No Shit Survival Kit

FINALLY after a couple of months of scrounging around and two kits later I have the items to make a NO SHIT SURVIVAL KIT... Yeah I made that up.  This concept is based around the idea that you should create a small kit with bare essentials that could really save your life, or at least make things more comfortable should you be in a tight spot. All of this should fit into a small package that wouldn't take up much room in any kind of bag. Your suppose to pack it for maybe a fishing or camping trip, maybe just in case of emergencies, and hope you never need it.

Contents. The S.A.S survival app which you can find for an Iphone, is pretty cool, even the free version. Gives you a simple check list of stuff to build one of these kits yourself. the Contents are:

• Matches - fire
• Flint - fire
• Candle - light
• Needles and thread - repairing clothes
• Fish hooks and line - catching food
• compass - navigation
• Snare wire - catching food
• Flexible Saw - shelter building
• Water Sterilizing Tablets - water collection
• Condom- No! for water collection you perv
• Cotton Wool - fire tender
• Whistle - alerting rescue
• Pocket Knife
• Pencil & Waterproof Paper
• Safety pins - clothes repair
• Waterproof tape - clothes repair

I managed to get just about all of this and more by buying to over the counter kits, and the Sterilization
tablets separately. Most of these things can be found for very cheap individually at various sporting goods stores, REI, and even Target believe it or not.

One of the two kits I bough is the Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate survival kit. It goes for $52 on the Bear Grylls website, Iv'e seen it online at Walmart.com for $30. Fry's electronics strangely enough is the only place I found it in store for $40 but I got them to match the Walmart price which was awesome.

"Take that Fry's, EAT TEN BUCKS!...I use to work there. I'm very bitter." Anyway, Sadly this kit didn't have all of the stuff on the list, but it did come with some very cool extras. One being the Gerber Clutch miniature multi-tool. a small flashlight, and a signaling mirror which I definitely kept in there.

 But there's still some stuff missing, so I supplemented it with the Lifeline Ultralight Survival Kit which I bought at REI for $15 "$45 total so far If anyone's keeping track" this kit contained a compass, and the water proof tape that was missing. This also had a few medical extras that went into my First Aid kit, but I would like to note that this kit came with more snare wire than the Bear Grylls kit so I kept that one instead.

Now that's almost everything. I filled out the few remaining bits by picking up these items: Candle, Water Sterilization Tablets, and a condom. Which i had some extras so i just put one in. The only thing Iv'e left out was the pencil and water proof paper.  So far if your keeping track I'm up to about $57. The pocket knife is an old Boy scout knife my father gave to me I love that thing. I also added a Rain Poncho that I had lying around in random camping gear.

What did i put all this in you ask. A Condor Sidekick Pouch $15. I went with this option cause personally I have two packs with MOLLE webbing. So I like the fact that I could just attach my kit to either bag, without it actually taking up any space INSIDE the bag. Also the elastic straps inside keep some of the tools organized and ready in case I want to get at them without actually digging through the kit which is packed pretty tight inside a waterproof plastic bag. Kinda like playing Tetris to get it all in there. But zipped up it takes up very little space, if I had to carry it in another bag. I could also stick it to a tac vest or plate carrier. 

The coolest part about this is that there were plenty of leftovers which I used to start making another kit for my EDC "every day carry" bag. I keep the real kit on my BOBag. all of this for a total of about $72, small price to pay for saving your life.

Bear Grylls Ultimate Fixed Blade Knife "Out of the Box"

 The Bear Grylls Ultimate Fixed Blade Knife:
Well, this Isn't exactly out of the box. Iv'e owned this knife for a couple of months now but feel its well worth a review. In the world of knives there's a lot of room for personal preference. Regarding everything from look, feel, materials, blade type, point type, and even the sheath. But I'm not here to debate all that today. My guiding principle here is that I'm a big fan of getting the most out of your gear. Versatility, and this knife won me over on that point. Now some would use the saying "jack of all trades, master of nothing." which is fine but I'd rather be half decent at any situation that comes up, than a master of a situation I might never encounter.

I should point out that It really came down to 2 choices for me,
this knife or the Gerber Infantry LMF II. They are in essence the same
knife, but with a few small differences. The LMF has a glass breaker on
pommel rather than a hammer/striking surface. and it's Sheath is MOLLE compatible which made it a tough choice cause I did want a knife I could fix to my Plate carrier. In the end I'll probably buy the LMF later anyway cause I'm just stupid like that...

So lets get down to the real dirt! The knife specs are, a ½" thick serrated high carbon stainless steel drop point blade. With a 4.8" length. the knife is 10" overall. the balance is about an inch behind the hilt,  right behind the index finger notch. The weigh of this thing surprised me, it's got some real heft to it, 11.2 oz. The grip feels comfortable in a number of positions, normal, backhand, and face-up with your thumb in the center. It feel's soft and sticks well without feeling too gummy. I am wondering if the grip on this is insulated like the LMF. allowing you to cut electrified wires...but I'm not about to test that without knowing for sure. The blade is not Exactly full tang "running the length of the handle" it stops at the lower screw in in the handle, 1" short of the full length...I would say that's probably it's only fault. I bought the standard serrated version but there is a fine edge version for sale too if you'd prefer that. Mine wasn't particularly very sharp out of the box, but I have since then fixed the problem myself. Its hard to say sometimes you get one that's dull and other times you might get the same knife, razor sharp out of the box.

