Well there is a lot of talk on forums about the ideal knife set up when it comes to wilderness survival. But in all reality I will be in the Los Angeles area if and when we ever have a survival type situation occur due to a natural or man-made disaster. Thus, I am trying to come up with the "ideal" knife for such a situation. First, what do you see a knife being used for in a huge, over populated city such as Los Angeles? Second, which knife or knives would you select.

I do not see myself having to do as much chopping as those in a wilderness survival setting. Prying would probably be a big deal. Right now I really like my NO-E. .25" thick, 6" blade, INFI. It is a great pryer, can handle some chopping, fast in the hand, excellent SD knife if needed, etc...


What do you dogs think?

Sounds good to me DN. I think I would want a big bowie, but that is just me. Something like the Entrek Ranger on the top.

In an urban setting I would be happier with a medium sized crowbar and good pocket knife rather than just a big knife. Ideally my DF and a crowbar. Breaking glass, prying doors off hinges...none of this stuff is what knives are really good at. And if you're stuck in the land of concrete and glass this is what I would expect to be doing. The knife might be needed for cutting your way out of conduit and fallen cables and I would really prefer a rubber handled knife for that.

A crowbar can be a pretty intimidating weapon if you found yourself in a bad situation. A pistol still trumps a crowbar though for self-defense.

Just for clarification: When asking for an Urban blade I don't mean one that does everything. As pointed out by Kraz, there are better tools for particular situations. I have my crowbars, axes, hand gun, (working on a shotgun), Busse AK-47 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ,Dog Father, Dumpster Mutt, etc...

But what I am asking for is what do you guys see yourself using a knife for in an Urban setting during a situation such as a disaster and what knife or knives would you prefer to have if you had the choice.

Great answers so far. Breaking glass, cutting, light prying, SD (in a pinch) are what I see my knife being used for.

HD: those are some sweet knives there. Mean looking. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Hmmm.... I've put some thought in to this. My ideal blade would be a hybrid of these three, and I've talked about them in another thread recently, but I'd like to have the DM blade (about an inch longer), the RAT5 handle, and the RD style pommel and thumb ramp. The DM blade for prying, the RAT grip for comfort (nice linen slabs too), and the RD pommel for breaking, hammering, or skull crushing. And lets make it out of INFI. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

must agree that a big knife in urban survival will mostly take on weapon and crowbar duty. a can opener and crow bar would be more important tools. I have a small goose neck crow bar i use quite often, it's a good tool. vic pioneer would be my choice but if you lose enough fingers you may wish you had gone oht so i guess i'd have to go with that one and the dumpster mutt, just as it is. course i'd rather the oht was in alox. so.....

one implement: dumpster mutt
two: sak & crowbar/claw bar/molding bar
two knives: mutt & sak
scary giant sharp wrecking bar weapon: tough call...cgfbm or ganga ram. falcata's too much to carry.

of course i overlooked a good multitool. who the hell wants to hear that boring, obvious answer in an exciting survival thread?

Dmutt, remmy 870P, bandoleer
or
Dmutt, Glock21, AR15


or dogfather and any one of the listed guns above.

Generally, the best tool for the job is the one you have, so the FBM and DF may not always be available, but the DM will likely always be with me =)

but leaving my 'base camp' it just depends on how much pack weight i have, and what the mission is (food gathering, protection, helping others, neighborhood watch, etc.) During the 94 Northridge quake, we blocked off the street with cars, had light patrols (no looting) and went out food scavenging. I was a young man, but a cheap machete, a can opener, a little tekna skeleton blade, and a mossy590 went a long way. I would usually leave the house around 7-8 am, and come home around 6pm with water. I had to drive that far to find some,... for a few days anyhow. I know we could drink from water heater/pool, earthquake supplies, but not knowing how long things would last... i figured it was smart to go out and grab what we could and make out own supplies last as long as poss.

Assuming that a knife was the tool that you had and needed at the time, that NO-E looks about perfect for a medium size fixed blade.

i live out in the boonies, yet w/ cities & suburbs nearby.
I'd take..

-Dog Father
-Glock something (9mm for ammo availability, easier to scavenge/loot from others)
-3 ft steel crowbar/wrecking bar
-good bolt-action carbine (prolly in .308 for ammo) for long shots
-good off-road vehicle (4-banger for fuel efficiency)

Got the first 3.. still working on acquiring/building the last two.
Here in SoCal we can/have had earthquakes, riots, brush fires, flooding, mudslides, wow lots of different situations actually.
When stuff happens, there's usually LOTS of debris. I use my 3ft wrecking/crowbar quite a LOT! around the homestead, helping out neighbors clear up after wind damage, poking around abandoned places, opening cars at the junkyard, gardening & removing weeds! LOL (yes we have weeds here that'd put some trees to shame)

i LOVE my big crowbar dammit! (err.. it's only 3 ft, not 4)


(tony22r's Zombie/Urban Defense Kit)

You all hit the nail on the head when you mentione a crowbar.
I carry an Atwood mini bugout blade around my neck, pretty much all the time. this is an item I can recommend to all, without reservation. With it, I will never have to chance damaging any of my blades prying, scraping, or digging. I can save the blades for, well, cutting.
My own survival/bug-out gear consists of/would consist of:
Mini bug-out blade around neck
Wison cop tool, as bigger mini prybar and menace gear
Scrapper 6 or Scrapper LE on me
DF in my jeep or on my ruck
If not the DF (due to size and mission req) then my Valois survival system, or one of my custom 7" fighters.
Again, depending on threat, a Bauchop witch in place of Scrapper on me, with scrapper moved to molle gear on my assault back

Man you guys are good. Thanks for the feedback. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Nice gear. I am astonished that The People's Republik of Kalifornia has not cracked down completely yet.