Paladin's Walkabout

Cross Country – Day 3

2009-06-05T02:47:00.000-07:00

{{A note from Paladin: Yes I've been gone a good while and very little of it has been good. I'm back now though, and trying to make up for lost time. I'm going to finish out the journal from this trip before moving on to other things. Thanks to all for staying with me.}}

After a filling dinner and a cup of hot tea to relax the road sore muscles and other body parts that were still not quite broke to the trail yet it was nearing dark and time to get settled in for the night. A few minutes walk down to the main parking area and restrooms found me once again without working water fountains or spigots. The restrooms worked (marginally), but the water from the men’s room faucets came out cloudy. I’d need to make sure that any water used from these facilities was boiled before use as I just didn’t want to risk getting sick. It’s one thing to have abdominal problems in a car or truck, but is another thing entirely when on a motorcycle and you need your entire body for balance and maneuver.

Some people I’ve talked with before, during and since this trip have declared my sleeping at rest areas a dangerous thing – even those who have done so themselves but inside their cars where they felt at least somewhat safe. I can’t disagree with them much, except that a person on a bike doesn’t have a bucket seat to recline back and windows to roll up and a thin car door to lock. The lack of this feeling of security doesn’t change the fact that a tired driver is dangerous and a rider has just as much need (and right) to rest as anyone else – even more in that riding cross country takes more out of a person physically than one in a car/truck (what riders refer to as a “cage”). I’ve yet to be molested on a bike trip, but have had two attempted robberies while travelling by car over the years. [One at a rest area just outside of Jacksonville, FL on I-10 west bound; and the other on I-25 north bound at a rest area near Fort Collins, CO.] My point here is that no matter how one travels one should maintain awareness of the immediate area and take reasonable precautions for one’s security.

Over the years I have obtained concealed carry licenses in more than five states. Reciprocity agreements between states pretty much ensures that at least one of those licenses is valid/accepted in any of the states in which I usually travel. The fact that I am armed during travel makes me neither brave nor brazen. The reality is that it makes me even more cautious and even more wanting to avoid a conflict. I treat the concealed carry license as a mandate to keep the weapon concealed and don’t go around showing off the butt of the pistol or trying to pick a fight. Most persons of the criminal type out for a quick mugging are looking for what they feel is an easy target and usually don’t go out of their way to create a lot of trouble for themselves. A harsh sounding attitude, a show of force and an obedient target is what they’re after. Past experience has shown me that the easiest thing to do is not to make yourself an easy mark. Part of this is in choosing a location for your rest break.

The rest area near Sky City has a main parking area and rest rooms with a picnic area accessed via a loop further up the gently sloping hillside. Cars, SUVs, and small trucks can use the facilities and then pull out through the exit without taking the loop. Big trucks, RV’s and vehicles pulling trailers need to take the loop however, and most persons of the thieving persuasion are not going to be driving these type of vehicles. I chose a picnic shelter that was in a good position, well away from the main facilities but not too isolated. There was another spot that, at first glance, might have been a better location as it was on higher ground, but was at the limit of the area and a quick scout showed it to be facing the wrong direction for the wind and inhabited by several red ant colonies. My spot was sloped slightly lower than the loop road beside it but was better situated for the wind. The picnic shelter was three walled and of stone construction, with the rear running roughly east-west, giving a good break from the wind and the slight depression helping somewhat if the wind shifted to come from the north. There was an opening to the south behind the shelter big enough for a person to walk through, but a four foot high wall just in front of the opening helped with the wind break. On the east side was a three sided chimney area in the wall with a metal barbecue, and to the north a walkway leading to the loop road.

Laying atop the concrete and stone picnic table put me roughly at the road level and, in a worst case scenario, a quick roll to the side would put me behind partial cover of the table top and rear bench long enough to exit through the rear opening. The position also gave me a clear field of fire and a safe backdrop with minimal risk of a stray round reaching the picnic shelters at the center of the loop, which were also below the road level even further than mine and most had the stone sides of the shelters towards me. A split rail fence and low adobe styled wall at the side of the loop road between the shelter entrances also helped limit access. While the shelter opened to the loop road, the road also ran one way for traffic, ensuring that any vehicles coming up the loop would be heard and have their headlights seen easily. Overall I was in a good defensible spot with an escape route that provided cover.

There’s no need to act especially nervous, even when camping in the wild in grizzly bear country. Just going about your business with purpose and without causing a stir and you’re usually pretty safe. Mostly, I make it a point to be friendly with others without imposing.

