Superesse Straps

Most of us have those bad to the bone survival bracelets.  Some of us make them ourselves, others buy them from the hundreds of companies that make them.  If you google “survival bracelet” you will come back with over 2.8 million hits.  Needless to say finding one is not a hard task.   I have reviewed a few companies and they all provided top notch craftsmanship, great customer service and were Veteran owned.  Recently I found a new one that really stood out to me.  Superesse Straps. 

Located in North Carolina, this Husband and Wife duo are the heartbeat of their tiny company.  They buy small batches of supplies and take their time making each item to order.  They stand out to me because of the variety of items they offer.  

Suppresse Straps are Everyday Wear paracord bracelets equipped with quick deploy EDC & Tactical tools and outfitted with an internal supply core filled with emergency survival supplies.

 

One of my favorites is the patch kits.  Each patch has a hand cut opening into the Velcro backing. The opening allows you to slide small Survival/Tactical supplies inside the morale patch. They can provide items to fit in the patch or outfit with your own supplies.  Their offerings of items really cover any environment and are too numerous to list here. 

 

The Supresse Hanks Handkerchiefs built from materials that filter water, defend from EMPs, and are burn proof. Hanks outfitted with the capability to store EDC gear in a storage pouch, attach a morale patch, or conceal SERE supplies within a covert pocket. 

Burn proof camp rags, anklets, key fobs, lanyards, reflective drop kits, tactical tissues, and watch and paracord band kits round out some of their offerings.  They also do custom work so if you have an idea give them a call.  

Hand weaved and stitched in North Carolina, Wes personally picks, packages and ships each and every order while Diana is the seamstress and weaving master.  Wes has a U.S. Army background form the Airborne world, he developed a relationship with para cord, or 550 cord as most of us know it, throughout his career.  He made survival bracelets for everyone on his team and then had the idea of stashing other items in them.  Fire starters, fishing gear, lights, whistles, handcuff keys, can openers, and a slew of other items that can be weaved into the products.   They offer over a dozen different colors of cordage and even have a “Firecord” offering that makes getting a fire going easier.  

No one knows when you will be thrown into a situation where you find yourself separated from your pack or gear.  Having one of their kits is more than just some paracord to string a tarp or tie some wood together.  With the Superesse Straps you can make a fire, signal, purify water, AND string up a shelter.  I am surprised he hasn’t figured out how to weave in a cell phone.  



So head on over to their website and check out all the cool stuff these great folks can make you.  Remember this is a VERY small business, every order helps these folks stay in business.  Support small, Vet owned businesses and especially companies that source USA made materials! 

B&B Custom Knives

**  Sadly Barney has passed away and B&B Knives is no longer making knives.**
Everyone needs a good knife.  A solid pocket knife is always useful for all kinds of daily tasks, opening mail, cutting an apple for a snack, cleaning your nails, whittlin, and a slew of other things we do every day.  When you are camping or hiking a good knife is essential.  In dire times a good knife can be the difference between life and death.  There are hundreds of knife manufacturers and blade smiths out there who make some amazing blades and they come in all shapes and sizes.  Locally here to Charleston we have our share as well but I want to let you in on a local secret.  B&B Custom knives. 

Owned and operated by Barney Hudson and Bob Wright, this team creates some of the most solid, sharpest and well-designed knives I have ever used.  Their motto is “If we can’t make it, you don’t need it!”  I agree with this 100%.   Not traditional blade smiths, their knives are not forged from raw steel, but are cut, shaped and sharpened from existing steel.  Using files, saw blades, tool steel and other varieties of steel they repurpose old steel and give it new life.  While some of their blades are softened to be shaped they are quenched again and made as hard as ever and hold an edge like no other blade I have owned or used.  From Machetes, to filet knives you can shave with, to skinners, to giant pig stickers and even a few hatchets and tomahawks, they are only limited by their, or your, creativity.  They can literally make pretty much anything you can come up with.  Their machetes are bad to the bone and they have literally cut other big name makers blades in half with their machetes.

