I referred to our Polaris Ranger 570 yesterday as “The Indispensable Tool.” It’d be hard to exaggerate just how true that is for Deb and me — it hauls stuff and transports us, saving us inestimable steps and sweat and strain. It’s a keeper.
A recent video from one of our regular YouTube channels, Off-Grid with Jay & Jen, suggested five essential tools for anyone living off-grid:
- A pickup truck;
- A chainsaw;
- A log splitter or a maul;
- A power station or a generator; and
- A source of income.
At the end of the video, Jay added a “bonus” essential — a side-by-side (their Mule, our Ranger).
When it comes to must-haves for rustic living, obviously the list is longer than five or six items, but I can’t quibble with the handful offered by Jay & Jen. One of these days, I’ll put together a post on what Deb and I have found most valuable.
To refer to any knife as “a sharpened prybar” is to demean it as unsophisticated and inelegant, even crude, of little use for general tasks. No maker wants to hear that sort of epithet leveled at their blades.
Well, with maybe one exception.
Glock, known for its blocky-yet-reliable pistols, also makes a knife. Two, actually — the Feldmesser 78 (Field Knife 78) and the Feldmesser 81 (Survival Knife 81). They’re identical, except that the 81 has saw teeth on its spine.
Glock knives might look like bayonets, and (with an adapter) they can be fitted to a Steyr AUG rifle, but their primary mission is to serve as rugged field knives.
Handle and sheath are molded from the same polymer used in Glock pistols. The saber-ground, stick-tang blade, made of 1095 carbon steel (55 HRC), is 6.5 inches long and 0.2 inches thick. Overall length is 11.4 inches, and total weight (including the secure, simple sheath) is eight ounces.
These are unpretentious knives. They’re not subtle and they’re not works of art. They’re sharpened prybars, dammit, not KA-BARs, and proud of it.
Wanna punch a hole in a steel drum? Put me in, Coach.
They’re not expensive, either. Street prices right now range from $40 to $50, depending on handle and sheath color. (There are four to choose from.)
What’s my take on the Glocks? I think they make outstanding oh-shit and go-to-hell knives — cheap and damned-near indestructible. A Glock might be The Perfect Truck Knife.
One rides in the toolbox of my Silverado, in fact. Deb keeps a 78 tucked away in her Wrangler.
I don’t spend a lot of time trying to put a razor’s edge on our Glock knives — a utility edge is adequate and pretty much what they deserve. What I will do with an 81, which is the model I prefer, is give the saw teeth an appropriately rough massage.
From the factory, the saw is little more than a formality, electrophoretically coated like the rest of the blade (excepting the sharpened cutting edge). I’ll clamp the knife in a vise, bust out a triangular file and work the jagged spine — first to remove the black phosphate, then to give each tooth an actual point and a cleaner edge.
The result is still a ripper, not a cutter, but it works a whole lot better than it would without a little attention.
There are better field knives out there, for sure, perhaps even better values. I don’t bash anyone for choosing the Glock, though — in the right hands, it’ll definitely get the job done.
Used-to-be-Hurricane Francine zagged west more than forecasters expected and brought us over three quarters of an inch of much-needed rain by the time she left around noon today.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB
