Prepping.
You need a knife, 'nuff said. Knives are not just for processing food in the kitchen, knives can be tools or weapons and they can be the one piece of gear that keeps you alive in a worse case scenario. There are a lot of different knives out there to choose from and when you don't know "the science" behind knives, you will probably spend your money on that cool looking all-in-one knife and be shit out of luck when you need a good knife.
Your survival knife is NOT the same as a combat knife or fighting knife. Your survival knife should always be oiled, sharpened and maintained.. Your survival knife should NOT be an Every Day Carry knife.
Survival Knife is a really broad term that is somewhat problematic. Far too often people are sucked into buying knives that say "Survival Knife" on the package. In reality, when you are in trouble, when you are in a survival situation, any knife can be a survival knife. You will never actually find a one size fits all knife and no knife is specifically designed to be a survival knife.
A Morakniv Companion is a fine example of a Bush knife that can handle most if not all tasks while camping or hiking.
A United Cutlery Honshu Karambit is an example of a Fighting knife that should only be used as a self defense weapon. A Karambit with a fixed blade makes a great conceal carry knife.
A Gerber Scout is an example of a great Every Day Carry pocket knife that can be used for many tasks. Because it is a lock-back knife, it is not worthy of being a true survival knife.
Even if you break it down further with knives like Fighting Knives, Boot knives, neck knives, karambits, and daggers are all types of fighting knives.
There is a reason that there are Axes and Tomahawks. Axes are for cutting timber, Tomahawks are for cutting your enemies. The same principle applies to knives.
When looking at different knives that you could buy, you should do some research on the type of steels that are used in blades. http://www.bladehq.com/cat--Steel-Types--332 has great info to help you out.
Then you need to understand the different types of blades.
This is just a very basic showing of they types of blades. Clip Point is what you would expect to find on a Bowie knife. Drop Point blades are found on many knives. Tanto Point is found on many newer Tactical knives. Gut Hook is more of a hunters blade for obviously gutting game. Spear Point is found on boot knives and some smaller fighting knives. Other than the 5 shown above, there are some blades like Karambits that serve only one purpose or very few purposes. Karambits are pure hand to hand combat weapons. They are designed a certain way to be wielded in a certain fashion.
Then you need to understand the different types of edges.
You know what knife you shouldn't buy?
Knives like the one pictured above are horrible! They are usually very poorly made and come with components that a Caveman wouldn't use. You honestly can't be taken seriously if you go camping or hiking with one of these on your belt. This type of knife is a liability.
I'll end this post by listing 4 knives that I use and what they are for:
-Morakniv Companion with Carbon Steel blade. (I actually own like 4 of them) I use these when I go hiking, camping and I will have one in my pack when the SHTF.
-Ka-Bar TDI LE Tanto Serrated blade 1485. This is my EDC personal defense knife that could also be used to cut my seat belt if I become trapped in my vehicle.
-Gerber Bear Grylls Scout. This is another EDC knife that I use for general tasks.
-Glock Field Knife. This is my SHTF only fighting knife.
I own many other knives but I don't want to spend all night rambling about them.
Thanks for reading.
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