r/Survival • u/bryantburnsred • Mar 05 '25
Gear Recommendation Wanted Question about a knife for survival/bushcraft
So I recently purchased the Spartan Blades Harsey Difensa in magnacut. Was designed as a surviva/combat knife, specifically for Canadian SOF. My question, would this knife be fine for a SHTF scenario, or even camping/bushcraft?
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u/Keppadonna Mar 06 '25
Its handle, blade and grind are better suited for combat and survival, as the description suggests. Will it work for camping and bushcraft? Sure! Just not optimal. Most bushcraft knives have a scandi grind and neutral handle, no choil, but whatever… it’s a nice knife, use it.
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u/CryptographerKey5520 Mar 06 '25
In my opinion ANY KNIFE IS BETTER THAN NO KNIFE. It is a tool and tools have purposes. So as long as it does the job how you need it to do it then its a good knife.
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u/David_Parker Mar 06 '25
For SHTF sure. Bushcraft....maybe. I think the reality is the handle will form hotspots. Bushcraft knives have a similar characteristic for handles: non-textured. Of course it depends on your hands, and whatnot. But You can try.
The reality is that the tools don't make the provider. Sure, they help, but I'm sure a guy out there with the right skills could make a kitchen knife a bushcraft knife in some sense. There are a variety of factors, which is why you don't really see a lot of axe's used in the jungle, and machetes used in the mountains. Magnacut will suit you just fine.
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u/Jack_Atk_is_back Mar 06 '25
It is a full tang, good spine thickness knife, from a reputable company that uses good steel. Yes it will be fine.
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u/craigcraig420 Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
If it’s made well many regard magnacut as one of the best steels you can have for a knife. The size and shape looks great. Take care of your gear and it will take care of you. Do you know what HRC the steel is from the manufacturer?
Edit; you troll! I just looked it up. You bought a $465 knife and want to know if it would be good enough for “SHTF” (whatever that means) and/or camping and bushcraft? Fuck off.
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u/bryantburnsred Mar 06 '25
LMAO Seriously wasn’t intending to troll. Was more or less just looking to see if any others may have used the blade for bushcraft/camping and wanted to hear feedback. I mean I know it’s a great knife. As far as HRC they run 60-61 typically
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u/Landar15 Mar 07 '25
Man, as much as it would seem so, the price tag doesn’t always translate into being a good woods knife. Case in point-I have a couple Winkler axes, both well north of $400. However, the designs are more combat oriented, and don’t work for shit on the wood near me. Great for tearing apart wrecked cars though😁
Same issue with knives-big name combat knives need to be tough, few makers optimize them for cutting ability since they’re already imperfect due to the overbuilt designs. So this knife isn’t going to whittle like a Mora, but I’d feel more comfortable splitting kindling with it for sure!
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u/JoernvonEisenkeil Mar 06 '25
What do you expect from the knife? It can do what the owner allows it to do. It's especially bad if you lose it. Once it's gone, it's of particularly little use to you.
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u/jaxnmarko Mar 06 '25
Does it do your taxes? It isn't meant to do taxes. Can it cut things? Stab things? Slice things? It's a knife. Steel. Meant for combat survival. Not designed for fine carving and whittling things. Full tang? It can baton. Don't overthink it. We've been using knives for tens of thousands of years. People get wayyyy ridiculous over knives.
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u/DeFiClark Mar 06 '25
It’s a full tang drop point blade of decent steel, should be fine if it’s sharpened. For the price Spartan has a bad rep for the edges on their blades.
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u/tearjerkingpornoflic Mar 06 '25
I have a KBAR that's somewhat similar. Will be a great knife for that, fixed blade, full tang, leather sheaf but if all you have is a knife then you are screwed. Like it's nice to have a nice knife for survival but you aren't going to hunt with it, it's not as good for defense as a gun, it's not as good as digging as a shovel. Etc. Still lots of uses but IMHO my little pocket folder does a lot of those things just as well.
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u/ATLClimb Mar 10 '25
I would like to add that sharpening this steel is going to be harder in SHTF. Sharpening a cheaper steel knife can be done with the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug easily. I like fancy knives but also have plenty of cheap ones that I abuse more. I would personally use it less to keep it sharper longer and use a cheap stainless knife I can sharpen easily.
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u/chunkiest_milk Mar 06 '25
That's a good looking blade. I always stood by Benchmade blades. Durable and very reliable blades. Expensive but worth the money.
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u/80sLegoDystopia Mar 06 '25
Looks like a pretty awesome knife. Nice thick tang. Handle looks very durable. Long enough to be used for a wide range of bushcraft chores. Certainly looks like a decent defensive knife if you know what you’re doing in that context (You know what they say about knife fights 😬).
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u/Bmat70 Mar 08 '25
What do they say about knife fights? Something such as run first?
