a heavy tool for survivng th first 24

You must of had Orc Slaying in mind when you built that one. I love it. Where is the balance point at? Looks like right in front of the handle like a good bowie does:thumbup:
 
Hey Mick. I agree with you and value your imput. I was just poking fun at the tone of your post, not the content. I don't post many pics just because I don't usually think about it when I'm out or more importantly, I'm too busy problem solving to worry about proof I can give someone on the net.:D As far as the chopper goes I see both sides to the knife vs hatchet debate because the area I live in, it's a toss up as to which is more effective. I'm going to borrow river-8's walkthrough to demonstrate the area I live in and why we need choppers. Hopefully he doesn't mind me posting the link. http://www.riverside-graphics.net/Skills/RWfire.html Notice how wet it is. That's our main problem from Oct-May. Like I said earlier, the other times of year survival is pretty easy barring any serious injury.
 
Rick Marchand said:
We are letting this stuff ruin a good thread.
Click to expand...

Yeah ... but I MUST prove my worthiness :eek: :rolleyes: :D ;)

wilderness-toby-kebbell1.jpg
 
Last edited:
SouthernCross said:
G'day Cpl

LMAO, especially from someone who speaks "American".

BTW, your aware that the term Brit refers to people from England, Wales, Scotland & Nth Ireland, aren’t you?
Click to expand...

I don't know about Ireland, but I know that when I was in Scotland, if you made the mistake of calling a Scot a Brit, you were in for a fight.

"Great Britain" is the English pretending that Ireland and Scotland are theirs! :p

Besides, I forget what description I can use this week.

I used to call them English, then was told that's considered nationalist (which everyone but Americans seem to think is wrong). Then I tried British (after Brittania), and that wasn't "inclusive enough". So I think I'll just go back to an accurate description: That Damned Imperial Rabble -- TDIR. :D

As for the language, I love it when TDIRs come over and complain about us "bastardizing" English, then I point out that our textbooks claim to be teaching us "American English". That's right, baby, we speak 'Murrican here! :cool:



As for the rest of your post. No offense, but noone but a fellow Aussie is going to care too much about trying to apply it to our areas. I really mean that -- no offense. But consider, I live in what would be called a sub-tropical rain forest. What works best here won't work too great where you live, and vice-versa. If you try to go like you do over there in my backyard, you'll be in a world of hurt, just like if I tried to apply my methods where you live.

Point being, I enjoy reading what others do in their environments, but there's no use in calling anyone out, as different methods work best in different areas, and there's often more than one method of doing something that works equally well.

Some examples? Well, I've tried to have people show me where a saw is faster than my kukri. Saw, saw, saw, 3 seconds through a branch (mostly use birch and live oak). Pretty fast. WHACK! Kukri through in one shot. Faster. Clear brush with your saw? I don't think so. Kukri? No problem. Will a saw go through your Oz wood faster? Maybe. But it doesn't matter since I don't have any here.

Break wood between branches or tree trunks? Considering that the trees around here usually have branches starting 10+ feet in the air, and trees grow 15-20 feet apart at the closest with thick palmetto brush and other brush in between them -- good luck with that, I'll watch.

I think I've described how I go out well enough for you to understand I'll not be in the "I only have an Altoid tin" situation anyway.
 
I hate altoid tin PSK's...... HATE EM!

Jussozyanno.... :p


The next time I see Ken, I'm gonna secretly JB Weld all of his shut.:thumbdn:






Rick
 
My local environment in Southeast WI has minimal change in elevation. We have thick forests, and in the right spots, we have lots of deadwood. It is a moderate temperature, and while it does rain and snow, it is by no means a rain forest or a desert.

When I do overnights, or even multi-day trips, I generally pack lighter than I really need to, because I enjoy a few things about primitive living. I also enjoy using my wilderness tools (you're welcome Rick), so just because I can process wood with other methods requiring smaller knives, doesn't mean I would prefer to.

I enjoy using big choppers. I enjoy using my hatchet. I enjoy anything involving a knife and the outdoors. I enjoy fire making and shelter building.

I pack light because I use nature to my advantage. I don't always build a shelter each time I go out, but even if I don't, I'm not carrying a 2 person backpacking tent with me either. Maybe a hammock and a tarp.

My environment, my style of wilderness exploration, and my typical loadout enables me to bring whichever wilderness tools I like, because I generally have the ability to carry much more than I actually am. It's not uncommon for me to bring my bush knife, a chopper, and a hatchet. Do I need all three? Definitely not. Are they fun to use in the bush, and is it fun to compare their strengths and weaknesses when you are making a fire, building a shelter, etc? You bet your ass it is...

JGON
 
When I go out, I like to have a larger knife, and I have said in other posts why, and I will say it again.

When you're lost while out hunting or hiking or whatever, you will NOT stop to make camp before it's too dark to walk. You will walk until you can't walk anymore because you're CERTAIN you are to smart to be forced to spend the night outside because you are lost. You will keep walking until you're to tired to walk or you just can't see anymore.

Now you are screwed. You have no shelter, and no fire and no night vision goggles. Try finding enough wood to make a fire that will last the night in complete darkness. Better yet, try building a shelter in complete darkness. Now try doing it all with a little knife when in complete darkness, and all you can find is what you stumble across in the dark, and that's going to be LARGE chunks of wood that your 4'' blade won't handle, and I doubt you will be batoning it either at this point.



Now, here is MY solution that works for ME when I do carry a smaller knife.

Since I know I can't do a lot of things with a small knife in the dark, I have to be able to solve two huge problems very fast, fire and shelter, and here is what works for ME.

I carry a space blanket and a 12 hour liquid candle vacuum sealed with a book of matches. I also have a piece of foil with the candle.

