The ultimate survival multitool

Doc Ruby

On foot of the ultimate survival knife thread which seems to have petered out, I got to thinking about the ultimate survival multitool. There are many fine multitools out there no doubt, but they seem to want to be everything to as many people as possible.

What would be nice would be a multitool custom designed for the challenges one might face while camping, outdoors, or in a survival situation. What I'd like to see would be:

• A decent hefty size, maybe 8-10" long stainless steel
• That lidl axe-hammer head thing has really grown on me so put that on top
• I've never really had much use for pliers, good sized shears or scissors would be a lot handier
• Good sized saw and knife of course
• File and knife sharpening stone
• striking surface for firesteel - it might be possible to incorporate an actual removable firesteel in there too
• Detachable spork
• A good sized watertight compartment for say tinder, fishing line, condiments, brass wire, dental floss, matches, toothpicks and so on
• That nice tick remover twister thing
• Maybe a small petrol lighter like the peanut
• Can and bottle opener
• Sturdy compass
• If there could be a replaceable cartridge water filter in there that would be great
• And maybe a couple of lanyard holes so I can easily wrap paracord around it for a handle then take it off to open

What sort of setup would you like to see, size and tool-wise?

bonniebede

Add sewing kit to the water tight compartment, the water filter could be one of those straw things you drink through and it filters.,And i would like a pliers.

BUT here's why I don't liike the concept at all...
really what a multitool does is take all your vital equipment and weld it together, not only making each bit more difficult to use but introducing one unecessary risk factor... the possibliltiy of losing all your equipment at one go.:eek: Why would you want to run that risk?

I don't mind or count something like the lidl multi, because I tend to think of it as an axe/hammer, and 'oh look a few extras' which are nice to have, but really thats all they are, nice extra's.

SAme with my victorinox, nice edc carry but not my survival knife. IMO I think that your best tools should be chosen for the one thing you want to do really well, an axe, knife,saw etc as separate pieces. The multitools are then a way to supplement or to have a bit of gear in a car, or as back up, but i can't see myself ever relying on one piece as the total. though of course you didn't exactly say that, I am extrapolating.

ButI do find it comforting to have multiple backups, like several different ways to light a fire, and carried in several different places.

I would be more interested in a survival vest or jacket, where the weight of vital survival equipment would be easily dietributed and which could be grabbed up as needed.

krissovo

bonniebede wrote: »

I would be more interested in a survival vest or jacket, where the weight of vital survival equipment would be easily distributed and which could be grabbed up as needed.

I like the concept, anyone think there is a market for high end (discrete) survival jacket?

Ok here are some of my thoughts on a survival tool, as a rule I hate multitools but I do see a bit of a gap in my gear. Well its a urban bug out tool or survival breaching tool.

I have one of these, a 8" Stanley pry bar. I bought it for tilling my house to lift large floor tiles but after testing it in various situations it will break into homes/cars and is very tough.


Now with some minor changes turning it into a mini fubar with a edge.........

HOLD ON......After typing it all out I have found its already made:


Ok just add a standard Fubar head in there and maintain the blade and I will be happy.

baords dyslexic

If you need more grip than a pair of pliars will give then some sort of "Mole" or "Vice" grips will do all the work of any amount of spanners and socket sets in a Survival situation. Most of the Mole grips I have are also excellent wire cutters and will go through very heavy wire including barbed wire very easily (check at the base of the jaws not all have the wire cutters).

btw Doc do you mind if this develops into a combination of Ultimate survival tool x Ultimate Survival tool kit?

@ krissovo & bonniebede- like the survival jacket idea, been looking for something like that for ages, was thinking of either a very large fishing type waste coat that went over your cloths or a well fitting one that went under a normal jacket - one main pocket for a survival tin and stuff in other pockets to back it up, perhaps deserves a thread of its own?

bonniebede

ok so I have this hairwrap thingy, it was 2 euros in pennys. Essentially it is a strip of stretchy cloth with a piece of wire in it, you can use it to put your hair up in a bun, as a headband and so on, the wire keeps it in shape, acutally nice piece of hair wear.

However, I realised it could be used to disguise a ready made snare wire, if made with a small hole to extract the wire from at need. Could even sew in the necessary for a little fishing, wondering what else I could wear in my hair.:p

What about hairsticks? this is what you do with them..



But essentially they are simply somewhat sharpened wooden or metal sticks. What else could they be used for?

After all, hatpins were a traditional weapon of choice for preserving a girls dignity...:D

bonniebede

@krissovo

Like the fubar. Thinking that bob needs some sort of tool to allow for access to houses and cars in the event where such would not be considered looting, but apropriate redistribution of 'goods to aid survival,' without clearly established ownership.:)

Any idea at what point one is likely to be considered as 'going equipped'?

'Your honour, the defendant admits to carrying tools suitable to breaking and entry simply to be prepared for the possibility of sudden civilisation collapse and the need to aid the surviving citizenry to have access to survival goods and shelter....' hmmm, can't see that as flying....

