Knife Throwing

Is knife throwing a useful skill for fieldcraft, survival, and security? Can you use a throwing knife as and effective hunting tool? Is knife throwing useful for self-defense?

Generally speaking throwing your knife in the field is a bad idea. If you miss your target you may lose your knife. The range at which one generally learns to throw a knife is about three to four meters (9-12 feet), which means that you will have to stalk very close to game to be able to hunt it with a throwing knife. There are techniques for throwing knives at other distances, such as "No Spin Knife Throwing" developed by Yuri Fedin, which will allow you to increase your effective throwing distance by a few extra paces, but you will still need to stalk close to your prey to hunt with a throwing knife. A perfect throw with a knife will give good penetration into your target, but most throws will not be perfect, meaning that hunting with a throwing knife should be limited to small game such as rabbits, and similar sized animals.

Although knife (and tomahawk) throwing is not a primary survival skill, it can be fun and enjoyable way to spend some time outdoors. As knife throwing expert, Harry K. McEvoy said in his 1973 book Knife Throwing: A Practical Guide: "Not only is knife throwing fun, it is also a great sport, entertainment, recreation and exercise. It can be a wonderful hobby, pastime, or even a profession, and the fundamentals are easy to learn. Anyone who can throw a stick, stone, or baseball can also learn how to throw a knife with skill and accuracy. All you need is a good knife-designed for the purpose, whether made to throw by the handle or blade, a target, and a small portion of the back yard for the throwing range."

Many of us who spend our days in the forest try throwing knives, and perhaps become fairly good at it. If you are going to learn to throw a knife, I recommend learning the Yuri Fedin no spin knife throwing technique, and a similar technique taught by Ralph Thorn. With this technique, you are not tied to a particular distance (i.e. 3-4 meters), and can spend your time developing accuracy and power in your knife throws. A good discussion of knife throwing techniques can be found on the Flying Steel web-page and a fun YouTube channel with a lot of great knife throwing information is Xolette's Knife Throwing Channel.

I have also included links to a few knife throwing instructional videos below.

Yuri Fedin Throwing Knives

No Spin Knife Throwing Tutorial 

How To Throw a Knife Further? (No-Spin / Step By Step) (Adam Celadin)

How to Throw Knives: Introduction to Martial Arts Knife Throwing by Ralph Thorn 

How to Throw a Knife: Different Styles (Ralph Thorn)

How to Throw a Knife With No Spin (Ralph Thorn)

Throwing a Knife (Pathfinder School)

While most any knife can be thrown, if you are going to throw knives regularly it is a good idea to get yourself a knife or two specifically designed for throwing. There are any number of throwing knives on the market, and you should find a knife or set of knives that throw well for you. Some throwing knives that I like, and enjoy throwing are:

SOG Throwing Knives (Set of 3)

Cold Steel La Fontaine Throwing Knife

Cold Steel True Flight Thrower 

Although you may not need to know how to throw a knife to survive in the Taiga; knife throwing is an enjoyable pastime that gets you up and outdoors. So, get a throwing knife or two, and enjoy your time with friends and family learning to throw.

Learn Morse Code

Morse code is a method of transmitting text as a series of short and long tones. It is named for Samuel F. B. Morse, an inventor of the telegraph. In the 1890s, Morse code began to be used extensively for early radio communication, before it was possible to transmit voice. Morse code is used by some amateur radio operators, although knowledge of and proficiency with it is no longer required for licensing in most countries.

Although Morse code is no longer required for amateur radio licensing, and it is no longer used by most military and government agencies, it is still a valuable tool for communication to and from remote areas. You can buy or build simple, inexpensive, low power radio transmitters and receivers that (with an amateur radio license) will enable you to communicate in Morse code across the world. Morse code will work even when all other more modern means of communication are disabled or rendered ineffective due to natural or man-made causes.

Using Morse code... 

• Signals can be sent with very little power, and simple ham radio transmitters can be built at a fraction of the cost of traditional voice radios.
• Morse code requires less signal bandwidth than voice communication.
• It is much easier to filter out background noise and hear even weak Morse code signals, making it an ideal platform for high noise / low signal environments.
• When nothing else works, Morse code works. 

Morse code takes some commitment, but it is not particularly difficult, to learn.  There are several on-line programs designed to teach you Morse code, a few of which I have listed here.

• Learn CW On-line - http://lcwo.net/ 
• Morse Trainer - http://www.g4fon.net/ 
• AA9PW Morse Code Practice - http://aa9pw.com/morsecode/

If you don’t have access to the Internet, the Gordon West, In-Depth Morse Code Learning Course for 0-5 WPM Audio CD,  and the Gordon West, Morse Code Speed Builder Course for 5-16 WPM   are excellent tools for learning Morse code.

