This whole thread has been interesting to me. Maybe it is because of the terrain here, but I have always thought of a survival knife as a big knife. A big bowie or a machete comes to mind. In Nepal, its the kukri. In the harsh areas of Northern Europe, the Pukko style knife is a survival knife. In Africa, its the Panga. In some parts of Southeast Asia its the bolo or barong. In South America, its the machete. In New York City, it might be a Spyderco. The knife has been a survival tool for thousands of years. Remember the Rambo-style survival knives of the 80s? Now the trend is smaller. We can't exclude the multi-tools, either. Some so-called survival knives are just junk. Now look at the choices made on this forum. They are basic knives made with extraordinary modern materials like micarta, Respirene C, INFI, SR77 and such. The designs are simple, though. The Dumpster Mutt or the Scrapper 6 are quite simple, ordinary designs.