- Joined
- Jan 19, 2004
- Messages
- 551
First off, sorry, no photos right now EDIT: Photos Below. Let me get all the shots organized (or take a look in the Woodland Survival course thread--there are a few in there).
It seems like the HEST is not talked to much about on this forum compared to the other knives, at least not in a non-collectible conversation, so I wanted to throw in my recent brief experience with it.
I took Jeff's survival course in AL last week and carried the HEST 24/7. I beat the heck out of it. I was actually hoping I could get it to break, or even chip. It batoned about 100' of wood throughout the week, skinned a raccoon and fish, quartered a recently killed chicken, built a bow drill, batoned live hickory, oak, pine and maple, dug up roots and rocks with both the blade and the pry bar, cut and built a figure four deadfall trap, made fuzz sticks (after a great lesson from Reuben) and scraped ferro rods dozens and dozens of times with the blade (almost wearing out a rod trying to light damp tinder!). I cleaned the blood off of it with river sand and sharpened it each night with a small, portable Lanksy thingy. It stayed muddy and wet for a 24 hour period with only a slight speck of rust on the DPx lasered section showing up.
In short, I abused it like it would be abused in a true survival situation and it came through with flying colors. I love this thing. And it's the perfect size for woodland work, in my opinion. To me, a machete and a HEST make the perfect tools for survival. I carried it in the original sheath, most of the time IWB but sometimes just threw it in my pants pocket.
Unfortunately, due to Jeff running a gulag, there wasn't a chance to use the item I most desperately wanted to try out (especially after 2 days with no food)---the bottle opener
That had to wait until we got back to civilization.
Bottom line, I give it :thumbup::thumbup:
Now, go buy a couple.
It seems like the HEST is not talked to much about on this forum compared to the other knives, at least not in a non-collectible conversation, so I wanted to throw in my recent brief experience with it.
I took Jeff's survival course in AL last week and carried the HEST 24/7. I beat the heck out of it. I was actually hoping I could get it to break, or even chip. It batoned about 100' of wood throughout the week, skinned a raccoon and fish, quartered a recently killed chicken, built a bow drill, batoned live hickory, oak, pine and maple, dug up roots and rocks with both the blade and the pry bar, cut and built a figure four deadfall trap, made fuzz sticks (after a great lesson from Reuben) and scraped ferro rods dozens and dozens of times with the blade (almost wearing out a rod trying to light damp tinder!). I cleaned the blood off of it with river sand and sharpened it each night with a small, portable Lanksy thingy. It stayed muddy and wet for a 24 hour period with only a slight speck of rust on the DPx lasered section showing up.
In short, I abused it like it would be abused in a true survival situation and it came through with flying colors. I love this thing. And it's the perfect size for woodland work, in my opinion. To me, a machete and a HEST make the perfect tools for survival. I carried it in the original sheath, most of the time IWB but sometimes just threw it in my pants pocket.
Unfortunately, due to Jeff running a gulag, there wasn't a chance to use the item I most desperately wanted to try out (especially after 2 days with no food)---the bottle opener
That had to wait until we got back to civilization.Bottom line, I give it :thumbup::thumbup:
Now, go buy a couple.
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can't wait for the pics! i'm going to get one,as soon as can get the funds together! 
