There are three main things you need to survive in the wilderness – water, fire and blade. Obviously, there are multiple other things you would need to be comfortable in the woods, but the big 3 will ensure that you can stay alive. Water to drink, fire to cook and stay warm and a knife to cover other daily tasks such as killing, cleaning, camp duty, building, cutting wood, etc. A knife is capable of countless duties, but you need a quality survival knife.
The Morakniv Bushcraft Survival Knife with Fire Starter covers two of the big 3 survival rules – blade and fire starter. Strap this survival knife to your belt or bag and carry in your water and you’re good to go.
Design
The Morakniv Bushcraft is a fixed blade survival knife made of carbon steel that has an anti-corrosive black coating. You want your survival knife to be a fixed blade because they can handle more duties and are more durable than a folder or pocket knife. Pocket knives are great to have and I would carry them as well as a larger survival knife, but they are not able to keep up with heavy duty tasks as well as a fixed blade knife. Plus, they break easier when attempting heavy duty camp chores like splitting small pieces of wood or batoning.
Steel
Made from high carbon steel with a 1/8-inch thick blade, this knife is razor sharp out of the box and extremely durable. Hardened to hold up to high levels of stress such as splitting wood or hard cutting; the blade is also coated with corrosion protection. This is important, especially if you use your knife a lot and it gets wet. This survival knife has a Scandi grind to keep the blade from slipping or getting stuck in what you are cutting through. Designed with a thin blade compared to other survival knives to make intricate tasks easier, yet still delivering enough blade for other camp duties such as batoning and cutting firewood when you don’t have a camp axe handy.
Fire Starter
This is already a great survival knife; the attached fire starter is just icing on the cake. The Morakniv Fire Starter yields upwards of 7,000 strikes. That means you can start fires for years with the same fire starter. It may take a few strikes to get your fire started, but you will improve your accuracy with practice. The fire starter knife produces 3,000 degree sparks, which is plenty to start a warm fire. You can even strike a fire when wet. Light your grill, camp fire, gas stove; you name it! Strike a fire in rain and even snow. You can also strike up an emergency signal if you are ever lost and need help as a last resort. It’s important to practice with your fire starter before depending on it to save your life. Take it to your back yard and test it out. You will need to gather some materials before you can start a fire – there’s more to it than just creating a hot spark. Here’s an article that explains how to start a fire with a fire starter.
We always recommend carrying a fire starter or wearing a fire starter necklace each and every time you enter the woods. Now you can have one attached to your fixed blade survival knife as a backup.
Size
The total length of this survival knife with Firestarter is 9.1 inches, with a blade length of 4.3 inches. It only weighs 5.4 ounces, which makes it easy to carry. You have to decide how much survival knife you want when choosing. Large survival knives are great for numerous reasons, but you can do just as much and sometimes even more with a smaller survival knife. Once you are experienced using them, you can modify how you use them to compete with the really large survival knives. Plus, smaller survival knives are easier to carry and use than their larger counterparts. Obviously, splitting wood will be more difficult with a smaller knife, but that’s why we suggest carrying a tactical tomahawk or camp axe.
Handle and Sheath
You want a knife with a grippy handle. Slippery hands can be dangerous when handling a knife, especially if you are in inclement weather and trying to work your knife. The Morakniv is designed with your needs in mind and the handle is a high-friction rubber grip. Grab it and know your hands will not slip! The sheath is plastic and comes with a diamond sharpener and fire starter. A knife is only as useful as long as it can hold an edge – now you don’t have to worry about bringing a sharpener. In all honesty, I’ve never brought a sharpener with me on a trip, but if you end up stuck for a long time, you will need one. The Morakniv Fire Starter Survival Knife thought of everything and will keep you prepared.
Best Uses
This fixed blade survival knife is designed for just about anything such as backpacking, hiking, camp duty, batoning, carving, survival, self-defense, hunting, skinning and starting a fire. Doubtful you will find much of anything you can’t do with this blade. The Mora knife family produces some of the best and affordable bushcraft and survival knives you can buy. You won’t find a better and more versatile survival knife for the price. This particular model is known as one of the most durable in the Mora knife collection. It has the thickest spine of all Mora knives and throws a hot shower of sparks with the fire starter due to the high-quality carbon steel.
Warranty
The manufacturer provides a limited lifetime warranty.
Pros
High quality steel – sharp, durable and hardened to perfection. You even get a black coating that helps with corrosion.
Multi-functional survival knife – It’s not often you get a knife that does it all – this is one of the best fixed blade survival knives with fire starter that you can purchase. You even get a diamond sharpener for when you’re in the bush and need to fix your knife.
Scandi Grind – prevents your knife from slipping, getting stuck in what you’re cutting and keep a razor sharp blade for a long time. You will be able to do heavy duty camp tasks with this knife.
Sheath – while the sheath is in both pro- and con- sections, it isn’t that bad. You get an integrated diamond sharpener and Morakniv Fire Starter. I’m not sure you could really do much better for a sheath to hold multiple items.
Fire Starter – This is one of the main reasons you want this knife! Not only is the blade high quality, but you also get a top-of-the-line fire starter that will give you roughly 7,000 strikes and rain hot sparks on your tinder.
Affordable – The Morakniv Bushcraft Survival Knife with Fire Starter comes at a great price for everything you get.
Cons
Not full tang – More like 2/3. Many survival knife and bushcraft enthusiasts prefer a full tang blade. This knife isn’t full tang, but 2/3 – same as many other Mora knives. This is not necessarily a bad thing as you should use your knife as a knife and not a battering ram or full-size axe. You have to know how to properly use a survival knife to be effective.
Sheath – The sheath could be better. However, it’s not a big enough factor to keep anyone from owning this knife. You still have multiple options to carry the knife. The sheath does carry a knife, fire starter and a diamond sharpener.
Conclusion
This is a knife you won’t regret owning. Multi-functional to say the least – you can do a lot with this bushcraft survival knife! It would be a great knife even without the fire starter or diamond sharpener.
Jerome is an avid outdoorsman who moonlights as an attorney when he’s not creating the world’s greatest online content.