Pressure Cult has given us a sneak peek of their upcoming PC Striker. This is a ferro rod holder that is designed to bolt directly to the standard 1/4″ eyelets that are commonly found on kydex knife sheaths. It holds a ferro rod in line with the sheath and can be pivoted out from the sheath when the user needs it.
The promise of something like this is that, whenever you have your knife with you, you also have a fire starting method with you. This can streamline your EDC/outdoor kit and help ensure you have the right tools with you at the right time.
The Northman’s spear point blade tapers to a very acute point, has a high flat grind, and a sharp 90 degree spine for striking a ferro rod. It features textured G-10 handle slabs. While the handle slabs are flat, the handle itself is heavily contoured featuring a deep first finger groove and a large punyo.
The knife is delivered as a package that includes the Northman knife, the Pocket FireSheath, a storage sheath, and an aluminum trainer version of the Northman that fits all the same sheaths.
Observations from Use
I want to start my observations with the Northman with some thoughts about the uniqueness of this knife because a lot of the rest of my thoughts will start from this foundation. The Northman is one of the most unique knives on the market in my opinion. I don’t mean from the standpoint of the design or the actual knife, though it is unique in that way. I mean it is unique in capability and the completeness of the entire package.
Belt version and Pocket version of FireSheath (Pocket version included)
There are other defensive or EDC or outdoor-oriented fixed blades on the market, but few that move so effortlessly through all three spaces. There are few (maybe none) knives that have so complete of a sheath eco-system available directly from the maker. I don’t know of another maker that includes a storage sheath that promotes mindfulness in preventing training accidents. The Northman is actually more than just the knife itself and it is unique. This sounds cliche but much of what I just mentioned is the key to what makes this knife truly useful.
I use my Northman a lot of different ways. This is made possible thanks to the variety of available sheaths and the useful blade shape. The knife’s compact dimensions and easy pocket-carry make it a fine EDC fixed blade. It is easy to carry and easy to access when using the included Pocket FireSheath. The useful point and long, slightly curved cutting edge is useful for a wide variety of mundane tasks.
The Northman works great in places a normal fixed blade wouldn’t like in a bee suit.Carpentry? Check!
The Pocket FireSheath is also excellent for outdoor use as it allows you to place the knife out of the way of a pack hip-belt and keeps it accessible while wearing a pack. While Amtac Blades offers a number of sheaths for this knife, the FireSheaths (Belt and Pocket) are particularly well-suited to outdoor use with their integrated ferro rod. Carrying a Northman in a FireSheath means you are never without a fire starter which I find handy.
As a support to a concealed handgun, I prefer to carry the Northman on my belt using the Belt FireSheath that I purchased seperately. The Northman manages to pack a lot of blade length into compact package and it is very comfortable to carry on the belt either near the wearer’s centerline or pushed out toward the non-dominant side hip.
Some words on the sheaths available for the Northman: There are 5 of them and all are completely ambidextrous meaning the knife can be inserted either way. All but the storage sheath (included) make use of Discreet Carry Concepts (DCC) clips which is a very good thing. This ecosystem of available sheaths does a lot to drive the usefulness of the Northman. The knife comes with the Pocket FireSheath – a sheath with a long DCC clip meant to sit the knife deep in your front pants pockets with the punyo exposed for an easy draw. The Belt FireSheath, Minimalist Belt Sheath, and Deep Concealment Sheath are all belt sheaths with various capabilities that can be purchased as accessories.
Northman shown with both versions of the FireSheath
The inclusion of a storage sheath is particularly interesting to me and I think it speaks to the fact that this knife is sold by a man, Bill Rapier, who trains people to use them. The training sheath gives you a place to store your live blade while training with the training drone. This is so clever. It requires purposeful action to prepare for training. The trainee must place the live blade into the storage sheath and then place the drone into their sheath before training can begin. This mindful action, like the safety on a gun, can help prevent training accidents.