Next: Cross Country – Day 4

Cross Country – Day 2

2008-04-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

At “home” I keep my motorcycles on a tender to keep the batteries fully charged. It also keeps them warm in cold weather which aids in getting the bikes started in the winter. The plug attachment leading to the battery terminals is a universal two wire plug which also allows me to attach a DC adapter plug to it, thereby permitting most car borne accessories such as cell phone chargers or a power inverter. I had purchased a single plug mini power inverter for this trip, but discovered that during the last minute rearranging I had left it behind. With no power outlets at the first night’s rest area I wasn’t going to be able to recharge the laptop or 3G internet device or my PDA (all of which had standard electrical outlet chargers. The only thing I was going to be able to charge while on the ride this day was my cell phone (at least I remembered the car charger for that piece of equipment!).

As dawn arrived on day two I found myself having a cool but not too chilly morning over a cup of hot coffee and a can of vegetable soup with beef. I had met a trucker who had spent six months as a contractor in Iraq. He had been wounded when his convoy came under fire and his contracting company had promptly fired him for getting injured on the job. I’m told that this is standard procedure with some contracting firms such as Halliburton, but not with the firms I’ve contracted with. Such behavior by corporate America is awful and if true needs to be stopped. Our contractors place themselves at great risk and live/work alongside our troops. When our troops are injured in the line of duty we award them a purple heart, but fire our contractors? This is unreal! We talked a while over coffee and discussed how he’s adjusted to life back home. His name was Frank and he seems to have adjusted well back to life at home. He did tell me that he has some sleepless nights on occasion and gets nervous when passing a stalled car alongside the road but that he’s adjusted well. He enjoys the open road and his trucker life and I wished him well before he headed out.

By 0645 I’d packed up the bike and was ready to head out. As I mentioned, it was cool but not overly so, but should have remembered I was going to be gaining altitude as I neared Flagstaff and that they’d had snow several days before. I started out the ride with my leather jacket and my summer riding gloves and was fine for the first twenty or thirty miles. As I gained altitude in the mountains the temperature dropped, especially in the shadows where the sun had not yet touched the ground. The wind chills at 65/75 mph quickly dropped to the below freezing range and I was forced to pull over and add a set of leather chaps and change to the fall weight gauntlet gloves with Thinsulate. The area I pulled over at was at that next rest area I’d mentioned that was closed – and closed it was with barricades blocking the off ramp. Add on a neoprene mask across the face for wind protection and I was back on my way.

Just south of Flagstaff, going around a blind curve with a solid rock face to my right I hit a patch of black ice. Had it been just a couple of hours later it would have been gone, melted away by the warming sun, but not in the early morning when I passed through. I managed to keep the bike under control and kept it together when I got back on regular pavement. There was some fishtailing and things looked uncertain for a moment but the adrenaline charged moment didn’t last long and it was back underway in short order. Remember, it was 80+ F in Phoenix the day before and already over 60 degrees there at the same time that morning when I hit the ice. The gain in altitude going through the mountains meant much lower temperatures and while I had expected that at some point, I hadn’t planned for ice. That was a major reminder to keep slick roads in mind until the sun brought things up to above freezing temps.

A short distance east of Flagstaff is Winslow. The town is small but proud of being the centerpiece of the Eagle’s song “Take It Easy”, with a bronze statue of the person standing on a corner and there’s even a flatbed Ford. For me the major attraction was the Flying J truck stop. I was able to get a shower and get cleaned up just in time to meet a family who had driven in from the Kingman area. We’d been in contact for a couple of weeks before I started the trip and had planned this get together. They had lost two family members to the global war on terror and had another currently serving in Iraq along with a distant relative serving as a contractor. Over coffee in the restaurant we discussed the hardships of multiple long-term deployments and the state of the support system for returning vets and contractors. After a while it was time to get back on the road and due to the lack of good water supply at the previous rest stop was considering purchasing a couple of water bottles while there. I shrugged it off the purchase and decided to fill up when I got to the Meteor Crater rest area a short distance away. I don’t normally like to pay for bottled water since most brands are simply tap water that might been filtered (only some brands), and at around $6 to $8 per gallon or more it just makes no sense to me – so unless I find myself with little other choice I’ll refuse to pay that much for what I can get for free from the tap. I was soon to find that I’d have to put reservations aside, however.

I pulled into the rest area, which was eerily empty, and up to a parking space nearest the main water spigot. A maintenance person was nearby and walked up to me stating that they’d had their water pipes break overnight and the rest area was closed. So it was back onto the highway and east towards Gallup. The last rest area in Arizona, right at the New Mexico border also did not have working water, though it did have functioning restrooms, just no drinking water.

