I do love my survival knives. They are a necessary accoutrement in the woods and wild places, and they could be a life-saver during an emergency situation anywhere. These blades become an extension of our hands and our will to shape the world. Survival knives have a tall order to fill, and these tools have to be up to the tasks at hand.

So we all know very well, that survival knives should be sharp, tough, versatile and easy to use. But what are some of the traits that we don’t want? These are five of the things that I never want to see in the knife on my belt.

1. Hollow Handles
Yep, hollow handles are a fun place to store survival gear, but this tubular handle creates one major flaw: The knife has no tang. This means that the blade and the handle are two completely different pieces of metal, and this creates a weak point where they join. Survival knives should have a full tang, or at least a partial tang (like a “rat-tail”), so they don’t break in half when you need them the most.

2. Lousy Grip
Accompanying the hollow handle, a poorly designed grip will either become a blister factory, or allow it to jump out of your hand when you need it most. Neither of these are good things. Select a knife with a grip that feels good in your hand, but also feels like something you can hold onto.

3. Poor Steel
There are thousands of different types of steel used in the world today, and these steels can be hardened to different degrees through many different methods. For our purposes, the two steels that concern us are carbon steels and stainless steels. Either of these can make a good survival knife, and they can suit different conditions. I prefer high carbon blades, but that’s a personal preference based on the way I operate. Since you generally get what you pay for, spend a little more for your survival knife (since it might just save your life) and pass on the cheapo knives that sound too good to be true. If your amazing survival knife only cost $10, it’s very likely a cheap chunk of pot metal.

4. Weird Spines
Do you really need that clunky and ineffective saw on the spine of your knife? Or what about the semi-sharpened spine that makes the knife look like a double edged dagger? The truth is, you don’t need any of that. If you need a saw, get a saw—particularly, one that does a good job at sawing. The spine of your survival knife should be thick, square and ready to take a beating. This lets you strike it with a baton to split firewood, carve bows, and perform many other camp tasks.

5. Gizmos
I don’t mind if there’s a whistle associated with a knife set, but I don’t need bells and whistles. If your survival knife is also set of shears, screwdriver assortment and potato masher, chances are good that each of these features sucks. When you try to cut and paste too many functions on a knife, they all seem to suffer. If you want a good screwdriver set or pair of scissors, get them. No one said they have to be tack welded onto your knife.

What do you hate to see in a survival knife? Tell us what grinds your gears by leaving us a comment.