SURVIVAL EQUIPMENTS

Now this subject is discussed everywhere as to which type of knife to carry, how many to carry, which brand, which size etc etc.
Knives are as personal as car's and its all about trying to find the knife or tool that can achieve the most tasks that seems to be the holy grail.
So Im going to discuss the knives I have chosen currently and then as my knowledge expands most probably my carry options will change.

Now the first things you need to look at are whether you are in an Urban or wilderness situation.
Next you need to decide what tasks you want your knives/tools to perform.

So I live in an Urban enviroment but if I had to leave the city then I would be in a wilderness situation. So my current options for around town or my EDC (Every Day Carry) is the Cold Steel Mini Lawman folder.
My options for my BOB I have a KBar camp knife for general duties, SOG seal pup elite, hand saw and a gerber suspension multi tool.

I'll discuss all of these in further detail below but basically my thoughts are that in a city a small blade folding knife is adequate for small tasks, opening mail, cutting string,wire etc, opening boxes.
Now this knife is small enough not to look threatening if I deploy the blade or if its seen in my pocket, the last thing you want is to be seen as the guy who carries a big scary knife around.
The other reason I decided on a EDC was after I saw two events on CNN, both happened within a close time frame but the one that sticks out is where a woman and her kid where in a mini van or SUV can't remember the type of vehicle, and basically somehow the woman rolled the vehicle and it came to rest upside down, everyone was in a seatbelt but then the vehicle caught fire!
The vehicle was well alight when some off duty firemen went to assist, they managed to pull the woman out and then even though the vehicle could have exploded at any time.
On the first attempt they had to break the windows with bare hands,then when the fireman tried to get the child out the seat belt had malfunctioned and couldnt be freed, no matter how much they tried it was stuck, now remember the vehicle is up in flames and all of this is taking minutes to occur. So on the news cast the next thing you hear is the fireman shouting "Has anyone got a knife?" "Somebody get a knife!"
Eventually a knife was found in someone's house and the child was rescued with some burns but I think survived.
Now this child could have burned to death because nobody in the crowd who had gathered had a knife, ANY knife small large anything would have helped at this point. So Im guessing after this event the fireman went out the next day and purchased pocket knives!
This in turn made me decide to do the same.
Mankind has used tools and sharp implements since cavemen times but now due to a number of reasons its not seen as necessary by most people to carry a knife and in fact in a lot of western areas its against the law to carry a blade or its restricted to a certain length, the length allowed depends on the area you live but generally I think its basically the distance to the heart.
Now of course theres a HUGE amount of discussion that could be made here but Im not going to do this, needless to say ANY sharp implement could be used to stab someone.
Western countries all have similiar knife laws and you could argue in todays world why do you need to carry a knife, but if you look a the rest of the world knives are still carried as tools!
So basically keep within the laws of your area and always assume the bad guys are going to ignore this whatever.

In the Bush

In a survival, hiking, camping, bug out scenario you need to be able to perform certain tasks, splitting wood for fire, for shelter, for preparing game, self defense,making tools, etc etc
Everyone has to decide on their carry options regarding weight and situation.
I have decided to pack the hand saw to give me my first level of wood preperation, the saw I have is from Coghlans and is very light and very sharp. Using a saw is an easier way to cut wood and also will use up less calories in a survival scenario.
The saw blade is the weak link and unless you carry spare blades there is always the possibility of it breaking, so this is where the KBar camp knife comes in, this is my next option for splitting wood and general duties, the SOG would be a knife to carry on my person and is still capable of splitting wood if needed and can do a lot of smaller tasks. Both the Kbar and SOG are full tang knives and are very strong so most tasks would be covered.
I think its reasonable to carry 1 large fixed blade, 1 medium fixed blade, 1 saw, 1 folder or multi tool.
This combination is open to whatever brand type of knife you like, I dont carry knives with saw options on the blade as I find it almost impossible to sharpen saw edges correctly and especially in a survival situation, again personal choice.



Cold Steel Mini Lawman


Scales are black G10
Overall length 6.38 inches
Blade length 2.5 inches
Blade steel AUS 8A Japanese stainless
Lock is the TRIAD system
weighs 2.6OZ
Blade thickness 3mm
Stainless steel carry clip

Now this is my first folder in over 20 years and I remebered the last one always failing due to the lock, this TRIAD system is touted as a very safe unit.
I have had no problems to date.
It fits nicely into any pocket although the carry clip is really stiff, so it wont fall out but it will possibly destroy some pockets over time.
It cam pretty blunt and to be honest Ive struggled to keep a good edge on this possibly just due to the blade being pretty small.
I have a lanyard attached to the knife which is very handy, the black TiNi finish is just starting to come off which kinda gives it character I guess.
The G10 scales are very good in the hand and the finger grooves are really deep giving you great safety there when using.
its a little hard to open one handed and not as fast as others ive seen on the net.
You have the option to change the carry clip to the other side if needed.
I would recommend this knife to a first timer as its reliable and small I just need to get my sharpening skills down!

Maxpeditions Vulture II

Designed as a 3 day pack, 2810 cubic inches, 46L capacity.
Uses a 100 OZ reservoir.
Comes in OD green, black, foliage green,Khaki and ACU- digital foliage camo
Weighs 3lbs, 8oz when empty.
Equipped with YKK #10 Zippers and paracord knot pulls.
Covered with Molle attachment points
Non-slip abrasion-resistant bottom


1000 denier water and abrasion resistant light weight ballistic nylon fabric.
Du Pont Teflon fabric protector
UTX-Duraflex nylon buckles
Triple polyurathane coated for water resistance.
High tensile strength Nylon webbing.
High tensile strength composite nylon thread.
Stress points double stitched.
Internal seams taped and finished



Thats the specs out the way now to the meat and potatoes!

My pack is in OD green and Ive owned this for about 4 months now.
The pack doesnt feel like almost 4lbs and to be honest on first inspection it seemed small too small, but wait it opens up away from the body and it actually has lots of room. Now this pack is designed not to protrude above shoulder level to prevent restriction of vision where as a civilian rucksack is usually high above the head.

To wear the pack it has padded shoulders, a waist belt and a sternum stap, the waist belt can be stowed away in a hidden pocket if wanted.
The pack also tends to sit just above the hollow of the back, this is another design feature for military use, this being where you would wear a utility belt around the waist and the bag sits above this area, something to think about before buying.

Although the pack is pretty spacious I am still going to add some pouches to the outside of the pack via the Molle points to allow me to create a layered system of storage which I will discuss in a later blog.

This is a well constructed piece of gear and feels like it will last a lifetime, I am using this for a 3 day pack currently but I think a slightly bigger version to allow 5-7 days would be a good option.

Now the other thing to decide is your setting if you want to blend into an urban enviroment then woodland camo isnt for you, black tends to look to tactical so pick a colour that blends, with the OD green it seems to blend into Urban and wilderness scenarios, Maxpedition are also doing some civilian colours for their packs if you like that kind of thing.

Why try to blend? well you dont want to send out signals too people that youre carrying a big bag of goodies just waiting to be stolen now do you!