What will TEOTWAWKI look like?

While trying to predict the exact cause and magnitude of an unexpected, low probability Black Swan type event is difficult and potentially futile, having some kind of reality-based risk assessment is essential in guiding your preparations.

"The end of the world" could come in a great many forms. It certainly has if you look back over examples found in history--from war to natural disaster to pandemic--crap hit the fan events have come in many shapes and sizes.

Many take the approach of preparing for the literal worst-case, Mad Max-level scenario. EMP, nuclear war, the zombie apocalypse--if you're prepared for any of these, you're prepared for anything, right?

Citizen Civilian militias fight back against cartels in rural Mexico

A pretty interesting article in the WSJ today, about rural Mexican citizens arming themselves and standing up against the cartels and organized crime. Fearing reprisals, police are too afraid to do anything about the problem, and federal forces stretched thin. So, gathering up what firearms they have and donning masks to protect their identities, locals have started taking the battle against organized crime into their own hands, running patrols, check points and even raids against suspected cartel houses.

The article is subscription only, but a 3 minute video recap is available for free right here.

A real world example of the need for private firearms ownership, citizen militias and the failure of the state. Can't trust the state to take care of you.

Yes, the U.S. sure isn't crime ridden, civil war-torn Mexico--at least not at the moment. And, unlike the militias in the video, most of us can put up some better armament than an ancient double barrel shotgun.

TEOTWAWKI or a wide scale collapse is likely to look a lot more like this (at least in rural America) than something out of Mad Max. A tightly knit, self sufficient community with sufficient arms and manpower would do quite well. Those unable or unwilling to band together for mutual security will be fodder the wolves that will quickly come prowling.

Long Term Survival: Wilderness Survival

It's been a while since I wrote an entry in this series, but it hasn't been forgotten!

Could someone disappear into the wilderness, with only a bag on their back, and hope to survive long term? The idea is hearkens back to older times, when mountain men, explorers, long hunters and others lived in the untamed wilds, with little in the way of outside support.

As a survival strategy, on the surface, surviving out tough times in the wilderness has a lot going for it. In many parts of the country, there are vast, empty tracks of wilderness where someone could walk off and never be seen again. In tough times, even in a massive, worldwide collapse, the wilderness would still offer a refuge from the chaos and violence of more populated areas. And, with enough wilderness skill, one could conceivably survive off nature's bounty - wild edibles, trapping, hunting and fishing to keep your belly full.

Real life isn't so simple and easy--I remember reading that the average life expectancy of a mountain man was a measly year. That's not exactly a long time. And they typically had horses loaded down with gear to help.

Injury, illness, weather, predators, starvation, dehydration - there's a long list of challenges to confront. And there are a lot of people who are planning to head to the mountains in case of trouble, so the local forest might not be so empty post-collapse.

Of course, you will have to deal with injury, illness, bad weather, predators, starvation, dehydration and potential raiders just about anywhere after a worldwide, long term collapse--country, city, small towns, suburbs, you name it. Post-collapse wilderness survival is often dismissed off hand - but doing so, is, I think, rather foolish. If you don't have any better options, the remoteness, seclusion and natural resources of the wilderness could well provide an excellent means for survival.

History is full of examples of people who have retreated to the forest and wild places and survived. One is the Bielski partisans from WWII - a group of Polish Jews who retreated to the nearby forests and then organized an armed resistance against the Nazis.

A more recent example: the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. They retreat to the remote reaches of the mountains and hunker down in caves, often evading U.S. forces and, at the end of the day, surviving and living to fight another day.

It's certainly possible - heck, the Native Americans were surviving in the wilds of North America for a long time.

You would of course want to stack the deck in your favor as much as possible - people, animals, tools, food supplies, and the right location would all go a long way. A group of skilled survivors on pack horses loaded down with tools and supplies would have much better chances than a lone guy with a pack on his back. If you were limited to what you could carry in, some pre-positioned caches would be wise.

Edited to Add: Just to clarify, a lone guy with nothing but a backpack full of gear will have a rough time. A lone guy with a backpack will always have a tough time. There's only so much one person can do and only so much you can carry on your back. The more help you have, the better your odds. More people, more equipment, more supplies, etc. A group on horseback, on ATVs, 4x4s and so on, loaded down with gear and supplies, will have an easier go of surviving.

