United Cutlery Bushmaster Survival Knife

UNITED CUTLERY BUSHMASTER HUNTING KNIFE WITH SURVIVAL KITIf considering the United Cutlery Bushmaster knife, you want a knife that does it all. This knife does a huge amount: It is a general knife. It is a small machete excellent for swiping off the small branches for tinder. It provides most of a good survival kit at no cost, and it provides space for a very good kit with a few substitutions. It can be made a spear. It is 15 inches long total--the blade is 10 inches.This review assumes you have read the others about this product.The Bushmaster also does an important task I never see mentioned in Amazon reviews--redundancy. If you have a kit or pack, all the experts say to build in multipurpose redundancy. The Bushmaster does exactly that by duplicating the critical functions in a kit or pack--orientation, fire, and the ability to make shelter.What does it do in detail? It provides a good solid knife for big jobs up to functioning as a small machete. It is made solidly, heavily. It provides a complete basic survival kit at a bargain price. The case is very solid and gives you extra space for adding and substituting items of your own.What does it not do? It's not a small hand knife, so of course you get a smaller knife or use this one very gingerly for small jobs, which you would do if you had any sense at all anyway. It's not a great saw, and the flashlight and sharpening stone are minimal. These shortcomings are minor.HOW TO BUY THIS KNIFEDon't do what I did. I looked many hours before buying this knife, finally settling on it as a big part of my disaster/camping/survival pack. You can buy this knife for $28.50 or $40, so I bought it from another company on Amazon for the low price. As I waited with baited breath, they cancelled the order giving no explanation. I complained to Amazon. Then I bought it from Anything You Imagine for $28.50. Then to my horror, I found the picture on the Amazon website has (I think) changed and lacked the survival kit. I immediately emailed them. They emailed back the same day, saying they had checked, and it should indeed include the survival kit. When it arrived, the knife did contain the kit. It seems there are two pictures floating around, one with and one without the kit. They even emailed me saying be sure to tell them if it had the kit. So I recommend buying from Anything You Imagine for the low price.CONCLUSIONThe United Cutlery Bushmaster knife provides the best single survival kit in the smallest package one can find. At $28.50 it's a real bargain, especially if you buy it from a dealer that responds well to your concerns.HINTS1. To create the ultimate small survival kit, combine Doug Ritter's "Pocket Survival Pak" with this knife. It's available on Amazon for about $25.2. Get a new whetstone and flashlight. I got a nifty $3 Rayovac light locally. It is smaller than the one in the Bushmaster kit, takes one AAA battery, and has an LED last-forever bulb.3. If preparing for emergencies, do a lot of research online, where resources I have found useful include:a. Doug Ritter's many recommendations and supplies. He has set up a foundation "Equipped to Survive" and truly has his heart into survival oriented outdoor gear. You can even download his survival sheet free on that foundation website. You can also spend about a half hour reading the details about his Pocket Survival Pak. You can spend another half hour reading why he included the items he did in the pak and in his survival instructions. You gotta love this guy.b. Many good videos on YouTube, now owned by Google.c. Several good survival manuals sold by Amazon such as Wiseman's.d. Many other entire books including military and government manuals that you can download for free online at [...] .e. All manner of blogs and outdoors sites. One that reviews outdoor gear is [...] .f. And of course Amazon, an amazing resource. I looked for a great many hours before buying a consumer-oriented backpack modeled after the military's molle equipment from Amazon. It was exactly the size I wanted and at $50 is a steal. What it lacks I can add. (New CUSCUS 75L Camp Molle Internal Frame Hiking Travel Backpack Bag) I got about half of the really specialized equipment I needed from Amazon, because they are so good and reliable to deal with.

Hollow handle knives get a bad rap from the "REAL" knife folks out there.... their 'full tang' mantra is not without validity, but there ARE exceptions... and this may be one of them. This thing is a beast.... and you want to talk about a formidable appearance? This get's peoples attention. I took this knife on a two day 'bug out' drill in the Sierra's, and could not be more impressed with it's performance. Now true, I have 'doctored' it up a bit, and replaced most of the survival kit contents with my own stuff, but the raw talent is there. Good heft in the hand, it is an excellent 'chopper', making short work of small limbs (thumb sized) for kindling. Green sticks (1/2") for roasting skewers were a 'one swipe' thing. Carving tent pegs, same deal. I did some tests on several 3" limbs, it does okay, but that is what a folding saw is for. The saw on the back of the blade is useless for cutting, but for notching sticks for traps or tent pegs, it does an excellent job. It held an edge well and did everything from cutting open MRE pouches, making fires (this throws sparks like nothing I've seen), and sharpening skewers to making me feel a little safer walking in bear country.The sheath is also excellent raw talent. HD nylon with 3 very useful pockets held closed by velcro. The knife sits inside a plastic liner and has a velcro retaining strap. It rides on a belt of any size and appears to be very durable. The included supplies are okay... The snake bite kit (w/ Iodine), the snare, P38 can opener, scalpel blade, hooks and split shot are keepers. Everything else I replaced 'cause it's Ka-ka (especially the flashlight).So back to the 'full tang' debate... YES, a full tang is more stable... but they also cost a lot more. I've heard of very expensive knives breaking (Knives are NOT pry tools... I have a Stanley 55-045 7-1/2-Inch Wonder Bar II Pry Baron my belt for that)... and stuff does get lost... so if you break or loose this one how much are you out?By "doctoring" I mean that I drove a steel nail through the retaining pin hole for added strength/retention, injected an acrylic glue into the 'tang' housing, used a clear sealant to water proof the handle/tang at the base of the blade, removed the 'Rambo-esque' hand guard and wrapped the handle with Super Glue E-z Fuse Pro Black Tape 2.5ft X 1 In Roll (2 Pack) # 1540912-2pk(this stuff is FANTASTIC for handle grips.. try it!) As for my 'survival kit'.... all of this stuff I've added and is on THIS knife and secure.1. Gerber 31-000486 EVO Combo Edge Mid-Size Tanto Knife2. Blocklite (TM) Mini Compact Size Ultra Bright 9V Eveready Battery LED Flashlight for Camping, Indoor Use3. Rayovac Lithium 9V Size Battery4. Smith's PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener5. Lot of 5 Bic Mini Multi-colour Lighter Lot 6. 3 Pack of 1 Liter Survival Water Bags - Whirl Closure7. TQ Tinder-Quik, 10-pack8.Coghlan's 1005 Flint Striker(tucked in seam at top of sheath) 9. bottle w/ 1 OZ. bleach 10. 7" S.S. throwing knife/spear head 11. 20' hank of bank line.So it's your choice... spend a couple hundred for just a knife, or get this and all the accoutrements for well under $100....... Plus, It LOOKS AWESOME!!!!!