A fixed blade for your PSK

A couple of months ago somebody posted a request for ideas for a fixed blade knife that was small enough to fit into a PSK. That thread has apparently gone bye-bye. But I remember somebody—I believe Chris Kavanaugh—suggested cutting the handle off of a small Mora knife and then fashioning a handle in the field if necessary. (Chris if I am paraphrasing you incorrectly please let me know.) That idea has stuck with me, and the other day I went to Ragnar’s website with the intention of ordering a small Mora for this purpose.

It turns out Ragnar also sells just the blades for people who want to make their own knives, and he has a large selection. I settled on the smallest: a Helle #56 (2-1/4” blade) in laminated stainless steel. It is the one in the middle in this picture:

http://www.ragweedforge.com/helle-b.jpg

When it arrived I cut about 3/16” off the end of the tang which made it a perfect fit diagonally across the bottom of my “Japanese lunchbox” or BCB-style PSK container. It came out of the box shaving sharp. What I ended up with for $13 is an extremely useful, sturdy blade that measures 2-1/4” long with a 3-3/4” tang. When wrapped with paracord (my most likely field-expedient handle material) the overall length is just over 6”.

Ragnar has a blade size for just about everybody, and I can’t say enough about his service. If you want to see the rest of the blades that he offers, go here:

http://www.ragweedforge.com/BladeCatalog.html


Regards, Vince

I will gladly second your comments about Ragnar. We all look for good businesses to deal with and try to avoid the bad ones. Let me go on record as saying that Ragnar is a GREAT guy to work with. His service is top notch. I have bought a few Moras from him. Through a lengthy series of email correspondances Ragnar even taught me how to properly prepare a Mora for striking spark with natural flint as well as how to actually strike a spark with a Mora and a piece of natural flint (which is very tricky because it involves carefully grinding through the lamination etc etc).

You need to post a tutorial for the forum on prepping Moras. Ragnar's website is a goldmine of usefull information and neat stuff. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

On the same page of http://www.ragweedforge.com/BladeCatalog.html, are some “Stainless full tang blades.” It seems that the butt end of the smaller blade shown could be shortened and contoured such that the knife would fit diagonally in a BCB Mini Mess Box and still leave enough handle to grip well. In like manner, the larger blade could be shortened and contoured to fit diagonally in a Trangia Mess Tin. Paracord could be used to improve the grip.

The smaller of the Aitor Skinners ( http://store.yahoo.com/gyby/skinsporknif.html ) would fit either container mentioned without grinding off some of the butt.

The Hossom “Hoffman Harpoon” ( http://badlands.badlandsforums.com/forum...00&page ) seems interesting and would offer as much “handle to be improved upon” as the rattail-tanged blades in Ragnar’s Blade Catalog ( Re: Altoid's Size PSK - Inexpensive Knife Suggestions ). This item does not seem to be in production and I did not notice any statement of its size.

Sorry I haven't done this yet. The main trick is to file slowly by hand through the lamination to get to the harder metal. I filed mine on the spine and found that rounding it off helps also, atleast with the specific striking technique he had me use. You have to file slowly by hand though because its easy to overheat a laminated Mora and permanantly mess it up. I will have to go through my emails and compile them in to one tutorial because he went in to lots of detail on striking technique as it is slightly different from that which is used with normal strikers (if I am remembering correctly). I was also amazed at the big difference in RC/hardness between the lamination and the "core" metal on the Moras. The core metal was a lot harder than the lamination and also harder than any knife I own (RC63 maybe.. I'll have to review my emails).

I think that a smaller fixed blade --skeleton or neck knife --is a better soution than having to find & attach a handle.

As do I. The problem of course is space. Handles of any sort take up too much room in the container. I needed something to fit diagonally in a BCB-type container (5" L) that would still be large enough to be useful, while still leaving room for the mess-load of other stuff I cram in there. The choice was a small folder or a small fixed blade that could be wrapped with paracord. I chose the latter. It takes about 30 seconds to wrap a serviceable handle from paracord, and that is something I always have with me.

For a long time I didn't carry any spare blade in my wilderness PSK. I figured that my hunting knives would serve for any task, and they will--but only if I have them. This fall I will be carrying my new Becker Crewman along with a Buck PBS Crosslock and a Leatherman Juice. And my backup to my backup will be riding along in the PSK. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Regards, Vince

have you considered a bark river Mikro or Mikro II?
This is its size relative to the altoids tin. It would have no problem fitting into a japanese lunch box or bcb tin or trangia mini mess tin.



(yes, that is my beat up altoids tin)

Nice. But unless the handle is as thin as the blade I would have to remove stuff from my PSK to accomodate it. That's the tradeoff for extra bulk.

I might have to get one though just because they look so useful for other applications.

Regards, Vince

regards, Vince

<img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

This is a follow up to the previous posting.

I ordered both sizes of the *full* tang knives from Ragnar. My suggestion of using the longer blade with Trangia Mess Tim is incorrect—after shortening and contouring the butt end of it to fit the Trangia tin, there would not be enough remaining handle to grip. The shorter blade will work.

