I figured I could share this here. I would have posted it earlier, but could not load pictures from work.

The last few days I have been conducting some dismounted ops training and wanted to add a bit more skills practice to the mix. My big plan was to spend 72 hours in the field using only an improvised knife of my making and use it for all related tasks.

OH man……. whistle

I gave myself 1 hour to make a knife out of any available materials that I normally may find after a bad situation has taken place and I wanted to make it in a realistic scenario (as much as possible) I chose a standard ammo can to make the knife, with some green army string to aid in making the grip.

Using only a pair of side cutters from the LAV and a rock I pulled from the dirt I banged out a crude shape for a blade and then folded the metal over on itself to make a crude handle. Over this I wrapped the string and then proceeded to rub the blade along the gritty paint of the gun shroud of the 25mm to make and edge. I could have used better tools, but I wanted to make it as much of a challenge as possible. I used the knife over the next 3 days to do everything I normally would do with my knife in the field including cutting cordage, strapping and I chopped some wood and dropped some large branches for good measure. To top it off I used it to cut a length of wood and sharpen the stick into a crude spear. After the knife was ready I placed my trusty Gerber LMF II, my Leatherman surge and even my issued Bayonet in the LAV and took ONLY my improvised knife out on the training patrols just to see if I could make do. These are my lessons learned

Good points

-took a while to get a good edge, but was surprised at how sharp it was if not abused.
-could have been made out of a variety of other materials if need be.
-simple in design
-Cut wood well enough when used with a club to pound the back of the knife

Bad points

-very hard on the hands to make and to use. I didn’t use gloves because I didn’t want to cheat, but I cut up my hands a bit on the rough edges.
-I should have made the blade longer, but the rock and the side cutters were a big pain in the ass trying to cut the can with. It would have been better if the blade was at least 3 inches longer.
-the blade was sharp but not smooth, so it snagged a lot when cutting rope.
- it was a bit too flexible, and I had to bend it back in shape a few times.
-it needed re-sharpening frequently as the metal is not designed for such use. I wanted to improvise a sharpener as well, but could find nothing suitable. I cheated once and used my lansky pocket stone. Other times I used a metal picket to give it a reasonably adequate edge.
- I should have made a sheath of some sort.
-It lacked a Sharp enough edge to whittle wood properly, but after a couple of hours and a lot of cursing I made a decent wooden spear with it (all things considered) I could have lashed the knife itself to the wood if I really had to I guess.

All things considered it went very well. I got plenty of hard looks from my troops as they pulled out their knives to cut the ropes for Swiss seats and I pulled out this monstrosity to cut with, and more than one joke was directed my way as I sat in the rain making a spear with a piece of an ammo can.(considering I had a pistol and a rifle) but the point was to see how well a job could be done with less and I think I achieved that.

Once back I happily strapped my LMF back on, and placed my surge back in its pouch, but I walked away with a huge boost in confidence knowing that even without the proper gear the mission can still be accomplished.
Gear is great, and I think a person who spends any time outdoors should invest in the best quality afforded, but every once in a while we need to practice WITHOUT all the fancy stuff.

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