From CTsheepdog:
I have been lurking around the TEOTWAWKI blog for some time never having anything worthy to contribute. Then I noted the TEOTWAWKI blade contest and I said "this is for me". So I pondered the issue for a couple of days and realized that this is a vexing issue: what single blade would I have come TEOTWAWKI?
I have a few knives, many used on a regular basis and some kept around "just in case". I usually look for modestly to moderately priced blades that are tough and utilitarian. While I appreciate the excellent work of the myriad of custom makes out there, I find it difficult to part with several hundred dollars for a "survival knife" that might be "too pretty" for rough use. Sure, there are some makers who make brutish looking utility knives but if I can spent much less for the same utility then that is more money for ammo and training.
(BTW, at the risk of this sounding like the suck-up that it is, Randy's big blades rock! Should someone else win this competition, I could see myself parting with a couple of Franklins for some future addition to the Apocalypse series.)
Anyway, it is a serious challenge to come up with one cutting tool to rely on once TEOTWAWKI for:
- Building shelter (cutting down trees, notching logs, cutting boughs for roof)
- Woodcraft (preparing snares, creating utensils, making bow & arrows, making spears/punji sticks)
- Collecting vegetation to make cordage
- Personal defense
- Preparing food (cutting, chopping, open food cans)
- Preparing game (slaughtering, skinning, gutting, butchering, etc.)
- Digging (ditches, latrine, fire pit)
- Batoning logs for firewood
- Dismantling chain link or wood fencing for various materials
- Piercing gas tanks to get gas since most have anti-siphon screens
- Miscellaneous chopping, hammering and prying
So with this list and more in mind, I have to go with my Ontario Ranger RD7 (RD = Ready Detachment) shown in my standard configuration below. This 13" beast has blade nearly 8" long made of quarter inch thick 5160 that is powder coated. I have it rigged for "ready detachment" with its utility pouch stuffed with a Leatherman Wave, Smith sharpener, Firesteel, Wetfire tinder and a wire-cable saw. As shown in the photo of the RD7 sheathed, it makes for a compact package. Note that I have a length of paracord wrapped around the sheath.
Thus, if I was given 30 seconds to grab my kids, packs, things that go "bang" and forced to belt on a single blade for TEOTWAWKI, it would be the RD7.
As you can see at bottom, the RD7 has many friends that it beat in the competition to be my sole TEOTWAWKI blade. This selection includes everything from little CRKT and Ka-bar neck knives to folders from CRKT (my "disposable" blades) and Benchmade folders (my EDCs) to fixed-blade sheath knives from Mora, Spyderco, Ka-bar. And then there are the real big kukri-stye choppers from Ka-bar (good) and low-end Cold Steel (really cheap and "disposable"). Missing from this photo are several Cold Steel Bushman fixed and folders as well as flea-market butcher knives and cleavers re-tasked to yard and field work. I love nothing better than to find a big blade with decent steel at a cheap price.
In many ways, I believe Dave Grossman properly describes our current human existence in his "On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs", hence my email name. However, once the SHTF, the wolves will become more fierce and desperate and unprepared sheep will start to resemble wolves and the sheepdogs will have that much more to do just to protect their own "flock". IMLTHO, the Ontario RD7 is my one blade that is feel is extremely well suited for such challenges.
Thanks & Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Festive Festivus and Happy New Year to all.
Best,
CTsheepdog
Editor's Note: More pics after the jump! Want in on the contest? Here's how.
