How do you rate yourself????????? From Dr.Bill

WILLIAM.M

WILLIAM.M

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Apr 14, 2006
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Another question --only from the mind of Dr.Bill

:)

This one should educate all that take the time to reply and read those who have replied as well

The Question???

How do you rate your Knife Shills on a scale of 1-10

1 being a rank novice--You might have experience in one group and little to none on another.

10 being an expert in the field--a #10 would be good enough to teach other experts.

Ray Mears would be an #10 in Bushcraft(IMHO)

We will use 3 Tasks(and I'm very aware there are more than just 3 and I'm WELL aware someone who has not read the question CLOSE enough will remind me and demonstrate his lack of reading skill in the process)

The 3 Tasks/Skills

#1:Chopping------Wood,Cardbiard,Water Bottles,ETC
#2:Bushcraft----- Traps,Firesticks,Carving,ETc
#3:Game Prep----(Rabbit,Deer,Bear,Elk,Fish,ETC)

LIST YOUR # AS WELL AS WHY YOU THINK THAT WAY

I'll go first

Chopping:A solid # 9-as I chop over 3000(Three Thousand) times a Month.(90% with Blades in the 7-10" Range.10% with an Axe.

BushCraft:A solid 3 on a good day.I need to spend more time practicing those skills

Game Prep: I have only hunted a few times and have very little first hand experience with field dressing-anything other than a Squirell,Rabbit and Deer.Would like to see an ELk get field dressed for the Knowledge.And I need to work on my fish cleaning skills as well.
SO I will give myself a #2 on this skill.

HOW ABOUT YOU????
 
Here is how I rate myself.
Chopping I would say 7. I do alot of testing large blades since they are about 50% of the knives I make.
Bushcraft, 3 on this one. I don't do thiese skills that often.
Game Prep, 9 on this one since I have over 30 years hunting experience mainly whitetails and have skinned, gutted and butchered alot of deer. Also other game animals from groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, geese, pheasant, the list goes on.
Scott
 
Chopping.... Would be a 8.... Lived with a friend and his family after my dad passed and my mom moved to England.... Lived in a circa 1900 cabin..... No heat just a wood stove..... Considerable chopping with both knife and axe.... In good shape then.... That is for sure

Bushcraft... Would be a 4.... Spent a lot of time in the woods on the farm I lived on..... Primitive camping and I have recently realized the importance of practicing these skills and have begun practicing

Field dressing/ game prep.....Solid 9.......I too also have hunted for 30 years..... When I lived at the cabin we did not buy meat..... Lived on the game we took from the farm.... Even had an area wild game feast each year... Lots of rabbit, game bird and even turtle stew.. everyone brought a dish... Learned a bunch then
 
I'd say a 1 in chopping and bushcraft. I enjoy both but don't really know what i'm doing. I get a solid 0 at game prep.
 
Chopping I would give myself a 6. I need to get out and chop more.
Bush craft a 4 I am decent at making traps and good at fire skills but need to practice a lot more.
Game prep a solid 9. I have been hunting for 32 years and have gutted skinned and butchered count less deer,bear, 7 caribou and all types of small game squirrels rabbits grouse duck and geese.


Mike
 
I rate my self a 6 on chopping - still working on knowing the most efficient angle to cut in different materials for the best effect.
Bushcraft I suspect I'm a 4 -- I know the techniques for a lot of the skills, but have not practiced them enough.
game prep - I'll go with a 3 - I can clean fish well, but an pretty weak on furry game due to a lack of practice. (can do it, but not fast or pretty)
 
Let's see here..

Chopping I'd say for my age, a 7. I love to use my knives to chop stuff up every time I am outside. I enjoy it more than just about anything else I do.

Bushcraft.. I'd say maybe a 4. I do practice, but not as much as I could. I am decent at some stuff, but I am definitely not in any way great at it.

Game prep - 7. I love to hunt and fish, and am pretty good at it, I'd say. Not nearly as good as my dad, yet, but I am learning more and more every year from him. Been hunting for about 17 years, and cleaning them myself for around 12 years.
 
Honestly, I rate myself very low.

Chopping: With a bigger knife Id say nearly a 8 or 9. But, I'm trying to get away from carrying a large chopper and only carry a bushcrafting knife, so Id say 3-4 because I havent had enough outings to practice. Ive also decided to start packing in a small GB hunters axe for large work, which negates alot of knife chopping tasks.

Bushcraft: 1-2 maybe. Ive never practiced "bushcraft" just general camp chores with my knives. This is a skill that I have a desire to learn, so hopefully my score will improve.

