Knife/Axe Selection

alanmcqueen

Surprised there is not much mention - or a sticky - on knives and/or axes yet. Anyhoo, I got one of these a while ago and can't say enough good about it:

http://www.coldsteel.com/spshovel.html

I have a lot of 'fancy-pants' knives but I reach for this now every time; no frills just useful, very very useful.

Cold steel make great products, reasonably priced even though their videos are a little bit mad.

Tabnabs

A "Special Forces Shovel"? Seriously??

If you want a good knife, the Mora is probably the best knife for its price. You'd buy ten for the price of a Fallkniven F1.

alanmcqueen

Tabnabs wrote: »

A "Special Forces Shovel"? Seriously??

Ahem, don't mind the name of it - it's trading on the Spetznaz throwing thing etc - just focus on the practicality and ck out its reviews.

If you want a good knife, the Mora is probably the best knife for its price. You'd buy ten for the price of a Fallkniven F1.

The Mora is very good - and cheap to replace. A good purchase as long as you something to chop and hack with too. Like a cold steel shovel for example.

Tabnabs

Surely for chopping, trimming and even hacking, something from the Gransfors Bruks catalogue wood be eminently suitable.

(you'll have to convince me to use a shovel for anything other than digging )

skippey

Gransfors bruks axes all the way for the heavy and not so heavy stuff
Quality tools

Mahatma coat

Steer Clear of those fancyschmancy modern style Axe/Hatchet handles made of plastic, and definitley avoid anything with a 'moulded' grip unless you fork out Serious wedge for it

nice smoothe timber handle, ash is nice, or SpottedGum if you can get yer paws on it

Grizzly 45

@alanmcqueen
Second you on the cold steel products.They are really good products for their money.My at the moment fav hunting/survival knife is the CS Bushman.Ugly as Hell ,but one of the best made survival knives made out of one piece of steel for 40 euros.[The next best is a Chris Reeve one piece hollow handle survival knife made out of tool steel,and expect to pay about 600 euros for one if you can find one.]
I have a bunch of fancy combat /survival knives from various makers which have been less than sucessful and a couple have been epic failures.
The Bushman is one I'd stake my life on.;)
As for the Spetnatz shovel.Suggest you read the book Spetnatz by Viktor Survov.He was a former Spetnatzi
[Have met one or two in my life,and one showed me how to throw a saftey razor blade and make it stick!!!]
It explains alot of the philisophy of the humble shovel as a piece of major equipment in the Russian army and why.

Russian military doctrine is .If you have stopped advancing ,start digging yourself a foxhole which connects to your mates,to the section to the platoon,etc etc.IOW if you are here and there is a chance of a counterattack ,you might as well have some defence to hold it off.
It can serve various purposes apart from digging,chopping,cutting,use as a frying pan,pry bar,throwing weapon[has massive weight behind it for its size] leathl in close range hand to hand combat,in the right hands which is easier to teach than knife fighting.As it is a single bit construction[unlike our crappy Western tri folding shovels:(].
It actually works as a shovel too.

The Gansfors axes are lovely bit of kit.I have a wood splitting maul and the hunters axe.The axe is great for splitting deer ribcages or pelvic bones,but itsone you cant really carry comfortably on the belt.Itis more a pack axe,but a definate part of my butchering kit.Well worth their price tags,and you only appreciate a good splitting maul once you have a pile of broken axe handles for kindling from Co OP type el cheapo mauls.:(

Grizzly 45

Gotta love the Wild West movie music soundtrack.
Or the Chinese carjack,getting attacked by a spear weilding car jacker is a new one:p:p
Great concept and design.IF they have made it out of proper tool steel and not just of any old soft steel that was available on the cheap.:(

alanmcqueen

@Grizzly45. Yep, with you on all that. It was reading about the Russian use of the shovel that put me onto the CS one. The Russians were so far ahead in terms of the field use of kit. They had wire cutters on bayonets in the fifties; the West got them in the eighties and thought they were revolutionary.

I think the CS shovel, built of years of Russian practicality with the benefit of western engineering, is a truly useful survival tool.

