Review: how much knife is too much knife?

As you might have guessed, I'm rather keen on my edged tools. There is something very satisfying about a well honed blade cutting smoothly, and even more so when having a blade on hand means that a task or obstacle is swiftly completed or overcome. I've covered a variety of knives here previously, but something prompted me to ask myself "how much knife is too much knife?"

First lets address some local laws that I live subject to:

New Weapons Laws
"Release date: Thu 3 June 2010
Last updated: Fri 13 August 2010
The Victorian Government has introduced new laws to target knife crime.
From 22 August 2010 you can be searched for knives in a public place anywhere, anytime, with and without notice.
 
If you are 16 and over and get caught carrying a controlled weapon such as a knife, you face an on the spot fine of $1,000, or you may have to go to court and face a fine of over $14,000 or one year imprisonment.

This penalty is doubled if you are inside or within 20 metres of a pub, club or bar."

and some further clarification and explanation:


Controlled Weapons

Controlled weapons are weapons that can be used for legitimate purposes but require regulation because of the possible danger they pose to the community. This category of weapon includes knives that while not considered prohibited weapons, still are a potential danger to the community.
A person must not possess, carry or use a controlled weapon without lawful excuse. Lawful excuse includes:
a) the pursuit of any lawful employment, duty or activity
b) participation in any lawful sport, recreation or entertainment, and
c) the legitimate collection, display or exhibition of weapon.

Lawful excuse does not include for the purpose of self-defence. [Bold by author]

Now, as it happens, I hold an exemption to the Weapons Control Act, as a collector, and am also a member of several collector organizations, as well. I happen to carry a couple of knives on or around my person as part of my EDC, and I make damn sure that in doing so, I have good reasons quick to mind.

In making the choice to carry a knife on my person, I am aware of the risks, both legal and to health and safety. So, that being said, what do I carry, when, and why?

In the picture above is a small sample of my collection

1. Victorinox Swiss Army Knife - I keep this in the sun-visor of my car, good for opening things, picking teeth, fixing small tasks and personal grooming. I have had one these little guys since I was 5. About as inoffensive as a knife can get.
2. CRKT folding KISS - This is my every-day knife, I keep it in my Hazard 4 harness, and have used it for everything from cutting fruit and salami, to cables, opening boxes, cutting rope and picking splinters. Its my go-to utility knife for work cutting and first aid needs. Seeing as it sits well out of the public eye, and I have a variety of uses for it, I'm content with my ass-covering.
3. SAR Globaltool OddJob - Just as the name says, I use this little knife for odd-jobs. I usually wear it on my belt when I know I will be needing to do a lot of little cuts, unpacking furniture or parcels, or when I know I'll need to make one or two little cuts, quickly. Makes a great camping / hiking knife, and I also wear it when I know I'll be on First-Aid or safety Officer duties at events. Unobtrusive but getting a little "technical" for street-wear.
4. Schrade Army 10 - Totally a tactical knife. I've never actually used this other than during the review process, it falls out of my user-category. If I were an avid hunter or active duty Armed Forces, it might well fill I niche I would need, but as it stands, its too much knife for my little needs, and not enough for the bigger ones. There's nothing wrong with it at all, but it's "a soldier knife" and I have other needs and tools.
5. HHA LFK01 - Tactical all the way, this blade I gave to my partner as a gift a couple of years ago, as she has a thing for back-swept blades, but neither she nor I would wear it out in public, unless society had fallen. It's a very effective, rugged and sharp tool, but it wants to be in combat, so it lives in the collection only.
6. Hibben style throwers - I have several of these. They balance well, throw nicely and make for good box-openers, but don't believe what Under Siege teaches us, they don't actually make for good kitchen knives. Throwing knives are also listed as "prohibited items" in Victoria. Be advised.
7. American Kami Super Colubris - My beloved combat kitchen knife, this is my go-to outdoors knife, whether it is camping, BBQ'ing (though sometimes I fall back on my MSM KA-Bar knife for the same task) or just kitchen and household cutting needs. This is weighty, long and sharp enough to tackle bigger tasks, but fine handling enough for delicate fileting and slicing. Again, I wouldn't wear it on the street, but it doesn't leave my hip when out bush.
8. Boker 343 Scalpel folder - This interesting little blade lives in my bag, in a pen-slot, usually, or fitted in PLAS-MOLLE channels on my other gear, when I feel the need. It's long handle and thin, narrow and long blade make it an excellent precision slicer, and it is plenty pointy enough to make an excellent probing cut. It looks kind of scary, so it falls under my "first aid and technical precision tool" category, and rarely sees light of day. 
9. MichaelJ Fechner utility-blade - This beast is a serious industrial tool. I've worn it as a camp-knife, but really, its primary function is almost agricultural. Chopping woody branches and cutting through heavy canvas, breaking up pallets and prying up boards. This is a knife that wouldn't look out of place in a tradesmans toolbox or on a pipe-hitters belt. As with the Super Colubris, I wouldn't wear it to the shops, but when I'm gloves and goggles on, doing work, its perfectly suited.
10. KA-Bar Pestilence - Now, if I ever have to clear my way through some bad-assed bush I would be tempted to break out the Pestilence, there is a time and place for cane-knives and machetes. Any other time? You are showboating. It's a surprisingly spry blade in the hand, but unless I were needing to clear a field or lop some limbs, I wouldn't be going to this one.

