A Weekend Emergency Ration...

I was visiting different blogs reading different ideas about creating light weight food stuffs to have in my pack as a just in case. MRE's can be had for 10+ $'s from various places. After reading and poking around I decided on a path to take. I would create my own version of an E-RAT. As a matter of fact I made two for each of the kids, son-in-law, and wife.
I used my Food Saver to create an air tight package. I suppose that a zip lock bag will work as well.

Here is what I placed in the pack:
2 - Cliff bars
2 - Lipton Cup of Soup, Chicken Noodle
2 - Instant Oatmeal packets
2 - Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa
4 - Jolly Rancher Candies
3 - Instant Coffee packets
3 - 4C Light powdered drink mix packets (100% vitamin C)

This very basic packet is good for one day or over night stay in the woods. If one conserves maybe two days. The packs the kids have contain items to filter water, start a fire, container to heat and carry water or eat from. The items will keep for sometime, well over a year if not left in the sun. All that is needed is a fire and little water to create the meal.

All of the items can be purchased at the local grocery.

Enjoy,

A Better Knife Sheath...

My last post was about picking up a durable knife on the cheap. While this knife takes up an edge and holds it well the sheath was only fair. I say fair because the nylon it is made of is feels rather thin. Single stitched around the edges and no keeper strap for the handle. In the past I lost is really good knife because of a lack of a keeper that went around the handle on the top portion of the sheath.
I set about searching the net for a way to make a knife sheath. A lot of the knives in am interested in have a kydex or high impact plastic sheath with rivets or metal joiners. The joiners can be made of steel or aluminum.
I found a really good tutorial on making a knife sheath here: Willow Haven Outdoor.
From there I was lead here: Knife Kits. Off I went and placed the order. Everything arrived promptly. The sheet of Kydex was 12" X 12", big enough for my project.

I measured everything two or three times to make sure I had it sized. I ended up using half the sheet. I don't have a way to secure the rivets nicely. I found that the grommet tool I have was to small or to big to make the finish look nice. No worries there as Knife Kits also sells a proper rivet tool for making a knife sheath. I did not order it, but just wanted to mention it.

Due to the shape of the knife I could not get the belt loop on the sheath itself. I used a piece of Kydex and some joiners I got at the local hardware store to attach it. A little bit of Lok-Tite and wham I have a decent functional knife sheath. The knife snaps right in and is secure.

Below are some pics. Not to bad for my first go at something like this.  

A Knife the won't break the wallet...

I suppose one has to ask what am I going to use the knife for? For me I am just a person who likes to get out into the woods and wander around. Sometimes I camp, hike, hunt, or I just like the peace and quite.
I was poking around Tractor's Supply the other day and came across a knife in the bargain bin. A full tang drop tip goody and a full 3/16" thick, stainless steel to boot. The edge looked rough, but I figure I could work that into shape without to much trouble. The scales are of wood, not to bad looking if you are one of those who needs a knife to look good. So, I picked one up for 10.00$ to check it out. The knife came with a nylon sheath of fair quality.
When I got home I set to sharpening the knife. Did not take to long to get an edge that would shave the hair off my arm. I wrapped the handle with some cloth friction tape to help with the grip. I add tape with just about every knife I own. The tape also helped with keeping the knife securely in the sheath I discovered. I foresee a problem with drawing the knife with the tape. Since the sheath is flexible two hands will be needed if the tape is left on. A little bit of caution will be needed when drawing the knife. Or I come up with a different sheath to carry the knife. Also, added a bit of small bungi-cord with a retainer as a handle keeper and lanyard.
Tip to tip is 8 3/4", blade is 3 3/4" in length.

The real test will be to take it out into the woods and beat it up a bit. For example how will it perform using to baton some kindling? Will the edge just roll over? I will find out shortly. If it fails I will find a use for it. While it may not be good for extreme camp use I can put a good edge on it to skin the critters. And if it is good enough to skin it will have multiple uses for sure.

Enjoy