The weather warmed up after that and when I stopped in Navajo to refuel I exchanged the chaps, jacket, and heavier gloves for a liberal amounts of sun screen and my darker lens goggles. [I have four sets of goggles – clear, light shaded, dark, and very dark lenses.] I broke down and bought three liter-sized bottles of water, using two to fill my Nalgene bottles and one I mixed with Replenish sports drink mix (available at Wal-Mart and similar to powdered Gatorade).

At the Arizona/New Mexico welcome center rest area I met a fellow biker from the Seattle area who calls himself “Bionic” He’d been out on his full boat touring bike for a couple of months and was heading towards home.

The day ended with a stop in Acoma, NM near the reservation casino called “Sky City”. I met up with several bikers who had ridden in for the day who had come through on a charity ride to raise money for a veteran’s shelter. We had a good time and talked quite a bit and before long it was within an hour of sundown and they had to head back towards home. I moved on to a nearby rest area and started in on dinner. The weather was changing we could tell as the wind direction had shifted and the other bikers had warned me that the famous New Mexico strong crosswinds were due in a few days. That night the temperatures dropped strongly, and I was at times wishing I’d brought less food and kept the sleeping bag & pad.

Next: Cross Country – Day 3

Cross Country – Day 1

2008-04-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

You know, sometimes I feel like it’s easier to get an internet connection in Afghanistan than it is to maintain one here in the US, or at least it seemed that way on the first legs of this cross country trip. It wasn’t until I got to Missouri that I was able to obtain a solid connection for any length of time. So….sorry about the delayed posting but here are the events for the start of my trip across the country and my attempt at raising awareness of the issues faced by our returning veterans and contractors.

April 13^th….now is where everything starts. Made a short post to the LifeSong Adventures forums and am ready to get underway. I’d planned on departing at 0400 but we had an emergency Saturday night and didn’t get to bed until after 0200. It was 0900, just after posting to Lifesong and I was out on the bike ready to head to the gas station to top off the tank and get underway. That’s when mission control put a hold on the launch. The better half received a call informing her that one of her employees had gotten stuck out in the desert and needed assistance. Thus I unloaded the bike, grabbed my desert go bag and verified the extraction tools were in the back of the suburban and off we went to the south. We returned at 1500, reloaded and refueled, and I was officially started at 1630, only twelve and a half hours later than planned.

After a lot of thought I gave up the extra fuel can and the sleeping bag & pad in favor of being able to carry extra food. My thoughts were that if I did come across homeless veterans along the way I could provide them with a hot meal and a few cans for use later. I had also picked up a bunch of P-38 can openers at a local surplus store and I already had an overabundance of trioxane if they needed any for cooking. My hope would be that the weather be warm and dry for this trip as I’d have just the fleece liner, poncho and poncho liner.

The first stop was in Camp Verde, AZ for fuel and a break with some bikers whom I had encountered on the way north. They had seen the banner on the back of my bike as they were on their way back from their group ride and decided to join me for a while until they made their turn off for home. We had a good chat and I had some OJ while they drank sodas, and a local deputy provided some updated traffic information. The deputy has a brother serving in Afghanistan and said he appreciated what I was trying to do.

Just north of Camp Verde I saw a sign for a rest area and as traffic was heavy and the other drivers making me feel like I had a bull’s-eye on the back banner….and since I’d had less than four hours of sleep in the last thirty-six I decided to pull in for some rest and continue on in the morning. Once in the rest area I scouted out a picnic table at the far end and set up “camp” for the evening. By camp I mean that I offloaded the gear from the bike to the table. When in your car you can simply pull into the rest area, find a spot, tilt the seat back and go to sleep. That’s not an option on a motorcycle, but that doesn’t mean you’re unable to get any sleep. Granted, there’s always the hotel option but when that’s not in the budget or you just need a couple of hours rest, that’s what the rest areas are for. Every time I head towards Sturgis, SD for the bike rally whether I’m riding or trailering there’s rarely a hotel room available for more than a 150 mile radius, there’s nearly always at least one or more bikers taking a rest on a picnic table at night. Basically, as long as you’re not using it during a family picnic (unlikely at night), law enforcement will normally be happy that you’re trying for rest rather than driving tired at night and causing a fatal collision.

I set up the Esbit stove and cooked a quick meal. I used canned goods for the first leg of this trip. First, in the desert water is hard to come by so the freeze dried backpacker meals aren’t always the best choice, so on weekend hiking and dirt biking trips I tend to use canned goods, though they are rather heavy. Second, I brought a large supply of canned goods to give to the homeless vets. Just remember to take off the can’s label before placing it on your stove or in the campfire and it’ll heat up just fine. If you eat straight from the can when it’s warmed up you also eliminate having to clean the dishes except for your eating utensil. I learned this back in my military days when we had C-rations long before today’s MRE’s.

