The Friendly Swede Survival Kit

The Friendly Swede Survival Kit.

 

Most of us have this grand idea that we could survive any disastrous circumstance using only our bare hands and a manly beard. This is completely untrue, but survival kits such as this one offer us all we need for most survival situations we may ever encounter. The rule of three is the basic theory behind most survival situations:
3 weeks to survive without food
3 days to survive without water
3 hours to survive without shelter
There is also 3 minutes without air, but let's be realistic, if you find that rule applies to your situation there's no emergency survival kit in the world that can help you. Most companies look at this set of rules and design their kits around it. So with that in mind let me tell you what they include in this kit and how it can help you survive.

 

The full contents of this survival kit include.
Paracord Rope(8m/26feet), Emergency Rescue Blanket, Wire Saw, Washer(flint striker), Flint Rod, Carabiner, Compass, Zip Lock Bag, Tin Foil, Iron Wire, Whistle, Needle, 2x Safety Pin, Tinder, Fishing Line, Weights, Swivels, Floats, 2x Fishing Hooks, and Lure

 

On the outside of this kit are a whistle and a compass which is absolutely great as you have some form of navigation and signalling capabilities without needing to unpack any of its contents, so a big thumbs up from me there. I blew the whistle in my armchair and quickly regretted it, as this room is quite small and it was very loud, but at least I knew it worked well. The compass had a little bubble in it so it's not amazing quality but it does point north and that's all you need. There's also a carabiner on the outside that's very lightweight but is a great little extra if only for attaching to your backpack or belt.

 

I figured I had to remove the whistle from its case in order to access the ends of the paracord but I honestly could barely get into this by hand. I was sat in a warm room in a comfy chair and all I could think was if my hands were numb then I'd be smashing the whistle up with a rock. So I was not a fan of that as a very important signalling device would be destroyed in that scenario. That being said with a knife or another small object I did manage to push the whistle out easily enough but sometimes these things aren't available. After that though there were no issues getting inside and all of the contents came wrapped in a piece of foil like wrapping to help keep it all dry.

 

The paracord was wrapped very tightly around the items but I only needed to pull out about 5/6 layers of it out and  could pull the contents out through the gap I had made. I quickly realised when I had done this though that there was no way I could put it all back together, but I had pockets on my trousers so all was good and if I somehow had access to this survival kit, but had no trousers on, then I'd probably need to reassess my outdoor skills in general. So inside there is a variety of nice little items for such a small package. I think there is more than enough for most survival situations and if you were so inclined you could even add one or two small things into the wrap if you were very persistent (a few water purifying tablets would be a great addition).

 

I wont go into detail with what you can do with all of the items, as that would be a very long and boring article, but I'll try to give you a bit of useful info based on what I have in front of me.

 

Shelter and Fire
You have a form of shelter and fire which can be the most important things in a survival situation depending on your climate (usually water is the most important, but it's not always the case). Cold weather, or cold and wet weather could see you perish within 24 hours. You would have to use some ingenuity but there is the survival blanket which can be turned into a small roof or obviously slept in and there's the 8 meter's of paracord and wire saw so you can build a better shelter if the materials are available.
There's the ferro rod and striker (that's the washer that's mentioned in the item list) and a bit of tinder. It is a small  of tinder but if you are careful in your preparations you could get it to work, but I would definitely source more and any you find can be stored in the zip lock bag to keep dry for later on.

 

Food and Water
You can easily use the foil to boil some water, but  wouldn't make a container and put it in a fire or on coals. It is only foil so it would break, but I would happily dig a small hole and line it with the foil to hold some water then, CAREFULLY, place a few hot rocks in it to boil the water. I would also find some leaves to put at the bottom of the container to stop the rocks breaking through.
I don't fish but there's plenty here for an inexperienced survivor to get a meal. Don't be afraid to try a few different things, I seem to recall people using foil to catch fish as its shine can attract them to the hook. Also if you do catch a fish or two there's enough foil to wrap them and cook them on your fire which is great for locking in moisture. I still would hold off using the foil for boiling water though but if you have that covered then go for it.
There is also some snare wire in here, but you need to understand how to make and use snares effectively and what game can be caught with them. I would suggest learning proper trapping techniques as they aren't very complicated and its something handy to know that could save your life in a bad situation.

