Are we the Walter Mittys of knives?

[Alberta Ed]

I remember, as a young Walter Mitty, of pocketing my chrome-plated brass Marble's match case before I'd venture out on my paper route, just in case I got lost in a blizzard and had to build a campfire. Guess it stuck 'cause I won't venture anywhere without some kind of knife. Now, about that 100 foot spruce and the anchor chain...

 

[CVamberbonehead]

We are most certainly Walter Mittys. Everybody needs to have a hero, why cant mine be myself? Maybe I need my Kabar to pry the door off of a burning building, you just never know! I may need a crazy tactical folder instead of a practical Swiss Army Knife cuz.... ya know.... reasons!

 

[tiguy7]

I live near the heartland of Mennonite country in Ontario Canada.

It is interesting and somewhat humbling to see how the old-school Mennonite community still thrives with the bare minimum of modern "necessities". Those horse and buggy folks still use the same tools that their great, and great-great grandparents used for farming and daily chores. Those tools have seen a hard life, but keep on giving.

A good old fashioned barn-raising is an amazing thing to see if you get the opportunity. It embodies the very essence of a time gone by, using tools that most of us would (wrongly) frown upon.

Time has stood still for these folks, and they do just fine with the "survival" tools they have.

I was on a bicycle trip in rural Wisconsin. Stopped at a T intersection to look at my map. An Amish buggy goes by right to left. The driver is sound asleep. I followed the buggy. It stops at the “drivers” front door. Who needs self driving cars?

 

[shane45-1911]

I was on a bicycle trip in rural Wisconsin. Stopped at a T intersection to look at my map. An Amish buggy goes by right to left. The driver is sound asleep. I followed the buggy. It stops at the “drivers” front door. Who needs self driving cars?

So much for "modern" technology, huh? Funny how sometimes the latest technology isn't so new after all. Horses have been self-driving for centuries, and they even know their way home without GPS.

 

[tiguy7]

My dad was the ship’s doctor on a destroyer in WWII. He went ashore on Okinawa to treat civilians (they weren’t all fond of the Japanese). He brought back this machete. When I was a kid, we lived near an overgrown park. I thought it would fun to do a little bushwhacking through the pucker brush. Guess how long that idea lasted. I was pooped after 5 minutes of swinging that thing. View attachment 1738586

 

[Triton]

A casual glance at YouTube or the discussions here would have you believe that we spend most of our time battoning, making feather sticks and burning wood. Indeed we are left with the impression of a vast army of giant human-size termites devouring a forest at speeds that would impress Paul Bunyan. But, we know it’s not true, if it were so we wouldn’t see the conflagrations that engulf many populated states happening with such regularity. All of the dead wood fall in those forest would be feeding camp fires and roasting marshmallows rather than ending up in a forest inferno.

It’s cool to be whimsical as a little whim is often what separates fun from hard labor. So if you want to imagine yourself whittling a 100’ spruce into a 200’ anchor chain, then power to you. But, I do wish that there were more places where we could do it for real. Adult summer camp where we could witness or participate in shelter building, log cabin or fascine construction. Where only hand tools are used so we can appreciate how things were done back in the 18th century. I realize there probably are a few “living museums” operating. But, I doubt that many of these achieve a level where we can see entire communities being established, using a wide array of cutting tools.

Let me know if you aware of anything like this. It is ok to have a fertile imagination, but it would be better if it were grounded in reality so we can better appreciate how our favorite tools were actually used .

n2s

To answer the title question, yes, yes we are.

I have to admit I have sometimes wondered about the economic viability of just that sort of summer camp, although if I were to own it I would make it with a medieval theme.

 

[Shorttime]

Straight up. I think I would rather find an experienced woodsman online, a dude on one of these forums, an older guy, lots of truly wise old dudes here, and write him a check for a couple weeks of camping, hunting, fishing, woodcraft, than I would pay some dudes like ESEE to send me to the equator to survive with my luggage.

Better yet, make a friend into it, go down on a trip with that person and offer to help out with everything they're wanting to do in exchange for learning some skills while you're at it.

I mean.... You gotta have the proper stuff packed in your luggage.

The internet, like most human creations, solves at least as many problems as it causes. Tons of information from all over the world. But tons of it is inaccurate and it's hard to tell whose talking right and whose shoveling the bull.

I for sure don't know. I agree that adventures are nasty, cold, wet things that make you late for dinner, and if I had to practice my "survival skills", I would be cursing at heaven and earth, the whole time! If I were serious about learning to live off-grid, I would obviously start by learning all I could, but to actually practice it, I would start very slowly. Like sleeping in a tent in the backyard!

That's the point, though: give yourself as much time as you can to practice basic skills with as much safety and confidence as you can get, so that you have experience and muscle memory to help you along as you venture out further.

 

[VorpelSword]

Well, IDO have other interests too. I have an interest in traditional cameras and film photography. I often use vintage or antique large format view cameras to create images on traditional films. I have made a few Daguerreotypes at a workshop but will not pursue that. At some point I'd like to do something with glass plates.

Before all the lockdowns etc, I met with a group of guys to talk about serial numbers and focal lengths over coffee and doughnuts once a month. Frankly, the field of film photography has much more variation and depth of history (OK only since 1839, but you get my point) than the world of us knife enthusiasts, even though the history of knife making extends back into the mists of time, before the Bronze Age.

 

[shinyedges]

I moved to northen michigan in 2012, after ets'ing out of active army. Having never lived in a climate that extreme, I was in for a learning experience that would span the next 8 years. Bought a house on 60+ acres, FAR from the nearest city. 5 hours north from detroit, 3 hours north of saginaw. 60+ miles round trip to go to the grocery store.

Half woods, half field, I began to build a farm. I never farmed in my life, I am originally from broward county florida, city boy. How does one build a semi large farm with no knowledge? Everything from fencing, structures, feed, water, minerals, breeding, birthing, docking, castrating, raising through full life cycles, killing them, butchering, processing, packaging and storing them. In a climate where the lakes freeze many feet thick and winter drops more than a dozen feet of snow lol

Installing an outdoor wood boiler, cutting every tree down from my farm to heat my house, which is a matter of life and death, literally. How much wood is needed for winter that lasts 6 months or more? How do you cut a 5ft thick tree down without dying? Lol

Becoming a woodsman, farmer, rancher, hunter, outdoorsmen, butcher was difficult. I relied on neighbors who were living similarly, farming and butchering and they took me under their wing. And like a sponge, I eagerly learned how to do the tasks that I needed to do.

Of course, learning the hard way is part of the experience too. Running out of wood mid winter because I thought I had enough sucks. Dragging a mature tree back to my wood boiler through 3 feet of snow by hand pulled sled every week to get through winter taught me not to F around and be unsure of how much I would need.


Anyway, to much to cover in one post. For guys that want to learn to do those tasks, there is no better way than to immerse your self in it. Be sure that is what you want before hand, as it isn't an easy life. But it is rewarding.

 

[dirc]

I live near the heartland of Mennonite country in Ontario Canada.

It is interesting and somewhat humbling to see how the old-school Mennonite community still thrives with the bare minimum of modern "necessities". Those horse and buggy folks still use the same tools that their great, and great-great grandparents used for farming and daily chores. Those tools have seen a hard life, but keep on giving.

A good old fashioned barn-raising is an amazing thing to see if you get the opportunity. It embodies the very essence of a time gone by, using tools that most of us would (wrongly) frown upon.

Time has stood still for these folks, and they do just fine with the "survival" tools they have.

my family also live(d) there, our butcher is a Mennonite, best source for most everything imho
just saying... I'm also planning to get my az up to a hammer-in someday