So I recently got one of the ESEE "Escape and Evasion Wallets" that has a bunch of useful little things for an E&E scenario all wrapped up in a nice little trifold cordura wallet thingy.
It seems like a great little minimalistic survival kit. But there's one thing that I'm a little disappointed with, and that's the ceramic razor that comes with it and is supposed to be sewn into clothing and used as a last resort hideaway blade for cutting out of illegal restraints. The reason I'm disappointed is becuase the damn thing is super thin and only an inch long! Obviously its good for concealment purposes, but how the hell am I supposed to use it to cut any sort of cuffs if I can't get a decent grip on it or even reach the material Id be cutting? I tried the other day to put zip ties on myself and cut them off with the razor, but there was absolutely no way I could do it. And that wasn't even under stress with my hands behind my back and my palms facing outwards......
The good thing is that the kit also came with thin Kevlar line and apparently you're supposed to be able to use this on restraints as well. It says to sew a length into your clothing and then you can use it to saw through the restraints when you get the opportunity. It's kinda like that trick where you use your boot laces to friction your way through zip ties. I've done it before and it works, but good luck being discrete about it
Anyway, I still really like the idea of the little ceramic razor blade. It won't dull easily, and you could theoretically take it onto planes and into places with metal detectors so that you'd never be without an emergency cutting tool. I just wish it was at least 2 or three inches long instead of 1 and maybe a tiny bit wider for a firmer grip. Also, I'm not sure I'd want to be the one testing airport security with one of these things. They might be able to see the razor with some kind of X-ray or other advanced imaging thingy because it's no doubt a very dense object that would stand out clear as day against my squishy self.
Overall though, I love the kit. I think it's a great idea to have it with you if your going to a sketchy part of the world. Examples would be things like vacations to South American countries or trips to the middle east, etc etc......Things like the little ceramic razor and the universal handcuff key would come in handy for escaping a bad situation, and the arrowhead, fishhooks, Kevlar line, and signal mirror would come in handy for any sort of survival situation you might find yourself in. It's also got some neat cards in one pocket that give you tips on escape and evasion, show you how to make a few basic traps, how to make fire, how to use morse code, and how to signal rescuers. It's even got a compass, and a couple rare earth magnets to make a makeshift compass should you loose the real one. Awesome stuff:thumbup:
Just thought I'd share my newest purchase with you guys. I don't plan on needing this kit any time soon, but it was pretty cheap so I figured why not get it? Could come in handy one day. I might see about replacing the razor with one of those diamond saws that are just a peice of piano wire wrapped in course diamond grit. Might not get through metal detectors the same way, but at least it would work better in the event I needed to cut through some illegal restraints
Hopefully you guys start pitching in a little more and that day never comes!
