Trigger Alert: This article is about a very big knife. If that scares you, then click here.
March 6, 1836 was a bad day for Jim Bowie. In fact the two weeks prior weren't much better since the small mission building in which Jim and a hundred others took a stand was under attack. Remember the Alamo?
But long before that fateful Sunday morning James Bowie was famous for his knife prowess whether true or not. In 1827 Bowie (pronounced BOO-ee) was involved in a skirmish known as the Sandbar Fight where Jim Bowie essentially won a gunfight with a knife. A very large knife. And, as they say, the rest is history.
Modern Sporting Knife
The Bowie Knife is a pattern much like the AR15 is a pattern. The so-called Bowie Knife is general form with some characteristics, but there is no one type of Bowie, nor any particular feature that makes or breaks a Bowie Knife. In general a Bowie Knife is a large blade, something eight or more inches, an overall length more than a foot, a crossguard separating the blade from the handle, and a clip point blade tip. Finally, there is the appearance of a false edge running along the top of the blade from tip through a curve ending at the spine proper. The false edge may or may not be sharpened, and thus the Bowie might cut both ways. Today, however, most Bowie Knives are not sharpened on the upper portion of the blade due to weapons laws in many jurisdictions. But originally as a fighting knife, that was the point.
The origin of the Bowie Knife is a little tangled in lore and opinions. Even the facts depend upon which story you subscribe to. But in the end, and even with all the unknowns, the Bowie Knife is one of the most recognizable and famous blades in the world. And just as the initial Bowie Knives were evolving and upgrading as each one was pounded into existence on the blacksmith’s anvil, the Bowie is evolving even today some 187 years after James Bowie brought a wooden model of his ideal knife to an Arkansas blacksmith named, of all things, James Black who then pounded Bowie Knife life into an old file. So a blacksmith named Black made a Bowie for Bowie. Even more, David Bowie, the famous rock star, took his stage name “Bowie” from the knife because, as David noted in an interview, the Bowie Knife “Cuts both ways.”
Rambowies
In addition to the famous Rambo blades of Hollywood fame, the silhouette of the Bowie Knife can be found in real life in the popular Buck 119 hunting knife, the famous leather-handled USMC KA-BAR fighting knife, and in a smaller form factor, the SOG Seal Elite, Seal Pup and their multitude of versions. However, the rich history of Bowie Knives and its variants are pretty much still using historical designs and antique blade technology. Until now, that is. At the moment, the most modern, the most durable, and the sharpest Bowie Knife in the world is the Fällkniven MB or Modern Bowie.
Although Jim Bowie did not travel much beyond the southern territories of a fledgling United States, the Bowie Knife is a worldwide phenomenon and therefore fair game for all knifemakers. But with that fame comes a majority of so-called “Bowies” that are more art than substance, or those versions that substitute size for quality. For Fällkniven to produce such a monster knife rich in American history and then to openly name it a Modern Bowie takes guts. And confidence. So I’m very happy to announce that the Fällkniven Modern Bowie truly honors Jim Bowie and adds yet more cutting magic and lore to the never ending supply of tall tales that Bowie Knives generate. I certainly intend to add my own Bowie adventures to the storyline.
The MB version is not completely new for Fällkniven, but in fact building on both their large Northern Lights series of knives crossed with their professional survival knives. An NL1 crossed with an A1 Pro to be more specific. And the result is bigger, thicker, and certainly badder. The Modern Bowie, abbreviated MB by Fällkniven, is a true Muscle Blade (abbreviated MB by me) . Borrowing heavily from the Survival Pro series, the MB including cobalt steel, a convex edge, a protruding tang, and a Thermorun handle. Even the presentation box and included DC4 diamond sharpener are straight out the Pro playbook. However, three notable deviations with the Modern Bowie include a larger, thicker handle, a double sided guard, and a mild index finger groove just aft of the stainless steel crossguard.
The lone finger groove provides orientation and stability, but most noticeable compared to other Fällkniven Thermorun grips is the added beef in the middle of the MB’s handle. The size of the grip on the A1 and A2 is always noted in reviews as something either good or bad. I like the size, but when waving around a 20 ounce knife, it’s nice to have a grip closer to that of a 20 ounce Glock.