 

Signalling for Rescue
Well I mentioned the whistle, which is very handy as it can carry noise in built up locations very well. There's a reason that birds have high-pitched tweets and its nothing to do with their size. In a jungle bigger animals on the ground have lower tones as they carry well over open ground. In the trees where there are lots of leaves high pitch noises reflect and so they travel further than low pitch noises. You also have a shiny blanket and foil that you can use for visual cues. Mostly if you can build a fire that will always be a better signal for rescue, remember the rule of three here. Three is the universal signal for emergency. Three fires in a line will tell any planes, helicopters or boats that there's somebody there who needs assistance. If you can build a fire keep a pile of green vegetation nearby to throw on top to make some extra white smoke.

 

There is also a needle included in this kit, and while I wouldn't rely on it and certainly wouldn't want to use it, could be used with some fishing line to stitch up a wound or two, but it is very big so it would be quite painful. Maybe I would just go for one of the fishing hooks, but lets just hope it never comes to that. If it did though make sure you sterilise the needle in some fire to avoid any extra contaminants.

 

Overall I'm impressed with this survival kit. It has almost everything you need in most survival situations besides a knife. I have spoken to The Friendly Swede guys and there is a 'ring knife' in most of the kits, but its unavailable in the UK thanks to Amazon's stupid rules. The only things I would add to it would be some water purification tablets or some potassium permanganate so you don't have to rely on fire for safe drinking water. These are things you could easily add yourself though and the whole kit at is incredibly good value and it all comes with a lifetime warranty from The Friendly Swede. This will definitely be part of my outdoor kit, providing I can put it all back in.

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 The Friendly Swede Survival Kit

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Kelly Kettle Review

Finally we can bring you our Kelly Kettle Review.

 

I say finally as we had this little beauty in my spare room for about 2 months waiting for our Welsh weather to be less, well Welsh. So we packed our bags and went for a hike, taking the Kettle with us, and the whole way all I could think was how I hated my partner for being a million feet tall. I bet you thought I would say the kettle, but no, looking up and seeing an ex-military giant leaping up cliffs and stepping over meteor craters just made me want to bludgeon him to death and use his corpse to skate back down to the car. I mean I had a 60ltr pack full of gear we needed that day, while he carried the kettle and a spare pair of gloves in his little daypack. I felt like a pack mule, but he's the one with a horse face so I think I win.

 

Anyway, lets give you some useful info on the Kelly Kettle.

 

This is the stainless steel 'Scout' version that's 1.2 litres, although you can get a 0.6ltr 'Trekker' or the 1.6ltr 'Base Camp' models, and all three come in Aluminium if you want something a little lighter. You have most of the little bits like cups and pans are available separately so you can tailor your kettle to suit your personal needs, but we went with the 'Ultimate' edition that comes with everything. Really its the most comprehensive wood burning kit of this type we have ever seen, it only needs some cutlery and when I suggested that to Patrick Kelly (Oh yes,  I have the connections), he told me they are working on that right now, so expect to see them really soon to finish off your kit.

 

Anyway, we got to the summit of a local hotspot for downhill bikers (the hooligans) and found a windless little pocket to sit in the sun and set to work getting a brew on the go. We knew we had to gather wood for the kettle and we weren't sure how much we would need, so I wandered off and gathered a few dead branches. I came back with less than enough to fill a carrier bag, certainly I thought I needed more, but I was tired and figured Gav could go get more when it was required. It was however enough to boil the kettle twice, cook 4 sausages and an entire pack of bacon and still have a few small twigs left over (probably enough for another brew). It really is efficient at burning wood and the temperature gets right up there thanks to the closed design, it really felt like a piece of kit you could rely on.

 

I know a fair bit about physics and engineering, so I was expecting it to be fuel-efficient and quick to boil, but nothing prepared me for just how good it actually is. In about 3 minutes we had a cuppa each and plenty of water left over for two more to join us.  Also, before we could even finish the first brew, the sausages had cooked through to perfection. Even including the time it took to gather some wood and get it all going, we reckon it was still faster than the usual gas stoves and camping kettles we normally use. Combine that with the fact that you don't need to buy gas, and the entire package fits into a rather small little package when put away properly, you have something that really struggles to find an equal. It does take up a bit more space as just a kettle than I would like, if I'm completely honest, but if you look at it as a whole package (the cups, plates, pot and pan, hobo stove, grill and the kettle itself), then it takes up less space than the equivalent kit I would carry instead. Lets also not forget that there is the Trekker model that's about half the size of this one, so if size and space is an issue then they have you covered.