Gameprep: 3-4 Im not a big hunter, especially in my adult years. With some practice, it would quickly improve.
 
The 3 Tasks/Skills

#1:Chopping------Wood,Cardbiard,Water Bottles,ETC I would rate myself as a #8 if you keep in mind that I am "old school" and my chopping (of wood) has been 99% with an axe or a hatchet. I never felt the need to chop cardboard or water bottles though, so that would be out of my skillset for chopping.

#2:Bushcraft----- Traps,Firesticks,Carving,ETC I would also rate my bushcraft skills at #8. I am comfortable in the woods and can make most anything that I need or desire. I don't regularly practice ten ways to build traps though. And I doubt that the indiginous originators of the trap styles did either. I don't feel the need to build chairs, beds, tables etc. when in the woods. I did all that when I was young including ladders and elevated walkways in the trees. IMHO, "bushcraft" includes more skills than making things like reading weather, time, distance, direction as well as being familiar with plants, animals and minerals in my environment.

#3:Game Prep----(Rabbit,Deer,Bear,Elk,Fish,ETC) I would rate myself as a solid #8 here as well. I've never skinned and elk or a moose, but they are put together like a deer and I have many years experience with deer, fish, small game, hogs, snakes etc. I read about people splitting a deer (or other game's) pelvis and I wounder why. If you study the anatomy, they come apart at the joints just like a car. When finished, I have a pile of meat, a hide with head and four lower legs, and a spinal column including pelvis. I know quite a few ways to cook game and fish as well.


OK, I understand that many (if not most) do things differently than I do and that is good. If they enjoy chopping with a knife, building things, cleaning game differently than I do, I have no problem with that at all and it in no way means that my way is right and their way is wrong. I would never give myself a #9 or #10 in any of these catagories because I am always learning and probably wouldn't be a good teacher. I butchered two nice bucks in the last three days and I did them each a little differently. I cleaned and cooked a lot of fish this year and probably didn't do it exactly the same way twice, though I have learned a few "always" and a few "never" tricks. I am always open to learning more though.
 
Gents I am enjoying reading the responses to this question. Dr Bill my hat is off to you for such a good question.I just hope everyone is being honest to themselves.That way we can see where we are lacking and practice those skills.
 
Chopping - 9 - I loves me some choppin'! My job kinda sees me doing this sort of thing a lot.

Bushcraft - 6 - I have learned most of the skills in this department but really don't feel the need to use them on a regular basis... so they have cobbwebs.

Game prep - 4 - Mostly small game.
 
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Chopping - I rate myself a 7, I grew up chopping firewood & when I'm woodsbumming around I usually take some sort of "chopper" with me to practice with.
Bushcraft - I rate myself a 6, I've been doing this type of stuff since I was able to wonder the hills with my dad. I still need to practice alot more on Plant ID & Primitive fire skills.
Game prep- I rate myself a 4, I've been hunting by myself since I was around 11~12 yrs old & can prep a squirrel or rabbit with my eyes closed but not had alot of practice with larger game.
 
Nice questions again Dr Bill. I am enjoying the effort you have been going through to get people thinking.

Chopping I would rate myself a 7. I have cleared many trees for myself, parents and inlaws so there's plenty of wood to chop and process. I heat our home through wood burning so I spend many hours splitting wood and kindling. Mostly with an axe but I like to mix it up and use certain knives for kindling.

For Bushcraft I would say a 3 or lower. I have carved some spoons and whatnot. Misc tools for campin, but never shelter building or traps. I enjoy whatever fire craft is needed and I like making feathers sticks to light the fireplace. I have yet to make a successful friction fire set though. I've made several, but I'm still working on it.

For game processing, about a 7. Growing up, hunting wasn't alowed. Neither were guns, obviously. But after I got married, things changed. I have been playing catchup for the past decade. I have only dropped off one deer to the butcher, and that was my first, years ago. Since then, I am very eager to learn to do everything myself. Whether fishing or hunting, I take care of my game. From trout to rabbit, pheasant or deer, I field dress and butcher myself.(the only thing i dont do yet is deer sausage) I really want to know where my meat comes from and I feel that is truly learned through personal experience. As far as I am concerned, this area has the potential to be the highest use area of any man claiming to be experienced with a knife. Or maybe the most obvious. A man not knowing or never using a knife to process fish or any other game is like a carpenter never using his hammer to drive a nail.
 
