12 Best Survival Knives of 2022 for All Your Needs: from Camping to Buschcrafting

Comparison Table

	Best Feature	Blade length	Overall length	Steel material	Sheath	Tang	Blade Thickness	Pros	Cons
5050 $	Check price for SOG Fixed Blade Knives with Sheath Editors Choice Fixed Blade Knives with Sheath SOG Check Price	Blade length 4.75 in.	Overall length 9 in.	Steel material AUS-8	Sheath MOLLE nylon	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.23 in.	Glass-reinforced nylon handle offers a fantastic grip Full-tang construction improves the long-term durability	The sheath could be upgraded
5050 $	Check price for ESEE ESEE 6P Best Indestructable Survival Knife ESEE 6P ESEE Check Price	Blade length 6.5 in.	Overall length 11.75 in.	Steel material 1095HC	Sheath Molded polymer	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.18 in.	Ergonomic handle prevents hand fatigue Easy to sharpen	1095 Steel blade susceptible to weathering Needs sharpening before use
5050 $	Check price for CDS-Survival Celtibero Best Survival Knife for being Stranded on a Desert Island Celtibero CDS-Survival Check Price	Blade length 5.7 in	Overall length 10.8 in	Steel material MOVA-58	Sheath Genuine leather	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.19 in	Included sharpening stone & firesteel Durable & corrosion resistant steel	Button snap is HARD Uneven grinding
5050 $	Check price for Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife Best Survival Knife for Weekend Adventures Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife Gerber Check Price	Blade length 4.8 in.	Overall length 10 in.	Steel material 7Cr17Mov	Sheath Nylon sheath	Tang 3/4	Blade Thickness 0.19 in.	Sturdy full-tang high-carbon blade Included: survival whistle & Bear Grylls survival guide	Belt loop smaller than most belts Sheath Velcro is poorly attached
5050 $	Check price for Benchmade BUSHCRAFTER 162 Sharpest Survival Knife Around BUSHCRAFTER 162 Benchmade Check Price	Blade length 4.4 in.	Overall length 9.1 in.	Steel material CPM-S30V	Sheath Genuine leather	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.16 in.	Sleek & Compact Lifetime warranty & LifeSharp service included	Handle is small Sheath is not durable, gets cut up
5050 $	Check price for iField iField 150 Best Bang-For-Your-Buck Camping Knife iField 150 iField Check Price	Blade length 7 in.	Overall length 12.5 in.	Steel material 440C	Sheath Black leather sheath	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.19 in.	Sleek & Comfortable design Great price for 440C heat treated steel	Poorly constructed sheath No lifetime guarantee
5050 $	Check price for ESEE ESEE 5P Best Workhorse Survival Knife ESEE 5P ESEE Check Price	Blade length 5.2 in.	Overall length 11.0 in.	Steel material 1095 Carbon	Sheath Kydex	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.25 in.	Big, burly, beastly Great workhorse knife	1095 Steel is susceptible to weathering & corrosion Too heavy for EDC
5050 $	Check price for JEO-TEC JEO-TEC №31 Best Classy Looking Survival Knife JEO-TEC №31 JEO-TEC Check Price	Blade length 4.5 in.	Overall length 9.4 in.	Steel material MOVA-58	Sheath Genuine leather	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.20 in.	Great sheath fit & hold Classy-looking & stylish	Needs heavy sharpening before use Sheath is better mounted vertical than horizontal
5050 $	Check price for JEO-TEC JEO-TEC №15 Best Survival Knife with Gear Storage JEO-TEC №15 JEO-TEC Check Price	Blade length 5.5 in.	Overall length 11 in.	Steel material N690C	Sheath Genuine leather	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.20 in.	Great size; very comfortable Big gear pocket on sheath	Micarta is not as cool as leather N690C steel is not as weather resistant as MOVA-58
5050 $	Check price for Fallkniven Fallkniven S1 Best Winter Weather Bushcraft Knife Fallkniven S1 Fallkniven Check Price	Blade length 5.1 in.	Overall length 9.7 in.	Steel material VG-10	Sheath Zytel sheath	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.20 in.	Laminated steel blade will last Full tang blade with protruding ‘hammer’	Handle is too thin for comfort unless you have gloves
5050 $	Check price for Fallkniven Fallkniven F1 Best Compact Survival Knife Fallkniven F1 Fallkniven Check Price	Blade length 3.8 in.	Overall length 8.3 in.	Steel material VG-10	Sheath Zytel sheath	Tang Full tang	Blade Thickness 0.18 in.	Laminates CoS steel blades is one of the best on the market Full tang blade with protruding ‘hammer’	Handle is too thin for comfort unless you have gloves Too expensive for some applications

