The best survival knives for conquering the great outdoors

The Gerber LMF II is a full-featured survival knife that offers nearly every feature you need in a knife that you can rely on. The LMF II boasts a sharp 5-inch, saber-ground 420HC blade with a combination edge and a thick spine for batoning. Additionally, the LMF II features a fully rubberized handle, a steel end cap for breaking windows, holes in the pommel and handle for lashing to a stick for a makeshift spear, and full insulation from electricity in the event that you cut through a live wire.

The name, LMF, stands for “lightweight, multi-function” and is in reference to the knife’s style of pommel. LMF-style knives are intended for aircrew to use in the event of a crash, allowing them to break through windows and cut through hulls without worrying about shocking themselves on live wires. To this end, the pommel is separate from the rest of the blade, with a rubber baffle in between the pommel and blade. This has the added bonus of significantly reducing impact vibrations when using the LMF II as a hatchet, and can reduce fatigue. The rubberized grip is also very easy to hold with gloves, making the LMF II a good option for colder environments where wearing thick gloves is expected.

The LMF II comes with a molded plastic sheath and a drop-leg mount, which is useful for the knife’s intended use with vehicle crews. The sheath is rock-solid and offers outstanding retention, requiring a positive draw to get the knife free of the sheath. Unfortunately, beyond the fit, the sheath is one of the biggest drawbacks of the knife system. The knife doesn’t include any provisions for MOLLE mounting in the package, and it’s difficult to do a traditional belt mount. Additionally, the sheath features a pull-through sharpener, which I emphatically do not recommend given that this style of sharpening device strips too much material from the blade, can damage the blade, and delivers an inferior edge. For my own use, I’d likely get a Kydex sheath made to MOLLE-mount this knife to a pack or my flak.

The LMF II knife will prove fine for the vast majority of people seeking a fixed blade, but if you spend the majority of your life in outdoor survival environments (i.e., if you’re a SERE instructor), you’ll likely find that the LMF might break down over time. For instance, a friend of mine living in Hong Kong who hikes regularly indicated that the rubber on his LMF II had stripped away after years of use and abuse, exposing the separate blade and pommel. In addition, the blade coating is rather thin and, over time, will leave the in-the-white blade steel exposed to the air and the elements, which will lead to corrosion if you don’t keep up with maintenance.

Overall, the LMF is a great knife for almost anyone, as long as you understand what it can and cannot do. For most users, the LMF will make a great packable camp knife, and for vehicle crews, it’s in its element. However, other options on this list may be better for more specialized roles like hunting or bushcraft, since that’s the side effect of being a jack-of-all-trades. As a personal aside, the nail of my left index finger is permanently deformed because I dropped an LMF II on it, and the very sharp blade, combined with the weight of the knife, neatly sliced through the fingernail.

Imagine this: You’ve got $20 in your pocket, you don’t know jack shit about knives, and you’re going to the field next week, but you want a knife that is razor-sharp, keeps an edge well, and is light enough to take anywhere. Ordinarily, you’d be stuck with some gas station special made of pot metal in a no-name factory in China, but instead you’re in luck with the appropriately-named Morakniv Companion. For the shockingly low price of around $16, you get a Scandi-grind fixed-blade outdoor knife with a quality carbon steel blade, a frighteningly sharp factory edge, and an official endorsement from the King of Sweden. At this price, the value is immense, and this will likely be the best $16 that you ever spend on a knife, hands down.

Morakniv is a little coy with their blade steel, simply saying that it’s made of “carbon steel.” In reality, it’s probably UHB-20C, which is essentially the ABBA-variant 1095, offering good edge retention, easy sharpening, and substantial toughness, but suffering in the corrosion resistance department due to its status as a true carbon steel. The knife profile is a drop-point Scandi grind, meaning that the grind is a continuous straight bevel from the flat of the blade to the edge. This grind makes the Companion an outstanding knife for bushcraft, whittling, feathering, and other tasks a breeze. The factory edge is also incredibly sharp: In my experience, it’s one of the best factory edges under $200. The handle is made of textured plastic, which offers an improved grip purchase, and is matched by the plastic sheath with a removable belt clip.

