One thing that might surprise you is that sometimes the least expensive items can actually be the best investment. Before reaching for that shiny piece of gear with all the bells and whistles, take a long, hard look at your needs and your budget:

The law of diminishing returns makes it so that some of these items, especially in the $15-20 and $20-25 price range, are actually some of the best you can get for your money. We all know how amazing a good ol’ Mora survival knife can be bang-for-buck, for example. While there are many other, more expensive alternatives, it’s hard to make the case that you’re better off spending your hard-earned cash on them when you haven’t got much cash to spare and the Mora will do absolutely great.

If you need some help getting started, the post has a few suggestions as to which brands tend to have the highest quality for the lowest price:

In terms of cheap survival gear shopping by brand, Mora (as I’ve mentioned before) is quite a good one for survival knives, Ultimate Survival Technologies (usually abbreviated “UST”) is often quite good at very cheap items and gadgets to pack your survival kits with, S.O.L. (otherwise known as “Survive Outdoors Longer”) is also quite good at very cheap survival items and gadgets for your kits, and UCO Gear seems to be quite good at cheap survival matches, candles, and other similar items. Every once in a while you’ll catch a very cheap and affordable product from an otherwise mid-range or expensive brand – such as Leatherman, Gerber Gear, Coleman, Fenix, etc. These are great deals, as while these pieces of kit are obviously not as good quality as the brand’s more expensive gear, they are usually better bang-for-buck in the price range and really over-deliver when you compare them to the no-name or cheaper-brand gear that’s at the same price point.

I really wouldn’t advise buying a survival knife from a brand you don’t recognize as being good and popular in the industry – even if it has a zillion and one positive reviews on Amazon. You’re much better off sticking to cheaper alternatives from known brands, or as I’ve mentioned twice now, sticking to getting a Mora. The survival knives I’ve listed below in this article are all cheap and quite good, the Bahco 2444 Carpenter, the Mora Companion, and the Hultafors Heavy Duty GK (which we’ve reviewed here). So if you’re really gunning for a cheap and affordable survival knife, I highly recommend you get one of these instead of, say, this cheap-as-hell survival knife that’s managed to rack up quite a large number of positive reviews, likely from people who have barely even used the product.

So, what do you think of these suggestions for high-quality cheap survival gear? What are some of your favorite budget-friendly brands? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Article Source: More Than Just Surviving