEII-7", SURV9, Apparo
- Klotzli knives - Model 5
- Randall Made Knives - Model 17 "Astro", Model 18 "Attack and Survival"
- Hackman Finland Stainless Hollow Handle Knife
- Hillknives Holland, makes the S.O.K. Special Operations Knife for Dutch Defence
- Ka-BarKA-BARKA-BAR is the contemporary popular name for the combat knife first adopted by the United States Marine Corps in November 1942 as the 1219C2 Combat Knife , and subsequently adopted by the United States Navy as the U.S. Navy Utility Knife, Mark 2...
Knives - Kizlyar Cold steel - DV-2 Fixed Blade Survival Knife
- MoraMora knifeMora knife is a term used to refer to a range of popular belt-knives manufactured by the cutleries of the town of Mora in Dalarna, Sweden, primarily by Mora of Sweden...
knives - Ray Mears- Woodlore Fixed Blade
- Robert Parrish - 8" "Attack Survival " and the Model 36
- Robert Young PeltonRobert Young PeltonRobert Young Pelton , is an author, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Pelton is considered an adventurer and a "witness" to conflict. Pelton is known for overcoming extraordinary obstacles in his search for the truth...
designed the DPx H•E•S•T (Hostile Environment Survival Tool) sold by ESEE Knives and made by Shon Rowen - SOG KnifeSOG KnifeThe SOG knife was designed for, and issued to, covert Studies and Observation Group personnel during the Vietnam War. It was unmarked and supposedly untraceable to country of origin or manufacture in order to maintain plausible deniability of covert operators in the event of their death or...
- Team Leader, SEAL Team, and SEAL Pup, SEAL Pup Elite - Swamp Rat Knives - CampTramp, Howling Rat, Ratweiler
- Tops Knives
- Wilkinson Sword - Survival Knife/Dartmoor Survival knife (design of the mid 80's)
- W.G. Stegner - Fixed Blades
- Gerber Legendary BladesGerber Legendary BladesGerber Legendary Blades is a maker of consumer knives and multitools headquartered in Tigard, Oregon, United States, within the Portland metropolitan area. Currently Gerber is a sub-division of Fiskars Brands Inc, owned by the Fiskars company of Finland...
- Bear GryllsBear GryllsEdward Michael "Bear" Grylls is an English adventurer, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his television series Man vs. Wild, known as Born Survivor in the United Kingdom...
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