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Post: Survival Skills and a SOG (Topic#847374)

outrider
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Loc: South East Tennessee
Reg: 03-01-09

03-18-09 00:37.09 - Post#1791614

I have carried a SOG SG1 Classic Bowie for several years now as my EDC fixed blade and I have been very pleased with it. It is one of the original made in Seki versions made of SK5 steel. I was asking some questions about the new ones that are made of AUS8 and if they were still the same RC and if the Super Bowie was made like the original and I got the opportunity to see for myself. I was sent a new SOG Super Bowie to check out in the field. *** NOTE: I never used my old one for any of this, it is only in pictures as a size reference***

Out of the box the knife is beautiful with fantastic grinds, and their usual faceted tip that is as ever extremely sharp!! It has an amazing edge

SOG puts a lot of thought into their Bowie knives and sheaths that some others out there don’t. Their handles are made with epoxied leather washers that avoids shrinking very well, (my old one still has no play in it) Their hand guards are always soldered in place to avoid any movement or rattling, and they have a spanner nut on the pommel which allows for any needed adjustments in the future. One of the things I really like about their Bowie sheaths is the retainer. I love how it positively retains the blade allowing for very little movement.

And I really love how the cutting edge never comes in contact with the retainer when drawing the knife.

Now I am setting up camp using this new SOG. You can see it is a good bit bigger than my old one.

I was a little surprised to see my old one was a bit thicker, but the new one is still a full quarter inch thick. I'm very likely in the minority of folks who wouldn't have complained about the weight if it they had made it as thick as my old one.

First thing I did was to start chopping poles for the grill and the pot hanger. I look for some stout forked saplings for the support posts.

Using the leather wrist thong supplied with the knife I chop holding the knife in a rearward grip using just two fingers wrapped around the pommel, pointer finger in the last finger groove. This gives the 7.5 inch blade the chopping force of a ten inch blade. In more dense seasoned wood I’d use a three finger grip. I really like the deeper finger grooves. This knife is a much more efficient chopper than my old one and made quick work of all the cutting.

It’s best to flatten the stops of the stumps if you plan to be around the area long or are in an area that people frequent.

I trim the limbs down to forked sticks just around three feet long, and then sharpen the points to make it easier to drive in the ground.

I used a rock about twice the size of a large orange and, holding the limbs close to the top to keep them from splitting, drove them in the ground beside the fire pit. Then laid the cross member in place. You can see the limb I am making my pot hanger from too.

I also cut the forked sticks I’m going to use for a grill. So far I have done a good bit of chopping and whittling of green wood with this knife and it makes some great clean cuts.

And it still has a great edge, still shaves very well! Perhaps my other SOG was where I got my unreasonable expectations on edge retention. So far I am very pleased with how this knife functions.

Now for building the grill, and then building a shelter. I’m having fun with this.

The wide ricasso on this knife can serve as a choil and the line of the spine is very comfortable on the spine making it possible to have better control while doing tasks like whittling points’

I used a leftover section of a limb as a baton to drive them in the ground.

Once in the ground I lay a couple of cross supports and then start laying the pieces, a lot of which were loft over form the other steps.

I also made a few utensils. I made a couple of forks for turning meat on the grill.

I roughed out a couple of spoons too, that I’ll burn out when I next light a fire.

I’ve done quite a bit of whittling and chopping at this point and used pretty much all of the edge a good bit.

And it still shaves. This knife had a fantastic edge when I got it and has held it very well.

I also put up a quick poncho shelter.

The first thing I did was to cut a ridge pole and tie it to a couple of trees with some para cord.

For added strength you can cut some small notches on the back side of the tree for the cord to nest in with little effort. This will keep the cord from working it's way down. However it will also give away the fact that someone has been in the area and depending on your circumstances may not be adviseable.

Then I cut some simple stakes.

Then I draped the poncho across and snapped the first two snaps together on each side to hold it in place while I drove the stakes and tied off the back of the shelter.

You want to make sure you drape the ponch so that the opening in the hood is facing down.

Stakes are not always necessary, there may be natural features in the terrain that work in your favor. Sometimes you can just tie the cord through one of the grommets on the corners and around a root or sapling close by.

When they are need a rock works really well for driving them.

Then go to the front tie some cord in one of the grommets, unsnap it and pull the cord to take out the slack and drive your stake where you need it and repeat this process on the other side. Now you have a quick shelter that will give a break from the wind or even give you cover for performing weapons maintanence or treating wounds out of lighter rains, and even the majority of harder rains.

Borrowed SWIMBO to give it some size perspective.

The improvised hanging "pots" for boiling water

The only tools I used, a new Super SOG Bowie knife, and an issue E-Tool.

"The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition of it"

Friedrich Nietzsche

outrider
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Loc: South East Tennessee
Reg: 03-01-09

03-18-09 00:43.15 - Post#1791616
In response to outrider

And then there was the bone-in chicken noodle soup....

I used some fat wood shavings, a few small fatwood sticks, some dry twigs from downed trees, and a Swedish fire steel to start the fire.

I batoned a little of the seasoned Birch I’ve been chopping on with random sharp objects.

and got the fire going

Then I started getting the soup ready to cook while the fire developed some embers. I whittled a digging stick to dig up some wild onions.

