gota pencil sharpener?

Maybe Kev was thinking ya meant one like this !!!

s0134486_sc7.jpg
 
I still stand behind my original statement. How well does a pencil sharpener baton? Filet a fish? Prep dinner? I swear, you guys are killing me with this pencil sharpener love. I can make fuzzies one-handed and can show you too. I can sharpen a pencil with my SAK. What other uses does a pencil sharpener have that a knife doesn't? It is a gadget with limited utility. What ever happened to carrying multi-purpose gear like a bandana, metal pot, 550 cord etc?

If you want to carry a pencil sharpener, fine. Just do not let it be a crutch and don't let it replace actual skills. I know many of you can make fuzz sticks but why take the trouble to make fuzzies when a VCB lights 10x faster and is even smaller than your smallest pencil sharpener?

Carry what you want but be prepared for some ribbing when seasoned guys have a VCB fire going and your still playing around.

Is it for show or for go?
 
I kinda agree with you Kevin except that I can see a situation where if your hypothermic and your fine motor skills have deteriorated. Making a fuzz stick may be far more difficult and take far more time than it should to accomplish with just a knife. This is very small and light and the reduced skill involved in making the pile if you are hypothermic compared to making it with a knife may make a significant difference. Of course you should never allow yourself to get into that situation but it could happen quickly, such as if you fell through ice or a strong, fast moving storm catches you by suprise.

I agree that I like my tools to perform more than one duty but this may not be the worst thing that they could carry. Like others, I have seen this idea before. I probably won't carry one, but I have thought about it. Just my $02.

KR
 
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k_estela said:
I still stand behind my original statement. How well does a pencil sharpener baton? Filet a fish? Prep dinner?
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I think you are confusing this simple pencil sharpener with the RONCO Deluxe Pocket-Rocket Pencil Sharpener™

It slices, it dices... :D

I swear, you guys are killing me with this pencil sharpener love.
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It's a forbidden love.

I can make fuzzies one-handed and can show you too. I can sharpen a pencil with my SAK. What other uses does a pencil sharpener have that a knife doesn't?
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My Dad could sharpen a pencil, perfectly, in a minute or two.

It is a gadget with limited utility.
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I think, sometimes, words like "gadget" and "gizmo" and "crutch" can become the desperate plea of the Neo-Luddite. I know you are not one of these people, you use modern knives, etc., etc., etc., however...we can all have a little bit of the Neo-Luddite in us...question is...how to strike the balance?

What ever happened to carrying multi-purpose gear like a bandana, metal pot, 550 cord etc?
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I think this is an interesting diversion, a Strawman I hate to say. No one is saying not to carry these things...therefore, nothing happened to that at all.

If you want to carry a pencil sharpener, fine. Just do not let it be a crutch and don't let it replace actual skills.
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Everything we talk about in here can be a crutch, it depends on how you look at it. If someone is really good with a hand drill, they can look at the bow of a bow and drill as a "crutch" a "gadget" or a "gizmo."

I know many of you can make fuzz sticks but why take the trouble to make fuzzies when a VCB lights 10x faster and is even smaller than your smallest pencil sharpener?
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Fuzz or feathered sticks, or shavings, are just part of the tinder pile and I would not use VCBs without using them, anyway...

Carry what you want but be prepared for some ribbing when seasoned guys have a VCB fire going and your still playing around.
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Kevin, the whole survival mystique is being created. What is a "seasoned guy?" My Dad didn't know half the crap we talk about in here. My Dad was a "seasoned guy" and he would have probably thought relying on a fire bow and drill was total lunacy. I don't hunt anymore. Hopefully in a few years I will be able to live in a place where I can do the things I want. My Dad loaded up a .30-30 or a .45-70, a small fixed blade, two Case folders, 20 extra rounds of ammunition for the rifle he was carrying, a pistol, a compass and some Blue Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches in a little matchsafe. A length of rope in the game pocket along with a couple plastic bags for liver and heart and he simply went out and killed a whitetail deer. He didn't buy $233.00 worth of stuff from The Sportsman's Guide and $347.00 worth of stuff from Cabela's in the beginning of November in anticipation.

