Our Top Gerber Survival Knives

A couple of years ago I started looking for a heavy duty camping / backpacking wilderness survival knife.

Purpose

The purpose of the knife is to have a knife that can be strapped to the outside of a MOLLE or ALICE pack. The knife has to be sturdy enough to clear small brush, chop small limbs, cut tent stakes, clean fish, butcher wild game, or even use the spine of the knife as a hammer.

My current “go to” knife is a Cold Steel Recon Scout. The new knife is not intended to be a replace the Recon Scout, but more along the lines of an alternative. The Recon Scout has a belt loop, but no MOLLE or ALICE attachments. I want a knife that can quickly and easily attach to any of my packs.

Survival Knife Requirements

Thick spine – so the knife could be used as a wedge for splitting wood. If I wanted to make a fish trap, or fishing spear the knife needed to be thick enough to drive through a piece of wood like a wedge.

One of the drawbacks to having a thick spine, thick knives do not make good skinning or butchering knives.

Curved blade – for a good slicing edge. Regardless of what part of the blade was being used to cut, the blade would have a curve to it. An example of what I was looking for is the ULU Knife used by native Alaskans. […]

The First-Aid Companion for Dogs and Cats : What to Do Now, What to Do Later – $4.27
Description: About this product Product Identifiers Publisher Rodale Press, Incorporated ISBN-10 1579541976 ISBN-13 9781579541972 eBay Product ID (ePID) 1906210 Product Key Features Format Hardcover Language English Publication Year 2001 Number of Pages VIII, 439 Pages Additional Product Features Lc…

First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 2021 TAO LE 9781260467529 – $45.00
Description: About this product Product Identifiers Publisher Mcgraw-Hill Education, McGraw-Hill UPC 9781260467529 eBay Product ID (ePID) 6043539912 Product Key Features Narrative Type Nonfiction Format Paperback Language English Topic Medicine, Nursing, Health, Medical Nursing, First Aid, Books, Treatments Publication Year…

Emergency! Family First Aid: Quick Reference On First Aid (IMM Lifestyle Books) – $12.18
Description: About this product Product Information According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), ‘every year in the UK more than 4,000 people die in accidents in the home and nearly three million turn up at accident and emergency departments seeking treatment. But, because the accidents happen behind closed doors in isolated incidents they rarely attract public and…

And many more books……

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Armchair commandos may believe anything sharp will make a good skinning knife, this is simply not true. Certain types of knives are much better at skinning wild game than others. Let’s take a few minutes and talk about types of knives to stay away from and types to consider.

For most applications the smaller and thinner the blade the better.

The easier the knife is to clean, the better. This should exclude multi-tools and knives with accessories, such as the Swiss Army knife.

High carbon steel blade that holds an edge and is easy to sharpen.

Examples that come to mind so far are the Gerber Big Rock, Gerber Profile, and Case pocket knives. I have seen more deer skinned with a Case pocket knife than any other brand of knife. Old guys do not mess around with fancy or expensive knives. Experience says go with what works. For most applications, a Case pocket knife will do just fine. […]