Bushtucker Man

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woodsmoke

Joined
Nov 1, 2005
Messages
81
Jusr ran across an old survival VCR tape called Bushtucker Man. The series is great and is narrated by a Major in the Australian Army whose job it is to spend 8 months a year travelling the northern Australian wilderness visiting Abos, learning their survival skills and finding, collecting, analyzing the edible plants and wildlife in the regions he visits. He travels by Land Rover, helicopter, canoe and by foot from the deserts, to the mountains to the swamps to the coast. How's that for a job? The knives he carries are just a stockman folder and an issue golok. With them he does all cutting & chopping tasks. Reminded me of the book "to Fight the Wild". This was about a young Aussie bull thrower (tough guy) who found himself marooned way deep in the Outback for months and how he survived. I found out from someone who knew him that his knives were a Russell skinner and butcher knife. In the book Ron Ansell talks about the knives and how he used them quite a lot. It is said that he was the model for Crocodlile Dundee.
 
Bushtucker Man is an excellent show. It ran for quite awhile here in Southern Ontario. I think I taped most of the shows. I really hope it comes back on the air. I believe he has a web site for any who are interested.

Doc
 
You make it sound like a stockman golok combination would be under equipped. :)
 
Vivi, Not under equipped at all. Just a contrast to the idea that to make it in the woods you need armloads of the latest and greatest new knives made from the newest super steels. Lots to be said for time tested tools in the hands of experienced woodsmen. The same source that informed me of the knives Ron Ansell carried while surviving in the Outback said that butcher knives, stockmen and barlows were the knives the old time bushmen carried. He also said that the Puma White Hunter was highly regarded as well.
 
I agree. Some of the older tried and true common carbon steel knives from days gone by are still in service today. You just can't beat the simple steels.
Scott
 
Razorback - Knives said:
You just can't beat the simple steels.Scott
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Sure you can, it's called.....forging! :D:D:D:D:D:D

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Razorback - Knives said:
I agree. Some of the older tried and true common carbon steel knives from days gone by are still in service today. You just can't beat the simple steels.
Scott
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Not to mention the designs they are made into!:thumbup:

I've often mused on how if you have a machete, or golock, or bolo, or any other good bushwacker, all else you need is a good pocket knife.
 
woodsmoke said:
Vivi, Not under equipped at all. Just a contrast to the idea that to make it in the woods you need armloads of the latest and greatest new knives made from the newest super steels. Lots to be said for time tested tools in the hands of experienced woodsmen. The same source that informed me of the knives Ron Ansell carried while surviving in the Outback said that butcher knives, stockmen and barlows were the knives the old time bushmen carried. He also said that the Puma White Hunter was highly regarded as well.
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I think a lot of people on this forum are a little too consumerist about the knives we use. Nothing wrong with enjoying a good knife, but when you start complaining about how "bad" AUS8 is when all you do with your knife is open the mail...sigh. I think you guys know. There just isn't enough actual knife usage around here for my tastes.

People think I'm weird if all I bring with me into the woods is a sak. Like you say, don't need to bring an armory to survive in the thick. It's sad to see people more focused on their toys than enjoying nature.
 
Razorback - Knives said:
:D Good point. I may be doing that some day. Gittin the itch to make some axes.
Scott
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Hope to the gods they are better than the other "razorback" axes at my local farm store....I still cringe when I see that name on them! :eek:
 
I think somewhere along the line knives stopped being tools and started being status symbols.

That probably happened right after the first guy showed up with a steel knife and it WAS the status symbol.

Soon everyone had one and then somebody asked, "Yeah, but what kind of steel is it, mine is made of..."

The rest is history and most of it is archived here. Mac
 
woodsmoke said:
Jusr ran across an old survival VCR tape called Bushtucker Man........ It is said that he was the model for Crocodlile Dundee.
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I'm not sure what's happenned to Les Hiddins - he hasn't appeared on our TV screens here for a few years. He's renowned as a cranky reclusive fella who doesn't suffer fools lightly...probably out bush somewhere....

A mate of mine in the Pilbara regiment told me about how he went up there a few years back to film an instalment of the show. He ended up cancelling the episode because he culdn't find enough edible tucker to survive on and talk about in the show. Harsh country that.

