4 Major Types of Survival Knife Blades – Which One would You Choose?
For an ardent fan of camping, a survival knife is a must-have tool. However, while choosing the best survival knife, it’s necessary to learn about various blade shapes and their pros and cons. They are useful for different purposes like combat and wilderness. Here is the information of various blade types.
1. Spear-point Blades
A spear-point blade features two sharpened edges; one of them is on the top while the other is on the bottom. Sometimes, blades that have such a shape are known as spear point, although they have only a single sharpened edge. These are actually not spear-point blades.
Double-edged spear point blades are more useful for a combat situation than for wilderness situation, because they are constructed for stabbing.
But in general, it’s better to avoid a double-edged spear point. Why? It’s because it may disadvantageous in a survival situation to have a sharp edge on the top of the blade. A sharpened edge on top can make batoning (cutting or splitting wood with knife) impossible which is usually an important use of a survival knife.
2. Tanto Blades
Technically tantos are fighting knives; however, they suit much better to a survival situation than a spear point blade with double edges.
Tantos are typically thick and strong at the tip, which makes them perfect for piercing and stabbing. This strong tip also makes them good for prying.
Tantos also don’t have a belly (curved edge) due to which they are less useful for skinning and slicing game.
All in all, tantos can be good as survival knives, but you may use them as per your preference. By reading about advantages and disadvantages of a tanto blade, you can better decide how to use it.
3. Clip Point Blades (Bowie)
It’s a debatable topic whether clip point knives (commonly known as Bowie knives) can act as good survival knives. They have their own pros and cons, and you can decide by knowing about them.
If you choose to have a clip-point blade, make sure its clip point is not too much curvy, because an extremely curvy tip can break more easily while being used for batoning or other camping tasks like chopping or prying. The curvy tip is meant for stabbing. But the curve of the blade may be useful for skinning game.
4. Drop Point Blades
Drop point blades are the most useful and versatile in a wilderness situation. It has a straight back edge which is ideal for batoning. It also has a sharp, strong tip that is perfect for prying, stabbing, notching, etc. that you may face in a wilderness situation.
Choosing the right blade for your survival knife thus depends on your need. Choose the right one and make your camping trip easy and enjoyable.