Dynamite in the Hand
The balance of the Fällkniven Modern Bowie is exceptional. The grip provides both the comfort and control necessary to wield such a large blade with elegance and precision. This is especially important since a key feature of the Bowie concept is a sharp and deadly point effective for stabbing and piercing. In reality the point of the clip point blade is to move the blade point lower and more line with the grip when thrusting the knife like a sword. Unfortunately the clipped nature (almost like a bite (clipped) was taken out of the spine of the blade) causes some limitations in daily work. Fällkniven preserved the spirit of the Bowie clip point but tempered it with the wisdom learned from the A1 Pro blade. The original Bowie was from a time before multi-shot handguns existed. Once a holster full of bangs replaced a sheath full of large fighting knife, the Bowie spirit moved on to embrace the rest of its original list of tasks.
Those other chores, by the way, include work as an axe, a machete, a sword, a razor, and even a canoe paddle. Some add being a mirror to the list since a variant of Bowie Knives had a huge girth of shiny steel. But also notice on many of those deep shiny walls of metal in that they often have spine covering of a softer metal like copper, bronze, or aluminum. The metal blanket covering the back of the blade is not for trapping an opponent's blade during a fight, but rather preventing one’s own blade from breaking during a strike due to brittle or poorly forged iron. The mirror polish on those knives is, at best, lipstick on a pig.
The brute thickness of the Fällkniven MB is a staggering 7.4mm or a few hundredths shy of a third of an inch! The blade length is a full 10 inches and the overall length of the Modern Bowie exceeds 15 inches. Fällkniven’s laminated cobalt steel uses an incredible edge steel sandwiched between durable and stain resistant stainless steel faces. Laminated steel can be much stronger than solid steel. Fällkniven also uses its famous convex edge profile adding further strength and sharpness to its world class supersteel composition. Add a beefy stainless steel crossguard that is effective without being a tripping hazard, a swollen Thermorun grip, and a full tang that is bigger than some knives and you have a Muscle Blade worthy of proudly wearing the name Bowie.
Bring It On
The Fällkniven Modern Bowie cuts with dangerous impunity whether a small task or massive challenge. While the Modern Bowie sadly lacks as a canoe paddle, it does chop wood like a beast, and behaves very well when batoning. You can shave arm hair with care, and clear brush with reckless abandon. You can lunge and slope and long point without embarrassment, but when the MB is sheathed on your belt you will be conspicuous.
The Modern Bowie is a vastly different experience than carrying the Fällkniven A2 Wilderness Knife. In fact the MB is almost as large as the A2 is when inside its overbuilt leather sheath. And the MB is certainly longer. The A2 seems a perfectly reasonable camp knife when compared to the Modern Bowie, yet in proximity of popular knives the A2 is eye-openingly large on its own.
Pack’n
The sheath the Fällkniven Modern Bowie sleeps in is a four-layer double stitched leather dangler would double as a canoe paddle. Perhaps that’s what Mr. Bowie wanted given that swinging a two pound sharpened steel blade back and forth in the water might be a dumb idea. The blade slides into the sheath in either edge direction, and the single leather snap strap is reversible by rotating it vertically. The stern end of the sheath has two grommet holes that are necessary for using a leg strap which is not a bad idea for field work since the Modern Bowie dangles just north of my knee. On the A2 sheath, there are also two grommet holes on each end of the insertion slot of the sheath. On the MB sheath, east and west of the insertion slot are removable screw bolts opening similar holes but without grommets presumably for some more creative mounting options.
The Third Century
Knives claiming to be Bowies range in price from $10 to $10,000 with the extremes for show only. To get a Bowie that actually performs like the Bowie you will need to spend something much closer to four figures than two.
The Fällkniven MB Modern Bowie is a brand new knife with deep and rich history. If you have a weakness or need for a Bowie-class knife, then the MB should be your starting point. And for everyone else, the Bowie Knife will be waiting right here for you just as it has for the past two centuries.
I’m just putting the finishing touches on my signs. Do you like them? They say “Trespassers will be shot without warning.” I think that gets the message across. Don’t you?
So I’ve heard you are thinking of bugging out to Montana when the SHTF. Is that right? Well, I’ve got some advice for you: The first thing to remember is that Montana is already filled with people. Not as many as most other states, but still, there are many of us here whether you saw us or not the last time you took a family trip through Montana. Yeah, we are a big state filled with rivers, lakes, mountains, and wide open prairies, but those waterways and lands are not yours for the taking just because things have gone downhill for a while. But since we are all Americans, I’ll let you in on a secret. You can bug out to Montana, but you just have to know how.