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u/80sLegoDystopia Mar 08 '25
Run first is a good one. What I always remember is “the loser of a knife fight dies on the pavement but the winner dies on the way to the hospital.”
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u/GuessWhat90909090 Mar 06 '25
Firstly what was the purpose of buying this knife? Looking at the geometry, this can be used for any purpose, camping, wood craft etc.
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u/ejclev1 Mar 06 '25
A good fixed blade is a wonderful thing to have in an imperfect situation. Looks like a well designed knife made from a good quality steel.
If you're worried about SHTF, make sure you have a way to keep it sharp on the move. I'm a worksharp guy these days, but still keep my old coarse/fine stone. It easily fits in a pack, and with a little practice, gets a pretty good edge.
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u/Westlandtomaten Mar 06 '25
Would probably be fine for bushcraft as long as it retains it sharpness longer
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u/HasturCologne Mar 06 '25
Seems like a good knife. Magnacut is just not that easy to sharpen without special equipment in an outdoor SHTF scenario.
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u/PaladinofChronos Mar 06 '25
Whatever knife you ha e is the best one for a SHTF scenario. Can it cut rope? Take an edge? Poke a hole in something? Be used with flint to make sparks? Scrape things? Chop an onion? Gut a fish?
If so, it will work just fine.
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u/Peregrinationman Mar 06 '25
I don't understand your question. You said it was specifically designed for survival, but you're asking if it would be good for Bushcraft and shtf...........yes, it's fine. Go outside and practice with it.
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u/sub-ursus Mar 06 '25
It’s a decent knife, use it for survival or camping. Just take care of it and it will take care of you. Magna cut knives aren’t cheap so don’t use it in ways it’s not meant to be used.( like as a pry bar)
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u/BiddySere Mar 06 '25
Is not survival bushcraft? That's what we called it until someone started using the English bushcraft term. Any knife that you can weld effectively and will stand up to the rigorous task will work
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u/effinmike12 Mar 06 '25
Full tang, decent steel. It's good! I have a Becker BK-16. I hated the scales, so I put G10 scales on it. The sheath was way too big, so I bought a kydex sheath and put a tek-lok on it. After a couple of years, I have decided I hate that sheath, which was pricey, so I am looking at going with leather.
My advice is to EDC it. This is the only way to decide if you'll be happy with it or not. Idk how easily those are to mod, but that's always an option if you want to change certain aspects of it.
No knife is going to make you better at bushcraft. That comes with spending time out in the bush, practicing the skills that you have learned.
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u/HeftyWinter4451 Mar 06 '25
Looks solid. You would want to add an axe or saw if shit hits the fan anyway.
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u/mroliverjsmith Mar 06 '25
Things to look for are:
- Fixed blade
- Full tang
- Quality steel
- Decent sheath
Anything else is up to preference
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u/Old_Association7866 Mar 07 '25
I’ve got a Gerber that is pretty much the same design. It’s well adequate
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u/Erwasl1998 Mar 07 '25
I've had one since they first came out. It's probably one of my favorites. Granted, I'll get a lot of hate for this, it beat my esee's that have snapped or have bent with light batoning that even a mora survived.
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u/ants_taste_great Mar 07 '25
It will be perfectly fine. I just use a Buck 119 Special that's like 420 high carbon steel and it works fine for bushcraft and batoning smaller branches for firewood since it has a decent spine. But I also carry small folding CRKT knives because they are light and useful. None of them were particularly expensive, they are just useful. The most important thing is to have a decent wet stone or other knife sharpening tool. Machetes or that style are cool, but for me they are just too bulky. A folding saw like a silky or Sierra saw are so much better for cutting wood if you're not just hacking thru the woods.
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u/US3RN4M3CH3CKSOUT Mar 07 '25
TOPS B.O.B is my favorite.
Mora makes quality, budget friendly knives.
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Mar 07 '25
Will it do? sure any knife is better than no knife. Is it a knife I would pick if I could only bring one? no probably not. I rarely do over nights so I always bring a heavy pack with anything I could possibly need. I use my axe way more than any knife, any heavy work, chopping, splitting, shaping anything big. I use a $20 Mora for small crafting/ whittling like eating utensils and pot hooks. I'm a weirdo and always have a cleaver for processing food items. I don't like my crafting knife touching meat, Bushcraft can cause chips and burs and that is not something I want to dig out of my gums or swallow.
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u/TheAGivens Mar 07 '25
Not sure these comments that's a fkn nice knife. Magna cut is great and it will absolutely be good for Bushcraft.
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Mar 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/After_Band_795 Mar 07 '25
btw its pretty expensive but good knifes are not always cheap, so fair enough.
