Mike, I just received your mirror,THANKOU! I managed to delete your email in a frenzied SPAM attack :O( Please email me again! Chris

Sent my email. Also I'm testing something for my own kit you might be interested in. www.geocities.com/hollywood/set/2292/doukdoukrev.htm It ugly as sin but for 15.00 and super compact it has potential.

The Germans copied his knife with their mercater kat 55, a 3" spearpoint with simple lock and identical handle.Current production is junk. ragweedforge has the french opinels. You have to reseal the handles or they bind when wet. You can drill a lanyard hole or reshape the generous pearwood handle to suit.These and the moras are inexpensive spares and first knives for children.

Thanks for the info! I'm looking for something that qualifies as a knife and dosn't hog room in a survival tin. I'd like to keep the tin as a completly selfcontained plan "B" and I've tried the shaved down Opinel, bigger tin, ect. ect. and am still not happy. You and Doug are the ultimate gear guys, any other possibilities you could suggest would be greatly appreciated.

The tin is the final determining factor of length. Folders have the advantage, but have bulky handles.I looked at blade blanks, essntially skeleton handles. To get anything reasonable the kit itself needed to be larger again in length. I concluded a very small knife could be included, but a truly secure sheath knife should be carried. Presently there is a tiny Buck folder in my pocket tin, puukko on neck, Cold Steel SRK on belt, ULU and additional Moras in my rucksack.

Thanks it sounds like we've come to similar conclusions, my problem is that I work in a secure areas, travel in PC area s ect. They even took the plastic knives out of the lunch room and security was even taking the box cutters that the company gave us away.Small folders well out of sight are the only thing still OK. Since thats the enviroment I spent a lot of time in Its a small PC knife or no knife most of the time. And after being forced to use razor blades everyday for what we use to use knives for the drop is really starting to bother me.

For a small PSK, I'd think the best bet is still the razor blade. It's small and flat and can be used for most critical survival tasks (shaving tinder, cutting thread/cord, etc.). <br><br>Hmm...<br><br>Are there razor blades longer than the inch and a half scaper blades? A longer blade would be easier to use and would not take up much room.<br><br>Also, can thses blades be sharpened? At home, I just toss them when they wear down. But in the wild you may not have that option.<br>

I have re-sharpened X-acto style blades. They are basically the same as razor blades. They don't turn out as nice as a new blade though. You need a sharpener/stone with very fine grit because the blades are so thin and a courser grit just tears up the thin edge. But then you would need a sharpener in your PSK which would take up qutie a bit of room.

Of course if you are not naked.... May we presume a leather belt? I would think that such a thin blade as a razor would respond well to being stroped on the leather belt. Heck it works for a shaving razor.

Bill,<br><br>My father claims to have sharpened them in his college days on a piece of glass. I've never tried it, though. A friend of mine, who can sharpen anything, uses a set of ceramic rods with excellent results. I've seen him do it, but it is beyond my skills...I can't sharpen anything, despite years of trying. I use a DMT gadget with an angle holding clamp. It's the only thing that works for me. Never tried it on a razor blade though. DMT makes a product called a mini-sharp; it's just a small (apx. 1 1/2 x 3 x 1/8 inches) piece of plastic and diamond that wouldn't take up much room in a kit. They come in various grits, the extra-fine would seem appropriate for razor blades.<br><br>Hope this helps.<br><br>Ade

If you want a psk sized sharpener use sand paper. 600 to 1000 grit wet or dry (the black sand paper) does a decent job on most edges. It is not as durable as other sharpeners but it is cheap and disposable. Just place the paper on a flat surface and use it like a stone. It might even work well placed on the topside of your tin with carpet tape, although i haven't tried it for that application. I have used it taped to glass for sharpening and decking edges on chisels and plane irons.

There are longer blades- box-cutter replacement blades. Even though you can improvise a handle by wrapping tape around them, it is one of the more foolhardy things I've seen done in years. And they are designed to snap, so maybe not.<br><br>And they can be stroped on glass, with the top of a car door window being about the best I've found. <br><br>If you pack a pencil stub in your PSK, then a handle is easy to make for a razor blade, and the curved ones that are more like a surgical scalpel have more cutting edge than those that are stamped on diagnal.

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I should of told you exactly what I've tried thou. Exacto ducted taped to pencil OK for gutting ect.. Razor blade on split stick bound three point with safty wire, thats what the two notches and hole are for right, OK reminds me of a flake knife but now I can snap the blade. Carpet knife blade modified with lashing cut outs, same size as a razor blade but now hafts alot better and strong enough to cut small game trap notches ect. I can live with that as a plan "C" but if their's anything better out there thats just a little better I'd love to here it. I'm a little long in the tooth and my back does'nt like carrying as much as some people do. Never needed more than two knives and I take alot less risks now.

Good idea! I have some 1500 grit paper.....I will have to try that!!!

>>>I have used it taped to glass for sharpening and decking edges on chisels and plane irons. <<<<br><br>I suppose it would be easy enough to glue a piece of extra fine emory cloth to the outside of the altoid tin. Hmm... neat idea. Thanks.