There's so much that goes into the selection of a survival knife that if you were to study all ther parameters you'd have a difficult time making up your mind. The key to choosing is really personal. Make your decision, and don't look back.

Some folks are satisified with this, but don't need or want that. Some folks want two knives, others restrct themselves to only one. There really isn't a such thing as an ideal knife, it's a tool.

My own personal predjuices dictate that a survival knife be 6 to 8 inches in length. At that length it's still big enough for log splitting and shelter building, but small enough that it can still handle small task reasonable well such as skinning small game. The knife has to be sufficently strong enough that it'll take what ever the surivial situation dictates. And finally appropiate for the terrain that I'm likely to encounter.

Appropiate for the terrain that I'm likely to encounter? Much like matching a rifle to the game that you're going to hunt there can sometime be such a thing as too much or too little knife. A knife like the Dogfather might be great for a South American jungle where it can perform many duties, however it will likely become less than ideal in Desert/Mountanious terrain where timber may be in short supply.

I haven't had the chance to really punish the DM yet. However, I'm sure it'll pass the toughness task. It's pretty heavy so that'll help when chopping. It's still small enough that it can easily be manipulated. However, in my opinion it takes a hit on its size. Personally i'd like to see it a little bigger. But its smaller size may also make it a great travel blade when you face size and space restrictions, which can be a real advantage. And I've found that if something is too bulky or cumbersome than it's likely to be left at home.

Personally my go to blade is a Scrapper 6. It fills all of my personal requirements and predjuices. It sits in a survival sheath and I'm confident of that set up. However, if I were to go to a two blade set up then the DM would probably be one of those two with the DF being the other. And like I previously stated the DM may make a great travel blade for a situation where you might want a little extra security, but not a lot of extra bulk.

Does all this mean that the DM should be excluded from your list of choices. No the DM is a fine blade and if you're comfortable with it then so be it; you could do a lot worse. And if I recall the Air Force survival knife measures in at a mere 5 inches in terms of blade length. And it's a very popular knife.

When the DM was first announced I wasn't sold on the idea. I tend to buy sheath knives for either hunting, fishing, or bushcraft/survival. When the DM was first announced I wasn't as excited as everybody else. The knife just didn't do it for me. So my intent was to pick one up, see how I liked it as possible sell it later on. However, I must admist that I am pretty impressed with the knife. So much so that I won't be parting with it.



Peace
Jerry