Survival Knives and what do you put in that hollow handle?

[Crag the Brewer]

JB Weld.....

 

[VorpelSword]

What to fill it with?

The first time I saw "First Blood" and Stallone pulled out that knife, I nearly laughed out loud and thought of walking out of the theater.

But to the point of the OP: There are a pile of u-tube videos on pocket kits that fit into an Altoids box or Sucrets. Look over a few of them and see what makes sense to you . .and will fit into the handle of your knife.

My instant opinion would be fire starting stuff; matches and sealed tinder.

BTW: Anyone ever read "To build a Fire", a short story by Jack London?

 

[VorpelSword]

An older member of our church passed away a number of years ago. In time, his widow wwas going through his Man-Things and gave me a H&R single barrel shotgun. It was not an heirloom quality piece showing signs of many outings and years of casual storage. At home I did what anyone would do and looked it over carefully. Something rattled slightly. So I took it down into the three parts: receiver, barrel and fore end.

The wooden fore end had a channel that made a space under the barrel. Down i there I saw a yellowed scrap of something. It turned out to be a twist ancient, waxed paper holding three strike anywhere phosphorous matches. . . .the kind not made for decades now.

So, yeah: I would put matches into the hollow handled knife.

 

[Shorttime]

I didn't read the thread. I don't do survival. Adventures are nasty, cold, wet things that make you late for dinner.

The internet tells me that there are consensus priorities in a survival situation. Stopping blood loss and breathing problems (if you have them) are first.

Staying warm is second.

Clean water is third.

Food is fourth, and this is all based on how long not having those things will kill you.

The space inside that handle is pretty limited, and your options are going to be similarly limited, if that's all you have. I would stuff a "QuikClot" bandage in there, if you can, again acknowledging that if you need it, you may already be screwed.

If there is more space, or if you reckon you'll be dealing with bleeding in some other way, then fire and clean water come next. Iodine pills, a Lifestraw, something like that, and I'll give a +1 to everybody else's recommendations of matches, fire steel, dryer lint, and so on.

Threads like this make me wonder what a "sensible" amount of survival equipment is. The stuff you can fit in your knife handle seems woefully inadequate, but then, what's "enough"? I suspect it's like Dakka.....

More important, how do you avoid the scenario that starts with "he had packed a complete survival kit, which got lost in the chaos of the accident"?

 

[wickettedge]

Thanks Shorttime .

For actual camping or hiking, you're right, you carry a first aid kit and normal supplies.

Think of it more as a thought experiment.

You've got a knife with a hollow handle; what do you put in it?

- spare bullets
- fire equipment
- booze
- pills
- fishing gear
- another knife
- compass + navigation supplies
- ...

I am trying to think of everything in that Chinese-made knife handle I had as a kid. I am sure it had a couple of fishing weights, a small bandaid, matches, fishing line, hooks, ...

I like the setup that Sam Wilson shows a few posts back in the video: fire and light.

The ESEE kits seem pretty nice, too, if you have more space.

At this point, my family does mostly glamping and day hikes, so this is a nostalgia trip for me.

 

[beeinak]

JB Weld.....

Not needed- it is a one piece knife like the Chris Reeve’s.

 

[wickettedge]

yep one solid piece!

 

[badmatt]

My Salvos from Rausch houses some Advil... you know... for those tough days at work when the knife is not enough...

The Rausch is a REALLY good knife.

 

[gotgoat]

neosporin and bandaids

 

[W.M.B.]

What to fill it with?

The first time I saw "First Blood" and Stallone pulled out that knife, I nearly laughed out loud and thought of walking out of the theater.

But to the point of the OP: There are a pile of u-tube videos on pocket kits that fit into an Altoids box or Sucrets. Look over a few of them and see what makes sense to you . .and will fit into the handle of your knife.

My instant opinion would be fire starting stuff; matches and sealed tinder.

BTW: Anyone ever read "To build a Fire", a short story by Jack London?

Oooh, you could put dog treats in there. As a Firestarting aid.

 

[whereismyknife]

A well-folded emergency blanket and a magnesium rod If you force it a little, a water purification tablet will also fit.

 

[TC]

Sanko or something do a button compass.

Suunto.

The Suunto is a great little compass! Wore it one the rubber band of my FrankenSeiko (basically an SKX-007 but made up completely from aftermarket parts) and it caused the band to break after about a year due to the sharpish inside edges of the clipper part, so be careful in that regard. Luckily this happened while at home, not in the water! Should be fine with a woven nylon band like the ZULU or NATO, though. (ZULU is what the watch is now on.)

Oh, and unfortunately it'll be too large for a hollow knife handle.

And also keep it well away from any ferromagnetic parts or it will throw the reading well off. Test this at home to see how sensitive this little compass is.

 

[Sam Wilson]

This is another of our kits, Kit B. All of the contents fit into a heat sealed waterproof foil package inside the tin. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

Sam

 

[YaArArYa]

Put in it?

A motivational note to remind.

 

[eveled]

Not needed- it is a one piece knife like the Chris Reeve’s.

Pretty sure he meant to use the tube that JB WELD comes in, as a container to keep the skittles in.View attachment 2436471

FWIW, I’m serious about the a skittles. Quick sugar energy could make a difference. We already established this isn’t going to be your only survival kit.

 

[Elgatodeacero]

badmatt I would like to hear more about the Rausch hollow Handle knives.

They look just like the old Chris Reeve knives I wanted but could not afford! Weren’t the CR knives made in South Africa, and also made of D2? Why did CR quit making the hollow handle knives?
I think a Rausch is in my future.

Right now my only hollow handle knife has a ferro rod inside,

 

[Steely_Gunz]

My days of worrying about getting myself out of a dumb situation are mostly behind me. However, what I have packed in one before was a cotton ball soaked in Vaseline and sealed with one of those hot wrap machines, a fero rod, half a dozen waterproof matches with a strip to strike them on, about 10' of nylon leather crafting thread. 3 paperclips (more useful than fishhooks).

Never needed any of it, but it gives two forms of fire making, a way to bind things together that is also a viable fishing line. The paperclips can be used for anything including making fishhooks.

 

[WValtakis]

badmatt I would like to hear more about the Rausch hollow Handle knives.

They look just like the old Chris Reeve knives I wanted but could not afford! Weren’t the CR knives made in South Africa, and also made of D2? Why did CR quit making the hollow handle knives?
I think a Rausch is in my future.

Right now my only hollow handle knife has a ferro rod inside,

View attachment 2436480

Pretty sure the CRK one-piece line was all A2 toolsteel.

 

[Drop bear]

Pretty sure he meant to use the tube that JB WELD comes in, as a container to keep the skittles in.View attachment 2436471

FWIW, I’m serious about the a skittles. Quick sugar energy could make a difference. We already established this isn’t going to be your only survival kit.

If you go for a sweet. Put a butterscotch or an eucalyptus or something.

Then you also have something for a sore throat.

 

[catspa]

FWIW, I’m serious about the a skittles. Quick sugar energy could make a difference. We already established this isn’t going to be your only survival kit.

I’m thinking peanut M&Ms instead. They’re health food if you eat the peanut and spit out the chocolate part to use as bait for ants.

Parker