Best Survival Knives of 2020 Available at KnifeCenter

hey everyone David C Andersen here coming at you from the KnifeCenter and today we're taking a look at some of the best survival knives that you can buy across a range of different price points let's check them out so when we talk about survival knives the question that always comes up is do you go with a fixed blade or a folder now for me I would always recommend a solid fixed blade but I do understand that for some of you out there that's not going to be an option whether that's because of local or campground regulations or just your personal comfort level with that in mind I will have a couple of folders that I'll show you just know that if you ever are in a true survival situation I definitely want the reliability of a fixed blade on my belt they're simpler to operate in a stressful situation and they've got no moving parts so the risk of failure is a lot smaller but the most important thing is to have a knife any kind of knife so the easier it is to carry the more likely you'll actually have it on you when you need it that ethos is gonna guide my fixed blade recommendations as well ease of carry is definitely important so I'm gonna be showing you things with blades in the 4 to 7 inch range now the things I lay out here of course are not gospel because what I think of as a survival knife could be very different from your opinions but I think these are a good set of guidelines to build from so I'm gonna start on the budget side of things with Cold Steel and their new SRK-C which of course stands for survival rescue knife compact and this knife has most of what I want to see in a survival knife all available for under $50 right now it's a good overall size with a 5-inch blade coming in at about an eighth of an inch thick this is a good compromise between being easy to control and large enough to do some bigger jobs and as far as the thickness goes that 8th inch size is about as thin as I'd want to get because you definitely want to go for something with solid build quality if you want even more lengths this blade does come in in a six inch version with their original full size SRK in the interest of sturdiness i'd go with a full tang construction on your knife and this knife has that completely in developed with Kray-Ex which is essentially a rubber material gives you a lot of traction and in cold environments it keeps your hands off the cold steel get it and it also has a prominent finger guard right here at the front this is designed to help keep your hand from sliding forward onto the edge of the knife because honestly the last thing you want if you're already fighting fatigue or frostbite or when you're running on adrenaline is to lose the use of one of your fingers now the blade itself is a fairly simple shape and that's pretty important because you want your survival knife to be a knife first and a survival knife second needs to be actually useful for normal camp or utility stuff or else you're not going to want to carry it which really defeats the purpose for the types of blade shapes I think you should stick to a simple drop point or the straight clip point profile like this SRK are best they're versatile for most tasks they allow you to use it for skinning and provide a sharp point for piercing without being too thin or weak I'd probably stay away from clip point blades with a real aggressive scoop but a straight clip like this is just fine now the steel on this blade is SK5 carbon steel and of course that raises the debate of whether you go with carbon or stainless for your survival knife now a carbon steel blade will typically provide more toughness and strength especially on the budget end of the spectrum but it will of course require a little bit more care in your upkeep the SRK does come with a powder coating on the blade to help keep rust at bay though and although you can get the SRK with upgraded blade steel with the SK5 versions of this knife priced from 40 to 45 bucks at this point in time it's definitely the knife to beat if you're building a survival kit on a budget now the next knife I'm gonna show you breaks some of my personal rules but I feel like I need to talk about it for those out there who really want something like this the least you can do is buy a good one I'm talking about the hollow handled survival knife or the stereotypical Rambo knife that a lot of people think of when they hear the term survival knife and if you're gonna get one I'd go with the Schrade SCHF1 and the reason is strength now most knives of this style feature a blade and handle that are somehow welded or attached together but this Schrade is milled out from a single piece of steel 1070 carbon steel with a seven and a half inch blade which eliminates that weak point there right at the base this was a build style that was definitely brought to prominence by Chris Reeve knives but they don't make their version anymore so at least we still have the more budget Schrade option now that you can still get priced at just under 70 bucks right now with the strength provided by this type of construction and the same is true for well-built knives with a full tang also you've got the durability you're gonna need for heavier tasks like batoning the