The handle of the Northman works for me and my hands (medium or large glove size depending on brand). The handle is very compact and might feel a little cramped in a basic hammer grip for very large hands but, for me, this is the feeling of being locked into a handle. This handle, with its deep first finger groove and punyo, sort of grips you while you grip it. I find it especially comfortable in a reverse grip with the edge out. The handle does allow for a variety of grips despite the heavily contoured shape.
Shown with my hand for scale
The handle does allow you to get very close to the edge. Some users will love this for the fine control it allows and some will worry about it. As mentioned above, this grip locks you in. I have never had an issue with this even when striking hard surfaces with the drone.
Finally, because I know it will come up, this knife is not inexpensive at $450… but it is a good value. If you spend much time looking at knives, you’ll know that knives with premium stainless steel and textured G-10 handles aren’t cheap to begin with. You’ll also know that sheaths with centerline mounted DCC clips aren’t cheap. You’ll know that 1 to 1 replica aluminum training knives aren’t cheap. You’ll also know that sheaths like those described above with an integral ferro rod and training knives so precisely made that they fit the same sheath as the live blade aren’t just expensive, they are just about non-existent. There is value for money here.
Always up for adventure
Wrap Up
The Amtac Blades Northman reminds me of the venerable, long-serving AR-15. Follow me here. The AR-15 itself is useful because it is versatile and easy to live with much like the Northman. AR-15s become more specialized and useful in more specific roles thanks to a plethora of available optics and the ease of mounting them – much like the plethora of sheaths for the Northman.
What I am trying to say is the Northman has inherent usefulness built into the knife itself which is enhanced by the completeness of ecosystem that Amtac Blades has built around it. This is unique and useful in a way that I don’t think is matched anywhere else. This is a tremendous knife.
BERLIN, 2022-02-22 – WNDSN Messtechnik introduces the latest iteration of one of the most popular WNDSN Telemeter products, forking it into a military-specific product with relevant details.
“Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all!” –Sun Tzu
The WNDSN suite of Telemeters are wallet-size graphical distance and altitude calculators designed to provide professionals in the field and soldiers on the front accurate and reliable measurement devices when modern methods either fail or are contraindicated for the given scenario. Under certain conditions or in cases where laser rangefinders are unavailable or result in errors, WNDSN Telemeters prevail and can be used as primary or “second opinion” tools, to cross-check values obtained with different means. This newest iteration of the WNDSN NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter applies previous enhancements found on its civilian counterpart, the WNDSN High-Viz Quadrant Telemeter, resulting in increased precision and usability in non-ideal encounters for military operational staff and law enforcement personnel.
Newest advancements in the Wndsn NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter includes a 150 MIL scale graded in 1 MIL increments using the recently introduced enhanced vision block scales inspired by surveyor’s instruments with scale marks in a blocky shape resembling the letter E. In response to users’ feedback, the newly developed sighting scale uses blocks instead of lines as scale marks, by filling every other pair of lines with solid color. This enhanced scale design allows WNDSN the first opportunity to grade the MIL scale in 1 MIL increments, whereas in earlier NATO-MIL models the precision was only 2 MIL, thus with a scale maximum of 130 MIL. Increased precision was also made possible by decreasing the eye-to-scale distance to 50 cm for easier set up in the field and to improve acuity.
Further changes include removal of civilian features that are provided for educational and astronomical purposes (shadow square and obliquity arc) and the addition of a MIL scale inside the degree arc graded in 25 and 100 MIL.
Accuracy and speed of measurement in adverse conditions have been given consideration, with the addition of a dot grid inside the Quadrant allowing for more accurate string operations. A new coordinate scale is in place for maps using a 1:25k scale to determine a position on a UTM/MGRS grid by way of northing and easting.
Custom coordinate and other scales are available upon request for unit or bulk orders.
New for 2022 is the opportunity to book online classes in German or English for small groups, units, or individuals customized based on prior skill-level and background.
