>>8770772A survival knife could do everything that a sword could to in that application, and it would still be a useful tool.
Swords pretty much showed exactly how much they were worth in modern warfare in WW2. Sure, the japanese managed to get sword kills, but pretty much everyone that killed anyone with a sword died as a result of their own sword attack. Most of the Japanese weren't even issued swords because they are so costly to produce and were basically ceremonial pieces. The vast majority of them probably weren't even very great quality.