Andrew Lynch said:
Yep. Plan on getting one in the future. I figure if their videos show them being plowed through refrigerators then they should handle wood just fine.
As per other posts: A couple of trends in the postings have developed that are completely erroneous and while I didn't want to have the thread necessarily go into survival techniques nor do I feel I'm an expert, some criticisms/observations have been leveled that I feel should be corrected so as to preserve truth :grumpy::
1) FALSE: The log was frozen. Cold wood is not frozen wood. Frozen wood is wood that has been soaked with water and froze (look at the pic... the wood is dry!). This type of wood is completely unsuitable for fire building... maybe when the fire is self-sustaining you can get away with it but not for fire starting. Furthermore these "logs" were not just laying around; we sawed down a 40' DEAD fir tree and hauled it 1/2 mile on sleds to the campsite. Why? Because all wood at the camp area had long ago been used by summer campers... there was none left. In the winter it is the campground is deserted with the facilities buried under three feet of snow but still no wood. Hence we had to make our own.
2) FALSE: Sticks lying around in the snow make good tender/fire and you should have used them instead. First off we had to sled in the wood as there was none lying around. Second, in wintertime and in other wet or moist conditions this is an entirely incorrect misconception often borne of those who have never made a fire in tough conditions. Almost without fail you have to split wood. Why? It's dry inside the log and creates smaller, dry (no wet bark outside) pieces with [color=royal blue]sharp[/color] edges that catch on fire quicker. It's a lot of work but usually the only way in a backpacking, tool and fuel limited scenario.
3) FALSE: The fire was too big and excessive. This is an ignorant comment. Why? Remember there was a group there that needed that fire for warmth and cooking. It got to -10º below overnight. How many in this thread have camped in such conditions? I submit that if you had a lot of this would make a lot more sense... such as a bigger fire. Of course a bigger fire means more fuel of which I fully intended and planned for. Remember this was a fire making exercise where wood processing skills were to be practiced by the boys (which they all did very effectively). More wood meant more work which made for a rewarding and appropriate teaching scenario. Processing a standing 40' tree into burnable fuel when it's 5º outside and getting dark fast builds self-confidence. That was the goal for these boys. Unless you've been there too please limit your critiques to your own experience and not just your gleanings from a single photograph of what should have happened up there (ala Daqotah Forge).
4) FALSE: Using a knife to baton through a log is abuse. As previously stated, I completely disagree. I agree with Featherstone45, Shpshooter,& Badmovies that batoning is a routine use for a survival knife. Hardened steel versus soft wood (fir)... which do think should win? Some here believe such a matchup is unreasonable! Batoning is more effective than an axe and any good blade should withstand hits on the blade (thank you Roadrunner!). If you say no then what exactly do you think is appropriate use for a 1/4" 7.5" or larger touted survival knife? If you to squirrel away your blades into your collection preventing them harm, go right ahead. But I'm a user not a knife worshiper and a good blade should withstand whatever abuse I might need them for (thank you Cliff Stamp & Badmovies).
5) FALSE: The log was too big for the knife. Not true. Look at the picture: you can see the take on the log is to the side so as to have some of the blade tip showing where the baton could hit. As I have previously said and some others have correctly noted the user would hold the handle firmly and push the blade through as the blade is batoned through the wood. I'm sorry but many of the comments about how this shouldn't be done, or it's abuse, or dangerous are just ignorant. Just because you perhaps haven't done it or seen it done doesn't mean it isn't a commonplace survival technique. Also Daqotah Forge said he could tell from the photo that the handle had been hit as well. That is a perplexing and entirely false observation. All hits, as all who have done this before know, are on the protruding blade. Come on!
6) FALSE: He was trying to hammer it through a knot. Not true. All knots were avoided as best as possible including the log in the picture. Again, where do you guys get this?
Anyways I do agree (again) this might have been a lemon blade and tommorrow I just may take my Cold Steel Recon Scout up on my next moutain trek and pound the crap out of it splitting wood. We'll see how it goes. Forecast calls for lots of snow and 0º. Sorry for the rant but the record had to be set straight on this. Gotta' go and pack up so I won't be around for awhile.
