Reddit mentions of Cold Steel Bushman Black SK-5 Steel Cordura Survival Sheath

First, you should know that there several definitions of a "full tang".

(a) A tang which has the same profile as the handle - the handle consists of two slabs bolted/pinned to the handle. (This is the most common and least controversial definition.)

(b) Any tang which passes all the way through the handle to the butt of the knife - in particular this includes astick tang that passes all the way through the handle to the butt of the knife.

(c) Some people also include a tang which is almost a full tang as per definition (a), but is slightly shorter and thinner vertically to allow for a completely enclosed handle.

These types of tang all have different advantages and disadvantages. Also, though many crappy knives have a poor attachment between handle and blade, there are good knives that don't have full tangs, so you shouldn't write-off non-full-tang knives.

Now, the important bit: don't try to get "one blade to rule them all". It's a nice idea but you'll end up with a large blade which is unwieldy for most tasks.

Since you're a newbie, here's an (honestly) excellent piece of advice: get a Mora (Mora of Sweden), or two. They make nicer and more expensive knives, but the basic Clipper model (or the similar Allround or Companion) is perfectly adequate. Here it is in carbon and here it is in stainless (it's not 440C but it's a perfectly good steel). Both versions are great - you'll get better edge-holding on the carbon but the stainless is preferable if you'll be processing food/fish/game (won't taint the food).

These knives are cheap, light, sharp and easy to sharpen. They're not full-tang (though some of the other models have longer tangs) but handle failures are rare and I've only seen them reported after the knives have been hammered into trees etc. These knives will do all your basic smaller knife tasks (carving, feather sticks, the smaller bits of fire-making, rope/cord, processing fish/game, etc) though you may wish to get more specialised tools for skinning/etc later. At a slight push they'll also do light splitting and cutting smaller branches/etc.

For larger tasks (felling, bush-whacking, splitting large bits of wood, etc) you'll need something else and this is where it gets more complicated. It depends on your terrain (machetes for jungle, obviously) but there are many options: hatchets, axes, saws, machetes (long and thin or shorter and thicker), large knives, kukris, etc.

If you really do want a one-knife-for-everything at a reasonable price then the classic Cold Steel Bushman is a decent option (wrap the handle with something). These "survival" sized knives tend to suffer from jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none syndrome - good for something to stick in a pack for emergencies without weighing too much but not what you'd actually choose for most tasks if you actually expect to need a knife.

You can spend a lot more money on knives but you really shouldn't until you know more and can tell what you really want.

Brace for rant.

Alright, you have a shit ton of survival knives and machete's to choose from, but for my money I have always loved Cold Steel's products. For your case I would recommend Cold Steel's Bushman knife and Kukri Machete.

Bushman: http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Steel-Bushman-Cordura-Survival/dp/B0015RQI7Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381631382&sr=8-1&keywords=cold+steel+bushman

Kukri Machete: http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Steel-97KMS-Kukri-Machete/dp/B000FJRR2K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381631412&sr=8-1&keywords=cold+steel+kukri+machete

Here is why.
First off they can both take a lot of punishment and keep going. Prove it you say? Well the fine people and cold steel do that for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaTbOGcsXoE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq1EFWVV3C0

And here is the best part. Both of them are so cheap, If I break one tomorrow beyond repair (Highly unlikely by the way) I'm not out a whole lot of money. I can buy another one without loosing sleep. That's a good thing with a work knife, I don't know about you, but a piece of equipment I paid a lot of money for I'm much more careful with. I treat my bushman like a 1950's drunken dad with his redheaded step child, and that's what you want to be able to do with a survival knife. I want to be able to toss the fucker in the mud, use it to clean small or large game, and then use it as an impromptu tent peg. I will warn you though, Haole_Boy does bring up a good point about the handle. It does get very uncomfortable when used for a while. But that's easly fixed with some para cord, or if you want, go and grab some handle tape for a tennis racket.

As for your question about the pros and cons of a kukri vs a hatchet; I find each tool has it's up and downs. My camping bag has both the kukri machete and a hatchet. I find that the heft of the hatchet helps when cutting through actual logs, while the kukri is good for cutting through medium sized tree limbs. But honestly, if i had to drop weight, I'd drop the hatchet. I can power through the log if I had to with the kukri machete. Not as comfortable, but doable.

Personally, I look for steel to be suitable for the job above anything else. To me, any knife out in the bush is better than no knife and the last thing that you want is it to fail on you out in the middle of nowhere. I always look at the heat treat to see if it suits the proper intended usage of the blade, steel choice, etc.. I like to see a steel with a good ratio of toughness and wear resistance while also retaining an acceptable amount of corrosion resistance and sharpenability.

After that, I move on to the blade grind and shape. Scandi grind is probably my favorite for working with wood. Full Flat Grind is probably a close second. I want the blade to actually cut, so having a nice balance of thin behind the edge, while still retaining decent thickness and strength in other areas like the spine, swedge, tip, etc is important. Definitely a huge plus if the spine is 90 degrees and rough to give you the ability to scrape.

The handle is probably the last thing that I care about, but still important. I want it to fill my hand, but not be too thick or long. If you can work a finger choil in the design without sacrificing a lot of cutting edge, great, but it's not a necessity. I prefer there to be minimal finger guard, but I do like for a little something to be there and not just a straight, abrupt transition from handle to cutting edge.

FWIW, My usual bush knives vary from the Mora High Q Robust, to the Spyderco Mule Team in CPM 4V (or PSF27) for smaller blades, to the Cold Steel Bushman in 1095 (or SK5) or the Ontario RTAKII in 5160 for larger blades.

Frankly, anything meeting those needs will be well over your price limit- if it's broad enough (in your price range, because the steel won't be great) to survive abusing it against wood, it'll be too thick to really cut food. I'd either spring for a better knife or settle for the Condor Bushlore, hope for the best with something like the Cold Steel Bushman (don't know how it'd hold up against wood) or just realize that for your price range, you're best suited to something that'll be a good camp knife but you won't be batoning with.