First a little geography lesson. Montana is the fourth largest state, or rather the third since Alaska messes up all comparisons. But size is not quite everything. Montana is roughly rectangular and borders four other states as well as two Canadian provinces. But there’s more to that picture. The US states flanking Montana are, on the south and west, mountainous and wild with few roads. And to the east, huge expanse of openness across the Dakotas. To the north lie Saskatchewan and Alberta, both wild lands rivaling Alaska in remoteness and low population. In other words, Montana is buffered by some pretty significant geographic and geologic challenges meaning that unless you are already nearby, not only are you multiple-gas tanks away, but also at the whims of the weather since all access points into Montana present significant driving challenges at least four months out of the year.
And speaking of driving, you might want to take a hard look at a Montana road map. The paved entry points are few, and only two interstate highways, one east/west, the other north/south. And that’s for a state with nearly 2,000 miles of border! Many of the other paved access points into Montana are over passes including one stunning 10,000 climb that as you might guess opens late in the year and closes early. Additionally, there are many bridges as the roads wind through the mountains meaning there is only one way through the area and it has a significant constriction point. In fact my town of Missoula has the Hellgate Canyon and you can even go to Hellgate High School here. The name Hellgate describes the such a constriction point so named after the unfortunate results some early travelers experienced as they were forced into the mountain gauntlet on the east entrance to our fair city. Our city is close close to paradise, but to to reach it from the east, you will need to pass through the gates of hell.
Flatlanders and those with a head full of television shows and movies are used to options when approaching a roadblock. Around here, there might be a mountain to your right, a river and a mountain to your left, and a hundred miles of nothing behind you. You won’t be racing around or over any of our road blocks. And whether by design or luck, most of our towns are surrounded by plenty of constriction points. Take a stroll around Google Earth to see what you are up against when bugging out after the SHTF. And summer vacations do not qualify.
However, I’m happy to report that Montana is home to many fine people who will be quick to welcome new faces as long as those faces are attached to skilled individuals and not just another whiny mouth to feed. Surviving, and even just living in Montana is work. Glorious work, but still work. Unlike cities where convenience rules and internal combustion does the all the heavy lifting, we in Montana are accustomed to the arsenal of nature. Whether blizzards, wildfires, floods, or angry animals, Montana has them all. Drowning and falling are two popular check-out methods tourists use in Montana, and yes, we do feel bad, but just because there is no sign warning of the dangers in the river, or the crumbling edge of the cliff doesn’t mean it’s safe. Every year we lose many visitors to gravity or water with plenty of other deaths we never know what happened because we cannot find their bodies. Strangely, the same things we do here for recreation are the same things that kill city dwellers.
World class hunting and fishing are two of Montana’s exports. I’ll admit that yes, there is game everywhere. Some Montana cities are even culling the city deer herds because the numbers are just too high. And Montana is quick to capture and prosecute poachers and others who violate the rules and laws of hunting and fishing. You must understand why we have those rules and laws in order to appreciate them. Historically, humans took what they needed when they needed it. But that all changed when hunting became a source of financial income, and cities demanded more food, especially birds, big game with big antlers, and weighty fish. No longer were hunters subsisting. They were now in the business of volume and sales. It didn’t take long to deplete the game supply, and worse, the reproductive patterns of the animals were disrupted to the point that the few viable offspring were not enough to sustain the species. While the commercial hunters just moved on to different game in different places, the residents were left with nothing but scorched earth. So hopefully you can see that we are a little reluctant to loose sight of you while hunting. Unless you live around here, we have no reason to think that you truly appreciate what we have, and will take appropriate action if necessary. You are welcome take that however you want.
Montana is also filled with dirt roads and places where not roads are allowed. Those roads do go somewhere, and just because you managed to drive all night and cross into Montana unobserved does not mean you now own the land wherever you park your bug out vehicle. When a bug out location seems perfect, even too perfect to be true, it is probably part of someone else’s plan, or perhaps even the landowner’s. Federal land is considered up for grabs as long as you don’t infringe on another camp whether by presence, activity, or upstream effects, and that you respect the resources. You are not allowed to cut down trees to build a cabin. At least not right away. America is a great nation and we Montanan’s will not allow our wild resources to be looted, stolen or destroyed simply because of your poor planning, stupidity, or greed. Remember, Montana is what America used to be, and we will be keeping it that way. Capisce?
Sadly, it is a common occurrence here under the Big Sky to have out-of-staters throw their weight around thinking they own the place. Sure, some do when they buy large tracts of real estate and then upend the local ecosystem. We usually can wait until their dysfunctional lives implode, marriages fail, and the FBI moves in to commandeer their possessions and land. But in a SHTF scenario, we won’t wait for the FBI. Arrogance is a danger to us all so we just might have to eliminate or at least temper the arrogant threat. Sorry, but I think you understand.