One of the things I have always wanted to do is make my own knife.  I had a very specific idea of the blade profile and what I would use it for so I stopped in and talked to Bob and Barney they welcomed me with open arms and showed me the ropes.   I drew out my profile and we talked about how we would do it.  I selected an old sawmill blade and drew out my blades outline on the steel.  The rust and dents on the blade told me this blade had been used a long time and I was going to help give it new life.  Using a band saw I roughed out the shape and fine-tuned it a little.  I wanted to make a primitive bush knife to be used for hunting, camping and hiking.  An all-purpose knife for outdoors adventures.  Once I had the rough shape Bob showed me how to use the grinders to clean it up and get the blade to its final shape.  

Once I had the shape where I wanted it, I drilled holes for the handle and chose the material.  At first I thought of a synthetic material, but a block of Osage orange wood spoke to me.  I carefully traced the handle outline onto the wooden blanks and cut them out on a band-saw.  Carefully lining up the handles I drilled the holes in the wood so they would match up to the metal.  Each step of the way Bob explained what needed to be done, why, and how to do it.  The handle was roughed out and ready to be applied.  The edge was next.  

Barney showed me the way to put a razors edge on the blade without burning the tip of the metal in general.  Slowly the plunge line appeared and the edge grew along the edge and down the blade.  Slowly and carefully Barney showed me some tips and tricks to ensure my edge was consistent, and it mirrored itself to the other side of the blade.  Soon I had a razor in my hands.  It cut through phone book paper like it wasn’t there.  I went back to my handles, I cut the pins and made sure everything fit right and then epoxied the handles down. 

I let it cure overnight and the next day I returned to my knife.  The handle was solid and set.  It was a rough shaped chunk of wood wrapped around the steel of my blade and now I needed to pull its final shape out of it.  I set to work on the grinders.  Heavy course grit belts ripped away the big chunks of extra material, I progressed to finer grit belts and got the shape down, rounded the edges and made the wood and tang of the knife fit my hand.  I gouged too deep a few times and had to adjust the fit but eventually it was the right size and fit my hand perfectly.  I hand sanded it to its final finish and stepped back.  I was exactly what I wanted.  The shape wasn’t exactly what I planned but the subtle tweaks here and there had made it better than I originally envisioned. 

Bob and I pulled out some Kydex and began the sheath.  He is the sheath master.  Kydex, leather, you name it and he will make a sheath that not only fits the blade perfectly but will be functional and last for years to come.  Cutting it to size, heating it up and then forming it around the blade and handle.  When it cooled down I drilled the holes for the rivets and sanded the final shape.  Barney showed me how to put a final hone on the edge and it was time to test it out.  I went to the bench and sliced phone book paper better than before, the blade easily sliced through it with zero effort.  I then took it outside and began to chop a 1x4 board in half.  The blade bit deeply time after time and within seconds I had cleaved the lumber in half.  I looked at the blade carefully.  There was no damage.  No chips, no rolls, no flat spots.  Back to the phone book and it sliced the paper like it did before.  It was like a razor.  

I was ecstatic!  This chunk of metal was about five hours before just a blank cut from an old mill blade and it was now my new survival, camping, hunting knife and it was perfect.  Well to me anyways.  It is not as pretty as most blades, it still has the small pits from the old blade on some parts of it.  The handle fits perfectly to my hand but has some staining on it.  I did not forge the steel, drawing it out to its final shape and length but I had taken something and created a new blade, sharp, strong and ready to take on any task I wanted to.  

My blade from start to finish

My next adventure will be to forge a blade, but that is another story for another time.  If you’d like to see some of B&B’s knives and see them in action check out their website at B&B Custom Knives and follow them on Facebook.  

Give them a call, (843) 509-7694, and they can set you up.  Remember, if they cant make it… you don’t need it!

Dry fire training

Dry fire training is the method of training for muscle memory, going through all the steps and actions of firing without using live ammunition.  Most of us either don’t have access to a range every day so this is a way to keep skills sharp and learn new ones before going to the range and spending that precious time and money.  

