Knowing how to make a knife is a handy skill to have in any emergency survival situation. A survival knife is handy for cooking, creating shelter, hunting, and self-defense when necessary. Even if you are the most self-sufficient, expert prepper, you should learn how to make a survival knife out of stone so you can make this tool should the survival situation call for it.
How to Make a Knife in 6 Easy Steps
Step 1: Find the Best Location
Not all areas are abundant with rocks that are good for making blades. Scout your area to find where the quality rocks hide. A creek, for example, tends to be loaded with quality rocks that make excellent blades. Be patient when finding a rock for your DIY survival knife. Take your time so you'll end up finding the best rock for this project.
Step 2: Find Quality Rocks for the Blade
Rocks that are excellent for making knives make a ringing sound, or they sound like glass when you clack them together. Make sure to choose rocks that are relatively large because most of them will have a weathered outer surface called the cortex. The bigger the rock, the more quality material there will be under the cortex.
Step 3. Find a Hammer Stone
A hammerstone is a medium-sized rock with a rounded surface. This will be used for chipping off the blades.
Step 4: Strike the Rocks
Place the rock on your thigh and smack the edge of it using the hammerstone. The hammerstone should glance off the edge. Strike the hammerstone in a continuous motion, such that it follows through and does not stop on impact.
Step 3: Blades
If done properly your blades will chip out of the rock. The larger the rock, the larger the blades.
Step 6: How to Use a Stone Knife
Be careful when using a stone knife. Hold the stone knife close to your body and pull in a slicing motion. This will protect the fragile edge from chipping and breaking.
**The content of this post is an adaptation of Hedgehog Leatherworks' “How to Make Stone Blades for Wilderness Survival”.** Thanks for the great tutorial!!!
Now that you know how to make a survival knife out of stone, why not learn how to make a knife sheath out of PVC pipe as well? Watch this video by CrypticCRICKET for the full tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3oV2rrymUo&list=PLCE22A3B7EDAB3CF9&index=4
That’s all, fellow homesteaders! We hope that you enjoy our knife making tutorial. Hopefully, you may never need to, but use this survival skill when you're in a situation that calls for something sharp and handy. This is perfect when you need something sharp to cut meat and veggies just in case you forgot a knife or when you're building a shelter but you unintentionally forgot your survival kit.
What do you think about this tutorial in making a DIY survival knife? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!
Up Next: 15 Ways A Knife Can Save Your Life In A Survival Situation
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Editor's Note – This post was originally published on October 30, 2014, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
Commonly known as “flint knapping”, a skill that is tens of thousands of years old. Knives, skinning and flensing tools, arrow points and spear points. Flint nodules, obsidian, even thick glass can be used. This is a much practiced skill to acquire, but once learned, can be very useful.
I would love to have an easy access to good obsidian like the knife in the above photo! I have been knapping for several years and one of the best points I have made were from TV screens…it works well and you can make large blades and spear points from this glass.