He's not the model for the Crocodile Dundee character Woodsmoke. That was another bloke. Famous croc hunter in the NT who took a few too many drugs and suffered paranoid schitzophrenia - ended up dying in a shootout with the police on a lonely stretch of highway. I'll see if I can dig up a link....
 
I see photos of 400$ Busse's in their respective forums, nice and shiny, stuck into a piece of wood. It makes me shake my head knowing that's as close as they get to real use. I've put my 10$ Mora's through tougher stuff than a lot of Busse owners seem to put their knives through, which I think is pathetic in a way considering how Busse's are designed to take said abuse very well. A sale is a sale to them I'm sure, but if I were running the company I'd be a lot happier seeing my knives I've sold be used on month long hikes than opening mail and chopping up spare wood in the garage for amusement. If you have to go out of your way to use your knife, I think that says something about how much you need it. But then again it's easy to see most people here aren't buying based on need at all.

People cringe at the idea of doing to their Spydercos and Benchmades what I do with an average SAK. Chopping cuts, batoning, slicing up acidic foods and not washing it off for some time. Meh, I'll shut up.
 
Vivi,

I use the snot out of my knives, there is a difference between using and abusing. IMO there is no excuse for not wiping your blade after cutting acidic foods. I agree with a lot of what you are saying though, keep in mind that a lot of people enjoy knives and like to have the absolute best, regardless of whether they really need it. Chris
 
I understand their mentality, but I think it's awfully silly to be spending literally thousands of dollars on what will essentially be nothing more than toys. I'm not talking about the people who buy customs and keep them pristine to admire their artistic value as much as I'm talking about people that will buy many Busse, Sebenza, high end Spyderco or Benchmade knives just to open mail. Even better when said people are complaining about certain steels not being up to their expectations, how they'd prefer a different lockstyle etc. Adds to it yet even more when these people mock their wives for buying hundreds of shoes and purses. Oh well, doesn't affect me enough for me to actually care. I just think it's some awfully silly habits being displayed here.

I do try to wipe my knives like you say, but every now and then I let one sit with pineapple juice or apple remains on it for a while just to see if it will rust in that 30 minutes or so. So far I haven't gotten any of my Vic SAKs to rust.
 
Vivi,
I am with you all the way on this.

If you do not need a knife, why bother carrying one ?

I love my SAK Soldier and my Mora.... I could not do without them.

They are the best combination for everyday use, in the woods, the workshop, the house, anywhere.

I spend all my time wandering between the workshop, the house, the garden, and at weekends go out to the woods.... I always have a SAK soldier in my pocket.

I would really like to get a big chopper for camping, but I must admit, I would not spend a lot on something like a Busse, even though I think they are really excellent knives.

I just know that I could break one.
 
"If you do not need a knife, why bother carrying one ?"

"I just know that I could break one."

Casares

Blasphemy! Blasphemy!

I fatwa in your general direction... you silly English kniggit!

(Actually good points, all.) Mac
 
I'm happy with a SAK saw for the few times I need to take down medium sized branches. To me, a chopper would get so little use in my world of hiking, camping etc that it isn't worth the money, the care and the weight to carry around. Me and a friend armed with nothing but saw equipped SAKs can get shelters up pretty quick.
 
Interesting how this thread and the "Mountain Man" thread seem to merge. The theme seems to be what you really need to make a go of it in the woods, I have carried a SAK Rucksack for years and the saw blade has done all kinds of hard work for me. Problem with the Rucksack as a one and only knife is size. The saw is OK for shelter poles and firewood...most of the time. I prefer a combo of a Gerber pack saw and a Mora knife for the lightest, most useful and least expensive rig. The Gerber saw is big enough for about anything that needs to be cut and a Mora can do it all and be useful as a splitting tool. The SAK cannot be struck with a baton and this limits its usefulness. I agree that sawing beats chopping any day. Not all Moras are created equal. I have sold zillions of them, outfitted many a class with Mora knives and carried them all over North America. The plastic handled Swedish Military model and the others of this pattern are the most durable, useful and safest to use...carbon or stainless.
 
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