Have the CS Bushman w/Bowie blade, can't fault it. An excellent piece of minimalist engineering.

ajhalpin

I have a Frosts Mora (the carbon steel one) and I have to say it is a great knife for the money. I have used it for everything, from batoning, to butchering last years christmas turkey. It does tend to oxidise a bit but a bit of oil on the blade keeps it clean. It was shaving sharp when I bought it and still is. If I could afford it right now I would buy a Gerber LMF II.

As for an axe I bought one from Lidl for a fiver 4 years ago and it has an amazingly sharp edge. My mate bought a stanley hand axe from B&Q for about €30 and it wasnt half as good as the Lidl axe. Go figure.

slowburner

bedlam wrote: »

You can't beat a good shovel :P

You can. A good spade

eth0

Is it illegal to carry a swiss army knife or another kind of knife in Ireland?

Tabnabs

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1990/en/act/pub/0012/print.html#sec9

It's all here in black and white.

Grizzly 45

And wholly open to interpertation or misinterpertation from either side of the law.
Good reason being the massive stumbling block.

fodda

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

And wholly open to interpertation or misinterpertation from either side of the law.
Good reason being the massive stumbling block.

What does that mean Grizzly?

Grizzly 45

Knife opening technology has moved on abit since then,so it doesnt take into account of certain designs that while looking like they have those features ,from a technological perspective certainly dont .But try and explain the difference to a garda or a DC is going to be intresting.

Logically good reason should be you have the knife for a purpose on you while going to and from a place you intend to use it.[IE gutting knife going deer hunting,survival knife while out "surviving" in the wilds of Ireland:pac:]
Having it obviously down in the night club of the Gurriers Arms bar,and having an arguement with the local chav is asking for trouble..Logically.

However logic,is somtimes very unlogical.Most people have some sort of a blade on them,or somthing that could be construed as an offensive weapon in day to day life.Your Swiss army knife is as such a tool,and not a knife per se,as it has multi functions apart from a cutting blade,and unless it is a hunting model,a pretty small one at that.Hardly somthing you are going to use in a pub brawl on a Sat night.But you can be done because it is a "potentially" deadly weapon.Not is,but potentially.
So IOW a Garda can decide that literally anything you have on you is a potentially deadly weapon irrespective of the circumstances you find yourself in.Be it your Swiss army knife that you use to cut your lunchtime sanger with or the survival knife you use out in thewilds of nowhere
Fortunatly 99.9% of AGS use their common sense about things out in the country,but its the city where it could get sticky.

Had this nonsense in Heathrow,where some over zealous 5quid an hour rent a copperette,decided my Key Chain was a potentially deadly hijack weapon,because it had three chain links on it!!:mad: While not a blade,and in the UK,it just goes to show that if somone in authorithy wants to be a cnut about somthing they can be.

eth0

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Had this nonsense in Heathrow,where some over zealous 5quid an hour rent a copperette,decided my Key Chain was a potentially deadly hijack weapon,because it had three chain links on it!!:mad: While not a blade,and in the UK,it just goes to show that if somone in authorithy wants to be a cnut about somthing they can be.

Those shaggers can be a complete torment and no accountability with them either, try and get the better of one of them and you'll miss your flight or worse, be locked up as a potential terrorist without court or being charged for anything.

in the UK they can be even more annoying about knives and things with all the stuff yobs would be getting up to.

Last week I found a perfectly good steak knife on the street and although I put it in my pocket before going in the Manager of the Dunnes came out after me over it, he wasn't bad over it or anything but some busybody must have gone in and told him I had it in my pocket. just shows how paranoid some people get over fecking knives and the same people probably use them every day of the week

Grizzly 45

Generally I avoid the UK both airports and country like the plauge!!
I lived there back in the 1980s when it was actually still fun to do so and had a great survivalist and shooting movement that wasnt afraid to do and discuss things of the more esteroic subjects!:D.Had some great magazines too on the subject.
Thanks to various muppetts abusing such and a paranoid PC Labour dictatorship.The country is now a ruined, Chav and foul mouthed slag infested police state!
Can see this place going this way soon too..:rolleyes::(

in the UK they can be even more annoying about knives and things with all the stuff yobs would be getting up to.

