Uninhabited islands, Big knives and Fishing The reason why you should always take a big knife and small knife with you into the wilds Survival with a twist!

Komodo Island* photo by author

Uninhabited islands, Big knives and Fishing

The reason why you should always take a big knife and small knife with you into the wilds

Survival with a twist!

Well I've done my tour of duty on uninhabited islands, or if you like deserted islands in the tropics. Get taken near a deserted island,  swim to shore as the boat can't really land. No water, bring your own, almost no trees save but one very small and half dead thing. The island is surrounded fully by a coral reef, and is too far to swim back to the mainland if you change your mind. Besides that, it's not going to be the sharks that get you but the current, which moves faster and stronger than most superhuman's can swim.

Bring your fishing gear if you want to be able to supply yourself with food because there is nothing else to eat other than fish, fish and more fish (well almost). Bring your matches, cigarette lighters and fire steels. Bring a big knife. 

We didn't have a big knife but a machete/parang. Not a big one but with a blade length of about 12 inches or so. Second hand, bought from a coconut processing plant. We had a carbon fibre, almost indestructible fishing rod with proven Yozuri lures, 20lb line and plenty of it. One pair of fins and two diving masks, plus 20 litres of water. A little water for 2 days maybe, even in the event of the shit hitting the fan, like the boat not coming to pick us up. Good practice for survival skills, don't move around much in the heat.

First thing, start catching food.
Second thing, getting hooked up on the reef. Quick dive out to the snagged lure and retrieval being careful not to get sucked out into the ocean by the current and being extra careful about not getting caught by the hooks. Check what fish are really around- full of big, big fish including lots of Barracuda.

Light fire with drift wood being very careful not to waste it, to cook and preserve a giant Golden Trevally I caught.

No stones on the island to build a fire place but some small chunks of coral and some cassava plants growing, put there by fisherman incase of being stranded on the island due to rough weather. Cut down green cassava stems and use them to build a fire place to cook the fish. Dig up cassava to cook and eat.

Backup knives were Swiss army and a Leatherman. They could do all the necessary stuff we needed plus not corrode up in all the exposure to the water and salt in the air.

Big knife for chopping cassava, which if you are familiar with this plant, you will know that it is very tough indeed.


Get picked up two days later with plenty of water left and so much fish we gave it away to the owner of the boat.


Be prepared! by being prepared BEFORE you set out.

Say if that boat didn't come back? Start rationing the water and catch more food.
NO before this happened, we made sure enough people knew where we were and when to expect us back. Could we swim back to shore? Yep but it might take a long time and we would definitely not arrive where we set off from. Maybe we could take a Swiss army knife with us and dump the rest. Mainland inhabited so really no need to take the Swiss army knife.

Sharks? How about it? Well if you were so knackered from lack of water you wouldn't be able to swim back. Our game plan was to start digging in the middle of this flat coral island (you could we checked it out). At least you could get some drinkable water this way, ever so slightly salty. A big knife can help out here and no one is going to be worried about damaging the blade if need be.

Hey the really really unexpected!

PS sometimes the totally unexpected can take place: Like a small sailing boat comes to the island, two teenagers built like brick shit houses get off. At first, very friendly ( none of us could communicate by words- well almost), then I hear my name called by my friend in a very worrying tone and see that one of these guys has serious intentions towards my traveling companion-need I say more, just let your imagination run wild (Yes a girl- but no whimp). I change my tack of friendly guy, put myself between girl and visitors making known they should leave now and she's with me- (She wasn't but they didn't know this). They think better of it and leave laughing and smiling. Yes they didn't have any weapons but neither did I want to resort to using any. No I wasn't bluffing. it was serious and it came totally out of the blue.


BCT

Thanks to my traveling companion at the time

* the story is real but did not take place on Komodo island but on much much smaller uninhabited island in Indonesia.

How one person can construct a simple realistic Jungle Shelter My humbl...

Shelter Construction in the wilds

As I've said many times, one "BushCampingTool" we can't buy in a store is what knowledge we have in our brain, our most important tool when it comes to survival or even situations which border on being able to survive, whether in the wilds or in the office!

