Survival gear in knife?

P

Plainsman

Joined
Apr 5, 1999
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What items do you keep on/with your knife for survival?

These are things in/on the handle or sheath.

I like basics; cordage, firestarters, nav, signaling, fishing kit. Everything else gets too big/bulkyheavy.

Cordage: 550, tactical cordage, wire and monofilament are used depending upon setup.

Fire: Bic lighters, small to medium ferro rod, larger kits with space, matches.

Nav: small compass, button and pocket compasses, no baseplate or larger.

Signaling: small signal mirror

Fishing kit: basics-hooks, sinkers, swivels, monofilament

Its not a lot of stuff, but nice to have if one has nothing but the knife.
 
This is just a personal preference, but when it comes to a kit on a knife, I pretty much just pack fire items. This is mainly because fire is the next best thing for survival along with a cutting tool.

As fun as ferro rods are in practicing fire making with, a good durable and reliable lighter would be best. Along with fool proof tinder that has some sort of accelerant. But, lighters always have a higher tendency to breaking compared to a big half inch diameter ferro rod, so you can make that judgement.

Since you're main goal is for survival, that's why I mentioned the lighter first. You need fire the first time every time. But I have had Bic lighters go bad while stored in various kits. I don't know why, but the striker would get to the point where it wouldn't produce a strike, and that is bad, especially if you're using it for an actual survival/emergency situation. So if you're going with a lighter, I would make sure that it is a good brand with a good reputation, and so it won't be a lemon.

As for tinder, there's two choices, synthetic or natural. Natural is good because they are non toxic and can be found out in nature, but synthetic can be store bought and put together right now by numerous affective items.
 
The "flint" in lighters have the same vulnerability as larger ferro rods do once they have been scraped they can start to corrode over time. They essentially disitigrate starting from the exposed parts, the lighter "flints" do the same so if you plan on storing a lighter long term you should try to make sure it hasn't been struck before. Or take it apart and coat the end of the "flint" in nail polish or something else to protect it from the environment.
 
Murphy Slaw said:
I’ve had those little Bic mini’s last for years in my pocket.
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Has anyone else had issues finding the Mini Bic lighters? We live in a small town and when I wanted to pick up a couple last year, I could not find them locally.
 
I for the most part don’t carry much attached to my knives. I don’t like the idea of having all my survival gear in one basket . God forbid you lose your knife you lose everything. I have a ferro rod on 1 kydex sheath and storm matches in the sheath of a BK-9 because it has a place and the whole knife/sheath is set up to bandolier carry but those are extra fire starters . There is a lighter in my pants pocket and another in my bag plus starters in my bag. I have moved to clipper lighters, I to have had bic fail from storage clipper the flint can be replaced and the lighter topped off with fuel
I bought a dozen clipper lighters from the river 4-6 years ago and still have most of them . I don’t carry much on guns either, but the the grip plug I picked up for my Ruger charger had places for CR123 batteries and the clipper lighter fit
 
plumberroy said:
I for the most part don’t carry much attached to my knives. I don’t like the idea of having all my survival gear in one basket . God forbid you lose your knife you lose everything.
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I dont think of or use the gear in the knife kit as primary, its “emergency” gear for when/if everything else is lost except the knife.

Some of my pouches on knives are so ‘overstuffed’ with spare cordage, Id hate to have to dig it all out to start a normal fire. I use my Bic etc from my pocket first.
 
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