Dont forget the Chav that knifes you has more "rights" than you will ever have,and its your fault anyway for getting knifed no doubt.:rolleyes:

eth0

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Generally I avoid the UK both airports and country like the plauge!!
I lived there back in the 1980s when it was actually still fun to do so and had a great survivalist and shooting movement that wasnt afraid to do and discuss things of the more esteroic subjects!:D.Had some great magazines too on the subject.
Thanks to various muppetts abusing such and a paranoid PC Labour dictatorship.The country is now a ruined, Chav and foul mouthed slag infested police state!
Can see this place going this way soon too..:rolleyes::(




Dont forget the Chav that knifes you has more "rights" than you will ever have,and its your fault anyway for getting knifed no doubt.:rolleyes:

tell me about it lad I could fill the page with why I loathe the place. Fecking cameras everywhere. I thought as time goes on things are supposed to get better but it turns out that not being allowed to do things in general is an essential part of modern life.

And tis not just the government over there, in the more populated places people look at me with suspicion just because I'm a man of a certain age.

One thign stopping it from getting as bad over here is they wouldn't have the money to enforce such a police state.

Is there any party in this country with a kind of 'live and let live' attitude and respects things like shooting, driving fast cars and so on as legitimate hobbies that shouldn't be further restricted?

slowburner

eth0 wrote: »

tell me about it lad I could fill the page with why I loathe the place. Fecking cameras everywhere. I thought as time goes on things are supposed to get better but it turns out that not being allowed to do things in general is an essential part of modern life.

And tis not just the government over there, in the more populated places people look at me with suspicion just because I'm a man of a certain age.

One thign stopping it from getting as bad over here is they wouldn't have the money to enforce such a police state.

Is there any party in this country with a kind of 'live and let live' attitude and respects things like shooting, driving fast cars and so on as legitimate hobbies that shouldn't be further restricted?

Well, the demise of the Greens might help those of us with an interest in field sports.
Not too sure what driving fast cars has to with survivalism though.

eth0

slowburner wrote: »

Well, the demise of the Greens might help those of us with an interest in field sports.
Not too sure what driving fast cars has to with survivalism though.

If there's something chasin after ya

The demise of the greens is good news for anyone who doesn't want to have all their stuff taken away and be thrown into a tiny shoebox apartment with a single CFL bulb and live in a general state of oppression where you're not allowed to do anything at all

There are loads of hobbies I'd love to get into that are gradually being oppressed by the government

Motorbiking
Wild camping
Quad biking
DIY house maintainence (far-reaching building regs that are supposed to be good for us, demanding qualified installers for everything, certification, blah)

Then there's the stuff thats only one high profile accident away from regulatory hell
Boating
Paragliding
Hangliding

I'd love to stay in this country but if the govt here starts making things much worse I'll have to leave for the sake of my own sanity. Being cooked up inside not being allowed anything and having to fear getting in trouble with the law every day of the week is no way to live a life

Grizzly 45

Is there any party in this country with a kind of 'live and let live' attitude and respects things like shooting, driving fast cars and so on as legitimate hobbies that shouldn't be further restricted?


Donegal is apprently a good place if you like the speed merchants on bikes or cars.Nice straight roads in parts,and when they wreck up there they wreck good!Lot of open countryside ,with severe weather conditions.A handy civillised country next door for the pistol shooting and reloading apprently:D.Not to mind being refused a local election for 18 months last year a pretty hostile attitude to things from Dublinas it has done sweet FA for its ecnomy of fishing in Killybegs.Great scuba diving too as well apprently.Havent had a chance to try it yet up there.

The Kingdom has IMO a good live and let live attitude to folks who want to do their own thing.Lots of folks with alt lifestyles up in the mountains,and apprently one survival school run by an ex US green beret.

Clare,along the lough Derg side has some very intresting chacters tucked away in various little bays and mountain cottages or big lakeside manors.Not to mind an eclectic collection of Germans and Dutch who have virtually colonised the Whitegate area.:eek: Bar the most anti gun cheif super in Ennis,its not too bad a place,avoiding Ennis if you can,it is becoming as dangerous as Limerick,which is quite peaceful albiet derelict these days.
Galway,a great city along with Tralee for the craic and different life outlook,proably because they are university cities???
TBH come west of the Shannon to Connaught and it is pretty tolerable and a live and let live attitude prevails.Plenty of open space seeing that everyone has buggerd off and left their holiday homes in the recession all alone.Not much in work,but then again where is there in Ireland??:rolleyes:

Now if we could just sede from the bit to the east of us using the Shannon as a barrier,we'd be grand.As we would have Rossport and the gas and the Shannon for the water.We could charge "Dubland" for both.:cool::D

eth0

I live in Donegal but unfortunately in something like what the Green party would have me living in permanently if they had the choice. Don't think I've been here long enough or will even be here long enough to get a gun license.