So there you have it.  There certainly is occasion where the tool at hand may well me "too much knife" just as it might be "too little" but odds are, you can probably get away with less, in most settings, if you know what you are doing. This is why kitchen knife-blocks come with a variety, and all the knives have names and uses.

Be clever with your cutlery, be aware of any laws and legislation you are subject to, and always, always, be ready for anything!

Review: MSM KA-BAR knife

This is an exciting piece, the first collaboration between gear-maker, patch creator and all around barrel of fun MilSpecMonkey and world famous knife makers extraordinaire KA-BAR . The moment I saw it come up, I jumped on the chance to get one, via a fun bunch of people, TacticalShit, and was delighted when it arrived.

This is the KA-BAR / MSM 001 knife.

The first thing I noted was that, not unlike the KA-BAR Zombie Killer line of knives, is the weight. This is a dense, broad blade, weighing in at XXXXX which is surprising given its size, at 9cm (3.5") blade-length, 21cm (8.5") overall and 8cm (2") broad. This is a solid piece of SK5 steel.

Thicker than pretty much every knife in my collection, even the "Famine" tanto, it features some really nice design points. The large crenelated thumb ramp, which gives excellent grip, both in a forwards grasp, and also against the knife edge of the hand, in a reverse grip.

This is a hefty blade made for hard use, and one of the occasions where I wouldn't cringe in using a knife as a pry-bar. SK5 steel is reported to come with a Rockwell hardness of between 52-54, which is nice for a high-carbon steel knife, without getting into the brittle side of things.

Essentially this means this blade can take a beating but still stay sharp. I like the sounds of that. The blade is powder coated with a black bead, for rust-prevention and glare-reduction, much like the Zombie Killer knives

Also included is a polymer sheath, Short Malice clips, mounting hardware along with a Torx tool, and webbing loop for a PALS/MOLLE mounting, although I haven't worked out what to do with this yet.

This view shows off both the thumb ramp and the width of the blade, as well as the second set of crenelations midway along the spine of the blade, beside the false-edge, which MSM suggests would be easy to sharpen after-market, but that they didn't, to avoid local legal issues for users.

I liked the mounting options, the sheath has holes and options for mounting left or right handed, horizontally, vertically, blade-up or blade down, and even diagonally. The thumb-ramp is accessible immediately on the draw, and the foreguard is significantly curved and projects nicely to catch the hand into a good grip on the draw. Twin lanyard holes in the butt-end, which is also textured for gripping on a reverse grip, offer more customization options. Thew paracord wrap adds a great body and a good grip.

With its robust design, keen edge, and well thought out functional production, this is an excellent piece, especially considering the price, and people behind it. If you need a small, rough-use knife, this is an excellent piece.