So how does one come in peace to Montana? One way is that you are welcome to purchase your own bug out acreage and homestead it as you please, but that still requires you can get “home.” Nothing greases the wheels of a roadblock like being a landowner. But you will have to answer some questions first, so brush up on your trivia about where your supposed land is located. And there is always the relationship angle leveraging friends, family and acquaintances who have already exercised a previous Montana option. But of course this is America, and we Montanans are also Americans. We do not want to take up arms against our countrymen, but then again, we are expecting a certain level of appropriate behavior from our visiting brethren, and our rights have not ceased to exist just because your neck of the American woods is a little complicated at the moment.
Let’s assume you have successfully driven your BOV through the buffer states and now find yourself humming along the desolate roads of Montana (which are often desolate even when things are great which is how we like it). You come face to face with your first roadblock. It is a handful of old trucks (of which we have plenty) completely blocking the right of way 100% across and two or three deep. Let’s also assume it is summer, daylight, and the SHTF event is more economic then viral. As you slowly approach the obstruction, with your hands on the wheel and tinted windows rolled down (We’d hate to have to lower them ourselves from the outside), you notice the road behind you now has an obstruction as well. Yes, you are trapped. As you have nothing to hide you have no need to worry. But you must understand that we too have families that need protection. We simply cannot let anyone wander into what we have tried so hard to maintain, and that we believe to be worthy of preservation as representative of what makes America great.
Our questions for you will be simple. Who are you? Where did you come from? Where are you going? Once you pass that test, we would love to pick your brain for news about what’s going on in other places. In fact, depending on your experiences, you just might be the hero of the day joining us for dinner. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?
I told you we up here in the north are good folk. We have nothing against you, and if you belong here, then welcome home! However, if we detect that your motives are not pure, and you could be a liability if not an outright danger, then we may give you the option to turn around and try your luck in Wyoming, Idaho, or South Dakota, or just handle it ourselves in the old fashioned but effective ways early Montana settlers are famous for.
Let me give you a couple other tips. I can tell an awful lot about you from your choice of footwear. The reason I am telling you this is to help you be honest. You can no more pretend you belong here as you could blend in while wandering the streets of New York City. You can fool yourself, but you cannot fool us. Everything about you is telling. The way you drive, where you walk, how you handle tools including firearms, and of course your reaction to what nature dishes up whether wind, wildlife, water, or whatever. Everything from your choice of hat to vehicle tires screams information about you. As does your knife, your backpack, even your water bottle. So don’t even try to lie. Honesty goes a long way around here.
While it is imperative that you roll with nature’s punches in Montana it does take some practice. Sorry to generalize, but most city folk are soft. They are too sensitive to temperature. They are not used to walking (and I mean miles), and they have lost their nature smarts. They do stupid things. They miss clues and cues. In a nutshell, they want things to be a certain way that nature has no intention of accommodating. You know what folks? Sometimes it is just plain freezing out. And sometimes mosquitoes and flies are annoying. And sometimes you lose your game to the bears, wolves, coyotes, (insert predator name here). Sometimes it rains and you get wet. And sometimes you are cold and miserable. And hungry. And tired. And sore. And concerned. And lost. But after a while living like this, it grows on you. You want it. Or maybe it’s more that you don’t care because the good outweighs the bad.
Bugging out to Montana is not like in the movies. I’ll admit that there will be many successful impromptu bug outs to Montana, but those first arrivals will set the stage for everyone else. The moment we Montanans feel threatened or used, then overnight Montana will be the hostile land that it once used to be.
Please don’t take it personally, but if you really want to bug out to Montana, you really need to already be here [when things fall apart.]
Ever since I dedicated one of my ARs to what I called a Katrina Rifle, the idea of a Katrina Pistol has been rolling around my bug out loadout. So when Glock read my mind and released their MOS or “Modular Optics System” pistols, I knew the time was right to build a Katrina Pistol.
Based on much the same survival philosophy as my Katrina Rifle, the Katrina Pistol would need to be good enough to sit at the top of my short list of things to grab when running out the door for possibly the last time.
