Clean Up Your Act: Maintaining Hygiene Off the Grid

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If you’ve ever watched Naked and Afraid on the Discovery Channel, you’ve wondered about the hygiene on the show. Twenty-one days is a long time without a shower and soap. Obviously, they generally do fine, and it seems as if hygiene is downplayed on the show. It always gets me thinking, though. What kinds of issues would arise in that type of survival situation? How would I mitigate the atrocity of no soap?

First, let me start by saying that not having soap in that three-week period might not be as bad as you might guess. As long as you had water to clean with, you might be fine. In using your hands to scrub all of those 2,000 body parts, you remove debris and dead skin. This may keep the pores from clogging up to a certain degree and prevent inflammation in the pores of your skin. Some of these pores can have pustules and look infected, but usually don’t progress in that direction.

Nature’s Soap

Making soap in a survival situation is possible, but time-consuming.

Some of you might be thinking about making soap from hardwood ash and animal fat. The ash wouldn’t be that difficult, and the animal fat would take luck and skill to acquire. But say you’re adept and lucky. It can take some time to make bar soap — time that you might not be afforded in a survival situation. You could, however, mix the fat and ash in a pan that you cooked the animal in. It’d be great for washing the pan; however, the basic (pH) nature of lye from the ash might be irritating to someone with sensitive skin. It’d feel like a bad sunburn or worse. [See RECOIL
OFFGRID Issue 30 about making soap from scratch.]

Buffaloberries are a natural source of saponins. Source: Lazarus000 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

For a field-expedient solution, it’s possible to crush the berries or roots of certain plants that contain natural compounds called saponins — soapberry (aka buffaloberry), soapwort, yucca, and creosote, to name a few. Upon mixing with water, these substances produce a frothy lather that was used historically as soap or shampoo. For more information, refer to our article on this topic.

Areas of Concern

Because most of the smelly parts on our body are also the most sensitive areas, and safely producing soap in the field may not always be viable, you'd be better off just using water on your body. You’ll notice on Naked and Afraid that the participants are almost always given an opportunity to find water. It may not always smell the best, but it’s available to make potable. I’m sure that a secondary reason is for bathing. You’ll also notice that the contestants don’t have rolls of fat like many of those in our citizenry. One of the problems with obesity is that the overlapping intertriginous areas are moist, hot, and rub against each other. These places, such as under the breasts, under belly fat, between the buttocks, and in the groin are common areas that are affected by poor hygiene and heat, and a foul smell can emanate from these areas. If left untreated, these areas can sometimes open up to create small wounds that may become infected by bacteria.

To treat these moist areas, air is probably the best weapon. Lying down and allowing the breeze to blow across those hard-to-reach areas will assist with keeping them dry and enable the areas to heal better.

Corn starch can assist in keeping certain areas dry that may be prone to fungal buildup.

If you happen to be near a corn field, you could grind corn into flour and apply it to the areas. Again, this takes time and effort, probably more effort than is worth the time. And while corn flour isn’t exactly the same as corn starch, it may be good enough to keep the affected areas drier. We usually recommend corn starch in our convenient environment if zinc oxide products aren’t available. Apply this twice a day and wash, then dry, each time before application.

Another issue is that these warm, moist areas are ideal places for yeast to grow. This is what contributes to the funky smell that emanates from these intertriginous areas. Besides the smell, there may be redness, itching, peeling or cracked skin, and perhaps even small blisters. Although this isn’t life-threatening, it’s uncomfortable and you could also be susceptible to secondary infection when the skin breaks down. Hopefully your diet has been high in garlic to help boost your immune system. If you happen to find some wild garlic, you could either eat it or make a paste and apply it to the affected area. Let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse it off. You could do this twice a day.

If you had a stockpile of apple cider vinegar, you could pour half a cup into a bathtub full of water, and soak. You could also try an apple cider vinegar compress by soaking a natural fiber cloth in the apple cider vinegar, then placing it on the affected areas for 15 minutes at a time. Do this twice a day until the area is healed. If there’s infection in a wound, this is also a good remedy.

Oral Health

Apple cider vinegar can also be used to make toothpaste. Use a ½ tablespoon of the vinegar with 1 tablespoon of baking soda, and add water to make a paste. Dental hygiene is often overlooked, but is super important to maintain healthy gums. Once the gums deteriorate, infection can settle in. The gums can be painful, red, swollen, and may even bleed. The teeth can also become painful due to infection, making it difficult to eat and makes a person pretty miserable. If there are no ingredients to make toothpaste, take a small branch from a pine tree (about the size of a pencil) and fray the ends. This can serve as a makeshift toothbrush. [Refer to “Off-the-Grid Dentistry” in Issue 27 for more information on dealing with dental problems when medical help will be unavailable for the foreseeable future.]

