Halfbreed Blades Large Bush Knife IS a SURVIVAL KNIFE I'm going to tell you why.
If we are talking about survival in the wilds as apposed to an urban survival situation, the latter being completely different when it comes to knives (IMHO), then let's look at some useful features in such a product intended for the bush/forest/wilderness.
In this first part of a case study, I'll be mostly referring to just a handful of knives and to begin with let's look at Halfbreed Blades "LARGE BUSH KNIFE".
It is heavy enough to be able to hack into dry or green
The manufacturer says the following:
"...a multipurpose field utility knife, primarily intended for use by extreme outdoor enthusiasts"
Firstly, let's deal with a definition of an "Extreme outdoor entusiast"
What's an "extreme outdoor enthusiast"? I'd say anyone who is not content with following the well walked trails and hiking routes, camping with hundreds of other campers and fishing alongside hundreds of other people fishing. I'm careful not to include hunters here, as by default, which is one of safety, they should be only operating in an environment which is remote from others for safety and common sense. Hence there are laws throughout the world of where guns and bows can actually be discharged and certainly that is not alongside hikers and campers in National parks.
There are exceptions to this of course and I will only list one which immediately comes to mind and that is/was New Zealand where it is possible to hunt inside of a national park with a firearm.
If one is frequenting the well walked trails and campsites, there is absolutely no reason to be carrying a large knife, ie a knife with a blade over 6". Usually for such campsites, fires are not permitted and thus there is no requirement to chop or baton wood, only to cut up one's meals, if indeed they require such operations. Bringing out a big knife in such scenarios can attract unwanted attention and in some cases alert the ever present Karens, signalling them into action and soon the local ranger has descended upon the campsite and you are getting a talking to (well this depends upon where you are). Unfortunately these days Karens are everywhere because by default Karens are those who have nothing better to do than to ruin someone else's day/time but that's another story subject. However, this is not the reason not to carry a big knife into well frequented campsites and hiking trails. The real reason is common sense not to carry unnecessary equipment with you which in reality will get little if no use on such trips. If one wants to carry a large knife and or hatchet then choose the correct environment for such tools, so they actually get used, that's my advice.
So let's now talk about what kinds of environments can warrant taking a large knife. Any environment away from the general public, so this means generally off track into some wilderness area. It's that easy. Somewhere deserted as in on a deserted island. Sure there are plenty of such places and sure they are remote but knock yourself out they are a hell of lot of fun and this is definitely extreme camping.
You will have to travel via plane, motorbike, bicycle, walk, boat etc. but accessing such places of wilderness does require a certain amount of savvy in terms of being able to exist independently for a certain amount of time without causing alarm to loved ones and friends and of course not appearing on the 6 O'clock news!
Now that you have that "savvy", which includes the right mental attitude, you can go out an get yourself a BIG KNIFE. But seriously, let's look at why the Halfbreed Blades Large Bush Knife fits the category for "extreme outdoor enthusiast".
Firstly, it must be practical and thus useful in the type of environments I have just described above. So is it? Let's see!
Halfbreed Blades describe this knife as a .......
A field knife, eh? So is a field knife an survival knife? Or does a survival knife need to have a saw back? Come on are survival knives meant to have a saw back? I mean what is a "field knife"? Ok enough with these questions let me tell you what I think about the design of the Large Bush Knife.
I like
- It's built like a tank, in that, I'd be hard pressed to destroy such a knife as K340 is super tough and G10 is pretty much indestructible.
- It's comfortable to use without gloves.
- It's got a non slip grip with wet hands due to the strategic milling pattern in the G10 scales.
- It can hammer wooden pegs into the ground and if need be belt steel spikes into the ground. The blade has some weight to it.
- It is not handle heavy and this is important to reduce long usage fatigue.
- K340 ISODUR steel , stays sharp, easy to sharpen, resists chipping, super tough, I mean super tough! (I know I've said it already but you get my point.
- It has a non rotatable stainless steel cup on both side of the handle and this is a total must for use in the bow drill friction fire technique, one of the easiest of the friction techniques to light a fire without any incendiary materials such as matches, cigarette lighters and or fire steels and natural flints. For the bow and drill friction fire to work a suitable "cup" or top block must be employed and often this is one of the hardest parts to find or to fabricate from natural materials. It must last (preferably) and present the least amount of friction (one doesn't want the embers from this end!).
- No vicious butt end present to injure the user.
- holes present to lash the knife to a pole to access out of reach objects (not to make a spear-although it is possible).
- Gimping in all the right places.
I don't like
I don't like the fact the blade is coated and if one looks after K340 even with a bit of care, "without going over the top" K340 will resist rusting. If the blade was uncoated then it would be totally food safe. The only version of this Large Bush Knife offered in an uncoated steel, is the one made with the more expensive CPM 3V, So I'm saying if other manufacturers can bring out uncoated K340 blades/knives (and I own them), then so can Halfbreed Blades if they want to. Non reflective coatings for maybe staying out of site out of mind, ok but even their knives marked "survival" are coated. Many of my viewers have also commented about the coated blade is not what they like in this blade.
If you have to, one can pound away all day long on this beast of a knife with zero ill effect other than that you will be slowly wearing off the blade coating!
It's entirely possible to cut down small trees with this knife, although the optimal tool is of course an axe or a saw.
North American/European Forest action, no problems! But you will need some stamina on such hardwoods are seen above!
What kinds of environments can this knife work in?
Due to the belly of this knife it can be used for skinning game (although of course it is not a hunting knife).
What about the tropics?
Easily able to hack down giant bamboo
coconuts or any of the plethora of vegetables in the tropics.
Yam's are full of carbs and can be purchased from literally any market all around the globe in tropical regions. They store well, carry well and taste great. Note they MUST be thoroughly cooked BEFORE consuming! I've done a lot of wild camping in the tropics subsisting on nothing but coconuts and coconut water to cook rice and other vegetables and without a hefty knife you are going no where with a coconut LOL.
Peeling a large yam, no problems, the grind works well for peeling of food items. Note, not all blade grinds are suitable for peeling of vegetables and fruits, the only way to check this out is to watch someone who has done it as it is unlikely any shop will allow you to "test drive" this in order to ascertain this information prior to a purchase. Also in order to peel fast maybe a smaller knife is better but some large knives can work although note many don't. SO if you want to use this knife of yours to eat with then you had better make sure you can do exactly that. Personally, when travelling in the tropical regions of the globe I would prefer a knife such as a machete
with a longer blade but of course this may mean you must also carry it in populated areas. We did do this on bikes and the machete was wrapped in some discarded cardboard so as not to a attract any unwarranted attraction and also as standby weapon if need be.
How about?
Dry desert environments no problems
Since the Large Bush Knife carries some weight to it and the geometry is such that it is easy to chop with, as apposed to one can chop with it, there is a difference here, it can handle chopping and processing dry hardwoods because in the scene you see above there are few trees and the smaller bushes with dead wood are very gnarled and very hard, so a knife must be able to hold an exceptional edge to be of any use in such dry and dusty environments. Most of such wood will be covered in sand and dust and these materials are abrasive, K340 holds a very good edge under such conditions. Smaller knives with little weight are useless in such environments.
