Schrade has a good reputation as far as knife manufacturers go. Their products are labeled budget brand as far as knives are concerned, but they do the job of giving you good quality for the price. In the case of SCHF31S, there are criterion that need to be improved, in this reviewers mind at least, to ascend the knife package into greatness. We will get into the details in a minute, but let me ask you, what do you expect in a survival knife? Rugged durability? Resistance to the elements? Good Edge Retention? Multi-functionality? Ease of sharpening? These are all factors to consider when going for the outdoor survival route when it comes to knives, with contenders such as the bowie and USMC Kabar being popular. But put your thoughts in the comment section.
Handle: The handle is classified as using a material known as TPE. In my research on the material, it is a Thermoplastic elastomer. These materials are typically a mixture between a plastic and a rubber, which in terms of how it handles translates to the following. The handle scales are comfortable in texture, and durable in terms of the material, so they hit the ballpark in structuring the scales to survival situations and expectations. One of the biggest advantages to the handle, though, is the design. The contour grip with a cut out for the index finger, with a carve out for the lower three fingers, shows attention to the necessary ergonomic qualities that allow for both comfort and edge control, but of which, especially in survival scenarios, are a must. Your equipment has to be reliable and comfortable to carry, lest you become dissuaded from carrying it, much less using it. The grip does feature a lanyard hole for those who feel the need to tether their knives, but whether you exploit the feature or not is up to you.
Blade Material/Style: The usual 8Cr13MoV stainless steel. The question of whether this is good or not depends on whether you are about element resistance and ease of sharpening, or you are concerned with hardness and edge retention. In survival situations it may be beneficial to be able to sharpen a blade quickly if the blade should start dulling, but if the edge goes out too quickly, half the time may be spent just keeping it sharp. You be the judge of that. Anyway, the steel has handle backyard thin branches with relatively little difficulty. The design has a thick spine on the blade for rugged durability, so clearly functioning as a drop point style.
Blade length: In this case, Schrade advertised the knife length correctly. The knife is with 4.5 inches of blade length, but with a caveat. In the 4.5 inches of blade length, 1.5 is dedicated to the serration of the knife itself, putting the practical knife edge length at the better part of 3 inches. This would seem a reasonable trade off at first, if not for one thing. The serrations are given a single bevel to saw into materials. In my experience of using said serrations to cut down said twigs and thin branches of dead wood, it seemed to be only good at cutting a minor notch in the wood for the thin, small branches. I had to forcefully snap the rest to completely break the branches. Some would say that the whole point is to use a serrated saw blade, not knife serration, on even small wood cutting for kindling, but that betrays the matter of if the serrations of the knife barely do the job, given the knife may be the only cutting tool in your survival kit, what is the point of having them there in the first place? My advice to Schrade, add a second bevel to increase the serration performance, otherwise forgo the serrations altogether.
The Sheath: This is an area where the ball really was dropped. The sheath is hardened nylon, with no flexibility. The sheath almost has the texture of plastic to it, showing how cheaply made it was. It would be tolerable, if the blade did not stick in the sheath so frequently. Say you were attacked by an animal in the wild, and all you had to pull out at the time was your knife, or your ranged weapon was unavailable or inoperable. You would be flustered getting it out in a heated moment where your life is on the line, and would be lucky if you got it out in time. The rub of the matter is, this sheath needs to be either traded by Schrade for a flexible nylon for ease of draw, or ditched and a new one bought, or made, for this blade by the purchaser.
Like I said the blade is good, and has great potential as a survival knife for the $25 (I had Amazon Prime free shipping at the time) I paid for it. The issue is that there are margins of improvement for this knife that, until rectified, neuter much of what this knife could be. Improving the serration would go a long way to improving how utilitarian this knife is, and having a better sheath would make carry and draw of the knife more reliable in the previously mentioned scenario. There is a margin of improvement, but for $25-$40 (depending on the retailer bought from), one cannot fault this knife to much. I would give it a seven out of 10, but overall, a good blade.
I don't really like the design of this knife for a survival blade. For the price, you can't complain, but I would suggest the Schrade's SCHF37 Frontier knife; it's about the same price, longer blade, coated 1095 steel, no-serrations, and better sheath.
For $30, you get a lot knife with SCHF31S, but Schrade has better offerings for about the same price.
I agree with you on this matter. As a survival knife, it has multiple areas where much is left to be desired. As far as would I carry this on me, that would depend on the state I was in. Some states are lenient on fixed blade carry, others are draconian about it. A bit ironic considering CCW permits for handguns do not bat too many eyes, but bloody murder is screamed if you use said permit to carry a Bowie on you. So with survival knives of no more than five inches, such as this one here, they are usually the best you can go for in open carry to avoid getting in trouble with officers, again depending on your state.