Category: Knives, Axes & Other tools

Let me say up front that I’m a big fan of Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT). I own several of their products and have been using them for years without failure or complaint. As a general rule, I find CRKT products have great value for the dollar. Recently, I was brought on to be […]

There’s a part of me that will always be something of a traditionalist when it comes to knives and other gear. Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of the modern stuff that’s available. But, there’s something just plain cool about a jackknife, for example. It isn’t tactical, or tacticool for that matter. You […]

Make no mistake, this knife is designed to do but one thing – put the hurt on somebody or something. This isn’t a bushcraft blade. You won’t be processing firewood, cleaning fish, or carving a spoon with the Steel Will Adept 1000. However, if you find you have a need for putting holes in something […]

This is the Steel Will Apostate 1108 folding knife. I think it is safe to put the tactical moniker here as well. It is a monster of a folding knife, with a closed length just shy of 5.5”. I’ll tell you what, though, it will take all you can throw at it and keep looking […]

A push knife has one job – to hurt someone. Sure, it could cut cordage and with a little practice you could probably even use it to make a feather stick or perform a few of the other traditional bushcraft/survival chores. In reality though, a push knife is a weapon, first and foremost. It is […]

The TOPS Street Scalpel is a non-nonsense, simple yet rugged, option for EDC and self-defense. This thing can take quite a beating, no question about it. Let’s run through the basic specs: Overall length: 7 inches Blade length: 2.38 inches Blade thickness: 0.25 inches Weight: 5 oz, with sheath 6 oz Steel: 1095 Sheath: Kydex

I’ve wanted to get my hands on one of these for several months now. Ever since I saw an ad in American Survival Guide, I believe it was, I’ve wanted to play around with a Zubin Axe. While I was at the NPS Expo in Kentucky in October, I stopped by the Zubin Axe booth […]

One thing that’s for certain – the SOG Snarl is a beast of a knife. It is entirely fashioned out of a single piece of 9Cr18MoV steel. At a full 0.25” thick, it is incredibly strong. It has a bit of heft to it, weighing almost 2 ounces. But, it isn’t so heavy as to […]

Let’s get the acronyms out of the way first. CRKT is Columbia River Knife and Tool. For the last 20 years or so, CRKT has been producing high quality blades at affordable prices. This particular knife is called the S.P.E.W., which stands for Small Pocket Everyday Wharncliffe. For the uninitiated, Wharncliffe refers to the shape […]

The Large Workhorse from Battle Horse Knives isn’t quite as large you might think. I mean, when I read the name “Large Workhorse,” I expected a blade that’s maybe like 10”-12” in length, some huge monstrosity that looks ready to do battle with gargoyles or something. But, that’s because I focused on the “large” and […]

The CRKT Synergist might very well be the most well balanced and comfortable defense knife I’ve ever held. While small in size, it is plenty dangerous. The first thing that is readily apparent about the Synergist when you take it from the box is how slim it is. The knife is less than 3/8″ thick […]

The official name is the Buck Hartsook Ultralite Knife. Small, lightweight, very sharp and durable, all of those terms apply here. The Buck Hartsook is, to my way of thinking, a classic neck knife. It isn’t meant for robust camp chores like chopping firewood. Instead, it is simply a well designed blade you keep around […]

There are three people who are directly responsible for me becoming a disaster readiness consultant and author. Two of them are Jerry and Sharon Ahern. I wasn’t even into my teens the day my Dad brought home the first two books in the Survivalist series. He’d seen them at the bookstore and thought I might […]

Simply put, this is a beast of a tool! Rather different from other knives we’ve reviewed in the past, the Pro Tool Chisel Utility Knife isn’t something you’d necessarily toss into the bug out bag, if only because it weighs in at a hefty 1lb 3oz. However, it would be an excellent addition to the […]

I only recently heard about Opinel, having read about one of their folding knives in a recent issue of Backwoodsman Magazine. The author of that piece had nothing but great things to say about Opinel so I decided to order one and see for myself. I chose the Opinel No. 8 folding knife with beechwood […]

I will readily admit I’m somewhat late to the game when it comes to multi-tools. As many others before me have found, though, once you have one you’ll wonder how the hell you lived without it. The Gerber Dime Multi-Tool is what we might call a micro-tool. It is very small, as you can see […]

A cutting tool is an essential component of any survival kit. For quite some time, though, the best quality blades tended to be too large for small kits. For mini kits like those made out of an Altoids tin, some sort of razor blade style knife was about the best you could do. While not […]

[Don’t miss the video component of the review at the bottom of the page!] Readers here know of my great affection for Self Reliance Illustrated magazine. It is one of my absolute favorite publications and I never miss an issue. What some of you may not know is they also sell a small selection of […]

The Brothers of Bushcraft (BOB) Fieldcraft knife has become one of my all-time favorite knives for all around use. Let’s start by looking at the basic specs. The overall length of the knife is about 10 inches.

My first thought upon picking up the Tex Creek fixed blade knife was, Man, this is a SOLID knife! At 9 inches overall, it weighs a deceptively heavy 7.1oz. This was followed closely by admiring the really neat “Black River Wash” finish they put on the blade.