Symptoms and Solutions
The features of the Katrina Pistol are based on the need for a firearm that has many jobs including that of personal protection, personal protection and of course personal protection. But to be clear, a feature of the Katrina Pistol is not to be the simplest gun on the planet. If that were the case then the Katrina Pistol would be an overbuilt revolver in .22 or .357 or heck even .500 S&W if we are overlooking the obvious. Instead the Katrina Pistol is a hard working gun with features specifically chosen and included to make it excessively effective yet manageable. The Katrina Pistol needs to be something that needs no instruction book (although I am including one), fires when the trigger is pulled (no external safety), lights up the night (with several hundred lumens minimum), paints the target (with a bright green laser), floats a red dot on the point of impact (with the world’s toughest micro red dot), and launches jacketed lead downrange with extreme prejudice (in 15 to 33 round bursts as desired).
To put a finer point on the Katrina Pistol, the major details fell into place on their own fairly quickly. Choosing a Glock for the platform was an easy choice. Perhaps the only choice. No other pistol has the reliability and lack of external safeties as the Glock. The cartridge was another easy choice with the 9mm. The ubiquity and global popularity of the parabellum round minimizes that this bullet will be in short supply when the reloading equipment is back in the shed.
Glock to the Rescue
The two Glocks that seemed most likely to claim my Katrina Pistol title are the Glock 17 and Glock 19. Both are 9mm, both have rails, and both have double-stack magazines so there is exceptional interchangeability among them. Also of note here are the low Glock numbers. The very first Glock was the 17, and the second Glock was a full-auto (select-fire actually) version of the 17 named the 18. Continuing the 9mm trend, Glock produced a compact version of the 17 and it was named the Glock 19. So in essence, the Gen4 Glock 19 is a solid gun that has been evolving steadily since 1988, and the Glock 17 for six more years than that.
And since both the G17 and G19 are available in MOS, or Glock’s Modular Optics System, it was a no brainer to move in that direction since the capabilities of an optics-ready pistol really changes the game. In the same vein as the Aimpoint on the the Katrina Rifle, a red dot on the target can make all the difference in the world for the shooter and the next world for the bad guy.
The rail is necessary for a weapons-mounted light. And if a light is possible, so is a laser. And if a laser is possible, so is a green laser. And now for the explanation. Running a weapon-mounted light is essential for one-handed operation and positive target ID. If two hands are needed to operate both a light and a pistol, then you are flat out of hands when it comes to climbing, carrying, and breaching. Without a weapons mounted light, there is a very real chance of needing to put the gun down in order to light the way. And that’s just not in my plan.
Follow The Laser Brick Road
Adding a laser is an excellent way to provide a sighting solution that does not require any alignment of front and rear markers, or even a red dot superimposed on the target. Lasers can mark the aimpoint right on the target so there is no need for the gun to be aligned with a dominant eye. Or any eye for that matter. A laser-aimed Katrina Pistol can be fired from the hip, around corners, off balance, and pretty much by anyone who can see.
The point of a green laser over a red one is an important psychophysical distinction that while not a deal breaker if unavailable, is a decided advantage when possible. The human eye is much more sensitive to shorter wavelength green than the long wavelength red so finding the laser on the target is faster and easier. There is an issue with green laser light than can be both an advantage and a disadvantage in that particles in the air will reflect (or Rayleigh Scatter) the shorter wavelength green laser light more than red light. This bit of physics is the reason a green laser visibly shoots a line through the air, and even into outer space if you point your gun skyward. The danger is that a bad guy can trace back the green line to its source. But that can be to your advantage if you work it right.
Back on Task
The the Katrina Rifle article followed two lists, one of what I did, and one with things I avoided and why. So to begin, here are the five things I think are important when putting together a Katrina Pistol. The semi-auto handgun, like the semi-auto rifle is a mainstay of any modern planning whether in official capacity or bug out related. And Glock rises to the top immediately. So here are seven deliberate choices I used to begin my Katrina Pistol journey.
Number One: The cartridge of choice is the 9mm. No questions asked. The parabellum round is likely the most common defensive round in the global arsenal. It’s a battle-proven round with plenty of bullet options. Other considerations included the .45, the .40, the .22 Long Rifle and the .380. But those other calibers, while effective, each carry their own inherent disadvantages. So to simplify the start of this project, 9mm is it.
Number Two: A Weapon mounted light. There are small lights available today that fit small pistols, produce small lighting areas, and have short lives from their small batteries. For my Katrina Pistol, I want a huge light output while still a lighting solution mounted directly on the pistol. One that blasts out hundreds of lumens across a wide area for a long time. CR123 batteries are fine since they are powerful and have a 10 year shelf life. Plus they work in freezing temperatures. Just because the last Katrina happened in summer, not all Katrinas will.
