Guest post today. Angry Mike (that crazy bastard at www.mresource.net) is at it again. “Angry Mike” - lol - that shit cracks me up. We need a peace loving, dance through tulips kind of post from you so we can call you “Less Than Angry Mike” - at least for a day.
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I was asked by a friend whether I would choose a knife, machete or axe in a survival situation if I could only have one and why I would choose it. My immediate response was that it would depend on where I would be. He then throws out an outlandish scenario, something to the effect of the government conducting an experiment with me in an undisclosed location and I had to grab one of them in 10 seconds or leave empty handed. I told him the machete would be my choice then.
He looked a bit puzzled, frowned and commented on my numerous knives and the fact that I currently have only one machete and one axe. He was expecting me to say knife. Now he wanted a thorough explanation of my choice. “It is simple” I said, “A knife can not effectively do what an axe or machete can do. An axe can not effectively do what a knife or machete can do but a machete can do most of what an axe can do and all of what a knife can do”. I think I fried his brain at this point as one eye crossed and he started to stutter.
Machetes have been used throughout history as tools and weapons as have axes and knives. It is a known fact that a small knife can not do the work that a large knife can but the opposite is often true. Anyone who has ever attempted to split a fallen tree limb for fire wood or build a shelter with a small knife will attest to this fact. Turn a large hunting knife on to the task and you are making progress. Put a machete to good use and you will make short work of it. An axe or hatchet would work equally well for this job.
If you need to clean a fish or clean and skin an animal a small knife could get the job done with patience and effort. A large hunting knife will probably be more effective. A machete, while being much longer and a bit unwieldy for the task will prove effective and will easily chop through bone. Using an axe or hatchet for these tasks would scare me though.
Good luck cleaning your fish and game. Most axes and hatchets are not capable of being sharpened to the point that they will easily cut, as they are designed to chop. I would be looking for another option like a smashed rock with a sharp edge, bringing me back to the equivalent of a small knife. At least you could chop off the head with the axe. Fish with entrails and scales anyone?
Let’s look at it from a self defense perspective. If all I had to defend myself with was a small knife such as a Swiss Army “Executive”, I wouldn’t. I would just fist fight the aggressor. It would be a useless and hopeless endeavor that would most likely do little more than piss my opponent off, after he was done laughing so hard he had to pee. A hunting knife would be much more effective from the defensive and attack standpoint as well as being intimidating to most people.
A machete gives you the advantage of a lot more reach through a longer blade that can be sharpened to near razor sharpness, the ability to slash, stab, slap and swing it at your opponent as well as flip it over and use the unsharpened edge to put a serious but less lethal whooping on him that is capable of crushing bone and inflicting serious trauma without deep cutting. It is also intimidating as all hell and most people would rather choose flight than fight when faced with a machete.
LOL! I’m so sorry here Angry, but I just gotta interject on your last sentence. Have you ever seen the movie Machete? LOL - no, me neither. I guess it’s still in production, but you soooooo gotta watch the movie trailer - LOL. It’s hilarious as shit. I have no intention of watching this trash movie, but the trailer is AWESOME! Plus - it has boobies! Choice quote: “They soon realize they just fucked with the wrong Mexican!” LOLOLOL
Is it just me or is that Cheech from Cheech and Chong playing the bad ass priest? Lol! Gawd, I hope that movie never gets finished - lol. I’m sorry, back to Angry’s post.
An axe or hatchet could be a very formidable weapon but you are limited to swinging it or jabbing with it, effectively turning it into a heavy stick. You are vulnerable on the down swing, you can easily be assaulted before you get your second swing off if you miss the first time and it can be grabbed and snatched out of your hands by your opponent with relative ease.
As far as prices go even the smallest Swiss Army knives are in the $15.00 range. A decent axe is in the $20-$50.00 range. A good quality hunting knife is in the $40-$100.00 range. A cheap machete can be purchased for around $8.00 and a good quality machete for less than $30.00 in most places.
It is my opinion that dollar for dollar and pound for pound, a machete is the ultimate survivor’s tool. That is not to say all of the others, as well as blades not listed do not have their place. If you are on a tight budget or can only take one, take the machete!
~ Angry Mike
Thanks Angry!
