Folding Knives: By Sgt. D

I wanted to address some of the issues with folding knives.

I personally do not believe there is a best choice when it comes to what type knife you should carry.  As I have said before, I believe it is wise to carry more than one.  Here are my thoughts on folding knives.

Pro
Easier to carry.
Easier to hide.
Can have multiple blades or tools
Can be very useful with smaller tasks, that would be hard to do with a larger field knife.

Con
Can be weaker than a fixed blade knife.  The joint between the handle and the blade creates a weak point.
Can close unexpectedly.  (See warning below)

There are other points about folding knives that I believe are just my personal opinion.

The handles tend to be smaller than fixed bladed knives.  I think a thicker handle give greater gripping power for the user than the thinner handles do.

Because the handles have to be open to allow for the folding blade, they tend to collect dirt and are more difficult to clean.

There are those knives that do lock open.  This can reduce the chances of the knife closing unexpectedly; however it will not always prevent it completely.  One issue that I have found are with knives that use a "Liner Lock" to keep the blade in place.  This lock is used in knives that are intended to be closed easily with one hand.  The point where the liner comes in contact with the base of the blade can become worn or polished, and this allows the liner to slip out of position allowing the blade to close.

The other method of holding a knife open, that I am familiar with, is the "Buck" or "Spyderco" type of lock.  I have never had one of these knives, which were properly locked open, close on me during use.  The one issue some people have with this kind of lock is that they are hard to close with just one hand.

Become familiar with the tools that you intend to use in a survival situation.  The survival situation is going to be hard enough without having to learn about your tools at the same time.

Fore warned is fore armed.  IIHTF

Multi-Tools: By Sgt. D

One of the great things that have been perfected in the past twenty years has been the Multi-Tool.  They are made by a number of different manufacturers.  They come in many different sizes and costs.  Almost every military guy I know of carries one.  Most law enforcement types carry one as well.  When I was on the job it became one of the used pieces of equipment on my belt.

  I used a couple of different brands of Multi-Tools when I was in law enforcement.  Both did a good job.  It would be hard for me to recommend one over another because I haven't had a chance to test them all.  I believe that Multi-Tools are like clothes; you should look them over, try them on, and find the one that best matches you.  I personally like a larger one; one that uses heavy gauge metal, and has all of the following tools:

Pliers
Knife blades
Saw
File
Assorted screw drivers 
Can opener
Bottle opener

The one tool I can honestly say that I have not used is the leather punch.

I have said in prior posts, that I think it is important to carry more than one knife.  A Multi-Tool fits into that idea very well.  Both of my tools have a straight edge blade and had a serrated blade.  For those of you that don't know a serrated blade is much better than a straight edge blade to cut rope, web strapping or seat belts.

You also need to remember that one tool help maintain another tools.  The file can be used to sharpen axes and other metals to give them an edge.  

The pliers have many uses; I have used them for pulling hot pots or metals out of a fire.

A Multi tool should be considered it a very important part of you survival tool kit.  "Be Prepared" from us at IIHTF.

Survival Basics Part 2: By Sgt. D

We have talked at a very high overview of the following items:

Evacuation
Water
Shelter

The above items are what need to be considered when the stress is the highest.  Once these three items have been dealt with people will tend to relax, just a little.  This is survival in the very short term.  Now the questions comes up, "how long will this survival situation last?"  Most of the government information on the subject of survival never goes into the very long term. Remember the troubles in the former Yugoslavia.  What if food deliveries cannot reach your area?  What if government support agencies don't arrive for a long time or don't arrive at all?  One of the reasons that we created this blog was to awaken people to the possibility that society as we know it, may change dramatically, and for a long time.

Consider what it would have been like if the rest of the world could not come to the aid of Haiti, Pakistan, and the countries affected by the tsunami.  Those people would have had to survive some other way.  We want you to think along the lines that help may never come.  This type of thinking is essential to survival.  You take control of your life and your survival.

The next survival issues to be considered are long term in nature.  