 

So that's the big part of the kettle done, but lets talk about the little extras that came with this kit.

 

For use with the cooking apparatus is a small grab handle that works with both the pot and pan. I would have liked another inch or two on it at times when the fire got a little larger than needed but it got the job done. The hobo stove made a nice stable platform for the pot and pan. It did burn more fuel when using this as it lets more oxygen in but, as I mentioned previously, it cooked 4 sausages faster than I could drink my tea, and I do not hang around letting a cuppa go cold. There is also the option of using the grill, but as we were cooking bacon as well, we thought we would use the pan so we could get the juices rather than bring oil. The only thing with the grill is you couldn't have a huge fire going in the base as it does sit down quite low, but as long as you don't go nuts with the wood you should be fine. Also it comes with a stand to put a pot above the kettle although, I would just boil the kettle and get the hobo stove out as 3 minutes isn't a long time to wait.

 

The plates were a good size and quite deep. They were more like dishes so you know any rations, or whatever your chosen food is, wont be running off the edge. The cups came in a small and large size so they fit together, but even the small is bigger than a normal household cup so you wont be left wanting. The cups also come with measurements and lip protectors to stop burning if the cup is hot and I did have an issue with them when the cup was close to empty as they made me dribble instead of drink, but that was only on the last couple of mouthfuls. The pot is big enough for a boil in the bag sized ration or a couple of tins of beans, and the pan fit 4 large sausages without issue.

 

So overall I couldn't be happier with this kit. Well I could be, as this one belongs to my partner because he's freakishly tall and he held it up too high for me to grab, damn ogre. Honestly though I was looking at these for about two years before we finally got our hands on one and I wish I had done it sooner. You can get lighter products that take up less space, like mini gas burners, but you will struggle to find something that boils as quickly as this, and it requires no additional money spent on fuel. It just has no rivals in my opinion, at least none that burn wood, and the quality is there. Its great if your on a day out or even when your camping, just set it up next to you and have a quick brew and breakfast on the go in the morning. This is quickly becoming our 'go to' cooking kit when we go out and if you ever get one you will see why.

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Scorpion Crossbow Review

Scorpion Crossbow Review

 

We start this review after I have sweated profusely putting the bow together. I don't know what sort of hulk they had in the picture, but I could not string it with one hand. I couldn't even string it with two hands so I caved and got my partner to loop the string while I bent the bow back. I dare say with a little practice I could find a way to string it solo but it's just easier with two. I can at least cock the string without requiring the foot stirrup on the front, so that's a little bit of messing around I don't need to do from now on.

 

Ok, so you can't expect amazing quality when you buy something like this for the very low price it costs, but at least they didn't skimp out where it matters. The body of the crossbow and the body of the bolts are both made out of aluminium. The bow itself is fibreglass and the sights, handle scales, trigger and the fetches of the bolts are all plastic. In total the crossbow itself feels pretty solid although the bolts could do with having the heads glued on, but again for the price this is higher quality than I was expecting.

At the moment I haven't gone out and tested it, so only time will tell if my concerns are justified and, in that regard, there are two things that concern me. First is the safety lock. It engages automatically when you cock the bow, which is great, but the way you switch to live involves pressing forward in such a way that I fear it might automatically fire the bolt, so don't have it facing anybody or any part of your body when you do this (although you should be doing either of these things at all). Remember this is a serious piece of equipment that can cause harm if you don't respect it. Second there is nothing that holds the bolt down to the body so I'm slightly worried it wont fly forward but fling it upwards or sideways so make sure anybody with you is behind you when you fire.

 

Well with my little health and safety warning over, its time to head out and see how this mini crossbow performs.

 

Well, unsurprisingly, my partner with his military training took the first shot and with sniper precision, lost a bolt immediately. I obviously mocked him and he retorted 'Well they don't train you to use crossbows in the army.', to which I had to confess I had crossbow training at university whilst studying journalism. No wait, I  didn't. He's just useless.

 

Anyway, like fools we fired at a tree which brushed aside the bolts like they were fly's on a windscreen, but we could see that it was accurate and had plenty of power.  The poundage was light enough that we could cock without the use of the stirrup and my worries about the safety catch were put to rest (somewhat) when it held just fine. The safety was a problem later in my home when I wanted to get some photos and the string caught my fingertip while I was trying to fix the mechanism. This was more likely due to my own messing with the bow for pictures, but just a warning that if the string does get stuck, use a stick or some other object to push the string rather than your own flesh. Thankfully I was expecting this so I avoided anything serious happening.

