WHEN ARE TOO MANY KNIVES TOO MANY?

There is a school of thought that says two is one and one is none. I first heard this from the movie G.I. Jane. It may be a movie, but since I seriously got into the knife collecting and survivalist culture I realized that a lot of experts and sources actually advocate this kind of thinking.

Another school of thought that I crossed was that your tactical knife should not be your utility knife. There are two major reasons given for this: a) tactical knives are sometimes near impossible to use in a utility function, and b) utility knives get beat up a lot and tend to be abused, something you don’t want to do to a knife that is designated as the one to save your life.

Now obviously we are talking about urban survival and suburban living here so the other outdoor school of the hunting knife as “the one knife” cannot hold true. If we could all carry around ten inch knives in the city and to work, then we wouldn’t have to worry too much now do we.

As I don’t think anyone can argue that a big knife like a bowie or machete can serve both as survival and tactical quite easily. Though a secondary back-up smaller survival knife like a Becker Necker or a RAT Izula, sorry ESEE Izula, would be a great idea my frontiersmen friends. Just in case right?

So based on that, how many knives should one carry? Five.

Okay, so that may be too many for some, but please understand that I am not asking you to tote five swords. When I said knives I meant just that, knives. But each of these must be able to back-up the other and perform specific duties and back those up as well.

I am no expert and I did not claim to be. But I am just speaking plainly here. Based on the school of two is one and one is none, and the school of thought that a tactical knife is not a utility knife, five would be the minimum on your person.
Here is a breakdown of the five. One tactical, its back-up and a hold-out. One utility, its back-up and a hold-out. Obviously the hold-out for both can be one knife, thus five.

Also, it is suggested that your knife must be able to do the following in a pinch: light pry, strike a flint, food prep, do woodwork, cut light wire, turn screws, be used as a spear tip, be used as a hammer.

Since we have five knives, you can spread these needed abilities among them. So, based on the extra requirements, we need the following knives: a flat long fixed blade, an uncoated blade, a straight edge, one that can handle batoning, one that has steel that can cut copper wires, a thin spine, a fat blade, a flat strong handle.

This is where it becomes obvious why hunters use what they carry. One good knife can do all of these.

As an example, here is my TO&E on my person every time I go out. A fixed blade four inch kwaiken in a kydex sheath in my boot by Lucas Burnley in D2 steel, a Spyderco Tenacious with combi-edge, a SAK Classic attached to my single LED AA flashlight with a key ring, a Spyderco Bug in a small pocket in my cellphone pouch, a S&W Tactical Pen.

To round it out, I also carry a Zippo, and a disposable lighter. In my bag is a basic survival tin, and a multi-tool. To augment, if the security situation allows it, I also carry a Cold Steel Kobun. More on that next time.

GIANT MONSTER CROCODILE VS LITTLE GIRL

You see it isn't everyday you get news like this. A 10-Year old girl was attacked and decapitated by a monster crocodile in Agusan del Sur. Her sled/boat was knocked over by a the crocodile and it attacked her. Her decapitated body washed ashore two days later. God rest her soul.

The news sources vary about the creature. It's either salt-water or fresh water, because one says its the Agusan Marsh, the other says its Mihaba Lake. It's length ranges from 7 meters to 9 meters depending on who you're reading. The point is, this is a daily fact in the Philippines--one minute you are enjoying the water, the next, you're lunch to croczilla.

Anyone who has ever had seafood from the Southern Philippines, knows things there get much larger than here up North. But those who think it's a hoax, here's video proof, the specimen here is only 6 meters long...

WMD

Unfortunately, I am a military-geek but only up to the fan service-ness and entertainment value of it. I don't support real warfare, or the killing of babies. I am not a warmonger, and I am certainly not a hippie either. I believe in defense, in the preservation of freedom, in the use of force to prevent the spread of evil. There are good guys, there are bad guys. If the bad guys use WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) then the good guys should make sure that they don't get a second chance to do so, or better yet, never let them get a chance to use them in the first place.

