Survivalists vs Preppers

Since the UK Peppers 2 B.S. was on the TV last month, I've noticed a lot more people on the various Facebook groups saying how when SHTF they will be bugging out, and anyone that stays is crazy blah blah.  These people are what I would class as survivalists, people who watch a bit too much Rambo and who's number one plan after the brown stuff has hit the wind turbine is to rob a gunsmiths.

The UK is 243,610 km² with 15% woodland cover, which means these people think they can come up trumps when 62million people try to squeeze into 36,541.5km2 of woodland, and they can secure it against other none friendly people either alone or in groups.  I'm sorry guys if I'm bursting your bubble but this might not be the most realistic scenario you can come up with.

At this point It may be worth noting that britain has a population density of 277 people per km², New Zealand has a population density of 16.5 people per km² (land area of 268,680 km² and population of 4,027,947) The US Has approximately Double that at 34.2 people per km² (Land Area 9,826,675 km and Population of316,182,000) with Austrailia having a staggering 2.8 people per km² (7,692,024 km²  land area of and a population at the last census of 21,507,717).

So while you may get away with hiding in the woods in the USA, Russia or anywhere else you may wish to go, it is clearly not an option for a large scale event, there just isn't the space to hide in!
If this dose happen, putting up your tent and putting some expensive gucciflarge netting over it wont help you, regardless of your training.  There is a reason our ancestors built palisades around there settlements which then evolved to castles like The Tower of London or Edinburgh,  your fellow man isn't very nice BUT he is bloody cunning, just having a trip flare in your campsite wont save you!

Looking back at history, throughout all the strife we have suffered the depression, spanish flu and many many civil wars, the number of times people have successfully bugged out is quite rare, YES, the Bielski partisans in russia, but what about the Marquis in France - well they had help from the guys still in the towns, and the same go's for the Yugoslavian partisans, and the Viet minh.

The only Mass exodus in recent history was in the Balkans, but the situation was that if they stayed the army would have killed the entire population.  So if having a massive Bergen full of gear makes you happy, fine, I'm not going to object, but if you insist that is the only way to be prepared, or to survive, then my friend I am afraid you are mistaken!

You should look at your home before you look at the countryside.  A smallholding/allotment and food/water/fuel supplies stored will allow better flexibility in the immediate stages of a situation, and anything that happens before that like a localized power cut.

Sorry guys rant over......For now!

Sharpening a machete

Sharpening A Machete

Recently I was asked to use a Cold Steel Kukri Machete, it was in absolutely dire condition, with nicks and really major burrs along the entire edge. 

I asked the guy that owns if it I could sharpen it, which he seemed pretty happy about.  The longest task about sharpening a machete is to go to Screwfix, B&Q or whatever your DIY centre choice and get the stuff to do the job.

You can use an expensive whetstone or fancy sharpening kits, but I tend to go for the more economical route every time.  You don’t need any fancy kit as sharpening is more about Practice and muscle grease than anything else, it’s the same technique for a 6cm Opinel as it is for a 30cm Machete.

All you will need is:

·         A Flat File, this is used initially to remove burrs and get the blade to a condition where it can be sharpened with the wet & dry paper

·         Wet and Dry paper, various grades, for this job I chose 120, 200, 600 and 1200

·         A sending Block.  You’ll have to support the wet & dry paper with something, and as a proper sanding block is only a £1.50 I went for this.  I would have preferred a cork block, but they didn’t have any in stock, c'est la vie.

 The first job is to remove all the burrs and to dress nicks out of the edge, to do this use the file and file work out any nick, burrs, and other damage.  Work in one direction pulling the file back from the edge.  If you are less confident about using the file, hold it so that you cannot injure yourself.

Try and keep an angle on the way that you are holding the file to aprox 40^o so that you are pulling the file back up-hill.

Once these have all been worked out, get the lowest grade of wet & dry you have, put it on the sanding block and put a small amount on the wet& dry paper. 

Starting at the tip of the blade move the sanding block backwards and along the blade on one motion.  Repeat this 10 times and then work on the other side, until the blade starts to improve, Once you think that the edge is not improving change from the lowest grade wet & dry to the next one up etc.  At this point keep the angle you hold the sanding block at this time should be close to 30^o.

Stropping, if the knife you are sharpening is finished it will have a layer of dirt from the sharpening process and burrs on the edge of the blade, to remove these use an old bet and fasten it to a doorway, then run the blade up and down the belt alternating the edge that is in contact with the leather, this will remove any during and give you a good edge.  Once you have finished this you should wash and thoroughly dry the blade as this will greatly extend the life of the metal.

Comparison shot of the Cold Steel Kukri Machete and an Indian Kukri of the 1930’s.

As I said earlier, it’s all about practice, the shape of the machete was a little inconvenient, but if you approach the task in a logical manner you should be ok.