I contacted Jerry Hossom and asked if the Hoffman Harpoon was going to be produced. He responded: “Yes this is going to be produced, probably this year, but we're just not sure who will be doing it just yet. We've had it prototyped by a company in Italy (Fox) and it will probably be them, but there are still some details to be sorted out.”

Pete

IN RESPONSE TO:
have you considered a bark river Mikro or Mikro II?
This is its size relative to the altoids tin. It would have no problem fitting into a japanese lunch box or bcb tin or trangia mini mess tin.
Don't you think that's a little expensive for a PSK kinfe, because on the site I found it on it was like $77? But then again, you can't put a price on something that could save your life.

AG Russell and several other 'net merchants have BRKT Mikros and Mikro II's in the $55 range...

M

"The Hossom “Hoffman Harpoon” ( http://badlands.badlandsforums.com/forum...00&page ) seems interesting and would offer as much “handle to be improved upon” as the rattail-tanged blades in Ragnar’s Blade Catalog ( Re: Altoid's Size PSK - Inexpensive Knife Suggestions ). This item does not seem to be in production and I did not notice any statement of its size"

As an aside, Terrell Hoffman is a professional knife photographer -- what a great job! Terrill knows more about knives than anybody I have ever run across.

I have a prototype Hoffman/Hossom Harpoon which was given to me by Jerry's son, Matthew. It's a fine utility knife that can be lashed to a spar for fishing and hunting and it actually works. It's a tad long for most PSKs. Here's mine shown in a sheath made by Terrill, along with a Henry MiniBolt .22 and a Garmin Etrex GPS for size comparison...



The Harpoon will be produced by Ontario Knives sometime in the relatively near future...

M

I have a couple of spare blades from Ragnar, and it looks like with a little judicious grinding they could be modified into something very much like the Hoffman Harpoon that would fit into a BCB tin. I'm not going to attempt it because the odds of me needing such an item where I live are very remote, but it might be a project for somebody.

Regards, Vince

1. I am in the process of cutting down the butt ends of 2 of Ragnar’s knives—one for a BCB tin and one for a Trangia tin. When I finish, I will post photos—if I can figure out how to make such postings. The stainless steel is really hard!

2. When I contacted Jerry Hossom about possible production of his Harpoon, I failed to ask him how large it was. So I contacted him again and he said it is about 7” long (which is obvious from SgtMike88Ret’s photo). I asked Jerry also if he had ever considered a very small harpoon which would fit diagonally in an Altoids tin and could replace a scalpel or be used as a gig. I am not sure if there would be sufficient demand to warrant production of this item. Jerry said: “A very small one is an interesting idea. I'll have to think about that.”

Pete

Pete, I used a bolt cutter to cut off the end of the tang. It worked great and took about 6 seconds. If you have access to one give it a try.

Regards, Vince

Well, for what my two cents are worth, I've always liked the marble trout-fish knives (cold steel is making a clone now). Light and handy, excellent general purpose mini knife. What if the tang was shorted so that the ring went around the ring or middle finger?

Wouldn't have the leverage, but it wouldn't be made to pry. Should still have plenty of control in that format, and with a thin sheath, it would fit in the largish PSK.

These are all great suggestions and ideas. We should remain focused on what a PSK is- a last ditch, minimalist kit we ( hopefully) will retain on our person should all else be lost. Everyone can argue the PSKs value. " I have all kinds of gear in my pockets" or, " I have a survival vest" etc. Hopefully we do swim out of the Hollywood scene of our rapidly sinking float plane with more than just an Altoid tin. But, if we don't, remember most everything in the tin is by neccessity reduced in size; button compasses instead of Silva Rangers, aluminum foil vs a nice trangia cookset etc. and we have it packed in there with all the forethought of an ancient egyptian priest preparing Tut for the afterlife. Hopefully we still have our ( insert various blades heralded in countless threads) on our person. If not, we need all the blade we can pack in the PSK without making it a shiny sheath for a knife alone. Thats why I opted for a scandi blade sans handle. I figure once I've made fire with my Sparklite, prepped water with purification tablets, sewn up my hemmoraging femoral artery with needle, spiderwire , popped 2 aspirins and alerted Bart the Bear to my location with the whistle- then I can carve out a suitable handle for my blade. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I finished one knife. Photos are posted at http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/~pkenney/fixedblade.htm . I tested the downloading of this file from home using my slow-speed internet service--the photos take a while to download.

Nicely done! That wider handle will make for a sturdy blade. I like the sheath too. My only question would be why wrap the knife with paracord before you put it in the tin? Is it mainly for faster deployment? Most everybody I've seen wraps the cord around the outside of the tin. That leaves more room on the inside for other stuff while providing a bit of cushion for the contents.

Regards, Vince

I knew putting the paracord on the handle would raise an eyebrow. My thoughts were that this would be an ideal place to place a few extra feet of cordage until needed and that the wrapping could be more easily done at home than in the field. When I finally pack the tin and realize I need more space, I might eliminate the lanyard part and/or go with a smaller diameter cord—maybe some type of Spectra line. In the end, I will probably still need more room in the tin and completely eliminate wrapping the handle in favor of wrapping the paracord about the outside of the tin. If the handle were not contoured, some duct tape could be wrapped about it.