 

The bolts are a bit flimsy in a sense that the tips just want to fall off, but a bit of adhesive on the thread will sort that out. They are also very cheap to replace (I think a pack of 12 is about £3-5 depending on whether you want plastic or aluminium).

 

The whole set-up is really lightweight although, if you plan on keeping this in a backpack or bugout bag, then I suggest not attaching the bow to the chassis as its shape makes it a little awkward to fit in a pack and the string will last longer being unburdened. It's accurate and powerful enough that, if you had to, you could hunt some small game like rabbit, pheasant or duck although, with these bolts I think you are more likely to get a stunning blow on something rather than any sort of piercing shot. You would need some good stealth skills to get close enough to secure some food but it's definitely achievable and gives you a good tactical edge when fighting for survival. I personally would head down to the river and attempt some bow fishing in shallow water if I had to secure some food. It's definitely powerful enough for getting some fish close to the surface and if you had some cord to attach to the bolt then you could stop them floating away.  Not just that you are right next to a water source so it's generally a good area to set up camp.

 

So that's our scorpion crossbow review. Overall I love this thing, it's seriously fun and a nice addition to any mans toy box. At the price these go for it's well worth the money, even if you don't put it in a bug out bag or use it for any type of survival or hunting. Just get a target up (somewhere safe) and fire a few bolts, you can't regret making this purchase.

 

I got mine from here at a very good price and they also supply replacement bolts (something I must now purchase).

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Morakniv Eldris Review

Morakniv Eldris Review

Here we have the Mora Eldris and at first glance it's a very strange knife. It does have its own charm though and I think it could be a surprisingly useful blade for EDC. Mora developed this as a rival to the folding blade. I know it doesn't fold, but the idea is a small knife to match the size of a folder while still having a fixed blade for more strength.

The blade is made of 12C27 stainless steel and is 2.2"/5.6cm long and 2mm thick. Its overall length is 5.6"/14.3cm and it weighs only 80 grams. The handle is covered in a rubbery thermoplastic for grip and the sheath is the usual Mora plastic.

The sheath is a little bit weird but I like it. First you have the normal option of having just the handle being secured by the sheath. I shook it violently and it didn't even rattle so it's very secure but Mora have given us an optional leather clip also. It loops around the outside of the sheath and clips in using a few raised parts that really help hold it firmly on the sheath (I could barely get it back off when I wanted to take some pictures). This gives the sheath a second point for securing the blade for those who fear the otherwise strong sheath hold to be less than required. I guess its perfect for if you are going to keep the blade in a bag or your pocket rather than around your neck, it certainly wont work its way free. I haven't tried it to see how secure it would be but it's about the right size to attach the sheath to some molle which is a bonus. This sheath came with a small length of paracord and a ferro rod. There is a little tab made of leather on the firesteel that looks nice, but I suspect its purpose is for looping around the rod for an easier grip, which I don't think is needed, but it does work.

The handle of the Eldris is rather large compared to the blade. It's just large enough to fit perfectly in my hand with no overhang but I wouldn't really call it full-sized. It's certainly thick enough for a full-sized handle and you get a very nice grip on it. It's nicely textured and really quite comfortable. My only criticism about this blade really is that as a neck knife it's quite bulky. It's lighter than most of my other neck knives but as the handle is so thick you do notice it underneath a shirt, but it's not so large that it's bothersome.

So now I can talk to you about the blade and first I have to mention that, although it's small, it looks menacing. It looks like a prison shiv McGyver would make. It has a Scandi grind for ease of sharpening and obviously you wont ever be processing firewood with this knife, but it was a very good size for feathering some shavings for tinder. It's not a thick blade. but because its short it feels very durable and the secondary bevel around the tip makes it thinner for  light cutting tasks, it's great for cutting cordage when you are setting up a makeshift shelter. As it's a small blade, I would also be comfortable using it to process some gam,e as you couldn't really lose control of something this size and I'd even have a go at whittling a spoon (well I'd rather shiv a spoon but that just doesn't seem feasible).

I'm usually surprised by Mora knives as I generally dislike their look and shape but I'm never disappointed to use them. They are always comfortable in hand and very good quality for the price and the Eldris is no exception. I do like it. I mean I wouldn't carry it around my neck, but I would certainly leave it in an emergency pouch or attach it to the outside of my pack. I think it has its place and I'm sure you will too.

