The Amtac Blade Magnus has received some updates. All current and future Magnus knives will have a swedge grind that extends back from the tip to about 1.5″ from the handle. This swedge grind reduces the weight by .8 ounces, shifting the balance slightly for a more lively feel in the hand, and produces a tip that is even more efficient in thrusting cuts.
Otherwise, it is the same great Magnus you already know. It features a 5″ blade with an 8 5/8″ overall length. It is ground from 3/16″ thick CPM20CV steel. It also retains the sharp spine of the original Magnus to be used in striking the Belt Firesheath’s integral ferro rod.
Morakniv has introduced a new Survival Kit add-on for the sheaths of two of their most popular knives – the Garberg and Kansbol. The kit simply snaps onto the polymer sheath and provides an integral diamond sharpener along with a docking point for an included firesteel. The Survival Kit will be packaged with knives or available on its own. Hopefully, these will be available in the US soon.
Lester River Bushcraft’s popular Boreal Shirt might be available with some decidedly “tactical” mods if enough people are interested. The Boreal Shirt is already pretty practical in that it is a high performance wool layer that is well suited to many conditions.
The mods include a chest pouch with 3 cells. The two outer pockets are sized to fit phones, small cameras, radios, rifle magazines, and more. The central pocket can fit items like knives, multitools, flashlights, and more. The final mod is the addition of abrasion resistant material added to the backs of the sleeves (Multicam Black is shown).
If you want one of these modified Boreal Shirts, you will have to contact Lester River Bushcraft directly on Instagram or their website.
The original Ute pack, which came out in 2013, was HPG’s first full-size backpacking pack. The beauty of the Ute pack is it’s ability to compress down for day-sized loads or expand it’s capacity with the addition of pack pockets. Now in 2021 they have updated to the Ute V2 with several additional features.
Changes to the Ute include:
2″ top lid pocket with zippered access from the outside.
Velcro loop underneath lid for using Velcro compatible pockets like the 58 Pouch or Tool Roll
Adjustable bellows wand pockets with drawstring adjustment.
Hill People Gear’s new Type 1 Wildland Fire Pack is now available. For those who have been following Hill People Gear for a long time and know something of those who work there, it seems like it would be only a matter of time before they launched a pack like this.
Some of Hill People Gear’s brand DNA comes from wildland firefighting. Co-founder Evan Hill used a jumper pack on the Wyoming Hotshots back when they were still made in the Rigger’s Loft by smokejumpers. When he started building packs, they were belted lumbars like the jumper pack. In fact, the Umlindi follows that lumbar pack tradition.
Kevin McDowell is a Marine and wildland fire veteran who joined HPG initially as their Operations Manager and now serves as Marketing Director. He has been driving the company to create a fire pack and now HPG FIRE is born.
The Type 1 Pack is sold as a complete system. It consists of the following components, which can also be purchased separately:
Base Pack – The Type 1 Pack is based on the Umlindi V2 Backpack. However, the side compression straps from the standard Umlindi have been removed.
Line Pocket – The Line Pocket is a simple compression pocket and side pull compression straps that is sized specifically to work with the Umlindi.
Fire Shelter Case – The Fire Shelter Case can be set up for right or left hand shelter deployment. It attaches underneath the base pack and also to the Line Pocket to raise the rear edge and keep the shelter from resting on the firefighter’s bottom.
Prairie Belt – HPG’s most robust load bearing belt is included in the system. By default the Type 1 Pack ships with the 30+ Prairie Belt, but substitutions for other sizes are possible.
