Bushcraft: one and done?

If you want to do real bushcraft. Then you should be able to make do with a knife, hatchet, fire steel, wool blanket, and a canteen. The rest you should be able to get from the woods.
 
aelfred_allspach said:
No. I'm serious. I carried a 220 pound rucksack all through basic so I'm cool with it. And the bayonette is great for hard work. Like I said, I use what I have so I don't have to buy a lot
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That seems... Unlikely.

I recommend you track down a copy of The Backpackers Handbook by Chris Townsend. That will give you good info on the gear to take on a hike. Certainly more realistic info than you'll get from Mick Dodge. http://exotichikes.com/the-truth-about-the-legend-of-mick-dodge-hoh-rainforest-wildman/

Watching the alone in the wild documentary is also worth doing before venturing out on anything too strenuous. [video=youtube;FPbz5TDy6fs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPbz5TDy6fs[/video]

Asking what kind of knife to bring for primitive bushcraft without any size, weight, or other qualifiers suggests you would do well to build up slow. Test as much gear as you can get your hands on and always have an exit plan. Always assume you won't find any food or water along the way, the weather will be colder and wetter than the forecast, and any gear you have not tested in a storm will fail you.
 
220 lb rucksack? c'mon, i'm sure most here would love to help you get started with (unclear of what you want). but don't lie about things. it's obvious you are a young kid and was never in the military (well at least without a ps3 controller in hand). now yes there is a certain point (per your other post 100+ knives) where value is determined by collectability, and there are plenty of great sub $100 knives available (look at the becker line-up), but for hard use in hard conditions do not underestimate the value of a busse, fallkniven or crk.
 
aelfred_allspach said:
I guess I'm confusing bushcraft with primitive survival I want low impact stuff. Like mick dodge stuff.
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Aelfred,

I don't think there will be a huge difference between bushcraft (a la Mors Kohanski or Ray Mears) and primitive survival (a la mick dodge), at least in spirit. They may differ a bit in actual techniques and philosophies, but we're talking about the difference between Coors and Bud, here, not between Coors and Lagunitas IPA, if you get my meaning. I'm sure that fans of one or the other might jump in and say I'm missing a critical distinction. <shrug>

I consider them to be very similar in that both rely on some degree of harvest from the land. I want to be careful because I think there is some value in knowing these techniques. Not much. But some.

There are a lot of approaches to staying alive in the woods and all have real merit. There is the military approach. The hunting/fishing approach. There is the primitive skills/bushcraft approach. And there is the backpacking/mountaineering approach.

Of these, I find (personal bias here) that the backpacking/mountaineering approach is the safest and the least damaging to the local land you're moving through. IMO, it makes the most sense to develop these skills first and then branch out and supplement them with ideas and skills from all of the other disciplines.

Like Sideways, I really love the Chris Townsend books, especially if you live in the north. Townsend is a Scot, spends a lot of time in cold wet conditions and has a really good blog. If you live in the southwest, The Complete Walker by Colin Fletcher may be a better fit, only because it offers a bit more on hot climates. About any book by National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) is worth the read as is the classic "Softpaths" from the Sierra Club.

One of the things I've most astonishing is how far and how fast you can move safely, even in really horrible conditions. I've been doing winter camping trips (mostly by ski, many to our local peaks) for the past 30 years and have never once needed to make a fire to survive nor needed to make an emergency shelter. That's not because I'm good or lucky. That only because the skills and tools from the mountaineering approach can generally manage most bad situations with a minimum of fuss.

Now... lets talk about fire and how that relates to knives.

For the mountaineer, fire is the camp stove. My advice here is to make tea/coffee once a day for a month on your camp stove at home (or work on lunch break). Learn to manage the stove in your sleep. This is how can hike the AT with nothing more than a Vic Classic.

For others, camping isn't camping with a wood fire and in some places it is possible to harvest fire wood sustainably without messing up the land for the next guy. This is fun but not efficient and takes a ton of time to build and tend. It's also heavy since you need tools to cut and split wood [insert interesting discussion topic here].

In between these 2 is small bush stoves that run on twigs and branches. They minimize impact both in terms of wood consumption and ash production, are more efficient than an open fire and are easier to tend but still nowhere near as easy and efficient as a stove. These also drop the knife/tool requirements considerably and generally a 4" - 5" fixed blade is enough splitting power that you need to keep one fed.

Here is my standard backcountry carry. The Opinel #9 is capable of battoning wood in a pinch (just don't lock the blade open).
Outdoor Carry by Pinnah, on Flickr


On winter ski trips along rivers (plenty of wood), I carry an Emberlit and feed it with these tools.
Winter fire tools by Pinnah, on Flickr

...sometimes. Other times, when I'm moving faster, I just carry this instead.
Svea 123 by Pinnah, on Flickr

To be honest, that old Svea 123 is one of the few pieces of gear I'd bet my life on. Done it many times.

Hope something here helps you.
 
