Outdoor Survival Guide - The Knife

The knife is one of the oldest tools man has had,the Aitor mod, Fällkniven, Gerber, Master
dating back to the stone age.Cutlery, Benchmade, Chris Reeve Sebenza, Buck
Though it has been used as a weapon too, putting- 110 Folding Hunter. Then there are also the
the knife into the context of outdoor survivalmachetes, and pocket survival kits that contain a
makes it the most important tool of all. It can becombination of knives.
used for defense against predators and hostiles,Once you have a knife it's important that you
and at the same time it is used in preparation ofshould clean it from time to time. Regular wear
food, setting up shelter, and also - in some casesand tear can start to creep in and that will
- a valuable medical treatment too.substantially reduce the life of the tool. Also, the
At its most basic form, you can keep a pocketprimary use of a knife is cutting, so it's important
knife with you at all times, after all, when disasterto keep the knife sharp, especially before using it
strikes, you may never know when you need it.in tough jobs.
Most outdoor enthusiasts agree that the knife isMost of these survival knives come with a belt
by far the most important tool of all.harness (so that you'll have it on you at all times
But what does a survival knife do? It does whatand not lose it), a slip for the knife to stay in
it's named for, to help you survive. Other than(nothing is more prone to accident than a knife
that, you can use a knife outdoor for a myriad oflying about with the blade unsheathed) and a
purposes. Most important use of all, it helps youdecent grip. The grip is perhaps the most
gather small branches and wood for fire. Ifimportant aspect of a knife you should consider
trapped or outdoors in a winter landscape, it'll hack(other than if it can actually do its job) because if
through ice and frost. It can help you prepare theit doesn't feel right in your hand, chances are you
meat of your sustenance by stripping the fleshwon't be get used to it. Here's where you want
from the fur. If your closest form of sustenanceto be extremely careful too, if the knife doesn't
is fish, you'll need a knife to clean it out. It can begel in with your hand, repeated use may end up
used to cut fruits and vegetables where available.damaging not only the blade of the knife but also
A knife can also be important in urban landscapeyour hand as well.
survival; for opening food cans, slicing throughThe blade itself is composed of several different
restraints, unscrewing screws, and cutting cloth.elements, including composites and metals, but
With the proper training, in a dangerous urbanmost experts agree that a stainless steel knife is
environment, the knife can also be your primarythe best and more reliable knives out there.
weapon for self defense. Unlike a gun, it'll neverFinally, as much as technology progresses there
run out of ammunition and can provide lethalare just some things that you can never let go
damage to your opponents.of; a survival knife is one such example. Along
There are different types of knives that arewith another old tool, the wheel, it can never be
commonly used for survival. The commonly usedre-invented.
ones are fixed blade and folding blade knives, like