Serious but small survival package!

skammer said:
I have used one and its not practical for long term use under stress. The handle is just not user friendly. They are high on the neat factor however.
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And by not practical are we talking about actual breakage or malfunction of some kind or is it just your preference.

If its the former, then I have a feeling that its a freak accident as its would be the first time I've ever heard of a hollow handled reeve breaking. If its the latter then, while you are certianly entitled to your preference, that and .02 will get you a cup of coffee.

Reeve hollow handle knives are high quality field pieces. No doubt people have their preferences. Some people prefer certian brands over others. That, however, doesn't mean that these brands are crap.

If someone was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a reeve, they could do a whole hell of alot worse. And that ignores anything that might be stored in the handle.
 
k_estela said:
IH8U,

Bark River is my go to rig too. Here is my current Fox River that was a gift from a great friend

WLCSchoolKnife.jpg


And my baldric rig with firesteel and lots of 550 cord in different arrangements. The Fox River in this pic was my old standby for a long time as the patina shows.

HPIM0728.jpg


Nice piggyback setup you have going. Mike's firesteels are pretty comfortable in the hand and nicely designed to be user friendly.
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Im really happy thus far with my barkies and if I had the cash I would buy some more. Thats is a lot of paracord you got there. I usually carry about 30' of paracord in my shoulder bag, but I just got a book on knots and I want to braid / knot up a paracord strap instead of wasting the space in my psk bag.

Anyways, Skammer appolgized for the name calling and has stated his preferences in his field knife. There are a lot of personal feelings when it comes to knifes and people will never agree that a given. I really like my Reeves, but it has seen very little use since I got my barkies.

I believe this topic has jumped the shark and I would like to see more posts on mini kits and less on brand bashing. can't we all just get along?
 
I've often thought that the Chris Reeves hollow handle knives could be improved significantly if the handle were made more oblong, rather than perfectly round. It would make for a larger storage compartment as well. Drilling out the oval interior would be more difficult, and the crew-on butt would require some kind of weld. I'm sure this would increase the price of an already pricy knife. Alternately, there could be two chambers in the handle, a larger round one for "junk" and a smaller round one for a fitted firesteel.

-- FLIX
 
Opinions are like arm hairs -we've all got a million of them.

Gotta say though that I've yet to have a Reeve that was not absolutely great for all around use, and could (and have) taken a beating.

If the cylindrical handle on the model in question is not comfortable to one, that does not mean it is not perfectly comfortable to many others.

A well made hollow handled knife (Reeve /Randall /whatever) seems like the perfect solution to what the original post requested -it's all there, and ready for rain..
 
skammer, i'm not a survival expert and have never claimed to be. although quite a few of us have been at this a while, most agree it's something you never stop learning. that's where you seem different. almost all of your posts that i've read since i joined this forum, have been arrogant and condescending, as if you are that one guru that knows all and are just fed up with conversing with the rest of us on the subject. if that's the case, then why don't you move on and let the rest of us engage in intelligent discussion??

and as for teaching classes, you've often talked about the fact that you teach survival courses, yet nobody seems to know who you are or anyone that has taken a course from you?? most of the good instructors have people lining up to take wilderness survival skills courses form them, so what school do you teach at?? do you just teach a couple of sar guys here and there or what?? and yes you have a right to your privacy on the internet, but if you constantly report that teach classes, and then make arrogant posts like the one earlier, then i would say that you should enlighten some people as to your credentials. maybe then you won't come across as such an....(well nevermind, the name calling has ended).
 
grobe said:
skammer, i'm not a survival expert and have never claimed to be. .
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So stop like a 3 yr old. I dont profess to be an expert or know anything near your claim. I have an opinion like you. I do teach the subject (learning all the time) but prefer to keep "some" privacy in this day and age, dont you.

Why is it that when someone says something with conviction and courage to defend it people of weaker mind get offended. Are you a Democrat?

You have a problem with the way I speak. Fair enough. I was taught to look one in the eye, your word is your bond, speak clearly with meaning and with no BS. Political correctness is not part of my genetic makeup. I am a straight talker with few frills and this offends some people, my appologies.

Seriously what is the issue for you to whine soo much.

You still havent answered the question. You jump on me for stating an opinion about hollow handled knives but yet fail to explain your own preference for non hollow handled blades. Instead you get all attention seeking and jump on me with no real argument but that of a 3 yr old telling the teacher I am out of line.
Sure I was out of line with a name called and I am more than man enough to admit my mistakes.

Maybe you need to look in the mirror bud and ask why little things bother you enough to grab yourself and make sure you still got a pair.

You need to PM me and we can talk like men off this thread or is that too much for you to deal with.

Skam
 
people of weaker mind get offended.
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if this is how you justify being a jerk, so be it.

and to answer your question, the reason i'm not a fan of hollow handled, knives is mainly for the reasons stated earlier....ergonomics, and i don't keep all my stuff in one place. i like a 4-5 blade mostly. and occasionally i carry my rd7.

pm inbound.
 
grobe said:
and to answer your question, the reason i'm not a fan of hollow handled, knives is mainly for the reasons stated earlier....ergonomics, and i don't keep all my stuff in one place. i like a 4-5 blade mostly. and occasionally i carry my rd7.

.
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Agreed, I am sure the Reeves blade is tough but those straight handles wreak havoc on the hands with hard use.