Review: Patches, Patches, Patches

Patches, Patches? we don't need no stinking patches! or so you might recall if you're as fond of misquoting movies as I am. That said, there's a lot to be said for patches. Growing up in Houston, I was the luckiest 4yo around when all my clothes had Apollo, Gemini, Mercury and Space Shuttle patches sewn to them. A long hiatus came till I was involved in Warhammer 40,000 and other Sci-Fi and acquired a few to put down the spine of my great-coat. Getting into the Stargate LRP, and other military based roleplay, I had opportunity to start collecting some more, and recalled my great love of them. Here's a sample of those I've collected recently. First up, the Patch Set #1 from Action Figure Therapy. I can't begin to say how funny these guys are. They're majestic, man! I've posted previously about wearing these on my CSI Folder and MEOP pouch

Next up are this set from the hard-bodied climbers and trackers of Triple Aught Design I've done a little climbing and trail blazing, and really appreciate their ethos. They also have an awesome sense of style. The big Praetorian shield with its climbing axe and gladius was a must-have, and as a big Conan-fanboy I needed the "A symbol. Perhaps on a shield.Two snakes, coming together.Facing each other..." patch. Figured it would well suit Stargate as well. I have a big affinity for our canine friends, especially the tenacious coyote, so paw prints and Dog&X-bones glowing rubber Ranger Eyes were also needful. The Spartan molon labe, "come, take them" crest is both fannish and inspirational. The plain disk is just the 6.5cm AFT patch backing, for scale.


Next up are a couple of Stargate SGC patches which are another fannish addition, and make the costuming for the Lasertag LRP that I do that little bit more authentic feeling. As I've seen these, at conventions and at comic and merchandise stores, I've snapped them up, so now I have a garrison and subdued version to hump around in the bush with. Interestingly, the "bright" version is backed with an iron-on plastic backing (which I will be fixing to more hook-and-loop hooks shortly) so I can chop-and-change to suit the costuming needs.


I needed some proper military issue type badges for my outfit, and after some shopping around, I found that the folks over at US Patriot Tactical had a great system for putting together what you need. Nametapes, rank and service branch, skill tabs and a lot of units as well. I wrote the character I run with in Stargate LRP up as a MSG, formerly of the 10th Mountain. I'm also bucking for a promotion, in-game ... I lived in Denver as a very small boy, have family and friends there now (completely independently, it's just nice up there) but was also home to Camp Hale a training center for the 10th in WW2. .
 Between my climbing, and living in Denver and Clagary, Canada after evacuation from the Persian Gulf in 1991, I have an affinity with that kind of thing. Anyways. US Patriot Tactical were a good source for the patches I needed, although they keep their stocks to current-cam standards, and I'm running US Woodland in-keeping with the Stargate show.  I also picked up some corresponding subdued-met rank pips, to go the whole hog. With the way shipping to Australia goes, it's always better for me to buy a whole bunch of things, especially of they are little, or shipping costs out-strip the cost of the items.
That's what you get living on a large, isolated and tectonically and biologically stable landmass.

The last items I'll cover here today are the nametapes I have, which are in my Stargate LRP character's name, rather than mine (although I do have my father's Viet-Nam era BDU blouse with -his- name and unit patches on it). Nametapes are awesome, and for anyone who tends to go backpacking, hiking or travel with packs on planes, I heartily recommend getting some made up and putting on your gear for easy ID in lines, piles and at the luggage carrousel.

It would be totally remiss of me to leave out my beloved Zombie Hunter patch from MilSpecMonkey. Tactical Baby and I wear this on her baby-carrier but it has had pride of place on my CSI folder, and on my arm at costume events like the Melbourne Zombie Shuffle  I love The Monkey's work, and look to add a few more to my collection, shipping being the biggest hurdle, so I have to wait till there are a -bunch- of things I want to get, and include some patches along with it.

Patches are great. Identification, unity and morale can all be boosted with a well placed and recognized symbol. Not to mention a great way to patch the holes on the knees of Tactical Baby's pants when she starts running about ....

Happy New Years from Apocalpse Equipped!

Happy 2012 from us at Apocalypse Equipped. Tactical Baby and I had a good night out, and we blinked and flashed our way through a gig, with bottles stowed in FUP Pouches, and a full complement of changing materials slung on a comfy belt . She wore ear-pads, a Zombie Hunter morale patch by MilSpec Monkey and traveled in her BabyBjorn Active baby-carrier.

She ended up with more lipstick on her than I did, but that's the way it goes when you wear a baby to an Amanda Palmer gig!