Female Hygiene

Ladies, urinary tract infections are also something that can bring misery in a survival situation. Symptoms of a urinary tract infection can include urinary frequency, burning with urination, incontinence, and fever. With poor hygiene, and with poor hydration, this can be a real possibility. Without the benefit of toiletries, you’ll need to search for nature’s bidet, like a babbling brook. Anything that you can do to wash away the particulate matter will help minimize chances of infection. Finding edibles to help your immune system (e.g. garlic, spinach, citrus fruits) can help in general. Edibles that can act as natural antibiotics (e.g. honey and Echinacea) may help, but shouldn’t replace your stockpiled antibiotics. And be sure to stay hydrated.

Menstruation is another potentially troublesome issue in an austere setting. This was somewhat of a challenge for the military after Sept. 11, as the number of women in combat had increased. The idea was to suppress menstruation rather than accommodate hygienic practices that’d interfere with combat roles. There are options for menstrual suppression; however, these will require advanced planning. Your doctor can discuss a hormonal rod implant that provides contraception for around three years. An intrauterine device (IUD) can also be placed by a physician and stay in place up to five years.

Menstrual cups can be another method to assist that time of the month in austere conditions.

For shorter term options, an intramuscular injection of hormone every 90 days is available. The end goal for these types of options is to stop menstruation from occurring. If that isn’t an option for you, menstrual cups are available. Check out Eryn Chase’s article in Issue 21 of RECOIL OFFGRID for an excellent discussion on wilderness hygiene. Edibles that contain progesterone include soy, broccoli, kale, cabbage, and ginkgo, to name a few, but the reality is that even though these contain very small amounts of the hormone, it’s not likely it’ll be strong enough to affect the menstrual cycle.

Above: Ginkgo biloba tablets and certain vegetables contain progesterone, which can aid in managing menstruation during situations where conventional methods are unattainable.

Conclusion

Hygiene in a survival setting may not seem like a priority early in the chaos and is often ignored due to other pressing issues in the dire environment (i.e. water, fire, shelter, food, and safety). Keep in mind that taking a few minutes to wash up and brush your teeth in those early days can prevent misery as the event draws out into weeks. Women will have extra issues to contend with, and planning may be the best remedy. The old adage of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies here. Take some time to take care of your hygiene before minor problems become more of a pressing need.

About the Author

David L. Miller, DO, FACOI is an internist in private practice for 20 years. His experiences away from the office have included time as a fight doctor in regional MMA events and as a team physician for 10 years at a mid-major university in the Midwest. Currently, he serves as the lead medical instructor for the Civilian Crisis Response team based out of Indianapolis.

Video: Pawpaw, The Fruit that Saved Lewis and Clark

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It's easy to study history and think of the larger-than-life individuals recorded in books as fictional characters, rather than real people. After all, it's difficult to imagine having a face-to-face chat with George Washington or Christopher Columbus. But the beauty of history is that these people were not so different from you and I, with regular concerns and problems. As survivalists, it's valuable for us to study historical pioneers, explorers, and wilderness adventurers — there's much we can learn from their experiences, even today. Lewis and Clark are one especially relevant example.

Between 1804 and 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark journeyed from Pittsburgh to the Oregon coast and back home. On this 28-month expedition, they encountered many problems, but lack of food was one of the most frequent. Even after completing their objective of reaching the Pacific Ocean, they ran out of provisions on the trip home in September 1806. Attempts at hunting proved unsuccessful. Fortunately, they were saved by a fruit native to the midwest — the pawpaw.

A map of the pawpaw's range. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture / Wikimedia Commons)

Also known as custard apple or “Indiana banana” as a result of their soft, sweet flesh, the pawpaw is the largest edible fruit native to the United States. Asimina triloba is plentiful from eastern Texas through southern Pennsylvania. The fruits are edible raw in early fall, and their flavor is often compared to banana, mango, and pineapple. In the video below from the Townsends YouTube channel, Jon explains how the pawpaw helped Lewis and Clark survive, and discusses the flavor of the fruit after tasting one.

Video: Eating Whip Scorpions as a Survival Food

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In a wilderness survival situation, finding food is a never-ending task. In some cases, you may be able to rely on fishing or trapping to stave off starvation. In others, you may have to turn to less appealing food sources. Fish, squirrels, rabbits, birds, and other conventional game animals have a prey mindset, so they're alert and cautious of their surroundings. Their primary defense mechanism is to escape quickly. However, animals that rely on alternate defense mechanisms tend to be less evasive, and therefore easier to catch. Whip scorpions fall into this latter category — they're slow-moving and edible, as long as you can stomach them.

Whip scorpion illustration via The Royal Natural History / Wikimedia Commons

Whip scorpions, also known as vinegaroons or uropygids, aren't what you think of when you picture a scorpion. Like true scorpions, they're arachnids, but they lack a venomous stinger. Instead, they have a whiplike tail and defend themselves by discharging a smelly liquid that contains acetic acid (the same chemical compound present in vinegar). Because most animals are deterred by this smell, whip scorpions are less concerned with running and hiding from predators. Unfortunately for them, humans aren't like most predators.