Of course, to communicate with Morse code you need to be able to both send and receive it. Getting a Morse Code Practice Oscillator Straight Key allows you to practice sending Morse code, and should be part of your learning practice.   

Because Morse code is less commonly used today, many people who might be monitoring radio frequencies won’t understand what you are saying in Morse code. Of course, these people could always record your signals and play them for someone who knows Morse code to translate. But, this risk can be mitigated by using encryption.

The ADFGVX cipher is named after the six possible letters used in the ciphertext: A, D, F, G, V and X. These letters were chosen deliberately because they sound very different from each other when transmitted via Morse code. The intention was to reduce the possibility of operator error. Although this cipher was used by the Germans during the First World War, and has little practical value for governments today, it still may be of value to keep casual listeners from understanding your Morse code radio transmissions.

So, for fieldcraft, survival, and security, Morse code is a useful tool. If your survival plans include radio communication, then Morse code should be among your survival skills.

GoTenna

GoTenna is a two-tone stick that measures approximately 15 by 2.5 by 1.3 centimeters and weighs 51 grams. The bottom half of the stick is gray aluminum with GoTenna branding, and the top half is black, textured plastic. A white notification LED sits in the middle-flashing to tell you when the device is on and if you're connected. On top is an extendable antenna that you pull out to activate the GoTenna.

GoTenna is a MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service) radio (151-154 MHz) that connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth. GoTenna allows you to send "text" messages and GPS locations (assuming that your smartphone is GPS capable) to other GoTenna users in the area. GoTenna does not require a cellular or WiFi connection to work. All communication is made over the MURS radio frequencies. As with other MURS radios, this will give you about a 1.5 - 2 kilometer range in the city, and 5 - 6 kilometer range in rural areas. (Range can be improved by using a string to pull the GoTenna into a tree (or other object), 10 meters or so above the ground. Get the GoTenna as high above the ground as possible - just remain within Bluetooth range of your phone.

While GoTenna provides a reliable way to send text messages and location data to other people, it doesn't let you make voice calls or send pictures. You can use GoTenna to contact any other GoTenna user in range, but it does not have a way to make emergency calls or contacts on the regular cellular network. What GoTenna is very useful for, however, is communication within a group in area where there is no cellular coverage, such as hiking in the forest; or as a back-up to cellular communication in the city when the network goes down or becomes overloaded.

GoTenna messages are also encrypted, making them more secure than voice messages transmitted with a standard MURS radio.  According to the GoTenna FAQ (https://www.gotenna.com/pages/faqs): "Private 1-to-1 and group messages sent over goTenna are end-to-end encrypted with 384-bit elliptic curve public-private key ciphering. The only exceptions are messages sent using the "shout" and "emergency" features which are by definition public conversations with others within range of you."  

If ensuring that you have communications with your friends, family, or survival group is important to you; GoTenna is worth considering as part of your communications plan. GoTenna was developed in the United States and operates on the five MURS frequencies, which do not require a license in the USA:

151.820 MHz
151.880 MHz
151.940 MHz
154.570 MHz
154.600 MHz

However, in other countries these frequencies may be used by public service agencies, or require licensing before you can transmit on them. If you use GoTenna outside of the United States be sure that you are not interfering with others on these frequencies.

If you are planning an extended trip deep into the Taiga, you will probably choose something other than your smartphone for communications. But, in any place where you and your family and friends have your smartphones, having each person also have a GoTenna as well can keep your group in contact even if the entire cellular network is down.

GoTenna is available for $149 per pair from various sources on-line.


Note:
GoTenna has also developed a new device - GoTenna Mesh - which allows you to operate a mesh Network at 0.5 watts on 869.4-869.65 MHz (Europe) and at 1 watt on 902-928 MHz in the United States. It should be noted that GoTenna and GoTenna Mesh are separate devices operating on separate frequencies and are not cross-compatible.

Have I Been Pwned?

I have always encouraged people to check their email addresses on sites such as HaveIBeenPwned (https://haveibeenpwned.com/).  If present, your account is included in a known breach, and you should change your passwords immediately. This site has been the standard as far as reported breaches, and the owner stays on top of the latest threats.

A similar site is Hacked-Emails (https://hacked-emails.com/). Hacked Emails constantly scans paste sites and other release resources, and immediately updates its database. This may be redundant information, but the constant update could reveal a compromised account that may not be present on other similar sites. Overall, I now check both of these services regularly for any of my email addresses that may have been compromised.

