A Knife to step on?

Jenner 515

Jenner 515

Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
2,145
Was reminded of a blurb from a novel the other day (I can't for the life of me remember the novel tho')

One of the main characters, as the author was describing his gear mentioned that he carried two knives, one a combat oriented subhilt fighting knife (okay I can picture that).

The second was described as almost a spike to be used as a climbing assist or a foothold in climbing a tree. ( I can't get my head around that.) It sounds like a really great idea, but looking at my collection there isn't anything I'd trust to do that with.

Would any of ya'all trust one of your knives to jam it into a tree and then count on it supporting you? And if so how would you make that choice?

Oh, and if anybody has read or heard of such a description in a book...what is it?
 
Hmmm... sounds like a work of fiction. I do know of one Canadian bushman, Tommy Tompkins, who would sling a couple of sturdy iron spikes around his neck on a thong in case he broke through the ice when crossing rivers.
 
This is described in a non-fiction book "Bushcraft" by Mors Kochanski. In his advice on how to choose an appropriate blade for use in the outdoors, it should be able to survive being pounded 40cm into a tree and then able to hold your weight.

If I needed to regularly do this, i would choose any of my 1/4" sharpened prybars. I think that most of my 4"-6" handmades and probably even my stick tang Scandis could probably pul this off, but why take the risk?
 
The original Dumpster Mutt I think would fit the bill perfectly. It's nearly indestructable, relatively cheap and pretty easy to track down and buy:

DumpsterMutt_med.jpg


Steel: SR-77
Hardness: 58 - 60 Rc
Handle: Resiprene C
Thickness: Approx .285"
Blade Length: 5" with penetrator tip
Overall Length: 9 1/2"
Click to expand...

This would definitely make a very strong "step" to be hammered into a tree (or whatever else).
 
Yeah I'd risk that with most of my knives !!! With some I'd even let you stand on them with me !!!!!:D:thumbup:
 
My Becker BK10. The blade on that thing is almost as wide as a standard stairtread. I could hammer it in, climb up, make camp on the blade and even have room for a fire.:D
 
Yes I want to stick something very sharp into a tree and then step on it, so that I can quietly bleed to death miles from nowhere when I slip. This is real close to the neat trick I do when hunting out of a treestand, I tie a rope around my neck to stop me in case I fall !
 
I have read about this as well, and have tried it. It is a lot of work, And I have found it faster and less risky to wrap a rope around a tree and tie a foothold on it. Either a loop, or make a stirrup to stand on. I have even wrapped a shirt in the loop to hold me up. a double bowline works well.
 
If I had the cash for a back-up and some chain-mail gloves, I'd give it a go with the Chinook 3.:D
I think it might handle limited use as a climbing spike(but I wouldn't trust my finger longevity on a first try).
 
Exactly, most people I know on here carry paracord in their "kit", the bowline knot is great for that, tie several and you have a rope ladder . Use that or get a couple of large nails or spikes to carry.

This is just dangerous. period :thumbdn:

I would only do this if being chased by an extremely dangerous animal, like a wild bear or a woman wanting to get married or something....
 
charlieridge said:
Exactly, most people I know on here carry paracord in their "kit", the bowline knot is great for that, tie several and you have a rope ladder . Use that or get a couple of large nails or spikes to carry.
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Not to be a nitpicker, but I think a Single Lineman's Loop (AKA Alpine Butterfly, I think) would work better.



charlieridge said:
I would only do this if being chased by an extremely dangerous animal, like a wild bear or a woman wanting to get married or something....
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In a situation this extreme, anything is justified.

Doc
 
CWL said:
This is described in a non-fiction book "Bushcraft" by Mors Kochanski. In his advice on how to choose an appropriate blade for use in the outdoors, it should be able to survive being pounded 40cm into a tree and then able to hold your weight.

If I needed to regularly do this, i would choose any of my 1/4" sharpened prybars. I think that most of my 4"-6" handmades and probably even my stick tang Scandis could probably pul this off, but why take the risk?
Click to expand...

Never having read the book I could be wrong about this, but 40 cm is a lot (1 foot and 4 inch ) thats longer then the knife he talks about. are you sure its not 40mm or 4 inch or something like that:)
 
Alberta Ed said:
Hmmm... sounds like a work of fiction. I do know of one Canadian bushman, Tommy Tompkins, who would sling a couple of sturdy iron spikes around his neck on a thong in case he broke through the ice when crossing rivers.
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When making sketchy ice crossings, the karda and chakma come out of the Khukuri sheath and stay in each hand in case I go through.
 
Actually climbing daggers are often mentionned in Swashbuckler novels: unsharpened sturdy daggers used to stab in infractuosities, in order to climb city walls, etc... Since I've seen live demonstration of bare hand wall climbing, I guess one could use those as a climbing assist. Actually I think they did that as a live stunt in some Swashbuckler films in the fifties.

Kind of piton ancestries, probably has always existed.

Since the climber wouldn't carry to many, he probably would have keep to recovering the dagger to stab it further, which means keep those in hand in order to pull up. That means would probably not actually step on those.
 
Hawkings said:
Never having read the book I could be wrong about this, but 40 cm is a lot (1 foot and 4 inch ) thats longer then the knife he talks about. are you sure its not 40mm or 4 inch or something like that:)
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Pretty sure it's 4 cm...
 
Why not just put a loop in a piece of paracord and then tie it around a tree? Do that a few times and you can get to any height you desire. I would never subject a knife to this use. They are designed to cut, slice, stab, or chop. Anyting past that is just a way to ruin a good knife.
 
I wasn't actually planning to try this...not at 220#.

I just wanted some ideas of a spike type knife...

What I came up with in my mind was something akin to TOPS Ranger Short Stop 2-1/2" 1095...I'd be a little concerned about the thickness though.

Oh, and the novel was Redliners by SF Author David Drake
 
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