Unfortunately, the sheath is one of the downsides of the Companion, which, as a budget knife, had to cut corners to achieve such a low price with a solid blade. The sheath is ridiculously cheap, made entirely of molded plastic, and the included belt loop is not sturdy at all. To make matters worse, this cheap belt clip isn’t swappable for other carry options like MOLLE or aftermarket belt clips, so if it goes, the sheath is pretty much only good for keeping the blade protected.

Another significant downside is that the knife has a narrow tang. The blade is essentially built like a spoon with a thick blade and a very thin strip of metal encased in a plastic handle. While this helps significantly subtract from the blade’s weight, it also subtracts from the blade’s resistance to snapping, especially when performing tasks like batoning. Morakniv does make a full-tang knife of this type, the Garberg, but it’s significantly more costly, comparable to offerings from Esee or Ontario Knife Company. The Scandi grind blade is also not the most versatile, as it’s prone to rough cuts or splitting when used for cleaning animals or cutting vegetables, respectively. Finally, as this is a knife suited to the beginner market, the fact that the blade is prone to corrosion is going to be a significant limitation for first-time knife owners who aren’t accustomed to cleaning their knives. Do yourself a favor and take some of that CLP and apply it to your knife blade before and after extended use.

As a humorous aside, Morakniv is careful to note on their website, among other statistics about the knife, that this blade is not fit for children. Thank you for that, Morakniv.

When I first reviewed the Wander Tactical Lynx, all I knew was that this was a knife made in Italy, tested in the Alps to an insane degree, and guaranteed for life. I immediately jumped at the chance to test one and had the privilege of testing one of the most well-thought-out knives that I’ve ever held, a purpose-built survival knife that I’d carry with me in any outdoors situation. It will cost you, but if you purchase a Wander Tactical blade, you’re purchasing an experience, rather than simply a product.

The Lynx features a deep-bellied D2 blade, with the steel cryogenically treated for enhanced carbides for enhanced toughness and edge retention characteristics. The blade features prominent jimping on the spine for easy thumb purchase while bushcrafting, and there’s a deep finger choil on the front to further enhance this. The deep belly means that in addition to being outstanding for bushcraft, it’s also a capable skinning and hunting knife, aided by the gradual grind of the blade. The grip scales are made out of micarta with a hewn texture, making this a very comfortable knife in the hand. The blade is also extremely durable, surviving heavy use and torture testing against impacts, green wood, and corrosion in our evaluation. Overall, this is an outstanding knife, even with the roughly $260 price tag.

Unfortunately, nobody is perfect, and Lynx designer Alex Wander is no exception. The blade coating, KG Gunkote, rubbed off the blade under normal use even in the short time I had it for evaluation, and probably could have been better executed with something like cerakote or bead-blast. At $260, D2 is at the upper limit of its tolerable use, even considering the boutique knife manufacturing process; I would have preferred something like CPM-3V. Finally, the included sheath featured out-of-spec holes, and was overall not the quality that I hoped for at this price point.

The bottom line: The Wander Tactical Lynx is a premium knife option that will survive anything you throw at it, even if the finish might not. It’s a knife designed for professionals by professionals and tested in a professional environment. Hell, I’m simply not hardcore enough to appreciate the Lynx: I don’t have the experience or the expertise required to fully appreciate it, and that gives me a unique respect for it. If they swapped to cerakote for the blade coating and improved their stock sheath, it would be on my to-buy list tomorrow.

The Ontario Knife Company RAT 3 is a compact full-tang knife that’s made in the United States out of American materials, is easy to use, and offers a blade that’s just right for most survival use in terms of sizing, all for the easy price of $60.

The RAT 3 has a blade that’s made of extremely forgiving 1075 carbon steel, and comes in plain or partially-serrated combination configurations. To add to its usefulness, the drop-point blade has a jimped spine and a finger choil, driving home the message that this is a knife that’s purpose-built for bushcraft. The RAT 3’s full tang isn’t a common feature at this price point when it comes to American-made knives. The blade is sandwiched between two linen micarta handles, which are comfortable, not slippery in wet environments, and take on a very pleasant patina after years of use. The 1075 isn’t the strongest steel, but it’s outstanding for beginners who want to be able to sharpen in the field and abuse it without fear of chipping or breaking the blade.

