Wednesday, June 22, 2011

KA-BAR LDK


This is the KA-BAR TDI LDK, my newest acquisition. TDI is the Tactical Defense Institute and LDK stands for last ditch knife. It is intended as a backup weapon, for self defense when you can't access any other weapon. It is very small, but seems like it is pretty good quality, which one would expect when buying any knife with KA-BAR written on the side. The knife is made from a single thin piece of steel. It has a flat ground blade and an extremely acute point. It will go right through just about anything softer than the knife itself. It weighs next to nothing and has been riding in my pocket for a week and I can't even feel it in there. the blade is listed as 1.58 inches long and is pretty sharp right out of the box.



One of the scenarios that helped to inspire this type of weapon is the classic "gun retention" situation where someone is attempting to take a pistol away from you, usually when it is in a holster. One idea is that you hold onto the weapon as tight as possible, draw the knife with your weak hand and apply it generously to your assailant until they cease attempting to take your weapon, or until you can back off and draw said weapon. That scenario is mostly for law enforcement types, but as some application to anyone who might be attacked in the street.

The sheath is black glass filled nylon and feels pretty sturdy. It is about the size of a credit card and can be laced into your shoes or boots, or behind a policeman's badge for example. It came with some 550 type cord to wear around the neck, but I considered that a no-go, because you can be strangled on purpose or on accident with strong cord around the neck. I outfitted it with a ball chain, but I didn't care for wearing it around my neck that way either.


I've seen others use different grips, but the the pic below shows what feels more comfortable to me. Middle finger through the hole in the grip, index finger in the "trigger area" and thumb laying across the left face of the knife and onto the serrations along the spine. If you have big sausage fingers, this will not work for you. In fact, if you have real big hands I would recommend that you skip this neat little knife altogether. One thing I like about this type of grip is that it would be very difficult to take it away from me. There is nowhere to grab the weapon that isn't sharp and if you tried a martial arts-style wrist grab you very well could end up with a set of very nasty, deep cuts as the small blade is very easy to move around compared to a big knife.


A pretty neat little knife if you ask me, and one that will likely be in my pocket for well, ever. The LDK usually goes for about $20 US, but I got mine for a song at $11.99, from Midway USA, which is an awesome company. (Hey Larry, how about some free swag for the free advertising?)

This Day in History - June 21

1919 - The Scuttling of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow


SMS Bayern

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, but as things tend to do, not everything was quite tidied up yet. Under the terms of the Armistice, the German U-boat fleet was surrendered and no one was under any illusions that the Germans would be allowed to wreak havoc on international shipping with their U-boats again. The High Seas Fleet was another matter however. Under Article XXXI of the Armistice the Germans were not permitted to destroy their ships. Germany of course, wanted them back, the opinions of the British Royal Navy seemed to lean towards breaking the ships up for scrap, so that they could never again threaten them. The French and Italians contingents wanted a quarter of the ships each for themselves. They could at no cost, greatly increase their Naval power and at the same time, decrease their neighbors and punish Germany. (Which was of course, the point of the Treaty of Versailles, which may have helped to cause WWII, but that is another matter)


Admiral von Reuter, commanding the crew of the interred Navy, waited until most of the Royal Navy ships in the vicinity went out for a training exercise and gave the order to scuttle all vessels at 10:00am. By 12:00, when the began to list, the crews hoisted the Imperial German Ensign to their mainmasts (which they had been expressly forbidden from doing) and began to abandon ship. The Royal Navy picked up 1,774 Germans by the evening and transported them to Invergodon by battleships of the First Battle Squadron. Vice-Admiral Fremantle had sent out a general order declaring that the Germans were to be treated as prisoners-of-war for having broken the armistice and they were destined for the prisoner-of-war camps at Nigg Island.



Ultimately, 52 of the 74 ships sank including 15 of the 16 capital ships, 5 of the 8 cruisers, and 32 of the 50 destroyers. The rest were towed to shore by the British Guard boats that attempted to stop the scuttling. Nine German soldiers were shot and killed by the guards during those actions. In the inter war period, some were raised and scrapped or sunk as targets, but some remain today, many at considerable depth, and can be visited by divers.


