Victorinox Soldier Knife: Very Good Soldier tool, but a Clip is needed

The Victorinox 2008 Soldier Knife is a solid, capable tool. Tools include a one-handed serrated locking blade, a Phillips screwdriver, a can opener, a small screwdriver, a bottle opener, a large locking screwdriver which is also intended to be used as a prying tool, a wire stripper, a reamer, a key ring, and a wood saw.

The tool comes in Victorinox’s 111mm format, its largest offering. This allows for a generous wood saw and main blade.

The blade combines serrations and a straight edge. About 60% of the blade is serrated, with the straight edge section being located away from the tip, closer to the handle where serrations are usually found in other combo edge knives. This is actually the best layout for a combo edge knife, given that the serrations work best for slicing through tough materials while the straight edge works best for push cutting. Given that pushing further away from the handle increases the distance therefore the force needed to cut, this disposition makes better use of both type of edges.

                         The Soldier Knife managed to cut various materials without a problem.

I found the Victorinox 2008 Soldier knife to be a solid, practical cutting tool which includes the basic tools needed for its general purpose/utility role. The serrations may not be as convenient at times as a straight edge but it will certainly take abuse better and be able to cut for longer periods of time, especially when in the hands of someone that doesn’t know how to properly sharpen a knife, which is the case of most people in general, including soldiers.

The knife desperately needs a pocket clip. It is light enough to travel in a pocket but the clip would make it so much more convenient. Given that this is a soldier knife I would have liked to see more of a narrow tip capable of better penetration, both for cutting and if used as weapon. Another tool with a metal saw and file combination would have been nice. The same goes for making better use of the scales by adding tweezers and a pen. These would have been of use no doubt for a soldier.

Overall it’s a quality, reliable tool by Victorinox which can be great with a couple personal mods or if Victorinox decides to fix these issues for future versions of this knife.

FerFAL

 
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Relocated to Spain: Our four years in Ireland, life in Spain, etc.

Relocated To Spain: Ask Any Question

Hello Everyone,
You probably noticed I haven’t been posting as often recently, both in the website and youtube. This ends right now but I’d like to explain what’s been going on. The reason is that I’ve just moved to Spain and these last couple weeks have been insane. There’s just so much to do, I basically collapse unconscious on the bed every night about 1AM. Fortunately things are getting sorted out and we’re little by little getting back to normal. I already have fiber optic internet installed, so we’ll get back to posting regularly and uploading videos to the channel. I apologize for not keeping up with it but it was at times impossible to do so. I’m also more delayed than usual in replying to emails as well so please have patience.
So, we relocated from Ireland to Spain. Before you even ask here are some of the more common questions. Feel free to ask away any other questions you may have. I’ll be posting a bit more about it and some of the replies may be in the form of posts or youtube videos.
What was wrong with Ireland?
Nothing really. Like a few other good places to live in it has many advantages and a couple disadvantages as well. It’s more about our own needs changing as time went by, especially after four years. Our idea was to live there for some time, experience the culture but eventually go somewhere else. Ireland is not a bad place to spend the rest of your life if that’s what you want. Keep in mind Ireland(the island) is actually two countries. Northern Ireland, a small part up to the northeast, which is under UK rule, and the rest is Republic of Ireland, which is a different country, what most people simply call Ireland. Most people from Northern Ireland just call it Ireland as well. Northern Ireland would be the part of Ireland that has a bad reputation. It is true that Northern Ireland is very much a closed society and mostly not welcoming to foreigners. Although this was of course a negative aspect as immigrants ourselves we didn’t mind much, especially with small children. As out older son turned to his teens this became more of an issue to keep in mind. The simple solution is going for Republic of Ireland instead, which is more open minded, with overall friendlier people. Then again another important factor was weather. It rains in Ireland (and Scotland and England) all the time. The weather is pretty cold most of the time other than a few weeks in summer but its mostly the lack of sunshine that gets depressing. We didn’t mind the first year, or the second, but by the fourth year we at last did miss the sun. That we wouldn’t have fixed moving from Northern Ireland to Republic of Ireland. Still, I very much recommend Republic of Ireland over NI. Both are pretty safe but ROI is just more friendly and modern, while NI can’t seem to let go of its sectarian past. Why did we go to NI ourselves then? Four years ago ROI was still recovering from the crisis and the economy wasn’t doing well, struggling with the bailout. At the same time property was cheaper in NI, we found an good neighbourhood and good school, and at the end of the day moving from NI to ROI is just a matter of getting into the car and driving a couple hours or less without even crossing an actual border or going through any kind of checkpoint when going from one country to the other.

Why Spain?
Spain is in many ways the opposite of Northern Ireland. You of course have much nicer weather, people are friendly and open minded.
The south of Spain in particular offers something you don’t find as easily as you’d think in Spain which is actual Spanish Language. Ironically, in many parts of Spain they don’t speak Spanish. Cost of living is very reasonable. Healthcare is way better than NI healthcare which is basically UK’s NHS, which is free but one of the worst in Europe.

