Survival Knives Blog

When it comes to buying a good knife, you don’t have to go out and spend big bucks to get something of high quality. In this list, I will share my top 5 knives that wont cost you an arm and leg to buy.

5. G.I. Style M-9 Bayonet ($59.95)

Anyone who is like me and has served in the Military can appreciate this knife. It is a replica of the exact bayonet that we all carried around with us. I’m glad I never had to use mine, but if I did, I was quite confident that it would do some damage. For under 60 bucks, it would be worth adding to your collection of knives.

4. Cold Steel Bushman Survival Knife ($21.00)

Wow! That’s about all I can say about this knife. I actually have two of these things in my collection! Made of very strong steel, these knives can handle just about anything! They are not too big or heavy, so they make perfect survival knives.

3. Smith & Wesson Homeland Security Full Tang Survival Knife ($59.99)

For just under 60 dollars, you can get one of the best looking knives on the market. It’s no surprise that a knife by Smith & Wesson appears on this list twice! This knife will not only look super-cool when you show it off, but if you should ever need to use it, it will be very reliable- just like all of s&w’s products!

2. Gerber LMF II Infantry Knife- 4.8 inch blade ($72.57)

During my service as an Infantryman in the U.S Army, almost all of my personally owned gear was made by Gerber. I always had a Gerber knife in a sheath by my side and a Gerber multi-tool in my cargo pocket. Anyways, the purpose of me revisiting the “good ol’ days” was to demonstrate that real soldiers actually swear by the Gerber brand. For under 100 smack-a-roo’s, you can get your own high quality survival knife from this amazing company.

1. Smith & Wesson SW3G Special Ops Bayonet ($86.61)

If you see something made by Smith & Wesson, you can almost automatically assume high quality. If you are looking for a high quality knife that is designed by a quality company, this is by-far your best option for under 100 dollars.

Choose One Of Those Knives And You Cant Go Wrong!

Just because something doesn’t break your bank when you buy it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a quality product. If you choose any of the knives that were mentioned in this list, you can’t go wrong.

If you are in the market for the ultimate survival knife, you have a pretty hefty decision on your hands. We all know that the most important part of a knife is the blade, and you have two types of blades to choose from. Choose wisely because each type of blade has it’s own benefits and drawbacks.

Serrated Blades

Your first option is to buy a knife with a serrated blade. Serrated blades are perfect for self defense when you are in survival mode. They are designed to deliver a punishing stab to anything in it’s path, which is why they are also perfect for hunting for a meal.

Serrated blades also come in handy if you need to cut wood. Now, of course it wont cut down a tree, but if you need to cut small branches from a tree to use as firewood, the a knife with a serrated blade will work almost like a saw.

The main drawback to choosing a serrated blade is that they are very difficult to sharpen. There are a few serrated blade sharpeners available for you to purchase, they just require more work to get the precisely sharp blade that you are probably looking for.

Smooth Blades

If I was recommending a survival knife to a close and personal friend of mine, I would definitely tell them to buy one with a smooth blade. Beside the fact that they are much easier to sharpen (a conventionally sharpener does the job), they can also be sharpened in the wilderness with a rock. Try doing that with your serrated blade and you will ruin the knife!

A smooth blade is perfect for cutting up your food in preparation to cook it. A serrated blade is great for killing the hunt, but try slicing the meat without making a mess of it without a smooth blade! Would you use a serrated blade in a restaurant while eating a thick steak? Probably not!

Which Should You Choose?

Although choosing the type of blade that is right for your situation is an important decision, since a good survival knife won’t break the bank, it shouldn’t be too big of a deal to purchase both types! Carry them both around and use them in situations that best fit that type of blade.

Could the knife that you used to cut your steak with be considered a survival knife? What about the box cutter that you used to well… open boxes with? Is that the kind of knife that you would consider fit for survival? What separates regular knives from survival knives?

In my opinion, a knife doesn’t have to be made by some big-shot manufacturer or look like it came straight out of a Rambo movie to be considered fit for survival purposes. If a steak knife was the only type of knife that I had in the wilderness, you can bet it will be quickly converted into something other than just a steak knife! And… I hate to use this analogy, but try telling a federal prison inmate that his prison-made box cutter isn’t a tool built for survival!

Survival knives don’t have to have a hallowed out handle filled with matches, toothpicks, or whatever else they stuff into those things. They don’t even have to have a compass built into them! The only thing that a survival knife must do is help you survive! No matter what it is made of, how much it costs, or how popular the brand is, any knife will do when times get rough.

The reason I had to write this post is because everywhere I look, people tend to think there has to be something special about a knife to use it to help yourself survive. If you give a desperate person a dull butter knife, you better believe he/she will try to use it to survive.

Now, don’t get me wrong… Buying a high quality knife that is built specifically for survival is definitely the way to go if you are serious about testing the wilderness, but don’t forget… Any knife will do when desperate times come!