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We hear all the time about how a survival knife is a must have for any survivalist or prepper, but how do you choose the best survival knife for your needs? The best survival knife does not necessarily mean the most expensive, the best knife is one that fits your budget and needs.

You are going to see a lot of sites and read a lot of articles that focus on getting you to buy a knife that everyone else likes. You are going to be the one buying and using the knife, so instead of buying a knife because Dave Canterbury uses it, buy one because you know what knife you want and need.

Picking the best survival knife whether it is fixed blade or folding blade is like picking the best gun, everyone is going to have their own personal preference and what works for them might not work as well for you.

If you are more educated about the purchase you make, you are less likely to end up with something that just sits in your garage, or even worse, fails when you need it most. There are plenty of knock offs and even though two knives might look the same, they are not.

Just remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. On the flip side of the coin, just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s a good knife.

If you have no idea what survival knife you might need, follow the steps in this article and buy a low cost survival knife that looks like the expensive one you like and test it out. Don’t expect these to be all that durable though, you are testing the weight, balance, grip and overall feel of it when you are performing certain tasks like chopping, slicing, batoning or whittling etc...

After you have given the knife a good test drive you will have a better idea about what you want, and you can use the knife as a backup or even a hand me down.

If this is a self-defense knife that hopefully never gets used you might be able to get away with a low cost sturdy knife with lower quality steel, that doesn’t need to hold its edge as well as the more expensive brands.

I will list a few of the parts of a knife that we hear all the time, but this article goes into much more detail about different knives.

The Tang: When it comes to a good survival knife a full tang is a must. A full tang runs the entire length of the handle and is sandwiched between the 2 peices of the handle, while a half tang (hidden or partial) does not. A partial or hidden tang runs the full length of the knife, but is not the full width of the handle.

A full tang will be much more durable even with a lower quality knife, and if the knife handle comes off or gets ruined the knife can still be used, whereas a partial or hidden tang knife will be unusable or very dangerous to use.

Blade Style: There are a few different styles of knife blade to choose from, you have the drop point, the tonto blade, the spear point and a clip point. Watch this video to get an idea about what the benefits of each style are.

https://youtu.be/HfR54reEsjk

Source: Smoking Barrel USA - Knives

Handle Material: There are quite a few materials that are used for the handle of the knife, the most popular are Micarta, rubber, bone and antler. I prefer Micarta because it is lightweight and strong, but the blade is far more important than the handle.

Thumb Rise: A thumb rise is basically what it sounds like, it is located between the spine and the handle of the knife and gives you a more stable grip on the knife. These can also sometimes be part of the handle.

Spine: The spine of the knife is the unsharpened edge of the blade, or top of the blade. These can sometimes be rounded or sharpened,