PRACTICAL/USABLE, KNIVES, POINTS, AND TOOLS; PLUS TWO KNOTS

Regular readers are well aware that I am not, at all, impressed or influenced by ALL THE BULL CRAP SO WIDELY CIRCULATED ON MOST WEBSITES, ON MOST SUBJECTS. Usually, the writers have no real knowledge, they are just recirculating advertising/merchancising propeganda. As for the subject of Survival; MOST OF THESE GUYS WOULD NEVER SURVIVE, IN A REAL SURVIVAL SITUATION. On both counts, this post serves, very well, to illustrate, just, why I'm not.

http://ushistoryimages.com/native-american-weapons.shtm

While an axe; especially a light 1 1/4 pound, belt/hand axe, light enough to carry easily; yet heavy enough to do the work it is intended to do-- that of chopping, driving stakes, and splitting wood; and a military type folding belt shovel is great--- for the light, digging, chores;

you can usually break the firewood you need, through the use of two conveniently spaced trees(avoid using a tree crotch; which will pry the crotch apart and leave the tree open to disease, fungal and insect infestation)with your hands; so, there will not, really,  be any necessity to do a great deal of chopping, (Canada's truly Indigenous peoples did very little). And, other improvised tools can be used to dig, drive stakes, or even piles--if you ever have occasion that you wish to do so but i can not imagine why you ever would in a survival situation. 
A knife therefore is your second-third fiftyith-hundredth-most valuable tool (after what ever else is FIRST-needed-Aid)  in any survival/disaster situation. 

Still, however, the wise man or woman always carries at least a top quality "stock-man" knife, pictured top, or other knife; (without a lot of cumbersome gadgets; and not designed for easy conversion into a spear point--a knife is meant for cutting, puncturing, or slicing--you do not CHOP--even meat or vegetables-- and you do not ever, ever, ever, throw them.) on their person at all times and they keep it razor sharp (when quality knives are now so readily available; why would they not? A good sharp knife can be a valuable survival aid, if and only if, used thoughtfully, and properly).
When I was in the Arctic I carried a somewhat larger folding knife that also had a saw blade (pictured bottom). I have used the saw blade to cut through wood as large as a 2x4. While not perfect by any means, (short and stiff) the cutting blade is usable as a game dressing, muscle boning, skinning knife. My main job while in the Arctic was camp cook, so I usually had several other knives readily available; non the less, I have used the knife pictured to fillet Arctic char and had no problem in doing so with no loss of meat.

While, as previously mentioned, a light belt/hand or other axe, with up to a two pound head, can be very handy in any camping, and,or, survival situation; LARGER HEAVIER AXES which are designed for cutting larger logs in long term, and, or, pioneering, projects ARE NOT REALLY TOOLS FOR BUSHCRAFT/disaster/emergency SURVIVAL. 

Machetes are designed and primarily used to slash away heavy undergrowth. In CANADA, in a disaster, or an emergency survival situation, a much more compact and easier to carry meat cleaver (I was Cook and First -aid Man)will do almost as well as either an axe or machete.

REMEMBER, BECAUSE YOU NEED TO, AND WILL WANT TO; KEEP IT WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES; YOU WILL HAVE TO BE ABLE TO CARRY ALL YOUR EQUIPMENT.
It must be noted these “bush craft survival tools” are not toys for macho types; or for kids; who never grew up. All are very, very, dangerous-can be dangerous to human life or detrimental to survival. All are illegal to use in Canada and or other CIVILIZED counties, except in extreme emergency. All must be clearly marked during the period of use; and must be dismantled immediately after the emergency situation is over. IF YOU ARE USING ANY OF THESE TOOLS TO TRAP OR KILL GAME, UNDER THE GUISE OF PRACTISING BUSHCRAFT, YOU COULD, AND SHOULD BE, CHARGED WITH ANIMAL ABUSE, DANGEROUS ACTIVITY-POTENTIALLY CAUSING HUMAN HARM, AND SEVERAL OTHER THINGS UNDER THE FISH AND WILDLIFE ACT.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN  A "FIELD KNIFE"
First, always remember, as indicated by the following paragraph; much of the advice out there is pure bull-shit.
"What you want is a full tang knife made of high carbon steel with a 4-6" flat or convex grind drop or spear point blade with a synthetic handle. A full tang is when the knife blade extends the full length and width of the handle and is by far the strongest design. High carbon steel is stronger than stainless steel because it does not contain chrome which weakens the steel. Of course there are some amazingly strong modern stainless steels out there, so the general rule breaks down. However, high carbon is easier to sharpen in the field. The drawback is that it rusts if not kept dry and oiled. A 4-6" blade is the best all around length if you are only carrying one knife. Flat or convex grinds have stronger edges. I prefer a drop or spear point blade because of its tip strength."

