As many avid survivalists will tell you, having well-stocked food and water supplies is essential. These same survivalists will also mention having ample ammunition and dependable firearms at the ready. If you’re beginning your prepper journey, including a pistol and a month’s supply of ammunition is something you’ll undoubtedly want to include in your bug-out supplies.
However, while guns and ammo are essential, one of the things many first-time survivalists forget to think about is a dependable and sturdy survival knife. Remember that when forced off the grid and food supplies get scarce, you’ll need to begin bagging your food and preparing it yourself.
It’s not like you’ll be able to skin and carve your food source with your rifle or pistol, and when precision cuts are required, the last thing you want to try is hacking at your food source with that hatchet attached to a fifteen-functionality tool you chose to purchase.
Having a dependable survivalist knife doesn’t stop at field dressing your food. You’ll need a knife that can handle the challenges of cutting wood for traps and shelter with a blade that’s tough enough to remain sharp and also manage a sharpening session.
With so many survivalist knives on the market, it may prove challenging to select the suitable knife that fits your budget and performs as expected. With that in mind, here are five of the best survival knives in 2022 you’ll want to consider from a price and effectiveness perspective.
Morakniv Kansbol
When budget is the primary consideration when picking out the right survivalist knife, there is probably no better choice than Sweden-manufactured Morakniv Kansbol. This survivalist knife presents the best of both worlds providing versatile across-the-board flexibility and the strength of even the most robust survival knife.
Whether you are hunting or camping or deep in the woods off the grid, the Morakniv Kansbol knife will serve you well.
One feature of the Morakniv Kansbol survivalist knife is the blade’s spine grinding, which allows you to use it with a fire-starting rod. This knife features a 4.3-inch clip point blade inserted into a durable polymer handle with a total weight of only 4.64 ounces and a length of a mere 8.9 inches, making it an excellent addition to your survival gear.
The Morakniv Kansbol knife features a blade of polished stainless steel, is competitively priced at less than thirty-five dollars, and will provide you years of dependable service at a price point that any budget-conscious shopper will appreciate.
SOG Tangle
When searching for a dependable survivalist knife, the SOG Tangle with hollow ground drop point blade is an all-purpose knife that’s perfect for most uses. Created with a single-piece tang construction, the SOG Tangle is perfectly balanced and lightweight.
The handle of the Tangle is skeletonized and wrapped in over seven feet of paracord, which allows a positive grip on this knife regardless of harsh weather conditions. With a blade length of 4.85 inches and a total weight of 5.6 ounces, the SOG Tangle’s 9Cr18MoV steel blade easily handles even the toughest of jobs.
Factor in the molded nylon sheath and belt clips, and you’ll have a dependable tool on your hip that takes whatever you can throw at it.
Opinel #12 Explore
One thing you’ll probably want to stay away from is a folding knife. While some of the blades are effective, the folding mechanism is delicate and often fails due to dirt and grim collection rendering it unusable.
However, Opinel has managed to beat the folding-knife odds with the #12 Explore Survival Knife. Although a folding knife, the #12 Explore sports a tough-as-nails 12C27 3.94-inch steel blade integrated into a handle that withstands shock and humidity and is resistant to even the most extreme temperatures.
The Opinel #12 Explore covers more functionality than simply carving and cutting with a built-in survivalist whistle, a fire starter rod, and even a carving hook. Coming in at a price range of around fifty dollars, the Opinal #12 Explore is an all-around good purchase for your survival bug-out kit.
U.S. Marine Corps K-Bar
One of the more iconic fixed-blade survivalists knives in the country; the K-Bar has been a top contender for over eighty years. One look at the K-Bar is all it takes to realize this fixed-blade knife means serious business.
Featuring a seven-inch, blacked-out, 1095 steel clip point blade integrated into an iconic leather handle, the K-Bar represents a knife that’s a little heavy on the spectrum as survival knives go.
When you consider that the USMC still equips its soldiers with the classic K-Bar and the fact you can fit your survival kit with a dependable survival knife for less than one hundred dollars, the K-Bar makes an excellent choice.
When purchasing a K-Bar, one thing to consider is to make sure you also get a sheath made for it that helps carry in the field a lot easier and safer.
