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What is a better survival knife, cold steel oss or kabar USA fighting knife?

If you consider overall all around use capabilities, i.e. utility, general cutting, camping, etc then Kabar USMC fighting knife is a better choice. It was designed as a combat knife and contrary to what many people believe, combat knives are not solely for killing, they are designed to be used in hard conditions for general purpose cutting.
OSS is fighter design and that makes it less useful for common cutting. Also, subhilt design is not very popular for general use knives. Although, that can be a matter of personal preferences.

There's one aspect that can make OSS a better choice, that is if you are gonna use it in high humidity environment such as swampy area or tropical forest, then the AUS8 steel used in OSS will stand up to corrosion much better than 1095 steel used in Kabars.
Although, it isn't that difficult to keep carbon steel knives rust free even in those environments, and if neglected most of the stainless steels, including AUS8A will rust too.

On the other hand, 1095 is better steel in terms of edge holding, sharpenability and toughness.
Exact composition comparison is here - http://www.zknives.com/knives/steels/ste…
Simply put, 195 has more carbon and generally it's tougher, and it stainlessness isn't the primary concern the it's also a better choice for all around use knife.

Asked by kaitlyn   time:2010-07-20 18:49:35
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