Now..."seasoned" means something else in that realm as well. A lot of camouflage and a lot of deer urine, etc.

What I am trying to say is, you have a point, but I guess it all depends on what seasoning you're using. :D

Is it for show or for go?
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And other cool phrases! :D
 
fits nicely into a survival tin. Fits nicely onto a survival necklace, or jacket zipper. Great if you have lost your crutch knife.

Definitely GO, not show. To date i've made about 1lb of very thin fatwood shavings with it, took about 10 minutes with pencil sized fatwood sticks. The resulting shavings crumble down very small and even the weakest spark ignites them. (key word here is crumble)

If we're gonna call a useful PSK tool a crutch, perhaps we best throw out everything in our kits and go back to grunting and using rocks. Some enjoy playing caveman and using no modern tools. Thats ok too, enjoy waiting for that lightning strike to hit a tree so you can harvest a coal.
 
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It's debatable place in your gear aside, it is a clever way to make a bunch of shavings quickly and you don't have to carry it with you. A pile of shavings made with the pencil sharpener could be put in a tiny zip-lock bag or stuffed in a film canister etc.
 
pitdog said:
Maybe Kev was thinking ya meant one like this !!!

s0134486_sc7.jpg
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that the oversized one from Lee Valley tools? thats works great for home base operations - where i need to make a lot of shavings quickly. Once can crank out 10 - 120 lbs of shavings in 30 minutes. Greta for building lots of fatwood shaving/candle wax fire starter cups, or for making gift tins of fatwood crumbles.
:thumbup:
 
Interesting points here all around. Except certain folks among us seem dead set on a carrying a pencil sharpener. :p

I don't carry vaseline cotton balls. Never have. But I guarantee you I can start a fire within minutes in any conditions. Nothing wrong with VCB's. I just don't use them. Don't carry a bandana either. It's all preference and being proficient with whatever method you choose. For many of us, we have a small pencil sharpener. In my location, for the things I do and may need to use my gear, I'd rather have a pencil sharpener to make tinder than carry a few pieces of exhaustable tinder. Chances are, I won't use it unless something drastic happens as I prefer knife and firesteel into dead dry grass or some fatwood splinters for most aplications.

No one said anything about not being able to make fuzz sticks. I just know for a fact that it's darn hard when your hands are frozen and have no dexterity. And you do carry risk of injury. I think the idea of calling it a crutch sounds a little extreme. If I was going to call any of my gear a crutch (and I wouldn't) the pencil sharpener wouldn't be it.

I think you had trouble sharpening pencils in grade school and the reasons for your hatred of them go deeper than meets the eye. :D
 
k_estela said:
This came up a while ago. Its a gadget to me. How many other uses does it have? That won't be found takin up space in my kit.
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1.Burn it for smoke signal.
2.Use blade as emergency scapel, (Damn lost my knife! Hey this will work!)
3.Use it for a barter item with the natives (Trade you this pencil sharpener for a Squaw)
4.Shred those cat tails and roots for "fancy" survival grub
5.Use it as a trail marker. (Hmmmmm a pencil sharpener, Bushman 5 must be here somewhere.)
6.Attach to lanyard for easy retrieval of stowed gear
7. Emergency whistle
and the list goes on . . . . . .
 
............... it could assist in making sticks into pointy objects as well. Arrows, tent spikes, trap pins, etc. A knife can do the same, but not as uniform as quickly.
 
I think its a good idea, I just happen to have a couple in the garage, I don't like the way they sharpen carpenter pencils though, I can say this cause I am a carpenter.
 
I am positive I am in good physical condition. The added 2 grams of a little pencil sharpener, for the mere convenience to make shavings if needed, is a very good trade off.

Of course, I would also use a GPS if I had one on hand and was lost as well.

If you can pack it and carry it, take it I say.
 
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