Then started cutting up the chicken.

Cut up the vegetables..

Put it all in a stock pot with a bale handle and added a few spices and put it on to cook.

After it boiled until the meat was good and done and the carrots were tender I added in some wide egg noodles.

And as the fire burned down I put the pot on the lower notch on the pot hanger and let it simmer for a bit

It was just starting to get dark when it got done.

So I took it inside and served it. Man it sure was good. :hugegrin:

"The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition of it"

Friedrich Nietzsche

Terrill Hoffman
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: Marion, NC
Reg: 11-30-99

03-18-09 04:01.56 - Post#1791656
In response to outrider

That has always been a knife pattern that has appealed to me. Thanks for showing it's usefullness. To me, nothing does better in the woods than a good fixed blade. Uncle Billy gave me his original SOG Bowie and I have been tempted to get one of the new ones to try out for myself, I think you have thrown me over the edge.

Terrill Hoffman Photography
www.terrillhoffman.com

Growing old is mandatory; Growing up is optional.

scaatylobo
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: WesternN.Y.
Reg: 09-05-06

03-18-09 05:08.38 - Post#1791673
In response to outrider

I enjoyed the write up even more than I do that knife - good job

,lots - LOTS of pics too.But I too consider the 'bowie' a real blade and a choice for woods use as well as a S/D blade.

" A Bad Day Living,Beats A Good Day Dead"

Bear_Claw_Chris_Lappe
Master Member KnifeNut!

Reg: 02-20-04

03-18-09 06:54.39 - Post#1791760
In response to scaatylobo

Fantastic review!!!!!!!

NRA Limited Edition Benchmade Griptilian in s30v.

Blunt
Master Member KnifeNut!

Reg: 08-02-06

03-18-09 08:38.59 - Post#1791838
In response to outrider

Definitely to big to be a good bush knife. You should send it to me before you get disappointed

Seriously though Great looking Knife and great pics I was really impressed with how how nice you're cooking area was. Most peaple I know won't even grill without aluminum foil on the grill so they don't have to clean the rack. Might as well use a frying pan

If vegetarians eat vegetables what do humanitarians eat?
When afraid and full of doubt run in circles scream and shout

outrider
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Loc: South East Tennessee
Reg: 03-01-09

03-18-09 09:38.03 - Post#1791893
In response to Blunt

Thanks guys, glad you liked the post. Actually that wasn't meant as much as a review as a demonstration of what can be done with it and a little knowledge. I was going to post a review of it in the review section with no pics but a link to this for pics. Since I'm really new here I hope that if this is being redundant you'll let me know and just remove the review.

"The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition of it"

Friedrich Nietzsche

outrider
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Loc: South East Tennessee
Reg: 03-01-09

03-18-09 10:09.23 - Post#1791924
In response to outrider

I decided to post the written review here;

http://knifeforums.com/forums/showt...

"The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition of it"

Friedrich Nietzsche

akabu-1
Master Member KnifeNut!

Reg: 10-21-05

03-18-09 11:08.59 - Post#1791977
In response to outrider

Welcome Outrider, Very nice review and camp layout.
I have just two observations, the tin can pot has what appears to be a synthetic liner not good ,get a coffee can and put a wire bale about ½” below the lip that way you can fill it with stuff and reuse the Lid. {Like the way you used the wood dowel}
Your canteen cup wire bale would have worked better for pouring or drinking [no dribble] if the wire bale was inline with the handle IE right angles from the way you have it now.

The life of a man
Burn it with the fire
The life of an insect
Throw it in the fire
Ponder and you'll see
The world is dark
And this floating world
Is a dream

outrider
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Loc: South East Tennessee
Reg: 03-01-09

03-18-09 12:37.38 - Post#1792041
In response to akabu-1

akabu-1 Said:

Welcome Outrider, Very nice review and camp layout.
I have just two observations, the tin can pot has what appears to be a synthetic liner not good

Thanks for the welcome, glad you like the set-up.

I know, it's something called bisphenol-A, and I'm still studying it's behavior. The only information I have on it so far is that if flames hit an area of the can that is lined above the water line the "plastic" will peel and flake. That's one of the reasons that container was higher so I could study it.That part of the post was more meant to demonstarte a method for hanging a tin can than whic cans to use. I have friends that recently attended a class that used these, but left them unattended going about other tasks and the liner peeled. The then just turned the cans up in the fire and burned it all out, cleaned the cans and went on about the business of purifying and cooking. I'm about to burn that one out to further study the behavior. I'll post more on that later. I opened four large cans looking for one without that darn liner and now have lots of vegetables in storage containers in my fridge that I need to cook in a big pot of soup or something.

akabu-1 Said:

Your canteen cup wire bale would have worked better for pouring or drinking [no dribble] if the wire bale was inline with the handle IE right angles from the way you have it now.

You bring up a good point, I usually do it that way I suppose based on geometry...keeping the length of the cup along the linear line of a fire with multiple hangers. Since I pour out one end I made it so that the wire bale will slide around out of the way on one end...I'll play with it the other way next time.

"The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition of it"

Friedrich Nietzsche

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