Indispensible survival tools...unique?

A

Agent Iron

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Feb 5, 2005
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I am wondering what out of the ordinary gadgets or tools you would not want to not have on your person in a survival situation? I don't mean just wilderness, could be urban, maybe EDC.

What brings this up is my recent discovery of County Comm and there many fun tools. I don't know if any of them truely qualify as an essential survial tool, but the pry tools look pretty neat and do not take up much space, and can be carried with all the time. The fire rods are great, but do not qualify as unique. Multipy purpose small tools would be super.
Anybody got some cool ideas to share?
AI
 
For some time now I have been into carrying the smallest items that do that job. One can get by just fine with a Spydie Ladybug, Atwood keyton or similar for prying, and a small but bright light (Fenix comes to mind)

In an urban environ, especially a SHTF scenario, I'd hate to be without a cell phone, pistol and flashlight. Nothing unique there, but I feel really out of sorts on the rare occasions that I don't have one of them. If you can communicate, shoot and see in the dark, you have a fighting chance at surviving and/or acquiring the things you cannot EDC.
 
for me.. an ultimate survival tool....wow...this is hard....

there are so many...

my SERE wrist compass
my leatherman wave
my zippo with butane insert
my SAK tinker/hiker/farmer/whatever
Glock pistol of 9mm caliber 17/19


my photon light, sliver gripper tweezers, utilikey, and my edcdepot mini survival capsule with pills in it.
 

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For me its a radio when dealing with urban survival. I'm an information junkie when things go south. The black out that hit the eastern part of the country five years ago, 9/11, power outages, ice storms, you name it.

When it starts I go to the news source where I can gather the most information in short order. Internet news sites, TV, then radio. Without power the portable battery powered radio is king.

Makes it easier to asses a situation when you know why everyone is running around in a panic and which areas are affected.
 
Great stuff so far fellas!

I always have to have a gun and a knife with me. I almost always have a Gerber Diesel along as well. I plan on keeping a Fire steel with me and need to get a light, small but effective. I like the idea of a small knife sharpener, pocket variety just in case. I think the idea of a small dry tube is great for general medication/pain relief/anti-inflamatory/water purification and what not. I wonder about a small mirror, magnifying glass, compass. I would be neat to combo up some of these items. A radio would be great, I think a decent hand crank deal along with a hand crank light is essential in larger BOB.

Let's keep her going!
AI
 
The double negative in the OP tripped me up a little, but now I understand. My load would depend on the exact situation, and I have a couple BOBs packed with supplies for different contingencies. I will grab what I think I would want and throw it in my car whenever I'm going to be away from home for more than say 12 hours. Whenever possible I like to have a firearm with me, and whenever possible a long arm.

I like the concept of the "scout rifle" and have a modified Mosin in my jeep whenever possible, with about a hundred rounds of ammo on clips in shoulder bag along with some other crucial gear. If I'm going hiking for an extended period of time, the mosin gets replaced with my mossberg 500, with its own ammo bag with some redundant gear in it.

A pistol would obviously be the choice for an urban survival situation. At anytime I nearly almost have on me a knife and some type of firestarter and a light. I'm working on putting together a small FAK and that will be added as soon as it is finished.
 
Leatherman. everything else can be found if it comes to that, but having a sharp, known multi-tool is my survival teddybear.
 
In this particular sub-forum, "out of the ordinary" carries with it an entirely different meaning than the rest of the folks who might consider themselves hardcore, knife-toting people... Off the online reality of Bladeforums, Knifeforums and other forums dedicated to such topics, "out of the ordinary" to the vast majority of Americans would mean you carry a pocketknife nowadays.

There are some "out of the ordinary items" for me that I generally don't carry with me 24/7 or have in the vehicle that I would not want to be without in case of a really bad urban situation. I don't leave anything in the vehicle because of theft problems in the area and that's even more of a concern given the type of stuff I would like to have in it...

1. Complete Set of Lock-Tools including padlock shims, warded keys and select, other tools.

2. Complete Car Opening Kit.

3. Set of Snap-On (alligator clip) heavy duty (mini) jumper wires.

4. Harris Telecom Can Wrench.

5. Harris Telecom Lineman's Headset.

With the exception of the entire and comprehensive Car Opening Kit, all of that would easily fit in a laptop carrier / brief case, etc.
 
