That One Thing

Guy Stuff, Tools

So you’re going to be marooned on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.  You can only take ONE thing with you.

What is it?  Easy-peasy.

Swiss Army Champ XXL:

Hahaha.  Just kidding.  There’s way too much stuff on the XXL that you’ll never need, and all that makes it damn heavy and cumbersome.

The “ordinary” Champ will do just fine.


(As I recall, I have about three of the things scattered around the place:  bedside drawer, toolbox and SHTF grab-‘n-go bag.  Oh wait, there’s another one in the kitchen “junk” drawer too, so:  four)

My only “improvement” would be to exchange the red plastic grips for grooved aluminum (which they make for the Mini-Champ and others, but inexplicably do not offer with the larger Champ models).

Feel free to argue with my choice in Comments.

By the way, this post was inspired by:

18 comments

  1. In the immortal words of Mic Dundee ” That’s not a knife……. THIS is a knife” .
    If you’ve ever tried to actually use one of those multi-function pocket knives, you would that although it promises to be able to do all sorts of things, it does none of them well, and most of them are completely useless.
    If i can only take one knife, I’d want something along the lines of this : https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Hunting-Tactical-Sharpener-Bushcraft/dp/B09T32GMJM/ref=asc_df_B09T32GMJM?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80676798977250&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=104135&hvtargid=pla-4584276316395843&psc=1

    A proper size survival knife with some weight and strength with a sheath and an included flint and sharpener.

    But if the rules are you can “only take one thing”, I’m going to go with the choice Tom Hanks made. I’ll choose a loaded FED EX / UPS Cargo plane full of random stuff crashed on the island, not in the sea.

    1. Tom Hanks – and his crashed plane full of supplies – was that plane from Epstein? Rumors about his involvement with the tiny hat spy…

  2. “You call that a knife?”

    I’d personally take a gun. Or a very large knife with a single blade. Or a way to make fire.

    YMMV

  3. After thinking on it a bit I agree with GT3TED.

    I’ve never been a fan of the “toy” plastic knives and never owned one.

    The BIG knife Ted mentioned can serve as a hatchet for getting wood and shaping it.

    It has a way to make fire.

    Now, if it also had a way to filter water, and perhaps 100′ of cordage, it would be a universal survival tool.

    1. Once you get past big blade, small blade, can/bottle opener, pointy thing (awl?), and wine cork remover, that’s pretty much all the utility you’ll get out of a Swiss. But for those few things it’s a good knife. I have several scattered about. Most have only been used for the wine cork thing.

      1. “Most have only been used for the wine cork thing”…… my point exactly. and it’s not very good at removing wine corks since the screw diameter is too small for a good grip on the cork, you risk just coring the cork.

    1. Ok, but you are already on the island, not dumped in the middle of the ocean ….. How about one better a Breitling Emergency watch that has an emergency locator beacon.
      https://www.breitling.com/xk-en/watches/professional/emergency/E76325221B1S1/
      Most the high end self-inflating life rafts, like the kind you find strapped to the deck of a Mega Yachts can also be ordered with included emergency locator beacons and survival kits.

      Or …… Elon’s long promised Tesla phone with the solar charger on the back and the connection to the Starlink Network

    1. Finally… a man who makes sense.

      But she’s not a “thing”. (She may HAVE a thing — or several things — but that’s not the point.)

  10. I got one. I love it.

    I dunno if its sturdy enough to last though. Maybe a Leatherman type tool instead.

    Or a sat phone.

  11. Most of those Swiss army capabilities are things to work with things , eg can opener or Fid.

    Every day you need water, food and shelter. So I’m either taking a salt water / fresh water maker or a spear gun. Tom Hanks was lucky enough to land on the only deserted island in the pacific with a perpetual fresh water source.

    No fresh water, you are down to relying on coconuts. Finding then opening three a day without tools would be a very tough job.

    So unless I know my desert island has reliable fresh water, then it’s a water maker for sure. That gives me a week to find food sources.

  12. Pingback: That One Thing (Part 2) – Splendid Isolation

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