What i'm wondering though is who to vote for if I don't want any of the stuff I'm interested in being outlawed or made difficult

Grizzly 45

eth0 wrote: »

I live in Donegal but unfortunately in something like what the Green party would have me living in permanently if they had the choice.

What..a Tepee or a Wigwam???:D:D:D

Don't think I've been here long enough or will even be here long enough to get a gun license.

There is no min residency time here in the ROI to apply for a FAC.
Just good reason to want a particular type of gun.

What i'm wondering though is who to vote for if I don't want any of the stuff I'm interested in being outlawed or made difficult

Always a toughie..As your local canditate might be totaly anal on somthing you love to bits.Yet his party might be at best ambivlient on the matter at worst have no policy on it.Or vice versa.Politics in Ireland is about personality and not much about agendas,witness our presidential race.A bunch of no hopers ,trying for a figurehead job on the only reason is the paycheck,that we all will pick up.:mad:

eth0

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

What..a Tepee or a Wigwam???:D:D:D

no a shoebox. a wigwam would be outlawed by the greens cause there wouldn't be enough jobs for qualified installers to do on such simple structures but you'd probably have to pay someone a few grand to commission it after building and mere lay folk wouldn't be allowed near a saw

I have always found the greens very anti-self sufficiency and almost forcing the modern consumerist lifestyle upon people. They were more a thing for urban folks to vote for in order to clear their concious while they continue running around buying sh/te they don't need and wasting energy

kildare.17hmr

You can apply for a licence lad, if you can vote ya defo can apply for a FAC!

When i come home from work(i wear a suit:() i usually get into my snickers:D, And in goes my LED lenser p7 and my Opinal No7 knife, i use it all the time even when im not out huntin, used it 3 r 4 times this evening. i have it from the moment i come home from work till i go to bed. wouldnt be anywhere without my knife unless im out with the family or shopping or that obviously

Ahnenerbe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UhjcYR5_DA

Hi all.
here are a few lessons on the use of "small infantry spade." The use of Special Forces shovel is a fiction Hollywood. To do this, there are personal weapons in the most exceptional cases, use a knife bayonet AK. But in the infantry units shovel be applicable very widely, and not traditional.
To survive, it is very comfortable and we need, but not special forces.

alanmcqueen

Ahnenerbe wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UhjcYR5_DA

Hi all.
here are a few lessons on the use of "small infantry spade." The use of Special Forces shovel is a fiction Hollywood. To do this, there are personal weapons in the most exceptional cases, use a knife bayonet AK. But in the infantry units shovel be applicable very widely, and not traditional.
To survive, it is very comfortable and we need, but not special forces.

No way?!! You mean this is a lie:

http://demotivational.blogspot.com/2008/02/spetsnaz.html

My trusty Cold Steel Chuck Norris shovel laughs at the knife laws!:)

Red Neck Hughie

Have ye had any bother with customs on importing knives?. I've seen some good looking products from the states for $20 that'd cost a days wages here.

Grizzly 45

Ahnenerbe wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UhjcYR5_DA

Hi all.
here are a few lessons on the use of "small infantry spade." The use of Special Forces shovel is a fiction Hollywood. To do this, there are personal weapons in the most exceptional cases, use a knife bayonet AK. But in the infantry units shovel be applicable very widely, and not traditional.
To survive, it is very comfortable and we need, but not special forces.

AHEM!!
I'd check out Viktor Survov's book Spetznatz.The entire first chapter is devoted to the Russian Spetznatz troopers use of the spade as a weapon.
If you can get from Paladin Press [one of the Meccas for survivalist litature] books KGB Alpha team training manual[more or less the same in the CTU role] There is an entire chapter devoted to various item throwing that are not knives.Everything from a razor blade to a spade and tent peg.I was shown how to do the razor blade trick years ago by an ex Spetznatz trooper,while gimmicky and showy,it isnt somthing you would expect to be chucked at you most of the time.
BTW great video!