SOG Fixed Blade Knives with Sheath – Best All-Around Fixed Blade Survival

Our best all-around pick is SOG’s fixed-blade knives with a variety of options for sheaths. This full-tang knife is ideally suited to hunting, angling and camping trips. These compact models offer total lengths between 9 and 9.5 inches, with blades measuring between 4.75 and 4.85 inches. There are a number of options for sheaths when purchasing this item.

The first option is the Kydex sheath. Kydex is a hardened thermoplastic molded to fit around the shape of a given knife. This option is slightly more expensive than the nylon option. Still, it offers a range of benefits, including durability and water resistance, reducing the chance of damage whilst your knife is not in use.

The second option is the nylon sheath. Nylon is a slightly more affordable option and offers its own range of specific advantages over alternative sheath materials. One of these is the ease of cleaning. Nylon can easily be washed between trips. Another advantage of nylon over leather alternatives is that nylon is resistant to water damage.

SOG’s focus on offering a range of sheaths improves the value of this product, ensuring that it will remain protected and in good condition when it is not in use. This builds on the design quality of this tactical knife. The blade is manufactured using a cryogenic process, which reduces the temperature of the steel cryogenically before heating again.

This offers a significantly hardened stainless steel blade bolstered by full tang construction. Another standout benefit of this product is the grip. Constructed using glass-reinforced nylon, the ergonomic shape fits easily to the hand, offering safe and efficient use. Overall, this is a well-rounded, reliable product at an excellent price.

ESEE Knives 6P Fixed Blade Knife – Best EDC Survival Knife for Every Day Carry

The designers over at ESEE know how to make a knife that is as ergonomic as it is practical, which has allowed their products to become some of the most popular multi-purpose survival knives used for every day carry. The 6P model features a formidable 6.5” powder coats 1095 steel blade, which is the exact kind of quality we would expect from ESEE’s newest release.

1095 Steel is always a plus because of how easy it is to sharpen. That means that you won’t have to put a bunch of extra time into keeping your knife as sharp as it needs to be; all it takes is a quick 5 minute sharpening every month or so and it will never fail to perform.

Of course 1095 has its drawbacks as well. Namely that it is far more susceptible to weathering than other kinds of steel, which means that the blade has the tendency to rust far quicker than similar knives. In particular the blade edge and the metal around the engraving will be the first to show this kind of weathering. Keeping your blade properly cleaned and oiled is a good way to prevent this.

One other we’ve noticed with ESEE products is that they do not arrive anywhere near as sharp as they can be. That means that the first thing you want to do upon unboxing your knife is to spend some time putting a really nice edge on there.

WATCH: ESEE 6 review and sharpening

Some sheath issues on this model as well; the belt clip is too tight. Hopefully it will loosen up in time.

CDS Knives Celtibero Fixed Blade Survival Knife – Best Survival Knife for being Stranded on a Desert Island

There are not a whole lot of survival knives on the market that can boast as many extra features as CDS Knives’ one-stop shop option, the CELTIBEROCOCO Fixed blade Survival Knife. It’s actually quite a lot of information to go over, so we might as well get started.

