Minimum Serviceable yet Dependable Gear

S

sgtmike88

Joined
Oct 15, 2000
Messages
799
I sit here after having surveyed, checked and serviced my gear.

Looking over thousands of dollars worth of guns, knives, backpacking and camping gear, bugout gear, etc has made me really think about what I truly need.

The knives really stick out in my mind for some reason. Why do I really need an expensive johnny come lately when I still have a very serviceable and dependable Camillus Marine Combat Knife that has proven itself in service worldwide and over a long period of time? Why do I need several locking, folding wonders when any one of the ones I currently have will do? Why do I have a seemingly endless supply of SAKs when I have undying confidence in my Soldier or my old Camillus USMC or even my old Camillus Scout Knife for that matter?

So my real question becomes this: What gear or equipment do you have that you deem irreplaceable or personally declare the minimum serviceable yet dependable and why?

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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
I think we'd all be amazed at what we could get by on, if our hi-tech gear wasn't available. When I look at my CS Bushman, I realize it will perform almost as well as my customs, and it was $20!
 
I've said this about 10 dollar machetes for years. The trick to this whole game is the constant search for trying to find something that makes life easier but yet still be a bit challenging and fun. The problem we get into is allowing good old fashioned common sense and actual skill to be replaced with gadgetry. Now, having said that I believe there will ALWAYS be a market for improved knives and gear. For example, soldiers who go into harms way can increase their odds of living by improved gear since they don't have the luxury of spending a lot of time practicing hard survival skills in the wilderness. Not their fault at all. I would much rather have them practicing tactics and stratgey to win the oevrall game and using better gear to help with the less studied aspects. Our goal from jumpstart with our travels into South America is to be part of designing better gear, not for the nuts like us who enjoy practicing primitive skills but for the professionals who don't have the luxury of time like we do. Good thread!

Jeff

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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com
 
Well said. I've been there myself. I can do so much a Cold Steel SRK and a SAK that I too ask myself why.

The answer is because us Knife Knuts and other variants of gear-heads are infected with the gimme more sickness.

If the frontiersmen had a modern, scoped .30-06 (let alone a Lazzerini or similar) and a Busse, life would have been good. On the other hand, if we had their space, resources and conviction, life would be good. But that's a whole nother thread.
 
Dangerous thread! This market, such as it is, exists precisely because lots of people enjoy buying and using what they don't actually need. Of course this is true of every type of collectable, with some being more extreme than others. People do, after all, need some knives. The survival knife genre is likely the most inflated (swords may be even more artificially inflated relative to need, but not by over-all size) by this buying, but it applies even to utility knives. I'm guessing, but I'd bet that the only area of the cutlery industry that is really as large as it is mostly from genuine need would be kitchen related.


 
I "got by" for many years with a good SAK--this one:
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/images/sak1.jpg
but I would be pretty lost without my leatherman too--mainly for the pliers. With these two tools, I can probably make what I need. The saw will allow me to cut saplings for shelter and cut wood for deadfalls and firestarting material. You can also effectively cut saplings by bending and cutting with a normal blade.

BTW, I just got that SAK back from Victorinox. It has new scales and a new main blade. For the past couple of years, though, I've been carrying the larger kind (the hunter) and I can't wait for THIS one to start showing up in the US although it might be a little TOO big for me.
http://www.pizzini.at/images/Waren/SAK_09064.jpg

In the meantime, I have a Paratrooper on order and I'm really looking forward to that SAK. It will get used hard this summer.

I don't USUALLY hike around with big blades but for the back of my truck or camping and canoeing, I would not go anywhere without an axe or small hatchet. The 3/4 axe is ideal and has always been one of my all time favorite tools.

So just give me an SAK, Leatherman, and axe, and I will be happy. Oh yeah, I also want my CZ 22 rifle, Ruger Super Blackhawk, and Remington 30'06 Classic. NOW I'm ready.
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And some corn nuts. (Can I have my SKB 20 guage side by side too? Please?)
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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
I've been thing along these lines too. An Axe with no doubt, even on backpacking trips. The 2 1/2 - 3 lbs is weight well worth hauling, and makes getting by with just a SAK much easier. I would choose to add my new Camilus Talon as well, but it dosn't weigh too much.

