Survive! Skills, Tips, Tricks and How to's

OBX351 · Feb 7, 2016

Now you look like Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales after his chat with 10 Bears!

pjandyho · Feb 7, 2016

Ouch! That hurts. Hope it heals soon.

redwood22 · Feb 7, 2016

Silver Needle said:
Sorry to hear that, that sucks!

Too bad it wasn't a memorable scar from an incident with a cougar, a mountain cliff and a GSO 20, but accidents happen. Will you get stitches?

Haha it's ok, happened so fast I didn't even realize until everything started getting covered in red. I think I'm gonna butterfly bandage it for now and hope haha. It's only 1/2" wide. The poor wife was trying to tend to the hand while the pup tried to "clean up".

Rock climbing tape truly is awesome though, kind of like athletic tape on steroids.

redwood22 · Feb 7, 2016

OBX351 said:
Now you look like Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales after his chat with 10 Bears!

Haha I wish I had a better story behind it

pjandyho said:
Ouch! That hurts. Hope it heals soon.

Haha I have to admit it was a combination of two stupid events; I always hand wash the kitchen knives so I wasn't expecting it to be there, and then just general carelessness. But that's part of why I married a nurse!

Standard78 · Feb 7, 2016

redwood22 said:
Haha I wish I had a better story behind it

I heard you got stabbed during a botched robbery attempt and you took out 3 guys with AK-47's that had bayonets on them.

redwood22 · Feb 7, 2016

Standard78 said:
I heard you got stabbed during a botched robbery attempt and you took out 3 guys with AK-47's that had bayonets on them.

Haha I like it, this is what we are going with from here forth. This along with silvers original question might just inspire me to build out some first aid kits

B34NS · Feb 7, 2016

Texas_toothpick said:
Cool, I had one with my LS but gave it to my buddy with my esse. I didn't think it was that small though. I'm thinking of getting a exotac nanostriker just to throw in my pocket on my keys.

Yea for a small striker it isn't a bad backup for the LMF one I've got as my primary sparker. I've so far been able to simplify everyting down to fit into an ultralight Kifaru S pullout with some room to spare.

I haven't yet tried out the exotac nano's yet, but I'd be curious to hear what you think if you get one :thumbup:

OBX351 said:
- NP!! I am going to make one of your rigs next week.

Awesome! Post some pics if you get a chance!

OBX351 said:
That's all me too!! As a matter of fact I lit a blazing fire last night with 1 match and single piece of fatwood in a COLD flue!!!

natures fail safe!

Hard Knocks · Feb 8, 2016

I have the nanostriker XL. It is an excellent piece of equipment if a bit spendy. Although I can understand the extra cost with the machining involved.

Another product they make that I absolutely love, the MatchCap XL. It's built for the stormproof matches, and the extra security of knowing those babies are protected in nearly any circumstance really eases my mind. It's also a bit spendy, but I'll bet I could drive my truck over it with minimal damage.

OBX351 · Feb 8, 2016

Hard Knocks said:
I have the nanostriker XL. It is an excellent piece of equipment if a bit spendy. Although I can understand the extra cost with the machining involved.

Another product they make that I absolutely love, the MatchCap XL. It's built for the stormproof matches, and the extra security of knowing those babies are protected in nearly any circumstance really eases my mind. It's also a bit spendy, but I'll bet I could drive my truck over it with minimal damage.

Great product! I have the cheap plastic kind, going to Amazon to upgrade later this AM. Just make sure you have extra strikers. They don't work well when wet.

Hard Knocks · Feb 8, 2016

Yep, you've got to have a good striker with them. There's one attached in such a way that it's protected and sealed when it's screwed together, and they include a couple spares. It's pretty much waterproof and crushproof. Still, no way am I relying solely on the stormproof matches when I'm serious. My winter hunting pack has a gobspark armageddon, fat wood, jelly cottonballs, strike anywhere matches, novelty candles and charcloth. Oh ya, and a good old bic lighter :thumbup:

Probably overkill, but I hunt alone in a lot of remote places......

I like knowing it's all in the pack

The plastic match cases work great for stuffing petroleum-jelly cotton balls in. Or better yet, some of those very tough cases from countycomm. They're made from delrin and the one I have I think they call the 'vault' IIRC. Very good cases.

redwood22 · Feb 8, 2016

Hard Knocks said:
Yep, you've got to have a good striker with them. There's one attached in such a way that it's protected and sealed when it's screwed together, and they include a couple spares. It's pretty much waterproof and crushproof. Still, no way am I relying solely on the stormproof matches when I'm serious. My winter hunting pack has a gobspark armageddon, fat wood, jelly cottonballs, strike anywhere matches, novelty candles and charcloth. Oh ya, and a good old bic lighter :thumbup: Probably overkill, but I hunt alone in a lot of remote places......

I like knowing it's all in the pack

The plastic match cases work great for stuffing petroleum-jelly cotton balls in. Or better yet, some of those very tough cases from countycomm. They're made from delrin and the one I have I think they call the 'vault' IIRC. Very good cases.

be prepared...something the scouts beat into me, and one that i think saves you from so many critical mistakes. I think if you know having fire/warmth will keep you alive if things go south, that knowing you can bow drill a fire in ideal conditions is not nearly enough. All the stuff you mentioned easily fits in a little pouch/bag and is worth it if you need it. I haven't used my life straw yet, haven't needed to, but if i do I will be super stoked i have it.