- Ranger Man
BTW: If I had to choose just one - you know what I’d choose - my survival knife on roids. That being said, the Crocodile Golok #2 machete you carry is pretty mean looking. I wonder if that Mexican Machete dude owns one - or two.
And, the Farmer’s Almanac is predicting a COLD winter. Is it just me or does the Farmer’s Almanac predict a cold winter EVERY winter? Year after year. Did you notice all of their advertisements for cold weather stuff in their pages? Hmmmm . . . . .
Now, go take a class from Weaponcraft. They’re the best - lol.
This post is written as one big THANK YOU to all the readers that have supported SHTFblog since the first post back on November 19th, 2007 (National Ammo Day). Since that post I’ve been letting Amazon profits, Field Manual profits, commissions, three PayPal donations, and advertising revenue (thank you Weaponcraft) accumulate until I had enough to do something with. It’s been 10 months. My intent has always been to use the “SHTF money” toward SHTF “stuff”. I have by no means gotten rich off this blog, and figuring the time and effort involved, the value of my time (financially speaking) would’ve been far better spent somewhere else. BUT - this blog also servers a self-entertainment role.
In any case, I’m cashing out the total I’ve saved and spending it. Nearly 2/3’s of it has been spent on THIS:
Wow! No THAT’S what I’m talking about! Aren’t you all just wicked happy that you’ve supported my drinking habit? LOL!
Seriously, check that action - holy home brew heaven! I say “home brew heaven”, because it all rests on my dining room church pew (where I pray for forgiveness every other hour). On the far left is a 10 gallon, stainless steel sweet ass brew pot with lid, spigot, and connection for a thermometer. 2nd from the left is a prime wort chiller with garden hose nozzle. Then the fermenting bucket that’s holding various other equipment like the hydrometer, bottle washer, etc. Then we’ve got the carboy, and a basic home brew kit to get me started on the learning curve. Across the bottom is enough “Grolsch” style bottles to hold a standard 5-gallon batch. Yum!
Missing somewhere is my thermometer . . . . I think the kids were playing with it. *grumble grumble* I also figured that 10-gallon brew pot will help me make some stone soup after the apocalypse.
I’ll chart my first brew session for you, have no fears, but first I gotta score something to sanitize the equipment. Now, if you’ve ever had a home brew, don’t be turned off if it didn’t taste good. There are those that make good home brews, and those that make shitty home brews. I’ve had both, and I’ve been conducting brewing research so that I know what makes one brew good and another lousy. I expect failures along the way, but hey - failures can still help you tie one on!
So - thanks to all of you for your support, and - if you didn’t use the SHTFblog Amazon search bar to conduct your Amazon shopping, or send me a PayPal donation, or whatever - at least you dropped a SHTFblog.com link out there in cyberspace somewhere . . . right? . . . . told your friends . . . . right? . . . . please? . . . . . anyone?
Yeah, so there you have it. “But wait,” you say. “What else will you buy with the remaining funds?”
Good question! Well, I just ordered 3 books from Amazon with the funds. What books? These three:
The first two are the kinds of books you just gotta have in your survival book collection, because when the grid goes down and you’re all alone - knowledge is power. They’re awesome books - just awesome. The 3rd book, though - that one is for fun. Home brewing has a bit of artistic, self-reliance flare to it, but to add a TEOTWAWKI flare, I want to learn how they did it in the old days. I know I can grow hops, and I can use corn, but . . . I’m in New England, and they did it in New England waaaay back in the day without going to the store to buy malt extract. I’m sure it can still be done. THAT will be interesting . . . all in good time . . . all in good time - NO Ranger Man - home brew NOW! All in good time . . . . . sorry - I digress.
- Ranger Man
BTW: Iran said they’re going to build more nuclear power plants (news article here).
Kayleen from Details magazine sent me the following questions in orange for the article she’s writing. Having taken the time to answer them - who then wants to write a blog post? Not me. While I enjoy SHTF chatter, I don’t enjoy it so much that I’d want to write what would equate to a second “post” - soooooooo, this post is an open response to Kayleen’s questions. If you have your own thoughts on the questions, by all means add ‘em in the comments. Word to your mother.
Why do you think younger guys who live in suburban and urban areas have started prepping?