Unfortunately, two drawbacks to the RAT 3 are the blade steel and the coating the company chose. The 1075 is a true carbon steel and therefore has next to nothing in the way of corrosion resistance. Additionally, at least in my experience, it’s so susceptible to corrosion that over time, the knife will lose its edge from simply not being sharpened regularly. The coating on the blade is also a bugbear of mine, considering that it chips off pretty easily, exposing the steel underneath to corrosion and staining.

The included sheath is probably the worst characteristic of the RAT 3, a clunky, oversized nylon affair that takes what should be a compact knife and makes it into something that takes up the real estate of a much larger knife for no apparent reason. To make matters worse, this sheath means that all your cost savings when buying this knife are effectively undone, because you’ll have to spend anywhere from $20 to $50 extra on a better sheath and mounting equipment. At that point, you may be looking at other knife options that may be priced higher, but include a better sheath and possibly better blade steel.

The Argali Carbon surprised me when I evaluated it. I expected a $200 glorified paring knife, but this is a knife that skinned an entire pig and remained paper-slicing sharp, all while refusing to corrode. It’s far from a perfect knife, but this blade is hard to beat as an ultralight hunting knife that you can take anywhere and that has uses outside of skinning animals. Its niche application and a few limitations are noteworthy drawbacks, but make no mistake: This is an outstanding knife worthy of your time and money.

The Argali Carbon is designed specifically for the ultralight hunting market, and as such is intended to hit every ticket when it comes to form factor, weight, and features. The blade is made of super-durable S35VN steel, which holds an edge even under heavy use, is extremely rust-resistant, and near impervious to breaking and chipping. These advantages mean that you won’t have to carry heavy sharpening equipment, rust removal solvents, or backup knives with as much urgency as you would with knives made of lesser steel.

The knife is full tang, and features textured high-visibility orange G10 grips that are skeletonized in the same way that the blade itself is for maximized weight savings. The drop-point flat grind blade with both low and high jimping means that you’ll be able to bring the sharpness of this blade to bear on almost any task and maneuver it well in delicate applications, to include bushcraft and camp cooking, with the blade thin enough to effectively slice fruits and vegetables while remaining durable enough to stand up to prolonged use in the wilderness.

Unfortunately, no knife is perfect. First, the grip scales on the Argali Carbon aren’t comfortable at all under prolonged use and the texturing causes irritation on bare skin. Second, the included Kydex sheath doesn’t come with any mounting methods whatsoever, which is just unacceptable at this price point. Finally, you’re eventually going to have to either buy expensive professional-level sharpening equipment or send this knife off to a professional, in the event that you do lose the factory edge, which is mostly just a limitation of S35VN and supersteels in general.

A specialized tool is almost always going to be better at the one thing it’s meant to do, and while most knives on this list are fine for bushcraft, the TOPS Brakimo is to survival knives what a scalpel is to surgery.

The Brakimo is a Scandinavian-style full-tang knife made of 1095 carbon steel and is absolutely aggressive in its intended design as a brutal, hard-working knife meant to easily conquer the wilderness. Combined with a solid sheath, tons of small features that only an expert would notice, and a fair price point, the Brakimo is probably the top bushcraft knife for any outdoors enthusiast. The only major drawback? It’s too specialized to work for everyone.

TOPS doesn’t make small knives, and the Brakimo is no exception. With a 5.25-inch blade that’s around 5mm thick at the spine and an overall length of 10 inches, combined with a weight of 9.4 ounces, this is definitely a TOPS knife. It’s bold, it’s brash, and it’s definitely not fragile. The blade is made of 1095 carbon steel, and features a Scandi-style grind that terminates in a plain edge, with the grind angle being such that it should be easy to baton small logs or strip branches. It’s not a true Scandi, having a false edge and then a more typical cutting edge, rather than having the entire grind be the cutting edge bevel. The flat and spine of the blade are cerakoted stone-washed gray, which protects those portions from corrosion and surface wear, which is definitely a concern with 1095 steel.

The full-tang blade is sandwiched between two linen micarta grip scales, each of which feature a divot for use with a hand drill for firestarting, and a prominent lanyard loop near the pommel, which TOPS claims can be used for straightening out arrows. I mostly just used the lanyard loop to tie a length of shock cord through for use in environments where retention is a concern. This knife makes short work of branches, and I was able to turn a felled tree into firewood in short order thanks in no small part to the aggressive scandi-style grind angle. The included Kydex sheath is very well-made and the knife clicks into place handily, and even if it’s not technically meant for this, I was able to attach a Blade-Tech MOLLE clip to mount the Brakimo on the cummerbund of my flak.