Unlike in the "office",  in the wilds knowing how to construct some sort of shelter could help to save your life or at it's simplest, keep important equipment safe from water etc. Here in this 12 min or so video I present my views on shelter consruction. It is of course NOT a new idea but I try to emphasize what I consider some of the important things one has to consider and or know whilst out and about in the wilds.

Extrema Ratio T4000C Review

A quick Introduction!

Extrema Ratio's T4000C

Extrema Ratio's T4000C follows after the series 3000 of Tanto pointed knives ( the 3000 series is now discontinued- see here). The "T" stands for Tanto and the "C" stands for compact and that's exactly what you have, a compact Tanto style knife, very Japanese-like. The T4000C comes standard with a well made nylon fully Molle compatible

 or can be worn traditionally on a belt, simply by adjusting the Molle strap on the back of the scabbard. The double press studs securing the blade can be reversed simply by disengaging securing Velcro on the scabbard and  reversing this strap.

The T4000C features a blade alloy of N690 martensitic stainless cobalt steel, hardened to 58 HRC. Mil Spec finish in black oxide.

There is a tapering fuller/blood groove below the spine to reduce the overall blade weight. Blade thickness varies from 6.22mm thick tang which extends a distance of approximately 120mm at it's longest axis towards the tip. The actual blade has a maximum thickness of 3.69mm stated as "4mm" on Extrema Ratio's site (which is of course correct). There are 2 lanyard holes and the usual singe fixing bolt which can be removed either by a flat headed object or an allen driver. The handle is their "iconic" design but reduced in scale from their other fixed blade line up. The material is FORPRENE, which put simply is super tough stuff.

The T4000C has been designed and is intended as a combat knife. As such careful engineering aspects of the "blood groove" have been incorporated to avoid sharp corners which could lead to failure. I'll be looking at how well this blade penetrates different material as well.

Now as I said the handle/grip is the same shape as the non-compact fixed blades from ER, it's size has of course been reduced in order to classify this knife as "Compact". That being said, it will easily accommodate a hand size from about 8 to 9. If you have a larger hand than 9, then you may find this knife is a bit small. It really depends on personal choice here. You can't have a truly compact knife with a full sized handle. The handle is, like it's bigger brother, just as comfortable and grippy and why wouldn't it be? It is after all just a cut down version (no pun intended!).
 Small knives enable one to deliver a lot of power as the power transfer will be much more in push cut strokes than an equivalently designed longer blade as the force is going to distributed over a greater length of blade than a compact blade and that means more pressure/stress on the wrist.

The business end!

I measured the cutting length  as close to 100mm as possible. Unlike it it's predecessors in the 3000 series, the T4000C has a much more pointed tip, much better for penetrative cuts and cutting tasks. The main blade has a slight  convex curvature to it. It's a full flat grind and the edge has been hand sharpened like all Extrema Ratio knives. Mine came deadly razor hair cutting sharp out of the box. Speaking of which this knife is also individually serial numbered and comes with identifying manufacturing "lot number" and maintenance instructions.

Anyway, I'm going to test the T4000C out on weekend camping trips as it's weight for me is a huge advantage and compact size makes it ideal for the 2 to 3 day out wilderness trip for some hunting and or fishing.

So stay tuned to BushCampingTools for the video reviews of Extrema Ratio's T4000C!

Fox knives FKMD ERT Rescue Knife Review

Being able to effectively cut ropes and tapes in an emergency situation requires a knife with one handed operation and deadly sharp but effective rope cutting serrations. Just reviewed I believe the FKMD ERT is such a knife. It also sports a Philips head and flat head screw driver along with a glass breaker. Rubberised Fibre reinforced nylon (FRN) scales on 1.5mm thick 420 stainless liners.

Fox Knives Combat Jungle Knife Review

Hi all ok here is the field test and review of FOX KNIVES Combat Jungle knife. Verdict: I think it's a nice knife, comfortable, well balanced, useful blade design for outdoors/camping wilderness usage, XLNT steel alloy choice (well FOX KNIVES and FKMD) make many products from the Austrian N690, that's N Six Nine Zero stainless tool steel. Anyway check it out!

Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S Review of iconic Italian knife

Hee it is at long last my field test and review of the FULCRUM S from Extrema Ratio of Italy

How to Find Water in a Survival Situation

The title says it all. A practical guide to finding water in a dry river bed. This could save your life!

Scarpa Mistral Hiking Boots

Not exactly "tools" but totally necessary in order to use your HardcoreTools for wilderness camping. SCARPA Mistral Boots totally recommend them.

EXTREMA RATIO'S RAOII Hard USE Fat wood

Here is some hard use of EXTREMA RATIO'S RAOII Enjoy

Extrema Ratio's RAOII Field test and Review

OK here is the long awaited field test and review of EXTREMA RATIO's RAOII Enjoy!

 FOX COMBAT JUNGLE REVIEW

The FOX Combat Jungle is a KNIFE that I've had my eye on for a long long time. It's a big knife with a simple slick design made with an excellent  steel BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM's N690 martensitic cobalt stainless alloy. Maybe you might know this steel manufacturer by it's current  name:

Volstalpine Edelstahl GmbH? They are making some very high end knife steel alloys.

FOX knives/FOX Cutlery, FKMD have been making knives from this great corrosion resistant alloy for some years now.

The Fox Combat Jungle's details at a glance:

Teflon coated blade, 3D machined micarta scales;

3D Machined Micarta scales-very grippy but comfortable

 partially machined tang with protruding butt and lanyard hole. 

Generously sized lanyard hole 

This latter aspect helps to keep the balance centered around the position of the good sized finger choil. The spine also sports some excellent thumb and finger gimping.

Excellent thumb and finger gimping

I measured the blade thickness at 6.08mm just below the gimping. The data from FOX states the blade thickness at 5mm, this approximates better the average distance along the spine, excluding the narrowing tip. 

Overall view of the spine which varies from about 6mm to averaging 5
along the top of the blade

The published Rockwell is 58-60 and the warranty is for 1 year only. This somewhat short warranty period appears to rest on if a manufacturers defect appears, it would probably show up within one year of use. I'd prefer to see a lifetime warranty as many people don't use their knives every day for 365 days consecutively. So for example once a week is only 52 times a year representing only a mere 7th if of your one year warranty. That being said my other two FOX knives were and are heavily used for about 65 to 70 days of each year and no defects ever found.

 The grip is exactly the same as the FX132 another great but apparently little known in the USA. I've had the FX132 for several years now and beaten the daylights out of it in the field. Everyone I know who owns one loves it. The Combat Jungle is very comfortable in a swinging motion. So this brings me to the point of the FX133, The FOX JUNGLE. Same comfort, same great steel alloy, deadly sharp out of the box.

It comes with a waist belt mounted carry system, fully adjustable leg loops (I personally hate them and took them off-). Leg loops are good if you have to run with your knife strapped to you but  the Australian bush/jungle can get very dense so more to get caught up on things.

The scabbard has a removable hard plastic insert in which the Combat Jungle can only be inserted one way, ie the preference is for right hand insertion and removal. 

Simple and effective carry system

Removing a small screw at the base of the scabbard ( as seen in the above image at the bottom of the scabbard) enables you to extract the plastic liner for cleaning. There was about 2 ft of accessory cord inserted into riveted holes around the sheath. A bit short for me but you could swap this out for your own paracord etc. The scabbard can also be carried  a low position on the waist by using the extra removable velcro belt loop. There is a fully adjustable velcro closed generous sized pocket on the scabbard too.

I said earlier on I've been eyeing off this knife for a while and the reasoning behind this is that I reckon this is good model of useful design and practicality. Let's see if I'm right or wrong.

Ok enough said so far. This knife if out for field review over the coming months so stay tuned to BushCampingTools for the video review.

Kizlyar Supreme's ZORG Liner lock Flipper Folder Review


The ZORG is an Every Day Carry (EDC) liner lock Flipper type folder from Kizlyar Supreme.  