The Sheath Carrier is made of mildew resistant Nylon. I don't actually know what the blade housing is made of, it feels like some heavy duty plastic. It holds the Blade secure even upside down, but like many things, we'll see if that lasts with use. It can be mounted to belts and straps in a variety of ways. horizontal or vertical. Sadly, as is its not MOLLE compatible but could be made to, with the right quick-straps. The blade housing can be taken off the sheath as well giving you more options.



But this leads me into what I think makes this knife so amazing, its
versatility. On the back of the blade housing is a diamond
sharpener so you can maintain the blades edge while out in the field.



Flip that over and on the top side is a Ferrocerioum "don't ask me
how to pronounce that." fire rod. Strike this on the striking notch

located on top of the blade and you got a way to make fire when you run out of matches or other options. you can buy Replacements for the rod, should you ever lose it on the Gerber website for $5.


 The back side of the sheath has some Land Air rescue information sewn into it, and included in the packaging was a small "Bear Grylls Basics of Survival" manual which was a good read for beginners like me. I keep it in my wallet now.

The Pommel of the knife is a flat stainless steel striking surface which can be used as a hammer for shelter building. Or in a CQB self defense situation, a non-lethal striking option. Hey, you never know! And last but not least, there are three lashing holes through the knife's handle so it can be fastened to make a Spear. It also originally came with a small rescue whistle attached to the handle but I took that off and used some 550 chord to make a lanyard. the whistle is now attached to my jacket zipper. Options, options, options that's why I bough this knife.

Now  I know some of you are sitting there thinking "Bear Grylls is a Tool!" and "that show is a scam!"
I've seen a lot of that talk online from people who must be some real "Experts" but I don't care. Regardless of how the show is made Bear puts himself in some very dangerous situations, to teach people something that could potentially save their lives. The Guy does things for the sake of your education, that you probably wouldn't have the guts to do in a life or death situation. I personally love his show. I haven't used ALL of his products but they sell some pretty awesome stuff. and i definitely stand by this product...for now. As I said before I will update another blog on the product. "In the Field" after some heavy use. Until then stay safe, and be prepared.










 LOL, Update so I just looked that the Gerber website and apparently they make a "Pro" version of the knife now that is full tang so check it out.

Gerber Steady Tool "Out of the Box"

The Gerber Steady tool.

I spotted this cool little item on the Gerber website several months back just perusing around, indulging in my obsession as usual. Upon seeing this I thought "THAT'S AWESOME!" It had particular relevance to me because at RIP we do film work, I'm always trying to record fight choreography on my iPhone and that's near impossible when there's no one around to film it. I was in desperate need of a good multi-tool for my BOB bag anyway. at the time I only had one of those cheap $15 ones from Osh. on the Gerber website the price is listed at $64, I got lucky and found it on clearance at REI for $25. can't get much better than that. Coming from a survival, Disaster, or dare I say Zombie outbreak stand point. As a cinematographer/Photography it would be my obligation to document such events wherever possible. this little tool is definitely something I want with me.

So lets talk about the main function of this tool, a camera tripod. This function is probably created for people  who are doing video blogging or documentation in the field. Its also useful if you have an app like face time and want to video chat with your hands free, Very cool. It might not be the right tool for everyone but there are plenty of other better Multi-tools out there. So if that's what you need get one of those and stop hating! The camera mount can be use two ways either with a rubber suction cup adapter that comes included in the box, or take that off and it has your standard camera mount screw. As a tripod it's sturdy enough to hold phones and smaller digital cameras but obviously not a Larger DSLR or camcorder. The mount connects to the tool by a simple metal ball joint that gives you some decent maneuverability, but I'm interested to see if with use it will loose it's stiff ability to hold up the camera.  The feet of the tripod legs are made of this soft rubber, so I'm wondering if those will hold up over time too. Another concern I have is that to make it stick, I had to remove my phone cover. The phone adapter obviously needs a hard, flat surface to stick to. So either I take it off during use or find a different phone case. I've seen some sturdy ones online that had a Stainless steel backing so maybe ill go with that.

Closing everything down, sadly the Suction cup mount does not fit inside the tool. But you can unscrew it, and there's a small pocket for it in the sheath. Other than that when closed it all folds down into a neat and comfortable package. Though it is thick in width, so not as comfortable to carry around in your pants pocket. The construction is mostly Stainless steel with a plastic outer casing, which I actually kinda like. A lot of multi-tools are all metal and can be hard on the hands if you have to apply some real pressure. This feels much more comfortable. Notably the pliers on this tool are thinner than on most, more like needle nose pliers and have what looks like some real serious wire cutters. Unlike my last ones which were Useless.

Contents: If you were worried that the addition of the Camera mount would sacrifice some other tool, fear not. When opened up it contains
pretty standard fair.

• Bottle opener
• Flathead Screwdriver
• Small Flathead Screwdriver
• Small Fine Edge knife
• Phillips screwdriver
• Serrated knife

 I'd like to say on record, that serrated knife out of the box, sharp as hell! shaves hair off my arm, none of my other knives have done that out of the box. It's its a pretty thin blade but, good job Gerber. everything is definitely of high quality materials, and a great improvement over my other mult-tool. i have not put it through heavy use yet, but I will do a second review on everything further down the road. the blades are sharp. The tools are of a good standard size. I can't think of much else to say on this subject. No complaints.

 So far the nylon sheath seems of good quality, It's heavy and durable. As I mentioned earlier it has a small pocket for the cell phone adapter. What I Like about this sheath is that the bet loop can open with Velcro  rather than stitched closed. so you can attach it to a wide variety of things including MOLLE webbing if you fight with it Enough. Overall, What seems like a good product so far. Even though I didn't have to, I would pay full price for it.

Thanks For reading, Ill put this through a few months of use, see how it holds up and write an "In the field  review.