Game: survival situation w/ only $100 worth of cutting equipment

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killa_concept

Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
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Just curious as to what people come up with when faced with a survival situation and a budget...

Scenario:
You find yourself in a survival situation - say in a heavily forested area with a good bit of brush and vegetation. You'll be out there indefinitely and will need various cutting equipment for pretty much anything you might have to do: downing trees, chopping/battoning, brush clearing, digging, shelter construction, trap making, food prep, whittling, etc.

What the $100 is spent on:
This doesn't include other survival equipment or sharpening gear (assume you already have a survival pack and a simple whetstone). The $100 is strictly for cutting implements. This can include knives, machetes, axes, saws and what-have-you. Whatever combination you need to achieve all the tasks you might run into and survive out in the wilderness (but with only $100 to do so)

Interested in what people will come up with :)
 
a buck 119 30$
cheapo wallmarchete 7$
semi-good hatchet 30$
33$ worth of doritos (but that doesnt count does it;))
 
Victorinox Hunter= $30 (gives me a locking blade, small wood saw, tweezers, toothpick, reamer, screwdriver, bottle opener, can opener, serrated gutting blade, and corkscrew.)
Okapi Forest Axe= $25
Okapi / Tramontina machete= $9
Mora Craftsman= $10
Fiskars Folding Saw= $10
That leaves $15 left over for... a good old-fashioned wooden-handled shovel. Yup, a shovel.
 
11.00 Mora 780 kinfe
20.00 Ontario Knife Machete
10.00 colapsable shovel from Army Navy store
~50.00 on a nice quality multi tool.
 
$53 - Wetterlings Bushcraft axe
$30 - Mora 2000
$10 - Fiskars folding saw
$ 6 - Tramontina Machete
$99
 
running on £100 rather than $, as that's what I'd be buying in.
1x wetterlings hunting axe: £48.95
1x cold steel kukri machete: £20.70
2x mora frosts clipper (carbon steel, but stainless costs the same): 2x£10.95=£21.90
total: £91.55
 
$11 mora
$10 Opinel
$10 Hand axe
$10 Machete
$20 Some saw with spare blades

Total: $61

I'd probably spend the remaining on some mineral oil and an EZE-Lap system, since whetstones can be quite heavy.
 
Becker BK-2 Campanion
KaBar Large Heavy Bowie

Scrounge coins from between the couch cushions for a cheap machete. ;)
 
i cant picture myself needing to down a tree for any reason.. im trying to survive, not be a lumberjack. i'll probly use a blade for making shelter or preparing food.. so, i think a large blade like a H.I. khukuri should do the trick for the shelter section quite well, could get one on their D.O.T.D for about $60

so im left with $40.. hmn.. a small blade, like a buck omni hunter would be nice, drop point, 3 1/4 inch blade, yup.. and knivesplus lists them at $30, so im left with $10.. probly buy a really cheap pocketknife to throw into my pack, just in case.

id reprofile my blades to convex edges and thats about it.. i wouldnt bother with a hatchet or a saw or anything like that, too much extra weight that i really dont want, and no need for a machete with a large khuk.
 
My choices:

$35.00 - Fiskars 23.5-inch Chopping Axe - heavy chopping for fire and shelter prep
$30.00 - Mora of Sweden 2000 Sport & Hunting Knife - suitable for all the routine cutting chores.
$35.00 - Victorinox Outrider Swiss Army Knife - backup cutter and all-around tool kit.
-------
$100.00 Total :D
 
I' m going to go with 100€ instead of $ since that' s what I' d be buying it with and I don' t know how much most of the stuff would be in $ anyway.
So i' d take a:
10€ Mora Clipper
25€ Victorinox Farmer
50€ Wetterlings Axe

and from the left over 15€ I' d probably buy an extra machete.
 
$5.99 Tramontina 14" Machete
$47.00 Benchmade Rant
$24.99 Victorinox Huntsman
$9.99 Mora ss Clipper
$8.99 Mora Carbon Clipper
------
$96.96
 
I think I'd rather have a good saw than a good knife for a survival situation.

Give me a saw, a small folding shovel and a medium sized fixed blade like a Buck 119 and I'd be set.

All that would probably come out under $100. We'll just assume that I have some method of sharpening the 119 because I never carry a fixed blade in a sheath that doesn't have a pouch for a stone and fire steel.

With the shovel, I could make a decent dugout, cover the floor with pine needles so it'll be relatively dry and warm. Use the saw to make some cover and the knife to cut something to make lashing straps to hold it all together. Build a nice fire and get some berries or build some sort of snare trap for small game and I'd be nice and cozy (assuming I didn't have some food in my backpack).

But, we'll also assume that I have a compass with me, because why would I be out in the forest without one (and I usually take my handheld GPS with me as well)? So chances are better than not that I'll be able to find my way out before I needed to survive.

It's nice to know how, but 99% of us will never be in a situation where we're lost and need to survive. But hey, I've spent most of my life in the woods so it doesn't really bother me to not know exactly where I am.
 
Wetterlings Axe
Trailblazer Buck Saw
Some kind of Mora
Barteaux Machete

Pretty sure I could make that happen for $100.00 and be well able to handle most terrain.
 
Must include a knife, hatchet, and multi-function device. First - a Buck 119 - $37 w s/t. I paid ~ $15-$18 at ACE for a Plumb Broad Hatchet ~ 30 years ago - my Plumb camp hatchet, with belt sheath, was a bit less. On the used market they run a C-note now, so I don't know what to expect for a camp hatchet. The multi-function device would be either a Vic 'Farmer' or 'Huntsman' SAK or, gasp, my least favorite such device, a multi-tool - $33-$35. It would probably mean a cheaper import hatchet would be all I could afford.

You know, as important as a camp hatchet is, that should be the main interest after the Buck 119. Anything remaining could be applied towards a multi-function device.

Stainz
 
Vic Outrider $ 35
Mora 2000 $ 35
Gerber Slide Saw $ 11
Cheapo Chopping axe (Truper for example) $ 19
-------
$ 100
 
Becker bk-7 w/ bk-13 $65
Gerber hatchet w/ saw in handle $35
Solar powered satalite phone $ priceless
--------
$ 100.00
 
a satellite phone...

short of that I would want a hatchet, an axe and a cs srk (which I wouldnt own but I guess they make decent fixed blades for cheap in the right size).
 
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