10 TOOLS
INDEPENDENT “OFF-GRID” SURVIVAL requires us to perform tasks that are completely out of the normal daily routine for the vast majority of modern society. Without the proper tools, even the simplest of survival duties can be extremely difficult, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. A small assortment of specialized tools is a critical addition to every BOB.
Your survival knife is without question one of the top three most important items in your BOB. (An ignition device and a metal container are the other top two.) For many, choosing a survival knife is a very personal decision. With thousands of knives in the marketplace, the choices can be somewhat overwhelming. Don’t be fooled by what you see in the movies. The fancy knives seen in survival movies are more for prop collectors than for real survivalists. By design, a survival knife should be fairly simple. It should be about function not “flash.” In this section, I will discuss why a survival knife is so important as well as the attributes of a good survival knife. I will also give you my top four survival knife picks to help get you started in your knife search.
Your knife is probably the most multifunction piece in your entire BOB. Its list of survival uses are endless. You don’t know how much you need a good, sharp cutting tool in a survival situation until you don’t have one. I learned this first hand on a three-day survival trip in which I was not able to bring a modern knife. I will never take my knife for granted again. Below is a short list of tasks a knife can assist you with:
Using Pommel to Hammer Tent Stake
Carving Feather Sticks for Fire Building
Rescue Signal With Reflection From Sun
Carving Frog Gig
You will use your knife often. Keep it very accessible. I actually store my survival knife strapped to the outside of my BOB.
Survival Knife Strapped to Bug Out Bag
In a BOB situation, I plan to immediately secure my knife on my belt where it will be ready for quick deployment.
Survival Knife on Belt
I have no interest in digging through my pack to access my knife.
Your survival knife should have a fixed blade—not a folding- or lock-blade style. True, folding knifes can be more convenient to carry, but strength is compromised at the folding joint. If the knife breaks during rigorous use, you are SOL. If you really like folding knives, carry one as a backup but not as your primary survival knife. I carry a Spyderco Native locking folder as my everyday-carry knife and it will be my BOB backup knife as well.
Fixed Blade Knife and Folding Knife
Spyderco Native Knife
The phrase full tang means the metal knife blade and handle are made from one solid piece of metal. The metal handle is then sandwiched with knife scales to form a grip. Full tang construction is much more substantial and less likely to break during hard use. The alternate to a full tang is a rat tail tang. A rat tail tang is much smaller and narrow.
Rat Tail Tang (left) and Full Tang Blade (right)
A full tang blade is much more robust and stable. It can withstand incredible abuse from demanding tasks, such as splitting wood—often called batoning in the survival community.
I own many non-full tang knives and love them all. However, they aren’t my first choice in survival knife picks.
Your survival knife should be razor sharp. It should shave the hair off your forearm. If it doesn’t, buy a whet stone and hone the blade until it does. You should take pride in your knife’s razor edge. A dull knife is more difficult and cumbersome to use effectively. It requires more effort and pressure to perform tasks, which leads to erratic carving and cutting. A sharp knife is actually safer to use and is a more precise cutting tool that requires less energy and time as compared to using a dull knife.
Sharpening Knife on Whet Stone
As a rough estimate, the overall length of your knife should be in between 7 and 11. A knife that is much larger that 11 isn’t practical for delicate and detailed tasks. However, a knife smaller than 7 is less capable of performing tasks that require a larger blade—especially demanding jobs.
Your knife needs to have a pointed blade tip. The point comes in handy for all kinds of chores. I broke the point off of my favorite survival knife and it drastically impacted the knife’s effectiveness as a useful tool. I eventually had to replace it.
Also, the knife blade should not be double-sided. Choose a single-edged blade only. You won’t have a need for two sharp edges. The flat back ridge of a knife blade can actually serve several functions. Below are some of the most common:
I use the back ridge of my knife in these ways all of the time. A sharp, double-edged blade makes these important functions impossible.
Using Survival Knife to Split Wood (Batoning)
Stabilizing Knife With Thumb While Carving
There is nothing I hate more than a substandard knife sheath. Many knife enthusiasts feel the same way I do about quality sheaths. Poorly designed and cheaply made sheaths can be frustrating and dangerous to use.
A quality sheath should hold your knife in place snugly and securely. Your knife should not fall out when the sheath is shaken or turned upside down. At the same time, though, the knife should be easy to put in and take out of the sheath. You should be able to comfortably remove and insert the knife single-handed. Personally, I prefer molded Kydex or leather sheaths. Both are rugged materials that can handle extreme environments.
Even some great knifes come with horrible sheaths. I’ve lost knives in the field due to poor sheath retention. A knife is an investment. If you find a great survival knife but hate the sheath, there are several companies that can make custom kydex or leather sheaths specifically for your knife. Hedgehogleatherworks.com in St. Louis is one such company; they make aftermarket leather sheaths for several very popular survival knives including the Blackbird SK-5 and the Becker BK2 listed in my top survival knife picks. I own several Hedgehog Leatherworks knife sheaths and can attest to their quality and workmanship. Another company, SharkTac, specializes in custom-molded kydex sheaths.
