Ontario Machete Survival, Spec Plus

Poppy

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This weekend during a camping trip I met, a camping experienced gent, who carried a Ontario knives SPC-94 machete. He was splitting logs for the fire. He was using a rock as a chopping block! It might have been the sparks that caught my attention. :rolleyes:

Later in the day, I asked him to split some for kindling so that we could catch the larger logs on fire. He used the baton method. I had only seen that method in videos, and "survival" shows. That's a technique that I want to add to me repertoire but I don't have the proper tool.

His blade was a Ontario knives SPC-94. He bought it years ago, and has put it through torture. But it performed flawlessly. Later I asked to see it, and it was razor sharp, where there were nicks in the blade from hitting rocks, nails, or whatever. He sharpened hten too. Although, he had recently created some flattened spots, I knew that he would sharpen them. The back-strap at one time was a sharp saw blade, and although yesterday, I would not have recognized it as a saw, it still worked!

He was very happy with it and when prompted spoke highly of it, and spoke of comparisons to other "similar" tools, and what made this superior. I don't remember all of the points that he made, but one was the attention to detail of the scabbard. It is a combination of leather, and nylon, and is reinforced with rivets. When someone mentioned how the handle might come loose, he pointed out that it had full tang construction with a rivet holding the handle in place. He was a man who knew his tools, took pride in them, and had reasons why they were as good or better than others.

His was the Ontario SPC-94 when I googled it I got the SP 8. I am guessing that it is an upgrade. Is it the same or better steel?
 

ingineer

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i'm not a knife expert, but i believe all those machete types from Ontario are all 1095 carbon steel, that's the kind of steel that you want in the wild. Easy to sharpen, makes a nice spark with a flint makes sense though big knife when nearby, smaller when way out
just try to explain it to the powers that be unless you are in the AT
I've bad luck with this brand. snapped one
buy a carbon steel mora for light batoning, cheap, needs to be in your bag.
love my ESEE, consider the Becker
 

Poppy

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Thanks for the response. I see that the SP8 is made of 1095 carbon steel.

I have held the Camillus machete. It has a nice rubberized grippy handle, but it is longer yet, at 18 inches with a 12 inch blade. It is half the price, and has a titanium bonded blade. It is nasty looking, pretty. And where you mentioned trying to explain WHY you are carrying such a blade to the authorities may not be the easiest.

OTOH, the Ontario, does look like a tool.

Your mention of getting a good batoning knife, has me re-thinking this decision of whether to get a machete at all.

Thanks.
 

ingineer

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Poppy;
I'm not really the proper person to give advice, I'm no Mors Kochanski, and my health has failed me.
However forget the big machete unless your going to the jungle, the kukris and large stuff is pretty useless here in the NE
they were always in the truck of the car and never used
A inexpensive knife such as a Morakniv is much more practical, esp as it will do kitchen duties. have two spares
along with a spare RAT ie ESEE
Condor Bushlore is also a safe bet.
Now in Maine, a Eastwing sportsman axe is the way to go, my father would spend weeks in the woods with that and a wool blanket
good luck from exit 155
 

xxo

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Never heard of the SPC-94, but the SP8 has been around for some time. I have a SP5 Bowie....decent budget big blade, but I usually go with a smaller knife, a machete (like the OKC Ontario models with the D guard, which I usually cut off) and a folding or sliding pruning saw. The saw is great for gathering fire wood the machete is for clearing trails and camp areas if needed and the small knife for actual cutting. Personally I find little to no need to split any firewood for a camp fire (I use a maul for a wood stove).
 

Poppy

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We weren't quite sure of the engraving of the model number, it was pretty well worn, we weren't quite sure if it was a 9 a 3 or an 8.

Currently, most of the camping I do is with 11 year old cub-scouts, next year, they'll be 12, and boy scouts, where they will be allowed to handle axes, I was impressed by the fact that I think that this would be a safer tool, especially with the ease that it can be used to baton. Other reviewers also mentioned that because it had a longer cutting edge, that you are less likely to miss your target if you are fatigued, (or inexperienced).

I have a fiskers slide out saw, an Estwing Axe (my son's), and a lock back Buck 110.

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But I don't have anything that is good for batoning.

Although, I do have a Ontario Knife Company, Old Hickory 12 inch butcher's knife, with a 7 inch blade. I used to love that knife, but rarely use it because I use a stainless chef's knife, or slicer. Its spine is only 1/16th inch. I wonder how well that could be used to baton?
 

xxo

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Axes are probably more dangerous than machetes but both demand a lot of respect! You can baton (split wood) with your estwing very easily and in a pinch you can do it with the fiskars saw.


Another implement worth mentioning is the cold steel shovel.....an e-tool that chops as well as a hatchet!


Batoning is sometimes a good way to cut up to wrist sized wood using a knife that is too small to chop. Still don't see the need for splitting wood for a camp fire though (despite it's widespread internet popularity).
 

Poppy

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The thing is, at scout camps, the kids scrounge all the dead wood and burn it, so it has to be brought in. Then with a hydrolic splitter the adults take turns (earning their keep) lol. So essentially, we sometimes have to split some of the quartered logs into thinner strips to act as kindling. It seems that even if they are told to NOT burn up the kindling, once the fire has advanced to fuel logs, they like the instant gratification of seeing the fire get bigger! And when we have to restart the fire... there's no kindling.
 

xxo

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I ran into that problem many years ago when camping at one of the national parks out west......they had a strict rule that prohibited scrounging for fire wood, you could only burn wood that the rangers left at your camp site and all of it was big logs!