Don Rearic said:
In this particular sub-forum, "out of the ordinary" carries with it an entirely different meaning than the rest of the folks who might consider themselves hardcore, knife-toting people... Off the online reality of Bladeforums, Knifeforums and other forums dedicated to such topics, "out of the ordinary" to the vast majority of Americans would mean you carry a pocketknife nowadays.

There are some "out of the ordinary items" for me that I generally don't carry with me 24/7 or have in the vehicle that I would not want to be without in case of a really bad urban situation. I don't leave anything in the vehicle because of theft problems in the area and that's even more of a concern given the type of stuff I would like to have in it...

1. Complete Set of Lock-Tools including padlock shims, warded keys and select, other tools.

2. Complete Car Opening Kit.

3. Set of Snap-On (alligator clip) heavy duty (mini) jumper wires.

4. Harris Telecom Can Wrench.

5. Harris Telecom Lineman's Headset.

With the exception of the entire and comprehensive Car Opening Kit, all of that would easily fit in a laptop carrier / brief case, etc.
Click to expand...


Now, that is what I am talking about! Where did you find your lock and car opening kits?

Some wire and aligator clips is a real nice idea, I am gonna put some of those items in my pack.

I like the little fire piston as an interesting tool as well.

Thanks
AI
 
The more I use it the more uses I find for it. I am reaching for it more than my knife. The other day my long-suffering wife even let me use it in the kitchen. What a gal! (or conversely, anything to get me to help her with the cooking)

Tips:

- give is a good sharpening, it is dull out of the box.

- it is a hatchet and a small one at that. Let the tool do the work. Take small bites. You are not going to fell a tree with it, but you can limb and hack branches up to about 6 inches with no problem.

- don't try to chop all the way trough, when you are about 1/2 through, you can easily snap the limb - I prefer to strike the limb against an immovable object.

- it will split wood when used with a baton.

- if yours comes with a little knife in the handle, take it out and keep it out. It will fly out when using the hatchet. Once sharpened, the little knife is a decent little blade, good for camp chores and a great paring knife. Make a separate sheath for it. Makes a decent necker.

- some folks use the hatchet for dressing animals. A skill I have not yet acquired.

- works great for prying, digging, hacking, whatever rough use you wish.

- carry a Smith's retractable diamond knife and tool sharpener (itself another indispensable EDC tool that I always have w/ me) so you can re-sharpen it after rough use

- in an urban SHTF scenario in addition to general utility it has a certain intimidation factor, more than a knife, IMHO. In a last stand urban SHTF scenario and no pistol at hand, knife and hatchet may give you and edge over knife, the typical assailant's weapon. Better yet, it pistol at hand, pistol in strong hand, hatchet in weak hand. Talk about moving in for a finishing blow.....yikes! A weapon that is always loaded and rarely misfires.

- it's a tool, not a weapon, less 'splainin' to LEOs. Fits easily on belt and conceals easily with a t-shirt, sweater, vest, etc. "Honestly officer, it's just a hatchet, I was on my way back from a camping trip and it's so light, I forgot to take it off my belt. Would you like to check it out?"
 
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Agent Iron said:
Now, that is what I am talking about! Where did you find your lock and car opening kits?
Click to expand...

Shoot me an E-mail, I don't think they want the perception of spamming. 8-)

Some wire and aligator clips is a real nice idea, I am gonna put some of those items in my pack.
Click to expand...

Get good ones.

I like the little fire piston as an interesting tool as well.
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I have so many ways of starting fire it isn't funny. I would like to experiment with one of them but when push comes to shove, I have the fire handled a half dozen times over by planning. :D
 
My Gerber artifact was a surprise as I did not think it would turn out to be as handy as it is. To me the most indespensible survival tool especially in an urban enviroment is a good solid pair of gloves. There are many thing/people in an urban enviroment that I do not want to touch with my bare hands.
 
Don Rearic said:
In this particular sub-forum, "out of the ordinary" carries with it an entirely different meaning than the rest of the folks who might consider themselves hardcore, knife-toting people... Off the online reality of Bladeforums, Knifeforums and other forums dedicated to such topics, "out of the ordinary" to the vast majority of Americans would mean you carry a pocketknife nowadays.

There are some "out of the ordinary items" for me that I generally don't carry with me 24/7 or have in the vehicle that I would not want to be without in case of a really bad urban situation. I don't leave anything in the vehicle because of theft problems in the area and that's even more of a concern given the type of stuff I would like to have in it...