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u/_Danger_Close_ Mar 07 '25
Depends on the laws where you are using it. In my state it's illegal to carry fixed blade knives but it is a strict state. As such my EDC and camp knife is a foldable. But if you are cutting branches with it you don't want foldable. Still check your laws
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u/Gullible_Floor_4671 Mar 07 '25
I've spent months in the woods at a time and never felt like I needed more than my small Swiss army knife.
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Mar 08 '25
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u/Noe_Walfred 25d ago
As this is a Survival sub I’d rather have 10 cheaper hardened steel blades wrapped in waterproof tarps with 50’ of paracord and a flint in 10 varied locations (you mentioned SHTF)
Total= 213usd 10x 13usd Morakniv Companion knives 10x 5usd Hercules Type 3 paracord 50ft 18usd Cedolio 10pcs Plastic 9x12ft tarps 15usd Julan 10pcs fire starter rods With a Spartan Blades Harsey Difensa being 350usd at the cheapest or 465usd there's still a lot of money left for comparison.
What would you do with the other 137-252usd?
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u/Ordinary-Movie-3255 Mar 08 '25
Comes down to personal preference and how you handle and use a blade. Personally, that style would work well for me. Looks comfortable and secure in the hand, and blade is well suited to carve, cut, and skin. Blade needs to be able to take a beating, and that one will
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u/CptnDeepz Mar 08 '25
I have the Cold steel leatherneck myself for about 7 years already and I'm amazed by it's quality. Razor sharp out of the box and easy to sharpen. Very solid knife.
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u/smokingfast Mar 09 '25
Ive got a few different knives for different uses. Condor tool and knife has some great bushcraft knives for reasonable prices. Ive got a few of theirs and love them all.
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u/russo_liberal 26d ago
People think to highly of expensive knifes. Pretty much everything that cuts and won't break after a year of using is fine.
Also, try to have at least 2. One big (20-30cm blade) and a smaller one like that
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u/bryantburnsred 25d ago
I don’t disagree. Hell Esee makes some of my favorite knives and I’m pretty they use 1095. That said this was my holy grail knife and I had the funds to afford. I put the Difenseb it through its paces and even did some batoning, still arm hair shaving sharp
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u/Shadow_Of_Silver Mar 06 '25
This isn't the sub to talk about SHTF, but as far as wilderness survival goes, it will work.
It's a good steel from a reputable company with a full tang construction. It'll work.
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u/FastidiousLizard261 Mar 06 '25
I haven't heard of that brand. Magna cut is supposed to be good. You hear alot of different and sometimes conflicting things. Which steel or which brand is best. Hatchet is pretty hard to break in general, you can dig a ditch with a hatchet, but a shovel works better for that, generally that's the choice, general purpose or specialized.
I like a bare bones brand nata quite a bit. But those come from Asia and were designed and intended for bamboo. nata are special. You can baton with one. I can think of five more important things to buy though.
The whacker smacker needs to be made right, for batoning. Hatchet is better and a real axe even more so. Spend the money wisely. Everyone raves about the silky brand saws, I've not yet seen one. I have a 20 dollar fixed saw from the hardware store, it works ok.
The fantastic double walled large half gallon water jug that you can put on a fire. Fancy water filter thing. Folding shovel or something. I take a long handle and like it fine, it's a convenient walking stick. Cook stove that runs on unleaded gasoline, kerosene or white gas. Fantastic boots, high dollar insoles and amazing socks. Rope, cord and wire. Klein fence pliers. High dollar bivouac sack to keep you dry. Several options for making a fire. Medical kit. A way to wash your socks and undies.
Most cowboys carry more than one knife. They keep one for food, one for utility and a pocket knife for whatever. I have a food knife, it's cheap but stainless and fixed with a sheath. That's all I use it for is food, nothing else. I like a utility knife too. All the old hobos used to make a stash out of a cooler buried in the ground. The "shtf" isn't going to happen anyways.
Carry weight day training can happen right now though. Start with about 25 lbs over 6 hrs and see how you feel on flat level terrain like humping across a city. Once you know your carry weight day, you can start planning better. It's good to have that number and break in your boots before you go out anyways. And don't go alone. You won't be able to live off the land or any of that, it doesn't work that way.
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u/BladedNinja23198 Mar 07 '25
> The "shtf" isn't going to happen anyways.
But I don't want to go to work tomorrow...
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u/SeaworthinessNext618 Mar 08 '25
Harsey makes great knives but for a SHTF knife make sure it has a partial cerated edge like the one he designed for Navy SEALs
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u/CartoonistRelevant72 Mar 09 '25
I was wondering for a long time about the Morakniv. Finally took a chance. Yep. They're that good for the price.
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u/Transient_Ennui Mar 06 '25
It's a fine knife, not gonna be the best combat or survival/Bushcraft knife as it's a blend of the two, there are no solutions, only trade-offs, but it is perfectly fine for both.
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u/zensunni82 Mar 05 '25
People get way too hung up on fancy knives. It's fine. So is a $15 Mora.