The first downside to the Brakimo is mostly in the sheath, and the fact that it’s kind of a unitasker. On the sheath end of things, the included belt clip is not the best and rotates without any inhibition other than friction. I’d prefer a pancake-style sheath that allows for fixed belt mounts on either side for a more secure carriage solution since I pretty much immediately removed the default spring steel belt clip and replaced it with the MOLLE clip.

The second gripe that I have with the Brakimo is mostly that Scandi-style knives struggle to do much besides bushcraft, and many people consider them to be less optimal for things like cleaning and dressing an animal while hunting just due to the way that the thick blade and long grind bevel makes slicing less precise. Additionally, having an extremely thick blade with a strong bevel means that using this knife for campground tasks like slicing vegetables for cooking can lead to your slices breaking on things like apples, carrots, or potatoes, rather than making a clean cut.

Overall, The Brakimo is a purebred Scandi knife, designed for bushcraft and not much else. While it’s perfectly capable for other tasks, unless bushcraft is your number one priority, you should consider other options first. Think of it as the Mora that made our budget pick, but on steroids. It’s better in every way, saves weight, and if you like Morakniv, you’ll love this. Additionally, I have to state my biases here: I’m a fairly large dude, so the Brakimo fits me fine. But when in doubt, see if you can hold one before buying, or else it may make the knife hard to use.

Maybe you think the TOPS catalog is a little too reserved for you, and you want something with a powder-coated blade that’s thick enough to baton with but thin enough to slice easily. Maybe you want the knife in question to be large enough to use as a machete in a pinch. Maybe you just want to quote Crocodile Dundee as you draw this out, annoying your friends because it’s the 50th time that you’ve done that.

Either way, the Esee 6P isn’t just a behemoth of a knife, but a functional, affordable way into survival knives. While it’s certainly not the cheapest knife, I don’t see anyone else offering an American-made 1095 knife that’s over six inches. The only major downside is that it’s ridiculously huge for most people, to a degree that it’ll be a liability unless you need a huge pack or camp knife on hand.

The Esee 6P is really a no-frills knife, providing everything you need with very little extra. The blade is 6.5 inches long, with an effective cutting edge of 5.75 inches, and the overall length just shy of a foot. The grip scales are executed in by-now-familiar linen micarta, providing excellent grip purchase and promising a nice patina in the future. The included sheath is executed in molded plastic, and does everything you’d expect a sheath of this size to do, supporting a wide variety of mounting options including belt loops, belt clips, MOLLE loops, and whatever else you can think of. The factory edge is very nice given the price point, and the blade is thick enough not to snap during batoning, but thin enough to slice vegetables as a camp knife without cracking them.

Additionally, the colored powder coat on the blade is durable, and stood up to my usage testing, including a corrosive salt bath, batoning, and stripping saplings. This is good because, while the 1095 blade steel is very good for field sharpening and offers good edge retention, it’s absolutely miserable when it comes to corrosion resistance, so the coating will definitely help to mitigate surface rust, and ensure that the blade doesn’t rust to the inside of the sheath when wet. Finally, if a plain-edged linen micarta handle knife isn’t for you, Esee makes these in many different colors, blade profiles, and grip options, so you can have pretty much anything you want built around this blade style.

Unfortunately, the biggest downside to the Esee 6P is the fact that, as mentioned before, it’s pretty big. This automatically means that it’s not going to be a knife that you can easily and handily carry on your person, and also means that it’s not going to be as useful for some finer outdoor tasks like cleaning animals or meticulous bushcraft. Additionally, the included belt clip that comes with the sheath is just not great, and is probably the low point of the entire system. Additionally, 1095 is a steel that requires near-constant maintenance, so you’ll have to clean and treat your blade regularly, whereas with a stainless option, that wouldn’t be so much of a concern.

Overall, the Esee 6 is an outstanding, if oversized, knife and is great for people who want a workhorse that can tackle nearly anything the wilderness throws at them. The size is the only thing that keeps it from being the best overall, as I really enjoyed testing this knife and tearing up the backwoods with it. If you want a Rambo knife, this is it.