Ahnenerbe

you welcome. Do not believe Suvorov he betrayed us, and betray you. (joke);)

http://www.arms-expo.ru/049051052054124052055050053.html

That's what really is a weapon of Specnaz . Automatic Pistol Stechkin . Rake, shovel, bucket is all arms of Jackie Chan Specnaz :rolleyes:

Grizzly 45

Stechkin.9mm.Prefer the Cezh Skorpion myself..:D
How do you mean Survorov betrayed you?? The Russian army or is he what we call over here a "Walt?" [as in Walter Mitty chacter]

OneGoalNoSoul

Red Neck Hughie wrote: »

Have ye had any bother with customs on importing knives?. I've seen some good looking products from the states for $20 that'd cost a days wages here.

Agreed an important question, I'm intrested in an ESEE Izula however Im not intrested in spending 60e for customs to cremate it on my behalf. Has anyone ordered one of these in the past and if so have they had any problems? Theres a link below, does anyone know of a homegrown retailer?

http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/esee-izula-survival-knife---rat-cutlery-4155-p.asp

jugger

onegoalnosoul

i got this in the post from heinnie hayes today i ordered it last thursday and had no problems at all
http://www.heinnie.com/Knives/Böker-Plus-Knives/Folders/Boker-Plus-Knives-Warcom/p-92-298-972-683/

they also carry the ESEE izula but with shipping your looking at 70 euro !!!
http://www.heinnie.com/Knives/ESEE-Knives/RAT-Cutlery-Izula/p-92-421-3646/

Doc Ruby

OneGoalNoSoul wrote: »

Agreed an important question, I'm intrested in an ESEE Izula however Im not intrested in spending 60e for customs to cremate it on my behalf. Has anyone ordered one of these in the past and if so have they had any problems? Theres a link below, does anyone know of a homegrown retailer?

I've had no difficulties with getting bushcrafting stuff like knives in the post.

Deise Musashi

This is my ESEE Izula, no bother importing from Heinnie Haynes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxbls47BjxM

and another knife I got lately... :rolleyes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2rawM0m9zw

Don't be acting the fool and no-one will care what knives you own, as long as they are not prohibited in this country.

waterfordham

Howdy,

I've been lurking in this section for a while (learning loads), and I've a question (actually more than one) that I'm sure one of you will dispatch with ease. I'm looking for proper instructions on how to sharpen knives/penknives (and maybe even recommended methods or tools for it). The same goes for axes. Father-in-law gave me an axe and a hand-axe there recently and they both need a bit of work.

Thanks
Waterfordham

krissovo

waterfordham wrote: »

Howdy,

I've been lurking in this section for a while (learning loads), and I've a question (actually more than one) that I'm sure one of you will dispatch with ease. I'm looking for proper instructions on how to sharpen knives/penknives (and maybe even recommended methods or tools for it). The same goes for axes. Father-in-law gave me an axe and a hand-axe there recently and they both need a bit of work.

Thanks
Waterfordham

You need to identify the grind of the knife for the best techniques. An axe for example would normally have a convex grind and most knifes would be a flat or a hollow grind.

Nice link here to identify: http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifeedgetypes.shtml

Personally I start with a course stone and a drop of 3 in 1 oil. I then angle the blade about 15deg and sweep away from me with a slight left to right action. I then turn the stone over with a fine grind and follow the same technique.

I also use a cheap aldi knife sharpener on my cheaper blades;)

Deise Musashi

For sharpening knives and penknives I wrote a thread in the Hunting forum that may help.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056296016

Axes are usually convex as Krissovo says, a round Puck type stone or cheapy diamond plates from the hardware/Aldi will do the job. Axe doesn't need to be super sharp, more the head profile depending on if you want a splitting axe or for limbing trees etc.

This is a good way to do axes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LrkC3aS3gA

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIZBwT-VDBY

waterfordham

Deise Musashi wrote: »

For sharpening knives and penknives I wrote a thread in the Hunting forum that may help.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056296016

Axes are usually convex as Krissovo says, a round Puck type stone or cheapy diamond plates from the hardware/Aldi will do the job. Axe doesn't need to be super sharp, more the head profile depending on if you want a splitting axe or for limbing trees etc.

Wow, there's a lot of information there. I'd better take my time reading it. Nothing fancy in the knife department, a very old swiss army knife and an old leatherman (not sure which one tbh).

Thanks for the information guys.