 

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Beginners Guide To Bow Sports

Beginners Guide To Bow Sports

*This article was submitted as a guest publication by an outside source.*

So before I start this article I have to confess, I’m not a true prepper, I don’t have a plan for when the SHTF, I don’t have a survival cache, bug-out-bag or anything like that, I’ve not planned and prepared for what may come. So why have I been invited to write this article you ask? Well, I like to shoot, I’m a keen archer and I’ve several bows lying around my house and if you’re the kind of person I think you are and you want to be prepared to defend yourself and survive in the event of a serious societal collapse, I’m going to tell you why you should think about joining an archery club and learning how to use a bow.

 

There’s a lot you can do with the bow that you probably didn’t realise. It’s a great tool for sport but also survival. Over in the US bow-hunting is a big thing, not so much in the UK since the practice was prohibited in 1965 but nevertheless the US following shows the effectiveness of a bow as a tool for hunting, from small rodents to and larger game and even fish. Bows can be fitted with bow fishing reels and arrows with barbed points and used to catch fish should you find clear enough water to line up a shot. Besides those things though, one of the most important things I think you can do with a bows and arrows for survival is make then! If I lost my bow or was out of ammunition, given time I could make replacements myself without any complex infrastructure to support me.

 

Bowsports are also family friendly, when my son grows up I’m going to take him to the local archery club and teach him how to shoot a bow. I can probably start doing this when he’s about 3 or 4, I’m hoping he enjoys the experience and thinks it’s cool but you just never know with children, although boys tend to like swords and guns and all sorts of weapons and there are male and female hollywood role models who use a bow (Hawkeye, Katniss Everdeen etc) so I’m hopeful. I aim to give him a skill that he can take through life that I think is more useful than just being a sport he does. Also take my wife, she doesn’t currently shoot, but she isn’t as averse to me and won’t be frightened of her son shooting a bow regularly, but I’m sure she would think differently if we were off learning to knife fight or flying to Budapest to shoot pistols and semi-automatics at a range.

 

Now you know why I think bows are a good choice, I could give you more reasons but that could turn into a whole article in itself, instead let’s go through the types of bows you can find on offer today. If you want to know more about the different types and styles of bows available take a look at this article on bow types.

 

Traditional Bows

D-shaped bows include old english longbows, american flatbows, these are normally bows made from one piece of wood that don’t have stabilisers or sights. They’re the type of bow you’d make yourself from raw materials. You wouldn’t normally learn with something like this as they are not so widely available and customizable as the next choice.

 

Recurve Bow

Recurve bows are the bows that should interest you as a novice, this type of bow is the one they shoot at the Olympics. It curves round in the usual D shape but then re-curves back away from the archer at the tips which is how it gets the name. Recurve bows can be broken down into to pieces (takedown bows) and carried in a case or rucksack. Maybe not THE most portable bow in the world but certainly not the least.

 

Survival Bows

A survival bow is a light, compact, usually folding version of usually a D-shaped bow. Survival bows sometimes come with collapsible arrows and always are made to be easily portable and quick to assemble and modern engineering ensures they can also be pretty powerful. This as the name suggests is a the bow designed for a prepper or survivalist. But if I didn’t know how to shoot I’d still start with a recurve first and learn my technique.

 

Compound Bow

A compound bow is a bow with wheels or ‘cams’ at either end of the limbs, these cams compound the force of the string on the arrow when you release (hence the name) and a compound bow allows you to hold and aim for longer than a recurve. You might only be pulling back and holding 20 lbs, but when you release you’d get the power of 30-40 lbs acting on the arrow. Compound bows are great and a modern upgrade to the recurve, however as a prepper I wouldn’t have one as my first choice. They are bulkier, harder to maintain, harder to string and don’t normally breakdown for easy storage and transport.

 

Crossbow / Compound Crossbow / Pistol Crossbow

Everyone who’s watched the walking dead has seen Daryl and his crossbow, and I’m sure you know that a crossbow is just a bow mounted on a stock with a mechanism for holding back the string which is released with a trigger to shoot the bolt (it’s not an arrow in the crossbow world). You shoot a crossbow like a rifle, you can get compound versions and non-compound versions and you can even get pistol crossbows which are designed to be held and shot with one hand. If anything ever goes wrong with Daryl’s crossbow I don’t see how he’s going to maintain it very easily, he’s certainly not going to make himself another and there’s less skill and fun to be had in shooting one of these than with a recurve if you ask me. There are models of folding survival crossbows, but they don’t fold down as compactly as a survival bow.

 

When you look into bow sports you’d be surprised at how many different disciplines are on offer. There’s field archery, 3D archery, flight, clout, ski, run, even a martial art dedicated to the bow (Kyudo). Lots of choice and variety, but you nearly always start with Target archery, either indoors or outdoors which is the discipline that everyone knows. Standing and shooting at a target with a yellow bulls eye, it’s what the Olympians do.

 

Here’s a very quick introduction to all those types. Field archery is target archery practised on a course with different elevations and distances involved, 3D is similar to field with targets that resemble animals like Deer or Rabbit. Flight archery is the skill of shooting an arrow as far as possible. Clout is basically golf for archers where the aim of the game is to land your arrow as close to the flag as possible. Ski and run are basically forms of the biathlon with bows instead of guns. Outdoor Olympic archery is ONLY the recurve bow and they shoot at a target 70m away. Indoor competitive archery on the other hand is shot at a target only 18m away.

 

That’s a brief introduction to the sport, different bows and their disciplines. There are also many different types of arrows to support those bows and disciplines, but in the next article I’ll take you through some more practical information on actually purchasing a bow and what bits and bobs you need.

 

*This article was submitted as a guest publication by an outside source.*

Cold Steel Peace Maker 2 Review

Here is our Cold Steel Peace Maker 2 Review.

 

Some stats on the Peace Maker 2:

It has a 5 1/2 inch blade and is 10 1/4 inches in total. Made from 3mm thick 4116 stainless steel.
It has a high impact polypropylene handle and a Secure-Ex sheath and comes in at around £35.

Well the Secure-Ex® sheath has a pretty solid metal clip on the back for attaching to your boot or a belt. The design is such that it could easily be slipped into molle, which is a nice feature although, I dare say you wouldn't get it off with any form of ease because it is very stiff. It's also a reversible sheath, so very good for all the lefties out there as well. The biggest problem with the sheath though is its size. It covers about 60% of the handles sides and sticks out too far over the edges, so you have to use your pinky to remove the blade effectively. It could do with covering about an inch less of the handle and it would be much better, but you could always shave it down yourself. It's also so much thicker than the blade its unreal. Almost 2cm thick for a 3mm blade. As a boot knife this would never work here in the UK as it's clearly only ever going to fit on a wellington (and nobody really wears wellies outside of farms and construction sites).

 

The handle on this is very thin. Even in my small hands I struggle to find a good comfortable grip. It is made of Kray-Ex™ and the highly textured handle curls out to make a cross guard, so you wont end up loosing your grip if you manage to find one. There's also a lanyard hole and that's pretty much it for the handle. Basic and a bit small,  but it does the job.

 

The blade is made of cryo quenched (dont know what that means but I guess it was cold) German 4116 stainless steel which is being used quite a lot by Cold Steel for their cheaper models. It's quite thin but has very little flex in it so it's a good general purpose knife blade, and combined with its low weight makes it a good item to carry. I used it a few times to process some wood for kindling and it feathers very well thanks to the thin blade and the Scandinavian grind. It has a nice drop point on it as well, so good penetration, and enough length on it for flipping steaks without singing the back of my hand.

 

All of it's bad features aren't terrible individually, but I think combined it makes for a bit of a disappointment. The blade is too long given how thin the blade is. The handle is also far too small and the sheath is far too big. I have started seeing this as a repeating trend from Cold Steel. I've seen so many great reviews on their high end blades but it seems that in their efforts to make more affordable items and generate profit they just give up on their quality and design. I know they could make a better blade for this price but I don't think they really want to.

 

If it broke, would I buy another one?

 

No. Its got the size and shape of a combat knife, but the blade is far too thin for this in my opinion. Its advertised as a boot knife, but I feel its far too large for this purpose also. The sheath is useable, but its nothing special, and the handle is far too skinny for me to get a decent grip. There are much worse blades out there for £35, so it's not the worst you can do. Honestly though I would avoid this series altogether and look for something suitable for your personal needs.

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How To Choose A Survival Knife

How To Choose A Survival Knife

This is just a rough guide for newcomers to the knife game looking for one knife that does it all but has no idea where to start. I could just reel a list of good survival knives off, but this is more for introducing somebody to the traits they should be looking for in a good survival knife. It's one thing to have a good knife but a completely different story to know why you have it and how to use it.

