Lone Wolf Project: Post All Your "Experiments" Here

With a multi-bladed pattern, you always have the option of keeping one blade shaving sharp and another with a working edge.
 
Foilist said:
With a multi-bladed pattern, you always have the option of keeping one blade shaving sharp and another with a working edge.
Click to expand...

Thats what they're for.
I always use the sheep foot as a utility blade and I keep the spey razor sharp
 
On thing that I have notices with this experiment is that I trust my knife more. I think that I did not trust it in the past like I do now. I always figured that if it got dull or one of them that I carried was not right for the job, I had several backups. I have found that the blade says sharp longer then I thought and that it does more then I thought that it could do.
 
ElCuchillo said:
nope. no multitool. just the peanut. my wife doesn't think i'll make it either.
Click to expand...

I wanted to be a part of this, but I can't make it without my wave. Especially now my boss is tempting us with Charge Ti's. I am however using just one EDC pocketknife for a year. It'll be interesting thread for sure.
What if it comes down to you, the peanut, and a gator?:eek:
 
navihawk said:
I wanted to be a part of this, but I can't make it without my wave. Especially now my boss is tempting us with Charge Ti's. I am however using just one EDC pocketknife for a year. It'll be interesting thread for sure.
What if it comes down to you, the peanut, and a gator?:eek:
Click to expand...
bribe an elephant with the peanut to trample the gator.....



seriously I'm debating switching my selection...going even mor low tech...
 
navihawk said:
I wanted to be a part of this, but I can't make it without my wave. Especially now my boss is tempting us with Charge Ti's. I am however using just one EDC pocketknife for a year. It'll be interesting thread for sure.
What if it comes down to you, the peanut, and a gator?:eek:
Click to expand...


I hear ya, navihawk. My boss is talking about us carrying multitools. They are giving some out to the guys, not really good ones, just some cheapie ones. They know I have my own, and have told me to bring it in, as it will be part of our "uniform". I own three LMs, and am thinking of keeping with the minimalist project and clipping the Leatherman Sideclip to my pocket. It's one of the simplest, barebones Leatherman multis out there. No saw, no file, no scissors, just a knife, pliers, and drivers. Also a can opener. However, just cause it's in my pocket doesn't mean I am going to use it too often, as I am finding new uses for my Peanut everyday. I'll probably use it for the drivers (like Jackknife's keychain driver ring) and for the very few times I will need the pliers. Other then that, I am having way too much fun finding new uses for a simple pocketknife. This is a very cool experience.
 
jackknife said:
I know, I used to be the same way. Then some years ago I started to wonder if I was being self defeating. ...snip...

I think for a edc do-everything pocket knife it may be better to forget about having it sharp enough to shave off hairs from your forarm.
Click to expand...

Which underscores the reason I love the stockman specifically, but really any multi-blade pattern. The spey is a razor, the sheepsfoot is at 40 degrees and "toothy" and the clip is at 30 degrees, but less polished than the spey.

On a different note... I attended the first day of an Appleseed shoot today. My knife did duty opening battlepacks of ammo, cutting up cheese, vienna sausages and a pear at lunch, and various other light duties. Still getting by fine with just the stockman.

Yesterday at the range zeroing my rifles for today, I had the opportunity to put some of that old time ingenuity to work. My stapler ran dry, and I couldn't find the roll of duct tape I always keep in the truck. So, how to get my paper targets stuck on the cardboard backer of the target frame?

I used the clip blade on my stockman to cut trapezoid shaped notches in the target and cardboard backer, then folded these "tabs" back and it held my target just fine.
 
ElCuchillo said:
I hear ya, navihawk. My boss is talking about us carrying multitools. They are giving some out to the guys, not really good ones, just some cheapie ones. They know I have my own, and have told me to bring it in, as it will be part of our "uniform". I own three LMs, and am thinking of keeping with the minimalist project and clipping the Leatherman Sideclip to my pocket. It's one of the simplest, barebones Leatherman multis out there. No saw, no file, no scissors, just a knife, pliers, and drivers. Also a can opener. However, just cause it's in my pocket doesn't mean I am going to use it too often, as I am finding new uses for my Peanut everyday. I'll probably use it for the drivers (like Jackknife's keychain driver ring) and for the very few times I will need the pliers. Other then that, I am having way too much fun finding new uses for a simple pocketknife. This is a very cool experience.
Click to expand...