Two Kydex Knife Sheaths
Leather Knife Sheaths from Hedgehogleatherworks.com
The Blackbird SK-5 has been meticulously designed by survivalist Paul Scheiter. It meets all of the survival-knife criteria listed earlier in the chapter. It is extremely well suited for any kind of survival environment or disaster-emergency scenario. The Blackbird features a very solid spear point tip and an abrupt angle grind on the back of the blade that is outstanding for striking a fire steel rod. The leveled pommel provides enough surface area for light-duty pounding. It also has a slot on the handle for attaching a lanyard or wrist leash. As an added bonus, the ergonomic grip prevents hot spots and blisters that form on the hand after repeated handling of the knife. The blade is made from 154CM, a high-grade stainless knife steel requiring relatively no field maintenance when on the go. This is a plus, especially in tropical, wet, or humid environments when lesser-grade steels might corrode and rust. 154CM grade steel also holds a very good edge even during strenuous cutting.
Blackbird SK-5 Survival Knife
Blackbird SK-5 Specs:
The Becker BK2 is very simple but incredibly functional. It includes everything you need and nothing you don’t. This is an example of a classic, no frills, workhorse survival knife. One very cool feature many people aren’t aware of is that the knife handles can be removed with a small allen wrench. The handles have recessed cavities on the inside that allow you to store small kit items such as fish hooks and line or fire tinder. The tang also protrudes from the bottom and can be used for pounding and batoning.
Becker BK2 Knife Shown With the Black Nylon Sheath That Came With It and Also a Custom Hedgehog Leatherworks Leather Sheath
BK2 specs:
I realize that not everyone can afford to spend seventy dollars or more on a survival knife for their BOB. If you are budget conscious, Gerber makes several excellent full tang, fixed-blade knives. For example, the Gerber Big Rock pictured here is available online and at many outdoor retailers. It is a very solid full tang knife that performs very well with demanding use. It has a nonslip rubberized textured handle for a sure grip in almost any condition. It also has a lanyard hole and a half serrated blade for dual purpose cutting and ripping. I’ve used this knife on many occasions and have not been disappointed.
Gerber Big Rock Camp Knife
Big Rock specs:
The Mora of Sweden knife company has a rich history in manufacturing outdoor lifestyle knives. While not a full tang blade, you won’t find a better knife for the money spent—only around fifteen dollars. I’ve used and abused this knife on countless adventures and have yet to destroy one. Because it does not meet all of my survival knife criteria, I wouldn’t recommend it for your primary BOB knife, but it is an excellent backup blade.
Mora 840MG Camp Knife
840MG specs:
A good multi-tool is like having a compact, lightweight toolbox in your BOB. Many multi-tools have up to ten different tools built into one unit. Like your knife, these tools can and will be used for countless tasks in a survival environment.
Schrade Tough Multi-Tool
Following is a list of tools that should be integrated into any multi-tool that you purchase for your BOB.
I know, you’ve already chosen a survival knife. The multi-tool knife is not your survival knife. This one is your backup knife just in case something happens to your primary. The knife blade in your multi-tool will be much smaller than the blade on your main knife and might be better suited for certain detail-oriented tasks. Regardless, having redundancy in the cutting tool department is never bad practice. No knife is bad news.
Knife Blade on Leatherman MUT Multi-Tool
A mini saw blade can buzz through 2–3 limbs and small trees in no time. This can certainly be helpful when collecting fire wood or building makeshift shelters.
Saw Blade on Leatherman MUT Multi-Tool
Leatherman MUT Sawing Branch
When you really need a set of pliers, nothing else will quite do the trick. It’s one of those items that you don’t think about until you need it. Among other tasks, pliers can be used to loosen or tighten nuts and bolts, bend metal or wire and hold hot cooking pots. In cold weather, pliers can be more useful than your own hands with many mechanical tasks.
Pliers Tool on Schrade Tough Multi-Tool
Multi-Tool Pliers Holding Hot Cooking Pot
At the base of your pliers should be wire cutters. These can be used to strip wire if necessary. They can also be used to cut snare wire or fencing. You never know what kind of crazy situation you are going to be faced with. Rather than dull and damage your knife blade, use a tool designed to get the job done quickly and with less energy.
Cutting Fence With Multi-Tool Wire Cutters
Repairing Vehicle with Multi-Tool
Both styles of screwdrivers are a must. These two screw bits will fit 95 percent of all the screws you might encounter. They can be used with your own gear repair and for a myriad of potential tasks along the way. I’ve used my flat-head screwdriver on several occasions as a mini pry bar.
If you anticipate going through or into any kind of wilderness area during a potential Bug Out, a machete can be an incredibly useful too. Machetes make fast work of chopping and gathering wood. They are also useful when clearing thick brush and blazing trails through dense undergrowth. A machete can be used to carve out snow blocks for building wind shelters. It makes a very efficient digging tool as well.
Kukri Style Machete
Latin-Style Machete
Personally, I like the added benefits a machete offers and have chosen to pack one in my BOB. Many tasks can be performed faster and with less energy with the use of a machete instead of your survival knife. It certainly isn’t a necessary piece of Bug Out gear. This is a luxury item.
Latin-Style Machete inside of BOB
The sky is the limit with all of the situations you could face during a disaster Bug Out. Having a small assortment of tools on hand can save you valuable time—not to mention wear and tear on your body. I’ve always tried to live by the phrase “work smarter, not harder.” Tools allow you to do this.
If you live in an area that experiences heavy snowfall, you might consider packing a lightweight collapsible snow shovel in your BOB during the winter months. Remove it in your summer season review. The ability to shovel deep snow may prove to be an invaluable survival option. Several manufacturers sell pack shovels designed for climbers and mountaineers that are surprisingly compact and lightweight. A good collapsible shovel for this is the Black Diamond Deploy.