Dartmoor knife survival kit contents, help wanted.

[Mesquite]

I'll be the smart bottom in the room....

There's this invention called the airplane, one exchanges money for passage aboard and they'll take you to far off places where you might need such a tool.

There again, one could just stay at home on the computer and belittle peoples posts.

That's far to much for me I'm off to pack for a weekend in the woods....

 

[snappingturtle]

I have small question.
I thought UK was small with no where far from people? Anyone ever needed to use fish hook & line? or lost for many days in your country? What is a scalpel for? Is it for cutting meat? Why not use the knife for that?

It was a bit of an 80's fad Joe to have a kind of survival kit in the handle, the Dartmoor (Wilkinson swords survival knife) started out back then, it was the time of the hollow handle fad, and at least the Dartmoor had a frame style handle that had good strength unlike a lot of the "survival" type knives then, cool knife but I'm not sure myself of the value of the survival kit

 

[Janne]

Venturing into the Off Topic morass here, but does not Mouse Grylls have a Gerber "Survival knife' out there?
Made of steel with lots and lots of orange and black plastic, where the handle contains useless stuff?

 

[snappingturtle]

Venturing into the Off Topic morass here, but does not Mouse Grylls have a Gerber "Survival knife' out there?
Made of steel with lots and lots of orange and black plastic, where the handle contains useless stuff?

Yeh I think he dose!

 

[Corso]

http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2011/dartmoor-survival-knife/

 

[Barn]

http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2011/dartmoor-survival-knife/

In case I've missed something obvious, was there something in that link that would help ?

 

[sunndog]

In case I've missed something obvious, was there something in that link that would help ?

There's a couple of pics of the kit

 

[Barn]

There's a couple of pics of the kit

Yes, I saw those.
They show the kit I already have, and listed as per the first post in the thread, but don't show the sizes of the kit I'm trying to find out.

 

[sunndog]

Ah I didn't look that closely. Although as per your original post you have already changed the contents of the kit from original spec (card to plastic) so it seems like a lot of extra work finding the length of a needle?

 

[Barn]

Ah I didn't look that closely. Although as per your original post you have already changed the contents of the kit from original spec (card to plastic) so it seems like a lot of extra work finding the length of a needle?

Fair point, but it’s the size/length of the hooks and swivels I can’t find. None of the pics, whether from that well known blog linked to or the Dartmoorknife.co.uk website show those outside of a packet.

It’s the kind of question that could be answered in one minute from someone who has an original kit, or knows the answer, but could go on forever if people just give guesses as answers

 

[Madriverrob]

Does the size or the hooks and weights matter that much ? maybe a selection would suffice ?

 

[Madriverrob]

The package in the "kirtley " picture also contains some snap links .....

 

[Barn]

The package in the "kirtley " picture also contains some snap links .....

But what is your point?
It's safe to assume I've already seen the pic, as I have already found out as much as I could before asking on this site. I also mentioned in the first post the site that sells the kit (and they list the contents, but not the sizes)
You will have read that I already know what the basic kit contents are, but am looking for exact sizes.

Can you tell the sizes of the swivels, links and hooks from that pic?
I can't, which Is why I originally asked for the sizes.

As per post #1, can you tell the exact size and finish of the hooks and swivels?

 

[Janne]

An email to the manufacturer?

Also, fish hooks come in different designs. Aberdeen, O’Shaghennesy ( spelling?) lots of others.

 

[Madriverrob]

Good point , pointing out my lack of any real point ! You seem unnecessarily irate at you own lack of success in finding the answer !

I have just been in my tackle box to check shot and hook sizes but I guess you’ve already considered that too .....

Good luck with your quest for precision ....

 

[Barn]

Good point , pointing out my lack of any real point ! You seem unnecessarily irate at you own lack of success in finding the answer !

I have just been in my tackle box to check shot and hook sizes but I guess you’ve already considered that too .....

Good luck with your quest for precision ....

Perhaps I'm a bit fed up because in post one I was deliberately very very specific and asked for exact info, only to have reply after reply if people totally ignoring the post!
I guess it's a bit like you wanting to go fishing, needing an exact hook for a small fish etc and me suggesting that a hook from a 10 tonne tow rope would be perfectly good for you as it's 'a hook'

Again, just like you have a tackle box I also have a selection of MOD issued fishing kit here so probably already have the correct stuff here from the original manufacturers, but as the kit will be on display as per post one I'm looking for the correct sizes and finish. The stuff issued in survival kits in the '80s was different to that today and for the display to be 'right' it has to be '80s spec.

The issue in getting the right kit isn't helped by the fact the manufacturer of the knife went out of business decades ago, and the sole supplier of the kits won't release the info as they want to seek the kits as a high price.

 

[Tonyuk]

I have small question.
I thought UK was small with no where far from people? Anyone ever needed to use fish hook & line? or lost for many days in your country? What is a scalpel for? Is it for cutting meat? Why not use the knife for that?

You'd be surprised.

Depending on where you go you can be as a little as a day's walk from a village/farm/town. However that is all dependant on how fast your able to move, what the weather conditions are like, and if you can actually navigate.

I'm always surprised by the number of people i've seen wandering about looking for signposts now and then when they've wandered off the marked trail with no map/ compass or GPS. Look up a few stories from mountain rescue teams, you'll see plenty with the person concerned having got lost for 2/3 odd days before someone phoned the police to report them missing, no phone, no map, only took some snacks and a waterproof.

In the highlands the weather can change pretty fast, going from cold to snow and fog in about an hour or less. It isn't a bad idea to just stop, get a shelter & fire sorted and wait it out. Navigating around the top of a munro in a whiteout is an experience to say the least, especially when you end up at a near sheer drop.

 

[Tonyuk]

But what is your point?
It's safe to assume I've already seen the pic, as I have already found out as much as I could before asking on this site. I also mentioned in the first post the site that sells the kit (and they list the contents, but not the sizes)
You will have read that I already know what the basic kit contents are, but am looking for exact sizes.

Can you tell the sizes of the swivels, links and hooks from that pic?
I can't, which Is why I originally asked for the sizes.

As per post #1, can you tell the exact size and finish of the hooks and swivels?

Time has value.

You've obviously been looking into this for a fair bit, i would just pay the £30, be done with it and move on with life.

 

[Nomad64]

But what is your point?
It's safe to assume I've already seen the pic, as I have already found out as much as I could before asking on this site. I also mentioned in the first post the site that sells the kit (and they list the contents, but not the sizes)
You will have read that I already know what the basic kit contents are, but am looking for exact sizes.

Can you tell the sizes of the swivels, links and hooks from that pic?
I can't, which Is why I originally asked for the sizes.

As per post #1, can you tell the exact size and finish of the hooks and swivels?

If trying to sort out the exact specs of the handle contents to display the knife in a cabinet is this stressful, imagine being in a situation where you have to “break the glass” and use it for its intended purpose!

Only kidding - the nature of the interweb in general and forums in particular, is that even the most simple question is seldom met with a constructive simple answer and as Paul Kirtley says (far more authoritatively and eloquently than most people on here), these kind of knives do rouse strong opinions. Frustrating as it may be if you post a question, you will inevitably need to sort the wheat from the chaff.

 

[Madriverrob]

Or the big hooks from the little hooks .....