There's also nothing to say that once in the wilderness, you couldn't leave for resupply, scouting, scavenging, barter, etc.

Finally - yes, you would have to have some very strong wilderness survival skills. You wouldn't need to be Dave Canterbury, but you'd need to be very good - knowledge of wild edibles, hunting, trapping, bushcrafting and so on.

Your shelter would be a make-or-break thing; a backpacking tent is not going to stand up to long term use, sustained bad weather or winter temperatures. There are a variety of viable long-term wilderness shelters - teepees, yurts, walled expedition tents, cabins, huts, shacks, dugouts/bunkers, and more. Most are going to require more than a knife to build. You may need to pack in the shelter itself on a vehicle or animal, or you may need to carry heavier use tools, a stove or similar.

Trapping is generally the most productive means of getting meat - hunting and fishing being hit-or-miss - so having animal and fish traps available, plus the knowledge on how to produce primitive traps, would help keep you fed.

Camouflage would be your primary defense - a remote location, plus good camouflage and noise/light/smell discipline would do a lot to help avoid any kind of conflict, but ample and intelligent use of camouflage would further any advantages there. And, of course, you'd want ample firearms in case your camouflage failed or you needed to go on the offensive.

Anyways, some food for thought. Is wilderness survival anyone's primary plan in the event of a wide scale collapse? Anyone have any experience living in a primitive shelter long term. Any good points I missed? Let me know in the comments section.

Long Term Survival: TEOTWAWKI Reloading

What to do?

Buy it cheap and stack it deep is a common mantra when it comes to survival ammo. It is one of those critical, difficult to replace survival items and a healthy supply of ammo is a good idea if you're preparing for a sustained, long term TEOTWAWKI scenario. But what to do if the ammo runs out or you are separated from your mountain of cartridges?

Reloading is the obvious answer, but if you're at the point where you and your personal treasure trove of ammo have been parted, there's a good chance you're low on reloading components--namely primers, powders and bullets. So we've got to look to unconventional methods - scavenging components from other caliber cartridges and making your own components by casting lead and mixing up black powder.

Revolvers, pump/single/double barrel shotguns, bolt and lever guns stand out here - less strict requirements on powder loading, bullet types and so on than a semiauto. An AR-15 is probably not going to run very well with cast lead bullets and black powder.

Of course, mess around with any of these at your own risk. Firearms, fingers and eyeballs are all things you don't want to blow up.

Dogs for the Apocalypse

The right kind of dog, trained right, can be a valuable asset after a collapse situation. They can help with guard duties, protection, hunting, hauling and other tasks, along with companionship. Dogs are a lot of work and a lifestyle changer, but if you're so inclined, then they can be a worthwhile asset--and yes, beyond the One Second After-style meal of desperation.

We don't have a dog. In about a year, year and a half, we should be in a situation where we could add a dog to the family - big enough yard, no babies on the way and so on. Something I'm looking at. I'd like a companion for walks and hiking, and an added layer at the house to deter break ins and to help protect the family, especially if I'm travelling.

Of course, like all things, not all dogs are created equal, so breed comes into play. Based on my experience, I'm inclined towards a Shepherd of some variety - German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois. I had a friend who trained German Shepherds for Schutzhund and obedience competition, and his dogs were really, really impressively trained. Sport training is of course different from real protection training, but these dogs were eerily well trained. Like you'd tell 'em to lie down and go to sleep, and they'll lie down for hours and not move. I wish my boy was that well trained!

Yep, there are other breeds that might be better in a straight up fight - the Cane Corso, descended from Roman war dogs, for example. But for an all around mix of intelligence, companionship and capability, I think a well trained Shepherd variety (German Shepherd, Malinois, etc.) is hard to beat. There's a reason police, the military and others use these dogs.

I don't have a ton of confidence in my ability to train a dog to the level of training I want from scratch. Maintain training, keep the dog exercised and generally engaged - yes. But train from scratch? I'm not sure. Don't have any experience in that area. So we would probably purchase an already trained dog from a professional trainer--or purchase as a pup and work with an experienced trainer as he ages. Yes, I know you pay an arm and a leg for it, but if I'm going to add a dog to the family - and all that comes with it - I want to do it right.

I'm sure this is a favorite topic for some of you, with much more experience than I can offer. Interested to hear your thoughts & experiences on breed, training and lifestyle in the comments.