EDC vs TO&E

Every Day Carry and Tactical Ordinance and Equipment. These are the terms that people in military culture use to call "Purse" and "Handbag" because it isn't macho enough to call it that. It's like how every single thing is given a callsign. It's normal to have a model number for something so that it is easy to keep track of it, but to actually give everything a callsign and then give it a short military-esque descriptive...sigh.

Examples: a semi-automatic high velocity fabric stitcher = sewing machine, an aerodynamic friction enabled contained liquid dispenser = ballpen

I know that some people do it for fun, but some people are really into it. "It's not a doll! It's an action figure." I mean respect and all, because I admit, I am a military geek too. But never forget those that you stand on that wall for, that is the thin line between patriotism and tyranny.

Anyway, I bring this up because I spent roughly half a day trying to streamline my TO&E this is the stuff I bring in my bag everyday when I am on assignment. I sorta realized, after so many people have told me, that I do bring a lot of stuff in my bag. I just tell them "Hey! When the (zombie, nuclear, alien, demonic, medical) apocalypse comes, you go find your own needle. Don't go borrowing mine because I won't lend it to you." Because believe it or not, that's what I have in my bag among others.

I base what I bring depending on scarcity of resources in case something happens. Haven't you watched Evil Dead? How about Lost on TV? How did they survive longer? Because one of them had knives. So simple a tool, and I have to agree with CutleryLover on this, aside from fire, a sharp implement is the reason why we have all of civilization. Yes! You are reading this blog because Barok had a spear and a torch.

Anyway. I broke down what I brought and didn't bring and found to my dismay that instead of reducing what I usually bring, I ended up adding to it after checking some new references on survival. The good news is that I got rid of a few redundancies in my pack, and finally managed to create a "legal friendly" EDC line-up and have upgraded and downgraded some other stuff to where they ought to be.

I'm still trying to find a way to legally bring a bazooka and a holy longsword +4. Not that I have either, but I like to plan ahead.

A CELLPHONE STOLEN

My wife lost my cellphone. It was a the secondary cellphone we use for the SUN Cellular Network. There are three commercially available networks in the Philippines. There is Globe, Smart and Sun. According to someone I spoke with Sun, they chose "Sun" because the Sun is larger than the Globe and because the Sun is brighter than Smart. Most everyone who has enough friends can create their own little Sun Cellular micro network. Me an my friends use it to communicate with one another over and above our regular cellphones. Of course, Sun is a tad difficult to use, but they are working on it, and you see how they are slowly getting there. Especially with the support of the cellphone using community, composed of about 50 million Filipinos, who appreciate having an alternative cellphone that has the only unlimited call service in the country. It is Sun that pushes the prices down when you think about it.

Anyway, my wife had her bag picked while she was paying for a procedure in a clinic just across the Philippine General Hospital. They got the cellphone even though my wife already had someone with her, and even though she is a battle-hardened journalist. If she was a regular person I would call her a victim, but really, she should know better, especially in areas like that.

Here is a lesson: In the Philippines, criminal activity increases as you reach two places: deserted areas and heavily populated areas. The pickpockets in the city are so good that they can actually remove your wallet, take your money, place your wallet back and put your driver's license on your lap, and then disappear before you notice anything. Also, dark, deserted areas are a favorite haunt of the stick-up men. What is great about our country though is that we do not have muggers. Muggers are criminals who attack you to immobilize you, then take your possessions. Here they ask nicely that you don't retaliate and calmly hand over your stuff. They know better than to actually physically harm another person. They know the repercussions of that in a country where there are still bloodfeuds, vendettas, beheadings and killers for hire.

Now, if ever you lose your cellphone, try calling it and asking for it back from the person who got it. But be wary, sometimes, criminals use that to lure you into an unsafe area to do something worse to you. Especially the women. Is the cellphone worth your life, or getting raped? If you will recover your cellphone by meeting up with the "nice person who found it" have backup and meet in a very public place, or better yet, have the cops go with you.

Also, don't bother with having the phone blocked so the thief can't use it, because even if you can somehow ask your provider to block the number, all the thief has to do is to buy a new SIM Card. Also, if you manage to get the National Telecommunications Commission to have the IMEI number of the phone blocked, all the theif has to do is bring it to any cellphone repair station in the country and have the IMEI unblocked for a small fee. In short, go ahead, if you want to trouble yourself and waste your time getting a police report, an affidavit of loss, and waiting for action that will, in the end, be futile.

