Hot on the heels of the NRA survival kit review (last post) is a review of Bark River’s Personal Survival Knife (PSK). Apparently the challenge was to make a kni

Hot on the heels of the NRA survival kit review (last post) is a review of Bark River’s Personal Survival Knife (PSK). Apparently the challenge was to make a knife of appropriate size to place into the NRA Kit. Well, this knife succeeded in that and would definitely fit nicely in most survival kits with an overall length of 5.25 Inches. A few more technical details follows – Blade Length: 2.25; Blade Thickness: .093 Inch (2.36 mm); Blade Steel: 12C27. The handle is a blaze orange G10 with an orange kydex sheath although American Bushman reports that Bark River will now be doing a variety of handles. Prices range from $85 – $134.

Thanks to American Bushman, I received a first production run of the PSK at the end of last year and I’ve been trying it out in a number of circumstances. Now please bear with me because I’m not a knife expert but I do expect a knife to do certain jobs for me. Of course this is a survival kit knife therefore one should level the expectations accordingly. First thing to say is that I like the knife. It’s aesthetically pleasing despite the first eeughhh!! effect of the colour. You soon realise that it is a Personal Survival Knife and, as I found out when the NRA OtterBox exploded on forced impact with a tree and the contents spread over the wood, the PSK stood out in the mud like a beacon while I had trouble looking for the other items. This might be something to bear in mind if you are going to purchase this knife as intended – as a survival tool.

The G10 scales are not as slippery as I thought when wet and muddy and even with cold and numb fingers I was able to grip the knife enough to do some work. I’m not sure how it would suit someone with larger paws. I always found myself gripping the knife with three fingers with the thumb on top, which has advantages for accuracy i.e. carving, but not particularly for strength. For shaving wood, I was barely able to get enough power behind the knife because of the lack of handle length. I was still surprised that I did manage this at all which is a credit to the knife design.

The knife feels nice and solid despite its size and the ‘drop belly’ shape seems to be ideal for it’s size. The 2.36 mm blade thickness is also just right. To me it feels weighty and again despite its size it fills you full of confidence if that’s the right way to put it. I have a little complaint about where the edge meets the choil (pointed out in the pic below). This seems to be excessively sharp and not finished off properly. This causes discomfort on the lead index finger. To be fair, if you compare my photo with what looks like another production run, it appears they’ve smoothed this out, which would definitely be an improvement.

Obviously you can’t do a great deal of heavy work although I had a good try at batonning. The PSK stood up to everything I threw at it. The flat grind of the blade was ‘hair-popping’ sharp and I’ve managed to keep it that way over the months with a minimum of effort.

I wasn’t too sure about the kydex sheath. As you can see by the photo, the seam has come away and if I shake the sheath while the knife is housed upside down (as would probably be worn) the PSK falls out easily. I understand that kydex can be sealed easily with a hot hair dryer.

(Big pause here) … nope… can’t remember any power points in my woods. I do like the kydex sheath design though. You can clearly see that it’s designed to wrap line around it. Nice touch. Bear in mind that the PSK and sheath is designed to go in a survival kit, the minor flaw in the sheath could be acceptable. Far better for wearing as a neck knife is to house the PSK in the excellent leather sheath, but this could cost you extra. I’ve seen a number of people wear this little knife around the neck as an EDC. At the last BCUK meeting a seasoned Bushcrafter and knife connoisseur described the PSK as his “knife of the moment”. I’m now also in a dilemma. This knife is too good to be squirreled away in a survival kit but that’s where it should really go.

In conclusion I would say thumbs up for this knife both as a little EDC (I would look at different scales though) and a basic small survival kit knife. It won’t fell a tree or replace your larger knife but it would get you out of a sticky situation by prepping a bit of kindling, skinning something and making a bit of cordage. Back to that dilemma. Can I have another one please?

Pablo

fe of appropriate size to place into the NRA Kit. Well, this knife succeeded in that and would definitely fit nicely in most survival kits with an overall length of 5.25 Inches. A few more technical details follows – Blade Length: 2.25; Blade Thickness: .093 Inch (2.36 mm); Blade Steel: 12C27. The handle is a blaze orange G10 with an orange kydex sheath although American Bushman reports that Bark River will now be doing a variety of handles. Prices range from $85 – $134.

Thanks to American Bushman, I received a first production run of the PSK at the end of last year and I’ve been trying it out in a number of circumstances. Now please bear with me because I’m not a knife expert but I do expect a knife to do certain jobs for me. Of course this is a survival kit knife therefore one should level the expectations accordingly. First thing to say is that I like the knife. It’s aesthtically pleasing despite the first eeughhh!! effect of the colour. You soon realise that it is a Personal Survival Knife and, as I found out when the NRA OtterBox exploded on forced impact with a tree and the contents spread over the wood, the PSK stood out in the mud like a beacon while I had trouble looking for the other items. This might be something to bear in mind if you are going to purchase this knife as intended – as a survival tool.

The G10 scales are not as slippery as I thought when wet and muddy and even with cold and numb fingers I was able to grip the knife enough to do some work. I’m not sure how it would suit someone with larger paws. I always found myself gripping the knife with three fingers with the thumb on top, which has advantages for accuracy i.e. carving, but not particularly for strength. For shaving wood, I was barely able to get enough power behind the knife because of the lack of handle length. I was still surprised that I did manage this at all which is a credit to the knife design.

The knife feels nice and solid despite its size and the ‘drop belly’ shape seemes to be ideal for it’s size. The 2.36 mm blade thickness is also just right. To me it feels weighty and again despite its size it fills you full of confidence if that’s the right way to put it. I have a little complaint about where the edge meets the choil (pointed out in the pic below). This seems to be excessively sharp and not finished off properly. This causes discomfort on the lead index finger. To be fair, if you compare my photo with what looks like another production run, it appears they’ve smoothed this out, which would definately be an improvement.

Obviously you can’t do a great deal of heavy work although I had a good try at batonning. The PSK stood up to everything I threw at it. The flat grind of the blade was ‘hair-popping’ sharp and I’ve managed to keep it that way over the months with a minimum of effort.

I wasn’t too sure about the kydex sheath. As you can see by the photo, the seam has come away and if I shake the sheath while the knife is housed upside down (as would probably be worn) the PSK falls out easily. I understand that kydex can be sealed easily with a hot hair dryer. (Big pause here) … nope… can’t remember any power points in my woods. I do like the kydex sheath design though. You can clearly see that it’s designed to wrap line around it. Nice touch. Bear in mind that the PSK and sheath is designed to go in a survival kit, the minor flaw in the sheath could be acceptable. Far better for wearing as a neck knife is to house the PSK in the excellent leather sheath, but this could cost you extra. I’ve seen a number of people wear this little knife around the neck as an EDC. At the last BCUK meeting a seasoned Bushcrafter and knife connoisseur described the PSK as his “knife of the moment”. I’m now also in a dilemma. This knife is too good to be squirreled away in a survival kit but that’s where it should really go.

In conclusion I would say thumbs up for this knife both as a little EDC (I would look at different scales though) and a basic small survival kit knife. It won’t fell a tree or replace your larger knife but it would get you out of a sticky situation by prepping a bit of kindling, skinning something and making a bit of cordage. Back to that dilemna. Can I have another one please?

Pablo