Long Term Survival: Food

Haven't had much time to do a ton of writing on this subject, but wanted to put something out there to get the wheels turning.

Food storage is a hugely important thing, but there's only so much food that a survivor can put back. A solid food supply of several months should be good for weathering most problems, but we're looking at something long term and truly devastating on a global scale. In an event like this, you're looking at years before the large scale commercial farms are up and running, the supply chains are rebuilt and the grocery stores are re-opened--if ever. In a situation like this, it's not likely that your food storage will last through the troubles.

Food quickly becomes one of the prime concerns for surviving long term--probably the biggest, aside from a plentiful supply of water--and water is generally easier to come by. If you've got food sorted out, that's a huge step towards surviving a bad scenario indefinitely.

More Skullcracker

My hand forged, post-apocalypse zombie slaying knife of doom arrived from Church & Son's a few days ago, and it has received much drooling over since. Fairly easily the coolest thing I own...Randy did good work. Undead beware.

More pictures after the jump.

Skullcracker

A little bit of a creative collaboration between me and neo-tribal blacksmith/sharp thing maker, Randy Church. I've wanted a Church & Son chopper of my own since I came across his work, and especially after the generous sponsorship of our TEOTWAWKI blade contest, so this one has been a while in the making.

I gave Brother Randy a few ideas for potential blades, and we settled on a trench-style knife with knuckle guard. Mean, stabby and viking-ish. Emails and pictures of various historical examples were exchanged--at some point, the project was christened Skullcracker. Randy underwent shoulder surgery and recuperation, and, after healing up, took this beast of a knife on as one of his first post-surgery projects. Not exactly an easy transition back into things--the knuckle guard was apparently hellacious to forge.

The sharp bit is an old planner blade hammer forged and salt water quenched--8" of blade, partially sharpened swedge. Knuckle guard is from a mower blade. Handle is a bit of wormy maple, struck by lighting and endowed by the Gods with magical powers (ok--but lightning part is true). Overall, 13" of meanness.

Skullcracker is on its way here right now...I'm chomping at the bit...and you'll see more in the near future.

A great pleasure & honor to work with Randy on this project. Really thrilled with how it turned out.

More of Randy's great pics after the jump. Visit his website here.

Long-Term Post-Collapse Survival

Let's face it--for an end of the world blog, we here at TEOTWAWKI Blog spend a lot of time talking about practical stuff--everyday carry and typically shorter term survival scenarios. Practical is good and it's useful--the world has not ended in the 5 years since T-Blog launched, but there have been plenty of localized disasters, a massive global recession, and lots of stuff in between. 

But, let's face it, all-out Mad Max level end of the world stuff is compelling stuff, and while any single scenario might be extremely low probability, you add them all together and things get more frightening. If you're a T-Blog reader, surviving a long term, world wide collapse is something you're probably interested in, and we're going to try to focus on it more on it over the coming months. Don't worry, we'll keep the practical stuff going too--nothing is going away.

Now to frame our discussion, by long term, we mean surviving beyond 6 months after a global-level collapse. Governments collapsed, economies functioning only at the very local level, if at all. Grids are down, supply chains are broken and travel is limited. Rule of law is not in effect on a wide scale. 

This level of collapse will be associated with a major die-off--potentially in the initial event (nuclear war, Yellowstone caldera), or more gradual (pandemic, starvation). Survivors will band together into groups--good, bad and in between, formal and informal. If there's a measure of stability post-collapse, you'll see some consolidation of groups--alliances, mergers and takeovers--and hopefully eventual rebuilding. 

I don't personally subscribe to any kind of single philosophy as a "best" way to survive this scope of collapse. For example, a retreat in the middle o' nowhere is not the magic solution, though it can be a pretty good one given the right circumstances. Being a part of a larger resilient (mostly self sufficient) community is another, in many ways, better solution--especially if you can back that community up with some military hardware. We'll talk through a variety of options.

There's the obvious survivalist problems of hordes of cannibals/zombies/raiders, but there's also the problems of sustaining life a year, two years and on-wards after a worldwide collapse. Stuff will run out, wear out and break and there's no more mega-mart to drop by. Lots of associated problems.

We'll also talk through some of the rebuilding process--ideas on how to organize a community defense force, restart and participate in a local barter-based economy, community leadership and so on.

A lot of this will be theoretical, idea-based, though we'll try to look back at history when we can. We may even delve into some of the ideas presented in some of the better post-apocalypse fiction out there--some smart writers with smart ideas to pull from.

