I vaguely remember my high school graduation and my entire time spent at college is a blur. However, I remember exactly where I was, what I was wearing, and how I felt when I got my first survival knife over 20 years ago. Just thinking about it brings back some of my fondest childhood memories. It was the RAMBO knife with the hollow handle that housed a little fishing kit along with a few other miscellaneous items. My love affair with knives began at a young age, and I've been hooked ever since. Movies seem to always have the coolest survival knives, but does the survival knife really have a place in the "real world?"

That was a rhetorical question. Yes, it most certainly does.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 2010 marked the highest number of disasters in one year for the United States–totaling in at 91. The disaster tally in 1953 was only 13, and it has been gradually increasing ever since. Despite our advancements in medicine, technology, travel, and communications, millions of people across the globe face disaster and its merciless consequences each year. In addition, thousands of individuals are thrust into unexpected and unpredictable life or death situations where survival depends on experience, knowledge, and the resources on hand. My point? It is wise to keep important survival resources close by–just in case. One of your most important survival tools is a quality knife. The cutting blade has carved itself an indispensable place in survival history.