Undestroyable: Surefire LX2

Never in my life did I imagine myself buying a $200 FLASHLIGHT.  I mean, seriously.  Why would you ever need such a thing ? Nevertheless, I did.  And I don't regret it one bit.  Anytime I'm hiking, backpacking, working, or deployed, this is on my person.  It's a lifesaver.

With a diffuser

As a military aviator, the uses for a good flashlight are nearly limitless.  Icing on the wings, making sure flaps retracted fully, etc... This thing is great at everything.  Plus, you can buy tons of filters for it.  A diffuser to give it a flood light ability (instead of the nice beam shape), an IR filter, green filter, red filter, and blue filter are among the ones I have.

With a 550cord neck lanyard.  I broke the original.

The name 'Surefire' speaks for itself.  Good thing it's dropped in price a bit, right ? :P

Amazon Link:

50/50: Ontario 499 Aircrew Bolt Knife

This is pretty much the standard USAF survival knife.  It's the bolt knife all aircrews use in survival school.  You learn how fragile this knife is in SERE.  This one hasn't seen much 'hard use' like you would need in a survival situation, but is still pretty warn as you'll see.  They're labeled date wise on the handle, and I've put a ton of 550 cord on mine.

Good things:

• Being cheap to the US Government
• Lasting a week or two in a survival situation
• Full tang
• 5" blade length
• Flat end cap for hammering on sh*t.

Things this knife fails at:

• When batoning wood (look it up), it bends SUPER easy at the tang.  I'm not a block of muscle, and I bent the issued one.  Badly.  Wish I had pics...
• Chopping.  Seriously.  All the weight is in the handle.  How do you chop with that ? The black finish wears off almost just by touching it.
• The handle blisters your hands (wear gloves) and rots off.  I've wrapped mine in 550 cord, and am kind of scared to look at the leather after all these years...

Things that go either way:

• The blade is made with a low amount of carbon for a reason... so you can sharpen it on rocks.  It dulls really easily, including the sawback on the spine.  Good luck...

Things I fail at:

• Flipping these images around...

Bottom line:

• I think for the price, it's alright.  I bought it before I went in the Air Force or got a chance to do much camping in the woods (I grew up in Nevada).  It'll hold a special place in my heart for being my first fixed blade knife, but nothing more.  I'll grab my gerber(link) or becker brute first.

Amazon Link:

The Beast: Gerber LMF II ASEK knife

This is the day I bought it, before taking it in to the field for SERE.

I purchased this knive several years ago before going through survival school.  It was a definite upgrade to the issued bolt knife (Covered in a different post), and it's pretty much indestructible.



It's manufactured in Portland, Oregon by Gerber Legendary Knives out of 420HC (High carbon) Stainless Steel.  It weighs a few ounces shy of a pound, but it's a tank.  I've broken several knives with normal to heavy use, and this one isn't one.  Can't imagine it being broken easily.








I've never used the sharpener in the sheath, but it's neat feature.  Comes with leg straps and a seatbelt cutter. Broke the cutter, lost the leg straps.  Knife is worth the price alone though.

VS Ontario 499 Survival Knife

Amazon Link:

If it says Fragile, keep it away from me

This blog is going to be really simple; A list of things I have not been able to destroy, with a few exceptions.

I'm pretty hard on items, to say the least.  Some things I can break simply by touching them, others simply by being nearby.  For example, I turn off street lights by walking past them.  Doesn't happen every time, but people who have been around me notice it happens quite a bit.

I'm also a big DIY person.  And trust me, if it can be screwed up, I'll do it. My roommate doesn't call it "Aldriching it up" for no reason.

I'll try and go as in depth as I can about items I break, but sometimes my stupidity is too much for my ego to take.

Cheers