Anyways, should be some fun stuff. I'm going to try to get one post per week out along these discussion lines--so stay tuned!

5 More TEOTWAWKI Professions

In last week's post, 5 TEOTWAWKI Professions, I went over 5 potential occupations for a post-collapse world. We got a great response from you guys on additional end-of-the-world jobs, and I promised to give you 5 more this week.

As a reminder, we're looking at professions that are largely skill/knowledge based, and will be things that the average survivor will struggle to do on their own. If they need tools or equipment, it should largely be portable and sustainable in a no-grid scenario. If it requires raw materials, they should be readily available--common natural resources or easily scavenged materials. We're also looking at a post-collapse, TEOTWAWKI-type scenario, where we're looking mainly at smaller communities and pockets of "safe" regions.

1. Blacksmith
The ability to work with metal is huge--making new tools, repairing others. A forge and anvil isn't exactly portable, but they can be built/improvised from common materials. Metal can be readily scavenged from a huge variety of sources--reebar, bed frames, leaf springs, on and on.

2.General Engineering
I've wrapped this under "engineering" instead of repair, because I think it will be just as important to fabricate and build new machines as it will be to repair them. Think Mythbuster's-esque ability to use creativity and a broad range of skills to improvise and solve problems. I'd go with jack-of-all-trades and versatility over a focus in a single area.

3. Power Generation
Electricity is pretty great, and having zero source of power will pose many problems--lighting, refrigeration, . A knowledgeable and inventive person with skills in this area would be hugely valued. I don't expect conventional fuel to be readily available, so knowledge of alternative methods for generating electricity--wind, solar, hydro, wood gas, steam and so on--would be important. Heck, just having some portable solar panels and the ability to charge portable electronics and batteries would be a valuable source of trade; you would just need to protect it!

4. Ammunition Reloader
Without outside supply, the only way to replace ammunition will be through reloading. A survival reloader would need to have the typical tools of the trade (press, scale, a collection of dies, etc.), and a supply of components, but also the ability to cast lead bullets in common sizes, as well as improvise primers or mix up black powder if things got desperate.

5. Gunsmith
The average gun owner barely knows how to take apart their own firearms for cleaning, and expertise in repairing, modifying and even building firearms would be close to priceless. Basic gunsmithing tools and a collection of common spare parts can fit within a normal-size toolbox. Knowledge, experience and ingenuity will be key.

5 TEOTWAWKI Professions

A question came up recently in the comments thread, a new prepper looking for advice around how to prepare for providing for a family post-collapse. Here are 5 potential professions that are generally portable and would make a survivor a valued addition to a survival group, as well as provide great barter potential.

1. Food Production
Food production will be a hugely important skill in a long term collapse, and it's something that few people are skilled in these days. Even people who make a living through farming today will have a tough transition to a world with limited fuel-powered tractors, pesticides and so on. Knowledge and skills in food production--things like gardening, raising livestock, hydroponics, aquaponics, traditional farming techniques and related skills--will be hugely important to keeping communities fed and alive after a large-scale collapse. Knowledge is very portable, as are seeds.

2. Sewing
Hand sewing and the ability to repair and make a wide variety of things would be quite valuable. While the average person can probably sew a hole in their pants, can the sew up a backpack, chest rig, pants, tent, sleeping bag, shirt or similar? Probably not. As pre-collapse goods wear out and disappear, sewn goods will become very valuable. A sewing kit and associated tools is quite light weight, and cloth can be scavenged or bartered for. Though less mobile, a treadle/foot powered sewing machine would make life a lot easier.

3. Community Defense
The average American has little experience with weapons and defense, and when there's mobs of potential enemies roving the lands, those who do will find their services in high demand. Whether it's serving as a guard or defender, or helping train and prepare a community defense force for troubled times, people with skills in this area will have an easier time finding a place in a post-collapse world. Defensive weaponry, a trustworthy appearance and credentials would help.

4. Medical/Dental
Demand for medical services will skyrocket in a more dangerous, accident-prone post-collapse world. The traveling doctor, making house calls on patients, would see a resurgence. Formal training/credentials would be important, as would the appropriate equipment, and probably also a sound knowledge of natural remedies. Very valuable and likely to help keep you alive in many circumstances.