Protect Your Microsoft Word Documents

Sometimes we may want to share a document with others, but not want the information in that document disseminated outside of the group with which it was originally shared. If you are using Microsoft Word 2013 you can protect your document to prevent it from being edited (it can’t be copied or changed); and you can prevent it from being opened and read without the proper password.

The first step in protecting your document is to restrict editing of the document. Once you have written your document and have a final version that you want to share with others; follow the steps below to restrict editing.

Restrict Editing of Your Document
>Click<

• File Tab at the top-left of the screen.
• Select "Info".
• Protect Document
• Restrict Editing (On the Menu on the right side of the document)
• Editing Restrictions (Allow only this type of editing in the document)
• Choose "Filling In Forms"
• Click on "Yes, Start Enforcing Protection"
• Enter a password to restrict editing.

When you restrict editing of your document, it may be opened and read, but it cannot be changed and you will not be able to copy and paste from this restricted document into another document. You will be asked to create a password to restrict editing of the document. Keep this password to yourself, and only you will be able to make changes to your document.

After you have restricted editing of your document, you next want to password protect it so that it can only be opened by people you want to read it (i.e. people who have the password to the document). To password protect your document follow the steps below.

Password Protect Your Document
>Click<

• File Tab at the top-left of the screen.
• Select "Info"
• Protect Document
• Encrypt with Password
• Enter your password to encrypt the document.

When someone attempts to open a password protected document, a pop-up appears asking for the password. If the correct password is provided the document opens normally, if an incorrect password or no password is provided the document remains closed and encrypted.

To share this document, post it where authorized users can access it or e-mail it to the people that you want to have it. In order to read this document the recipients will need a password to open it. You can provide this password in advance, or send it by a separate channel, such as SMS / Text message.

Of course, you only provide the password to open the document. Keep the "restrict editing" password to yourself to ensure that people do not change your document, or copy and paste information from it to other sources.

Free Mountain House Meal

https://www.mountainhouse.com/M/onthehouse.html

Until 31 October 2017, Mountain House is offering a rebate (up to $11 US) on any single meal pouch (not the #10 cans). Buy a Mountain House meal, fill out the rebate form and they refund the cost of the meal. It's limited to one refund per address, but a free meal is a free meal.  

Shotgun Adapters for Survival and Sustainability

Shotgun adapters allow you to shoot multiple calibers out of your break action shotgun. This is an advantage in a survival situation, providing greater versatility in a single firearm. With an adapter set you can reduce your 12-gauge shotgun to 20-gauge, or to .410. Include an adapter in the caliber of pistol that you carry, and now that ammunition can be fired from your shotgun, as well.  Including a .22LR adapter and a hundred rounds of ammo in your pack adds little weight while further increasing your ability to hunt small game in a survival situation.

You can use most any break action shotgun with an adapter. I personally like the Mossberg Maverick double barrel, with adapters for my pistol caliber, and a .22WMR adapter. It should be noted that when using an adapter in your shotgun, you decrease the barrel length to that of the adapter. For this reason, I recommend using the 8-inch Rifled Pathfinder Series Adapters. The eight-inch adapter increases the length of barrel over that of most pistols, but is shorter than any rifle or shotgun. Be sure to sight in your gun using the adapters so that you know where it shoots when using different calibers.  Also, if you carry a 20-gauge shotgun, you can reduce it to .410, but you will not be able to go up in size from 20-gauge to 12-gauge by using an adapter.

A single shot 12-gauge shotgun can be found for very little money in most gun stores, and for even less on the used market. Combining this inexpensive shotgun with a couple adapters greatly increases its versatility, creating a true "survival firearm" for most long-term sustainability situations.

Another interesting option made by Short Lane Gun Adapters is the reloadable ‘black powder’ shotgun shell, and the 209 shotgun-primer adapter, allowing you to fire your shotgun like a muzzle loader, using black powder. While this may lack value in a short-term survival situation; it is certainly of value in longer-term sustainability scenarios. The Pathfinder School has a YouTube about this device, which they helped to design here: The 209 Primer 12GA Adapter    

The Rossi firearms company sells multi-barrel firearm, the "Trifecta" with the concept of one gun - multiple calibers. The availability of calibers could be expanded even further by including a set of adapters to be used with the shotgun barrel of the Rossi Trifecta.  This is designed as a "youth gun" and may be a little small for some adults, but that small size can be an advantage in a survival gun.

The concept of multiple barrels can also be had in Thompson / Center firearms. Thompson / Center makes great firearms, but you will pay two or three times what you pay for the Rossi Trifecta. Still if you have the money and want the best multi-barrel firearm available, get the Thompson / Center.

Versatility and adaptability is an essential part of fieldcraft and survival. Shotgun adapters provide you with many options to expand the capabilities of your firearm, allowing you greater versatility in the field.