In the video below, survival instructor Bob Hansler cooks and eats whip scorpions he caught near his home in Texas. After his first bite of head and claws, he describes the taste as “bacony, woody” and likens it to “the shellfish of the desert.” It looks gross, but that's mostly a mind-over-matter problem. The second bite includes the acetic acid gland in the abdomen, and we definitely shuddered on his behalf.

Survival food isn't always pretty or appetizing, and this example is neither. But, as Hansler correctly explains, every type of food that you know about is going to increase your odds of survival. It also prompts an important question — how far would you go to find calories in a survival setting? No matter the answer, we wouldn't blame anyone for putting whip scorpions near the bottom of their snack list.

Book Review: “Lights Out” by Ted Koppel

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The Premise: The notion that the American power grid system is vulnerable to a cyberattack or an electromagnetic pulse device, launched by terrorists or a foreign nation, is a frightening premise. In Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath, Ted Koppel, one of the nation’s most experienced and well-known journalists, outlines the realities of an attack on the American power grid, the vulnerabilities plaguing the defense systems which protect it, and the preparations that Americans can take now to prepare for an unthinkable grid-down scenario.

The 411: Koppel uses his proven skills in journalism to thoroughly explore not only the vulnerability of an aging power grid system, but also the politics that envelop hardening the system itself. The first few chapters offer an in-depth analysis of how the American power grid functions and the vulnerabilities attached to it. It can be technically difficult to follow at times, however, Koppel paints a compelling picture through several interviews with leading security experts on the potential impact that an attack on the nation’s power grid could have on everyday living. The remainder of the book explores individuals who have either developed contingency plans for long-term power outages, or currently live entirely off the grid. The book warns that our worst fears are grounded in plausibility, and that the failure to acknowledge the threat could be our biggest concern of all.

The Verdict: If a nationwide blackout occurred, it’s easy to imagine it could last for weeks to months. For those without prior preparations, tens of millions of Americans would face the loss of running water, sewage, refrigeration, and light. Communities would live an existence devoid of creature comforts, and many might acquiesce to rudimentary forms of survival, such as looting. Koppel paints a vivid picture of this scenario and lays out a technical but comprehensible map on how it could actually occur. Lights Out is both an acknowledgement of the power grid’s vulnerability, as well as a call to action to for the government and its citizens. While the federal government may be underprepared to aid citizens in a grid-down scenario, Koppel traverses the nation to find those who have exemplified personal preparedness measures for a myriad of disaster scenarios, including the decimation of the national power grid.

While the first several chapters of the book involve a large amount of technical jargon, they paint the picture that our nation is vulnerable to a large-scale cyber or electromagnetic pulse attack. It’s here that Koppel’s journalistic instincts shine as he interviews the nation’s top security experts and explores our level of readiness, both nationally and individually. The end result is a thesis that’s both sobering and hopeful, warning us that our worst fears may be grounded in reality and enlightening us at the same time. Ted Koppel hopes to provoke readers to prepare for a catastrophe that could potentially destroy modern civilization and succeeds in doing so.

The question of whether our nation can withstand the potential destruction of a cyberterrorist attack on its power grid, be it through rogue organizations or by state sponsorship, is an important one. Ted Koppel effectively delivers a book that raises more questions than it answers, but poses the kind of questions that elicit true discussion amongst our national security advisors as well as average families. Lights Out is alarming, but rife in purpose and relevance to all who read it, making a significant contribution to the mindset of any prepared individual.

Book & Author
Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath
by Ted Koppel

Publisher
Broadway Books

MSRP
$16

URL
tedkoppellightsout.com

Pages
288

Rating
>Thrive
Survive
Die

OFFGRID Library of Recommended Books

New: THYRM DarkVault Gear Cases

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Under normal circumstances, pockets are great for carrying small items like your keys, phone, cards, and cash. However, there are times when pockets are definitely not the optimal place to store these valuables. If you're running, jumping, climbing, wading, or generally getting knocked around in a high-activity outdoor setting, the contents of your pockets are likely to get lost, soaked, or pulverized. THYRM recently relased a new product designed to protect your EDC items while keeping them close at hand — the THYRM DarkVault.

The DarkVault is available in OD green, FDE, rescue orange, and black.

At first glance, you'll notice the DarkVault is a gasket-sealed, hard-sided polymer clamshell case — that isn't exactly a new concept. We've used similar cases to stash small electronics and first aid gear in packs in the past. Measuring 7.2 by 5.4 by 1.7 inches, it fits most cell phones, including larger “phablets” such as the Galaxy Note 10 and iPhone XS Max.