The material of the NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter is the same sandwich acrylic used on the High-Viz Quadrant Telemeter, consisting of a white core and white scale marks with a black matte surface. This black matte surface reduces glare, and further supports the protection of positions when inconspicuousness is a requirement for tactical success. In order to retain the high visibility and robustness of the scales, the scales are laser-engraved and precision-cut through 0.1 mm strong black acrylic exposing the white acrylic underneath, ensuring the scales cannot be destroyed. The user can be assured that the ruggedness, durability, and integrity of the various scales remains intact.
Clarification of terms: MIL usually denotes MRAD, MILliradians; thousandths of a radian. The scientific MIL, also called MRAD, is a 1000th of a radian (which leads to an odd value for a full circle), while the military MIL is based on dividing the circle into an even number that splits nicely into decimal fractions. Militaries around the world have historically used rounded versions of the MRAD, the NATO-MIL and the German army’s ‘Artilleristischer Strich’ divide the full circle by 6400 — instead of the MRAD’s more accurate but also harder to subdivide 6283.x — while the Warsaw Pact established 6000 MILs in a circle and the Swedish divide it into 6300 “streck”. WNDSN uses the NATO-MIL, that is 360° / 6400.
Training is at the forefront of all WNDSN instruments. Included with the WNDSN NATO-MIL Telemeter Quadrant is a printed 32-page mini-booklet in both English and German that was specifically designed for the NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter. For increased mastery of the instruments, a comprehensive 170-page NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter Field Manual is available as a digital supplement and separately in print. Available both in print and digital, the NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter Field Manual is based on the latest GQT5 and optimized for practical use in the field, with the removal of the astronomy, history, or graphical math sections found in the civilian manual. The 170-page Field Manual is included as a PDF upon purchase of a WNDSN NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter and is also available in paperback via Amazon websites and available for order by regional/local book sellers.
Specifications:
Dimensions: Credit card-sized; 3.4″ x 2.2″ (8.5 x 5.5 cm)
Thickness: 1/8″ (3.2 mm)
Material: 1/8″ (3.2 mm) Acrylic stock, matte black surfaces, white core with white scales, laser engraved
Included: WNDSN NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter, double-sided; Dyneema string, 0.35 mm turquoise, pre-configured in the required length; plumb line weight, tungsten carbide; Custom-made carton sleeve; printed 32-page Telemeter pocketbook (in English and German); digital 170-page comprehensive field manual (in English or German)
Developed and Made in Germany
Scales on the WNDSN NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter:
Angular size (NATO-MIL) and distance (based on user input)
Height or depth of object
Altitude or elevation (in degree, MIL, or percent)
Computation of sine, cosine, and tangent from a given angle (and back)
Degree, slope, and MIL quadrant
Inclinometer (-5° to 30°, graded in 0.25°)
Coordinate scale (1:25k)
The WNSDN NATO-MIL Quadrant Telemeter is available at:
What do you get when you combine a shovel, a cooking utensil, an ax, a hammer, a melee weapon, and some ingenuity? You get the venerable Spetsnaz shovel. These tools are just as versatile today as they were when introduced which is why Tracer Tactical and Delta2Alpha have teamed up to develop a modern cover for this venerable old shovel.
The cover features 500D Cordura construction and is MOLLE compatible. It features a hard insert so you can keep the edge of your shovel sharpened without fear of cutting the cover. The image above is a prototype. The production version will have a Fastex buckle closure.
Pre-orders are open now but they will be closing soon.
The NIXIEWORKS Lightfighter Rig or LFR is a load-bearing harness combined with an integrated lumbar pack. This large-capacity LBE concept can be extremely useful for a variety of pursuits like back-country travel or preparedness.
The LFR is functional out of the box thanks to the large lumbar pack complete with integrated water bottle sleeves. It is also easily scalable for a variety of specialized uses thanks to a wide, MOLLE-compatible belt allowing for the addition of pouches, holsters, and other items.
I appreciate the amount of information and instruction NIXIEWORKS has provided around the LFR and highly recommend that you check out their website if this is something that interests you. The LFR is hand-made to order in the USA. They are available in a variety of colors and camo patterns. The components of the kit can also be purchased separately.