I reckon it was a good thing I was tired enough as after dinner an Allied Van Lines truck pulled in with rear axle problems. Soon after this two support vehicles (pickup trucks) pulled in beside it and commenced work with a cutting torch, heavy hammers, a generator, air impact hammers, and an arc welder. Their pounding carried on until around 0300 and the trucks took off soon after. Given other options I normally would have just had dinner and moved on to the next rest area about an hour north, but according to a state trooper I talked with it was closed for remodeling and repaving.

The trooper I mentioned agreed with me on the statement I made above about resting. His only issue with me was that he was originally concerned with the open flame of the stove. When he first saw me he thought I had a portable grill. In Arizona, due to the low humidity there’s always a risk of wildfire hazards. Thus you won’t find grills built near picnic tables at most rest areas or even most parks. Many of the rest areas in Arizona are near scenic views and/or walking trails, which is great, but please note that the wildlife also includes scorpions and rattlesnakes, and signs are posted throughout all of the rest areas in warning. It’s been a while, but every now and then someone props open a restroom door and a diamondback makes its way inside for the warmth at night. It’s not an everyday occurrence but use caution. :-)

It was over 80 degrees when I left Phoenix and the rest area was still pretty warm through most of the night until around 0400. For sleeping I chose to keep the fleece bag liner rolled up to use as a pillow and wore my leather jacket and a knit cap for sleeping. In spite of the noise from the repair work I got enough rest and was more than ready to go by the time the sun started poking its head over the mountains.

The water fountains were not working so I refilled a water bottle using the men’s room faucet but it was cloudy. A maintenance person assured me that it was safe to drink but instead of filling the other bottles I opted instead to use the stove to boil what I had and made coffee and soup for breakfast. We’re now into the start of day two so I’ll close this and move on to the next post.

Next: Cross Country – Day 2

Gear Review - Esbit Pocket Stove

2008-04-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

After the bad experience with the StanSport stove I kept searching for a compact backpacking/emergency stove. I was really disappointed in the StanSport as I've had this type of stove decades ago. The canteen cup stove worked well, as mentioned in the review, but I wanted something that would work for more than just a canteen cup. There are several gas and butane based stoves out there and most work well, but I wanted something I could use with a supply of twenty plus boxes of trioxane and a dozen or so boxes of hexamine. Since the last stove gear test I've been remembering with great fondness the folding cube shaped Sterno stove of my days in the Boy Scouts. Sterno fuel can be found almost anywhere but those old four sided stoves with a stand bottom and grill top seem to have disappeared.

Enter the Esbit Pocket Stove. A trip to REI netted me two models of alcohol fueled stoves and nearly hidden from view was an Esbit Pocket Stove (UPC 0 1797107913 3). The Esbit is made in Germany while the StanSport stove was made in China, and while the latter was flimsy in construction the Esbit is downright sturdy. The material is thicker, but the stove is also smaller, making for little weight difference between the two. The dimensions of the Esbit are 3" x 4" x 3/4" and weighs in at 3.25 ounces. This is great for lightweight hiking as well as cross country motorcycling and I plan on taking this with me on all future assignments and deployments.

The Esbit stove is a two position unit (fully open and half-open) with detentes in the sides to keep the stove into place. In the half position the stove easily accommodates a GI issue canteen cup and will even fit an average can. After testing the boil time (5-8 minutes with trioxane) I used the stove to heat up lunch (a 15 ounce can of ravioli) directly in the can. [Warning: Remove the can label first to prevent it burning.] Heating prepared canned food directly in the can means you can eat directly from the can, minimizing cleanup and preparation time.

The Esbit stove is everything I had hoped for and comes with 6 large solid fuel cubes. These are much larger than the Colghan or StanSport hexamine tablets - at least twice the size, and also outlast the GI trioxane bars.

Overall the Esbit Pocket Stove (it will easily fit in a BDU cargo pocket) is all I'd hoped it would be and is now a permanent part of my "go-bag / bail-out-bag" inventory.

Gear Review - StanSport Fold-A-Stove

2008-04-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Here's a gear review of the StanSport Fold-A-Stove (item number 236, UPC 0 1131934160 9). The box is marked as follows:

Folds up into a compact unit for easy storage
Fuel tablets burn without odor and ignite easily
Opens to two cooking positions
Made of durable plated steel
24 fuel tablets included

There's also a small side note on the front and back of the box with a photo of a campfire and the phrase "the smell of sizzling bacon and fresh eggs cooking over an open fire on a misty morning looking at the snowcapped south face. this is life."

The above slogan may be nice, but at best it's an imprecise indication of what you'll end up with when using this stove. In other words, you'll end up tossing the stove and using the hexamine fuel tablets as fire starter material to build a real campfire in order to cook your meal.