OF KILLING THE SPANISH

Now before we delve into this blog too far, I guess it would be good to talk a little about the country where Metro Manila is a capital of. This isn't just for the foreigners. Many denizens of MM don't even know how many cities there are in it, much less what's going on in the over 7100 island archipelago that composes the Philippines. Historically, we've been around over 40,000 years. Before the Spanish arrived here, we have been trading with the Chinese, the Indians (the ones from India, not the ones from Wyoming), and the Malays(what is now Indonesia and surprise, MALAYsia). We had our own caste system care of the Muslims and we had our own tribal kingdoms before we were colonized and our original culture nearly erased by Christianity. Though your Catholic teacher would vehemently deny this, but yeah, they also deny the evils that happened with the Crusades and the Inquisition. But that's already history right? Deus Vult.

The Spanish were actually surprised that when they arrived, er, the second time that they arrived that is, that we had cannons and we had spearmen cavalry. You see the first time they came here, care of the great Magellan in 1521, who was the first westerner to cross the Pacific, they didn't last. Magellan wanted to make an example of Lapu Lapu, a local chieftain who didn't like the idea of bowing down to the Bible thumpers just 'coz they said so. He went forth to show them the power of his "boom stick" and got his ass handed to him on an arnis stick.

It wasn’t until after fifty years later, after four more failed expeditions, under the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, that was Manila finally taken. After a six year campaign that involved the burning of Manila by its denizens to prevent its being sacked.

But for the next 300 years, we were a colony of Spain. We were able to win our independence in 1898, but were colonized by the Americans afterwards in 1901, and they were around well until 1991, when the last of the American Bases finally was shut down. That in itself was only partly political in success, because the final blow was Mount Pinatubo erupting, the largest eruption in recorded history, which everyone thought was a mountain for 600 years, and not a volcano. Then surprise...
The Japanese occupied us during the World War II for three years also, and since 1991, we've been pretty much on our own. Though, being very worldly global village kind of people, we have continuing friendships with a lot of countries. Plus our women are just freaking hot, and the guys ain't half bad, plus almost all of us know how to speak understandable english, and thus we have thousands of expats.

But as I said before, we've always been a center for commerce between the Northern Territories and the Southern Seas, so that ain't new either. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, the Philippines is as West as you can get when you go to the East.

THE NEW CASTE SYSTEM

Long ago we were divided into roughly five major castes, the Bayani (heroes), the Datu (Nobles), Maginoo (Leaders), Timawa a.k.a. Maharlika/Mahadlika (freemen), and the Alipin which has about three more subcastes. Since there are officially no more slaves here in the Philippines, I don’t need to delve into that. But in truth, there are. In this age of the internet and the cellphone, children are still being sold as slaves in certain areas of the Philippines.

Anyway, Bayani (heroes) are made. These days, what are regarded as Bayani’s are those who are made heroes by law as national heroes, and then there are our Overseas Contract Workers / Overseas Filipino Workers who are hailed as the Bagong Bayani or new heroes. Tapos, the soldiers of course who have been fighting our nearly 50 year old insurgency problem are all heroes also. So many heroes, diba?

Then andiyan iyung Datus. Yeah, they might not be called Datus anymore, but they sure act like them. These are the Oligarchs, the ones who own most of the land, have most of the Money, are the best educated, own buildings. They own the country. They become politicians, or own politicians, they are untouchable. They are the ones we all hope to be, or breed with at the least. I don't even need to name them. Stay a little bit in the Philippines and you already know who they are. A rose by any other name eh? Anybody who thinks the Philippines is a democracy is living in an illusion. We have been an oligarchy, we are still and oligarchy, and we will remain an oligarchy, until the last bit of land sinks into the sea.