For this build I went with the Streamlight TLR-2G. It’s a rail-mounted 300 lumen light with integrated green laser. The TLR-2G uses a pair of CR123 batteries which is the same battery compliment I run in my tactical flashlights. Three hundred lumens is bright enough to travel fast over uneven terrain and still ID targets, but not so bright as to kill your own vision unless you Barney Fife a hallway mirror in the dark.
I played with smaller light/laser options like the TLR-4, as well as slimline brighter lights including the Surefire X300-Ultra. But in both cases, I felt the green laser was necessary for a pistol to be Katrina-worthy. And if needed, the laser can be turned off or run in isolation of the light should that option be desired, in daylight for example.
Number Three: A Green Laser. The concept behind a laser is simple, but the execution of using one is a little more complex. Painting a target with a laser mounted on the same weapon that will do the shooting means that there is only one single three-dimensional intersection between bullet and laser light since light does not follow a ballistics table.
Where a laser really comes into play is when using the pistol away from your face. While red dot sights negate all discussion of sight radius, lasers negate the need to have your eyeballs behind the gun. A further benefit is that the laser can be one point-of-impact distance, and another sighting option can be for a different, likely much greater distance. For instance the laser can be point-of-impact (POI) at 10 yards while the red dot optic can be a 25 yard sighting option. In reality there is little difference between the two, but in a hostage situation, being dead-on is kind of important.
Number Four: Red Dot Sight. As anyone who uses a red dot on their AR 15 knows, it simplifies the aiming process to epic proportions. One eye, two eyes, blurry eyes, daylight, darkness, through a gas mask, offhand, weaver stance, flat on your back, strong hand, weak hand, both hands, it doesn’t matter; the bullet hits the dot.
For this Katrina pistol build I am going with the toughest micro red dot sight I know of, the Trijicon RMR. The RMR is a battery operated reflex red dot sight that is small, lightweight and one of the top choices for the Glock MOS system. Running for years on a single 2032 battery, the RMR or Ruggedized Miniature Reflex sight is an adjustable-brightness red dot optic available in several MOA dot sizes. Further, the containment of the projected red dot system is contained in a excruciatingly tough aluminium housing with specially engineered corners to distribute the force of any serious impact directly on the glass and electronic sight.
Number Five: Suppressor-Height co-witnessing iron sights. Co-Witnessing is often overrated. Mostly it is used to guarantee that the backup sights or iron sights will work fine with the optic in place. In other words, a single sighting plane must contain both the red dot and the post-and-valley of irons.
For this Katrina Pistol, I selected the all-black Ameriglo Tall Flat Black Sights. Besides being on the inexpensive side, the Ameriglos are a fast and simple replacement for the factory Glock hard sights. Rising above the fray, they are easily visible through the Trijicon RMR and a necessary inclusion since standard-height sights are not visible with an optic and barely worth having on board unless you have a quick-detach red dot. Alas, the Glock MOS for RMR does not entertain such indecision.
Number Six: Super-high capacity magazines. Sometimes called “Happy Sticks,” the Glock-branded 33 round magazines are worth every cent. While it’s true that some other guns will run oversized mags, there none to my knowlege that do so with the reliability, durability and capacity of the Glock’s. But that should not be surprising.
In reality, the Glock 19 will happily accept any magazine sized for the Glock 17,19, 34 and larger. In fact the only double stack 9mm Glock mag that the 19 won’t eat is the 10 rounders for the Glock 26. This particular Katrina Pistol will be running mags with 15, 17, and 33 round capacities.
Number Seven: T-Reign Retractable Lanyard. Ripping a page from military history, this Katrina Pistol will have a lanyard option in the form of a T-Reign retractable lanyard. Using the factory-installed hole at the base of the Glock’s grip, the retractable lanyard is easily attachable using a Nite-ize mini-S-Biner and just as detachable. It has the retention necessary to keep the pistol tethered under reasonable conditions as well as not putting up much resistance when aiming the gun. And if unwanted, it can be detached or cut off with little effort.
Katrina has presented many reasons for a pistol lanyard. The easy answer is that all the unknown unknowns of a Katrina-level event will provide plenty of opportunities to lose one’s grip on a pistol. Whether falling, taking blows, or tumbling down the stairs or a dark muddy hillside, having a gun at most a yard away is always a good thing. Further, the lanyard will not interfere with holstering, nor put up excessive resistance if muscles needs to overpower and break the lanyard mechanism for some reason.
