Video Reviews: AK -Super Colubris, UC M48 Walking Axe, Skinning Axe, ZT - Deuce

Here are a few clips I've been saving for a rainy day, and there have been quite a few of these recently.

1. Kitchen knives and a pig head


2. American Kami Super Colubris vs pig head

My full review here:

3. United Cutlery M48 Walking Axe vs pig head

My full review here:
Follow up review here:

4. skinning axe-knife thing, vs pig head


5. Zombie Tools Deuce vs pig head

My full review here:

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did making them, if there is anything else you'd like to see my cutting with, or cutting into, please drop me a line, and I'll see what I can do for you.

All bio-waste either goes to the pot, or to the critters. No wastage, no freeloaders...

Review: DRIFIRE Lightweight Long sleeve tee

The weather has turned here, and it's been time to break out the longer sleeves. My first selection, was this light but warm number from DRIFIRE, the Lightweight long-sleeve tee from their Layering Shirts and Tops range.

I got mine in XL, because of my super long arms, but was pleased to find it didn't swim on me, I assume this is due to the skin-snug fit they generally get worn with.

Some of the nice features of this shirt are that the ribbed collar maintains its shape, keeping it high and snug, without being constrictive. The soft fabric has given me no troubles with chafing, no matter what I've been doing, or how I've been layered.
Better yet, the antimicrobial blend of fabrics is designed to resist odor (proven after several days camp-side wear). It is also moisture-wicking and fast-drying, not through any coatings or washes, but through the propriety materials used. they wont wash out, or wear out.

Best yet, DRIFIRE gear is made with no-melt, no-drip fabrics, so apparently they will not melt or fuse to skin when exposed to flame or fire.  This is excellent, as I really do not like being on fire. It's one of my least favourite things. Fire resistant clothes. This is a feature I'm willing to stake my skin on. Hopefully not one I'll put to the test though.

The seams are well placed, and flat woven, which also cuts down on the chafing risk, especially when laden down with pack straps or under a plate carrier.

For a long sleeve  street-wear alternative to my other regular stand by, like the Truspec combat shirt or the short sleeve UnderArmor shirts I really like this shirt. Feels like a soft cotton tee, wears like a performance garment.

Review: Arena FlackJak goggles

I picked up a set of goggles a while back which I have added to my gardening, crafting and disaster preparedness kit. It's been a whiles since I have had a big set of goggles, my last set being a paintball mask, as I've made do with safety glasses or my much loved (and currently broken) Barz Optics goggles glasses to protect my eyeballs, in a way that my slim glasses just don't.

High speed fragments, harsh chemicals, dust and smoke in the eyeballs are just no fun and will ruin both your day and survival odds, which is why I look for ways to protect mine.



These are the Arena Flakjak goggles as seen under my Ops-Core style bump helmet This is the kind of setting they are specifically designed for, and you can see by the sleek fit, they really marry nicely with the brim of the helmet. They even fit my glasses reasonably well, although there is always a little skew one way or another when nose piece shares space with nose frame.

Arena state that their goggles feature what they call Razorback technology, which deals with fogging, particulate and moisture, by providing the a good airflow rate with a really interesting ridged vented filtration to create non-fogging conditions behind the lens while preventing debris like sand, moisture, and flying debris to enter the goggles.


The lens itself as well as the anti-fogging coatings, features OptiWide geometry which really makes for some really good optical clarity and distortion free peripheral vision to at least as far as I can see clearly with my glasses on, and only reduces my overall angle of vision by about 2cm or so at each side.

The lens material is ballistically designed for maximal eye safety exceeds Z87.1 - 2003 Plus standard and meets MIL-STD-662F (as related to .22 caliber, 17 grain, Type 2 fragment simulating projectile) standards. Which means my assertion for using it for for yard and craft work is probably spot on. Power tool fragments are not your friend.

One really nice feature of the goggles are the Buckle Management Retention Fastener (BMRF). This system allows for both quick and easy strap replacement, but also sturdy fitting both over a helmet, and against your bare head. The fits are quite different, and the rotating fastener really allows for this.

The modular buckle system also provides the goggles to integrate with a variety of helmet platforms, I tried it with my bump helmet, but also my Pro-tec Classic helmet and a couple of the hard-hats I have laying around.


One really important feature of any goggle is the lining and seal. The lining of these are made of the VS Foam, which is a proprietary goggle foam designed to wick moisture away from your face. The surface is comfortable, and the body both compressed enough to make for a good seal, but also not so soft as to over-compress.

I recently took them out for a running test which gave them a pretty good test of the fogging as well as the fit.

The certainly fit very nicely, were stable and very comfortable, but after about a km in, at 12kph, they began to fog up, and stayed that way, on or off, for the duration of the run.


I suspect that in a dry environment, they would probably work out pretty well, or perhaps if there had been more of a breeze, and a third party de-fogging treatment might well prove effective. It was a shame to find how fogged they became, as I can imagine in a hostile environment, or undergoing other strenuous activity (as I'd also found this to happen whilst doing some grinding and drilling and home) that this could be quite a risk to be aware of.

Still, I'd rather have some goggles than NOT have some goggles, and these will certainly have their place in my preparedness kit, to be sure. 

Home Front: ANZAC biscuits

Today being ANZAC day, I wanted to share something that perhaps some of my international readers might not be aware of, but certainly fit with the other offerings I've made around both recipes and cultural observations. A key component of ANZAC Day observance, and Australian culture in general are   ANZAC Biscuits. 

Made for turn of the 20th Centuary shipping times and wartime frugal living, the ANZAC biscuit is a solid, long lasting and nutritious supply that would be just as fitting in a Diggers chow bag as in a Preppers long term supply. 