knife in order to split wood for an emergency fire this is not something that most of you are gonna want to do every day but in a survival situation if this is the only tool you've got left you want it to be able to stand up to this kind of abuse for that same reason I would avoid knives with a sawed back on the spine which thankfully this knife doesn't have now they do look cool but often they're only of limited utility and they often get in the way of batoning as well now some of these knives will have a compass here on the unscrewable butt cap this one doesn't instead it's got a nice solid piece here which unscrews it comes equipped with a screwdriver set with a few different bits but you can easily pull this out if you want to make room for things like fire starters or a fishing kit etc but keep in mind if you are storing things like that in there if you lose your knife you lose those items too now the handle itself because it's this round shape it is a little more prone to twisting while you're working but to mitigate that they've knurled the surface to give it more traction they've also beveled out two sections here as you come towards the base of the blade which creates a good spot for pinching up and doing a pinch grip or other detail work and as for those personal rules I mentioned I'm usually not a big fan of a guard on the back side of the blade and this blade also has a hollow grind and for a survival knife I prefer the strength of a flat grind or a convex grind I'm also not a fan of partial serrations myself either as they're typically placed right where you'd want to be carving wood with a nice straight edge but at least this type is a little bit more gentle in the way their ground in it should be easier to resharpen when it comes time to do now your mileage may vary of course and you may have different preferences for what you're looking for but when it comes to a hollow handled survival knife the SCHF1 is my recommendation for a production version all right so what about a budget stainless steel option coming in at about 70 bucks right now I really like the Gerber StrongArm made in the USA and featuring 420HC steel with a smooth ceramic coating now this is not a premium steel to be sure but this knife has proven to be very tough and hard use at 3/16 of an inch thick we've got a 4.8 inch long drop point blade with a mid height flat grind which leaves plenty of steel at the full width for stress we've also got a full tang design but like the SRK it does have a rubberized handle it's good in a bunch of different grips too thanks to its symmetrical profile it's got a nice swell to fill the hand and even a nice spot for a pinch grip thanks to this rigid nylon pad here that actually interlocks with the MOLLE compatible sheath the guard is also there and it's a little bit on the subtler side but still effective and even though you do get that rear guard it is subtle enough to not get in the way too much now the strong arm has another thing from the quote unquote survival knife bag of tricks a protruding pommel that comes to a point there at the back this is great for striking or as I like to say thumping on things in a survival situation whether you're pounding open nuts or flattening vegetation for cordage perhaps or even for banging on with another stick if you need to drive the blade into something being pointed like this it brings all of your force down onto one point of contact magnifying your strength now for a more premium stainless option I'd direct you to the brand Fallkniven they make a high quality product in Japan and everything from their classic F1 pilot survival knife with a four inch blade up to their A1 with a blade over six inches would be a great choice for a survival but for the one I've got here I'm gonna split the difference and show you there S1 with a roughly five-inch blade since all these knives are all built in the same style now starting at about $165 for the base model of the S1 that comes with a VG-10 blade which is a phenomenal knife and a good value but I've actually got the S1 Pro here and that comes with a bunch of upgrades admittedly at a cost this one's about $290 right now it does come with some extras of those such as Fallkniven's excellent DC4 sharpener and a waterproof case to keep things interesting we've got a full tang and this is another knife with an over molded rubber handle we also get a protruding tang at the end flap this time for all your thumping and the pro version features a metal finger guard the blade itself is a drop-point profile and it features a convex grind now this has a cross-section something like an apple seed and it's probably the strongest grind for your survival knife and it's very useful too now it can survive some heavy use like light chopping but because of the geometry of the convex profile you can even get another use out of it you can use the shoulder of the grind itself to very precisely angle the edge in what you're cutting for some very accurate cuts now the steel on this pro version is laminated cos or cobalt steel which is tougher than VG-10 and it's got more wear resistance as well no matter which design you choose though these knives are field-proven and very capable and you really can't go wrong with