Of all the survival knives in the world, which one would you choose to be the perfect tool to keep you alive during a zombie apocalypse? I must admit that I have several choices in mind. Of course, if there really were a zombie apocalypse, I'd have all of my choice knives with me along with a couple of guns and grenades. After all, there's no such thing as being over-prepared when you're facing the walking dead.
BUT if I were forced to choose, there is one knife that I prefer over all the others. Now, before I tell you which one it is, I just want to say that everyone has his or her own preferences and opinions on what makes a survival knife the best. My choice is simply an expression of what I believe are necessary features for a knife to be considered "apocalypse-worthy."
So, as I was saying, I have several survival knives, and I've tested them all. But the one that I believe would be my ultimate choice should zombies start walking the earth is my Outdoorsman by Cold Steel. Why is that? I have several reasons which I'll explain one by one in a little bit.
If you aren't familiar with the Outdoorsman, then let me enlighten you. This bad boy is a full tang, fixed blade made of VG-1 San Mai III® Steel with an overall length of 11 inches. The blade itself is 6 inches long and 3/16 inches thick. It has a "bone breaker" edge, a checkered Kraton handle, and a black leather sheath. If I were a girl, these specs would make me squee in delight. But I'm not.
Anyway, now that you have an idea of what my survival knife looks like, let's get down to the nitty gritty. First, any decent survivalist would choose a blade that is around this length, thickness, and weight (9.9 ounces) because they're all "just right." Not too heavy, not too light. Not too long, not to short. You get what I mean. These dimensions enable you to adequately perform both heavy duty and light duty tasks.
You can skin game, carve wood, baton wood, chop branches off, etc. And because the material is nearly unbreakable (having been tested by me and several others), you don't have to worry about breaking the blade off while you abuse the heck out of it. It also doesn't hurt that the Outdoorsman has a "bone breaker" on the blade's spine. Like what the name implies, this part of the knife can be used to break bones - those of animals or enemies.
Aside from being "just right" and incredibly tough, I like how razor sharp the blade is out of the box and how good it retains its edge despite my constant abuse. In a zombie apocalypse, I wouldn't know when I would have the time to sharpen my blade or if I would have the necessary tools to sharpen it.
I mentioned earlier that the Outdoorsman is made out of stainless steel. Now, I know many prefer carbon steel. I do too. But in a zombie apocalypse when you wouldn't know what type of environment you'd end up in, the rust-resistant blade would be your best choice.
The best things about this knife, to me, are its extremely tough tip and the steel butt cap. This is because we're talking about an apocalypse here where combat will definitely be an everyday thing. So a tough tip will ensure that I can stab people (not the good ones, only the bad ones and the dead ones) with ease without worrying that my blade will break. And a steel butt cap can knock people unconscious if I need them alive. You know what I mean.
Other people would probably choose a different survival knife if asked this question. I'm sure there are some survival knives that perform some of the tasks I mentioned way better than the Outdoorsman. But from what I've seen (on TV, of course), in a zombie apocalypse, a knife that is able to adequately perform all tasks is WAY better than one that can only be amazing at some tasks. What do you think?