Anatomy of a Flipper Folder.
A small ball in the liner and a small hole in the blade becomes engaged when the knife is closed. These components do two things. 
a) the action of the liner against the closed blade prevents accidental exposure of the blade whilst it is closed. If the folder is subject to some rapid movement then the blade stays safely where it is meant to be.

b) In order to "Flip" the blade out it is necessary for there to be some resistance against the opposing force of your index finger, that resistance is provided by the tiny ball in the liner and indent in the blade.

Seen again here in this video

 The "Flipper", which by the way is also the guard of the knife.

The blade steel is offered in 2 choices either D2 Tool steel or AUS8 stainless alloy. This model we review here is in D2. 

Kizlyar Supreme are coating their D2 blades with a Titanium ceramic, which greatly increases corrosion resistance and is very hard and slippery to resist scratching.

As expected (from previous tests/reviews we have conducted) the ZORG was well presented in a matt black rigid cardboard box with a magnetic catch lid.

complete with warranty slip, indicating a lifetime warranty, a small packet of silica gel desiccant and some brass washers. More on the brass washers later*!

Out of the box the ZORG was deadly razor sharp with a flat bevel edge.
The main blade has a flat grind and the overall blade geometry is with a chisel, or some to prefer to call it a "Western style Tanto"  tip or simply a Tanto tip blade.

The main edge of the blade is ever so slightly curved (in a convex direction), making for a good cutting geometry.

*The washers are PTFE, that's Teflon! Basically self lubricating and as long as the pivot is kept clean there should be no need to place any lubricant on this folder. If however one substitutes the PTFE washers for the included brass ones, then you should apply a very small amount of lubrication.

Handle scales are machined from G10, a tough epoxy composite of proven industrial strength, utilized in many many industrial applications and of course in good quality knives where high mechanical strength needs to be achieved at the same time reducing the overall weight of the end product.

The blade of the ZORG can be opened by either using the thumb studs (which are ambidextrous) or the flipper/guard, or a combination of both.
The thumb studs play a dual role as they also function as the blade stop, coming to rest against the liners of this knife.

Blade centering as you can see below was right on.

Blade lock up on the ZORG was perfect first go, with the liner moving immediately to the designated position on the tang with a reaffirming sound of engagement.

The lock up was the same even if one opened the knife slowly. Now this latter point I have to say is something to take note of. Why? Well there are many liner locks that if one opens them slowly, the liner will not engage properly but instead must be actually flicked open with some force in order to get that liner to engage properly. Or worse still you must nudge the liner over to it's correct  position. SORRY, not acceptable on a liner lock- or frame lock for that matter, no matter what the manufacturer is telling you. To be honest I don't want to have to scrutinize the liner every time I open a knife to see if it is engaged properly so I don't loose any digits!

A sign of excellent quality control and precise and accurate machining is when the liner engages first go. None of this "well it has to wear in a bit" thing. Not true. Don't believe the hype. Both the butt end of the tang and the engagement surface of the liner have opposing bevels too.

The flipper also acts of course as a finger guard.

All the parts that were visible to me were coated with the Ti ceramic, except of course the scale screws.

I measured the blade thickness at 3.1 mm.

Overall weight was 141 gms or about 5 Oz's

Total open length is 200 MM or 8 inches

There is a belt clip.

There is an indent stop when closing the blade as a safety feature? to prevent the blade from simply closing too quickly???
and requires a very small amount of pressure to overcome this. Finally the blade is actively held within the handle by a retaining mechanism. This latter feature prevents accidental exposure of the blade should the ZORG encounter any rapid movements with the blade folded. This is something very nice and reassuring in it's design.
There is also a lanyard hole to prevent the ZORG from being accidentally dropped when working at height or over water etc.


The liners are pretty standard  at 1.5mm thick, that's 0.06 of an inch.

First impressions: excellent build/construction; very comfortable; easily opened; razor sharp; perfect lock up overtime (slow or fast opening); perfect EDC.(belt clip cannot be changed, not necessary though.
I left the teflon washers in, let's see how they hold up in the upcoming field testing over the next two months, I'll have it EDC, if there's a problem I'll put in the brass ones that it came supplied with. So stay tuned to BushCampingTools!