5. Radio Operator
HAM Radio operators are not exactly common these days, but they could be a source of information and communications with the outside world. A portable, solar-powered HAM set up and knowledge of communications tech would make a survivor a handy person to have around in troubled times. Access to information and the ability to send messages over a long distance would put your services in high demand.

There's five professions--I'll post up 5 more next week. To those interested, I'm sure my seasoned survival readers will have plenty of other ideas in the comments section,

SHTF School

Many of you have probably browsed Selco's work over at the SHTF School. Selco is a survivor of a real-deal SHTF situation--he survived for a year of the Balkan Wars, where his city was surrounded, under bombardment and had descended into anarchy and gang warfare. While Selco's particular situation may vary from what many of us are planning for, his experiences are very valuable for shedding light on the realities of an urban survival scenario. In short, it ain't pretty.

Recently, SHTF School has opened up an online course, which can be accessed for a one-time subscription fee. The course has over eight hours of recorded interviews with Selco, as well as numerous blog-style posts, videos and preparations lists. All are based on Selco's experiences and his current plans, and there's a lot of good information and things to think about.

Really, most of us have not lived through the hell that Selco did, so it's very valuable to hear from someone who has "been there." If you're new to prepping, planning on surviving in an urban environment or just need a reality check, SHTF School will be especially appealing to you. Punches aren't pulled here--this was war, with those caught in the crossfire often resorting to any means to stay alive and stay sane.

One interesting thing is that Selco was not a prepper before the war--he did have some medical training, as that was his profession, but he had little in the way of preps, had never shot a gun before and so on. His family initially had just one firearm for protection--a WWII-era Luger and a handful of bullets.

Some topics of interest that Selco/SHTF School covers quite well:

• The disinformation campaign from media and politicians prior to collapse
• Urban survival in general--lots of great info and things to think about
• Tools that were valuable
• Formation of gangs post-collapse
• Psychology, emotions and mindset of those who survived and those who did not
• Bartering for survival
• Skills that were important for survival

The interviews are not studio recorded, so the audio has a mild echo to it, there's the occasional background noise and so on. Both Selco and Jay are non-native English speakers--I have no problem understanding them, but I've lived/traveled quite a bit outside the U.S., so accents usually aren't a big problem for me. Your mileage may vary.

They're running special pricing right now that gets you in for $20, which is a pretty fair deal for what you get, IMO. I paid for it and have been happy so far. If you have some prep budget to dedicate towards reading/education, I'd take a good look at 'em. Certainly a unique perspective in the survival sphere.

Selco's blog is free, quite good and recommended reading. 

Check out SHTF School.com >

Defense without Modern Firearms - Black Powder

For a variety of reasons, some are unable to own modern firearms--be it local laws, something in their past that disqualifies them from firearms ownership, an unwilling spouse or whatever.

Someone under those circumstances should not simply give up on coming up with a feasible means of defense. While modern firearms are clearly going to be superior to old school methods, that doesn't mean a survivor should give up and trust his family's defense to a Louisville Slugger or $10 machee.

Melee weapons are of course the easy answer--every home in America has at least a few potential improvised weapons. Unfortunately, that means that by default, anyone and everyone post-collapse would at minimum have some kind of melee weapon. And many will have ranged weapons, mostly in the form of modern firearms.

We've all seen the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where the trained swordsman spins his giant sword around menacingly...then Indy shoots him dead. Don't be that guy.

Interview with the Union Creek Journal

By popular request, we've reached out for an interview with the author of The Union Creek Journal, Toby/Mudinyeri. 

Toby's a great writer, good guy and a fellow prepper. He had some interesting thoughts on the Journal--why he got started, what he has planned for the future--as well as some of his thoughts on prepping. Worth a read!

Toby, thanks for taking some time to talk with us. A number of our readers are big fans of the Union Creek Journal and were curious to learn more about the man behind it all and what makes him tick. What got you started writing the UCJ?

Thanks for reaching out, Alexander.  The Journal has really been fun for me.  Most of my readers know that I started The Journal as an experiment.  I’ve been writing for decades.  I started writing stories as a kid.  My undergraduate degree is in journalism.  I’m published as a non-fiction technical editor by Que Publishing and I’ve published more than a dozen professional white papers. 

With all that behind me, the blog format, as a basis for a fictional work, caught my interest when I began reading Adrian’s Undead Diary.  The first-person, journal approach in Adrian’s Undead Diary also intrigued me.  I was working on a different book at the time and decided to set it aside for a bit to try out the almost-daily, first-person blog format for a fictional work.