A 5.7” blade is constructed of Molybdenum-Vanadium 58. Also known as MOVA-58, this type of blade is going to be incredibly corrosion resistant and remarkably durable at the same time. So even if you were to keep this knife for the long haul (which is likely, considering the durability) you wouldn’t be seeing any rush.

The CELTIBEROCOCO’s big selling point however is probably the sheath, which is constructed in a way that allows it to carry some built in features that make this a true survival knife. For instance, an included knife sharpening stone fits into its very own pocket. They’ve also made room for a firesteel which next to a good knife is perhaps the most important thing you can have in survival situations.

LEARN: How to Use a Firesteel

There is one flaw with this knife, and that is the uneven grinding on each side of the knife. We noticed a ¼” difference in the grind size between the two sides of the knife, which makes for an unbalanced blade.

However, the blade itself is sharp and durable and so far hasn’t let us down.

Gerber Bear Grylls ULTIMATE PRO Fine Edge Knife – Best Survival Knife for Weekend Adventures

We should probably admit that everyone here on the team is a big fan of Bear Grylls, so we might have been somewhat biased when we took a look at the ULTIMATE PRO survival knife. The British ex-SAS agent has teamed up with one of our favorite blade manufacturers … so what would you expect?

If you can get past the brand hype, this is actually a pretty sturdy little knife. As far as survival blades, this one is certainly amongst the most affordable, and because Gerber is behind its construction, it’s a fairly safe bet that you aren’t buying something that you are going to regret.

One thing Gerber did right when releasing their ULTIMATE line was switching to a full-tang blade, which is responsible for a considerable boost in durability and overall sturdiness. You can feel it in your hand when you are holding this thing; it’s just feels like it’s up to the challenge.

A couple of cool extra features here: a loud survival whistle is built into the base of the handle, something that is so small and simple that it had us wondering why we haven’t seen it on many other knives.

Gerber Bear Grylls Knife Whistle

For the blade, we are looking at a 9Cr19MoV high carbon, stainless steel. That’s a pretty nice upgrade from the original model, which was made out of 7Cr17MoV. So there is an increase in blade strength and sharpness here.

The stuff we didn’t like: the belt loop was way too small; a clip would perhaps be better for this kind of knife. In addition, the sheath Velcro is poorly attached and will likely fall off before long.

Benchmade BUSHCRAFTER 162 Fixed Outdoor Survival Knife – Sharpest Survival Knife Around

 

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Benchmade has a real reputation for being among the best in the business when it comes to producing strong, reliable blades that can really hold an edge. Their lifetime guarantee shows just how confident they are that you are going to be getting the best knife possible.

The BUSHCRAFTER is one of the strongest knives that we had the pleasure of testing. This is simply one area where Benchmade simply has the advantage; their experience in crafting steel into versatile and durable knives has caused their blades to get better and better.

The handle is slim and comfortable, but if we are being honest it seems a little small. Perhaps that’s part of this knife’s design profile, as it is a smaller and sleeker knife than many of the other survival knives out on the market. Still, it feels somewhat small considering the blade width.

The sheath is stylish alright. The leather is kind of classy. But overall the sheath simply isn’t built to stand up to the remarkably sharp steel of the Benchmade blade.

Benchmark sheaths mostly available in different color options

One thing that will always impress us about Benchmade is their sharpening and oiling policy. They’ll help you keep your knife in prime condition for the life of the product, and that’s not the kind of policy you see every day.

iField 150 Fixed Blade Survival / Camping Knife – Best Bang-For-Your-Buck Camping Knife

Our team was not able to locate much information out there about iField, the Chinese manufacturer behind the 150 Fixed Blade survival knife and a range of other knife products that are currently available. For this reason we went into the review knowing nothing about the brand’s reputation, which allows us to keep a truly open mind.

