[albertjohnson]

You are the only passenger in a small 20 seater jet sitting in the middle of the seats. On both sides of you are exit doors. You were on your way to a grizzly bear/moose combination guided hunt up in Alaska. The pilot was a 60 year old veteran of the Alaskan bush but today was his unlucky day. He started having a heart attack and in about 2 minutes would be dead. He knew he was in trouble so decided to make a quick landing. With his last few breaths he had guided the plane to a flat plateau on top of a mountain ridge but it was too short. You could see the plane was rolling toward a drop off. The cliff would be 1000 feet down. You had about 2 seconds to make a decision and act. You had your rifle with a box of 50 cartridges in the left seat next to the exit door. On the right side was your favorite survival knife. You ONLY had time to grab the rifle/cartridges or the knife, and escape through the door before the plane fell off the cliff.

It would turn out that your were about 200 miles from the nearest town. You knew the direction of the town and could use the crescent moon and/or sun as a compass to find your way there. Being in good shape, you would later figure that it would take you 20 to 30 days to get there. You will have no food with you nor water nor any other of your equipment, as it was stored in the rear of the plane. There IS plenty of wildlife and streams in this part of Alaska that you have been dumped in.

Ok, which should you grab, for your best chance of survival? The rifle/cartridges or the knife? Explain all your reasoning/logic and what you would do, as well as YOUR choice of rifle or survival knife. (you can't say you always have your Leatherman or some other knife on your hip, so you would grab the rifle. Or you can't say you always carry your S&W 500 caliber revolver on your hip, so you would grab your knife.)

 

[firecraft]

I don't know what my favorite choice for one would be as I'm still trying to figure that out, but I would grab the knife. You can still make traps with a knife, along with other tools and necessities. It's also lighter to carry than a gun & ammo.

 

[unknownroot]

If I'm out hunting BEARS, I'd think I'd opt for the gun/ammo. You can find a sharp rock to use as a knife, you can find a tree branch to shoot.

Then again the other day I did read that a guy killed a bear with a stick, but I think I'd still rather have a gun.

 

[Sweeper]

The rifle,can be used to start fire,self defense, provide meat,signal help.

 

[jfountain2]

The rifle,can be used to start fire,self defense, provide meat,signal help.

Yep, gotta agree with Sweeper, gotta grab the rifle.

 

[darkminstrel]

Knife. Can carve spears from limbs, tend wounds, strip bark for snares, is light, won't become useless when you use it too much.

They both have great amounts of usefulness, but I think that the blade wins out because of the fact that it doesn't require ammunition.

 

[Sweeper]

Knife. Can carve spears from limbs, tend wounds, strip bark for snares, is light, won't become useless when you use it too much.

They both have great amounts of usefulness, but I think that the blade wins out because of the fact that it doesn't require ammunition.

I thought of that too, but you know its only 20 to 30 days to a town and you have 50 cartridges.Also, setting snares will slow you down,not that its a race.

 

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

I'd take the knife hands down much more usefull except in the event I come face to face with bear I'd be wishin I had the rifle , lol but as I said I would choose the knife

 

[danpauselius]

Yup, knife for me as well. It's a far more useful tool than a rifle.

 

[test]

Cheat & Win !

In the butt-stock of all my wilderness rifles & urban assault rifles, is a survival kit, blade included :thumb:

I thought about your , "Only have time to grab one item..." last year.

Sorry, Albert

Cheat to Win !!

 

[MarkfromMD]

would take the knife

spears, shelter, traps, cleaning animals

 

[Freshgrease]

I would grab the AK with an attached bayonet. Problem solved.

 

[MountainMan]

Knives kept humans alive for millenia... rifles are pretty much a single use item. I would opt for the knife in any scenario except for being parachuted with the 101st Airborne into Bastogne, then I would take the gun and as much ammo as possible.

 

[RodWalker]

What's my screen name?

I'll take the knife.

 

[shotgunken]

come face to face with a hungry bear and that knife aint gonna do crap, except get it's temper flaring i seen black bears here in maine shot with a .44 mag turn and bite the bullet wound before running quite aways, fighting any bear with a knife is pure BS!!!!!!!!!!! it's got speed, strengh,killer insticts, canines and huge claws to give you a very bad day with just one powerfull swipe, when i go bear hunting i use nothing less then a 30-06 with a good quility bullet say 180 or 220gr, so if i was in the alaskan widerness i would grab my .338 win mag out of the plane.

 

[ultimate hunter]

i would rather have the gun in this case. in most cases i would take the knife, but in bear country i would have to have the gun. the gun can also start fire, hunt, be used as a heavy club if needed, or scare away animals. if i needed a knife, i could just use flint knaping to make one.

 

[Nomad 2nd]

I would grab the rifle. My benchmade is in my pocket.:


-Sorry, not realistic.

STILL the rifle:

1. Bears

2. Man cut things before metal

3. If I can hike out I can get to the crash site. THe knife is more likely to survive intact than the rifle barrel.

4. Sliver of metal/glass/rock= knife


5. Alaska = Lots of big meat walking around...

6. Spears suck.:

 

[haha49]

Id take the gun with ammo the reason would be for singaling perposes 3 shots is sos.. and i would try to climb down to the crash site to see what i could salavge if not i would wait for the rescue people and stay put.. the reason for that is they log the flights so the route of the plane would most likely be know and when the plane is reported missing within a day or 2 they would be in the same area and you could then use the gun to help them find you

 

[535]

Considering I'm a pilot, I'd reach over, throttle up and pull back on the stick. A 1000 ft cliff is PLENTY of space to regain airspeed...

 

[Smudge]

KNIFE You can make weapon's, shelter, fire, tools, raft's and gather food, easier makeing the knife OVERALL more versitle in my mind.
Make lots of noise walking through any dense foliage and Bears should (from what Ive read I have no experience of) give you room, (from what I hear most bear attacks are either because the animal was startled/surprised to see the person or through dire hunger.)