First, let me say I’m happy with your use of the word “prepping”. I consider myself more of a “prepper” than I do a “survivalist”. (Yes, “prepper” is grammatically incorrect, it should be preparer, but “prepper” rolls better off the tongue.) I see a prepper as a more moderate survivalist, someone that’s aware of the need to prepare, but isn’t into government conspiracy theories and such. Hell, even the government advocates a basic level of preparedness beyond what the average citizen maintains.
The “younger guys” you’re speaking of are preparing, because they’ve become aware of the need to do so. This is a generation that witnessed the rage of Y2K. Granted nothing happened, but there was a fear present by average everyday folks, a fear not easily forgotten. While all systems fully functioned, people became aware of how dependent we are on simple things like computers. Then it was 9/11 and the horrid government response to Katrina. For me, it was the latter that really struck home. I don’t think the government is out to get me, but I do think it’ll be inept at delivering help should I and much of the nation need it during a time of disaster. Then there’s SARS, Avian Flu , peak oil , global warming, and increased food and fuel costs. Watch the evening news - why wouldn’t you prepare? Now Iran wants the nuke, we see Soviet-era actions by Russia, and we’re reading congressional reports on EMP threats.
We live in an era of just-in-time delivery where what’s on the grocery store shelves is all that’s in the store. How long before the store shelves are emptied if avian flu hit and truckers stayed home? How long before people freak out? Younger guys such as myself are beginning to think about these things - awareness. When we lift peas into our mouth at the dinner table we’re thinking about our disconnectedness to the source, the fragility of the system we depend on.
Add to this many younger men are now fathers of young children. The desire to prepare for the unexpected is greater when you need to prepare for a family. It’s one thing to imagine going hungry, quite another to imagine your children going hungry.
There are also few signs the reasons to prepare are going away any time soon. Energy prices will correct itself in the short-term, but the long-term direction is only up. There are more and more people in the world, and more want the American lifestyle. The world can only handle so many people sharing our consumptive nature. It’s simple supply and demand, and who is holding out hope that global leaders are really going to address global warming? No one. Perhaps avian flu threats will pass, but we’ve heard again and again that the world is past due for a pandemic, and the world has changed dramatically since our last pandemic. The world is a much smaller place now, and we’re far more reliant on systems than past generations.
People are being rationale about the threats. They’re aware of them, they recognize them, but they’re not anticipating the end-of-the-world tomorrow. People are prepping in urban and suburban areas - because that’s where they live. They’ve found a healthy balance between being prepared and being a survivalist.
Why do you think they’ve joined a movement that was traditionally filled with older conservative men who lived completely off of the grid?
Because these folks are more . . . normal. While they’re aware of the need to prepare, it doesn’t dictate their lifestyle like the old-school “survivalist” types. These folks want a normal life, but they also want to be ready if things suddenly turn abnormal.
And why do you think they’re more likely to stock non-essentials, like chocolate or wine or ipods in waterproof cases, that the guys before were?
Ipods in waterproof cases? I haven’t heard that one before. Chocolate and wine, though - sure! No, they may not be “essentials”, but there’s nothing wrong with storing comfort measures. Wine is good, but wine after shit hits the fan will be really good. Besides, what’s the worst case scenario with stocking chocolate and wine? “Oh dear, we have all these bottles of wine just sitting in the basement - this really sucks.” Ha! Yeah right!
And why do you think these guys are willing to stay around cities instead of moving and living completely off the grid?
Because that’s where they work for the most part. Most preparers don’t think the world will end, but they do think there’s a chance things could turn really shitty at a moment’s notice.
Let me also say that there are increasing numbers of “green preparers”, the eco-conscious. I, for example, am probably a bit more liberal than my average reader, but our end goals are the same. I’m learning how to garden not only for food security, but also because local food doesn’t travel obscene distances and it’s often organic. Gardening saves money, gives you exercise, connects you with nature, and it tastes better.
These “green preparers” may also choose a suburban or urban lifestyle, because living where you work only makes sense from a financial and eco-friendly perspective. There are many reasons to adopt a preparedness lifestyle beyond just shit hitting the fan. If you adopt a more simple, more basic lifestyle that assures your basic needs will be met, you’ll benefit in many ways. It’s a win-win.