Hard Knocks · Feb 8, 2016

redwood22 said:
be prepared...something the scouts beat into me, and one that i think saves you from so many critical mistakes. I think if you know having fire/warmth will keep you alive if things go south, that knowing you can bow drill a fire in ideal conditions is not nearly enough. All the stuff you mentioned easily fits in a little pouch/bag and is worth it if you need it. I haven't used my life straw yet, haven't needed to, but if i do I will be super stoked i have it.

I totally agree. And it's up to me to make sure I know how to use it all in less than ideal conditions, before I need it. Like you say, be prepared, it will help keep you calm when it counts.

That lifestraw is a great addition to the pack. I have something similar in my winter pack, and I keep a sawyer mini in my warmer weather pack where I'm more likely to need it. We ran low on water while deer hunting the fall before last. I had brought enough for me and the wife, but it turned off hot and my buddy and his boy blew through theirs fast. We weren't in any kind of dangerous situation, but that little sawyer definitely saved the remainder of the hunt that day. We would have been forced to quit early without it, but instead we were able to finish the day and his boy took his deer just before dark. There were cattle all over the stream that I drew from, and I'll admit to having reservations even with the filter, but none of us had any ill effects and there was no smell or taste to the water. The filter definitely did its job.

OBX351 · Feb 8, 2016

I have a similar pack, Light My fire army 2.0, fatwood, strike anywhere matches, storms matches, candles, a few fire disks (wax treated ceder wood shavings), 2 bics, live fire and treated cottonballs. My buddies ALWAYS bust my chops when they see all my fire starting stuff. Lesson learned, I was camping in the North GA mountains on the Chattooga River, aka the middle of the middle of nowhere, and we got hit with a $h!t ton of unexpected rain, maybe 1 to 2 inches in a few hours. Guess what happened we were cold, soaking wet and our fire was completely out...no coals no nothing and it was about 40 degrees. It took us FOREVER to get it a fire going and I am not doing that ever again! Thankfully we had cloths in dry bags but everything and I mean everything else was completely soaked. The two lessons, we needed to carry bigger knives or an axe to get to dry wood and have a way to start a fire in the wet and cold. Rant over.....

Hard Knocks · Feb 9, 2016

Here's my light pack I carry if I'm headed into a tree hunting with the pooches. Like redwood said, everything mentioned plus a bit more fits in a small space. A smaller pouch like B34NS carries would hold a good bit of fire starter, too.

I like my maxpedition pack because I can rotate it around my waist to keep it out of the way. And since I'm moving/climbing I can manage my heat control better without a bag on my back. But it really all comes down to adapting it to what works for the individual.

redwood22 · Feb 9, 2016

Hard Knocks said:
Here's my light pack I carry if I'm headed into a tree hunting with the pooches. Like redwood said, everything mentioned plus a bit more fits in a small space. A smaller pouch like B34NS carries would hold a good bit of fire starter, too.

I like my maxpedition pack because I can rotate it around my waist to keep it out of the way. And since I'm moving/climbing I can manage my heat control better without a bag on my back. But it really all comes down to adapting it to what works for the individual.

That's a great looking bag HK, I use a camelback tactical mule for the same thing. It doesn't have much storage but holds a ton of water and just enough room for the day out essentials

Hard Knocks · Feb 9, 2016

Just looked it up. That looks like a great bag. Looks like you could also add any of the molleback accessories you needed as well.

Silver Needle · Feb 9, 2016

I've been looking at backpacks a lot lately. It's hard to find a small size for just a day or afternoon's worth of essentials with backpack straps. If I'm going by myself I wouldn't be too far from civilization and I'd really be making it a short trip if I'm with the family and most of what I'd need to pack would be stuff for my girls.

ni1s · Feb 9, 2016

Silver Needle said:
I've been looking at backpacks a lot lately. It's hard to find a small size for just a day or afternoon's worth of essentials with backpack straps. If I'm going by myself I wouldn't be too far from civilization and I'd really be making it a short trip if I'm with the family and most of what I'd need to pack would be stuff for my girls.

For me I think the Tarahumara by Hill People Gear looks like the perfect day pack. Light, minimalistic, great straps, and great expansion possibilities too.

OBX351 · Feb 9, 2016

Silver Needle said:
I've been looking at backpacks a lot lately. It's hard to find a small size for just a day or afternoon's worth of essentials with backpack straps. If I'm going by myself I wouldn't be too far from civilization and I'd really be making it a short trip if I'm with the family and most of what I'd need to pack would be stuff for my girls.

I've had a Drago Scout:
http://www.dragogear.com/products/backpacks/scout-backpack.html
Heavier than the adapt below but more compartments. Lots of good MOLLE webbing. This is my main day pack and light travel bag. I usually carry my computer in it when I am on the road with the family and I still have room for other stuff. Great bag!!

MSM ADAPT PACK
http://milspecmonkey.com/store/packs-bags/341-msm-adapt-pack.html#/color-multicam
Very light and very comfortable...great day or travel bag...not very many compartments but has some MOLLE webbing to hang things from. I've made a bug out bag with one of these and I was surprised that it carries almost 20 lbs of gear very comfortably.

Anttheknee · Feb 9, 2016

I have a 5.11 Rush 72 that I absolutely love for day hiking. I got my fiance the rush 48 which she loves also. They have plenty of MOLLE straps and are very durable. I have abused kine for about 3 years now and It is still working perfectly. They also make a rush 12, which is the smallest and lightest. Color options are plentiful too. Bought mine on Amazon. Good luck :thumbup: