An Intro to Knives

“THAT’S NOT A KNIFE!” - AN INTRO TO KNIVES

In my honest opinion, an inordinate amount of attention is given to knife selection in Disaster Prep/Survival guides, especially online. Their importance can’t be dismissed, but merely having “the Perfect Blade” is not the secret to disaster survival.

How did I arrive at this point of view? Let me share my first contact with a true wilderness soul and the ‘knife lesson’ I learned that evening.

While still in high school, I worked at a major fried chicken franchise. This particular night, a young man, in his 20’s to early 30’s, the whole Grizzly Adams thing going on, came in, with his backpack in hand and ordered a small meal. (As anyone in the foodservice industry can tell you, near closing time, you get all types). After he finished, we were still without customers, and he was still hungry. We always had wings left, and as we were allowed to eat all the chicken we wanted, we decided to share some of ours, and learn more about our interesting visitor.

He was backpacking through the Gila Wilderness in Southern New Mexico and surrounding areas with only what he had on his back, literally. The movie “Rambo” had aired within the last few years, and Rambo-style “survival” knives were all the rage Here's an example. A popular style had a stainless steel blade and a hollow handle with a screw on cap welded to the shank. It held an assortment of “survival gear”, like fish hooks, monofilament line, a button compass, matches, and etc. They are cute, but honestly impractical due to construction issues. Anyway, you get the picture.

Excited to learn from a real-life, modern day mountain man, I asked him what kind of knife he carried. His answer changed my concept of wilderness survival training forever.

“If you don’t know how to survive in the wild, the kind of knife you carry won’t mean anything at all.”, he said. “Regardless of the knife you have, you’re not going to be chopping down trees or cutting firewood with it. There are some things it will be helpful for, but it will rarely mean the difference between success or failure.”

Then he pulled out his carry knife, a “150 year old [high carbon steel] folding Marlin spike". A random example High carbon steel is strong and tough, will take an edge easily and keep it. [Author’s Note: For 3 decades, I thought that the spike was a fish gaff, me being ignorant of all things boat related. I’ve only recently discovered that it is used to tie a Marlin Head Knot, essential for securing rigging on a sailboat]. “It does everything I need it to do,” he added.

The effect on me was profound. Rather than relying on “the perfect piece of equipment”, learn basic wilderness skills, using what you have available, and you’ll be better prepared for an extreme situation than someone who spends a week’s pay on something they don’t know how to use.

Now, I’m from the dab smack middle of the Midwest and I love edged steel. I carried my first pocket knife when I was ten, (a gift from my Father of one his) and have not been without one, in one form or the other, since.

After moving to the Desert Southwest at 16 years of age, I spent a month studying and comparing edged utility tools (remember this WAY pre-internet) before I finally settled on a carbon steel bolo machete, by Condor from El Salvador Here's the current model., $30 in 1982, , and I still have it. In fact, I’ve had it longer than my wife. It needs a new handle, and I lost it one winter in the back yard, and now has a heavy coating of rust. But a thorough cleaning, replacement handle, and a sharpening, and I’m ready to go.

I scour garage sales for the pocket knives many of the Collectors pass by - the older Fishing Knives, or Arkansas Toothpicks, brands like Imperial, Camillus, etc. Some examples of fish knives. They may be lacking a side cover or both (they were not secured well from the beginning) but the steel is amazing. They literally can be made surgery ready. I have one that I carry that is missing both sides, and measures less than ¼” thick, which is perfect for when you want to be discreet-ish.

There’s an old saying that “the clothes make the man”. That is up for serious debate on a different venue. BUT, in the final analysis, a knife doesn’t make a survivor, real-life wilderness skills do. Stay tuned for other, specific knife-centric discussions.