awaiting dawn, in an hour..
was listening to short wave, progam called the power hour, and
heard part of an interview with some kind of private investigators
that Joyce Riley is using funds from her program listeners, to
investigate happenings to see how real whats being reported is... I
think thats an incredibly good idea.. For people to use collective
group resources to watch dog & hound the status quo looking for
discrepancies between words & reality.. As we know theyre habitual
liars.. best way to foil them, is to be finding out their lies, and
reporting on it in real time and negate their effects & wake public up
all the faster...
anyway, what I booted up this morning to discuss, is a realization in
fundamentalism on subject of survivalism..
last couple days, have been working on one of my endless knife
projects, a $2 skinner style butcher knife that I bought suspecting
better quality stainless than reflected by price, at the factory over
runs & seconds stores here on the panama border..
Was working on the knife, sharpening it for the first time, I also
shortened the plastic handle, and drilled a hole in handle, for
lanyard, or hanging etc. And also sharpened a false back edge near the
tip, for use as a cooking knife for minimalistic camping purposes,
where one is using the knife for spoon & spatula as well as knife..
its an idea gotten from the Asley Knots book, that sailors in the
1800's used their knives to eat with instead of forks & spoons etc...
They ate off special high sided plates made of wood, called "kids",
that were coopered... kind of like the bottom of a wooden cask, so it
became a cross between plate & bowl, with high sides preventing slop
overs & spills in a seaway...
I suspect this eating with one's knife, out of wooden ware, goes way
back.. I remember as a kid, a book I & my sister had, that came from a
generation or two earlier in the family about life in early america,
and how settlers made wooden trenchers to use in kitchen, out of split
and hollowed out sections of small logs etc...
this tech has made it into the modern era, as bread kneading troughs,
and the wooden "Palangana" here in central america..
Which is often used for cleaning home grown
seeds & grains, where you pick out the un-yummy items before washing
& cooking...
anyway, my point is; that in absolute minimalistic survival
situations, eating with one's knife could make alot of sense.. what
I have learned playing with the concept, is that a thinner flexible
blade works better as a spatula... And that the wider tip of a butcher
knife style also helps...
but that one wants a shorter rather than longer blade..
I've experimented around this theme quite a bit..
one example, is I created a small trencher for a chopping bowl that I
use to dice hot peppers & garlic etc. in cooking, I also made a
matching knife with just a blade wrapped with cord for a handle...
the knife in part was an experiment in eating knives, for absolute
minimalism, which is why it has no normal handle.. what I learned,
was a short over all blade, in this case 8 inches, wrapped handle and
all, made an exelent eating knife, though I tend to use it daily with
the chopping trencher, for my home grown condiments..
the knife would even fit in with a military mess kit, being flat, &
the right length..
its main detraction is that the wrapped handle isnt as good for
cutting hard items, due to not spreading the pressure out on the
fingers..
so I think that making a custom version with perhaps slab handle
scales is my next experiment in ultra minimalistic survival knives..
what I'm thinking about doing, is making handle slabs, and using epoxy
& cord wrap to hold them on rather tha rivits.. the blade was made
from a Solingen type steel kitchen knife from Brazil, and the Krupp
stainless from Germany is very hard, and I'd rather experiment with
the wrapped slabs than go to the effort to drill it.. Which I could
do, using modified carbide masonary bitts.. An old trick I use for
drilling very hard steel.. By resharpening the masonary bitt for
cutting metal...
I'm also considering making another similar blade from scratch, by
cutting the handle off a butcher knife, and doing the cord & slabs
routine on it, to create another version taking advantage of the wider
tip, and thinner steel.. all continuing experiments in minimalistic
survival knives..
I am also considering making a set, where a second similar knife has
matching wrapped slabs handle, but is a narrow bladed "pointy" knife
to use as a paring knife cooking, or as a steak knife eating.. as
I've learned, that my most used knife has this shape.. not good for
expedient spoon & spatula, but exceedingly good at peeling &
processing chores..
so what I think I'll end up with, is a set of knives.. of similar
style construction, and size, but one a more rounded nosed
skinner/spatula/spoon shape, and the other a more pointed narrow
blade.. which makes alot of sense for minimalistic survival knives...
A best of both worlds situation.. And perhaps in time make a twin dual
sheath for the set?
on a related subject, I've been considering minimalistic cookware, and
have realized that for doing flat breads in the brush, absolute
minimal is a pizza pan.. I picked up several 12 inchers at the junk
shops that are thicker stainless than most items available here.. And
I've added a couple of them to my refugee kitchen set... fine for
toasting tortillas, making bannock or biscuits, frying bacon or steak
etc... And good for sun or fire drying food things...
and what I realized recently, is that the flat pizza pan shape, with
no raised sides, is perfect with the use of a knife for the spatula..
Its always those pesky sides that bring you grief, when thinking youre
going to pry that stuck bannock out in one piece.. Eliminate the un
needed sides, and unsticking things becomes much easier..
I've also learned about cooking wrapped in leaves, for grease free
non-stick effect, & also have learned how to use dry flour as a
non-stick element, sprinkled on the pan, then add the dough..
both really good skills, considering what oil & lard do to the inside
of a backpack, and to one's health..
not to mention, potential unavailability in survival situations.. I've
learned doing subsistence related things most of my life, that unless
you have domestic animals, your chances of having a high fat diet are
fairly slim...
so.. My concept of minimalistic survival cooking items includes a
couple of specially made small eating & cooking knives, and a flat
pizza style pan for bannock etc.. my other most choice gear would be
a stainless Wok, a stock pot, & a teapot...
add a cup & eating bowl, and youre getting close to the ultimate
minimalistic kitchen for long term subsistence, in my opinion...
anyway, the current knife project, is related, but using a factory
handle..to create a not quite so minimalistic cooking and eating
knife.. I tend to experiment with all levels of subsistence gear..
And see a lightweight full sized kitchen knife as having a place in my
portage duffle...
Personally I dont think there is any "perfect" camping or subsistence
gear on the market.. Everything has been influenced by greed or lack
of adequate thinking on design...
So we end up with poor quality at high prices, or poorly designed gear
for the real conditions and purposes.. an example is yuppie
backpacker gear
and cookware.. If one had to survive long term on the stuff, one
would learn some uncomfortable facts....
fisrt, the nylon packcloth would be coming apart in about a year of
constant use.. its needs to be several times heavier... and the
thin cookware, after a year of being washed at the creek, & cooking
over variable open fires etc., would begin to resemble a car muffler
after a week on an urban freeway...
I'm afraid people's perceptions of survival gear are much in error...
One needs to think long term for whats coming.. the Apocalyse might
happen at any time, and arrival be 25 years later for all we know...
so if you hit the brush with Yuppie standards in mind & gear, you'll
be a rough looking refugee.
continued
--
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