Multitool and Ranger Band: Improvised Clamp

   I was repairing some wiring on our ancient ATV after it got chewed on by one of the cows. Every time I touched the wires with my soldering iron they would move. After several frustrating tries this idea came to me!
 I put a ranger band around the handles and they worked like a pair of improvised hemostats. I've used this more than a couple of times for various jobs when I needed a third hand.
 I usually carry a spare band attached to my MT sheath just for this reason.

 

Stay safe

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multitools... Don't leave home without it!

 As long as I can remember or at least since I was eight years old I've always carried a knife of one kind or another. As a former Cub Scout and later a Boy Scout I have always believed in the motto "Be Prepared" and have lived that way most of my life to one degree or another. Also from an early age to this day I've been involved in farming, either employed by a farmer or milking our own cows  on a farm we rented or currently at my Brother in Laws farm .
   Back in the mid 80's I was employed at a medium sized dairy operation and somewhere around this time the first Multitool came out. I remember reading about Tim Leatherman's "pliers" in Blade Magazine and as a diehard knife enthusiast my first thought was what a useless gimmick.
I was wrong and after I broke down and spent some hard earned money and got a Leatherman PST (Personal Survival Tool) and found out how indispensable they can be.


My original Leatherman PST

   From that day forward I've either had a Multitool on my belt or in my pocket 24/7 in addition to my knife. The tool above has done every thing from working on a Ford 8N back in a field, prying open chain pinch links to prodding cows with the needle nose when pinned in a corner.

Nowadays I carry a Gerber 600 which I've used daily for at least eight years day in day out on the farm and at my job as a maintenance mechanic at a food processing plant. I carry it religiously on my belt in a Spec Ops Super Sheath which has been modified with a snap after the Velcro wore out.

Gerber 600 Pro Scout

    I'm not about to recommend one brand or style over another, and they don't take the place of regular tools. What they do is allow you to do is carry a compact set of usable tools on your person for light to medium duty tasks when the need arises.

The tool options vary between manufactures and models but the basics are screwdriver blades, file saw, scissors can opener not to mention the ever useful pliers. The sky is almost the limit depending on what specific items  you have a need for.

Gerber Diesel, Leatherman Wave and Sidekick

 When the moment arises which could be right now, you'll have the means and hopefully the ability to take care of what's at hand whatever that may be, using the tools that you carry with you.
"Be Prepared"

Stay safe
Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things soon to come!!

   My other Blog Back Creek Bushcraft is how I got started, Bushcrafting and survival skills are my hobby but the truth is we all live in the real world...a mechanical world. Survival in my mind is much more than running off into the woods when or if something does happen. We all probably have our own small infrastructures or equipment to maintain or repair if it fails not to mention taking care of your family.
   My background is farming and I also work full time as a mechanic in a food processing plant. When a machine goes down it needs to be repaired, and when it's time to milk the cows the system needs to work. You can either pay someone to come and repair it, but you'll have to wait.
 Or you can learn to fix it yourself.

This is how I got into maintenance, my survival mindset took me there. What if the system failed... how will I fix it so the cows get milked. What if there was no one able to make it... how will it get repaired then!!  I'm going to try and cover minor and not so minor repairs and skill sets, useful skills to have in a rural/urban SHTF scenario.

Stay safe
Bob