REVIEW – Swedish knifemaker Morakniv has been building tough, cheap, no-nonsense blades since 1891, and their bushcraft knives are the reason I started paying attention to the brand a few years back. Every award they picked up made me more curious, and every knife I handled convinced me a little further that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get something genuinely good. The Morakniv Garberg BlackBlade Survival Kit is the latest proof. For $119.99 you get one of the best bushcraft knives I’ve handled, a sheath, a built-in diamond sharpener, and a fire starter. Calling the whole bundle a “survival kit” is a stretch, but the knife alone makes the price worth it.
Not Really a Survival Kit, But Stick With Me
The Garberg BlackBlade pairs a full tang carbon steel blade, 4.3 inches long, with a polymer handle and an ambidextrous polymer sheath. That sheath carries a removable belt loop and a removable fire starter and sharpener combo. I tested the carbon steel version here. Morakniv also sells a stainless Garberg, plus a whole separate line built around a different blade called the Kansbol.
In the Box
It ships in a cardboard-and-plastic blister pack, and I appreciate the restraint in the design. The callouts on the front tell you exactly what you’re buying without any marketing fluff.
Flip it over and you get the full spec sheet, plus a diagram walking through every piece in the kit.
What You Get
- Morakniv Garberg full tang carbon steel blade knife
- Polymer sheath
- Polymer mount for fire starter
- Fire starter ferro rod
- Leather belt loop
- Reflective paracord
Spec Sheet
- Blade Type: Full Tang Carbon Steel
- Blade Thickness:.13” (3.2 mm)
- Blade Length: 4.3” (109 mm)
- Blade Grind: Scandi V-Grind
- Blade Hardness: HRC 58-60
- Spine Angle: 90º
- Total Length: 9” (229 mm)
- Weight: 13.8 oz. (391 g)
- Grip Material: Polyamide (PA)
- Sheath Material: Polymer
- Belt Loop Material: Leather
The Sheath and Its Add-Ons
Morakniv’s design pedigree shows up the moment you pull the knife out of the box. Every piece feels deliberate, and the whole kit looks sharp with the blade tucked away.
That said, I still think a true survival kit needs more than a knife, a fire starter, and a sharpener. Fishing line and hooks, a compass, some extra safety gear, any of that would push this past “knife with accessories” territory. What I do love is how modular those accessories are. Strip off whatever you don’t need and keep only what fits the trip.
The sheath splits into three pieces: a leather belt loop, a fire starter rod, and a mount that doubles as a diamond sharpener.
Both the belt loop and the fire starter mount pop on and off without a fight.
Grooves and notches on both the sheath and the attachments mean everything clicks back into place cleanly.
The sheath body itself is a tough polymer with drain holes near the tip, so water never has a reason to pool around the blade.
The diamond sharpener keeps the Garberg’s edge wickedly sharp, and it doubles as a striker for the fire starter rod, throwing real sparks when you need them.
That fire starter is a ferrocerium rod rated for around 7000 strikes, burning at roughly 3000 degrees, so getting a fire going in wet conditions isn’t a struggle.
The Blade Itself
The Garberg handle and the fire starter mount share the same textured polymer, grippy enough that wet hands don’t become a problem.
Both handles include lanyard holes. Morakniv bundles reflective paracord for them, but I swapped in heavier 550 cord instead. I doubt the stock cord holds up to real long-term use, and I wish the kit shipped with something thicker from the start.
Fixed to that handle is the carbon steel BlackBlade, and it’s scary sharp in the best way.
The grind is a Scandinavian, or Scandi, grind, known for being both sharp and strong, at the cost of a bit more effort when you resharpen it. On a bushcraft blade this versatile, it’s the right call. It gives you fine control on wood, bites into material without hanging up, and leaves plenty of metal behind the edge for chopping.
Grind aside, the aggressive lines and that severe point make piercing tasks effortless.
The spine is ground rather than polished, which keeps its corners sharp, ideal for scraping the fire starter rod.
This is a full tang knife, meaning the steel runs unbroken from the tip through the handle and out the base, where roughly a quarter inch pokes out as a pommel for light striking duty.
I picked the black-coated carbon steel version over stainless, and I don’t regret it, but it’s a trade-off worth knowing about. Carbon steel sharpens easily and takes a fine edge, but it needs more attention around moisture. Leave it neglected and wet, and it will rust.
Using It
For a full tang blade this strong, the Garberg feels surprisingly light in hand. The handle gives you a solid grip and a comfortable spot to rest your thumb for detail work.
It handles batoning without complaint, setting the blade into a log and pounding the spine with a second piece of wood to split kindling. That’s rough treatment for any blade, but the Garberg shrugs it off and keeps its edge.
Even after a session of batoning, the edge stayed keen enough to feather wood into paper-thin curls, perfect kindling for a fire.
My one real complaint in the field is the fit in the sheath. It doesn’t lock in as tightly as the other pieces snap together, and a light tug is enough to free the blade. If you’re deep in the woods gathering kindling, a knife working itself loose is a real concern. A bit of paracord or tape tucked into the sheath fixes it, and Morakniv sells other sheath styles that hold the blade more securely if that matters to you.
I carried the Garberg in place of my usual EDC pocket knife for about a month, and every time I pulled it from the sheath I felt a mix of excitement and a little nervousness. It’s one of the sharpest knives I own, but the design is smart enough that I never nicked myself once. The Scandi grind’s reputation for control held up. The fire rod threw solid sparks whether I struck it against the blade spine or the sharpener.
All told, this is a well-built, dependable set of tools. I’d just stop short of calling it a survival kit.
The Good
- Incredibly sharp and strong blade
- Affordable
- Fit, feel, and grind of the knife is superb
The Not So Good
- Polymer sheath doesn’t fully secure knife
- Survival Kit is not an accurate description
The Verdict
Is the Morakniv Garberg BlackBlade Survival Kit an actual survival kit? Not really. But I love this knife, close to unconditionally. It’s scary sharp, seriously strong, and at $119.99 it undercuts most knives in its quality range by a wide margin. My only real complaint is that the blade doesn’t sit as snugly in the sheath as I’d like, and that’s a minor knock against a tool built to outlast the person carrying it.
If you’re comparing options in this category, see The Best EDC Knives I’ve Tested for how this one stacks up against the others I’ve tested.
Price: $119.99
Product Link: Morakniv
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Morakniv.
