Here are some basic uses for a survival knife

A good survival knife is a vital item that you will need to own if you plan to do any hiking and camping in the wilderness. In fact, among other essential items, it should probably be right at the top of your list. Anything unexpected can happen and having such a multi-purpose tool is a very good idea. It is important to maintain your knife well and keep it sharp.

Wood

An axe is a bit heavy to include in your backpack, so your knife can be used as a means to cut up some firewood. You will need a fire in order to cook a meal or to keep warm. This is not a tool to chop down large trees, but for cutting off a few branches or splitting logs into smaller pieces.

Cut branches

Survival knife

To clear a space where you can set up camp, you may need to use a tool like this. You can cut away some bushes and branches to make space in which to pitch your tent. At a pinch, you might even use your knife as an emergency tent peg.

First aid

You may need a sharp knife to administer basic first aid in the event that someone in your group needs splinters to be removed or perhaps fabric to be sliced in order to create a bandage. Some knowledge and ability in this area will also be required. A knife is vital in some of these situations.

Food

In the wild, a survival knife is your number one food prep tool

Even if you are not eating food from the wild, a knife is something necessary when cooking. If you are fishing, a knife is essential not only to gut the fish, but to cut it up and clean too. You may just need to chop an onion, provided you brought one in your bag, or flip whatever is cooking in your pan. Many knives have tin openers as part of the design, meaning you can carry tins of food with you.

Dig a hole

If you haven’t packed a shovel and you find that you need to dig a hole, your knife will be able to double as this tool to some extent. While using your knife will be better than using your hands, this action may damage the knife somewhat.

Hunt

Jimmy Lile “First Blood” Survival Knife. Author – Skipbreath

A knife is not really the ideal choice of weapon if you want to be hunting, but if you do not have another means, it may be the only solution to getting a meal. However, even if you do have other weapons on a hunting trip, a knife is useful for finishing the job in case the animal suffers and essential for skinning and butchering your kill.

Defense

You may find yourself in the unfortunate situation of your needing to defend yourself against a wild animal that sees you as a threat. As a last resort, it would be just as well to have the means to deal with this problem.

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