However, there are some interesting features that set the DarkVault apart from traditional gear cases. First among these is the quick-detach MOLLE-compatible mount. This bracket attaches to webbing on backpacks, chest rigs, plate carriers, and other gear. When mounted vertically, such as on the front of a plate carrier, it serves as a fold-down tray table for your phone or GPS unit. Adjustable hinge friction prevents the lid from flopping open and dumping your gear on the ground.

Speaking of electronics, the standard DarkVault features 90+ dB of signal reduction between 300 and 1500 mHz. This blocks common signals from cell towers, Bluetooth, GPS, and many handheld radio frequencies, and offers the ability to take your devices off the grid temporarily. Alternatively, if you want to protect your electronics without losing connectivity, THYRM offers the DarkVault-Comms — the same case without signal-blocking.

The THYRM DarkVault also features holes for straps, latches, or locks to prevent tampering. Internal and external Velcro panels are included to prevent gear from sliding around, or to attach your favorite morale patches. The signal-blocking DarkVault retails for $90; the non-blocking DarkVault Comms retails for $60. For more information, go to THYRM.com.

Test Your Cybersecurity Senses with this Phishing Quiz

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Congratualtions! Youve just won a free luxury cruise too Bahamas. You must urgently reply to this e mail with your complet creditcard information in the next 24-hours to collect your prize. — Most sincerely, His RoyalHighness, King of Nigeria

You're probably rolling your eyes at this obvious example of a scam email — you'd never be gullible enough to fall for something like that. These information-soliciting scams (commonly known as phishing) are extremely common on the internet today, especially in email form. Although most of them are easy to spot, we should never allow this to lull us into a false sense of security. More advanced phishing attacks can be difficult to detect, and many of them are targeted “spear phishing” attacks that leverage knowledge of the victims to appear more convincing.

One of the keys to detecting phishing attacks is attention to detail. Emails from unknown senders filled with obvious misspellings, like the example above, are easy to spot. An email that closely imitates a legitimate message will be much more difficult to spot. In order to teach users how to distinguish legitimate emails from dangerous ones, Google created a short interactive quiz at phishingquiz.withgoogle.com.

Ironically, the phishing quiz begins with a form that asks for a name and email address. At first we thought this was a sneaky trick question, since it'd be a perfect opportunity for someone imitating Google to collect data under the guise of a quiz — a true double-cross. However, it clearly says you can use a made-up name, and we know from past experience that the domain this site is hosted on (withgoogle.com) is legitimate. Feel free to enter “John Smith” to start the quiz, and then see how you fare against the 8 examples.

For more information on phishing attacks and how to avoid them, refer to our previous article, Can You Spot the Signs of a Phishing Scam?

Behind the Scenes at Rowen Manufacturing, Home of ESEE Knives

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Man’s need for tools is as old as the species itself. Early man found usefulness in sharp stones and discovered the ability to knap flint for arrowheads, axes, and knives. Over time man has used copper, iron, and eventually steel to produce blades of all shapes, sizes, and purposes. Today a knife is as much a tool as it is an expression of the user. We take pride in the knives we carry, from actual day to day use to simply showing our friends for bragging rights. Many of them are even passed down through generations.

We recently had the opportunity to visit Idaho Falls, Idaho and take a tour of the Rowen Manufacturing facility, home of ESEE Knives.

About Rowen Manufacturing

Rowen Manufacturing didn't start out in the knife business — this facility has been making various types of machined parts for over 17 years. During the first five years, it produced auto parts such as superchargers. The last 12 years have been dedicated to crafting some of the best outdoor/survival knives on the market. Rowen is a family affair made up of Shawn Rowen, his wife, three sons, a daughter-in-law, and Gus the shop dog. In total, Rowen operates with around 20 employees.

Cody Rowen explaining how the ESEE Izula is made.

Quality and attention to detail are clear priorities at Rowen Manufacturing. Every step of production is meticulously performed and hand-inspected. All ESEE knives are made from 1095 carbon steel, a material that has several benefits for hard-use tools. It has a long history of use in blademaking thanks to its durability and ease of taking an edge.

As anyone who has studied blademaking knows, the heat treat is a pivotal step — it can elevate a good steel to greatness or quickly degrade it to worthless scrap. Properly heat-treating 1095 can be tricky, and it's something Rowen/ESEE has invested a lot of time into. We were allowed to witness the heat treat process, but photos were prohibited and some questions were dodged, much to our dismay. It's understandable that the company is secretive about this procedure — it's a big part of ESEE's reputation for exceptional toughness. Most knives made by ESEE come in around 55-57 HRC.

Some argue against 1095 carbon steel because of its propensity to corrode and rust. This is a founded concern, but one that's mostly alleviated by finishes like powder coat or black oxide. With a durable coating and proper knife care, users shouldn't have to worry about a tarnished piece.

The Knifemaking Process

Loading a sheet of steel into the laser cutter.