There are at least two schools of thought on this.  One said says dry firing your weapon damages it and does not accurately simulate actual firing.  Others say it is perfectly fine, especially with modern firearms and it does simulate perfectly fine. I am somewhere in between.    On one hand I agree it does not fully simulate the actions, there is no recoil, there are no audio keys, but I also feel it does help with the muscle memory.  I have been shooting for a long time and dry firing has always been kind of a no-no but I have been using snap-caps for a while now and I feel this helps reduce the wear and tear on the weapon.  Maybe it does maybe it is just give me a sense of not causing harm.  Either way I encourage everyone to use dry fire as a part of your training routine. 

Dry fire training needs to be conducted as if you ARE live firing.  Safety first and don’t let yourself build bad habits of not clearing, not controlling your muzzle and trigger discipline.  NEVER handle a weapon any other way.  Remember the four cardinal rules of firearms safety.  Some say there are five, adding wearing ear and eye pro but I feel this is implied anytime you shoot.  I like Smith and Wesson website outlining this.  

        1. Handle all weapons as loaded weapons.  No matter if you “Know” it is clear.

2      2. Never point a weapon at anything you are not willing to kill or destroy

             3. Keep your booger hook off the bang switch, I mean keep your finger outside the trigger guard and off the trigger until your sights are on target and you are ready to engage

        4. Know your target and what is behind and beyond it.

Now some call these “rules”, I call them Laws, they may differ from person to person but the general idea is the same.  

Another thing to keep in mind are to never rely in the mechanical safety features alone.  Parts and machines fail.  Use them but do not rely on them solely.  

I prefer to use A-Zoom snap caps and I usually get them from Palmetto State Armory.  All good local gun shops carry them and they are well worth the investment.  I prefer the A-Zoom ones as they are machined and I feel they are mother to operate and last longer.  They are rated for about 3,000 firing iterations, so they do wear out but I like the longevity of the A-Zoom brand.  Doing your own research will help you determine what ones you want to use and where to get them.  

My first step is to remove all live ammo from my magazines.  I store these away and remove them completely from my training area. It is ALWAYS a bad idea to have ANY live ammo around when you are dry fire training.  Even though you will follow all the laws of safety don’t put yourself in a position to have an unintended discharge. Once I have my magazines cleared and loaded with snap caps, I dress and rig my gear the same as I would for live fire.  

My first iterations are loading and unloading.  I don’t mean loading rounds in mags, I am talking about mags in and out of the weapon and chambering a round and clearing the weapon. This goes for pistols as well as long guns.  I know this sounds too basic but it is the foundation of making your gun go bang.  Practice it.  

After I am comfortable with that and I transition and I work on my draw.  I like to stand in front of a mirror and go very slowly to make sure my actions, stance, grip and sight alignment are perfect every time.  I increase the speed as I go along.  I go from a battle belt holster and rig and then move to my concealed holster.  At this point I go through the entire dry fire from concealed using different layers.  First just a shirt, then I add a sweatshirt or a jacket and go through each draw for each layer of clothing. This allows me to adjust and know where any hang ups are or where I can adjust due to layers.

When I feel confident in my draw I move to trigger pull.  Again slow and smooth, building speed as I go.  After I have done this for my pistol and long gun I work on transition from pistol to long gun and back.  

Usually about 20 to 30 minutes is what I will put in.  My wife hates it when I hog the bathroom doing this but skills are perishable and need to be worked out like any other muscle.   Some folks suggest 15 minutes a day, I don’t have a set time.  I work my drills until I feel confident.  Sometimes it’s the 20 -30 minutes, other days, especially with a new skill I may spend a lot more time or even devote the entire session to that specific skill.

By creating and setting up a dry firing schedule for yourself, it will make you live fire sessions more productive. Well at least it makes mine more productive.  Once you are on the range to live fire I suggest a few dry fire drill to shake the cobwebs off THEN go to live fire.  For me this greatly enhances my accuracy and my time on the range.  This works for all types of firearms including shotguns.  

I encourage all of you to give it a try.  If you haven’t done it before give it a try, if you do regularly train, mix it up a bit, add in some new skills after you cover your basics.   As always if you are unsure go to your local shop or range and find someone who can help you.   If you are in the Charleston area PalmettoState Armory has a ton of great folks that can help you and I am always willing to help folks.  

Go train, get better and as always Safe Shooting!