any of them now as for step up options in the carbon steel arena there's two brands that should be at the top of your list ESEE knives and Becker Knife and Tool made by KA-BAR now any of their full size models are a good choice really but the two I'm gonna focus on today are the ESSE 6 and the Becker BK-7 combat utility we're definitely getting into big knife territory here and these are about as large as I'd like to recommend because any bigger and they get to be a bit more cumbersome on your belt now the Becker starts a little bit cheaper than the ESSE right now coming in at about $108 I've got one here from my personal collection and as you can see it's certainly seen a bit of use and it's come through just fine the blade is about seven and a quarter inches long made from 1095CV carbon steel with a powder coating it's 3/16 of an inch thick you've got plenty of length and strength for batoning or light chopping with a high flat grind to keep it a good slicer at the same time now that CV technically makes this a different steel from standard 1095 but in your actual usage it's going to perform virtually the same we've got a flattened protruding tang with the BK-7 and an excellent grip the handles themselves are synthetic and they're bolted onto the tang they're technically removable and you've got space inside for some compact survival goodies but you're better off storing them in the sheath that comes with this which has a nice pocket on the front of it the handles have a generous swell and they're contoured for both comfort and keeping your hand in place if you do want a little more traction though or you just want to upgrade the feel there's also official micarta scales which can be purchased in addition to comfort the beak at the back of this knife even allows for good choking back for a little bit of extra leverage because it still gives you a nice big grip the BK 7 in my mind really is the essence of big survival knife personified and it's always going to be a good and reliable choice now giving the Becker a run for its money is the ESEE-6 the blades a little bit shorter about six and a half inches but it's also got a full sized finger choil which lets you choke up behind the for better control during delicate tasks and the steel follows the same essential formula 1095 carbon steel with a coating 3/16 of an inch thick with a protruding tang at the back as well it does deviate a little bit however and we see a drop-point profile with a full flat grunt it's still plenty strong and that profile is going to provide excellent slicing performance now long known for having bolt on flat micarta scales ESEE have recently introduced versions with contoured micarta and G10 options and there are only a nominal price upgrade to the base model of the ESSE-6 starts at about $135 and the contoured model I have here is only nine bucks more it fits the hand extremely well and the upgrade is well worth it in my mind now really no knife of this size is ever going to be a chopper per se but the Becker is gonna have a bit of an advantage there because it's got a little bit of extra length and because the handles on the ESSE when you choke back on them they're definitely good but they don't offer as much retention as the Becker both of these knives are great though they're made in the USA with great customer support behind on paper the ESEE's warranty may look a little bit better a lifetime no-questions-asked warranty but KA-BAR's warranty on the Becker's is also very good I've never heard of them refusing to replace a blade if it has suffered a failure suffice it to say again you can't go wrong with either of them and both of these knives are gonna be an investment that should last you a lifetime now I've talked a bit about my personal preferences throughout this video because I've actually spent a fair amount of time thinking about this subject while I stand by recommending any of these knives there's actually nothing out there that has absolutely everything I want in my survival knife so I had to design my own this is the Nordsmith Pilgrim LT my right sized survival knife design which has everything I want in one compact package I call it the right size survival knife because I want it to be as easy to carry as possible hence a blade length just under four inches now that size is about the bare minimum in my book for a primary belt knife it's a great size to control very easily and don't consider this to be legal advice but it's also a size that won't raise as many eyebrows in most places steel is eighth inch thick AEB-L stainless now this type of steel is perfect for this type of application because you're going to get toughness that approaches a good carbon steel and it's easy to resharpen when needed along with the rust resistance and long lasting edge of a good stainless it features a versatile drop point blade with a flat grind good for everything from wood carving to hunting to food prep and a micarta handle I prefer this over a synthetic material because sometimes I can find those to be a little too grippy for my tastes and I've designed this with a slim enough handle for easy carry and a shape that fits a lot of hand sizes very well it's got an effective finger guard that's small enough to not