Skam
 
To change the subject.................

I had a Randall model 18 long before there was a Chris Reeve knife. I remember when he was making them in South Africa. Yep I'm a old guy.:D

What I stuffed my handle with is the wood survival matches, cut to 1/2 inch long,[you get more that way] fish hooks, striker material, and the handle wrapped with f. line and paracord. It has the small compass that gives you an idea which way your'e headed and a small sharpening stone [ I put more striker material inside the stone pouch]. Hardly enough to survive on, but heck it offers allot in a very small package.
I found out the hard way, you better have that handle wrapped if it is in the hot sun or the freezing cold.:p

I will be the first guy to say I think there are better solutions. I have grabbed my Randall when you could carry them on airplanes. On trips I tossed it in my bag and had a bit of comfort when I'm driving a rental car in states like Maine. Driving yourself from home is a different issue. So the hollow handle knife is something you can grab and can provide you with an advatage when you have to travel light. This forum is full of people who can expond on the reasons to have a large knife. Some say a hollow handle knife can break but I used / abused mine and it held up. So be sensible and you can manage to get by ok . Oh ya I did need to use one of those matches to light my cigar one time.:D
 
One of these days Im gonna get around to grinding out the central section of my BK7 & BK9 Handles, blocking the middle bolthole in the handle scales with Epoxy & put afew odds & sods in the handle.
To my mind, being able to carry ANYTHING extra in unused storage space on a knife (provided it doesnt weaken the blade) is worthwhile.
Id probably add a Sparklite, Tinderquick, Lifeboat matches & some Puritabs.

Knife, Fire & Water purification, three pretty major priorities dealt with.
 
I have a small Timberline drop point with hollow slab handles. Very neat and functional. It came with fishing line, flies & jigs for fishing, twine, and I added my old military button compass. I used this knife in the Amazon river trip and it performed well. The pouch sheath had a little arrow, and a "nook" for a fire starter. I can't post pics but I can email them to a member for posting.
 
This is my new grab and go knife for my day hikes and hunting. I owned a Seal Pup two years ago and didn't like it, but it grows on you.

Plenty of paracord (4.5 ft) for snaring, tying, lashing, etc.
Mag fire starter
Dry tinder
Snare wire
DMT sharpener
The Old Leatherman Wave
Compass rigged to sheath strap

I don't see a need for carrying a fishing spear anymore, seeing that I can simply sharpen some hard wood to a point and harden it in fire for a spear. I can't sharpen on a smooth rock worth a shit so I carry the sharpener. If you take a good survival class then that will definitely lighten your load. There are a lot of resources all around you in the woods to replace what you may not have in your kit.

PB020005.jpg

PB020007.jpg
 
skammer said:
Why is it that when someone says something with conviction and courage to defend it people of weaker mind get offended. Are you a Democrat?
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I'm a Democrat and I carry knives and shoot guns. What of it?

skammer said:
You have a problem with the way I speak. Fair enough. I was taught to look one in the eye, your word is your bond, speak clearly with meaning and with no BS. Political correctness is not part of my genetic makeup. I am a straight talker with few frills and this offends some people, my appologies.
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I'm confused with all this talk of looking people in the eye and straight talking. Aren't you the one who refuses to say who you are, where you live and what your actual credentials are?


Chad
 
nemoaz said:
Pretty well analyzed discussion of the Rambo knife here: http://www.equipped.com/devices5.htm
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I see he says, "Note, however, that there are some high quality benchmade and custom hollow handled knives available (Chris Reeve, for example, makes some exceptional hollow handle knives). These are made from a single piece of steel, making them very strong and perfectly acceptable. The practical aspects of the hollow handle for storing small items of survival equipment is still debatable. At least with the good ones, the hollow handle doesn't represent a liability, except for the potential extra weight, and what you store in it could be an asset, assuming you don't lose the knife."

Chad
 
Who ever said that the hollow-handle had to stay round after you buy it? If I had one of these, I'd put my triangular sharpening stick along the top and a fire-starter rod along the bottom, wrap in para-cord, and have myself a nice, oblong handle; granted, all that goes out the window once you use the para-cord, but it wouldn't take up space in your handle...
 
I have changed my views on the hollow handle, even the full tang ones. Personally, I think it's a fad,a hollywood marketing tool for people to make money. I would bet my money that Cold Steel and Reeves and all the others who made these hollow handles thought it would sell because of the Rambo era and they were right. Same with the Tom Brown Tracker our next generation Rambo knife.
 
ChadHahn said:
I'm a Democrat
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That pretty much explains most of it LMAO.

Chad, you send me photos of your family and your address and I will discuss my credentials with you in private. PM me and we can talk SAR work as apparently you have done it yourself.

Till then when you have been around longer than 75 posts.....

Skam
 
well well we seem to have gone off topic.my reeves is a old one i bought when he was in south afirca it has seen many camping/ backpacking trips and a lot of hard use i dont ever remember the grip shape bothering me. but dont remember useing it hours on end either.i suppose if it got unconfortable i could wrap a sock around it or whatever and continue. not a "rambo" blade at 4" it has done every thing i have asked it too for over 20 years in the handel i carry air, never could think of anything i needed to carry in there my backpack has a lot of extra space that i havent found a good use for either i allways thought the hollow grip would be of use if i every found myself wanting a stabbing stick or spear but the need has never arisen.
 
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