Make your own blade
by Mathew William Brownell
(Concordia,Ks.)
When you have spent enough time in the wilderness, slept on the cold ground. Gathered the wood and started enough campfires. Made shelter from the elements. Found water sources and purified them, hunted and trapped game, and fished in lake and river.
You will without a doubt know exactly what you will need to not only survive, but do it comfortably. You will know a wool blanket combined with a well built debris hut will keep you warm on the coldest of nights. Know to find water at the lowest parts of the terrain your in. Know how much wood to gather to get you through the night. And understand the habits and sign of all the animals, fish, insects, you can use as a food source. You'll know what tools to bring and what works best for all camp chores.
In the end, experience will show you all you need is a good strong, sharp, knife. A wool blanket, and a flint, sharpening stone. With these thing you can survive easily in any wilderness, if you possess the knowledge gained through experience. And I speak to those with such experience, not the novice.
If your a novice, take your time, carry all you think you'll need. In time lugging around gear you don't really need will get old. But only through practical experience will you come to know what the season woodsman does. And to that woodsman I say, make your own blade, and it is simple.
Carbon steel, fulltang, heat treated to RC 54-56. Grind out the blade shape you want slowly, keeping the blade cool with repeated quenching in a bucket of cold water, so as not to lose the temper in the blade. Finish with file work, it'll take some time, but that time will allow you to know the steel. Understand its strengths and weaknesses and create a blade you'll truly trust.
Wrap with cord or drill out some screw holes and mount a slab handle,whichever you prefer. Though I recommend a cord wrap, its easy to fix/replace. And the cord could come in handy for other survival situations. Dual purpose, multifunction is the key to survival tools,anyway.
Make a sheath to fit the blade shape or find one that will fit. And there you have it, a knife you know as well as you own hands. What better comfort to have in your hands than a knife made by them. That kind of confidence in a survival situation is exactly what one needs.
With your experience you'll know what blade shape, length, weight, best suits your needs. And once you've taken the step and made that knife, the confidence instilled will be vary gratifying.
If you can make the one tool you would need the most to survive, survival itself seems much less difficult. All Good Medicine.
Learn to survive in the wilderness.
