An avid knife enthusiast knows that investing in a survival knife doesn’t imply going to the supermarket and picking up any cheap, modest knife. Knives are something that’s worth investing in and what adds glory to the owner.
When you are out in the woods, having a strong, durable knife can mean the difference between life and death. You can use it to maim animals, carve markings and build a shelter.
Now, a specialization of a survival knife are the daggers which comprise of a very sharp point, two or more sharp edges and generally used as a thrusting or a stabbing weapon. It comes to extreme use when you come in a close combat with animals or caught up in a survival situation.
The distinctive shape that it has and the iconic references of daggers in ancient history make it indispensable to your survival kit. But it isn’t as affordable as any kind of knife and especially if the blade is made from the expensive types of blade steel, it may cost a fortune.
Types of Modern Daggers
Arkansas Toothpick– This is a heavy dagger having a pointed straight blade of the length 12 to 20 inch. This knife is used for thrusting and slashing.
Corvo– This weapon is specifically used in Chile and is a double-edged knife having a 12-inch curved hook. It’s used for stabbing, slashing or swiping motions.
Dirk– This is a long thrusting dagger resembling the ones used in naval hand-to hand combats in history.
Facón: This dagger is a fighting and utility knife that has large heavy blade of 10 to 20 inches in length.
Hunting Dagger: This is 20-30-inch-long, having double edge, hunting knife that’s used for killing deer and boars.
Sword breaker: This is a kind of a small, hand held weapon which was used to parry or defend more effectively than a simple dagger. It has deep serrations on one side of the blame looking like the barbed teeth of a comb.
Trident Dagger: The blades of these are divided into three portions lengthwise which fold together to look like a regular blade.
Trench Knife: This dagger is of the form of a combat knife used for close combats having a triangular blade with a flat face forward that makes it appropriate for stabbing and not slashing.
The Most Expensive Blade Steels Used
Some people might wonder as to why some knives and daggers are worth a fortune and why avid knife enthusiasts save up during their lifetime to try to acquire one of these, well, the knives are a store of value and reputation because of the blades they possess, cause of the steel that’s used to construct the blades of this priceless weapons.
i.CPM S110V: This is the ultimate steel in terms of wear resistance and edge retention. It’s very rare in the market, super costly and sharpening it is not that easy. But, the fact remains that no other steel will hold an edge for such a ridiculous long time.
ii.CPM S90V: This steel has very high carbon content as expected and also the secret formula is the high content of Vanadium. It has an exceptional performance, ridiculously expensive, takes a lot of patience to get it sharpened but nothing withstands abrasion such as this.
iii.M390: It’s one of the recent super steels in the town manufactured using third generation powder metal technology that contributes to its price. This type has got excellent resistance against corrosion owing to its vanadium and molybdenum content. It also speaks of very high hardness that makes it excellent in wear resistance.
iv.ZDP 189: This new super steel comprises of huge amounts of carbon and chromium that gives it all the hardness and wear resistance. But it’s not as resistant to corrosion and there’s high cost involved due to difficulty in sharpening.
v.ELMAX: This is a high chromium-molybdenum-vanadium alloyed powdered steel which has got extremely high wear and resistance to corrosion. It’s essentially stainless but the super edge holding nature and easier to sharpen makes it resemble carbon steel.
vi.CPM- 20CV: As made by the powder steel technology, this fairly new steel in the market boasts of impressive wear resistance and edge retention along with the added bonus of being highly carrion resistant due to high amounts of chromium.
So, even though daggers and knives using these expensive steels are worth a fortune, it’s complete worth it; and though there are certain limitations in terms of sharpening or carrion resistance, they are made using such technologies or having such constituents that add to the pricey nature. So, even if you can’t add such an expensive bladed knife in your collection, you can definitely try to add a dagger knife into your collection, and it will definitely add glory to your existing set of knives.