As a striker for the ferrocium rod. Stainless knives don't throw sparks very well.

For when that kinky evening goes terribly wrong.....

Stainless steel knives can throw sparks just as well as the hacksaw blade IF they are set up properly.

All you need is a square sharp edge....the hacksaw blade is set, but you could square the spine of that knife and it would perform just as well.

There is no validity to the notion that you need carbon steel on a ferro rod. Anything sharp can throw sparks. Here is stainless from my Farmer tossing some sparks from the sharp awl.







I am not sure how you might get that handcuff key out of that container.....in handcuffs. So I might move it.

I have never seen a handcuff key, so I had to go to Google Images and see what they look like. They apparently come in 'disguises', too: one is part of a belt buckle, and one is a ring.

I've read about guys keeping one taped to their body, like on their lower back, just in case they're handcuffed with their hands behind them.

Funny thing, though... I've never even heard of a woman carrying a handcuff key. I wonder why that is???

Sue

Actually, I personally think that DR is wrong about this one. The Survival kit is supposed to provide signal/fire/water purification for 1-3 days. But it could be streched to a week. Under those circumstances a decent fishing kit becomes desirable.

I have tweeked mine by adding:

6 more hooks + split shot.
1 silicon jig.
40" Spyderwire.
40" Braided fly-fishing backing line.

I have also added 6 more Tinder-Quick and 10 lifeboat matches with striker. Just in case I loose or break the Spark-Lite.

I personally am of the view that you should go into long term survival mode on day 2 of a situation and start hunting, trapping and fishing in earnest.

I would also urge anyone who has the good judgement to carry the RS kit to add a water bottle, knife, metal cup, 40' of cord, lighter, torch and something to waterproof a shelter with. Bin bag, mylar blanket, AMK heat sheet, poncho etc.

Broken wrist and thumb.

Even if you stretched it out to a week you should get by without having to fish/hunt. A week without food would suck, but if all I had was what I could fit into a mini kit like the pocket pack I would rather have a ziplock bag and some water purification tabs as opposed to fish hooks and line. good drinking water will always higher on my list of priorities than fishing will be.

Everone has their own way to skin the cat though.

Sorry Yuccahead, I missed your original reply and question about the hacksaw blade.

As was already pointed out, the hacksaw blade is for use with the ferro rod that is epoxied to the back of the whistle, it works well. Schwert is correct that anything reasonably sharp will scrape sparks off the ferro rod. I did want something to scrape with within the mini-kit itself, so I included the hacksaw blade.

The hacksaw blade is also cut on an angle at the end and sharpened for use as a small blade. The hacksaw blade is carbon steel and used with the right stone (quartz in my area) will produce a spark. I remember an internet video that showed this (I thought it was Andrew Price on A-Z Bushcraft) but I cannot find it now?

Sorry about the "http" x 2 I am not much of a computer guy.

Mike

Hi Schwert,

The handcuff key was not intended for me to use if I was placed in handcuffs, but for me to use to unlock a suspect/prisoner if I have forgotten/lost the normal EDC key I carry.

But, to find out if I could unlock myself I just now tried to see if I could access the mini PSK key while in cuffs. If your hands are locked if front it is easy to do, if your hands are locked behind you it is tougher because you cannot see what you are doing; I was able to do it in a couple of minutes. The toughest part was getting the pouch unclipped from my belt as there is a hook at the bottom of the plastic clip. Finding/extracting the key from the kit was also difficult and I ended-up having to pull everything out of the canister.

When I was younger I was much more flexible and due to having long arms I was able to pass my hands that were handcuffed behind my back, under my feet, so my hands would end-up in front. With my bad back and knees I am afraid to even try it now!

Mike

Hey Taurus,

How about sharing the broken wrist/thumb story (if you are allowed to) we promise to learn from your experience and not laugh.

Mike