Actually, a field knife or ANY KNIFE does NOT have to be extremely tough; which means- that while you will be wise to avoid certain features which could compromise a knife under duress, do not get fanatical about it.

Here are some you might want to avoid: hollow, plastic or synthetic handles, cumbersome knives with a lot of unnecessary gadgets, heavy knives, extremely thin, pointy tips (this does not include the extremely practical and useful, double edged, Commando- knives  of the First, and Second, World Wars; that gave the British, Canadian and "The Devil's Brigade"a reputation of being the best in the world), partial  or bolt tangs, serrated edges. 

1. Many synthetic knife handles are actually hollow. For a hollow handled knife, the cylinder has to be bonded, or welded, onto the blade; a bond which could be extremely weak.
2. A heavy knife is awkward, impractical, and tiresome to use--it will just pull your pants down.
3.  With a clip point or other narrow profile blade you could break off the tip; but then; the knife should not be used as a pry-bar in the first place and a narrow, flexible, blade is very useful, for dressing an animal, bird, or fish (muscle boning or filleting).
4.  Partial or bolt tangs could break the handle. But, properly used, a bolt tang will also enable the replacement of that broken handle and, the tightening of any; loose handle. 
5.  While they are somewhat easier to clean, ridged  " Sheath" knives are, primarily, "status symbols"; A quality folding knife should never fail  you, nor will you easily loose it- if -like the ridged sheath knife, it is also kept in a belt case. 
6. The edge on a hollow ground blade is no weaker than any other truely sharp edge; but, the hollow grind, while being slightly harder to sharpen,  may,ultimately, allow you to get a "keener" edge. 
7. Leather or wood handles DO NOT become slippery in the rain which is why they were the handles of choice for military knives and bayonets.
8. Leather handles are usually made with bolt tangs BECAUSE, they can  be tightened, should the leather become dry and shrink. All wood handles, no matter how hard the tree species, are susceptible to breakage but so are synthetic handles, if the knife is misused. Knives are not meant to be used as a splitting wedge or with a batton.
9. Be aware, serrated edges cannot be sharpened in the field and are difficult to sharpen at home.
10. Even a "Field Knife" does not have to be tough but if it did; there is NO noticeable difference  in the strength of stainless steel and carbon steel blades. Stainless steel is harder then carbon steel; so it will take longer, and be slightly more difficult to sharpen to a really keen edge; another but; it will keep that really keen edge longer than a carbon steel blade-one reason stainless steel in so often used in lumber mills-and why carbon steel is now virtually obsolete.

Imagine being in a survival situation without any equipment or tools except your knife.You might even be without a knife(it could and often does happen). You would probably feel very helpless.
With the proper knowledge, preparation and skills, while it may not-will not- be easy, you CAN IMPROVISE needed items. Out of necessity, you may HAVE TO fashion any number and type of tools and/or equipment.
Improvised equipment and tools may serve many purposes. They can provide a sense of accomplishment and hope. They can make life much easier and comfortable.THEY CAN ALLOW YOU TO SURVIVE. 
Improvised cutting implements, of any type, are best fashioned out of bone (from a large bird, if available) 1.quickly made, using any of several different methods 2. will handle most tcutting tasks reasonably well 3.easily resharpenable, again, by using several different methods. 4. much easier to obtain than ANY SUITABLE stone.

CLUBS
A club can have many uses. Here, we are concerned  with survival  and the TOOLS of SURVIVAL (life), not with the military or military weapons of death. We are concerned with REAL survival situations (you know, the type you are most apt to find yourself in); situations where clubs are used as a camp tool (hammer).  You hold clubs, you jab or trust with them-- you swing them(most often to drive stakes--you do not normally throw them. 
Simple Club
A simple club is a staff or branch. It must be short enough for you to swing easily, but long enough to provide some leverage and strong enough to serve the intended purpose.
Weighted Club
A weighted club is any simple club with a weight on one end. The weight may be a natural weight, such as a knot on the wood (the famous Irish shillelagh), or something added such as a stone lashed to the club. A stone with a sight hourglass shape works best. If you cannot find a suitably shaped stone, you can fashion a grove or  channel into the stone by a technique known as pecking (from the chicken or wood pecker). By repeatedly pecking the head stone with a smaller hard stone, you will eventually get the desired shape. The "tomahawk"(see illustration below), used by early North American natives, and often referred to as an axe, was really a just a club with a more, or less, sharpened striking surfaces--a stone axe is not really suited for felling trees.
There are three techniques for lashing a stone hammer head to the handle.