EXTREMA RATIO Dobermann IV Tactical Version (Black blade Molle Carry System) Review

Extrema Ratio Dobermann IV

When you pick up the Dobermann IV you know it is the evolution of some serious R and D (actually it is! with the University of Florence and Perugia University) to deliver a large practical field blade. You simply can not help but like this big general purpose field  knife. The comfort of the ergonomic handle, the well-balanced blade geometry, with it’s ever so slight recurve shape on the cutting edge begs to be used establishing camp (hanging game up etc)  for medium to large game hunters in remote (without vehicle) and wilderness campers for some serious adventure.
The blades are serial numbered 

which enables EXTREMA RATIO to trace each knife should in the unlikely event a manufacturing problem should occur. This to me says the company is serious about making excellent products. Let's have a closer look:

Spine profile

The spine is a good 6mm thick, with swedge but the spine thickness is still the full width almost to the tip.  No need to say it was deadly razor sharp out of the box, of course it was EXTREMA RATIO are serious. The feel and balance as I've said was fantastic and this is from that ergonomic handle. The handle provides an amazing grip. A cutaway area of the handle serves as a thumb/finger rest. On a large knife it's not really necessary for this area to feature gimping and in this knife you are not going to be slipping with your grip. Just to reiterate, the handle is FORPRENE with a shore hardness of approximately 80 to 90, soft enough for good comfort but hard enough for good mechanical durability. See my previous posts about FORPRENE'S specifications.

Thumb rest

The semi rigid scabbard is great too, with a 6 year warranty! It's totally fully Molle compatible and the stitching and construction was of very high quality, nothing flimsy here. The carry system includes a well designed fully adjustable leg strap. (not shown here only because I took it off!) I'll review it properly in the upcoming videos!

EXTREMA RATIO DOBERMANN IV Carry system

The safety press stud strap is reinforced with a strip of hard rigid plastic. I liked this idea but it is also a necessary one as when one removes the Dobermann IV 

Reinforced retaining strap

unless you position this strap out of the way, the blade will tend to rub against the strap. This is ok as it won't cut it but it's easy enough to get used to moving with one hand the strap out of the way as you remove the knife. The Dobermann IV comes with a spare knife retaining strap.

Specifications at a glance:
Knife + scabbard (excluding leg strap) 542 gm
Knife alone 351 gm
blade length as measured from hilt 180 mm
Actual cutting edge length approx. 175 mm, so it's close enough to the actual blade length.

Verdict: actually been using this knife for a while now, forgot to post this LOL so many things happening! Love this knife.

Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S Review continued!

Here are some good grip positions that can be achieved
Ok here are some more details about the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S. I like this military knife for use in the wilds. Here's just anther reason why.

Holding the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S in this way gives good control should
the knife be used to slit into the vent of fish in order to gut them.

Holding the knife like this you can utilize the upper guard as a good grip position with your index finger. Now with your middle finger you can take advantage of the handle gimping! Also resting your thumb against the lower guard increases your control of the blade in this way.

Why would you want to do this? This is the way to easily penetrate the vent of fish in order to gut them. If you plan on taking this knife into the wilds, there is a good chance you will be looking for and catching your own food such as fish.


Stay tuned!

Extrema Ratio RAO II Reviews continued

A complete System for this big Folder.


One thing I wanted to say about the RAOII is that it is sold as a complete system. That is it comes with a fully Molle compatible multipurpose scabbard. 

Reverse side of the RAOII scabbard 

The scabbard includes Extrema Ratio's diamond plate sharpener, which is essentially some diamond material on a waterproof self adhesive strip stuck to a black anodized aluminum plate.

For people that know nothing about sharpening knives, there is even a basic sharpening guide on the back of this plate.

As you have already seen the RAOII can be carried as a "fixed blade" with the safety pin fully screwed in. In this way the knife can be removed fast if necessary. 
Otherwise the RAOII as a folder if kept in the supplied pouch, which by the way did I say is very well made (quality materials, stitching evenness, thread thickness and overall sturdiness).

