Machete as a survival knife?

[moischmoe]

I want a survival knife to take with me on hikes.
I figure some common tasks in a survival situation might be:
cutting cordage,
cutting small branches off larger ones to make poles,
splitting firewood (battoning),
skinning critters.
Seems like a machete could handle those tasks.

Assuming a person is carrying only ONE knife:
Why, or why not carry a machete for survival situations?
Would you rather have a smaller blade? What size? Why?

 

[grunt soldier]

i love a machete for a survival knife. the only down side for batoning is you have to be a bit careful as most of them are pretty thin stocked. but for everything else a machete pretty much excels. they are great for chopping, making your bedding (pine branches) or shelters, they can do most other chores well also. they aren't the best slicers for cutting up food and stuff but they work well. but imo you should also carry a swiss army farmer. it weights nothing and has tons of useful tools. put it in your pocket everyday and forget about it. same on for hiking and then you would have a great set up

 

[tyler34]

well indigenous peoples and tribes all over the world have survived and thrived for hundreds of years and still do to this day relying solely on machetes so I would say they are up to the task.

 

[fire259]

was just thumbing through my new U.S. Cavalry catalog and they have a Gerber Bear Grylls Special Edition survival knife.

Gerber® Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife

 

[tyler34]

was just thumbing through my new U.S. Cavalry catalog and they have a Gerber Bear Grylls Special Edition survival knife.

Gerber® Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife

been a few threads about it already and it ain't a machete

 

[speedsix]

You are not too far from Fort Wayne. Go to Grindstone in the Fort and talk to the owner. His name is Mike and he makes cut down machetes. He made me a sheeps foot 12" out of an Ontario US issue machete and it is a great tool. Almost as good as a 18" but can fit in a backpack. He is a master at sharpening and put a wicked convex edge on it as well.

Cost with sheath is like $40 and will be better than anything at twice the price.

 

[homeless]

I love machetes as a garden implement, but I don't know about a survival knife. They are great for hacking and chopping. Clearing underbrush, chopping meat, cutting down tender, cracking open a coconut, or beheading zombies are all tasks which machetes are well suited to. However skinning game, cutting your dinner, and medical uses are not in the machetes forte.

There are some pretty cool machete type knives coming out and being as I like big knives I think you should buy several, but keep something small and sharp on you for the more delicate tasks.

 

[lawrra]

been a few threads about it already and it ain't a machete

But it makes shirts out of baby seals!

 

[johncarbaugh]

I would rather have my ESEE 5 or BK-2. I like a shorter heavy blade that I can beat the crap out of. There is no wrong answer. You have to use what works for you. With the knives I mentioned I can still do fine cutting that I would not want to try with a machete.

 

[Hemingway]

The ESEE lite machete is the perfect answer. It's lighter than others and I have mine shaving arm sharp. A person that knows how to use a machete can do anything in the woods he needs to with it. You can also buy the same thing without the ESEE brand for cheaper.

Ideally, you'd have a small axe, a folding saw and a 4 or 5" knife. But, since you asked for only one, I'd get the machete.

Take a survival school somewhere and use the machete the whole week and you'll be hard-pressed to find something that it can't do.

What I travel with is a machete and a 3" fixed blade. I've never found the need for anything else than that combo.

 

[Knife Lady]

The ESEE lite machete is the perfect answer. It's lighter than others and I have mine shaving arm sharp. A person that knows how to use a machete can do anything in the woods he needs to with it. You can also buy the same thing without the ESEE brand for cheaper.

Ideally, you'd have a small axe, a folding saw and a 4 or 5" knife. But, since you asked for only one, I'd get the machete.

Take a survival school somewhere and use the machete the whole week and you'll be hard-pressed to find something that it can't do.

What I travel with is a machete and a 3" fixed blade. I've never found the need for anything else than that combo.

I just placed an order with ESEE today ordering a couple of the Lite Machete's along with some more Junglas's.

 

[Hemingway]

I hope you sell out of all of them and have to order dozens and dozens more

 

[Knife Lady]

I hope you sell out of all of them and have to order dozens and dozens more

Me too. We are planning on going to the blade show this summer. I will finally get to meet Jeff and Mike in person.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

A machete would be a great survival knife if you lived in the right environment. The indigenous tribes that live with machetes alone don't live in hardwood forests.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

If you like the idea of a machete as a survival tool, you might look around and see if you can locate a traditional Kukri. Its blade shape makes it good for chopping and it's a bit shorter. The traditional models also have a pair of smaller knives in the sheath, which can be used for chores for which the bigger blade isn't well suited.

 

[ATOMonkey]

If you ground a skinning hook on the back side, that would add a lot of usability (is that a word?) to the machete.

However, knives are relatively cheap. I don't know why I wouldn't have at least 2 blades on me at any one time.

Different tools for different jobs.

 

[Zoub]

I want a survival knife to take with me on hikes.

That is the real question, take with you. What are you more likely to carry with you in the real world.

Indiana is hardwood so you won't be chopping large amounts of soft plants, you may come across stands of bamboo in which case any heavy 7" blade and up will work well.

If you really want to survive for days/weeks with one knife I think it should be a heavy 9" but 7" will get you there if you do your part before you really need it to survive.

For me, I know I prefer to carry a 7" if I am wearing it all day in camp. Bigger is just in my way. In my line 2 gear a larger knife is strapped to the outside of the bag. In this case it is an old BK1 Brute, I say old because I believe that knife is still out of production (check KaBar now).

So if I grab my gear and have nothing else, that 9" knife is on the pack and I can move it to my belt if I prefer.

I think you will get more use out of a 7" blade in generalist terms and a good size to learn with but if you want more heft, a solid 9" is a good bet. If money is not an issue jump right to Busse and be done.

The two ESEE items above would also be good to look at for what you may want.

 

[jeremy]

I generally have on me an RC-4 as my general I need something sharp utility knife.

On my pack I carry both a machete and a Tomahawk.

I tend to use the 'hawk to chop wood with as most woods in the US are just a little to difficult for my liking with just a machete. Not that you cannot do it with just a machete. But why a 'hawk does not really kill that much of my load factor...

When you are picking out a machete try to stay away from one with a thicker blade which will allow it to be more rigid. Rigidity in a knife is good, in a machete can be very bad. It can cause the blade and wedge itself into a cut and not allow you to flex the bade to extract it...

 

[tyler34]

I just placed an order with ESEE today ordering a couple of the Lite Machete's along with some more Junglas's.

sheila you know I love you but I have to rant. I can't stand when people buy the esee machetes for what are they these days $60 when you can buy the EXACT same blade(minus micarta slabs) from imicasa for $20. they even tell everyone outright imacasa makes them but hardcore esee fans gobble it up and gladly pay the $40 extra bucks for the name. it drives me crazy!

 

[jeremy]

Tyler have you got that Gryll's Gerber out yet and used it?!