I've had folding stoves like this one previously and they worked well, especially for heating up the older C-rations or a can of soup - or more importantly heating water for that essential cup of coffee in the morning. I'd talked about the folding stove design amongst family and friends and my thoughts that something like this would be great for deployments, extended motorcycle trips as well as in the field where a gas or butane stove isn't always practical. Yep, lightweight and sturdy, that's the ticket.

I received this Fold-A-Stove as a gift and took some time out yesterday to test it out before setting off later this week on a long cross country motorcycle trip where I'll be spending most of my down time at rest areas and campgrounds. Imagine my disappointment upon opening the box to find that the bulk of the weight to have been the hexamine tablets and very flimsy construction of the stove.

This is supposed to open into two positions but there is no way to lock the stove into the partially open spot, though if you happen to have two to four steel cotter pins laying about (which I didn't) I suppose one could slide one into each of the "leg" holes to keep it in place. In the fully open position the stove will not accommodate GI issue type aluminum or steel canteen cup, nor will it fit a .5 liter boy scout type cook pot.

The upper portion, as shown in the photo, has "fingers" upon which to sit your cook pot. The flimsy material this stove is made from makes these fingers very week. With the inability to use the small cook pot or canteen cup I then tried a 1 liter aluminum cook pot from another mess kit and filled it with .5 liters of water to run a heating test. The stove would not handle the weight of the few ounces of aluminum pot and the water together and the whole thing collapsed, with 3 of the 5 fingers bending out of shape. We're talking a weight of about 1lb maxed out the capability of this stove!

Trying again with .25 liters (8 oz.) the stove remained somewhat steady and it was time to start the actual cooking test. The hexamine tablet lit just fine (I've been using hexamine and trioxane fuel tabs for years and have never had any problems with them). Shortly after lighting, however, the heat/flame of the tab ignited the black paint of the stove, creating bright yellow flames around the stove and lots of foul smelling black smoke. Thankfully I was testing this on a large concrete slab and there were no other combustibles nearby.

It took a total of 8 minutes and two tabs to heat the water to near boiling. I would have used a third tab but the due to the vent holes in the bottom of the stove being so close together and the stove material being so thin, the heat tabs burned a hole through the stove.

Suffice it to say that I absolutely DO NOT recommend this product at all. There are other folding stoves on the market, check them out but avoid the StanSport Fold-A-Stove.

As a side note, I fished out my old GI style canteen cup stove (fits around a canteen cup and inside the canteen cover). This is made of aluminum and costs about five dollars at a surplus store. With a canteen cup on top and a hexamine/trioxane tab below, I had .5 liters of water (twice what I was able to test with the StanSport) at a low boil in 5 minutes 45 seconds and was finally able to make some coffee with the new Taster's Choice single serving coffee packets.

Wow, sales are going good...

2008-04-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

After getting home I discovered that we were running short on space and that a good portion of *my* storage space for my toys had been reduced by more than half. :) Thus I've been selling off quite a few blades that I use very little and sending them off to (I hope) good homes. The Applegate-Fairbairn AF-11 was the first to go, selling within hours of its posting on eBay - it was an early production run with the S/N 3400 and was in good shape even after all these years but I was surprised at how fast it went. The Gerber knives went fast on eBay too, the early run Guardian and the early Mark I went just as fast. The extra Cold Steel recon scouts and recon tantos went fast at the gun shop I had them on consignment at too. All in all I think it's about 15 of the 30 blades I put up for sale have sold quickly and that's good I suppose, but in a way it's sad to let them go. They were taking up needed space I've been told and sometimes you just can't argue with the better half, and perhaps it's my fault as I tend to buy two or three of everything - use one and field test the crap out of it and have the others for spares, gifts, or whatever. Maybe the better half is right, after thirty years plus of questing for the "perfect" knife I've got more than a few that didn't make it into the "what's best for me" category - though many are fine blades.

Returned from the sandbox

2008-03-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

I've returned from the sandbox across the big pond and will be home for at least a short while before setting off on further adventures. It's good to be home and I'm sorry that I haven't kept up the blog while I've been gone. My internet access has been limited and when I have had it, I'm sorry but family has come first.

I saw some places that needed editing in my knife articles so went to try and edit them and ended up deleting them instead. I'll post them again shortly.

A month gone by but hope remains

2007-10-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I've been offline due to my work, but I'm back and working on getting some fresh updates posted by the end of the weekend. It's been more than a month since Steve Fosset's plane disappeared and I hear that the searches have been toned down. This is understandable, but as sir Richard Branson has put it in his interviews, if anyone could have the strength and spirit to survive and make it out it would be Steve Fosset.