Our first impression is that the 150 is a sleek and comfortable knife that will be able to stand up to most common forms of use. 440C Steel is by no means the strongest or sharpest steel available on the market, but after the 58-60 heat treatment it is basically as strong as any other mid-range option available on the market. iField’s 150 knife at least comes fully sharpened, which does separate it from its competitors.

Black leather sheath looks quite sturdy, but has not held up to our rigorous draw testing. After a few dozen draws & replacements, the outer edges of the sheath opening are showing some wear and tear and some of the stitching looks like it will start to come undone before long. The sheath is also quite bulky, but the included firesteel is a nice touch and kind of makes up for it.

The only reason we would be hesitant to recommend the iField 150 Fixed Blade Survival / Camping Knife is that the manufacturer has no real customer service presence or guarantee in place, so that if the knife breaks, you’re all on your own.

ESEE Knives 5P Fixed Blade Knife – Best Fixed Blade Workhorse Knife

The ESEE-5 was designed by military Survival, Evasion, Resistance, & Escape (SERE) instructors to be the quintessential survival knife for a downed pilot. This means that the knife needed to be extremely sharp, exceedingly durable, and functional above all else. Needless to say we were more than a little giddy to see how the actual knife measured up to our expectations.

This is one of the bigger knives that we have on the list. The blade length is only 5.25”, which isn’t particularly long, but when added to the 6 + inch handle you have a final product that is nearly one foot long. The handle is quite burly as a result, something that is not necessarily a bad thing if you have hands that are average or larger than average.

As you can imagine, she is also pretty heavy. But that’s what you get when you buy a knife of this size and class. This is a great all-around beast of a knife that seems up to any challenge, and the increased quality of both blade and handle makes the medium-high price point seem that much more worth it.

There are a lot of critics out there that say that 1095 carbon is not good steel for blade construction because of its susceptibility to weathering and corrosion. While this is true, I believe that the tradeoff benefit of being so easily sharpened makes it well worth it. And in addition, the little rust that will form is easy enough to remove with a very light sanding and is not a serious enough issue to steer me away from this fantastic workhorse knife.

JEO-TEC NO. 31 Bushcraft Survival Hunting Knife – Best All Around Survival & Hunting Knife

Our team was certainly interested in taking a look at JEO-TEC’s new No. 31 model survival knife, as it represented the very latest in the manufacturer’s impressively large line of versatile survival knives. I personally had carried a JEO-TEC before so I was excited to see how changes in their manufacturing techniques would change their products.

The MOVA-58 steel blade is as strong as we would expect it to be, but we were somewhat surprised that the manufacturer didn’t grind it down a bit further, as the knife arrived in a somewhat unsharpened state and it took some time to sharpen it to its full potential. However after the initial sharpening it held its edge indefinitely, which is more what we expected from MOVA-58.

This is one of the few survival knives on the list where we can say that we truly appreciate the sheath construction. Unlike most of the sheaths we looked at, this one offers a perfect fit for the knife, holding it snug but releasing for a quicker and smoother draw. The sheath also supports vertical or horizontal mounting which is a nice feature that isn’t often seen.

We’re giving the JEO-TEC NO. 31 Survival Knife some extra style points as well. The Cocobolo wood handle is just as elegant as the dark leather sheath, and together they just look better and somehow classier than the other knives we looked at.

JEO-TEC No. 15 Bushcraft Survival Hunting Knife – Best Survival Knife with Gear Storage

We were excited to hear that we would be reviewing not one, but two of JEO-TEC’s brand new survival knives for our piece. That’s because JEO-TEC is the manufacturer of dozens of different styles of survival knives, hunting knives, camping knives, and other survival equipment. While the products differ in style and functionality, there is a shared quality of construction that can be counted on. In fact, JEO-TEC is one of only two manufacturers that offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That’s always a good place to start.