Detail of scabbard

Detail of stitching 

Side view of scabbard note where my fingers are is compartment for
fixed blade carry-

Note in the above image where my fingers are, this is material (the black material stitched between the front and back of the fixed carry position) whilst fairly rigid is non damaging to the blade edge. The construction here is similar to that of the ONTOS and Dobermann IV scabbards.

Here is the end view showing the large drain holes

Stitching  detail

Extrema Ratio RAOII Review continued...

Ok so now I've had the Extrema Ratio RAOII for over a week now and getting to really know it. I have to say I really like this knife and it is of course an evolution of the existing RAO models and evolution is what Extrema Ratio is about, evolving existing models rather than trying to totally re-invent the wheel.

Here's what I think so far.
This region (two images below)

End view showing well lubricated surface end of tang and roller bar
 locking mechanism from the Extrema Ratio RAOII

Side view of Extrema Ratio RAOII showing protruding knife tang

show the end view and the side view of both the roller lock (kind of axis lock if you think the axis is now perpendicular to the blade axis) could be designed slightly differently. 

Why do I say could be designed slightly differently??

Ok so those that carry folders, no matter what make or model, will be aware that all of those moving parts are required to be nice and clean and well lubricated in order for the folder to work properly. I mean look what happens if you let your Swiss Army knife (generic, please don't comment that there is no such thing etc) get clogged up with grime. Yep , you have trouble opening and closing it.

So this brings me to the point of the RAOII, it too, like any folder can be subject to this but in a slightly different way. Any sand or small grit or small stones etc that find their way into the roller region (where you can just see that small spring), is going to interfere with the workings of the locking mechanism.

Roller lock (Axis type lock mechanism (Torx head and spring area)

For the RAOII to work properly and smoothly it is necessary for both surfaces of the protruding tang and that of the roller to be smooth and remain undamaged. Having the tang protrude past the grip seems to place it in a position now to get a damaged surface should the knife be accidentally dropped onto this end. Something which is not impossible during normal use. Having the 6082 handle scales protrude just past the exposed tang would help to:

 A) Protect this region against physical damage, should the knife be dropped against a stone or other hard abrasive surface.

B) Adding more material   (by removing less material during machining) might possibly serve to increase the overall strength of this already beefy folder. We are talking about a very small weight increase by doing this, something which would be negligible for a already weighty (but not heavy) folder.

C) With the tang exposed like it is, I'm going to get oil on my fingers and or clothing every time I grab for this knife and maybe when I'm putting it into my pocket instead of the sheath. (this can be more convenient sometimes).
Also these two actions only serve to remove lubricants from this area and that's not what you want to do as you steel in contact with steel.

By the way I'm using high quality Mountain biking oil for lubrication, (the stuff you put on your chain) doesn't attract dirt and mud, designed for high surface pressure use, works like a dream too.

D) Less likely to get rubbish into this region. The caveat being maybe more difficult to remove rubbish from this region? But I don't think so.

Also I'd like to remove the knife from the lanyard end but this is not possible as the sheath is asymmetric when carrying the RAOII in the folded position. Why do I want to do this? Well if I have a small lanyard loop I can remove the folded knife quickly and more securely as I'm less likely to drop it if I have a finger or two through a lanyard loop.

If you carry a folder and know your knives then basic maintenance comes as routinely as carrying a knife.

Ok here is an update 19/6/2015

After two weeks of solid use of the RAOII there was the ever so minutest play in a sideways motion. Absolutely nothing in terms of movement but I'm fanatical about this, especially in such a heavy duty folder. I carefully removed the small locking screw (it's held in by some sort of thread locker) and adjusted the main pivot so there was ZERO play in the blade, then applied a very small amount of LOCTITE 243 medium strength thread locker material. If you decide to do this sort of maintenance DO NOT use Loctite 2701, otherwise you will never be able to adjust things again. 243 is perfect for Aluminium and stainless steel coated ( as in this case via the anodizing ) or uncoated, it resists some organic oils etc as well if the threads are slightly contaminated, which could happen if you are a bit clumsy applying lube to your main pivot.