Taking it Home
The next step was to assemble the components and take them from theory into practice. Not that I could initiate a Katrina-Level event to test the gun, but I could work with it to see what it tells me within the philosophical framework of a Katrina Pistol.
Putting together a dedicated Katrina Pistol to complement my Katrina Rifle was an entertaining exercise in apocalyptical scenarios. But seriously, a deadly extension of the human hand with a semi-auto pistol and adding a few enhancements will ensure your particular holstered force multiplier will be more firepower than most foes would expect. And it is for that very reason that my Katrina Pistol will be the last surprise in a bad guy’s life when the SHTF.
Dead Ends
There were also some loose ends and dead ends. As this Katrina Pistol effort unfolded, some directions were not pursued, and still others took longer to resolve. Two areas where I chose not to enhance the Katrina Pistol include suppressing it with a screw-on silencer, and tinkering with the internals pistol gears including the trigger. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a closer look.
Gut Check
The gun of choice was an Glock 19 MRO. As of note here is the low Glock number. The very first Glock was the 17, and the second Glock was a full-auto (select-fire actually) version of the 17 named the 18. But unlike the Glock 18 used in the opening train scene of the James Bond film Skyfall, a real G18 eats through a 33 round magazine in under two seconds!
Continuing the Glock 9mm trend, Glock produced a compact version of the 17 and it was christened the Glock 19 because it came after the 18. So in essence, the Gen4 Glock 19 is a solid gun that has been evolving steadily since 1988, and the Glock 17 for six more years than that. To add some closure here, the Glock 26 is a subcompact double-stack 9mm and the Glock 34 is a long-slide 9mm. And the most recent Glock, the 43, is a single stack subcompact 9mm. And, of course, there are many variations of the above including threaded barrels, compensated or ported barrels, Modular Optics Ready (MRO), colored frames, Cerakoted slides, various generations of some numbers, and a new Glock 19S (presumably S for SEAL or Special Forces, or just plain Smooth (or slippery) given that it has no finger grooves in the grip).
Except for the select fire switch on the driver’s side of the Glock 18’s slide, all the Glocks are pretty much the same. However, there is often a tremendous urge to mess around with inner workings of your gun. Or at least that’s what the after-marketers want you to believe. While I’ve been known to “Barbie Up” a gun on occasion, I’m going to leave the dark parts of my Katrina Pistol Glock alone at the moment. But if I was forced to make a change, the trigger is an good starting point since it, like almost all other Glock triggers, drives like a pickup truck. No more, no less.
Shut Up. Or Not.
Silencing the Katrina Pistol seemed like must-do for any total makeover. And I had planned on going that route when Katrina was still on the drawing board...well actually a bar napkin. That is, until I hit the wall of reality. It quickly became apparent that a suppressed 9mm Glock was neither quite, nor small, nor light, nor simple, but with plenty of conspicuous reasons to lock up whoever is carrying it when the thin blue line is at it’s breaking point.
A suppressed Glock 19 is twice as long, near twice as heavy, and maybe only a third as quite on a good day. While subsonic 147 grain and heavier 9mm bullets are finding their way onto local gunshop shelves with occasional regularity, it is not really the ammo I’m worried about with the Katrina Pistol, it’s the silencer. A suppressed Glock 19 has a total barrel length in the realm of an SBR or short barreled rifle. Now consider that unless the suppressor lives on the Glock through thick and thin, there are two components that must be managed in addition to mags and ammo.
And remember that lanyard? Well that’s for those times when the gun takes a hike on its own. Although suppressors are fairly durable, a not-too-hard blow to the far end of the gun might just be enough to allow a baffle strike rendering the suppressor useless. And the last thing, the very last thing you want to worry about with a Katrina Pistol is a fragile component, especially one that is longer than the gun itself and twice as expensive. But building a suppressed Katrina Pistol is only an aftermarket-threaded-barrel away should that feature be desired later. I still have the napkin.
Going Home...Again
An recently resolved component of the Katrina Pistol was the holster. Finding something reasonable in looks, function, retention, and price has thus far been near-elusive. There were some off-the-shelf solutions on my radar, but the custom options seemed the only clear route. I started with a Fobus holster that fits the Glock with a laser/light as well as a pile of other pistols.