Rowen cuts blade blanks from sheets of rolled steel, which are fed into a large laser cutting machine. The laser causes the metal to heat up during the cutting process, so each blade is hand-checked and inspected for warping. Those that don’t make the cut are corrected by hand with an arbor press when possible, and the worst offenders are scrapped.

A bin full of scraps and blanks ready to be recycled.

Carefully straightening a blade to correct a warp.

Once the basic knife shape is cut, Rowen has grinding machines that are hand-fed. Depending on the model, knives take roughly 25 seconds of grinding to shape the cutting edge. After grinding, each blade is dumped into a tumbler to smooth the edges and prepare for the secret heat treatment.

Knives are tumbled to smooth the edges.

After heat treat, knives are sent to coating. ESEE knives are offered in powder coat or black oxide finish, depending on the model. Both finishes are applied off-site — the only part of the process not performed by Rowen. Once the coated knives return to the factory, they are laser-engraved and sent to sharpening. Again, each is inspected for quality.

Every ESEE knife is sharpened by hand.

As previously mentioned, 1095 carbon steel knives generally take an edge relatively easily. Each ESEE knife is sharpened by hand to a 40-degree-inclusive flat grind. Employees rotate stations regularly, so each feels responsible for the entire process. This keeps eyes fresh and quality high. The flat grind is utilized because it keeps the blade strong while offering an excellent cutting edge that can be maintained by even a novice user.

Several stacks of finished Izula II knives.

Blades are set up in small batches for sharpening and then transferred to the buffing station for an Instagram-worthy smooth surface. The buffed knives are all given a rust preventative coating and inspected one more time. Some are finished and ready for packaging at this point, while others are fitted with Micarta composite handle scales. The Micarta scales are machined in-house using custom-produced jigs, and hand shaved to the correct tolerances. Spacers are also created and used to ensure proper fit within sheaths.

Finished knives receiving a rust preventative coating.

The Finished Product

At the end of the tour, we were all given a choice of blades to assemble. The author chose the JG5, from ESEE’s camp-lore line. The JG5 is a “Nessmuk” style blade designed by James Gibson. The design is heavily influenced by George Washington Sears, who wrote under the pen name Nessmuk. He was an early pioneer of outdoorsmen and adventurers alike, and designed a blade that he deemed best for outdoor use.

Soon after this article, the author's JG5 saw use during a bushcraft class.

Gibson is a prominent survival and primitive skills instructor located in Tennessee, and also produces his own line of knives at his home shop. Gibson collaborates with ESEE/Rowen on a few designs for mass production. The newest addition is the Gibson Axe, a purpose-built bushcraft axe made to be taken along on any adventure due to its compact size and versatility.

Every ESEE design stemmed from a need for a specific type of tool. Many of the staff at ESEE and Rowen are adventurers at heart, so the designs have stemmed from their own personal needs and experiences. Patrick Rollins, lead instructor for Randall’s Adventure Training, designed the PR4 based on his time in the jungles of South America and all over the United States backcountry.

Rowen’s facility is an example of fine American craftsmanship. Each member of the team is proud of their work, and stands behind every knife that leaves their stations. ESEE has developed a loyal following in the survivalist community, and after our tour of the company's manufacturing line, it's easy to see why.

Staying Sharp: Spencer Frazer of SOG Knives

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SOG Specialty Knives was born from a single cell. Over the past 30 years, it’s evolved into a successful company that’s grown steadily since its founder, Spencer Frazer, designed its first product, a hardworking reproduction of the Vietnam War-era SOG Bowie knife back in the ’80s.

SOG isn’t a traditional knife company. Frazer, and the company he started, has always been a designer, not a manufacturer. He graduated from UCLA with degrees in math and science, then spent years working in the design and R&D fields. His first taste of entrepreneurship was starting a company with a friend making high-tech speakers. He left that enterprise to work on stealth projects behind the top-secret curtain at aerospace contractor Northrop.

Frazer would later find himself in the aisle of a Southern California gun show, indulging his curiosity in Vietnam War-era tiger stripe camo patterns, when he’d come across a knife that would captivate him. The Joint Services Special Operations unit or the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group was a shadowy cousin of our nation’s special operations forces. It was a secret multi-service unit set up to run covert military operations before and during the Vietnam War.

The unit commissioned its own unique knife for its members’ use in the punishing Southeast Asian jungle environment. The SOG Bowie, as it was called, encapsulated the mystery and wonder Frazer came to hold for the unit.

Above: One of the rare, original SOG Bowie knives along with an original SOG Command and Control, Central patch from Frazer’s collection.

This knife ignited his mixture of passion for design, knife-making, and history. The resulting combustion drove Frazer to commission his own take on the SOG Bowie, the SOG S1 Bowie, propelling the growth of a company that would ultimately help usher in a period of innovation in knife-making across the industry.

