We use them all the time in the kitchen to prepare meals. But have you ever considered the value of owning knives for survival purposes? Truth be told, there are so many things that a survival knife can do that it's pretty much a no-brainer to keep at least one on hand at all times.
Everything from cutting branches and brush to skinning animals to chopping and preparing wood can be accomplished with a high-quality survival knife, which is why many survivalists recognize owning one as being among the top 10 tools that every individual needs as an essential part of a survival or emergency kit.
Besides some of the more obvious uses, including as a self-defense tool, a survival knife can do a whole lot of other things as well that you probably take for granted. Here are six practical uses for a survival knife that you may not have considered:
1. Opening packages, cans, boxes, and letters. During an emergency situation, you and your family will need to be able to make good use of containers, boxes, and other storage materials containing food and other life-saving supplies. And what better way to open them with a survival knife, which can be used to crack open a can of beans, for instance, or neatly slice open a box containing string or rope.
2. Keeping your campsite running smoothly. If access to indoor shelter isn't an option, having a survival knife handy at the campsite will help to ensure that you have plenty of fresh kindling, sticks for roasting food, and protection in case of a bear or other animal attack. A survival knife can also be used to open bottles or even fleck out splinters.
3. Fishing and hunting for food. When collecting food from the wild, having a survival knife handy can be critical for snipping fishing line, removing the hook from a fish, cutting up bait, and even filleting fish for frying over an open flame. In a hunting scenario, a survival knife can make it easier to take game, skin meat, and also cut up that meat.
If you think of it as an all-in-one handy tool, a survival knife can also be used for other purposes during these activities, including in the opening of a beer bottle while awaiting your next meal. And should you get lost during the hunt or expedition, a survival knife can be used to make carvings into trees so that rescuers are better able to find you.
4. Applying first aid. You never know when you might need a survival knife to cut a bandage or fashion a tourniquet. While scissors, for instance, can only be used for one thing, a survival knife can be used for many things, including as a tool to cut first aid materials for use during a serious injury.
5. Protecting yourself against attack. Whether from hostile animals or hostile humans, a survival knife can function as a highly useful self-defense tool. Depending on the situation, a survival knife can be used to ward off bears or bobcats, or as a weapon in close-quarter, hand-to-hand combat against an aggressor.
6. Preparing food in any scenario. Like you probably use the knives in your butcher block to quarter vegetables or cut up meat, a survival knife can be used out in the wild, or anywhere really, as a tool to prepare meals. Since food is an absolute necessity, having a survival knife on hand to prepare it with ease will go a long way in expediting the cooking process, as well as freeing up time for other necessary duties such as building shelters, making clothing, and preparing firewood.
For more tips on how to make it on your own in the event of a societal breakdown or other emergency, visit Survival.news.
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