Another one. I trained at fort Jackson South Carolina in foxtrot 1/34 company. I went to ait in fort lee Virginia, Charlie company ordanance, where i trains as a 91D, power generation technician. Now, my unit is 937FSC of the 2/142 field artillery in for Chaffee arkansas. Talk some more hit. Google me if you want
 
aelfred_allspach said:
Talk some more hit. Google me if you want
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That right there will make enemies for you. I'm very skeptical of you as well. I would think that someone with military background would carry better knives than some crappy novelty knife from Call of Duty.
 
collim1 said:
Mora of some sort backed up by a Victoinox Farmer. The Companion and no 1 get pretty even rotation. The Bushcraft Black is fairly new and I haven't had much chance to get used to it.

I have a BK9 and a Gransfors Wildlife Hatchet, but to be honest they are likely to get left behind on most trips. I always want to bring more toys to test out and play with but practicality wins most of the time. Space is limited, and most trips out are focused on fishing or hunting and not playing camp.

A Bahco Laplander folding saw usually makes the cut before the hatchet or BK9.
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Sucks doesn't it? All these cool choppers and they always get left behind. I always think I'm going to pack my scrapyard 711 but when it comes to it, I realize I just wont use it and don't really want to carry another 24 ounces.

OP: The thing about weight is not whether or not you CAN carry it. That's a macho trap that every outdoorsman falls for at first. The real reason for going light is so that at the end of a long hike you have more energy. More energy=better campy good times. Also, if you ever watch someone with a large ruck, they're more than often looking down. Looking around is IMO a key component to bushcraft. I see countless hikers slogging along looking at their feet and I wonder why the even made the trek in the first place. Put a fat head on your kitchen floor and walk in circles. It'll be more interesting. :D
 
I just read the thread after posting. Should do that the other way around. Maybe next time.;)

I love Mick! My favorite show at the moment. Some of it is staged obviously but every skill I've seen him use would fall under bushcraft. Primitive is basically not using modern tools like knives. Much harder and really not something I'm into. There's junk everywhere. Use it if you're that desperate. :D
 
RX-79G said:
bushcraft is the art of doing something elegantly with a minimum of unnecessary or overly modern kit.


Having both an ax and a knife for batoning makes zero sense to me. If weight isn't an issue, chainsaws work really, really well.
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You forgot that you have to carry the gas too...
 
Mick's berry picker seemed to work. :D

Equipment choices evolve with experience using them. Collim mentioned the BK-9 above.... sort of my experience with large choppers. They just get left home and if I know I'll need a chopper, I'll take a machete.

Temp was around 50 today here and saw some people trout fishing.... starting to get the bug. May have to scratch that itch real soon. I really won't be debating which knife I will be taking with me as I seldom use a knife fishing (clippers mostly), but I'll probably have my SAK with me just in case. Between it and a pair of needle nosed pliers, they came in real handy a year or so ago removing a hook lodged under my skin. Hurt, but you just have to make the hook removal smart and quick.
 
Great thread, except for some of the tension... . A Rat 1 and Leatherman went on my last trip. 3 days, 30 miles, and a half dozen 4000 footers, which is big for us on the east coast. Minimal impact, but the right clothing, shelter, and supplies to enjoy it. Might not seem like much but no one in those pics is under 45. Those are 40lb packs.
Knives helped prep dinner and one cut up some cheese. Leatherman helped repair a pack, a stove, and deal with a nasty splinter.



 
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great pics. hope you have a chance to come out west and try some backpacking out here (for the 14k peaks). for the east coast, north carolina had some of my favorite places to get lost :)
 
aelfred_allspach said:
Another one. I trained at fort Jackson South Carolina in foxtrot 1/34 company. I went to ait in fort lee Virginia, Charlie company ordanance, where i trains as a 91D, power generation technician. Now, my unit is 937FSC of the 2/142 field artillery in for Chaffee arkansas. Talk some more hit. Google me if you want
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aelfred_allspach said:
I left June 25 2012 and got back December 7 2012
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So they carry 220lb packs all through basic training at Fort Jackson.
 
Thanks. I bagged Mt Rainier some years back, but really want to do more out west. Not sure how many more peaks these 47 year old knees have in them.
Here's an equipment pic I just found. Obviously, the chair did not go. I also only took the small fuel bottle, not the larger one. Left the inflatable pad for the foam one in the second pic. That whisper lite stove is 20 years old or so and I don't think I've ever even cleaned it.

 
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Not sure if anyone has pointed out that even if YOU can carry a heavy load, it doesn't mean your pack will hold up to that same load. And it would suck if your pack was damaged beyond repair while out in the Bush or on a trail. Just another reason to pack light.
 
AreBeeBee said:
These look to me like it's Tuckerman's you're at — easpecially the top one — haven't been back for many years, but the scenery sure looks like it.
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The force is strong with you. Good Eye. That hike was the "Presidential Traverse" Those ridge-line pics were not quite Tuckermans ...but almost. At that point we were heading south, approaching Mt Washington.
 
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