wrote in message
ps.com...
To All:

About a month ago I posted a message having to do with aircraft crash
survival in which I touched on the ability to make a fire, and the
features found in a good survival knife. The post produced the usual
comments some of which were rather surprising and may be of interest to
some of you.

MATCHES

The splint or wooden portion of a standard kitchen match is 2-3/8" long
(ie, about 60mm). This length is a NECESSITY when lighting certain
lanterns and some gas-fired appliances. By comparison, a standard
'box-match' has a splint only 1-3/4" long (45mm). I was surprised
to learn that some people thought any WOODEN match was a 'kitchen'
match and referred to them as such. A couple of these folks mentioned
carrying 'kitchen' matches in a 35mm film canister; clearly
impossible since such canisters are only about 1-3/4" deep.


Picking one little nit here, if you don't have something that needs the
length, once you snap off the excess wood, 2-3/8" matches fit just fine in a
1-3/4" canister.


General Aviation attracts a lot of wingless vultures eager to make a
buck by preying upon the unwary. One method of doing so is to sell
junk disguised as kits of 'survival' gear. But when the problem of
post-crash survival is examined realistically it doesn't take a rocket
scientist to see that the average home-builder is liable to be better
prepared at lower cost (and less weight) by simply applying a bit of
common sense to the problem.

Took a trip across Canada/Alaska in a C120, so of course we took "survival
gear". Talking to a "local" he suggested some snare wire - really handy
stuff - easy to catch rabbits and such for food he sez. Sure. Easy if you
have a clue as to what to do with it... I'm 99.9% sure that I'd never make
it work on my own. On the other hand, safety wire is a good thing to have
along for 101 uses. Duct tape wrapped around the handle of one of your
wrenches is handy too.

A little practice close to home so you know what to do with the stuff (and
if it works) makes a lot of sense, eh?

Anyhow, keep up the good work.

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
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