Or maybe, rather then carry a full-sized multitool, I can carry my little Leatherman Squirt on my keychain. I don't think I've ever really used that thing in all the years I've owned it, so it won't be a problem as far as me reaching for it rather then my Peanut, and I can technically get around my job's need to have us carrying multitools since it is, in essence, a multitool.
 
I don't think a tool of some sort would violate the spirit of the experiment. Alot of our grandads carried some sort of tool kit on a tractor, or in a car trunk. I know my own dad did. There was a adjustable wrench and a a few other tools in a roll-up in the trunk of his car. While his peanut was his edc, he had some things stached around, or in a pack. While they made do with a pocket knife, some felt that a good pocket knife was something to be used but not abused, and would go with the "right tool for the job" approach.

I was thinking about this today while we were walking in the woods. Even grandad with his big seamans knife, kept a tin bucket with some semi-rusty old butcher knives for the rough dirty duty of cutting salted eel or bull lips for the bait section of the crab traps. That was one of my first duties on the Lady Anne, touching up the knives on the big carborundum stone while heading out, and then wiping them down with a rag with some lard on it heading back in. He also had made a leather sheath for an old thin bladed paring knife he used for quail till grandmom bought him the Hen and Rooster. Dad's fishing knife was an old slim bladed butcher knife that looked like a boning knife, carried in a simple leather sheath that was made with a old piece of leather folded over sort of like an old mountain man sheath for the green river knife. He'd use the old knife for the dirty work of cutting bait and gutting fish.

So while carrying a single pocket knife for a year, I think it would be okay to use another tool for something rather than risk destoying a nice pocket knife. It's not like a Leatherman is a pocket knife, more of a folding plier with a few tools attached, and a knife blade that won't cut like a good sharp traditional.

But I don't think I'd want to fight a 'gator with a peanut.
 
sm2:

The ball point pen way of opening packages is one that I have also used. It is a good way to open a package when one does not have a knife.

I think that there is another thing to be gained from this experiment that you touched on. That is that we can share and learn from each other. I know that I have learned a lot from many of you in this forum and I look forward to learning more.
 
Me three on the pen method of cutting tape. Works well. I found that the coping blade on my congress is nice, flat and thin on the tip and works well as a flat head driver. Not too stout , but it will work in a pinch. I have to say I'm struggling a bit and missing my SAK mini-champ. I like many rarely used the blades, but the pen and drivers I used a bunch. The Craftsman 4 way tool isn't any help for me as I hate having keys in my pocket. More than anything it stinks not having the pen. I'm working my way through it though.
 
sm2 said:
And right there is one big Achilies heel of our modern society. What to do when the lights go out. Not many people know how to get by without the battery powered gadjets. How many would know how to make a candle lamp out of a soup can, or even tin foil if no can is available.

Anyone have a hand drill in the house for minor repairs if power is out? Dad always relied on his "Yankee drill" for jobs around the homestead. Neat gadjet, looks like a big screw driver, but push on it to work the drill action. Bits stored in the handle. A good manual saw is a pleasure to use. Quiet too. I've got dad's old bow saw made by the Union Fork and Hoe Company, of Cleveland Ohio. Cuts firewood like nobodys buisness with no fuel. Exept me of course.

If there is a large coffee can around, you can always use your pocket knife to make a hobo stove. Small twigs will cook a one pot meal in a while. A sheepsfoot blade of a stockman makes the triangle church key type of cuts around the bottom of the can pretty good for the air holes.

Yeah, sm2, folks are just too dependant on this power stuff. If it all goes out for a while, it gets ugly.
Click to expand...
 
bdws1975 said:
HELP!!!

I am more than a bit frustrated, I can't find my peanut! I had it when i left the house this morning but can't find it now. i used it at work to cut some fruit, had it in my pocket, but it's gone.