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I tend to carry at least three knives on me daily. Usually it is one tool that always sees use.

HOODOO: add a fish scaler blade to your first SAK and you have the one I carry daily. Do you know what the name of your model is?



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Plainsman
primitiveguy@hotmail.com
<A HREF="http://www.plainsmanscabin.com" TARGET=_blank>
Plainsman's Cabin</A>
 
Plainsman, according to the SAK people, it's a craftsman, although the current model craftsman is configured a little differently. Evidently, they don't make the one I have any more. I have another one almost identical to it except for the following: the large blade is serrated and the small blade is a hawksbill and the phillips is a corkscrew. This one I bought in the 70s from a guy who was stationed in Germany and bought it there. I also sent this one to SAK to have the Hawksbill replaced. The blade is bent. Unfortunately, I have not gotten it back yet and I'm starting to get a little worried that it might be lost or something. Either that or they had to send overseas to get a replacement blade and that's why its taking so long. Pretty soon I'm going to have to give them a call I guess.

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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Did my wife put you up to this post?
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Most can make do with far less than we'd like to. But what's the fun in that? In less the fun of it is the point, of course.
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Eric, I guess the fun here was in trying to get you guys to speak out on some of the gear/items you personally find indispensable.

So far for me over the past week, I have determined the following to be indispensable for myself:

SAK Soldier(s) - 3;
SAK Huntsman - 2;
SAK Cadet - 1;
Buck Woodsman M102 - 1;
Camillus PSK - 1;
Snow & Nealley Axe - 1;
Spyderco Sharpmaker 204 - 1;
Swedish Firesteel - 1;
BSA Hot Spark - 2;
Spark-Lite Firestarter - 2;
Photon Lite(s) - 2;
CMG Infinity Lite(s) - 2;
Mag-Light 4C - 1;
US GI Canteen/Cup/Stove/Cover - 2;
US GI Boonie Hat(s) - 2;
US GI BDU Pants/Shirts - 3Ea;
Eagle Creek Fanny Pack - 1;
LL Bean Goretex Rain Parka - 1;
Corcoran Mach III Boots - 2pr.

That's just what I've evaluated to this point. The list will grow, but so will the pile of stuff for the garage sale.



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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
I used to burn through knives pretty quick. I could break or wear out most any production piece I could find. I lost a few, too.
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When I was 18, and making about $140 a week, I scraped together all the pennies I could and bought a Chris Reeve Project 1. It represented more than half a month's wages.

The important thing to remember here was that I wasn't "living at home", actualy, I was homeless. I had the knife shipped to a freind's house.

So it was a lot of money at a time when I really didn't have any. The living definition of a luxury.

But five years later, I've still got that same knife. It has never let me down, and I only grow more fond of it every day.

I think there are circumstances when it is well worth shelling out the bucks for certain items of gear.

Other than that, I really don't need much to get by. My typical loadout at present consists of;

Chris Reeve Project 1
Surplus U.S. Army wool blanket
"some" manilla rope
Surplus U.S. Army canteen/cup/carrier
Marksman Slingshot and "some" marbles
Magnesium firestarter, and a few matches

I also bring along some underwear, t-shirts, and a second pair of pants. Oh yeah, and a rock(for bathing).

The knife cost several times more than the total price of the rest of my gear.

I can pretty much live indefinately off that gear in my native environment. I don't usualy wear any sort of shoes or boots when I'm out. My feet are fairly tough, I watch what I step on. The main thing is that I don't have to sleep with stinky feet or shoes, and don't have to worry about athlete's foot, or worse.

It doesn't take much to get by. It is nice to have a friend come along, though.