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At this point in my life I am what I call a "Backyard Survivalist" being that I live in suburbia:barf: and am a minmum 2 hrs drive from anywhere wildernessy and very limited time, so the best I can do is search for skills and techniques through TV, books, and Internet and mimic them the best I can.
Chopping - Ehh...8...larger blades mostly 8"+
Bushcraft: Fire - 7-8 gotten pretty good with ferros, and hand drills and bow drills.
Traps - 1:thumbdn:
Carving - anything but traps 5-6
Game Processing - 2...Hey, I watched my uncle gut a deer once...when I was 10
 
chopping: 5, I can make a chopping tool do what I need it to, but I lack the precision of a skilled practicioner
bushcraft 5-6 these are probably the skills I practice the most.. obviously there are some areas here that need work
game prep 4 I've only cleaned fish and small game
 
mewolf1 said:
what Codger said.:>)
Wolf
yup im still alive!
Click to expand...

Kent dude! Where ya been hiding! Welcome back! Get in touch with me!

I feel that many of you are probably underestimating your skills at processing fish and game.

Most mammals are put together the same way so if you are proficient at dressing squirrels and rabbits, you would do OK with a goat, deer or hog. A few animals are oddballs like beaver and coons and I don't know about roos. Likewise birds are built the same. If you can process a dove or chicken, you can also do a wild turkey or pheasant, ducks, geese. Ostrich and emu might be different though, I don't know about that. I am guessing that most of the differences are just those of size. Sure, critters have little oddities such as how hard it is to remove their skins, whether or not scent glands have to be removed and such, but for the most part, the similarities outweigh the differences.

The thing is just to reduce them to meat, the meat to cookable, edible portions. If you feel the need to practice but can't or don't hunt, farm poultry, rabbits, calves, hogs etc. and fish can be purchased. Or you can learn a heck of a lot just watching the multitude of videos that are available online and reading books.

I started with small game when I was seven or eight. From those squirrels, rabbits and coons and possums, I moved up to deer when I had the opportunity (late teens... we had no deer where I grew up). For a few years I actually kept count of how many deer I processed (just as I had collected squirrel and coon tails as a kid). I stopped when the count went over 300 and that was over thirty years ago. Likewise with birds and fish. I began with doves and quail, what was available, and moved on to waterfowl and turkeys when they became available.

Through the years I've picked up a few tricks to make it easier on myself, but those are really just icing on the cake of the basic skills. I fully realize that there are those who have no interest or opportunity to hunt and fish, and maybe also no interest in learning to process critters through doing. But IMHO, they are good skills to learn or at least have a rudimentery knowledge of.
 
I'd call myself an 8 in game prep-one thing that was instilled in me early was to take the time to be clean and it will pay off in the end especially when it comes to game. Everything depends on it-the amount and quality of the meat, the hide, you name it. I'd consider myself pretty skilled when it comes to processing fish, small game, large game etc. It's come in handy in Bio and Anthro labs :D


Chopping-I'm all about precision strokes-it's not about power or speed, but about biting where you want at the angle you want. I've started slow and have been picking up the pace for years, though there's always new media that changes the whole danged picture. Or you get some punky wood with knots all over the place that changes the whole danged picture. I'll give myself a 5 for expedience and general capability, but half of a 10 in that there's always room for improvement, always new types of material to chop,new tools to chop with and I am not yet chopping canoe paddles out of marshy cedar.

Bushcraft-I'm completely comfortable in a handful of environments and situations, but again, always new tools, new tasks, new materials. There are some guys that can whittle flutes and all sorts of crazy stuff in addition to making door latches (Alone in the Wilderness) and Amish-quality furniture out of two pieces of cherry in 15 minutes. I can't carve myself a recurve bow or a gnome out of burlwood but some people can do it as easily as I can start a fire. Again I'll give my self a 5 for survival capability and general efficiency in tasks, but a whole lot of room for improvement-I am not yet carving/whittling at an art form.
 
WILLIAM.M said:
Another question --only from the mind of Dr.Bill

#1:Chopping------Wood,Cardbiard,Water Bottles,ETC
#2:Bushcraft----- Traps,Firesticks,Carving,ETc
#3:Game Prep----(Rabbit,Deer,Bear,Elk,Fish,ETC)
Click to expand...

#1 -- Five.

#2 -- Two. I am still very inexperienced and need more practice.

#3 -- Zero. I have not done this for a long time. However, it is on my to-do list.

-Stan
 
I'd rate myself at a 1 at best in all catagories right now. I haven't had any time to practice any of my skills in quite some time.
If it came right down to it though I will survive due to my will to live. At that I will rate right up there with the best of 'em.
 
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