Honestly, it’s been much more successful than I’d imagined.  I’m very grateful to my fans and readers.  Many of them take it upon themselves to “promote” my book in their own circles of friends.  To me, that’s one of the greatest compliments anyone can pay a writer.

Thoughts on the Free Market Post-Collapse

It will be the tendency of many post-collapse communities to revert to what essentially amounts to communism. We'll see things like:

• Seizure of private property and redistribution for the so called greater good
• Laws against hoarding, with stiff punishment for violations
• Spying by neighbors and reporting to community leaders
• Assignment of roles/responsibilities by the state

While such behavior may originate from good intentions of ensuring survival, it quickly devolves into tyranny, corruption and so on. Prepared individuals would fare exceptionally poorly, having their stockpiles confiscated or fighting it out with their neighbors and community members.

Of course, communism and central planning isn't the only way, and history has shown that it is far from the most efficient way. History has shown the free market to be the most efficient way to operate, and I believe that would hold true even in the harsh conditions that would exists in a TEOTWAWKI world.

12 Gauge with Matches

More good stuff from Dave Canterbury. I've heard about using strike-anywhere matches for improvised primers, but hadn't thought about using them in this capacity. Try at your own risk, but pretty cool and another reason why it's a good thing to have a couple packs of strike-anywheres around.

The Slingbow

Jury-rigged slingbow and arrow.

I'm not sure if he's the inventor, but Dave Canterbury introduced the survival world to the slingbow on a large scale. The idea is fairly simple - shoot an arrow through a slingshot/wrist rocket. It's an interesting idea for a few reasons - it's lightweight, can shoot a wide variety of ammo and can be put together fairly inexpensively cheaply. It's also very quiet, which makes it compelling for low-key hunting in a post-collapse scenario. Arrows are generally reusable and easier to improvise/scratch build than ammunition, so the slingbow could make for an excellent and sustainable foraging tool in a long term collapse scenario.

To turn a regular slingshot into a slingbow, one modification needs to be made--the addition of some kind of arrow rest. Power bands - extra strength slingshot bands - are also a good idea. Dave's original design involved a key ring fastened between the slingshot's fork. Then he moved onto a zip-tied whisker biscuit, and then onto a couple different manufactured designs. He's just released his newest design, the Pocket Hunter, which looks to be the best yet. With some quick looking, it looks like at least one other company is manufacturing a "slingbow" type slingshot (Chief AJ).

Randy Church's TEOTWAWKI Blade

This is Church & Son's Apocalypse #4, Armageddon - and Randy Church's choice for his apocalypse blade. From Randy, the guest judge and blacksmith behind our TEOTWAWKI Blade contest:

"It's a sticker, Skinner, an Ulu and a impromptu chopper with a firestarter/kiridashi also."

Read more about Apocalypse #4 on the Church & Son's Blog >

And the winner is...

After many hours of careful deliberation, Brother Randy and I have come to an agreement on the winner of the TEOTWAWKI Blade contest.

The winner was selected based on photo quality, style, cool factor, creativity and description. Handmade and end user customized blades also got a few extra points, as did blades that looked like they'd seen some good use.

There were numerous great entries, and we want to extend a huge thanks to all who submitted. All of the blades submitted were impressive and would serve their owners well post-collapse. Good work and thank you for sharing your choices. I started writing up a list of honorable mentions, but they're honestly all great and worth of mention. Check out all the entries with the contest label.

This was really anybody's game. BUT, in the end there can be only one winner...only one blade can stand victorious. And our victor is...

TEOTWAWKI Blog Entry #19

Our final entry in the competition. The winner will be announced tomorrow! Randy and I are deliberating right now - with all of the great entries, it's going to be tough! But in the end there can be only one!

From R.G.:

This is the Survivor by Dajo. It's a hollow ground drop point blade made from a good grade of Chinese stainless steel. I was able to wrap about 10' of paracord around the handle because of its unique design. This makes the grip a lot more comfortable than the G10 scales alone. It has a 7.5" total length. The sheath is fairly decent and includes a Swedish firesteel. I've done some branch trimming in the field with it and it holds an edge pretty well. I'm still learning to improvise the other necessities like cordage, etc. But without a decent blade, those jobs are all a lot harder.