- Ranger Man
BTW: Prepping is also FUN! Hell, I can remember as a little kid playing outside during the brisk days of fall, stacking make pretend piles of firewood near the lean-to camp I built. Nowadays bringing out the tools to build a pantry means I can play Bob Villa. Throwing lead down range is a great way to spend an afternoon, and who can’t help but smile when the power goes out from a winter storm and you’re inside feeding the wood stove, brewing hot chocolate?
Oh baby, can’t ya just smell it in the air? Deeeeeer season! I can’t wait!
“But Ranger Man,” you say. “Take a sedative, bro. Maine deer season doesn’t start until November 1st.”
To which I respond, “Shit, bro. I’m talkin’ ’bout ARCHERY SEASON!”
To which you respond, “Yeah, OK. Well, you’ve still got to wait until October 2nd.”
To which I respond, “Shit, holmes. I’m talkin’ bout EXPANDED Archery Season! It starts September 6!”
Oh yes, SHTF party peeps in Maine - ready your bow. Some areas in Maine have such high concentration of deer that the state allows an “expanded” archery season in these specific areas. They’re typically along the coast and in populated area where the house lots make great deer ground and there are typically firearms ordinances.
In these zones you can take as many does as you want to buy $12.00 tags for and/or one buck for a $33.00 tag. The objective during this season is to put meat in the freezer - period. Whether it’s a little skipper, a big doe, or a button buck - bring ‘em down! Get ‘em in the freezer! Secure the protein! MORE MEAT!
For you see the problem with “regular” archery season is that if you bag a deer in October with your bow - you’re done! No November firearms hunting for you. Tagged out! Hang your hat! You’re . . . FINISHED!
But if you wait for the more exciting firearms season, you run the risk of not tagging out - NO MEAT! But expanded archery seasons - for designated areas - runs September 6 through December 13. It’s your insurance season in case you don’t get lucky during firearms (or get too drunk at deer camp to wake up early enough). It eases the pressure in November, and if you DO get something in November, too - shazam!MORE MEAT!
It’s not easy, though. Sure the deer population in these areas is more dense, but you gotta get pretty damn close to bring ‘em down. You gotta employ your ninja skills.
Friggin’ arrows ain’t cheap, though - are they? I had to replace a few, and bought these 6 PSE arrows at a local shop, and the damn things cost $45.00!
Yowzer! And that’s with target tips! Granted I went with the carbon fiber arrows instead of aluminum, but still. You don’t want to lose these things.
I know, I know, you start to think, “Hmmmm. $12 for a doe tag, $45 for arrows . . . how much meat would $57 buy?” Lol - I know, but hey. You can use the arrows over again - usually. And there’s the whole primal, man bring home meat thing going on, too. Self-sufficiency. You know, except I didn’t make the arrows . . . or the bow.
Expect more posts on hunting in the weeks and months to come. ‘Tis the season. Winter will be here before we know it. Secure your meat.
Holy .44 mag on the teacher’s desk - lol! “What did you say, kid? You didn’t get your homework done? You DIDN’T get your HOMEWORK DONE!?”
Lol - get a load of this fresh news. A school superintendent in Texas announced today that his school will now allow teachers to pack heat. Check the quote from this news article:
The board of the small rural Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected, said the district’s superintendent, David Thweatt.
“We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, ‘What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?” he said. “It’s just common sense.”
Board members estimate it would take first responders nearly 30 minutes to get to the rural school in an emergency.
Teachers who wish to bring guns will have to be certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas and get crisis training and permission from school officials, he said.
Yowzer ka-chow-zer, I can see a pile of people throwing a hissy fit over this one - lol.
Of course, packing heat in school was actually quite common in Texas back in the day - BY THE STUDENTS! Check this 1923 El Paso High School yearbook picture of the girls’ rifle team - lol:
Hell, I can remember an old timer in Maine telling me that way back in the day it was nothing for all of the boys to bring their rifles to school during deer season. They’d come into school, set their rifles against the back wall, then all head to the woods after school like it was no big deal.
*sigh*
Where has society taken us since then?
- Ranger Man
BTW: Thanks to those of you purchasing the Congressional EMP report. Your support is much appreciated, and - if the Russians keep up their Soviet-era tactics - an EMP threat may become very real again.
Yo yo yo! Nincognito is at it again with another guest post. His last post trashed my use of “survival ninja”. He e-mailed me after watching the recent Batman movie in such a TEOTWAWKI tizzy that he had to get his frustrations out into a post. Being the wicked nice dude that I am, who am I to deny Nincognito a forum to vent his aggression?
