Ah, the famous "survival" knife topics, I just lovem. Ok, question number one: Why would you want to put all the necessities so useful for outdoor living in the knife handle or sheath? Well, you say, when Im in a rush, I can just grab my knife and have everything I need to stay alive for a couple of days in the woods. Good point, but what if youre in a rush and forget your knife with all the goodies, or you loose the whole combo? Not good.
Therefore, forget the idea of a compact, do-it-all survival knife.
But for the fun of it, take a good look at that picture and tell me what you see. Most likely a cool knife with many useful additions to support your survival in the wilderness. Here is what I see: A knife sporting a blade with big holes in it and many tiny gizmos with questionable functionality mostly related to fishing. Let me analyze some of it.
First - and most important the knife itself. Major critic point is the cut outs in the blade. The steel used is probably something like 420J or 440A. Not mentioned, or course, because Extremely Hard, 6" Chromium Stainless Steel sounds sooo much better. Now, why would anybody take two big pieces out of an already mediocre blade? My guess is, its just for the looks. It for sure doesnt save you much weight. So lets think here for a while. They sacrificed function for looks. Shouldnt a survival knife have the strongest blade available, since its used for all kinds of outdoor purposes like whittling, building shelter, etc. ? Hmmm, makes me wonder how good the rest of the combo is. Let me analyze these by number
1. The liquid filled compass. Hey, reminds me of Rambo I when he takes the butt cap of his Lile to check on the direction where to go. Funny thing is, what does he check it against? Usually you check it against a map. If you dont have one, you dont need a compass. Besides that, those little plastic things are DANGEROUS. I have compared several of them against each other and a real one. Guess, what? Many of them showed a completely different North! Therefore my tip. Stay away from that kind of junk. If you have a map and need a compass, get the best one you can afford.
2. The sharpening stick. Nice idea, but doesnt it look a little too small to be useful? I leave that to your judgement.
3. Fishing kit. Another good idea. Much better is a small net or any of the methods described in survival books. You are not going fishing for recreation but to feed you. The more efficient your methods, the higher your chance of survival. Pulling fish out of the water with hook and line seems like a big waste of time to me, since it requires your presence. Better is to use a tool which works by itself.
4. Animal snare. I cant quite see what it is and how its supposed to work, but again, it looks too small to be of any real use. All you need to build some good traps is a sturdy line (even better snare wire) a good knife or saw and the knowledge how to build them.
5. The instant fire starter is good, if it works.
6. The signaling mirror is not too the best thing if its not sunny or you are in a covered place. Get a good whistle instead to attract attention. But a mirror is a good thing to have if you want to shave or have something in your eyes.
7. The flashlight in the handle is very inconvenient. It seems you cant use the knife and light at the same time, not a great idea.
8. Why do you need that if you can make it out of a piece of wood very easily?
9. A reel? Gimme a break. You can wrap the fishing line around any piece of wood just a easily.
Overall I would say, for US$ 135.- you can expect a MUCH better knife than that. Good examples are Cold Steels Bush Ranger for $65 or the SRK for $54. Both in Carbon V. Now you can spend ca. $70.- for other goodies. The most important thing is to get a good survival book and read it. Then you should copy the pages about snares and traps and put these enclosed in a zip lock in your survival kit. You can get the contents for those kits from this site
www.equipped.com Dont forget, in our modern world it can be more important to have some phone/bus money in your kit than a compass. And the thing which most likely could save your life is a cell phone.
[This message has been edited by Ralf (edited 11 November 1999).]