 

I always use cheap knives when I'm out and about. I don't carry expensive blades as standard, but I never go anywhere that requires me to have a 'Survival' knife. As a big user of cheaper knives though I know their limitations but I forgive them that as I don't need to have anything more than that for what I generally do. If I go somewhere I think I might need to rely on my knife in a potential survival situation then I take something I know will keep me in good standing. The one thing you should always consider before looking to buy a survival knife is cost. Cheap is not good here. Cheap usually means inferior steel and lack of quality that can cause problems when you need it the most. Invest in something that's good quality from a good name, but I don't mean something that's endorsed by somebody like Bear Grylls. Most knives endorsed by a person will be terrible, not all but MOST, in comparison to just a good, regular blade. Just choose the right company like TOPS or ESEE and you shouldn't be able to go wrong. You can find some true gems out there for less, but generally £150-250 will get you something that should last a lifetime and can be relied upon in any survival situation.

 

Always look for fixed blade and full tang. Always. These will be stronger and therefore more useful for chopping when, and if, you need to. All folders have a massive flaw and that's the pivot point, so don't get one of those. Also, do not buy anything that comes with a fishing kit or any other rubbish jammed into the handle. If the handle is hollow then the knife is weak. These are just more gimmicks like the endorsed blades I mention previously.

 

Get a blade that is the right size. Don't get a massive, arm sized, bowie as you only limit yourself with what you can actually do with it. A big knife might help you chop some wood but a smaller knife, with a weight behind it, could do the same job while offering the ability to do finer tasks you might require. You are more likely to lose control of a large blade while cutting into game, which could spoil your meat, or you could just end up injuring yourself performing other tasks.

 

Get a good, thick spine, without going so far as to carry a hammer. It should be thick enough for you to use it to chop wood but thin enough that the blade has good edge geometry for cutting. Get something with a simple edge, no serrations or fancy bevels. The right sort of grind here could make a huge difference to your survival capabilities. I personally like the Scandinavian grind as its easy to sharpen and offers strong edge reinforcement. You want something that will be easy to maintain, with minimal equipment, and as long as its good steel, from a good brand, it should see you through the hardest of tasks.

 

Choose the right steel. Usually survival knives are made of high carbon steel. This is a good steel that can be struck (in the right manner) to produce fire. The downside is that high carbon steels rust, so you need to maintain the blade regularly. If you thought you would be somewhere very moist for a long period of time, choose stainless steel, but you should remember that you no longer have the option to make a flint steel with the knife and therefore should find some way to incorporate an alternative into your blade (usually in the sheath). Fire is very important for survival so make sure you have a way to make it with your knife at all times.

 

Get the right handle. Lots of companies offer paracord wraps and these can be good to an extent. The problem with a paracord handle is that once you use that cord you are left with just the tang of the blade as a handle. This can cause more problems than 5 meters of cordage can justify. You wont have a firm grip anymore and when its wet or in freezing temperatures you might find it altogether useless or dangerous to use. Most people would look for a rubberised grip for security and a lanyard hole never hurts (you can get a good paracord lanyard to cover one more area then).

 

As for a sheath there are many options out there for a knife beyond what it is supplied with and there's no 'best' material in my opinion. Lots of companies make custom sheaths so if you require something different approach somebody for a better solution. If you require extra pockets on them for items like a sharpener or flint steel or maybe you want to carry the blade horizontally rather than drop down. I personally prefer the horizontal sheaths as I find them less cumbersome and more accessible. Get a sheath that allows for easy access to the blade using only one hand yet has a secure and reliable way of holding the blade in place. The last thing you want is to have one hand holding on for survival, while fumbling around with the other, trying to get at your blade.

 

Finally always make sure you get to hold the knife before you buy it. Often the internet will tell you the blade has a certain grind and reviews tell you that the handle is great, but until you see it and hold it yourself, you just don't know. Its great to get an opinion on a knife but don't take the word of the seller. They are less likely to have used the knife and more likely to just want your hard earned cash. Don't take the word of youtubers either. They usually get sent knives for free so they can often exaggerate good features and forget to mention bad ones so they get sent more in the future. Just trawl through forums and you should get a good overview of whatever knife you are thinking about getting. The more reviews you find on it the more informed you can be when buying.

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