Before we begin, however - Kayleen Schaefer said a number of you responded to her via the Survivalism is Sexy post. Kayleen now has a more specific request for the Details magazine article she’s writing. If you live in the Baltimore / Washington D.C. area, she’s hoping you might contact her so she can visit and photograph your storeroom. Note: She DOES NOT want to photograph you (who would? lol - kidding - chill), nor will she give away your secret location. If you’re willing to spread the TEOTWAWKI word (and see your storeroom become famous) let her know pronto (hint: that means now). Contact “Kayleen” at Kayleen.Schaefer @ fairchildpub.com or by calling 212-630-3869
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I saw the batman movie, and thought it SUCKed.
Sure, Heath Ledger was great, though the dialogue was a bit convoluted. But the rest of the movie… Just too long! Anything that puts my butt to sleep, or gets me looking at my watch too fast, is just done. What kind of hero jumps out the window to rescue the chick that he’s planning to nail, and leaves the entire party trapped with the Joker up in the Penthouse??? Not to mention, did anyone else notice that the bat-motorcycle didn’t seem to be going very fast? I had a scooter in high school that hauled more ass than that thing…
Anyhow, everyone I know is talking about how great the movie was. They say its dark, that it was interesting, blah blah. I want to focus on something that only a few people have picked up on- the fighting, of course…
The fighting method used is the somewhat dubious “KFM” (Keysi Fighting Method - or as I like to say, Kwickly-Fabricated-Method) whose only claim to fame is that it is in fact used in Batman. cool! A martial art made for video?! How totally useful! (BTW- Here’s a link to an article where a Times writer actually agrees with me).
Ranger Man asks, were the old Batman fighting scenes better?
While really cool looking on film (nice and slow, now!) it’s conspicuously absent from other notable fighting locations… The ring, the octagon, the street/police, and the military. When you look at fighting systems, they tend to be built around really specific ideas. For instance, ring-fighting methods are usually about standup/knockouts or chokes & submission holds, while if you watch a police officer fight someone (or just see some of their training) their tools are more for self-protection and the use of overwhelming force/control of an opponent. Kick ‘em in the nuts? Sure fuckin’ thing, says Andy Griffith. Then there are the military forms- from what I read and am told, the US Army is teaching its people a combination of Brazilian Ju Jitsu and Muy Thai- stand up and ground fighting ring methods, that are taught mostly to build confidence and cohesion. I am sure that there are many Army folks who will argue, but hey, that’s how it goes.
Now, what’s the difference between the police and the army? Well, if you’re a state trooper, a sheriff, or city cop, you are a thousand times more likely to be on patrol alone when dealing with an opponent. Therefore, it’s critical that an officer can keep himself from getting stabbed, shot, jumped or killed without much or any help. Krav Maga has a whole segment of their system that is only taught to law enforcement- specifically because of the nature of the attacks and the violent nature of the responses. As for soldiers, they’re armed and armored to the teeth, and usually travel in groups- squad and tactics are probably more life-saving for the opposition that they will run into, rather than spending lots of time training hand to hand. Surely they get the basics (I’ve read that it takes about 270 hours of hand to hand to be considered an expert in the military- which is about half of the the yearly amount of training that most “intermediate” martial arts students get) but it’s not cost effective to spend tons of time making them into boxers and grapplers! That said, most traditional battlefield arts contain the same basics- it’s just a matter of how they’re trained (IE to look cool when you do kata forms, or to knock the shit out of some peckerhead picking a fight with you). And then, there are the real specific systems like Kali, Escrima, and etc.
So, as cool as Batman looked, it’s too bad that the producers didn’t leverage some real fighting - there are many incredibly talent ring, law enforcement and military experts out there who could’ve taken Batman a few steps closer to the brutal reality of real fighting arts.
Here is a really neat fight scene by comparison:
~ Nincognito
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That action is insane, bro. Word.
- Ranger Man
BTW: For those of you that don’t read all of the bazillion different survival blogs every day, check out M.D. Creekmore’s The Survivalist Blog. Creekmore was the first site ever to link to SHTFblog, quickly followed by Bison Survival Blog.
