Hi all,
As I said earlier today, the parangs have arrived. I have now checked them over. Here is what I found:
Each parang comes in a cardboard box. I unpacked every one to check that it was in pristine condition. I also checked the survival kits where you had ordered them. The parangs are well sharpened but not what I would call razor sharp, more like microserrated. I would say that these initial edges are very satisfactory for a tool of this kind but I will be working on mine a little.
I tested mine on a few bits of junk lying around and was well impressed with the cutting ability but I expect there will be some more extensive product reports from you quite soon.
One of the XLs showed signs of being handled, but clearly (and IMHO very fortunately
) not by Alfredo. I kept that one for myself. A couple of the XLs and 6" had small spots of glue on the blades and so did a couple of the XL sheaths. The glue cleaned off the blades very easily but I didn't try cleaning the sheaths and just kept them back as there are several spare at the moment. One press stud securing the parang in the sheath of one of the XLs fell to pieces when I opened it. I kept that one back too and I think I'll have to return it to Heinnie but I'll see if I can repair it easily first. The sheaths are of Chinese make and not bad at all for the price. Each survival kit contained a small sachet of salt. In each case this was lying at the top of the container when I opened it. In a couple of them it was in contact with the tiny firesteel and it had started to corrode it, although not seriously and in all but one case I doubt you'd know if I hadn't told you. In my opinion the corrosion would become serious if it was left for very much longer and I will report that to Heinnie if Alfredo doesn't beat me to it. In most cases I put the salt sachet in a polythene bag and packed it in the box separately. In one case (MikeE) I left it out of the parcel altogether to keep the package below 1kg and so save 115p on postage. Mike, next time you visit Burger King you can top up your salt content. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT STORE SALT IN SACHETS IN YOUR SURVIVAL KIT UNLESS YOU FIRST WRAP IT WELL IN POLYTHENE. Even a sealed bottle is risky if the kit will experience some shaking and vibration. I've seen serious damage to metal articles in things like survival kits caused by contact with salt for long periods. Salt is hygroscopic (it absorbs water) and wet salt will corrode practically anything with metal in it like knife blades, metal whistles, wire saws, safety pins and all those things are in the kit.
For those of you who have sent me their addresses the parangs are now all packed and ready to go, although I do still need a full name for Korvin Karbon before I can send his.
Please
log in on the alternative site and check your PMs.
Cheers,
Ged