Protection
Food
Fire
Tools

Protection:

If social order breaks down there will be no police.  You may have to protect yourself.  Now the idea of shelter has changed.  It has changed into protecting yourself from just protecting yourself from the weather; to also protecting yourself from danger or predators.    Study a little history; how did people in the past solve this problem?  There is no way that I can cover all of the possible solutions to the shelter problem that you might face.  I don't think that any survival book can anticipate all the issues that could be facing you.  But any preparation is better than no preparation at all.   (Read a survival book.)

Take inventory of what you have.

What can you move to improve the situation?

Can you move to improve the situation?

What can you use as a barrier?

Food:

There are several things to consider on the subject of food.

Storing food long term means you have some special issues to consider.

Remember to check the expiration date on canned food.

Dried or freeze dried foods can be stored for a long time.  However they require more water to become usable.

Can you obtaining food from area you're in? This may be a consideration once you have used up all your stored food.  A book on edible plants could be of major importance.  A book on how to hunt and dress game animals would be a great advantage.

Fire:

Fire is one of the major advantages that people have over animals. Your use of fire helps you modify things to make them more useful to you.  Fire provides light, heat and protection at night. With fire you can boil water to make it safe to drink.  With fire you can make some plants into a better food sources. With fire you can make meat safer to eat.

Fire can help you make tools.  Fire hardened sticks can be very useful.  Use fire to bend larger pieces of metal into useful shapes. With fire you can signal people over large distances. 

One issue with fire is how to start one with no matches.

Tools:

A knife was one of the first tools that ancient man developed.  Luckily in most survival situation you will either have a knife or access to metal to make a knife.  If you have thought ahead you will have some basic tools available and little knowledge about how to use them. If you are caught in a situation where you do not have these tools ready made, think about how to make or obtain them.

 

Have you detected a theme though this post.  It is to think about the survival situation before you have to face it.  That thought process is the greatest advantage that you can give yourself
Be Ready from all of us at IIHTF Blog.

Flashlights: By Sgt. D

Flashlights

The ability to see in the dark and to signal at night, without using fire, can be a tremendous benefit in a survival situation.  This usually means some type of flashlight.  When I was a police officer, I learned to always carry a flashlight.  I can't count the times, on day shift, were I walked into a building/house on an information call, and then ended up needing a flashlight to see something, or in a confrontation with someone in a dark basement or room. 

Now the technology of flashlights has changed dramatically over the past few years.  Some of the new innovations have really improved their suitability for survival situations.

LED (Light Emitting Diode)
The Diode itself can last up to 100,000 hours.
The diode is much tougher than older flashlight light bulbs.
The Diode uses much less power for the same amount of light.

Lithium Batteries
Have greatly increased the time that you can store batteries.

Circuitry
Has given modern flashlights the ability to perform in several different ways. This is usually a very bright mode, flashing mode, and a power conservation mode.

Magnetic Induction Flashlight
Has provided a partial solution to the need to replace or recharge batteries.  These are the flashlights that you shake or turn the crank to create the power to be used.
(I have not found one that is really bright yet.  Much better than no flashlight at all, but it has its limitations.)

Flashlight Construction
Many modern flashlights are made of very strong aluminum or polycarbonate.
 Historical Perspective
When I was young, flashlights were either those flimsy silver sheet metal D cell ones, or the huge plastic ones that had a battery about half the size of a toaster.  If you were lucky you had a plastic army flashlight.

 The question is now what kind of flashlight and how many.  I believe you should have at least two.  One that is fairly small that is easily mounted on your head or that you can hold between your teeth to allow you to have both hands free.  The second flashlight should be a larger one to see a greater area with and to signal with.

A second consideration is to make sure that the flashlight is easily attached either to you or your gear.  You can attach them by a cord or clip or some other device.  I don't like holders/holsters, when I was a police officer, unless the holder had some type of secondary method to keep the thing in, I have lost it during vigorous physical activity.

Become obsessive about your tools.  Many of them, like a flashlight, you will not have the ability to reproduce yourself if you lost the original.

Because you are reading this on the Internet I am assuming that if you want to know more, you have the ability to do searches on many of these terms and ideas that are mentioned.    

 Good Luck from us at "If It Hit The Fan".