interfere with most grips and in lieu of a protruding tang the pommel comes to an apex this kind of splits the difference a little bit now when you're thumping you're still gonna come into contact with steel first allowing you to concentrate your force to one point but it's gonna be more comfortable when you need to do anything like drilling when your hand is placed over the pommel coming in at about 245 this option is a bit more premium because it's handmade right here in the USA I actually partner with LT Wright knives to handle the production for me so if you're familiar with the quality of his products you know exactly what you're getting with a Nordsmith knife alright so what about folding knives now as I mentioned you're gonna be giving up some strength but you do gain a lot of convenience so I've got two here that are gonna make a good option if you just had to have a fold we're gonna start again with Cold Steel and their AD-10 which is backed up with their Triad lock which is one of the strongest on the market and this knife comes in at just over 190 bucks this is actually just one of the great choices from Cold Steel their Ultimate Hunter folder and SR1 folder also deserve a look but the AD-10 is probably the most cohesive design of the three the blade is three and a half inches long now obviously you're not gonna get the same kind of length you would get with a fixed blade but it's made from S35VN steel with a broad drop point blade it offers decent toughness and a whole lot of edge retention the handles are G10 and they're contoured very nicely and that goes a long way to closing the comfort gap with a fixed blade most folders are more prone to hot spots but this one does do a very good job of keeping them at a minimum especially if you run the knife without the pocket clip the AD-10 even has a protruding metal pommel at the back which is part of the back spacer and a nice finger guard small finger choil too for choking on so this knife still a lot of the must-haves for a good survival knife one more lock type that'll make a good backbone for a survival folder is Benchmade's AXIS lock my favorite one that they make that fits the survival knife purpose in my mind is the 560 Freek now base models come with S30V steel and synthetic handles and they start at less than 125 bucks which while not a bargain-basement thing are certainly attainable but my favorite version of this knife is the Super Freek it's not its official name it's been lovingly dubbed that by the Benchmade fans because we've gotten a number of great upgrades it features a CPM-M4 blade and again we get a versatile drop point with a high flat grind the steel offers really good edge retention and even better toughness for rough handling the steel is even tough enough for big chopping fixed blades so while it may seem like overkill on a folder this size I bet you're not gonna think that if you're stuck out in the wilderness and need to rely on it isn't stainless though which is why we get a black coating to help keep the rust away the handles feature a modest finger guard and they're large enough for a full solid grip but you don't get any protruding pommel in this case the materials are black and gray G10 which are milled for a nice comfortable grip and for visual interest you get some integrated red liners and red barrel spacers holding the sides together thanks to that open back style of construction this knife is going to be easier to keep clean to especially useful when the going gets tough at the heart of this knife though the backbone is that great AXIS lock now just like the Triad lock on the Cold Steel the key reason that this is going to be great in a survival situation is that these are ambidextrous you may not think that's a big deal because you might be a right-handed or left-handed you think you'll only use that hand but in an emergency situation if for some reason you're unable to use your primary hand you'll still be able to operate both of these knives with your offhand when you need to so that's it for our list of the best survival knives you can get right now in 2020 be sure to let us know in the comments what your favorite survival knife is if it's one of these or if you've got something else that you rely on or maybe there's some other features or guidelines that you look for in your survival knife in the meantime if you want to get your hands on any of these great knives you can click the links in the description and head over to KnifeCenter.com make sure you sign up for our knife rewards program because you might as well earn some free money towards your next knife if you're gonna buy a knife anyway I'm David C Anderson from the KnifeCenter signing off see you next time

Channel: KnifeCenter

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Keywords: KnifeCenter, Knife Center, Knifecenter.com, best survival knives 2020, knife center survival 2020, camping knives, survival folding knives, cold steel srk, schrade schf1, gerber strongarm, fallkniven s1 pro, ka-bar bk7, esee 5, esee 6, nordsmith pilgrim lt, cold steel ad-10, benchmade freek, benchmade super freek, best knives, best survival knife

Id: x3BF0N92h4Y

Length: 18min 5sec (1085 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 24 2020