1. Complete Set of Lock-Tools including padlock shims, warded keys and select, other tools.

2. Complete Car Opening Kit.

3. Set of Snap-On (alligator clip) heavy duty (mini) jumper wires.

4. Harris Telecom Can Wrench.

5. Harris Telecom Lineman's Headset.

With the exception of the entire and comprehensive Car Opening Kit, all of that would easily fit in a laptop carrier / brief case, etc.
Click to expand...

around here, if one was caught carrying those, they would face a lengthy sentence. Those type of tools are regulated like firearms here. You need to be licensed, and can only carry if on the job.

as for the topic, I try not to rely on items carried, one can have those items taken away, they can be lost, then what do you do............I prefer to have the knowledge on how to adapt to my situation, improvise tools/gear if needed and overcome whatever crap i'm in. If i happen to still have my EDC gear, well thats just gravy1
 
Bushman5 said:
around here, if one was caught carrying those, they would face a lengthy sentence. Those type of tools are regulated like firearms here. You need to be licensed, and can only carry if on the job.
Click to expand...

So, in your opinion, would a Canadian Locksmith be prohibited by law from carrying a set of lockpicks while he was not actually working? If so, fairly Draconian, to say the least. As for regular Subjects and Citizens carrying various items, every place is different. It's also a reality that everything is illegal somewhere on this globe. Most of the knives we speak about on here would be Offensive Weapons if you had them in a "BOB" or "GBH" type of backpack, etc., in one quite civilized nation... :D

There are some places in these here United States of America where the mere possession of Locksmith's tools, picks, would be illegal. As for the Lineman's Headset or a Can Wrench, well, if Canada is basically banning her Subjects from those sorts of tools, it doesn't surprise me. Beautiful country and I like her people, despise her laws as much as our own.

I am in the process of writing a book that is going to speak very clearly on some of these issues. I don't think most people that carry these types of tools have any idea what they are doing with them and if they do, they have not used them in the real world because most people are not involved in the Locksmithing Industry or on the periphery of it, as I was for a long time, in the Burglar Alarm Industry. So, where would they get the real world experience? I'm going to cover that as well, basically, you end up being a lock collector and you have to wear them out and have them in various states of condition, etc.

Generally speaking, if you give me a Leatherman Wave and a parking lot or a junk pile, I can make what I need. Likewise, you can take a pair of needlenosed pliers and get a Telecom Can open, it's just easier to use a tool designed for the job. Any hardwire phone can be converted in two minutes with a Leatherman Wave, so, all is not lost even to Canadians who want to have the disaster tools that happen to fall into the Orwellian "Forbidden Fruit" Category.
 
For urban survival--my little Benchmade Houdini Tool. Never had to use it and hopefully I never will, but if I have to get myself or someone else out of a car I have a seat belt cutter, glass punch, whistle, and light all in one little keychain unit. Can't even feel it it's so light, and it was less than $25.
 
fencing pliers.

like this:
fence_pliers.png


close second is linesman pliers.

FWIW, I have seen usable, highquality, 5 inch linesman pliers.
 
good skills to have Don, ones that people might consider odd for someone my age, but ones I wish I could learn openly. My dad has found such things useful in his life as well, although with great discretion. although from the looks of things those tools could be made to look like something they are not....

+1 to gloves. and glasses, I have clear lenses for my sunglasses just for the odd occasion at work that I need them, but they would be handy in other situations.

another skill that I've found helpful is looking purposeful, second nature to most of the forumites here I'm sure, but it keeps me from getting harassed by security even with camo pants and blue hair. in a survival/ urban panic situation it would help prevent being a target for LE as someone who looks like they are doing what they are supposed to, even if odd, can't be illegal. plus if you have to talk your way passed a checkpoint, having a reason for what you are carrying and causing your questioner to feel like they are getting in the way of someone who is helping, could be an asset.
just a thought.
 
I live in LA and don't have much occasion to go to the country as much as I used to.

These are some of the things I always have on me:

Spyderco FRN Dragonfly
Victorinox Spirit
Victorinox Mini-Champ (keyring)
SwissTech Utilikey (keyring)
Precision tweezers (keyring)
Ear plugs
Compass
Bandanas
Whistle

and a few other items that make a bit easier.
 
extra set of vehicle /house keys. sounds simple ,but i am amazed how many people lock themselves out at the worst possible time and/or place.
 
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