What I do is wrap myself up in the space blanket and lite the candle and stick it between my legs while a sit against a tree. That small flame will keep you very very warm and you will be dry if it rains. I take the foil and wrap it around the candle and make like a tube or chimney that rises above the flame about 6''. This way if my leg falls on it, the foil will collapse on the flame and put it out and not set me and my blanket on fire.

This solves my problems for the night and I don't have to worry about fire or shelter and both items weigh less than four ounces together and take up little room in a pocket.

The next day you better find your way out or plan accordingly before it gets dark, with the tools you have.

Here are the candles I am talking about. Also, if you have a small needle oiler, you can add another quarter ounce of fuel in the small vent holes at the top. This gives you a couple more hours of burn time. The candles have a 100% leak proof cap, and they are leak proof.

http://www.candleland.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=181
 
As some have said before, Any Knife is Better then no knife, and a sharp one is sure better then dull. When it comes down to it, man has been improvising since he, well, learned to improvise! A hatchet and a machete both work, will one work better at something while the other exceeds in another area? Sure will!

One thing I've learned is use what you like (aka Train with what you use) So, if you live in a jungle should you shrug away an axe, I dont think so. And if your surrounded by hardwoods should you use your machete as a back scratcher and thats it? Hell no!

As long as YOUR comfortable and it works for you and you know what your doing with it, I'm sure you could be dropped in a climate 100% different from what your used to and still put that Chopper/axe/beltknife etc to use in some fashion that makes it more valuable to you then you would have thought.

Hope my little bit of input clears some singed pride and heated tempers in here. If not and your still insistent on bringing someone to your side because your always right, get mad at me instead I like longer, thin, scandi knives for all my bushcrafting needs, no I dont have pictures, and no Im not as experienced as half of you. But I dont think that makes me wrong, just different, and ma'ma always said I was different :p
 
As has been pointed out by a few, I have come across as condencending and arrogant.

Even though this was not my intention, on reading my posts a second time & thinking about it, it is a pretty fair description.

To any who may have been offended I offer a sincere appology :o

I can assure all that it won't happen again :thumbup:



Kind regards
Mick
 
SouthernCross said:
As has been pointed out by a few, I have come across as condencending and arrogant.

Even though this was not my intention, on reading my posts a second time & thinking about it, it is a pretty fair description.

To any who may have been offended I offer a sincere appology :o

I can assure all that it won't happen again :thumbup:



Kind regards
Mick
Click to expand...

Mick I doubt anyone would ever descibe you as condecending or arrogant.
If anything you might be a little naive about what some of us have access to as regards true wilderness. I'm sure I speak for the majority when I say we are very jealous of what you have, what you have done and what you can do !
Please continue to educate us and make us even more jealous !!!;):thumbup:
 
G'day Pit

I'm a slow learner, but it has finally dawned on me that I have misunderstood the "wilderness" part of W&SS.

As has been correctly pointed out, I'm from a different place & time from most here.

Since what I have to offer is irrevelent to the majority, it's time for this dinosaur "to go the way of the dodo". :D

I wish everyone, many safe & happy future experiences in the outdoors :thumbup::thumbup:




Kind regards
Mick
 
Mick, I respec you for revaluating your post. No worries.. I don;t think anything you post is irrelevant, I Hope you stick around. Either way Good luck.
 
I've carried big blades on my belt and regretted it because of the weight. But with a nice lightweight knife and sheath (currently a comp finish Busse BWM and a kydex dropleg rig), having that large knife on me is helpful and doesn't hinder me in the slightest. With the leg strap adjusted properly, I barely notice it is there once I get moving.

I'm no expert, but I know the type of wilderness around me, and I know what works for me there. And that's a large but lightweight knife.

And no, it's not car camping. Or armchair bushcraft. My woods might not be filled with "hardwoods" by the standards of people who live upside down ( ;) ), but it is what it is.
 
SouthernCross said:
G'day Pit

I'm a slow learner, but it has finally dawned on me that I have misunderstood the "wilderness" part of W&SS.

As has been correctly pointed out, I'm from a different place & time from most here.

Since what I have to offer is irrevelent to the majority, it's time for this dinosaur "to go the way of the dodo". :D

I wish everyone, many safe & happy future experiences in the outdoors :thumbup::thumbup:

Kind regards
Mick
Click to expand...

Don't go too far Mick...you’re a great resource around WSS. There are all types, backgrounds and levels of experience here. Not all tools or techniques will apply to all environments or even season, but the skills are the core of what we should be focused on. I've learned a lot from your posts and videos and enjoy them; you (and many others here) are great sources of information, techniques and different skill-sets. Not everybody has easy access to remote areas and often jobs trap them in urban jungles not too mention those times in your life when you have little ones and really can't go too far of the trail. These wilderness skills are not only (or should be) progressive, but often cyclic due to jobs, families and other factors.

Practicing skills can be done in the backyard; that should never be discouraged. What should be encouraged are the progressive steps to move to more remote areas, longer stays and more practiced skills.

Just to add to the OP, I learned more from a 10 year old boy with a machete when I was on a mission down in Ecuador. All know the machete is a chopper, but the detailed work he was able to perform was simply amazing! From cleaning small fish to collecting strips of bark for making a basket...his ability was incredible and a real eye-opener. I think as long as we keep the debates and discussion constructive, we will all win...the Internet just doesn't do well with humor, sarcasm or emotion. I learned long ago that environment (and season) is a factor; I won’t always agree with another’s technique nor will they always agree with mine. What I have learned is to respect the decisions they’ve made, choices of tools or techniques they use…they may not work for me, but I won’t discount that the other individual’s skill and preference can make them work for their own uses.

ROCK6
 
Recently started making more choppers. Nice thread.


201010100_3014-vi.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top