I believe this is where I screwed up when going through my blades to sell and picked up my Mora Garberg along side of each of these.
Top to bottom an LT Wright Shemanese, LT Wright Sospes, Quickhatch Bushman, Spyderco Bushcraft, ESSE RB3, ESSE CR2.5 that I made into a neck knife.
The Caldwell 1 in 6. A 6 inch blade with palm swell, micarta grip, no choil ,made in 1/4 inch CPM154 steel. I fitted my ESSE 6 Broom handle version over the top of this and the blade shape was almost the same. However the design captured both the ESSE 5 thickness with the ESSE 6 length making for the perfect combination. With the full height grind it actually feels lighter than the ESSE 5 and Becker BK2, even with the extra inch of steel at the tip. I usually recommend ESSE knives to people and had to put this one up to show what an ESSE with a 1/4 inch spine in a 6 inch blade would look like with 3D grips. I believe there were under 200 Caldwells made in this model.
This is something Ive been searching for a long time. A smaller mattock with a removable handle for storing with my recovery gear. Add an axe head for an all round multi digging and chopping tool.
Its amazing what you come across when going through your knife lock box. I hadn’t gotten around to testing my CRKT Persevere adze/axe. On my to do list this week.
“The CRKT Persevere is a survival axe head designed to be a 5-in-1 survival tool. Simply lash it to a stick and the Persevere becomes a splitting wedge, knife, axe, chisel or adze. It travels flat and light for comfortable and convenient belt carry. “
On dis-mornings bike ride, it suddenly felt very quite. Which was out of the ordinary for that particular area. Bird life was usually every where. I started looking around for the source, feeling very out of place at the moment in time. There on a tree about 30 meters in front of me was a hawk. I stopped to take a few quick pictures and was going to stop and take more on the way back through instead of taking my normal route and try and measure the length of the cone of silence that all the other birds presented with knowing a raptor was in the immediate vicinity. I named him Maxwell Smart. Max wasn’t there on the return, however there were moments of intense quietness through the pathway where he must have been circling overhead. I hadn’t seen a raptor in over 12 months.
I keep meaning to purchase a copy of The Peregrine by J A Baker.
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-beauty-of-j-a-bakers-the-peregrine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._A._Baker
Max is my first Letter Winged Kite I think? Black shouldered kites are more common in this area.
http://birdswa.com.au/CEC/Handouts/Australian%20Raptor%20Identification.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter-winged_kite
I was asked to do close ups of the contents and what I kept in my char tin. Short story long! Char Cloth of course 🙂 🙂
I’m getting into the use of extenders. Tinder wicks and candles. If your in the middle of the bush for an extended period with only one Bic Lighter, Id rather save the fuel and use either a candle or a tinder wick when trying to ignite damp material. Rather than use up all the fuel in a tool with a limited life span then to rely solely on primitive means of ignition. The same goes for the frensel lense. On a clear hot day its very easy to use when incorporating charcloth and jute twine.
https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Uberleben-Tindar-Wick-and-Bellow-TIRP
https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Baddest-Bee-Fire-Fuses-3-Pack
This is the first time Ive had all the pruning saws in one place at the same time to compare.
I was chatting to Al Ainsworth about the saws I was selling and he mentioned that he found the Outback cut much better than the other saws and this was the first time Ive had all of them together. I had given away the silky pocket boy 130mm to a mate but asked for it back to specifically do this test.
I had purchased the silky 130mm for an edc but never had a use for it and found after cutting next to the other the width of the cut is much thinner. The opinel which I’m selling is nice to use however I need a multi-tool every time I want to open the blade.
Cutting between the Silky outback and the Laplander. Horses for courses. If I was cutting a branch from higher up the pull stroke of the silky and if cutting lower down the Laplander push stroke as I used to a carpenter saw. Ill keep both and keep swapping them around through my kit.
They’ve both ended up in my lock box because the only time I use either one is on a training course. The first saw I grab to cut timber for firewood is a Boreal.
I was watching the Grey Bearded Green Beret and on several of his you-tube clips he mentions preferring a longer ferro rod I think it was on his winter gear dump video. I thought Id give it a go, with the damage in my hands and found it much easier. On one course they taught to tie a piece of paracord to the ferro rod and attach it to your belt. I found it became tangled all the time. So my version was to do a reverse wrap which didn’t tangle but still filled up the pocket. I think Id only use this on certain courses where your always making fires and under a time limit for testing not for real world applications. I also tried wrapping the grip end with Gorilla tape for an emergency fire starter and ended up going with the same paracord wrap I used earlier for the tungsten strikers. in a bright color so I couldn’t loose it if dropped.
https://www.youtube.com/@GrayBeardedGreenBeret
Ive been trying to sort out my belt pouch and remove all the unnecessary gear and have a fire making kit only bag. A more streamlined and lighter version.
https://badgerclawoutfitters.com/shop/ols/products/possibles-belt-pouch
Recently I stopped carrying items either on my belt, because of the sports seats in my Raptor the items would dig into my side. Or in my pockets due to the bulk and weight. My pants kept falling down. I was determined that anything I had in storage that I couldn’t incorporate into my system of carry for all my packs would be either sold or given away. So I started using my Versipack more and it became a habit to grab it every time I went out and I only carry the minimal of gear in it to keep down weight and what I have found I use all the time.
Maxpedition Gear Octa Versipack
Torch
Bic Lighter
Gerber Multi tool
Spare Reading Glasses
Torniquet – RATS
Wallet – Maxpedition Gear Spartan
Phone
Spare charging cable
Tactical Pen
Knife Benchmade SOCP “There may be cake and for special meat cutting tasks” Coch
Spare Handcuff key
Pry bar
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