Benchmade Bushcrafter 162 Survival Knife
At the lower end of the over one-hundred-dollar range, but not lacking practical functionality and form, is the Benchmade Bushcrafter 162. Featuring a fixed CPM-S30V 4.4-inch blade integrated into a glass-based epoxy laminate handle, the Benchmade Bushcrafter comes with a sheath fashioned with durable KYDEX and a lifetime guarantee.
Even though Benchmade is traditionally known for its folding everyday carry-knives, the name of this blade from Benchmade tells the entire story of a survival knife specifically for heavy-duty use in the outdoor environment.
Priced under two hundred dollars, the Benchmade Bushcrafter 162 is another excellent choice of survival hardware that won’t break the bank and give years of dependable use.
SOG Super Bowie Knife
Traditional Bowie Knives make good hunting, fighting, and survivalist knives on their merit, and then there is the SOG Super Bowie Knife. Introduced in two thousand and six, SOG Specialty Knives celebrated twenty years in business with the introduction of the Super Bowie Knife.
This Super Bowie sports a seven-and-a-half-inch blade forged from AUS-8 steel and an iconic-looking clipped blade coated with TiNi coating. This is the new adaptation of the original SOG Bowie.
Not content with providing their consumers with a standard leather handle, SOG covered the leather handle of the SOG Super Bowie with epoxy to give it a classy look and added durability in the most extreme conditions.
Priced at a little over two hundred dollars, the SOG Super Bowie is another survival knife you’ll want to consider adding to your gear.
James Brand Hell Gap Knife
For the longest time, James Brand knives continue to make their mark with customers who demand the best everyday carry knives. Combining dependable material with classic urban styling, the Hell Gap represents James Brand’s entry into the world of fixed-blade knives.
The Hell Gap screams performance from the tip of the 3.8-inch drop-point blade constructed of CPM-S35VN stainless steel to the butt of the thermoset Micarta canvas coated handle.
At a total length of only 7.8 inches, the Hell Gap is extremely manageable regardless of the conditions and provides the versatility you need in a survival knife.
Priced at just under three hundred dollars, the James Brand Hell Gap represents one of the better survivalist knives you should consider including in your survival gear.
Spyderco Bradley Bowie Knife
Sticking with Bowie-style survival knives and moving a bit up in the price range is the Bradley Bowie Knife. The Bradley Bowie features a 5.13-inch PSF27 tool steel blade integrated into a 3D machined G10 or glass-based epoxy laminate handle and ultimately raises the bar as survivalist knives go.
What sets the Spyderco Bradly apart from many knives on the market is the spray-formed metallurgy process instead of the typical particle-formed process. Spray forming forms the molten steel into finite particles, preventing the blade alloy from settling or separating.
Many experts agree that the Bradley Bowie Knife isn’t just a survival knife; it’s a complete revolution in the industry of fixed-blade knives. While the price of a Bradley Bowie hovers a little over the four-hundred-dollar range, you may be purchasing the one survival knife you’ll ever need for a lifetime which makes the Bradley Bowie a top-shelf choice.
Making The Choice
Whether you’re a budget-conscious shopper or when money isn’t the deciding factor, one or any of these survivalist knives will meet and probably exceed your expectations. You will likely discover that making the right choice for your survival gear may not be as easy as you first thought because there are so many different styles of dependable knives on the market today.
Understanding a little about these types of blades should give you a head start in your search for the best survival knives for you.
When it comes to the best survival knives in 2022, it’s not always a situation where you get what you pay for because these folding and fixed-blade knives present some of the best solutions at affordable prices.
Having one of these survivalist knives in your gear will go a long way toward protection and self-sufficiency when or if the time ever comes to live off the land and feed yourself and your family.
Resources recommended for preppers and survivalists:
How to build a cost-effective and out-of-sight shelter
The solution to becoming your own home doctor when SHTF
The only survival foods you need to outlast any crisis
The easiest DIY project to produce electricity during a power outage
Im so used to articles which usually recommend Mora Garberg as top Mora brand choice atm so was rather surprised to find Kansbol on the list in this one. Despite these items being very similar to each other, people tend for the Garberg one more often.