Bike rack installed. Still trying to figure out how to charge the bike. Will need to run a line from the inverter.
I have now been taught or shown a few ways to develop a ridgeline. I haven’t been a fan of using hardware, preferring knots in bushcraft. I always use a Siberian Hitch on the first end.
Ive gone from wrapping the rope around a tree then around the main line and back around a tree. it works but I cant get enough tension with damage to my hands. This way seems the fastest truckers variation i have seen.
I’m starting to put together a much more streamlined version of my cook kit based on recommendations from Echo Mike.
I like the versatility of the British Army mess kit. From cooking to using as a wash basin. I had to use the alloy version for this set up. The hexamine stove wont fit sideways in my Dutch Stainless Steel version.
I was using a light my fire meal kit but have started to prefer the traditional army kit for the versatility of being able to also cook in the mess kit, use as a wash basin and a sink
I was watching Jason Salyer On Three, discussing swapping out his multi tool and folders for a small fixed blade. My multi tools have also become too heavy to keep in my pocket. Preferring to keep them in my vehicle and backpack. My SAK’s have also gone the same way. I like having them in packs for backups but rarely ever carry them now. I generally use a heavy folder, however Jason got me thinking of a small fixed blade.
I came up with three choices ;
First the Busse Game Warden 3 inch. Being quite hard to come by now. I have owned two of these and liked the design. One was a necker, the other a fat version almost a centimeter thick. Im looking for a 1/8th or 3/16th spine.
Second a Winkler SD2 which I’m favoring due to having a pointy tip. However a drop point in that size is less tactical looking for use in a cross-draw sheath.
Thirdly a Reiff Knives F3 in magnacut.
The Busse will take some time to track down being my first choice. I know what they feel like in the hand. I have owned very few Winklers so I am tempted from that perspective. The Reiff being the easiest to order within Australia.
Looking up the current line up from Winkler knives I came across a Lost lakes Camp knife being an almost 7 inch throw back to his forging days.
Not for a EDC but I like my large blades.
Ive been working on ideas to have an EDC within your wallet to include alternative ways to start a fire , to cut, open locks, tinder, lighting, E&E etc. Pictures forthcoming.
IDEAS
Wazoo Firecard
Fresnel Lense
https://www.survivalsupplies.com.au/fresnel-lens
Toollogic Tool Card
Grim Cards
https://www.survivalsupplies.com.au/brand/grim-workshop-survival-card
Knife Card
https://newatlas.com/lynx-knife-steel-blade/57826
https://www.onestopknifeshop.com/store/nemesis-nk3-titanium-credit-card-knife.html
https://www.arizonacustomknives.com/products/186056
https://imboldn.com/tack-titanium-card-knife
https://www.bladehq.com/cat–Credit-Card-Knives–261
https://www.etsy.com/listing/994192922/h-edge-wallet-knife-credit-card-shape
Ferro Rod Key Ring
Torch
https://www.wolfeyes.com.au/accessories/handy-gear-spares/led-keylight-torches-flashlights
https://www.liteshop.com.au/content/liteshop-branded-15-lumen-skilhunt-kc-01-led-keyring-torch
https://www.survivalsupplies.com.au/photon-white-beam
Mini Pry Bars
Tools
Card Power Bank Charger
Wallet Tracker
This is my grail knife. Finally someone bringing them into the country.
I was actually looking to purchase a ZT 0006 when I stumbled upon the Spartan Harsey. The grip feels very heavy for a fighter. I may have to take off the scales and see if there are any lightning holes.
My next purchase a ZT 0006 however Ill have to modify the pommel to either a glass breaker or fill it in. I don’t like the screw on butt cap.
The ZT 0006 compared to the F6
The F6 in Magnacut arrived. Really looking forward to testing this one out. Below pics comparing other knives for sizing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPVCbxJR0ys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t8D7prLbTU&t=459s
I was watching Corporals Corner and Shawn Kelly recommended the MH8. I thought that looked a little heavy for me and i purchased the MH4. Ill be testing this one out over the next few months. I like the white/red feature. Very easy to use once yourve figuered out the battery install.
Well this week I turn 55. On September 11 of all days. I really didnt think Id make it this far. All I had to do was outlast my animals which the last of them past two years ago November. In the past 20 years Ive gone from being 98 kilo and able leg pressing 300 kilo to weighing 60 kilo and can barely press 55 kilo.
I started by having damaged my back L4-S1 and had two surgeries. Not long after I was told I was terminal and had two years to live. I waited 18 months for my first bilateral lung transplant. This lasted two years before having Bronchitis obliterans and before becoming stabilized went down to 25% lung capacity and spent the next 9 years on an oxygen hose. It was then I was informed that i was going into respiratory failure and had a year to live. I lasted 15 months and the day I went into hospital for the last time they called for a second transplant. 58 days in ICU this time and i came out of there weighing 50 kilo. My normal healthy weight is 85 kilo.
Since then I have severed the left quad tendon. Spent 6 months in a leg brace and another 6 months on heavy pain killers and beer trying to bend the leg, throat cancer, shoulder cancer cut out twice. Tore the tendon on my right bicep and been told I need a new left shoulder.
Thats the high lights of learning how to walk three times and being told Im terminal more times than I can now be bothered counting. Last year I spent 16 days in hospital with covid, loosing 10 kilo of body weight. 75 down to 65 kilo. Then a few months ago at the same time as tearing the bicep I had right heart failure, pneumonia and a sudanomis infection loosing another 6 kilo over a six week hospital stay and 20 days on antibiotics.
It feels like Ive spent the last 10 years perpetually doing rehab in order to have a decent quality of life. Im up at 6am every morning and at the gym by 7am. Either on the bike or doing weights. In the last month Ive had to build up on the stationary bike by doing 2.5minute spits on level 1 to build up to 20 minutes. Then the same on level 2 and so and so. This week I have made it to level 4 on the bike and 5 minute spits to try building up to a full 20 minutes.
I was lifting 8 kilo bicep curls before the last hospital stay. I am now only doing 2 kilo in order to strengthen the tendon tear. Starting over after every major infection is a bitch. It take atleast 3 months to recover my lung capacity each time.
Ive been told Im hard to kill. I think that started after having a 90 litre blood transfusion to get of the operating table. The Aorta being too short. Ive got a 12cm scar in my right groin from where the transfusion swelled up like a big German sausage and they had to cut it out. I was helping the docs pull the foam out from the vacuum drain after they didnt want to give me any more anesthesia. I could have fitted my fist in the hole. Two years of dragging my leg around on endone and beer until it healed.
I started back into martial arts not long after returning home from hospital and was turning up after training and having an endone and two beers to stop the pain while still requiring a walking frame for the first 6 months to build up the strength in my legs. Id missed out on 12 years of my life and was determined not to miss anymore. I trained in 5 martial arts, sometimes four nights a week. only sitting down when I couldn’t breath or the leg pain became too much.
Im still trying to keep up with bushcraft and training but most of the last year has been spent trying to get my leg to work properly and rebuilding lung capacity while finishing off building my van. Im not exactly sure what Im doing at the moment other than trying to keep up a decent level of quality of life to keep traveling and experiencing as much as I can before the lungs once again fail after ten years post transplant. By the afternoon Im exhausted and on pain killers. Still pushing myself though.
A much better way to use a pocket knife to split wood
A great way to identify where a medical kit is stored in your pack
A double/double Sheetbend
