12 TOP SURVIVAL BLADES
Get in a fix—the truck goes into an ice-swollen river, the boat engine dies, aliens attack—and one of these dirty dozen survival blades and tools is sure to help get you out.
Fallkniven A1 Survival Knife
$185 | Buy It Now
Fallkniven
I can’t imagine what the Swedes are so scared of, but it must be big, mean, and covered with gator hide. That’s the only explanation for a knife like this. It’s nearly a foot long and has a 6-millimeter-thick blade of laminated stainless 420/V10/420 steel that will slice a tomato or cut open a coconut. It’s sexy, too, in that sexy Swedish way.
Innovation Factory Trucker’s Friend
$53 | Buy It Now
Innovation Factory
This is a well-built mashup of hatchet, claw hammer, crowbar, grapple hook, and it's nicely sized for everyday, under-the-truck-seat carry. Who needs a cool demolition tool that doubles as a zombie killer? You and all your friends.
ESEE-4
$120 | Buy It Now
ESEE
Designed by jungle survival experts and made in Idaho, the ESEE-4 is 9 inches of near perfection, with a 4½-inch-long full-tang 1095 tool steel blade and micarta handles that could pound railroad spikes. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy, nothing left out, nothing left to chance.
Cold Steel Recon 1 Spear Point
$82 | Buy It Now
Cold Steel
Lose your grip on this double-choil folder and you probably deserve what’s coming. Everything is hard-use about this pocket beast, especially its deeply grooved G10 handles, the CTS-XHP high-carbon stainless steel blade, and super-strong Tri-Ad locking mechanism. It’s almost too big, almost too much knife—which makes it just about perfectly right.
CRKT Onion Halfachance Parang Machete
$45 | Buy It Now
CRKT
Yes, of course you need a machete, and this is the one you want: A chopping-ready parang (like a machete but burlier) that will make short work of heavy brush and mincemeat of dense vines. Its 14-inch-long high-carbon blade is a cinch to resharpen in the field, and the angled handle, with deep finger grooves, will cut down on hand and arm fatigue while you clear the route.
Tops Knives Tom Brown Tracker 1
$240 | Buy It Now
Tops Knives
Put a small hatchet and a large knife in a blender and this is what you’d get—a whopper of a love-it-or-hate-it tool that tries to do it all. The ¼-inch thick, 1095-tool steel blade sports two separate cutting edges, a weighted, beveled forward section for chopping, and a carving blade that can be used as a drawknife. It has an overall length of 11.88 inches.
MSR Basecamp Snow Construction Saw
$95 | Buy It Now
MSR
You might not need a snow saw every day, but when the time comes, nothing else will do. The folding, curved blade has specialized teeth that will gnaw through packed snow and ice like the Abominable Snow Beaver. You’ll be able to put up an emergency snow shelter, igloo, or backcountry ice bar in a jif.
Silky Big Boy
$135 | Buy It Now
I’ve cleared a country mile of shooting lanes with a pile of different hand saws, but none have been as useful as this 14.2-inch folder. At just 1 pound, it is super light, tough, and easy to jam into a daypack. And the cutting power of the Big Boy is almost hard to believe. It comes in four different models with varying tooth layouts, but opt for the curved blade with extra-large teeth, then write your name on it with a Sharpie, to keep everyone’s paws off.
Gerber Center Drive
$90 | Buy It Now
Gerber
Gerber’s new multitool has garnered great reviews for its ergonomically designed bit driver, but don’t overlook the oversized blade, one-thumb-opening pliers, and a magnetic replaceable bit set that can help fix a fuel pump or busted bow.
Leatherman RAPTOR Emergency Medical Tool
$70 | Buy It Now
This is the survival tool you hope that you never need: A dedicated medical-emergency device. The shears make quick work of bloody clothing, fresh bandages, and even tattered flesh, while other tools can snip seat belts, webbing, shattered windshields, and cut off rings from swollen, snake-bitten hands.
UST Sabercut Chain Saw
$20–$30 | Buy It Now
UST
Wire saws tend to be gimmicky throwaways, but this 24-inch model is essentially a chainsaw blade with handles. It’s not as light as a survival wire saw, and it takes some calories to get it working. But it makes for a good packable wood-cutter, for both survival and regular camping uses.
Leatherman Signal
$100 | Buy It Now
The traditional multitool gets a prepper upgrade, with a diamond-coated knife sharpener that works on both straight and serrated blades, a ferro rod for sparking fires, an emergency whistle, and a mini carabiner clip to keep it all instantly deployable.
HUNTING TIPS FOR TODAY’S OUTDOORSMEN
Each month for 35 years, H.G. “Tap” Tapply shared serious hunting and fishing know-how in his wildly popular Field & Stream column, “Tap’s Tips.” His encyclopedic knowledge covered all things outdoors, but here, we’ve compiled 18 of his greatest hunting tips, first published in the ’60s and ’70s. Though old enough to be antiques, these bits of advice still ring true, and we’re sure they’ll help you find success in the woods this season. —
Keep looking behind you when you are still-hunting for deer. A buck that stays hidden and motionless while you approach may step boldly out into the open to look you over after you pass by, giving you an easy standing shot at close range.
Wear a pair of inexpensive plastic rain pants between your long-johns and outside pants in wet weather. Your legs will stay dry, and there’ll be no wet shine or slapping noise to scare the ducks or deer. (Suggested by Skip Abel, Garland, Texas.)
If ducks flare away from your blind for no apparent reason, it may be due to light glinting off your gun barrel as you shift position to shoot. Try this: stick a strip of dull black tape along the top of the barrel. It peels off easily later.
To remove a dent from a gunstock, cover the area with a moistened cloth and press it with a hot Iron. The steam will raise the dent. Then smooth the steamed spot with fine sandpaper, followed by steel wool, and refinish to match the stock.
You can tell a knowledgable gunner by the way he closes the action of a double-barreled shotgun. You’ll notice that he always holds the barrels by the fore end and lifts the butt up to it so that the two parts click together. He never, not ever, slams it shut
When you sight in a rifle, always use the same ammunition you plan to feed it when you hunt. This may seem obvious, but some hunters try to economize by using up old ammo for sightIng-in purposes, then buy new and different loads for hunting.
Most deer hunters who get their buck in the first hour of the first day of the season aren’t just lucky. They take time in the early fall to locate a runway or crossing that deer are using, and that’s where dawn finds them waiting on opening day.
Your binoculars give you a shaky picture because your pumping heart is sending little shock waves through your body. You can steady the image quite a bit, however, by holding the binoculars with both forefingers pressed against your forehead.
Dry-pluck game birds as soon as possible after they have been shot. The feathers let go easier then, and the skin of most upland birds—pheasant, grouse, quail, woodcock—tends to tear more readily after the bird has been allowed to cool and stiffen.
Use oil sparingly when you clean your rifle or shotgun. Lubricant left on moving parts can gum up the action, especially in cold weather. Also, excess oil may seep into the stock or foreend and cause rotting. Just a very thin film is enough.
Dip your nose into your hunting boots and inhale deeply. The pungent odor of dried foot sweat and swampwater will probably make you dizzy. To sweeten the boots, dust the insides with powdered Borax, a box of which you probably already have in the laundry room.
May and June are two of the best months for hunting crows. They are scattered new, and the young birds can be fooled by even a novice caller. So next time you go trout fishing take your gun and crow call along. If the trout won’t bite, the crows probably will.
Bird-hunting partners can locate each another quickly in thick brush if both wear blaze-orange caps or vests. The flash of color may prevent one hunter from shooting if a bird flushes toward the other. An orange collar will help locate the dog, too.
