Fallkniven F1 Open Top Leather Sheath

Heinnie’s are now stocking the Leather Open Top Sheath for the Fallkniven F1.

This is a sheath some people prefer for bushcraft in the North part of Sweden, as it does not have flaps or straps to get in the way, especially handy if you are using the Fallkniven F1 a lot and constantly re-sheathing and unsheathing the knife.

The Leather Open top sheath has a permanent fixed “Dangler” for riding low on the belt which means you can wear a rucksack belt over the top and still have access to your knife if you need it. It also helps prevent the knife/sheath from digging in to you if you bend or sit and brushes out-of-the-way when moving through heavy vegetation , preventing snagging and noise which is handy if you are hunting. It can also be worn as a tip down neck carry Mors Kohanski style with the addition of some cord placed through the loop directly above the knife, which attaches to the dangler.

Fallkniven F1 Open Top Leather Sheath. There is room on top to get your first finger above the rivet, to aid drawing the F1 knife out of the sheath one handed

The Fallkniven F1 is held in place by friction alone and a vigorous shaking of the sheathed knife hasn’t worked its way loose as yet on mine. That said, pulling the knife from the sheath is not easy one-handed either and the sheath and knife get pulled up together when trying to draw the knife out.   However, there is enough room on the top edge of the sheath to use your first finger to hold the sheath and apply leverage to separate the two, not dissimilar to the thumb ramp on the Zytel  F1 sheath and just needs a change of technique. The bonus of this method is that as the F1 leaves the open top sheath you already have your fingers wrapped around the handle!

The sheath is sold as an addition only and not sold as a package with the Fallkniven F1 knife, meaning you either have to buy a Fallkniven F1 knife with the closed top sheath a prefered style of David Canterbury) or the Zytel sheath (the latter some people either love or hate) that in many ways is far better sheath for survival/compactness and would be my preference for using the F1 as dual purpose knife. As a survival knife I  mount the F1 in the Zytel sheath and the F1 as a  Bushcraft knife with the open top leather sheath. Simples!

The Fallkniven leather open top sheath is very good quality leather and construction, that I would have expected to cost more on that point alone. You do have to be careful though, coming from my point of use with the zytel sheath means I have nicked the leather sheath a few times putting the knife back in the sheath, with the four inch razor blade of the F1 and putting it into the sheath at an angle will cut the inside of the sheath up when you are not used to it. This is just user error of course!

This is a great addition to the Fallkniven F1 owner who wants to use the F1 for bushcraft with a traditional looking sheath

Fallkniven F1 Open Top Leather Sheath available in the UK From Heinnie Haynes and at the time of this post is under £19.00 plus P&P

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Firefly Navigator Compass – Plastimo Iris 50 Review

The Ultimate Night Navigator Compass featuring four Trigalight® light sources

This incredible hand-bearing compass has been specifically designed for use under the cover of darkness and is the chosen instrument of numerous military forces throughout the world. There is one UK company that specialises in police equipment that has even restricted the compass to police/military personnel only.  In addition it is also used by adventurers, yachtsmen and travellers everywhere. However, its not just darkness that it excels in, as it is equally at home in daylight too.

The Firefly Navigator compass is essentially an upgraded Plastimo Iris 50 compass that normally comes with a Luminous/Glow In The Dark (GITD) base and has been switched to a Gaseous Tritium Light Source (GTLS) base which is a self powered light source that gives a constant and steady glow, needs no batteries, switches or bulbs and doesn’t affect your night vision. This is one compass that you can leave a well lit room and be plunged into total darkness of the night and still be able to read the bearings without waiting for your night vision to kick in to action. Instant Go!

At night your senses become heightened and things taken for granted during daylight hours take on a new sense of urgency. The possibility of something going wrong dramatically increases and to get home safely you need to be able to rely on your equipment.  Plastimo are a French company that makes compasses for ships and boats, life jackets and other life saving equipment and just about everything else a sailor could need and have been in business for 50 years.

One of the great feature. s I like about the compass is that I can read the bearings without the need to put on my reading glasses (sign of old age) and that includes the prism. This has often been a failing for me when using other prismatic compasses. It is the ultimate in night-reading functionality with integrally fitted Swiss Tritium light sources, enabling you to navigate in total darkness through the prism and from above.

You do need a separate bearing  protractor for reading bearings directly from a map as this compass dose not have an integral baseplate, with map scales or ruler.

This to me is no disadvantage as it is much quicker to get bearings to different locations on the map and in some ways is more accurate due to reducing user error with a baseplate compass. It is also the standard method for military personnel, although many carry a baseplate compass for backup navigation.  Navigation Protractors are available in the UK in Mills and Degrees from Survival Aids

The oil filled sealed compass stabilizes quickly and can be used in boats or vehicles and has a soft bottom cell that prevents air bubbles forming in extreme conditions of altitude, temperature or just knocks from hard use.

