Survival: The right tool Vs Multi-Use tool

ckc · Sep 15, 2004

I've often wondered about what the trade off would be for a survival right, when considering the size/weight vs practicality in the field.

Eg. do you carry the right tool for the job, or do you carry a less then perfect, but has more uses..

Eg.. Starting a fire... would you carry something like flint and steel, or a lighter?
A Big knife or a small hatchet?
a small emergency blanket, or a rain poncho

I figure most would be decided by personal choice, or the size/weight of the kit.

what do does everyone think??

Tony_A · Sep 17, 2004

I think your correct in that it comes to persenal preferance. You can't really carry the correct item/tool all the time--if you did your "survival" kit would be your entire house-(everything you own serves a purpose.) Basically I guess you decide what minimal items you need to get through--The more you know, the less you need, although the proper tool does make it easier.

Tyrkon Lawson · Sep 17, 2004

Can you guys suggest any good reads on survival since we're on the topic? How about on street survival? Thanks...

notrefined · Sep 17, 2004

personally the answer lies somewhere in between for me. If you have one tool for everything, and it breaks, or you lose it, well, you're pretty much screwed. And if you have a bunch of highly specialized tools that are each perfect for their job and not good for much else, what do you do if you lose one of those? I like to have a few well designed tools with some overlap in function, for example a small pocketknife, good medium knife and hatchet. If any one of those fails, the other two will fill in nicely. If two fail, I can still make do with any one of them, though not as easily. Any one of them can be used as a fire-starting tool (flint & steel), but i'll also carry at least two other means of ignition.

crossada · Sep 17, 2004

Tyrkon Lawson said:
Can you guys suggest any good reads on survival since we're on the topic? How about on street survival? Thanks...

check Ron hood's site for a list of books. survival.com

VampyreWolf · Sep 17, 2004

Experience has me carrying multi-use and redundant tools. I carry a serrated blade, wire saw, and a hacksaw blade... I carry an axe, and a 23" short sword...

fire is overdone to an extent... magnesium, ferrocium rod & striker, butane torch, and a couple packs of matches in my kit, zippo on my belt.

Depending on the conditions, I usually leave a small kit at "base" and take a small one with me.

longbow50 · Sep 17, 2004

I carry multi use tools, but also carry redundant tools that will duplicate jobs, as well as branch out into other uses to give my kits a slightly wider range of use.

For instance, I carry a SAK, but also carry a leatherman tool. My kit adds a stout fixed blade for heavier cutting tasks. My SAK has a saw blade and I also carry a larger dual edged T handled saw by Buck.

I carry a lighter and ferro rod on my person and spark-lite firestarting kit with tinder, a pitch type tinder as well as Esbit fuel tabs in my main kit.

there's a couple of industrial 55gal. drum liners, a space blanket and a mil issue poncho w/liner in my kit.

For water I carry a PUR Hiker model filter system as well as chemical treatment. Plus, fire will boil and treat water, so I carry a canteen cup with my canteen. I also carry a couple of 1 gal. freezer ziploc bags and a burlap sack with handles that the ziplocs fit into for easy carry of additional water.

numberthree · Sep 17, 2004

It depends on the task for me. I like multi use items for sure, but some things require the real deal. I'd rather carry a SAK and an axe than a single large knife for chopping. I like to specialize important stuff. I carry a SAK, a multitool, AND either a locking folder like the Spydie Military or a fixed blade. Each does different things well. I carry a ferro rod and a mini bic for fire duty. I carry a mini LED light on my SAK keyring and also a Surefire e1e.