Wood and leather-clad knives of the time gave way to SOG’s satin finishes, rubber grips, composites, and resin-impregnated materials. SOG’s compound-leverage multitools (inspired by the gears of a child’s toy) and the Arc Lock mechanism for folding knives still hold their own today in a crowded market.

SOG extended an exclusive invite to RECOIL OFFGRID to meet with the company’s founder, Spencer Frazer, to see and hear how the brand has grown from one guy in his pajamas to 50 employees making gear that helps their customers prepare for anything, from the everyday to the grievous. Walking into the company’s headquarters and design studio in Lynwood, Washington, we noticed the very shape of the building displays the reverence for design the company was built on.

Interview with Spencer Frazer of SOG Knives

RECOIL OFFGRID: We noticed the SOG office building has some unique architecture. The peak above your office is reminiscent of a knife blade?

Spencer Frazer: That was my plan from the get-go. At one point, early in the design process for the building, we actually had a piece of steel that was going to hang off the edge of it and we go, “Oh my god, someone is going to run into it, and we’re going to get a lawsuit.” Do you remember the L.A. hot dog place that’s shaped like a giant hot dog, Tail o’ the Pup? I remember reading a story about a woman suing them after she hurt herself after running into the end of the building. So no knife edge on the front of our building. But we did build our own building, and we wanted it to be conceptual. It was ’96, and this was the last wooded lot in Lynwood.

Since you’re not really an architect, was that stressful?

SF: Everything I do has a sense of design and sophistication of design and that’s how I work. Working with the architects, we came up with something that’s unusual, and it won some award for the best build-to-suit in the city because it did reflect exactly who we are. Funny story: I ended up struggling over the paint combinations. I drew parts of the building in CAD and then I colored in the different sections. I worked on that for weeks. So, finally they came in and painted the whole building the base color to start, and it looked like a whorehouse. Instead of a really nice gray, it turned out a fleshy tan. I left that day with a migraine headache going, “We’re ruined. It’s, like, the worst it could ever be.” And there’s four or five colors, so they put the next color on and I go, “It’s horrible.” And, then they put the next color on and I say, “It’s terrible.” And, then they put the final color on and I said, “It’s genius!” Because colors are funny that way — they play off one another and create different perceptions.

Above: Dave Ditto, repair tech, sharpens knives. SOG welcomes its customers to bring their blades in for a check up and a renewed factory edge.

This wasn’t SOG’s first home, was it? The company began in California?

SF: When we moved up from Santa Monica to Seattle, there were a bunch of reasons. But one was that we — my wife at the time and I — wanted to buy a house and couldn’t afford one in California. This was a pro-business area. So we bought a three-bedroom, 1950s house in Edmunds overlooking Puget Sound. It was a split-level, and we had the business in the basement. We were there several years, and there was one time I realized I was still in my pajamas and it was three days later. You know, I would work all night, maybe take a nap on the couch, but that was when I said, “We’ve got to get an office.” So we found this little office in downtown Edmunds. It was tiny; there was room for a desk, a small table, and some racks. We grew a bit and took over the adjoining space, then we ran out of room and moved down the street, moved again …. We grew out of that and moved downtown to the waterfront and got a legitimate office with a warehouse behind it and stayed there for quite a few years before coming here. That was in Edmunds, at a place called Harbor Point. There was a rat breeding operation next door. When it was hot we could smell the rats through the wall. It was bad.

What’s your favorite product?

SF: The favorite one is always the next one.

Above: Spencer Frazer, left, and mechanical design engineer Alex Hwang confer over the shape of a new product. SOG’s knives and tools are designed, prototyped, and tested in Lynwood, Washington.

Have you been emotionally attached to any particular product?

SF: Most of them. They’re my children. Especially the early days when it was just me designing them and putting them in the marketplace, creating a story about them and having them sell. It was an amazing experience. I’m still very charged up about that. I love designing, but I love designing where it’s accepted in the marketplace and ultimately rings the cash register. And that was a focus of mine early on, and it kind of separates me from a lot of designers who are pure designers. How do I make something successful and sellable? I developed a pretty good sense of what would work and what wouldn’t. Over the years, we haven’t had that many dogs.

What product taught you the most?

SF: The original Team Leader. It was our first folder. It was based on the SOG Bowie, and we wanted it to be kind of like a yawara stick. It’s symbolic in that it has the bolster and the guard, kind of, and the big Bowie blade. It’s just a monster. I wasn’t sure about it, and I was working with another guy at the time. We were working with Japan, and they misinterpreted the drawings and scaled it up a bit, too. It was a boat anchor. I think we sold something like 350 of them. I sent it to Cutlery Shop, who was pretty astute at knives, and he said to me, “That’s just terrible.” And he was right. It was too big and weighty. But that’s the thing, now — big knives. Now it’s highly collectable.

Above: The original wooden prototype showing SOG’s patented compound leverage hinge system that came to Frazer as he watched the gears of this child’s toy spin together. 

