8 tools for bushcraft

pinnah said:
Upnorth,

Great story and thanks for sharing it. It's an important tale to be learned from.

As I see it, there are 4 primary outdoor traditions:
+ Backpacking, climbing, skiing
+ Hunting & fishing
+ Camp lore, bush craft and primitive skills
+ Military

Each tradition has different cultures, different core skill sets and each can learn from the other.

My cousin who lives in Vt and does lumber and a sugaring operation got benighted helping a friend look for a downed moose. He didn't have enough stuff in his jacket pockets and spent an uncomfortable night in the woods with a worried family. This was in woods he knows like the back of his hands but dark is dark is dangerous. In the past, he's been amused by my habit of carrying a large fanny pack or even a small day pack when hunting but as a hiker/climber/skier, I just won't be in the woods without my essentials pack.

Once, I went hiking with very close friends who had section hiked the AT and the Vt Long Trail. We got pinned behind a river after 36 hour rain. We weren't lost but we knew we had to add an extra day to bushwack out without crossing any streams. As a hunter, I felt very comfortable moving through the woods off trail but it was their first time and not without stress and worry on their part. For all their experience in the woods, moving off trail creeped them out.

Last story from several years ago in Maine. A teenager skied off the back of one of the ski resorts and got himself quite lost a good long away from a road. He fashioned a crude branch shelter and hunkered down and was rescued after 2 nights in the winter woods. He and the wardens credit him watching Cody Ludin on TV.

We can all learn from the different traditions this is very true. But I don't think this means that every aspect of every tradition has enduring merit in all situations. Camp lore is cool and I dig sharp tools but I'm not lugging around a bunch of them in my emergency essentials kit. IMO, the essentials kit has to be big enough to help and small enough to always with me.
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Thanks, I appreciate all stories, insight and experiences.
 
JV3 said:
based on your list i take it you mean cutting tools then my sweet spot for awhile now is 4...a sak in my pocket:

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Man I have to get an orange Farmer some day, so attractive and useful. Jonesing for a Hultafors Forest Axe right now. And unfortunately Xmas tapped at the moment.
 
I remember back when my only tools were a small axe, a Buck 110 and a SAK - did quite well with those three tools. Those were the days...
 
upnorth said:
Man I have to get an orange Farmer some day, so attractive and useful. Jonesing for a Hultafors Forest Axe right now. And unfortunately Xmas tapped at the moment.
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got lucky on that orange one and bought it for normal price ($35 i think) from the shop that did a small order...the flippers are now asking ~$100 on that auction site :eek:
 
JV3 said:
got lucky on that orange one and bought it for normal price ($35 i think) from the shop that did a small order...the flippers are now asking ~$100 on that auction site :eek:
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Score. Most knives are more expensive up here in Canada. Some of the coloured alox at Canuck Swiss Bianco are ok priced, but a few make me think twice. Maybe when I'm off my axe kick I will check them out again. But that gold/orange has always been very attractive to me.
 
1 back pack
2 sisal rope 25mm 10mlength
3 SAK farmer
4 Buck saw
5 fire steel
6 tarp
7 20m 550 paracord
8 Mora classic 1
 
Just posting to say that I noticed the OP is "badasslibrarian"...two words one doesn't usually see in the same sentence... :)
 
8 tools? DC is full of BS. These guys have to come up with their systems and rules. Come up with your own!

As an outdoorsman there are some basic tools I like to have with me. Everything else is task specific...

A good solid fixed blade knife
A good solid folding saw
A good solid Axe, hatchet or tomahawk (very optional, depending on activity)
A good solid multi-tool/SAK
Reliable light source (Flashlight or headlamp)
Fire ignition device

So much you can do with those. The rest is things like Paracord (tool??), boots, pack, proper clothing, guns, fishing gear, etc.
 
panzertroop said:
8 tools? DC is full of BS. These guys have to come up with their systems and rules. Come up with your own!

As an outdoorsman there are some basic tools I like to have with me. Everything else is task specific...

A good solid fixed blade knife
A good solid folding saw
A good solid Axe, hatchet or tomahawk (very optional, depending on activity)
A good solid multi-tool/SAK
Reliable light source (Flashlight or headlamp)
Fire ignition device

So much you can do with those. The rest is things like Paracord (tool??), boots, pack, proper clothing, guns, fishing gear, etc.
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Good stuff...dead on. :thumbup:
 
I remember back when my only tools were a small axe, a Buck 110 and a SAK - did quite well with those three tools. Those were the days...
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According to the experts you are doing it wrong! LOL
 
JV3 said:
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In any excrement-hitting-the-oscillating-air-current-distribution-device situation there comes a point where a man must question the value of surviving. For some that point comes when they are down to twinkies. :D
 
pinnah said:
1. Backpack
2. Spare clothes
3. Food
4. Stove kit
5. Tent or tarp
6. Sleeping bag & pad
7. 10 "essentials kit" (minimum sharp object is PS4 Squirt - it's all for fun after that)
8. Safety plan (retreat options, flight plan on file with wife)
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+1 This would make for a more comfortable trip than have 8 different sharp cutting things. :rolleyes:
 
sideways said:
In any excrement-hitting-the-oscillating-air-current-distribution-device situation there comes a point where a man must question the value of surviving. For some that point comes when they are down to twinkies. :D
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hey, now! i usually bring spam but i decided to splurge that time :D
 
A "golok" can do some of the things a "machete" does and visa-versa. So can a "chef's knife," a sharp "saber," or a "parang." But we have these different labels for a reason,
 
I really don't understand this kind of thread. "Bushcraft" means different things to different people, but how is choosing 8+ cutting tools to go into the woods getting to the heart of anything?

Bushcraft is about doing more with less, so if you end up in the wrong place the stuff you have in your pockets will get you through.
-OR-
Bushcraft is rejecting modern means to camp and live in the woods, and using what someone a century ago would have.
-OR-
Bushcraft is choosing the best tools for a certain type of forest craft.

I don't see a bunch of knives accomplishing any of these. It doesn't help you learn to do everything with one knife, it doesn't recreate an old way of doing things, and it isn't the best gear you can take with you for a given weight.


1 knife should be enough, 2 knives is luxury. 3 or more is just cutlery tourism.
 
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