The Maharlikas or Timawa, those would be the lot of us who are barely above the poverty line. Those who can afford cellphones and internet and regular meals. The rest, they're the alipin. In one way or another, we are all slaves. But at least we can live like we are not. The poor? They feel the chains everyday, every minute in their hollow stomachs. Why do they not revolt? Because in a country like the Philippines, when the poor revolt, they are killed. When the middle class revolt, the oligarchs give in. Because usually it is the Maginoo who lead the Timawa. And usually that's because another Datu wants it to be anyway. We are all but pawns in their game. But we take it in silence because we know the alternative. Just because the chain has been removed doesn't mean it can't be put back. So in which caste are you? Be honest now.

CHAPTER 1: MEGAMANILA

As with any Survival Guide, we deal first with the terrain we are trying to survive in. More often than not, we will deal with the most dangerous terrain in this fair country called the Philippines: Standing on the rim of any of the volcanoes for a day in our country that straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire, and floats on its own tectonic plate called rightly the Philippine Plate, is a much-much safer adventure than stranding still on any corner for an hour in the megacity commonly known as Metro Manila.

Metro Manila is a conglomeration of, I dunno, 14 cities? From the top of my head Metro Manila is includes the cities of Valenzuela, Navotas, Malabon, Caloocan, Novaliches, Quezon City, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Pasay, and Manila itself.

Manila City is not to be confused with Metro Manila. The name Metro Manila is what is officially known as the National Capital Region. It refers to all the cities within the NCR, which includes Manila City. Manila was the Christened the capital city of the Philippines in June 24, 1571 by Spanish Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (yes, this city is that old). But it has been the hub of commerce for the Philippines long before that. Eventually when the towns around Manila evolved into cities, they were incorporated into what is now known as Metro Manila.

The Philippines is divided geographically into three separate areas, Luzon in the North, Visayas in the middle and Mindanao in the South. This is divided politically into fifteen Regions each ruled by a Governor, except the NCR which has not had a Governor since 1986 after the first EDSA Revolution (the first one because we've had three you see). But the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and its Chairman stands in for the responsibilities and duties of the governorship. Taking out the trash and such, making sure we don't sink into the sea, assuring that there would be traffic to be dealt with.

We also have two autonomous Regions, the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). CAR is ruled over by a coalition of the northern indigenous ethnic tribes and the ARMM speaks for itself.

I think I got them all. There are about 14 million people right now in the Metro Manila. If we include the transients and the commuters from the surrounding cities, it could blow up to about 17 million people going about each day in an area of so many square kilometers. This is where the Maharlika Survival Guide will focus mostly on, with some out of city stories every now and then, because if you don’t leave Metro Manila every now and then, someone will shove you out to make space.

FOREWORD: MSG

Part of this blog will be entries to the Maharlika Survival Guide (MSG). As with anything you read on the internet, it's up to you to believe what you read here or not. This is a collection of knowledge from living in the Philippines for over 30 years. I've also been a journalist for almost half that time writing stories about various aspects of Philippine literature for about half of that time.

What is a Maharlika? It is the pre-spanish term for Freeman. One who has been elevated from being an Alipin(slave) and is now part of those who are vassals of the Datu (Nobles) caste. It’s like middle class now. More on that later.

In short MSG will be a collection of anecdotes, how-to's, where-to-finds, and other guides all of which have to do with living, oft times coping with the Philippines. The entries here will be written by me with contributions from my circle of journalist friends. We will have every type of story here eventually, but it would all be about "How to make life easier in the Philippines."

If you think you know everything about living in the Philippines, think again. Be warned, this guide will be gritty and brutal at times. I will post some pictures now and then. I am doing this not to make money, but because I think a lot of the denizens in here need help every now and then.

We will update as the stories and contributions come in. We will allow comments, which we will try to not moderate too much. After all, we also believe we don't know everything, and we seriously believe in the adage getting all the sides of a story. We are journalists after all. But remember when you comment that we follow one rule "Veritas maximus." It must be truth, if not a factual truth, then your true opinion. If there is any topic you wish us to discuss, please email us, or leave a comment.

For starters, here's is a first advice: You are not alone. No matter how bad you think it is for you here, no matter how alone you feel right now, no matter how bad it's about to get. You are not alone. Someone out there has it as bad as you, or, often, worse. So when you reach the point where you think you can't take another day in this place, that is the time that I actually can say earnestly to you: Welcome to the Philippines.