Tell us about the SOG Bowie.

SF: The SOG Bowie was the origin. When I first saw that knife, I was just taken by it. It was a magical thing. I first saw it at the gun shows. I used to go to the gun shows pretty regularly. I was collecting Vietnam-era tiger stripe prints. They were all hand silk screened, so it became this art form that I was intrigued by. I didn’t serve; the draft ended on my 18th birthday. So there are all these different types of uniforms and patterns for triple canopy, the marshlands, you know, and they are all different. I was in my late 20s in the early ’80s.

I was fascinated by tiger stripes, and they helped me discover SOG; the Studies and Observations Group, or Special Operations Group. It was a fascinating time in military history. These guys could pretty much do whatever they wanted, and they created their own equipment, their own uniforms, knives, everything. The coolest thing to come out of SOG, and I’ve been looking for one, was a dog turd seismic sensor. They put them on the Ho Chi Minh trail, and they could tell from the air if anyone was walking on the trail. But that I never got. I’ve seen very few references to it.

But when I saw the original SOG knife … it’s so historical, it’s got such provenance and soul. Where was it, what did it do?

So were you into knives from a young age?

SF: You know, knives make us feel good; they make us feel prepared and competent. They make us feel cool. I liked knives from when I was young but hadn’t really thought about them; I wasn’t really a collector or anything. And then years later I saw the SOG Bowies and began collecting them. There were these plum ones. They were an accident; bluing gone bad. English browning, they call it sometimes. So, that was rare, and had about 10 or 14 other ones. There were a lot of counterfeits, so I wasn’t sure about some of them, so I started researching them. You couldn’t find any historical information about them — nobody really knew who made them.

So, you decided to make a replica of the original SOG Bowie knife, your first product, the S1 Bowie?

SF: The big thing was how do we manufacture this and where. So, I started doing research, reading Blade Magazine. I saw this guy, Beau Randall, in Florida. He was one of the famous custom knife-makers and had semi-production. He’s still making knives today, and he’s back-ordered four years. So, I called him up and said I want to reproduce this knife and he said he could reproduce it if I wanted to give him an order for, like, a couple hundred. I said, “How fast could I get them?” And, he said, “Well I could start delivering them in about … four years.” That wasn’t going to work.

So, he tells me to call up this good old boy in Arkansas named A.G. Russell because he’s got ways to produce things. So, I call him up; a legend in our business. He started the knife-makers guild and has been around forever; one of the authorities on knives in the world. He says, “I know some people in Japan.” And, that’s how we met Bob Nanri, a sort of [knife manufacturing] agent, and got started in Japan.

Bob Nanri had this idea to create a quality [knife] market out of Japan. Up until then Japanese goods were considered junk. Cars from Japan were, like, junk metal back then. But, Japan had an incredible history with samurai swords and steel making, so he was right to do it, and he single-handedly created a high-end market for Japanese cutlery.

So, we got in with Mitsuboshi Cutlery, in Seki City, Japan, that used subcontractors. They gave us Hattori Hamono, one of the most famous knife-makers in Japan. And Hattori Hamono told me his father had been the original producer of the Vietnam SOG Bowie! So it was very serendipitous that we found through this circuitous effort one of the original factories that produced those old knives.

What was it like starting the company?

SF: I date myself, but it was so different running a business back then. Information was hard to come by and communication was difficult. In the beginning, when we worked with Japan, I would send them a letter to ask them a question. It was like, “Can you shorten this knife by a quarter inch? Here’s my sketch.” So, it’d take two weeks to get there, they’d answer, and it’d take two weeks to get it back. Then Bob Nanri, said there’s this new invention called the fax machine. He said, “You use this thing, and you send a message and get an answer back within a short period of time.” I asked how much it cost, and he said it was like $850. My God, this was in the late ’80s, so that’s like $8,000 today. But, I got one.

Did you ever learn about the origin of the SOG Bowie?

SF: There’s an article about it by Greg Walker, a writer and an old friend of mine. He found Ben Baker. He was a quartermaster or something in SOG or Special Forces. Greg found the original guy somehow, who had never wanted to talk about the project because he felt he was still under some kind of secrecy requirement. But, Greg got him to talk and he pulled out all the original data. Greg calls me and says, “You’re not going to believe it, but I found the original guy. He has all the drawings and some of the original knives.” Then we really found out the numbers of different versions of the original knives there were.

Baker took, I think, the Bowie, the KA-BAR, and the Randall and he incorporated different design features into the knife that he felt were best for [his unit’s] application. There was some science in developing the different style of blade. He did a lot of meat testing, you know cutting, penetrating, twisting, and stabbing.

Have you ever gotten into the politics of knives?