As we discuss gear and techniques in this blog and elsewhere sir Richards words of hope should remind everyone that the one key ingredient to survival is the human mind. Hope and a positive, determined attitude is often the deciding factor in a survival situation. When gear, injuries, or weather work to make a situation seem hopeless, it is the determined positive attitude that not only can, but will, make our efforts succeed or fail.

I'll return later this weekend to catch up on the posts, but wanted to let everyone know that I haven't disappeared. :)

A Day Remembered and a Day of Concern

2007-09-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

While I've been out and about through the countryside these last few weeks we've had two events in the last few days that bear remarking.

First, yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the death of Steve Irwin. Though he may have had his detractors Mr. Irwin was truly in love with the animal kingdom and the desire for the preservation and conservation of wildlife. His apparent complete lack of fear and his overwhelming zeal was an every day affair and not just an act for the TV and movie cameras. He died as he lived, on yet another adventure of exploration and education. His dedication to the cause of wildlife and education lives on and I recommend to all that when visiting that great land a visit be made to the Australia Zoo.

Also yesterday we have reports that adventurer Steve Fossett is missing after taking off from a private air strip on Nevada to search for a location to attempt a new land speed record. Fossett is a well known adventurer most famous for being the first to fly solo around the world in a balloon in 2002, and the first to circumnavigate the globe in an airplane without refueling in 2005. He has set many records for either distance or speed in balloons, airplanes, sailing, and reportedly even on skis. Fossett has swum the English Channel, sailed around the world, and competed in the Iditarod dog sled race and climbed the Matterhorn and Mt. Kilamanjaro.

Steve Fossett is a very experienced outdoorsman and has survived numerous perils and crashes in the past. We can only hope that this latest news ends with yet another tale of survival against the odds.

Both of these gentlemen are examples of how even the most experienced of persons can meet with dire events. Nature is beautiful but can also be unforgiving. As your outdoor skills develop please do not become complacent and take unnecessary risks which could result in your demise. Enjoy the wild but beware that Nature can be a fickle mistress.

*P*

What's in a knife?

2007-08-19T00:07:00.000-07:00

What’s in a knife?

When discussing knives in general terms there’s a multitude of manufacturers with an even greater number of designs in the marketplace today. Narrow the discussion to hunting, camping, military or survival type knives and the selection really doesn’t seem to narrow by that great of a margin. Within each of the categories makers have offered choices of long, short, straight, curved, fixed and folding blades with one or more sharpened edges with various grinds and sheath or locking mechanisms. Add to it the various grades of steel, with some manufacturers using their own names for various alloys or even devising their own metals for use. Custom knives sit alongside commercially produced blades in store display cases and on web sites. Even attempting to narrow the choices down to what blades are used by the military gives a broad selection as various makers have been assigned military stock numbers for their knives and individual units being deployed may be “issued” knives far different from the unit across the parade ground. Even a quick perusal of the internet shows at least four or five commercial makers who claim to make the knives used by the US Navy SEALS, and several more that claim to be the makers for various other Special Forces units. Of all these choices which is the “best”? The answer to that question is either a) all of them or b) none of them. The reason for that answer? The best knife for you as an individual depends on the purpose of the knife, how it is to be used, and how does the knife fit you. Discussion on what knife will fulfill that statement could take up volumes. Often stated is the comment “The best knife for a survival knife is the one you have with you.” Granted, you’ll make do with whatever you have available, but why not do your best to ensure that the knife you have with you is one that is up to the task? What I’m going to attempt in this and upcoming articles is to lay a foundation upon which you can then make an informed choice of which knife is best for you.

I’ll start this by admitting some personal bias which I have tried to lay aside for the balance of this article. Over 30 years of experience has brought me towards the “big knife” side of the fence along with the “two knife” train of thought. Part of this is has to do with combat and close quarters fighting. I was taught that you had your combat blade and to keep that blade sharp and ready but not to use it for anything but fighting so that you always had a sharp blade when the need arose. A second knife would be the utility/camp knife for doing the ordinary chores. So for years I had my Gerber Mk II or Randall No. 1 always sharp and at the ready and used various other knives for the grunt work. These ranged from Ka-Bar “marine” knives to the issue bayonet of the time, to the “pilot survival knife”, to Buck 110 folders to the Swiss-Army type knives. Depending on the time and location a machete or tomahawk may have been added to the mix. Adding two or more knives to a combat load for an Ithica 12 gauge shotgun, FN-FAL or FAMAS rifle for a trek through the woods or jungle and it becomes clear in short order why they call infantry (regular or airborne) “ground pounders”. For those who come to this blog as prospective ultra-light hikers, don’t fret as years of hefty weights on my back have given me a lighter is better perspective, so read on and I’ll show some knives I’ve tested that are well within a light hiker’s requirements.