“Spain!? Are you crazy!? There’s no work there, huge economic crisis, it’s about to collapse!”
This I got a lot of. While it is true that like Ireland, Spain went through its own economic crisis, just like Ireland it is slowly recovering and doing better.
How can you just move to Spain?
I have dual citizenship, Argentine and Spanish, This of course means we can live in Spain as citizens, making it a lot easier to do so.
If you have any specific questions feel free to leave them below in the comments!
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Killer uses Google Earth, Targets Isolated Homes

Ferfal,

I have enjoyed both your books.  Here is something that goes along with the point you've made many times - that an isolated location might actually invite unwanted attention.  Also, a bigger dog is a better deterrent.

http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/crime/2015/08/31/triple-murderer-dees-says-he-picked-welp-home-random/71495778/

Sincerely,

Joe

.

 

 

Thank you Joe. That was an interesting read. 

Adam Deeds told detectives he used Google Maps to search remote areas around Boise and Mountain Home for high-end homes to rob. Dees told investigators he decided to commit a robbery because "that’ll give me money to play with for a while.” Dees admitted to killing Ted, Elaine and Tom Welp. Dees will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

…

He told detectives he staked out the home and came back after dark, dressed in black, to rob the family.

A door to the garage was open when he returned and Dees used a set of house keys he found in a truck to get inside the house. The home's security system was disabled at the time. The 22-year-old told detectives had it been armed, he would have left immediately.

He also said he probably would have given up on his plan if the family had a bigger dog.

I never understood why so many people fail to see how in spite of other advantages, when it comes to high levels of dangerous crime, isolation actually works in favour of the attackers, not the defenders. Rather than worrying about refugees heading your way (which by the way are mostly NOT criminals) worry about people like Adam Dees. This is real, it is possible, and as we clearly see it has happened before. On the other hand the idea of hordes of looters attacking everything within a full gas tank distance only exists in fiction novels.

What we can learn from reading the article:

1)Criminals prefer isolated residences away from curious bystanders and neighbours.

2)Criminals can drive cars. If you can get to your “isolated” residence by car, then so can a criminal.

3)Criminals know how to use Google Maps (and Facebook, so careful what you make public there as well)

4)Criminals don’t like alarm, or strong, locked doors.

5)People living “in the country” are more likely to have a false sense of security, therefore neglecting some aspects of home and personal security, mistakenly believing that distance = safety when it comes to dangerous criminals.

6)Criminals don’t like big, strong dogs that are capable of attacking them.

FerFAL

 
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Airplane Friendly EDC

"Oh but FerFAL, I can't carry any EDC because I fly all the time..." Nonsense.
First, your mind and body. Those are you main, most important tools and TSA won’t take those away from you... yet. Take care of them and they’ll be by far your greatest asset when you need them.
Besides, all hope is not lost and although knives are a clear no go there are small tools you can have that can be extremely useful. I actually ended up using all three in my latest trip, one way ticket to Spain (more on that later).
Left to right:
VERY old keychain tool. I think it’s the first one I bought a long time ago. How old? Man, probably 20 years old, way before this was all more mainstream and way before the acronym EDC even existed. I think the brand was called Microtech, leave a comment below if you know the brand for sure. The model has now been copied by cheapo manufacturers but if you want something similar there’s the Swiss Tech Mtcss Micro Tech 6 In 1 Keyring Tool, or the more complete Swiss+Tech ST53100 Micro-Max 19-in-1 Key Ring Multi-Function Pocket Tool.

Swiss+Tech ST53100 Micro-Max 19-in-1 Key Ring Multi-Function Pocket Tool. $8.54
Classic Bullet Space Pen by Fisher. This one is a true classic, so much that the Bullet Pen has been exhibited for years in the New York Museum of Modern Art. Its tough, slick, very compact, the cartridge writes on nearly all surfaces, writes upside down, its even supposed to work in space. Besides that, once deployed it’s a damn solid piece of metal. “Tactical” pens have more of a karma or are downright considered concealed weapons depending on your luck at airport security. If its considered a concealed kubotan you may end up behind bars, at least for some time, and yes people have gotten in trouble because of them in U.S. so keep that in mind when traveling. The Bullet pen on the other hand has no such problem. I have used t for surprisingly hard poking and even prying without breaking it so yes, if you have to jam a pen into a terrorist’s face this is not a bad way to go. Just don’t remove and lose the clip like I did because it will roll all over the place.

Fisher Space Pen Men's Bullet Space Pen with Clip $17.57

 

DQG SPY CREE XP-G2 R5 4C Neutral White Tiny Titanium LED Flashlight
There’s something pretty cool about carrying the smallest flashlight in the world and having it with a titanium body. Maybe not your first option, but then again its surprisingly bright, its rechargeable, and again the wow factor/conversation piece thing is definitely there. I don’t carry it all the time but that day I did I ended up using it and it worked very well in putting a lot of light where I needed it.

DQG SPY CREE XP-G2 R5 4C Neutral White Tiny Titanium LED Flashlight $77.48

Folks, take care and be prepared.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.