The Fobus was not expensive so I am quick to take the hacksaw and utility knife to it in order to explore optics options. Instead, the Fobus ended up on the Island of Misfit Toys. Why? Because I discovered a wonderfully effective and intimately customizable Bravo Concealment Kydex holster that not only met my Katrina Pistol holster needs, but also asked me directly exactly that I wanted in a Katrina Pistol holster. Every choice from color to belt width, to specific weapon light to specific optic to hard sight height was offered. And then there is the military/LEO discount. I searched high and low of what really might be my very last holster, and the Bravo Concealment answered the call with zero complaining and zero issues. As much as I love new gear, I really will not be looking for another holster for my Katrina Pistol anytime soon.
One added benefit of the Bravo Concealment Kydex holster I had not thought much about until I discovered it was essential during one wet adventure and that was complete coverage of the muzzle. Not that I was worried about putting a ding in the crown, but instead packing the pipe with mud should I need to bug out on a rainy day. So without knowing it, I took another page from the WWII playbook and enclosed the barrel of my pistol inside a holster. It’s not perfect coverage, but plenty good enough that any barrel-plugging debris would have to squeeze through a Kydex crack first.
Another layer of protection I employed was to add theTrijicon RMR Adapter Plate. Its literally nothing more than a thin sheet of metal that sits between the exposed battery housing of the RMR and the mountain plate that comes with the Glock MOS. Without it, you can see just a hint of the rubber gasket peeking out along the edges of the RMR above the slide. Under magnification it appears there is a complete seal, but the exposed portion of rubber O-ring is of concern. I don’t see it lasting all that long unless able to fully seat against a flat surface. So for a few more bucks and a couple more grams, I now feel more confident in the mounting interface between electronics and cold, hard, fast moving steel.
Take the Fork in the Road
The Katrina Pistol is a self-contained fighting tool that must function independent of everything else in the universe. That means it can be part of a bug out loadout, or run solo as a grab-and-go package. While I considered this duality of survival, I opted to place the Katrina Pistol in a Pelican case and surround it with some necessary kit. And then I filled in the remaining space with a few components that if needed are true lifesavers.
Inside the Box
In addition the the 17 round mag up the grip of the Katrina Pistol Glock 19, three 15 round Glock mags are included as is one 33 round Glock mag. And on one of the 15 round mags is a Glock loader which is nothing more than a plastic collar that depresses the top round in a mag allowing the next one to slide in easily.
Filling out the extra space in the box are a compass, a few pairs of ear plugs, the T-Reign Lanyard, an oversize Ferrocerium rod, a Bic Lighter, a Boker neck knife, four CR123 batteries (for the Streamlight TLR-2G), a pair of CR2032 batteries (for the Trijicon RMR), a couple 1/16” allen wrench for the Trijicon sight, and possibly most important are 120 rounds of loose 9mm ammo (that’s eight 15-round mag refills), and an aftermarket Glock manual of arms. Oh yes, and a few hundred dollar bills stuffed under the lid foam.
For the record, the Glock manual is for those who might need some lessons. It is a spiral bound book about pistol shooting in general and the Glock’s care and feeding in specific. I know my way around the this Katrina Pistol and Katrina Box since I built it, but others who depended upon me will need help when if I’m not around. I cannot overstate the importance of planning beyond you. Giving a Katria Pistol is a gift. Giving the Katrina Pistol to a loved one who has limited experience with guns and security is a potential disaster. And that would be on you...or me.
Think Outside The Box
Next to the Katrina Pistol Box is a Bug Out Bullet Bottle containing another 300 rounds of 9mm FMJ. Since the Katrina Pistol Box already weighs in at 12 pounds, adding a quart of ammo increases the Katrina Pistol loadout another 7.7 pounds. Of course you can always dump out weight but you cannot dump out what you do not have.
The holster presented a problem in the smaller Pelican case. I could fit it inside the case but would have to scrub the 33 round mag and the 17 rounder. Also some of the smaller kit would not fit except under extreme Pelican pressure. I opted to kick that problem down the road, but will likely just use a larger Pelican case and reassess the theory behind the box in the first place.
Katrina Means You are On Your Own
There were many lessons from the original Katrina event, and many...make that most were true SHTF implications. If this Katrina Pistol truly comes into its own, then not only are you on your own, but you are likely your own thin Red White and Blue line. Don’t be scared, but do admit the reality when it presents itself. No matter the direction the future takes, a multi-use, near-indestructible pistol with light, laser and optic is now on my short list of what to grab for any situation.
Trigger Alert: This article is about a very big knife. If that scares you, then click here.
Dynamite in the Hand
