When you’re deep in the wild, your knife becomes your best friend. From building shelter to preparing food and handling emergencies, the right knife can mean the difference between comfort and struggle. In this guide, we break down the best survival knives of 2025 to help you choose the perfect blade for your adventures.

What to Look for in a Survival Knife

Before diving into the top picks, here’s what makes a great survival knife in 2025:

• Full Tang Construction: Ensures strength and durability.
• Blade Material: High-carbon steel holds an edge better; stainless resists corrosion. Harder steels retain their edge better, but are harder to sharpen
• Blade Length: 4 to 6 inches is ideal for versatility.
• Handle Grip: Non-slip materials like G-10 or rubber are crucial.
• Sheath Quality: A sturdy sheath protects the blade and your gear.

Top 5 Fixed Blade Knives of 2025

These knives aren’t presented in any particular order. In other words, they are numbered merely for convenience and the #1 knife is not necessarily the best knife of the bunch. Each knife is an excellent knife with its pros and cons. Without further ado, here are the best fixed blade knives of 2025 you should consider:

1. ESEE-5 Fixed Blade Knife (Best All-Arounder)

• Blade Length: 5.25″
• Blade Material: 1095 Carbon Steel
• Handle Material: Micarta
• Best For: Heavy-duty bushcraft and field use
• Why It Stands Out: Rugged construction and lifetime warranty.

With a truly medium-sized blade, the ESEE 6P is one of the best all-around knives. Though no knife is ideal for chopping or splitting wood (axes and hatchets are a much better tool), this knife can do a good job of chopping and splitting smaller wood to make do if nothing better is around. This is likely due to it being a bit of a heavier knife. It’s a good length for tasks like skinning or carving. This knife can do just about everything well. The blade is made of 1095 steel, which is a good choice as it is tough and is easy to sharpen. It is not stainless steel, however, so rust prevention maintenance is required, and the steel won’t hold its sharpness as well as some other knives on this list. There is also a lifetime warranty on the knife, so if the blade ever breaks, the manufacturer will repair or replace it. The handle feels relatively good in the hand, but it is a bit blocky and not the most ergonomically designed. The biggest downside is that the edge was not very good straight out of the box, but after a bit of self-sharpening, it can become one of the sharpest knives on this list.

2. Gerber StrongArm Fixed Blade Knife (Best mid-tier value)

• Blade Length: 4.8″
• Blade Material: 420HC Stainless Steel
• Handle Material: Rubber
• Best For: Versatile outdoor use
• Why It Stands Out: Affordable quality and low maintenance.

Overall a solid and well-rounded knife. The length of the blade is great for nearly all tasks, though it is not well suited to heavier tasks like splitting wood. The blade does not hold its edge terribly well, but it holds well enough and is easy to sharpen. The rubber handle offers an excellent grip and is comfortable to hold and work with. The sheath for the knife is a mixed bag. The sheath is a pain to use, but it is MOLLE capable.

3. Benchmade Bushcrafter 162 (Premium pick)

• Blade Length: 4.43″
• Material: CPM-S30V Stainless Steel
• Handle Material: Fiberglass
• Best For: Premium all-around survival
• Why It Stands Out: High-end steel, ergonomic design, and lifetime warranty.

This knife’s blade performs like a dream. It is fairly easy to sharpen, is rust-resistant stainless steel, and holds an edge well. This, combined with a lifetime warranty and a promise to sharpen the knife back to a factory grind, makes it an excellent, life-long purchase. The blade is a little shorter than I would like for an all-around knife, and despite its high-performance S30V steel has a reputation for chipping due to its hardness. But that’s really the only downside to this knife. Well, other than the price tag.

4. Morakniv Garberg Full Tang Knife (Budget Pick)

• Blade Length: 4.3″
• Material: 14C28N Stainless Steel
• Best For: Budget-friendly, everyday survival
• Why It Stands Out: Best budget option.

Sometimes being labelled as the “budget option” is a bad thing, but there really isn’t much to complain about with the Morakniv. This knife probably offers the best ratio of performance to cost out of every knife on this list. That said, there are some quality deficiencies compared to the other knives on this list. Specifically, the handle and the sheath. The sheath is terrible (but MOLLE capable) and should probably be replaced as soon as you get the knife. The handle, while serviceable, doesn’t have a finger guard, which could lead to some injuries with heavier work.

5. Ka-Bar 1320 Single Mark Utility Knife (Writer’s Pick)

• Blade Length: 7″
• Blade Material: 1095 Carbon Steel
• Handle Material: Leather
• Best For: Versatile use
• Why It Stands Out: All around usefulness, reputation, and value.

A well-known and well-regarded knife for a reason, Ka-Bar has made a name for itself manufacturing knives for the United States armed forces. This knife definitely lives up to the reputation and is a great knife. Given its length and heft, however, it is not well suited to anything requiring much precision. It does a decent job with skinning and rough carving, but nothing finer than that. Having been designed for use by the armed forces, it is a suitable tactical knife if you consider that when purchasing knives. The handle is leather and could be susceptible to being scuffed up, but it feels great to hold and is a great grip.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right survival knife comes down to your specific needs. There are many more quality knives available than what are on this list, but this list of the best fixed blade survival knives should be a good starting point for anyone looking to acquire a quality bushcraft knife. Whether you’re tackling rugged trails, prepping for emergencies, or honing your bushcraft skills, these knives deliver reliability when it matters most. For long-term use, invest in a blade with solid steel, a dependable grip, and a protective sheath.