From having been indoctrinated to the two knife mentality for many years I was surprised in the early 90’s to come across a book that recommended such for survival purposes as well. The book itself, and another by the same author, are gone now – two of the many things lost when hurricane Charlie and his friends visited Southwest Florida a few years ago. I don’t even remember the name of the author, but the books were excellent references and provided color photographs where other survival oriented books rely on line drawings. In each of these books the author recommends a large knife such as a kukri as a primary blade for chopping, building shelters and such and a small knife such as a Swiss Army folder for small work. The reasoning is sound and the author’s demonstrations in the books show that, however I’m more inclined to suggest that the second knife be a smaller fixed blade and would suggest the folding multifunction blade to be optional.

For most of us considering a knife to add to our survival kits or to use out in the field hiking or backpacking a blade that is combat capable really isn’t necessary though some fighting knives may qualify for a survival knife. For the purposes of this discussion I’m going to refer to our prospective bladed tool as a general purpose knife. I do this because the chosen knife will be the general work horse of the camp, be it a weekend outing or a survival shelter while awaiting rescue. The knife chosen is going to be put to work chopping wood for your fire and creating shelter; building fishing spears, snares and deadfall traps for small game; skinning and cleaning your catch; cutting twine, rope or vines for building; or slicing up fruits and other items for meals. In short, any task which requires cutting, slicing or chopping will need to be performed by the chosen general purpose knife. That’s a tall order and with it comes a tough set of requirements. Let’s take a look at what all this entails. We require a blade that:

· Has a fixed blade rather than a folder as folders tend to break or have their locks fail under pressure.

· Is sharp, stays sharp (holds and edge well) and is relatively easy to sharpen

· Has a blade length of at least 4 inches, but not over 6-7 inches for the average person.

· Has a point that is not easily broken (for most this will be a drop point)

· Has a plain edge as serrations are difficult to sharpen in the field.

· Has a full tang so that the knife does not easily break at the juncture of handle and blade.

· Has a thick enough spine to make it strong

· Is flexible so that it will bend rather than break under pressure and return to true.

Several knives from several manufacturers meet these specifications, with the majority being in either the combat/military, hunting/camping, Tactical/military or survival knife categories. In upcoming articles I’ll discuss each of these categories and provide test results of some blades within those categories with the testing geared towards our general purpose goal. For the test blades I have restricted myself to commercially available production knives and have avoided custom made blades. This is for reasons both of budget and to allow the individual new to knives the opportunity to spend smaller amounts on various commercial blades to decide what works best for them before spending high dollars on a custom blade. It’s a shame to spend $700 or more on a custom knife only to find out that it either doesn’t suit your purpose or your hand. Thus I will leave the custom makers of fine cutlery to their business and hopefully provide them with a more knowledgeable customer in the future who knows what they need and what they want. A final reason I have avoided custom makers in these articles is that high dollar custom knives usually end up in a display case and not in the field where they could be used. Rather than an expensive paperweight, we want a work horse knife that can be used and abused. Though most custom knives can fulfill that task the average person is unlikely to do so with a blade they spent several paychecks on and possibly waited three to five years for.

Next: Combat/Military and “Tactical” knives

Book Review: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Knots & Ropework

2007-08-10T03:38:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Knots & Ropework is an excellent source for learning how to tie a multitude of knots for all types of purposes, whether you're an absolute beginner or an advanced practitioner. Want to know how Bear Grylls secures the para cord to his canteen? Check out page 210 and the Barrell Hitch. Each knot, bend, splice and hitch has been coded to the type of activity it is most commonly used for: climbing/caving, sailing/boating, angling/fishing, hiking/camping, etc.

While it doesn't quite live up to its title (it's not an exhaustive reference of every type of knot in existence) it does cover about 200 of them and the instructions are illustrated with full color photographs rather than the line drawings more commonly found in other books. It also offers a good detail of the types of rope and cordage available and excellent examples of common rope working terms such as: working end, standing end, bight, loop, and elbows. It also gives comparison charts on breaking strength and describes the difference in the meaning behind the terms strength and security when it comes to knots. This part is especially helpful for climbing, caving, and survival applications as most people are unaware that knots reduce the breaking strength of a rope. An example described in the book states that a simple overhand knot reduces the rope strength by 50%.

The book is hardcover, large in dimensions and heavy which preclude it from being packed in your kit as a reference guide while on a trek, but it's a very good reference for learning and practicing at home before you leave. Of course, you don't really want to be in dire need of a rescue hitch and have to flip open a pocket guide to the correct page anyway right? You're best off learning the most commonly useful knots for your desired activity well ahead of time. :)

Several knots, braids and plaits are shown that are useful in creating lanyards to help secure your knife or other items such as a compass, whistle, signal mirror, cook set pots, etc. Thus, if you want to be a bit more decorative than a line knotted around your expensive cutlery this book will help you make a lanyard as good looking as your blade. :)

*P*

Dull out of the box?

