Things that dont realy work

Desert condensation stills. Yes, I've played with them and obtained a little water. But in most desert situations, they don't perform as well as many survival manuals seem to insinuate.

DancesWithKnives

[They would undoubtedly perform better on a beach where you could constantly feed them saltwater, but I'm talking about inland desert use.]
 
you are tired, cold, hungry, shivering in damp or wet clothes, lost, confused, thirsty or even worse dehydrated, wounded, bleeding, suffering from a fever, cold, sore throat, loathsome disease, diarrhea, nausea, constipation, anaphalactic (sp?) shock, heart attack, hypothermia, fatigue, high altitude edema, or any combination of the above. Most things don't work in the rain or in extreme cold. Most things don't work when you really really need them.

All I can say is practice, practice, practice.
 
Cant agree enough with Bic lighters. Just dropping it in the snow is enough to put one out of commission for at least 20 minutes.

Not a big fan of magnesium fire starters either, the pile of shavings gets blow away at the slightest breeze, it burns up so fast that your next stage of tinder needs to be right ontop of it before you light it, which makes lighting it tricky and if you bump what ever your pile is sitting on with your knife when you strike the firesteel it goes everywhere. Hard enough to use the stuff in ideal conditions, never mind a situation where getting a fire is life or death.
 
Ankar Sheng said:
Cant agree enough with Bic lighters. Just dropping it in the snow is enough to put one out of commission for at least 20 minutes.

Not a big fan of magnesium fire starters either, the pile of shavings gets blow away at the slightest breeze, it burns up so fast that your next stage of tinder needs to be right ontop of it before you light it, which makes lighting it tricky and if you bump what ever your pile is sitting on with your knife when you strike the firesteel it goes everywhere. Hard enough to use the stuff in ideal conditions, never mind a situation where getting a fire is life or death.
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I've agreed with this in the past, but the utility of the mag bar is greatly increased if you wrap it in duct tape. When you want fire, unwrap the duct tape and lay a piece with the sticky side face up. Scrape mag shavings onto the sticky part of the duct tape. Now it won't blow all over the place in the wind or fall to pieces if it gets nudged. Of course, you still have to have the patience to make a healthy sized pile.
 
I'll give that a try. Does the duct tape ignite too? I find that I need some birch bark or something to catch the flame from the magnesium anyway, unless I have a really big pile, and that I may as well just light the birchbark with the firesteel and skip the magnesium all together.
 
Yeah, the duct tape will also light. You can add a small wrap of bicycle innertube to your mag bar, it'll burn well too (though obviously a bit nastily). It sounds like it turns a simple tool into a chunky system, but it's still pretty compact and straight forward.
 
Family band radios with a 12 mile range. Your lucky to get two miles from one.
 
Regarding some items like wire saws: If I had my choice of saws, I would not choose a wire one.

If I was in a SHTF scenario, and the only thing I had available to me was that same wire saw? I'd be kissing the ground in gratitude like I'd never known.

It's all relative...:)
 
Brian Jones said:
Regarding some items like wire saws: If I had my choice of saws, I would not choose a wire one.

If I was in a SHTF scenario, and the only thing I had available to me was that same wire saw? I'd be kissing the ground in gratitude like I'd never known.

It's all relative...
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That's very true and that's why a good one, which will only take up the space of a single, small, Thompson steel snare...well...you might want to possibly put one in there.
 
Folding up aluminum foil and then unfolding it and think you can boil water in it. Mine have ALWAYS had tiny holes in the corners of the folds and leaked.

Those cheap bee stings pain relief pens and most of those sting wipe pads. They only have 5% Benzocaine when they should have 20%. Go buy Maximum Strength Orajel. It has 20% Benzocaine and can be used for stings, mouth sores, toothaches, and cold sores. I have even used it on blisters that broke open and bleeding. It's good stuff and can be used in many different ways for pain relief.

Fishing line taped up in a coil, and put in a kit with out being wrapped around something. Try and untangle that mess. Also, tie a damn hook on it before you pack it away. Why wait until you need it to try and tie one on? Do it while sitting at your kitchen table, and be done with it.

Razor blades in a survival kit. I never really understood these. I mean if it is a small kit to get you through a night or two, cleaning fish, and gathering food is not going to be that important, and that is about all these are good for. If you are going to be out for a week or two, a razor blade is to small to be of any real use. At that point as you need a real knife. I am not sure what gap the razor blade really fills.

I think most people have seen them in military kits and think that is the way to go, but have never even used one past shaving in the morning. I think the military did it because of cost. It is cheaper to put a razor blade in 100,000 kits than it is to put in a small pocket knife. We talk about trying not to make a bad situation worse, and then we add in a razor blade which is not the easiest thing to use as most have no handle. Granted, it is better than nothing, but why not spend a couple bucks and get even a cheap small pocket knife? I had four small ones made just for the pocket tin kit I carry. Which ever one I want to carry, it fits in there perfectly. Plus they were only $10 each, $44.80 total shipped, and GREAT little knives that beat a razor blade anyday.

