Thanks, guys. I appreciate all the information and the experience with various knives. It's obvious that lots of people besides myself have given considerable thought about what to carry in an emergency.
I'm surprised that so many carry pretty large knives. My somewhat limited experience has been that anything up to about 5 inches at the max is plenty long for everything I want to do and may be somewhat clusmy for cleaning small game like bunnies for the pot.
Thanks, Smith 357 for the suggestion fo a tomahawk. That hadn't occured to me. I think a light axe of some kind, or hatchet, would be very handy around camp. I'd like one with some sort of sheath over the cutting edge, though, so I don't lose a finger getting it out. Buck made one and also T. M. Dowell ($$$$), probably others. And thanks, T-Star, for the suggestion fo a machete; as a teen-ager in Connecticut I worked summers for a surveryor, and we used machetes for cutting lines of sight in the brush. Ours were Collins, made in Collinsville, but probably now made in Guatamala. We used 18 inch blades, but I think the suggestion of a shorter one would be very handy, except perhaps around thorn bushes or poison ivy. I don't know which one would be more useful, a machete or light axe; gotta think about that some more.
I wonder if it would be possible to combine the functions of a camp hatchet and a machete into something like a large bolo knife? Has anyone tried this? Does any maker produce a large bolo? Feedback?
I like the Swiss Army Knife, whith lots of tools on it, however it duplicates the Leatherman already in the bug out bag. I daily pocket a smaller SAK, and find I use the tools more than the blade; the blades seem to be made of soft, malleable steel. And I keep a large SAK in the range bag and another in the bag I take to gun shows. I've used them both. I'd like a couple more; one for the glove compartement of both the car and truck. I don't need the corkscrew; don't think I'll be opening too many wine bottles in an emergency. I'd rather have the Phillips head screwdriver that fits into the same space in the knife.
Thanks, Cougar14 for the suggestion of a sharpening stone. I hadn't thought of that one. I have a Wustoff sharpener in the kitchen but a small, double sided stone would be good to take with me for knives, machetes and axes.
T-Star; great minds run in the same path. When I go out in the desert I usually carry a six inch barreled Ruger Security Six. I keep it sighted in for 100 yards with the Federal 125 gr load, and found it wasn't too difficult to hit a silhouette target at that range, two handed hold. It gets easier with practice. I did the same with a Colt Serias 70 in 45, and a Glock 17, both with adjustable slights, but it was a lot harder with them. Never underestimate the long range capabilities of a handgun, the longer the barrel the better (I haven't tried this yet with an 8 3/8 inch Model 27-2). It gives considerable stand-off cpability and would be an unpleasant surprise to a rifleman who thought he was out of range. Concerning knives, I'll have to take another look at the Fallkniven S-1. It's at about what I consider the maximum length at 5 inches, and I like a little more drop to the point, but I'll look at them again.
I haven't even opened the question of what kind of cleaning equipment I need for my Glock 17 or Colt M4 carbine. The Glock is pretty bullet proof but AR 15 type firearms need more TLC. Maybe I should carry an AK 47 instead; they're a lot more reliable with limited care. Hard to mount a red dot sight on one, though. I wonder if something like the Stevens over-under would be more practical, something like a 30-30 for the upper and 12 gauge full choke for the lower. Could get plenty of small game with the shotgun and medium game with the 30-30, while light cast bullet handloads wold be useful for small game. Again, hard to mount a red dot. Anybody tried one of these for a survival rifle?