2007-08-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm working on rebuilding the reviews of recent field tests of various knives and just wanted to express a personal peeve. What is it with knife makers shipping their knives dull out of the box? Over the last several years I keep opening up the box with a brand new knife and then find that the knives are duller than a butter knife. Knives are designed to cut and knives are supposed to be sharp (tableware excepted). Why can't the commercial makers ship a knife that is sharp? Most custom knives are shipped sharp so I'll leave them out of this little rant.

For the recent field tests of some dozen and a half knives the only ones that came sharp out of the box were:

Gerber Harsey Hunter
Ka-Bar USMC fighting/utility knife
Cold Steel Recon Tanto
Cold Steel Recon Scout
Cold Steel Kobun (I've never had a CS knife come anything but razor sharp out of the box)

The rest required major work to be ready for testing. By this I mean more than 20 minutes of diamond steel or ceramic sticks and some required a full redo of the edge to get it at a proper angle for cutting. The Boker Applegate-Fairbairn knives were the worst of the lot.

I hope to have the recent test results up by this weekend.

*P*

Sleeping Bags & Packs

2007-08-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

Celeste at Lifesong Wilderness Adventures made some good comments on sleeping bag choices in the Man vs Wild forum here.

I've been using various bags for years and often find myself using just a poncho and poncho liner for the most part in warm climates. This is especially true for the desert climes in the summer months as well as for more tropical areas such as south Florida where the temperature rarely dips below 70-90 degrees at night. In the winter months though, the desert can drop from the 90's to the 40's at night so be prepared to shiver if you don't have something more to keep you warm.

There is one brand of bags that I've had the most success with over the years and that's Wiggy's. I have three Wiggy's bags and they've lasted longer and outperformed any other bag I've ever tried. There are those that complain about they hype on the web page, but I have two responses to that. First, of course he's going to hype his own products on his website and in his catalogs & newsletters. Second, the products live up to the claim. I use my bags a LOT, sometimes up to 3 or 4 months of continuous use. I used to have to budget for a new bag every couple of years but so far my Wiggy's bags are holding strong at 10+ years. They still fluff nicely even after being compressed for ages, keep you warm and toasty, and are the only bags I've had that have survived repeated cleanings in commercial washing machines and dryers. (At home it's easy, but the commercial machines can be tough on bags and dryers are hard to keep the heat regulated at laundramats).

I currently own three Wiggy's bags:

The Ultra Light 20 degree bag in Long & Wide with a right hand zip.

The Super Light 0 degree bag, also in Lon & Wide but with a left hand zip.

This allows the two bags to be zipped up together to make a double bag.

I also have a Nautilus for warmer areas and for Northern Arizona in the mountains where the temps do have a tendency to drop at night. I had at one point had their Desert model, which is the same but smaller. This worked well, but I like roomy bags so I sold the Desert and purchased the Nautilus.

Each of the bags are well constructed, wash & dry well, and in the field they insulate when wet and will dry quickly. I remember one trip where unexpected bad weather hit and the rain turned into freezing rain mixed with sleet. Everything was drenched by the time a good campsite was selected and the tent put up. There was nothing left to try and dry off with, so I crawled into the Wiggy's bag naked and wet, but the bag warmed quickly and the moisture wicked away through the lining. As stated above, I've tried other bags from North Face, Kelty, Slumberjack, Marmot, and such, but for me personally I've found that the Wiggy's bags work best for me.

When not using the Wiggy's bags I do use a GI issue poncho and liner, or a fleece bag. Fleece bags can be used stand alone when warm or as liners for another bag giving you an extra 8-15 degrees of extra warmth in the cold weather. Price ranges can run anywhere from $20-$100+ for some name brands, but I actually like the Wal-Mart brand Ozark Trails fleece bag. It's only $9.99 and has it's own elastic straps sewn in to keep it rolled up when not in use. I've had three or four of these under regular use and keep one in the saddle bags of the motorcycle and one in the car, as well as for my pack. It also works well as a liner for regular sleeping bags.

Welcome!

2007-08-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

Hi all! This started out with posting some comments and helpful hints on Lifesong Wilderness Adventures website in their "Man vs Wild / Bear Grylls" forum. Because I've received so many questions I've decided to post the material here instead because it's easier to search and categorize the responses. Thanks to Doug!as and his daughters who created the "What knife does Bear Gryll's use?" blog and gave me the idea to create this one.