SMS Hinderberg



217 BC - Battle of Lake Trasimene



The battle of Lake Trasimene has been recorded not only as one of the most important battles of the First Punic War, but also one of the most successful ambushes in the history of war.

The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts between the north African empire of Carthage and the Republic of Rome. Due to the daring, intelligence and and burning hatred of Carthage's general Hannibal, the Romans had been having a rough time. They elected Gaius Flaminius and Gnaeus Servilus Geminus to the position of Consul and gave them control of two armies and orders to destroy Hannibal's invading army which had been pillaging and burning its way through southern Europe.

Hannibal was an expert tactician and showed a clear understanding of the need to fight on ground that is favorable to your forces. After failing to goad the army under Flaminius to a fight, Hannibal started to move towards Rome. Hearing that the Roman army had finally broken camp and was following them, Hannibal chose his ground and arrayed his forces.


He chose a heavily forested hill region on the shores of the lake. Below the camp, on a small hill, he set up his heavy infantry forces, made up of Iberians, Celts and Africans. They would be position to attack downhill toward the Roman column's left flank when it appeared. His light infantry from Gaul was concealed in the wooded hills along with the the cavalry. They were to stay hidden until the attack began and then quickly block the Romans' line of retreat. His lightest armed troops were kept along the hills in hiding, ready to hit the Roman column in the flanks after the attack began. Hannibal had also ordered his men to light campfires on the Tuoro, to convince the Romans that they were further away than they thought. Having set up his men, Hannibal then merely had to wait for Flaminius to come blundering along into the trap. Flaminius could have waited to be reinforced by Servilius, and in fact was urged to do so. But he is remembered as a being impetuous and lacking self-control. He would live just long enough to regret those traits.


The next morning, Flaminius led his troops eastward along the road along the edge of the lake. A thick morning fog was present. Hannibal dispatched a small force of skirmishers to draw out the Roman vanguard. This had the effect of splitting the Roman force into two groups. As soon as the main body of the legions entered the kill zone, the trumpets were sounded, giving the signal for the attack.

The attack went exactly as planned and the Carthaginian cavalry blocked off the retreat route of the Romans. The Romans were taken by surprise and were being attacked on three sides, with water on the fourth. The Romans did not have time to form up their standard ranks and had to fight in a way they did not prefer. Romans armies usually did not march in their armor although this may not have been the case in this battle. The Romans were divided into three groups and the vanguard seeing the slaughter behind them, broke through the skirmishers and escaped through the forest. The rear of the column, furthest to the west was hit by a cavalry charge and forced into the lake, where many drowned. The center, with the most of the forces, fought for more than three hours with Hannibal's elite Gaulish heavy infantry before being wiped out. Flaminius was killed by the Gaul Ducarius. The Romans suffered about 15,000 dead and 5,000 captured, a total and complete defeat. The Carthaginians lost 2,500 killed and reports state that many later died of their wounds.

Also...

  • Livy states that so terrible was the massacre at Lake Trasimene, that neither army was aware of the occurrence of an earthquake, which at the very moment of the battle "overthrew large portions of many of the cities of Italy, turned rivers, and levelled mountains with an awful crash."
  • An ancient tradition says that because of the blood, which for over three days filled the water, that the name of a small stream feeding the lake was renamed Sanguineto, the "Blood River".
  • In the surroundings of Lake Trasimene, there are further areas which retain a particular meaning, including Ossaia ("Charnel House, Place of Bones"), Sepoltaglia ("Place of Burial"), Caporosso ("Cape red"), Piegaro ("Subdued Place), Preggio (from "Peggio", "Worse"), Pugnano ("Place of battles"), and Pian di Marte ("Field of Mars").

Smithsonian's History Jokes





I thought these were pretty hilarious and I like how they point out that history is just FULL of craziness.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Living Insignia




I found these pics a couple of days ago and thought that they were kinda neat. They all date from the early WWII period and were taken at various military training sites. The last one is the entire 1st Division. I guess they took them from a tower or perhaps an aircraft. Not something you see everyday.

More Eye Pro saves