While they're not the most expensive knives for a BOB, I think Frost Mora of Sweden make a nice addition to a BOB. I also like the Cold Steel Bushman for a BOB.
Mora's offer alot of bang for the buck... laminate, carbon or stainless... they are great little performers.... easy to field sharpen, light and some have good guards on them.... and they don't cost an arm and a leg... the sheaths can be a problem though... lots of lost knives in the field because of poor sheaths.... I've been doing alot of thinking and researching lately on the Bushman.... its another great bang for the buck.... multiple uses... (I always look for at least 2 or 3 uses for anything that goes into the BOB)... I may make my own design.... Two excellent knives....
I figured this would be a good place to pose this inquiry: I'm thinking of using an SOG SEAL or SEAL Pup for my primary knife to go along with my SOG EOD Powerlock multi-tool, but as far as chopping goes, I am curious what I really need in my BOB. Would a machete (most likely a Becker Patrol) be more useful than an axe? Would the Becker Tactool be superior to the machete?
A lot of that would depend on location, how/where you would bug out and your basic plans. If you were going to be chopping firewood for warmth rather than being able to just use small amounts of sticks you snap by hand for cooking and then plan to find a place in the woods and log out trees to build a cabin then obviously you would need a lot more in the way of a chopping tool then if it was just for cutting the occasional pole to add to a shelter or trimming branches or something. In general I would say a small hatchet would be good since it can chop through whatever is needed with enouph effort, takes care of small jobs pretty easy, is moderate in weight and space and can also be used as a hammer.
Conventional wisdom is that an axe is dangerous relative to a saw, and so it is. But way back when, the wisdom had it that a 3/4 axe was your friend, and so I think as well. Heavier than a pocket saw and large knife, sure, but at least as useful. So that is my plan, YMMV.
I agree with the hatchet/small axe idea*( been looking at the new gerber axes). Just wanted to add conventional wisdom also says chopping fire wood is a waste of food calories,Once gathered and a fire built, the ends of bigger limbs should just be pushed into the fire( instead of being cut into neat 24" long pieces and stacked)..
What do you all think of BOB knives as far as folders? I've been looking for something that is simple, but strong; namely something I can completely disassemble to clean and repair. I can't decide whether or not I need serrations. I've been looking at the Spyderco Military, Emerson CQC-10, Al Mar SERE 2000, Benchmade 520, Benchmade 805, and the Cold Steel Recon 1 (spear point), and I'm open to any others. I've been trying to find a folder with a blade between 3.5" and 4.0" with a drop or spear point that can be a workhorse without ripping through my wallet (I'm looking to spend up to $250). I'd prefer to not trust my life on my CRKT M16-14Z.
For a fixed blade I'd like a Bark River Northstar or Fox River or one of the Fallkniven survival knives. For the money the Mora's are a lot of knife - though Bear is right about the sheaths.
