Whenever we think about bushcraft, or wilderness skills, the first important thing that comes to our mind is a survival knife. This is the most versatile tool that you can apply during your outdoor ventures. You may have seen it in movies like Rambo or Expandables where heros show some best uses of this equipment.
Survival knives have wide ranges of variations, such as a boot knife, Kabar knife, Rambo knife, tactical knife, combat knife, military knife, and many more. The average cost of these knives ranges from 15 dollars to 100 dollars. Survival knives have more uses other than simple wood cutting. Let’s find the ways you can use it in outdoor expeditions.
1. Self Defense
When it comes to using a knife, remember one thing: a knife is one of the best weapons on this planet. You can use it against predators and people to save yourself. In most cases, they are light and easily portable for your safety.
You will find hundreds of multi-purpose knives online at affordable prices. For self-defense, you can use any knife, but make sure it is considerably lightweight or else you may feel too tired to carry or weild it properly.
2. Prepare Firewood
A quality knife is always an effective tool to cut firewood and split it into small pieces. Splitting logs or woods is never a big deal. Place the blade of your knife against the wood and whack it with another piece of wood or sturdy stick.
In case of logs, blade down the grain just like you would an axe. Now smack it with another log or any stone pieces. Though it is not as efficient as an axe, it does the same job in extreme conditions.
3. Whittle Tools
Instead of attaching a knife to a stick as a spear, sharpen the stick and break it down to pieces. This not only increases knife longevity but also makes the process easier for any users.
By using this whittling technique, you can create four-pointed spears. These spears are effective in hunting fish and catching animals. Other than that, you can whittle traps or fish hooks with survival knives.
4. Digging
Though this is not the best use of a survival knife, you can use it in extreme conditions like finding bait, grubs, or a hole for an emergency toilet. A large knife can also perform the tasks of a shovel. You can use it to collect edible roots and tubers, curve SOS signals, make fire pits, or dispose wastes. Make sure you don’t use a knife solely for digging or else it can become dull and lose its sharpness.
5. Makes Fire
This is one of the best uses of survival knives in wild expeditions. There could be situations where you forget to bring matches or lighter with you, but a knife can help to blaze hot sparks of hope in wild darkness.
This famous technique is known as bow drill. In this method, you need to use the right type of wood like pine or oak. Next, cut it down to sticks and make a bow. Run that bow on hardwood and make fires with tinder bundles. This method needs some experience and some hard work to create fire.
You can also strike a knife on stones to create sparks. If possible, use a bit of sand between the knife and stone and strike it hard. That will create fire from nowhere.
6. Tapping Plant Sap
Plant saps are often useful as antiseptics and anti-inflammatory products on wounds. Other than that, you can use plant sap as a waterproofing item, fire starter, or glue to join sticks together. To extract the best plant saps, you need to understand the biology of trees and have a sharp survival knife to tap it anytime.
7. First Aid Support
Wilderness campfires can be harmful in some cases. A survival knife can help you in medical emergencies. It can cauterize your wound and lowers the risk of infection in harsh conditions. Also, it helps to cut clothes or cotton materials to improvise bandages. You can also burn the tip of the knife and sterilize it to remove splinters or bullets in accidental cases.
8. Food Preparation
Whether to make fish fillets or chopping veggies or fruits, a knife is always an effective tool to use. In case you hunt something in the wild, you would require a knife to remove the skin from its flesh. Furthermore, a knife works as a good spreader to add spice to chunks of meat. You can also use a knife as a can opener for many containers.
9. Use As Hammer
The buttof the knife, or pommel, is a great substitute for a hammer. You can also hammer pegs on the ground or woods with the blunt edge of a knife. In some models, you will find a point at the base of the pommel to break windows in case of emergencies.
10. Make Ropes
In case you forgot to bring ropes on your expedition, your survival knife can help you to make one. All you need to do is cut long strips of barks from trees and cut them into thinner stripes so that you can weave them together to make ropes. These natural ropes are handy, and they can support building shelters and tie things together.
11. Build Shelter
What if you forgot the tent and needed to build a shelter. You can use surviving knives to cut down branches and craft new shelter. Use green leaves to form the floor of your shelter and use logs or branches to make the columns and basic structures of the roof. Finally, you can use large leaves like palms, join them all together with ropes, and add them to your structure.
12. Signaling Tool
You can use a surviving knife to signal in the mirror. This can catch the attention of people from long distances. Make sure your knife is clean to help signal others your way. This can be important if you are lost or trying to find help through SOS.
Final Verdict
Knives are mostly used for chopping purposes, but they have dozens of other uses, too. A survival knife can be your best friend in outdoor expeditions. Let’s experience the diversity of knife uses and make this tool even more useful than ever before.