Another Gerber LMF II user. It works great for camping and heavy cutting, chopping, or hammering tasks (with the butt cap). At 11oz it’s a tad bit heavy although that weight helps with some kinds of tasks. For a lighter knife, I also have a SOG Seal Pup, which has an equally long blade but weighs in a 5oz.
I have a Rat RC-6. It has served me well hiking and hunting.
The fixed blade SHTF setup is something I have been exploring for the last 6 years 
I have come to the conclusion that no 1 knife will be good enough in a SHTF scenerio. I choose to have several 3" and even sub 3" blades paired with a 5" or longer will cover all need that may arise.
I am making what I call a u.B.O.B. (urban bug out bag) in several thicknesses and have 3 sizes that are still 7 1/4" and shorter overall.
Here is the first u.B.O.B thats maybe 6 1/4" overall.
I am making another for myself thats the 7 1/4" overall size as I want one a little longer.
I also like a good larger knife in or on me or my pack. That may be a 3 3/4" to 4 1/4" bladed knife…
THE smaller knife concept take your pick…
Paired with a larger knife
WILL COVER ALL NEEDS THAT ARISE
Damn…might have went overboard on the above post but I had too many available examples to not use them. Explore what combination of sizes work and not the 1 knife scenario so many strive for…Myself Included 
Not much, but could be any one of these depending. That’s all.
Bgoode, those are beautiful. Do you sell them? What steel? I was thinking that 2 or 3 knives was the answer the more I thought about it. At least 2. 1 for chopping and 1 for fine work
I have been looking into this for a while myself. I have many different thoughts many of which have already been stated here. Here is my current trend of thinking: In a EOTWAWKI or SHTF case which is what most people here are talking about you have to plan out what that means to you and your survival. As Rob_S talks about so much is that could mean anything. For me it means I have left my home and I am moving to my bug out location to ride out the storm. Unknown utility service will be available unknown if riding/driving or walking. A fighting knife as I see it is mostly fantasy. If you are running a carbine or other longun with a pistol as a secondary and you are in it so deep that both have gone down b/c of malfunction or lack of ammo then a knife MIGHT prolong your agony for a couple of minutes at best and that is if you are very lucky or highly trained. So with those thoughts I look at a knif in the role of surviving off the land and as a utility knife. Skinning game, opening cans/MRE, cutting rope, small branches, fire making, etc. Here are the ones I am currently looking at feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the knives. Some of the reasons I am looking at these knives come from reviews from a sight survivaltopics.com. I am not a member of that sight but they had a lot of info on knives that I though was good.
SOG Seal Pup http://sogknives.com/store/M37.html
Becker BK7 https://www.kabar.com/product/productDetail.do?productNumber=BK7&mode=search&categoryId=1,2,3,7,8,9&categoryName=Product Search Results
Becker BK2 https://www.kabar.com/product/productDetail.do?productNumber=BK2&mode=search&categoryId=1,2,3,7,8,9&categoryName=Product Search Results
Becker BK9 https://www.kabar.com/product/productDetail.do?productNumber=BK9&mode=search&categoryId=1,2,3,7,8,9&categoryName=Product Search Results
Rat (ESEE) RC3 http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-3.htm
Rat (ESEE) RC5 http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-5.htm
Rat (ESEE) RC6 http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-6.htm
I just love your knives Brian----for starters the u.B.O.B thats maybe 6 1/4" overall
I’m another fan of the Gerber LMF II. Holds an edge well and is super tough. And for only $65 you can’t beat the price.
The Bark River Bravo 1 (A2 tool steel version) is nice, as is the (CPM-154) steel version.
Thanks Bones!!! I thank you brother
I’m looking as well. The Gerber LMF was a bit heavy for my taste, but looked like a nice knife for the money. I was leaning towards a SOG Seal Pup Elite, but am now considering:
RAT RC-4
http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-4.htm
and maybe an Izula for a small version
http://www.eseeknives.com/neck_knife.htm
The Rat RC-4 Destruction Tests on YouTube were pretty impressive to me.
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What other knives did you consider? I’m torn between the LMF and the RAT-5…thoughts?
i had the LMF. I don’t like partially serrated knives at all.
Can You Tell I’m A Knife Collector
Depends what you want really. I’m a small time collector of Randall Made Knives, the few I have except one are either fighting or combat knives. Without a doubt these are some of the best knives one can own. Proven combat design but for a real combat zone the the reflective surface can get you killed. They are expensive, however, they are a major collectable and have seemingly held thier value, check out Ebay. The wait for one from the shop (hand made) is like 5 years, however, a “dealer” can get you one in less time and Randall will sell to “active duty” soldiers in short order. As expensive as they are, at the moment Ebay prices are often (now with bad economy) around cost. Still it’s close to a $500 knife. I can honestly say I never lost money on one. I’ve owned 8 or 9 over the years, have four now and each one I sold for between $50 and $250 more than I paid, thanks Ebay.
That said, the best real Combat knife I have every owned without a doubt is made by Ryan Wilson, who’s father owns Wilson Combat. I regret the one I sold but (needed the money at the time) and I had the more practical 5 1/2 inch blade and I really wanted the bigger 7 inch. Someday I’ll get another (got a Randall I’m looking to sell- camping knife). The picture in the link I don’t care for as it’s the “black” extra cost coating, bead blast finish is really the way to go, IMHO looks much better too. This knife is machined out of a single bar of steel. Meaning the bar includes the handguard, solid one piece. It’s $400 so it may not be the knife for our concern should the SHTF but if I had a son going into combat with the military this would be the knife I would give him to carry.
That said, I give hime a Randall too, just so he could take a picture of it on his hip in Afganistan then I’d sell it on Ebay, collectors love that stuff. Actually, Randall’s have proven themselves in every war since WWII and a good knife fighter can use the “flash” of the blade to his advantage, however, the glint of a blade can get you killed too.
http://www.wilsoncombat.com/kniveswt/wilsontactical/model1.asp
A good fixed blade, and a Swiss Army Knife with a tweezer in your pocket. Ka-Bar nothin’ fancy will work for $40
Middle of the Road (price wise)
SOG
Hattori
I have a BK2 that has been getting used and abused for years now, and i have a BK9 on the way right now. my BK2 is the best money ive spent as far as knives go, and ive tried a little bit of everything.
Any specific thoughts on the pros and cons of plain or combo blade?
I keep a glock field knife in each of my vehicles, for $30 they’re pretty good.
a plain edge knife has much better all around cutting abilities and is not interrupted by half of the blade having serrations. also simpler to sharpen.