Here are a couple pictures he sent me. They are only about .090'' thick, except for the one on the right which is .120'', so they are perfect for a tin. Plus you have a little more to hold onto while using it, and you can attach it to a stick with wire or cord, to make a longer handle if you need to.





 
Fleece, polypro, nylon, silnylon, whoretex and fire, sparks, embers, or the breath of a hot woman.....

Super cool, ultra lightweight, oh wow, titanium alcohol stoves with wind and cold and snow..

Non-deet repellent and insects..

Deet and any plastic or nylon gear you may be wearing or carrying, including compasses, knife handles, and that brand spanking new whoretex rain gear...

Mr. Murphy just loves me.......;)
 
1_BIG_BUNKER said:
Folding up aluminum foil and then unfolding it and think you can boil water in it. Mine have ALWAYS had tiny holes in the corners of the folds and leaked.
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Yeah, good for cooking but not a very good water carrier at all. A little better is a small loaf pan (Hefty or Reynold's) that you cut the reinfored rim off of and carefully fold it, better for cooking than boiling water in as well...but holds up a bit better.

Go buy Maximum Strength Orajel. It has 20% Benzocaine and can be used for stings, mouth sores, toothaches, and cold sores. I have even used it on blisters that broke open and bleeding. It's good stuff and can be used in many different ways for pain relief.
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Already have it in there, great minds think alike. The Burn Gel is the exception to easily obtained first aid topical painkillers, that stuff really works.

If you can get a Rx for 2% Lidocaine Jelly for other topical injuries, that works well too.

Fishing line taped up in a coil, and put in a kit with out being wrapped around something. Try and untangle that mess. Also, tie a damn hook on it before you pack it away. Why wait until you need it to try and tie one on? Do it while sitting at your kitchen table, and be done with it.
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Braided line. Steel and/or nylon leaders with snap swivels. I carry a small amount of monofilament as well, basically for making leaders out of them and that's that.

Razor blades in a survival kit...

I think most people have seen them in military kits and think that is the way to go, but have never even used one past shaving in the morning. I think the military did it because of cost. It is cheaper to put a razor blade in 100,000 kits than it is to put in a small pocket knife. We talk about trying not to make a bad situation worse, and then we add in a razor blade which is not the easiest thing to use as most have no handle.
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The only kind I will carry are the folding Dermashave types of razors. The case is the handle and they come in quite handy.

The military has placed good pocketknives in some kits. The Camillus "Demo" Knife is one, a couple other types were in the SRU-16 (IIRC) Parachute Kit, fine little three blade folder.

Granted, it is better than nothing, but why not spend a couple bucks and get even a cheap small pocket knife? I had four small ones made just for the pocket tin kit I carry. Which ever one I want to carry, it fits in there perfectly. Plus they were only $10 each, $44.80 total shipped, and GREAT little knives that beat a razor blade anyday.
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Fred Perrin made me a paper thin LaGriffe for inside a "tin" type of survival kit.

I think something everyone should consider is, what if you only had a razor blade? How could you make a handle for it to make it safer and a better tool? What exactly can you do with that razor, etc., etc., etc.? I think that is more important than actually carrying razor blades and scalpel blades without the scalpel.
 
Most matches play up and fail to work when they should:grumpy:

A lot of insect repellents just make you stink and become super sexy to the bastards:eek:
 
Horn Dog said:
The saw back on on most "survival" knives.
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Yeah, the Aitor JKII and Brewer Explorer being the massive exceptions to that rule. Most of the rest were B.S., total B.S.

I never was able to test the Parrish I had for a very short time and never owned or had my hands on a Randall Model 18, either, but heard good things about both of them.

That goes back to the wire saw comments, a lot of the survival knives in the 80s came with a nasty wire saw that was a POS and the saw on the back of the knife was worse.
 
Don Rearic said:
That goes back to the wire saw comments, a lot of the survival knives in the 80s came with a nasty wire saw that was a POS....
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Ah, yes!!! Almost forgot about these. I was surprised to find, experimenting with one circa 1987, that it wound up starting the wood on fire! As a saw it was awful, but as a firestarter, it had better promise. :)

Thanks for that trip down memory lane!
 
My Dad couldn't catch a break on the way to Peleliu, he never was issued a Ka-Bar. I think he picked one up in a trade for an Elgin watch on Okinawa. IIRC, he carried a pointed 10 inch screwdriver and had a Garand bayonet on Peleliu. Never heard a thing bad about Ka-Bars, all those guys abused the snot out of them, as was told to me.
 
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