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http://schoolofarms.tripod.com
 
Indispensable gear, lets think on this one...
-Small hatchet, about 3-5Lbs
-Fixed blade, about 5-6"
-Leatherman
-canteen
-water tablets or filter
-about 30' of 1/4" rope, nylon preferable
-emergency first-aid kit
-hat, dependant upon environment
-firestarter, magnesium or flint/steel(boy scout type)
-about a 20x20 tarp for shelter
-pot for cooking
-pack for equipment
-snare wire, about 10meters

Optional Gear:
-fishing gear if applicable
-sleeping bag
-campstove
-extra water
-garbage bags to use in setting up camp
--sink
--shower
-about 100 feet of 1/4" rope

As you can see I teach survival for Air Cadets, and remember the stuff you NEED.
I have gone from filling my pack(about 50lbs) to now about 20-30lbs of gear.

-I carry my knives/axe on my belt.
-I have a pouch I made in scouts with:
--firestarter
--2 red(12 hr) glowsticks(for marking off shelter at night)
-the canteen is on me
nearly everything else in my pack.

I can hike for about 10 miles with my pack before it starts getting heavy. I'm only 6feet, 170lbs, 17yr old...

Everything has a use, nothing is wasted. Take only 1 extra change of clothing for each day. Pants/shirt/socks/underwear(for longer trips)...
 
It's funny. A came across this web site about 8 months ago looking for a couple good hunting knives. Since then I have become semi addicted to start collecting knives.
These are my purchases in order.
1) CS SRK
2) CS Master Hunter
3) Dozier K-2 & K-6
4) Rucksack SAK
5) Allen Blade 10" Combat Bowie

I have been backpacking and hunting for many years and have a fairly decent knowlege about wilderness survival. I keep coming back to the fact that all I need is my Rucksack and a small fixed blade like the Dozier K-6 or CS Master Hunter.

Small Knives are much more handy to use. They also sharpen much easier.

The other gear I don't leave home with-out is :

1) Boy Scout metal match & small Bic lighter
2) 5 Cotton balls soaked in vasiline
3) 30' of paracord
4) 3 mil. one man tube tent
5) 2 heavy duty trash bags
6) 30' of snare wire
7) 1 quart Platapus water container
8) DMT key chain size sharpening stone
9) 1 lb coffee can
10) 50' of 6 lb fishing line and 6 hooks

All this stuff fits into the 1 lb coffe can that goes into a fanny pack.

Beside the knives, everything is inexpensive.

My 2 cents.

By the way, this is the best wilderness web site I have come across. I have learned alot from everybody that posts here. Thanks

 
Snick, ever consider writing a long article/short guide on urban survival? You could just pass on some of what you had to learn the hard way.

Just a thought. I'm interested, anyway.

Joe S.
 
Here's an EXCELLENT article from Recycler on urban survival. He spent some time homeless and all this comes from his personal experience.
"The Joys Of Being Homeless" By Recycler
http://www.stormloader.com/plainsman/TheJoysofBeingHomeless.htm


For more urban survival as well as outdoor survival discussion feel free to stop by the Cabin's Forums.
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Enjoy the article and feel free to peruse the website.



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Plainsman
primitiveguy@hotmail.com
<A HREF="http://www.plainsmanscabin.com" TARGET=_blank>
Plainsman's Cabin</A>
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Sender:
I've been thing along these lines too. An Axe with no doubt, even on backpacking trips. The 2 1/2 - 3 lbs is weight well worth hauling, and makes getting by with just a SAK much easier. I would choose to add my new Camilus Talon as well, but it dosn't weigh too much.

</font>
Click to expand...
You're right about packing a chopping tool, but are obviously used to hardware store hatchets. A good light tomahawk is a far better choice and (because of balance) will outwork a hatchet twice the weight. For example, I make a hammer-poll belt hawk that weighs (total) about 1 pound but will completely split an elk as well as cutting shelter poles, splitting kindling, etc. With that and a light "slicing" knife you're pretty well set for all cutting chores. TWO HAWKS
http://www.mcn.net/~twohawks


 
Wow, I like your web site Two Hawks.

Any chance you'll be attending the Ft. Bridger Rendezvous this summer?

I plan to be there in any case, thanks for the info.

[This message has been edited by Sender (edited 05-24-2001).]
 
Sender - thanks for the compliment.
Won't be doing Rendezvous this year - since the heart problems just don't have the strength and only doing about 50% in the shop. Still trying the "easy" Montana gun shows, want to work toward doing everything on the Internet if I can. TWO HAWKS
 
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