The Plastimo IRIS 50 offers the ultimate in night-reading functionality due to four integrally fitted Trigalight®, enabling you to navigate in total darkness through the prism and from above.

Weighing only 105g and measuring 83mm x 33mm, the ergonomic design and non-slip rubber casing make it almost indestructible. The soft bottom cell prevents the formation of bubbles and leaks, and the red lubber lines ensure it’s easy to read.

The Plastimo IRIS 50 is also comfortable to use, waterproof to 50m and functional in temperatures ranging from -20c to + 60c. A must for all night trips, the IRIS 50 compass has a five-year warranty, which extends to ten years for the Trigalight® illumination.

Highly accurate, waterproof, extremely durable, lightweight and compact, this little gem is essential for those of you who push it to the limit long after sunset or do Stealth Camping, Guerilla Bushcraft or do a lot of night navigation. The downside is that the Firefly Navigator Compass is not cheap at a tad under £100, but anything using Tritium is not cheap and this has to be considered, but compared to the Issue Military Prismatic Compass the M73 Francis Barker they sell for £200 used and as they are made from brass and aluminium and are surprisingly heavy compared to  the 1005 grams of the Firefly Navigator Handbearing Compass.

I have also had quite a few top end Silva compasses that have suddenly developed bubbles in the compass housing for no apparent reason and have already spent that amount once over and more on replacement compasses, this is minimised with the Firefly Navigator due to the soft bubble housing/cell designed to prevent this happening at extreme altitudes or temperatures. If you are not going to be doing enough stealth bushcraft, night hiking or night navigation to warrant the price then you could consider the standard Plastimo Iris 50 compass which is available for under £50 and used on ebay for £30 (ex MOD)

Available with MILS or Degrees calibration.

Firefly Navigator Compass – Plastimo Iris 50 Review

Specs

• Dual Function – Hand bearing and traditional compass
• Oil filled sealed North indicating unit
• Available in Degrees, Mills, and Combo of Degrees-Mills
• Accuracy 1.5 degrees
• Field of view (sighting) 20 degrees allows optimum conditions to take bearings
• Graduations– one-degree/twenty mills graduations
• Temperature range of -20c – +60c
• Ergonomic design – Neck cord for easy deployment
• Smooth, non slip casing, stabilizes quickly and can be used in boats or vehicles
• Integrally fitted Tritium (also known as BetaLite, H3,Trigalight®) lights for the ultimate in night reading functionality
• 10 year maintenance free service life, no batteries, switches or bulbs
• No parallax error as a prism projects the reading of the bearing to infinity
• Soft bottom cell prevents the formation of bubbles and leaks in extreme conditions.
• Easy to read direction indicator due to the red lubber lines
• Colour options available for enclosure, Olive Green, Turquoise, Blue, Yellow
• Waterproof to 50m
• Weight – 105g
• Diameter 83mm Height 33m
• Five-year warranty extending to 10 with the integral GTLS compass

Note some specs seem to vary so check with the importer for accuracy

Conclusion

This is a truly great and accurate, near bomb proof compass that should last the user many years. Its price may seem high but this should last you a good ten years which if broken down from the price I paid is £9.50 a year over its 10 year life span of the Tritium. Thats if I only use it once a year, and to be honest as I feel I can trust this compass 100% It goes with me all year round in my bag or belt pouch, urban, mountains or wilderness

The one downside I have had is finding a pouch that I can use on a belt but have found a solution to this as mentioned in the BRUSCA 48 Hours Challenge post by using a SAS Altimeter Pouch

Update –

Firefly Navigator Handbearing Compass (Self Illuminating)

I paid  £94.95 for mine 😦

Platoon Stores are selling this model for £70 (Degrees version, but ideal for bushcraft, non-military survival as well as general navigation)

 Firefly Navigator Compass – Plastimo Iris 50 Review

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Perry McGee Pro Tracker Mk1

Perry McGee from the National Tracking School talks about some tracking and survival books he has coming out and looks at his Pro Tracking Tool/knife during the Bushcraft Show 2014, Derbyshire UK.

This is my Pro Tracker Mk1

 

 

 

Specs for the Perry McGee Pro Tracker Mk1

• Blade Length – 6.5″ (16cm)
• Total Length – 270mm x 70 mm
• Blade Thickness – 5mm
• Handle Material – Linen Micarta
• Weight – 500g
• Blade Material – EN56
• Hardness – 54 Rockwell
• Coating – DuPont Teflon (Mk2)
• Sheath  – Cordura with liner

Each MK 1 Pro-Tracker tool is supplied with the following:

• An instruction document
• A certificate of authenticity
• Tracking cord
• A pace counter
• Cordura protective sheath
• 2 x Measurement probes
• Fire striker and pin

 

Needless to say this has become my primary knife

 

Visit The Tracking Shop to purchase the Perry McGee Pro Tracker Mk1  or Mk2

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• The Bushcraft Show – coming soon