Five Survival Knives Below 40 Dollars
Kevin Felts 08.02.17
Let’s take a few minutes and talk about some go-to survival knives. These are working knives that can be used around the camp site, for skinning game, cleaning fish, and hiking.
A lot of hikers carry a basic pocket knife, such as a Victorinox Swiss Army. For the sake of discussion let’s steer clear of multi-tools and Swiss Army knives. The reason being, when you skin wild game, such as a deer, blood and hair get into the fine workings of the knife and make it difficult to clean.
For this article let’s look at affordable, middle of the road, fixed blade survival knives.
There is an old saying that goes, “Sometimes, you get what you pay for.” Most of the time that statement is true. However, there is also a tipping point of diminishing returns. When an item reaches a certain quality, spending more money does not equate a better return on the investment.
Because of diminishing returns, let’s pick an amount we want to spend on a knife. For this article, let’s say $40.
To make the list the knife must have:
- Fixed blade.
- Cost less than $40.
This list is in no certain order. Just because a knife is listed first does not mean it is better than the one below it.
Cold Steel Survival Edge
Price: Between $22-$25.
This is a hollow handle survival knife that comes with a fire starter, and compass. The Survival Edge use to come with a survival kit, but that may have changed. The blade is made from German 4116 Stainless Steel.
Weighing in at just 5.45 ounces this is the lightest knife on the list.
This is a hollow handle survival knife, so it is not as strong as the other knives on the list.
Specification from the Amazon page:
- Blade Thickness: 2.5 mm
- Handle: 4 1/4″ Long. Polypropylene
- Overall Length: 9 1/4″
- Steel: German 4116 Stainless
- Blade Style: Drop Point
Having taken the Survival edge on several hiking trips, I have to say the lightweight is nice.
Gerber Big Rock
Price: Around $35
I am partial to this knife. It has gone on numerous hiking trips and has been used to skin a couple of whitetail deer. The weight, edge and price balance out to a well rounded package.
Specifications from the Amazon page:
- Overall Length: 9.4″
- 4.5 inch fixed blade
- Weight: 7.85 ounces. The weight was taken from my personal knife.
I wish the Gerber Big Rock had a better sheath. The one that comes with it is made for a belt loop. Knife is held in place with a strap and snap button.
Schrade SCHF9
Price is around $37 from Amazon and is eligible for free shipping.
Weighing in at 1 pound 5 ounces, this is a beast of a survival knife. The SCHF9 comes with a sheath and a sharpening stone. The pouch where the stone is stored is large enough to put a Smith’s pocket pal sharpening stone, or a fire starter, or a multi-tool.
Specifications from the Amazon page:
- 1095 High Carbon Steel Drop Point Blade
- Blade Length: 6.4 inches
- Handle Length: 5.7 inches
- Overall Length: 12.1 inches
I have taken my personal SCHF9 on a few camping trips, but would not want to take it on a hiking trip. It is just too heavy to be lugging around.
Morakniv Outdoor 2000
Price: Around $32 – $33.
Made in Sweden, Morakniv has a reputation of making quality knives at an affordable price.
Specifications from the Amazon page:
- Blade thickness: 0.10-Inches
- Blade length: 4.3-Inches (109 mm)
- Total length: 8.8-Inches
MTECH
This is not a knife name, but a brand name. MTECH produces a line of low cost knives.
We talked about Gerber, Cold Steel and Schrade. Now let’s talk about some very low cost knifes that can be stockpiled.
These are the types of knives that I buy time to time for hand out bags. Something that a young adult can take camping or hiking, and if it gets lost, no big deal.
If I loaned a knife to someone, and they lose it, I would rather that knife cost $20 than $40.
Final Thoughts
In all honesty, we could have listed a single brand name for all five survival knives. However, I wanted to list one knife from each brand. That way everyone is represented equally.
What do you think of the list?