The main trick is not eating them right away!

I used the http://www.taste.com.au recipe, many variants exist, but this worked out well. Ingredients combined in a bowl, balled and flattened on baking paper, baked for 10-15 minutes at 170oC.  

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup desiccated coconut
• 125g butter, chopped
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

I hope you have a go at this iconic Australian snack, and see how they might supplement your own long term food cache, care packages to troopers overseas and snack packs for prospective scouts, rangers and foragers.

Lest we forget. 

Home Front: just pop to the supermarket

Here's the thing. We (and I presume most of you, my readers) live in the industrialised world. Hot and cold running water, 24/7 power, high speed(ish) internet. A industrialised food transportation system. We have supermarkets, corner stores, grocers and the like, a stones throw from our homes. Perhaps a short drive in your Urban Assault Vehicle.

We can just assume that the shelves will be stocked, the lights will be on, and we'll be able to pretty much do all our shopping in one spot.

The problem is, even in industrial and affluent society like mine, these services can be disrupted but simple things. Power outages of more than a few hours tends to make supermarkets cull their perishable stock (pay attention, urban scavengers, you might be able to pick up a truckload of just-begin-to-thaw frozen goods).

Imagine what fuel shortages, road closures, quarantines or other long time disruption to supply chains would do.

My local supermarket is a marvel of modern convenience, is only 650m from my house. Easy walking distance for a bottle of juice, or a bag of chips, and we even drive when we do a big shop. How would it fare in the event of a disaster? How long would it take to empty of supplies? How long would it hold up if locked down?

It gives me pause for thought,  perhaps it might for you too.

I certainly have a mental list of "what to grab in the first few days of an event" which I will write up and share shortly.

Update: 5.11 Tactical - TDU Kilt re-release

The good folks over at Soldier Systems have reminded me (and now from me, to you) that 5.11 Tactical have re-released their Tactical Kilt.

I love mine, in fact, I'm wearing one right now. I brave both weather and the harassment of the ignorant (and actual Scots) to be comfortable and bad-ass. Pants are tyranny and I love freedom. Don't you?

Check them out at:
http://www.511tactical.com/kiltoff
http://www.511tactical.com/tactical-duty-kilt-134360.html
and hopefully on http://www.511tactical.com.au/ soon

Available with the following colors: Khaki (a greenish brown), Coyote (a tan brown), TDU Green, Tundra (a deep green), Charcoal, Dark Navy, Black, original MultiCam, and Realtree Xtra and in sizes 28-54.

If that wasn't cool enough, 5.11 are also donating $10 from every kilt sold to FBINAA and We Salute You Veterans.

Review: United Cutlery M48 Spear

Here's a fun item that I've had sitting by my front door in the umbrella stand for a while, and thought I should give it screen time. I've had a soft spot for spears for a long time, perhaps not as long as with swords, but still, a good long while. My first spear was a Kenyan Maasai spear, and I've previously shown off my Cold Steel Boar Spear which is as impressive a spear as you're likely to ever wave around and at 208cm (82 1/8"), it's not something you carry around lightly.

This is the M48 Kommando Survival Spear, by United Cutlery. This is another of the M48 family, which I have covered before with the Walking Axe and the very handy Ranger Hawk.
Sharing the same 30% fiberglass haft as the Walking Axe, which measures 92cm (36 1/8”) this is actually quite short for a spear, and reminds me of the Zulu Assegai and Ikiwa spears.

As with the Walking Axe, the haft is about 10-15cm too short for me to use as an effective cane, unless I wanted to grasp the head, never a good idea, really.

With the molded finger grips at the head end, and flared throat to prevent over penetration, the spear itself balances nicely when held here, one handed. Two other grip points, in the form of a series of inset groves about midway and at the butt-end allow for a number of different holds.

 Certainly in the places I'd want to be grasping a spear for close fighting, or in a shield wall, if that were my thing.

With a 20cm (8") head, featuring a rather impressive flat grind bevel on both sides. It manages this by being extremely thick, at almost half an inch at the middle, which features some fluting and holes through the spine, which drops the wight a little.

All up this piece weighs 1kg (2.2lbs), mostly at the head. Given the solid design of the head, I expect that it would take a lot more abuse than the head of the Walking Axe, which as you may have read, experienced some structural failure (but not catastrophically) on my last camping trip, chopping firewood.

I expect the M48 spear to pack a lot more wallop, but a spear is not an axe. I'll have to give some thought to how to demonstrate this effectively. Once again, the length of the spear gave me pause. Longer than a knife, longer than a sword, but not really long enough to keep a foe at more than "arms length". The other option was hunting medium sized game.

I haven't had a chance to go out far enough away from prying eyes to fling it around, but at 1 kg, it makes for a pretty dense package for a thrown weapon. It would make a very substantial club though.

Still, it's size allows it to go a lot of places a full length spear like the Cold Steel Boar Spear just can't. Like across your back whilst scrambling up a ravine, or climbing through a building.

It will fit in a car boot, or even lashed to a bike. That big broad head isn't suited to spear-fishing, but I can imagine that in survival situations it would work nicely for both sea-side wildlife and deterring land predators.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of this spear is its cross section.

I used a pizza box to demonstrate the cross section, and you can see just how solid the M48 blade is. This thing pokes big holes.Perhaps not as wide or deep as the Cold Steel, but certainly broadly.

I've not really had much opportunity to put it thought its paces, the fox that took my last bunch of pet rabbits hasn't been back since I threw the Walking Axe at it (close is NOT a hit, in this case) but I think that local livestock protection and vermin control might well be the best option for this piece, until it comes time to go house-to-house and ventilate a horde.