'I introduce as supplementary evidence the records of hours spent planning it on the survivalism forum'...

baords dyslexic

bonniebede wrote: »

@krissovo

Like the fubar. Thinking that bob needs some sort of tool to allow for access to houses and cars in the event where such would not be considered looting, but apropriate redistribution of 'goods to aid survival,' without clearly established ownership.:)

Also like the fubar and will be taking a look for one but as soon as you start adding tools to your bob it gets heavy very quickly.

Doc Ruby

baords dyslexic wrote: »

btw Doc do you mind if this develops into a combination of Ultimate survival tool x Ultimate Survival tool kit?

Work away, going by the normal threads in these parts I fully expect to be talking about the best way to pickle corn maize before the finish.

bonniebede

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Work away, going by the normal threads in these parts I fully expect to be talking about the best way to pickle corn maize before the finish.

http://javabird.com/blog/2011/06/11/corn-veggie-relish/

baords dyslexic

bonniebede wrote: »

http://javabird.com/blog/2011/06/11/corn-veggie-relish/

Ideal for testing Docs spork

Doc Ruby

bonniebede wrote: »

The multitools are then a way to supplement or to have a bit of gear in a car, or as back up, but i can't see myself ever relying on one piece as the total. though of course you didn't exactly say that, I am extrapolating.

Thats it sure, its the kind of thing you probably wouldn't miss if you didn't have it but once you have it you wonder how you ever did without it! I've worked in a few fairly technical businesses and you find yourself reaching for the multitool more often than not.

The existing multitools are often a solution looking for a problem, many of the tools in them you'd never use - something that mixes the majority of outdoor/survival tools would find a good market I reckon.

bonniebede wrote: »

However, I realised it could be used to disguise a ready made snare wire, if made with a small hole to extract the wire from at need. Could even sew in the necessary for a little fishing, wondering what else I could wear in my hair.:p

The wire thats in it should do fairly well, its not like rabbits' necks are that strong.

bonniebede wrote: »

But essentially they are simply somewhat sharpened wooden or metal sticks. What else could they be used for?

Chopsticks or tent pegs probably, don't know if they would be in a multitool though since they'd be easy enough to make - you could sell them as trade goods too in a post apocalyptic travelling hair salon/Chinese takeaway combo! I'd call it "The hairy wok".

baords dyslexic

Just bought myself a new survival tool LOL http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Stainless-11-in-1-Pocket-Army-Survival-Multi-Tool-Card-/280567957071 at least it wasn't advertised with SAS or Ultimate in the title but they couldn't resist the word Army :rolleyes:.

baords dyslexic

My list for tools which would include some duplication of use would be

Mole grips (original style with wire cutters) - wire cutting, gripping bending, wire handling, mending tool (have one clamping the clutch cable on a mower untill I can get a new cable), plumbing fittings (dismantling and useful on stop taps), pot handle and holder for anything that gets hot.

Stanley Fobar 55-134 (krissovo's find above) - breaking out and breaking in tool with added axe type splitting function.

Stanley Fobar 55-119 (hammer head type) - breaking out and breaking in tool with hammer and timber wreaking function (might be good on doors?)

Lidl folding garden saw (or better)

Add in a top quality Gerber, Swiss Army or Leather multitool, your normal knife, plus suvival tin and what would you want for except a mule to carry them all .

But I take what I guess is krissovo's view of always having the survival tin with me so anything else builds on those basics, I'd also always have a good quality Leatherman type multitool so I like to go for a minimum of Survival Tin + Leathermand+ Decent Knife as minimum and add in a folding garden saw a Stanley Fobar 55-135 and a pair of Mole grips for a bit more "grunt". The hammer type fobar wouldn't be a carry around item (car or inside house only) but has the sort of bending levering hammering wtf capablilty that might be handy to get someone out of a car in a hurry or get out of a house on fire.

Googling for multitools found me this site http://www.multitool.org :eek: gadget man heaven :cool::D

Grizzly 45

What I'd like is a geared style wire cutters.Some of these so called wire cutters are almost useless on barbed or 10 GA fence wire.:rolleyes:

http://www.ontario-knife-store.com/xtreme-rescue-entry-tool/

Looks like it has alot of potential!!

sfakiaman

This could be just the wire cutter for you Griz. http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=187-1917-No.1-MkII-Wire-Cutter-for-ShtLE-Rifle

baords dyslexic

sfakiaman wrote: »

This could be just the wire cutter for you Griz. http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=187-1917-No.1-MkII-Wire-Cutter-for-ShtLE-Rifle[/QUOTE]

I doubt it, historically they were a failure and worked great on British barbed wire of the period and "dash it" couldn't cut German wire.

Grizzly 45

I'd also need a .303 SMLE to go with it!:eek:The idea of those wire cutters was that the poor misfortunate in crossing no mans land barbed wire entanglements scooped up the wire in the "jaws" and then fired a round of .303 to break the wire strand.Be a novel way of doing the fenceing around here I must admit!:D