Bear Grylls series have arrived...

I have been youtubing about these gadgets couple of months ago, and always had them in my wish list of "stuffs that my wife will not understand why I should buy them".

I just passionate about these survival stuffs. To me, they bring piece of mind , connecting the dots of the great old days , during my youth , as a scout , as a campers , as a group of friends whom enjoy nature and exploration. Once a scout , always a scout.

Last week, a friend of mine helped me to order these stuffs through on line store, better price and secured delivery. I went to pick them up near his house. In fact, i just drove 800km just to have a peek on the survival store for 30 mins, just to look for a family house tent. Bit dissapointed as they are not available on any of the shops. The one I discovered fit 16 people, way to big ! But I had to consider somehow.

In real life, of course, these stuffs are normally ended as my collectibles , and seldom serves as their true function. But having them in my closet are just like having a pool of energy and scouting spirits within me, which I wish one day can be made converted into some great experience, with my kids especially. And hopefully with some of my friends who shared the same enjoyment and hobby. I am glad that finally my wife found her passion in Foreign Exchange Trading activities, which makes her occupied. So less nagging on me. As long as she has internet, I am free to do my stuffs.

I let my kids hold the "Parang" , and my wife was really  paranoid having to see that. Yes, these stuffs are not toys, but one day they too can join the scouts, and learn the safety and the correct procedures of handling survival gadgets. My father never thought me all these stuffs. But my brother did.

So, Bear Grylls , thanks for the adventourous moments, though I paid for that, but it worth every penny as it brings meaningful moment and hopes in my life as a grown up boy. Once a Scout, Always a Scout.

Knives Chronicles : Tarzan, Rambo, MacGyver, Bear Grylls

Since I was a kid, I love knife architecture so much. I do not know why, but it flows in my blood and always charge up my adrenalin. I remember my first ever knife , a plastic knife, a Tarzan knife that came together with a set of bow and rubber dart arrow. Eversince I watched the Tarzan cartoon character, somehow I felt like having a knife was a cool thing . Then I had my second platic knife, a sword to be exact, a folded half moon shape Ding Peng from the Hong Kong drama: Sword of Justice. I thought it would end when I grew up...hemmphh...it didnt turn to be that way.

Moving on to the next chapter of the knife story, back in the 80's, where Rambo came into the picture. Everyone who watched the movie talks about Rambo knife. Rambo is not Rambo without knife. Even my mom knew who Rambo is. I always dream to have a knife like Rambo. Survival knife, with Compas at the edge of the handle (or we call it pommel) , survival kit and a serrated edge for cutting barbed-wire. When I joined the boy scout in school, almost everyone carries a knife during the annual camp, that excites me the most whenever we had the camping activity. Those days, I bought few types of knives, a replica made in Taiwan Rambo knife of course and few other bowie knives. That sad looking Rambo knife was a bit of low in quality, after you sharpened it for few cycles, the shape turned to some sad looking piece of steal. But for a 15 years old, Rambo knife is still a Rambo knife, be it made in Taiwan or Made in US.

Few years back earlier, i guess in 1985, MacGyver fever has landed in Malaysia. Me and my elder brother were so influenced with MacGyver. The swiss army knife is a piece of cool stuff to have . My father bought one for my brother when we went to US in 1986. My brother had to hide the knife from me as I wanted to have it too. I had to sneak and search for the knife all over the house just to have grab hold and play with it. I never own one until again in 1991, my eldest brother went to Europe and bought one for each of us. Eversince then, I always have the swiss army in my belongings, in my pocket to be exact. I had also bought on my own couple of models ever since. Now I have 3 types with me (lost and got stolen some of it), the Basic, the utility model with scissors & saw, and the credit card type. Like Macgyver said " Never leave home without a swiss knife and duct tape".

The MacGyver fever had also made me to buy the 4 seasons DVDs of MacGyver (of course those in Batu Feringghi night market) , which took me 3 months to complete viewing.

In year 2001, i nought a cool Parang for RM150. Took it to camping , the edge broke as I cut a tree. So I scrapped the knife. Pretty dissapointing for a RM150 piece of gadget. Then, in 2002, i bought a Rambo knife, still a replica but close to the original type, a fine steel with a complete survival kits in the barrel of its handle. I took it to one of my team building event. A friend borrowed it to cut bamboo tree , unfortunately it broke at the handle as it was a partial tang knife. The hollow part was not strong enough. I wasnt really upset actually. Luckily it broke when i dont really need it for survival purpose. So key learning, forget about the Rambo knife, as most of the models are half /partial tang. Partial tang means the blade is only half connected to the edge of the handle. Buy a full tang, safe and crisp. I bought an AITOR knife in a cheap sales Tackle store, quite solid full tang Made in Spain. I also have two scuba knife , Made in Japan, never really use for scuba. I dont even know how to scuba dive.

This recent years, the famous survival TV series, Man vs Wild has again captured my attention towards the "kniving world" . Bear Grylls uses knife for survival scene . I notice that he would use couple of different knives brand in each episode. I guess the common one would be the Gerber knife. I browse the web for almost each and every Man vs Wild series in youtube. Well, beside Bear Grylls knives, I also check out other stuffs like the Merrel hiking shoes, the Breitling Emergency Watch, The fire flint stome etc...all Bear Grylls Brand. I even uploaded the Bear Grylls survival tips for RM20 into my ipad.

Bear Grylls : Man vs Wild / Worst Case Scenario

I kind of obsessed with the Man vs Wild presentation and delivery of each episodes. Indeed, he is the World King Scout. Once a scout always a scout. I surf the web, again and again for all Bear Grylls related stuffs. Few months back, I went for a quick breakaway trip to Langkawi, Kedah. I found a scuba diving outlet where I bought the Gerber knife, not the Ultimate Bear Grylls Gerber knife (which will reach here in April 2011), but i grabbed the Gerber Infantry II (photo below) Survival Knife. It cost me RM550. It looks almost similar to the Ultimate Knife. Somekey differences are the Sheath (Cover), the sharpening device. It has no flint stone as the Ultimate Knife. It has a solid sharp edge steel for glass shattering. This knife is designed for urban combat. Means suitable for army / fire brigade for town/urban actions. I also bought a cute scuba knife, a cool looking gadget, a two in one knife and scissors. It is use for cutting ropes or plankton while scuba diving.

My next wish list for knife : Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife

That's the story of my hobby in collecting knife, from 1980's until 2011. If the Jedi light saber exist, I guess I would spend my money on that too. But in fact it exist as a replica, which cost RM600 plus. I guess not worth it buy that. It will not turn me into Jedi anyway.