NOTE: DO NOT  attempt to lash and tie the head stone to the handle using knots as illustrated,(you will not be able to tie the knots or lashing near tight enough and it will come undone---whoever drew this diagram, originally, knew very little about the subject) as shown in the above diagram--use instead the WHIPPING METHOD diagrammed below. The simple or weighted clubs are the only ones practical in a survival situation

This is the same method  used to: "whip" the ends of cordage or rope, and since pre-historic times, by farmers, to tie grain or storage bags. It is also, with very little alteration, variation, or in the case of the double; addition; the very same knot that anglers refer to as a bait/egg loop, when fishing for Arctic Char, Northern  Pike, Pickerel Perch, Salmon, Steelhead; actually most any predatory fish.

The Single Bait/Egg Loop Knot is the  same knot that is used to "whip the ends of cordage or rope.

The Double Bait/Egg Loop Knot

© Above 5 images , Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All Rights Reserved

Note:My apologies, some of you may have tried tying this knot and run into problems. This would be because at image 3, I inadvertently neglected a step in my original instructions. TO THIS POINT YOU HAVE A BASIC, SIMPLE, WHIPPING KNOT.
BRING YOUR LINE THROUGH THAT INITIAL LOOP YOU MADE; BEFORE GOING THROUGH THE HOOK EYE; OTHERWISE KNOT WILL COME APART.  Unlike the conventional Egg Loop Knot, this knot has a bait or egg loop as part of the knot-plus the loop formed when the leader is passed through the eye of the hook the second time.(shown in image 5).

©Al (Alex-Alexander) D Girvan. All rights reserved.

I add two more steps, as shown above, (long leader line, now cinched controls front loop; short line the second loop-- near yellow label)which I find holds my bait better; but I know of nobody else that does so:

1. Bring leader length back and pass it under bait loop.
2. Pass it. once again, through the hook eye.

Whether you are Fashioning a axe or club, tying a grain sack, hang man's knot, whipping the end of a rope to prevent ravelling,   tying a single or double egg loop fishing knot; while, they may look some what different, at first glance, they are, basically, all the same knot.  Use them well, and for the purposes intended. Save yourself a lot of grief.

SPEARS
Like clubs, spears are used for thrusting; not throwing. In a survival situation, spears do not have  many practical uses--used mainly  for fishing. Therefore, while points may be attached, they are not really necessary and involve extra time and work better used to accomplish something else--more worthwhile.

KNIVES AND POINTS
NOTE: Some stones such as chert, flint, obsidian, or quartz can have and hold edges very much sharper than the finest steel razors but they chip or break easily. In a short term survival situation, their usefulness is not worth the labour or work required to produce them..
BARK
Bark is easily shaped and it can be heat tempered to take and hold (almost glass-- or at least about the same hardness as copper or bronze) to take and hold a keen edge. A knife made from bark can work very well for slicing--they will even cut through wood.
BONE
Bone, like bark is relatively easily shaped. Some bone, like bark, will take a very keen edge, and like bark, some bone can be further heat tempered but they are usually not as brittle and do not chip or break as easily as stone. It is amazing just how rugged and serviceable they can be.
While whale bone, if, and where, available, is very, very, versatile; generally speaking, the best bone for knives, needles, or points comes from sea birds, poultry, or the smaller animals (quite similar to poultry bones, the bones of a fox are good). Bones from larger animals (excluding horn or antler) are often softer and do not hold an edge as well.
WOOD
Like bark or bone, wood is easily shaped and can be tempered; but wood (except bamboo, which is a grass, not a true wood and is not generally available in most areas of Canada) still will not hold a keen edge. However, for most POINTS; wood is all that is really necessary.
NOTE: While in most survival situations you would not be using  arrows-when arrows are used to shoot birds and small game they are usually blunt, with no point at all-.for very practical reasons, they are easier to recover but still do the job.

FIRE HARDENING/HEAT TEMPERING
Bark bone, or wood can all be hardened or tempered using high heat. If a fire is possible, dry the blade portion over the fire (or other dry, high, heat source, hotter the better, until the bark, bone, or wood (or minerals and resins there in) actually start to melt; but do not allow the material to char,(burning,charring= oxidation)will actually break down and soften the surface of the bark, bone, or wood and render it less suitable for your intended purpose.
© Al (Alex, Alexander) D. Girvan-2012 All rights reserved