The NO. 15 Bushcraft Knife differs from its older brother, the NO. 31, in a few small but important ways. The blade is a little bit longer and the handle expectedly bulkier as a result, but the knife hasn’t lost any of its comfort or grip. It is still a very comfortable knife to have in the hand and does not cause fatigue even after strenuous use, such as cleaning an animal or cutting through rope.

No. 15 & No. 7 Bushcraft

The handle on the NO. 15 is a green-tinted wood pattern Micarta. This is a material that has become more and more popular for survival knives because of its ongoing durability and relative lightness when compared with the more traditional option of wood. The surface of Micarta is also a bit rough, which provides the perfect increased grip that is always good to have when you are working with a really sharp object (and this knife is certainly that!)

LEARN: How to Make Your Own Micarta Knife Handles at Home

The second major difference is the sheath, which, unlike with the NO. 31, is now made of tight-weave Cordura. It’s not as visually pleasing as the leather holster of the NO. 31, but it is perhaps stronger, and has the added bonus of a built in gear pocket which is the perfect size for a first aid kit or other survival supplies. While a lot of knife makers have been adding pockets to the sheaths, the NO. 15 has one that is actually big enough to use for more than just a sharpening stone.

Fallkniven S1 Fine Edge Fixed Blade Forest Knife – Best Winter Weather Bushcraft Knife

Here is a knife that was quite possibly designed to survive far longer than any of us will. FALLKNIVEN has been producing knives in Sweden since the mid-eighties, and since then have built a reputation for manufacturing some of the strongest and most reliable knives on the market. While they have become known for their top-of-the-line products and the higher prices associated with the increased quality, they have also managed to maintain a line of professional quality knives at a price that doesn’t put them out of reach.

The FALLKNIVEN S1 is just that knife, and it could very well be in our top three knives on this list.

Let’s talk laminated steel. That’s probably our favorite thing about the S1, because it allows the blade to take significantly more impact before sustaining scratching or damage. It also acts like a force field in repelling rust, weathering, and discoloration. The end result is a blade that is not likely to show any signs of damage or aging, whatsoever, given that it is cleaned and sharpened every once and a while.

The handle is constructed to a matching quality, with the synthetic proprietary material Thermorun. Both stronger and lighter than wood, it provides the perfect secure structure to hold the blade in place. Our favorite feature: the full tang blade actually extends past the end of the handle specifically for the purpose of hammering things. That’s a feature we haven’t seen anywhere else.

Fallkniven S1 handle

One real drawback of the FALLKNIVEN S1 is that the handle itself is a bit thin for a knife of this size. That can make the grip somewhat uncomfortable with extended use, especially with the ring and pinky finger. However if you consider that a Swedish-designed knife is likely designed to be used with thick gloves, then the thin handle might actually be a helpful feature.

Fallkniven FN 78 F1 Military Survival Knife – Best Top-Of-The-Line Survival Knife

The FALLKNIVEN F1 has always been one of our very favorite knives. A few years ago we had the pleasure of taking a look at one of the original F1 knives. The knife we looked at was Laminated VG10 steel, which is the standard for many survival knives in this class. We were stunned to see what a difference the laminated CoS steel made in the new model. We expect that both weathering and micro-chipping are going to be a thing of the past here.

It is important to note that the FALLKNIVEN F1 is the most expensive knife on our list, and exists close to the top of the price range for consumer survival knives. Outdoor adventurers and enthusiasts however will be interested to hear that the F1 is worth every penny. It is one of the most well-made knives we have ever demoed, and the one we are lease likely to return to the manufacturer after we’re done writing about it.

Personally I am not a huge fan of black powder-coated blades. It does look cool, but it doesn’t add anything else to the knife in general, and is often times not as resistant as it is without the coating. I wish Fallkniven would skip that step on the next run of F1s, but I certainly am not going to complain.

It is important to note that the CoS steel blade is not going to arrive anywhere near as sharp as it is capable of being, so have your sharpening stones ready as there will some edge work to do before this thing is adventure-ready.