SF: There are two organizations. American Knife and Tool Institute — which is more of an industry group — we’ve been a big supporter of for 15 years or so, and our CEO is a member of the board. Then there’s Knife Rights, more of a consumer group. We support them as well. I was part of the contingent that went to Washington when we changed the federal laws for one-handed knives, which was something we never dreamt could ever be done.

When Congress added “the bias toward closure” language to the Federal Switchblade Act, it became the new definition of a switchblade. At that point, we were worried that all one-hand openers were going to be switchblades. And there are now more than 30 states where you can possess switchblades. We are working with AKTI and Knife Rights who are working to rewrite knife laws and add preemptive laws at the state level.

Spencer Frazer, SOG Knives founder and chief designer

You’re careful to point out you didn’t serve in the military. Is it difficult being an aficionado? How do you maintain brand authenticity without going over the line in your marketing?

SF: It’s something I was cognizant of from the beginning. For one, we never said we were anything we weren’t. We were honest about it. I think that’s what helped us get through it. I remember one time this Navy SEAL guy came up to our table at a Soldier of Fortune show and he was looking at one knife we named the Trident. He was really upset about it. He says, “How can you take something that is so key to who we are when you’ve never been there or done that.” And then later was another incident when a SEAL plank holder came to us and was really upset about the Trident name, but it turns out it was because he wanted to use that name on a knife of his own. We always did straight business. We were trying to do justice by the guys who had been there. I wanted to create a great product that was a tribute, and that was our intent and it carried through, even all the way to today.

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

New: Pocket Hammer Pro Arrow Slingshot

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A slingshot is a great survival tool for hunting small game, but a ball bearing or pebble won't be very effective against medium-sized game animals or fish beneath the surface. In those cases, the piercing power of an arrow is much more effective. Fortunately, it's possible to fire arrows from a slingshot, expanding your ability to put food on the table in a survival situation. The new Pocket Hammer Pro Arrow system is capable of firing arrows at speeds up to 170 feet per second, and is said to be capable of taking down medium-sized game.

This product was created by Pocket Shot, the company that produces pocket-sized elastic slingshots which we've written about in the past. In fact, we gave the standard Pocket Hammer our “Top Pick” award after testing it alongside competitors in Issue 29. The new Pocket Hammer Pro Arrow system is designed specifically to fire arrows. It features a 35-pound-draw Pro Arrow pouch, whisker biscuit aiming device, and an optional archery trigger release.

Three standard red arrow pouches are also included, and offer a lighter draw. The Pocket Hammer Pro Arrow system folds to fit in a pocket, and is available in black or mossy oak camo. MSRP is $99; the optional archery release is $15 extra. Check out the demonstration video below, or visit PocketShot.com for more info.

The 6th Amendment and the Yellowstone Zone of Death

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How well do you know your Bill of Rights? You should know all of the ten Constitutional Amendments it contains by heart. The First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment are common knowledge and frequently discussed. The Third is something that doesn't come up often — it prohibits homeowners from being forced to provide quarter to soldiers against their will. Number six is the subject of today's post, since it lays out the rights of an accused person in a criminal case:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Pay special attention to the bolded portion. Under most circumstances, there should be no trouble finding twelve impartial residents from a given district who can serve as jurors. However, there is one district where it's supposedly impossible. This has been dubbed the Yellowstone Zone of Death.

Despite its ominous name, the Zone is mostly a legal curiosity. (Flickr.com/cmichel67 | CC BY 2.0)

The so-called Zone of Death was brought to the public's attention by Brian C. Kalt, a law professor at Michigan State University. While studying the Sixth Amendment, Kalt wondered if there was a district in the United States where finding a jury of twelve impartial residents wouldn't be feasible. He then noticed a strange issue regarding a 50-square-mile section of Yellowstone National Park in the state of Idaho.

Flickr.com/robglover | CC BY-SA 2.0

Yellowstone is under the jurisdiction of Wyoming, so anyone who commits a crime there would have to be tried in Wyoming. However, if the crime was committed in the portion of Yellowstone that's part of Idaho, it'd be unconstitutional to face trial in a different state. So you'd have to go back to Idaho to face trial… but there aren't enough residents in that 50-square-mile district to serve as jurors.

Theoretically, Kalt argued that this contradiction means that someone could brazenly commit a murder or some other felony within this zone and get away with it, since it would be unconstitutional for the crime to go to trial.

Kalt published a paper titled “The Perfect Crime” in the Georgetown Law Journal in 2005, explaining the issue and encouraging lawmakers to address it. However, as of 2019, the Zone of Death reportedly remains an open issue. Fortunately, there hasn't been a felony there that has put this issue officially to the test, so it remains a legal curiosity for the time being.

When asked how such an incident might play out in the real world, one attorney wrote, “It’s impossible to tell what a court would do in such a circumstance because there is absolutely no precedent… [However,] if you did in fact try it out, my guess is that the courts would do a bit of fancy footwork and find a reason to empanel a jury anyway.”