chopping vs sawing : survival perspective

[Cliff Stamp]

The only downside is that they are tough to sharpen, and it sucks when use one to hard and it kinks.

The swede saws are fairly easy to sharpen with a file, but they are so cheap, and it takes so long to sharpen them properly that I rarely actually do it. I have a bunch of them which I have convinced myself they are going to be a damascus blade some day.

You could use it to remove birch bark to make sheaths and quivers ?

Yes, Mears demonstrates this in one of his videos. As the edge is blunted (its just wood) it won't cut through the bark like a knife will. How you shape it is mainly determined by the wood it is made from. If you use something soft and pulpy like pine then you have to make it fairly blunt because it is so weak. A nice hardwood though can take a fine taper.

-Cliff

 

[Kevin the grey]

I was more thinking of cutting the outline with a metal blade and wedging off the bark with the wood spud .

 

[Fonly]

Making a full sized spud out of soft wood, wont work very well, but a hand held one of soft could do the trick for what you want kevin. make sure that where the head meets the shaft is at least .250 of an inch

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I was more thinking of cutting the outline with a metal blade and wedging off the bark with the wood spud .

Yes, on thicker barks you can often just wedge the wooden spud in cracks, but this is more for getting thick slabs of pitch than nice sheets of bark. Getting heavy pitch off of a knife blade isn't easy, just leave it on the spud and use it as a torch.

-Cliff

 

[Kevin the grey]

Yes, on thicker barks you can often just wedge the wooden spud in cracks, but this is more for getting thick slabs of pitch than nice sheets of bark. Getting heavy pitch off of a knife blade isn't easy, just leave it on the spud and use it as a torch.

-Cliff

You know with all the uses of pitch and how many posts I,ve heard about I thought it would be easier to find . I rarely see any . The most I have come into contact with is while leaning against a spruce tree . Even that was not particulary visible or abundant . What is the secret ?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

The main sources of it are damaged wood, torn off limbs for example.

-Cliff

 

[Thomas Linton]

You know with all the uses of pitch and how many posts I,ve heard about I thought it would be easier to find . I rarely see any . The most I have come into contact with is while leaning against a spruce tree . Even that was not particulary visible or abundant . What is the secret ?

I have found plenty by looking at Scots Pines in our area. I have found chunks the size of a deck of playing cards -- some on the tree and some on the ground.