Student Review: Dec 2019 HEAT 1 Combat Tactics Class: JC
I attended the HEAT I class last week. It was my third HEAT 1 class (CRCD 2014 & CTT 2015. Link to my AAR from 2014)
It had been awhile since my last class (life happens). Wow. Besides being total fun, I learned a lot – or relearned what I should have remembered. One thing I relearned was just how essential training at MVT is!
I train locally of course (on a rural, private range), but it does not provide the same level of training/experience you receive at MVT.
The biggest difference is local training tends to be individual reaction to contact. Facing drills, muzzle control, safety manipulation, and effective scanning are all essential and prerequisite skills. As are the ability to clear weapon stoppages and malfunctions.
But the bigger lesson from MVT is it is not about the individual – it is about the team. This is the big disconnect with just about every other “tactical” training class you will take. They teach individual skills. MVT also teaches individual skills – but they then take it to the next level and teach working as a team under contact.
An effective team is a force multiplier! A team working together has an exponentially better chance of mutual survival. Many of us know this – but the truth of that tends to get pushed to the back of our minds because if you do not practice maneuvering as a team, you forget how hard it is! We tend to think that because we have had some training, we will be able to “make it happen” in an emergency. I am totally guilty of this.
But damn, working as an effective team, while under contact, is really, really hard! It is very difficult to get individuals to properly and effectively communicate, to move as a unit, to react as a team to contact, to maneuver as a team when going from one formation (such as extended line) to a different formation (the peel for example), to change the orientation of the line when the contact goes from the front to a flank, to move as a line, etc.
Working as an effective team takes training. Lots of regular training. Without that training you have as good a chance of killing each other, as you do of being killed by the enemy.
Effective & correct training = experience. Experience = force multiplier.
The best way to get that (effective & correct) training is at MVT. Max and Scott are professionals. SUT is one of their core competencies. Training is another. They are dedicated to providing the most tactically sound training possible. And the range Max has constructed is unique and exceptional. As a civilian you will not find this level of realism anywhere else. If you are serious about this, you will train at MVT.
As a side benefit, MVT is also an excellent place to meet individuals who are like minded. Thanks to training at MVT, I have met several lifelong friends.
I plan to go again next year. I’ll see you there!
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Origin stories are always interesting. Whether the first life on earth, or the beginnings of a Super Hero, the origin story starts the character arc. In the case of a knife, for some, the origin story can be as important as the actual blade. The 
Through documentation and primary sources, the initial design of what will become the famous Tracker Knife, or more specifically, the Tom Brown Tracker, had its roots with Robb Russon whose son Mark runs 
The famous profile of the knife shape is mainly the transition from a somewhat inset flat blade to a seperate curved blade profile with saw teeth of some sort gracing the front end. In the case of this Survivor Knife, the presentation is about a foot long, and in a bright stainless with black glass-reinforced canoe-shaped nylon scales each fixed in place with three bolts.
Other versions of the Tracker knife use high carbon steel, powder coated blades, and various scale choices. There are even larger and smaller versions being sold. What they all have in common besides an ancestor from Utah is an obvious shape; the shape of the Tracker.
The initial two-and-a-half inches of straight blade just forward of the grip is steeper flat grind with its six covered by a solid thump ramp with melted jimping. The Survivor Knife’s flat blade works as draw knife and batoning face as well as a traditional cutting blade. And when batoning, care is needed because you don’t want to strike the saw teeth. Instead, you can go easy and aim just in front of the teeth where a small tip platform is open space, or you can strike to the rear of the gut hook on a sloping plain of steel directly above the straight blade. Of course you will quickly exceed the girth of the blade but at that point I’ve found I can often twist the knife handle counter-clockwise (right handed) further splitting the workpiece.
Cutting surfaces on the Utah Knife Works Survivor Knife do their job without complaint. When making feather sticks, the straight blade works wonders. And as a batoning section, it works well up to its full length. Given that it is a portion of the overall blade length, you can use it’s entire dimension to baton branches and section larger wood.
The cross-cut saw teeth address the first two inches back from the point, and they are aggressive. Making more of a grinder than a saw, the teeth are exceptional at carving notches, short-throw sawing, and producing more sparks off a fire rod than you can imagine. Trying to saw a branch with the teeth is questionable. The short throw of the saw means you have to use it more as an oscillating tool.
The black leather sheath is a single-stitched, two snap, belt loop design. The unique shape of the Utah Knife Works Survivor all but demands an unconventional sheath design. It works well. A nice touch in the future that would also accent the “Survivor” nature of this blade would be to sew a firesteel loop onto the sheath.