Normally, I look for the biggest standing deadwood I can drag back to camp, use the small stuff for kindling and save the precious larger pieces (precious because there is a limit to the size/weight of logs I can drag out) for burning over night. A good saw is real handy for this work (at least until the fire gets to the point where the it does the sawing!).
 

Poppy

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I ran into that problem many years ago when camping at one of the national parks out west......they had a strict rule that prohibited scrounging for fire wood, you could only burn wood that the rangers left at your camp site and all of it was big logs!

Normally, I look for the biggest standing deadwood I can drag back to camp, use the small stuff for kindling and save the precious larger pieces (precious because there is a limit to the size/weight of logs I can drag out) for burning over night. A good saw is real handy for this work (at least until the fire gets to the point where the it does the sawing!).
A HA! An experienced woodsman :thumbsup:

Last week, I helped teach knot tying.
Then the advantage of a pulley set up.

They had a tug of war... the big kids against the little kids. Although outnumbered, the big kids won.
Then... I gave the little kids a 2 to 1 advantage with a pulley, and they won. Everyone learned something. :)

lol... with a pulley system you can drag larger logs to the camp :D
 

xxo

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Sounds like fun! I am sure the kids are learning a lot.
 

Poppy

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Sounds like fun! I am sure the kids are learning a lot.
We try to expose them to the basics. First aid, shelter building, flint and steel fire building, BB guns, archery, fishing, etc... Yeah... they are having fun :)

Sooo.... that SP8 is still sitting in my Amazon shopping cart.

I took my "Old Hickory" out back and split some log quarters into kindling. It worked really well.
I spoke with my son about the discussion we had about the SP8, and that I was waffling between getting it or a knife, or just using the "Old Hickory".

Today, Amazon's delivery service brought a package to our house. In it was an Ontario Knife Company, SP-2 Survival knife.

Maybe we'll get to play with it this weekend. :thumbsup:

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xxo

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Looks like a Spec plus version of the old Air Force bolt knife....should be pretty rugged (the bolt knife was intended for aircrew to pry/hack/saw there way out of a cashed aircraft). Though I think your Old Hickory would probably make a better all round camp knife if you have a sheath for it.
 

Poppy

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Thanks for the suggestion. I ordered a Ka Bar sheath for it and it should be here in a few days. I saw a few youtube vids where people were using that Old Hickory as their camp knife, so I think that you may be on to something :)

I finally pulled the trigger on that SP8, and it came today!



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xxo

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The SP8 looks good....almost got one a couple times, but I have a bunch of (mostly cheap) machetes already - here are some of them with my SP5 bowie:


014.jpg
 

Poppy

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You already have a nice little collection there! :)

And while an SP8 would feel right at home nuzzled in there, it would be a little challenging to justify getting it.

Personally, I am glad that I don't have any machetes, so it was much easier to justify getting it.
I also like the fact that the blunt nose makes it look more like a tool than a weapon.



The SP8 looks good....almost got one a couple times, but I have a bunch of (mostly cheap) machetes already - here are some of them with my SP5 bowie:


014.jpg
 

Charlie Fox

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My "survival knife" since 1988 has been a 12" Ontario machete. It has seen more miles and has been beat up so much, but it has never failed. I can sharpen it on a flat rock if needed, but I carry a small file and stone to touch it up. It's pretty light, so backpacking with it was no problem. I used to carry it in an old Brigade Quartermaster (there's a name out of the past!) Jump Sheath, but it finally gave up the ghost about ten years ago and I had a buddy make me a new one out of fire hose and an old backpack I had. This knife has cut wood, split kindling, dug holes, skinned critters and started fires. It even has the original handles!
 

xxo

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You already have a nice little collection there! :)

And while an SP8 would feel right at home nuzzled in there, it would be a little challenging to justify getting it.

Personally, I am glad that I don't have any machetes, so it was much easier to justify getting it.
I also like the fact that the blunt nose makes it look more like a tool than a weapon.


For many years the only big knife I had was a old beat up 18" Ontario Machete......it handled anything I needed to do with it. When I started getting more interested in knives I started to accumulate all sorts, including a bunch of machetes (I don't think that I paid more than $30 for any of them) and some big Survival knives...kept coming back to the machetes. Of the big survival knives the Ontario SP5 has been my favorite (though the SP8 looks real good too).




Another a old pic of my SP5:

042-2_zpsde452305.jpg
 

xxo

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My "survival knife" since 1988 has been a 12" Ontario machete. It has seen more miles and has been beat up so much, but it has never failed. I can sharpen it on a flat rock if needed, but I carry a small file and stone to touch it up. It's pretty light, so backpacking with it was no problem. I used to carry it in an old Brigade Quartermaster (there's a name out of the past!) Jump Sheath, but it finally gave up the ghost about ten years ago and I had a buddy make me a new one out of fire hose and an old backpack I had. This knife has cut wood, split kindling, dug holes, skinned critters and started fires. It even has the original handles!


Those 12" ontarios do make great survival knives! I carry mine in a cut down GI plastic scabbard intended for the 18" Ontario with a sling that I rigged up so that I don't have to hang it from a pistol belt or the like (the scabbard has old style hangers for GI pistol belts). Since thee photo was taken, I have sawed off the plastic D guard to keep it from banging into my pinky when swing it machete style. This is the set up I have recommended to several friends (perferably with the orange colored handle instead of black like mine).

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