I did have to scrape my car a bit this afternoon before I left work and I can only guess it fell on the ground. I did go back and look but no dice

I have only ever lost one other knife and it's always a maddening thing.

Well, if I pick up another knife and put it in my pocket, does that count as cheating or should there be a provision for losing you knife???

:(:(:(:(:(

Brett
Click to expand...


That is not cheating at all, especially this early in the game...be sure and get one that is exactly alike though:thumbup:.

Oddly enough I thought I had lost a good blade but it was just so dirty I placed it in the bed of the truck instead of the sheath and it was retreived that evening.
 
It has been really cold here in Iowa and we have had to snowstorms in a week. As such, I have not been out much this past week. This means that this experiment has not been much of a challenge to me. What I have noticed is that I use my own tools more instead of reaching for a SAK or multitool. The tools work better anyway.
 
Okay, I'm, on the verge of getting pulled into this experiment. I've realized that I already carry my peanut five days a week already, and I've found that my precious multitool, that I have been reluctant to put aside, has not been getting much use lately. I guess I could split the difference and use a SAK, or go all the way and just use the peanut. My version of the Sear 4-way is the Swisstech utili-key.
 
Do it, foilist, take that last step. You're almost there. It's crazy how little we actually use. I always wanted to be prepared, and carry as much as I could to cover all my bases. I watched that Tom Hanks movie Cast Away where he's stranded on a deserted island for four years, and has no tools, and has to figure things out on his own. His swiss army knife had been left with his keys in his truck, and he has to make do with whatever he has. I never wanted that to happen to me. I also heard the story about the guy who got his hand stuck in a boulder while hiking, and had to cut it off using a cheapie multitool in order to save himself. Afterward he said to always carry quality equipment. All these things made me want to prepare for the day when TSHTF. Well, in the end, I don't really NEED all those tools. All I need is what man has used for eons. A sharp cutting edge and a little ingenuity. That's why I started this experiment, to see if i could foster my ingenuity by making it work. The fact is, I DON'T use pliers everyday. Weeks will go by without me needing them. A saw? File? Screwdriver? Not really. I found myself LOOKING for reasons to use said tools, almost in order to justify to myself the need to carry them. A knife however? Yes, I use one every single day. Forget the multitool. Forget the SAK. Go for the Peanut, or a stockman, or a soddie. Give it a shot. If ya don't last a year, who cares? This isn't a competition. This is an experiment, a project, to see just what it is we really need, you know? You'll never know until you give it an honest try.
 
ElCuchillo said:
Do it, foilist, take that last step. You're almost there. It's crazy how little we actually use. I always wanted to be prepared, and carry as much as I could to cover all my bases. I watched that Tom Hanks movie Cast Away where he's stranded on a deserted island for four years, and has no tools, and has to figure things out on his own. His swiss army knife had been left with his keys in his truck, and he has to make do with whatever he has. I never wanted that to happen to me. I also heard the story about the guy who got his hand stuck in a boulder while hiking, and had to cut it off using a cheapie multitool in order to save himself. Afterward he said to always carry quality equipment. All these things made me want to prepare for the day when TSHTF. Well, in the end, I don't really NEED all those tools. All I need is what man has used for eons. A sharp cutting edge and a little ingenuity. That's why I started this experiment, to see if i could foster my ingenuity by making it work. The fact is, I DON'T use pliers everyday. Weeks will go by without me needing them. A saw? File? Screwdriver? Not really. I found myself LOOKING for reasons to use said tools, almost in order to justify to myself the need to carry them. A knife however? Yes, I use one every single day. Forget the multitool. Forget the SAK. Go for the Peanut, or a stockman, or a soddie. Give it a shot. If ya don't last a year, who cares? This isn't a competition. This is an experiment, a project, to see just what it is we really need, you know? You'll never know until you give it an honest try.
Click to expand...

Very, very, well put!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I have a friend from the traditional archery club out at the Izzak Walton League. Ralph has went really overboard on the primitive thing, and has taken knapping classes, studied primitive archery, throwing atals, and such. He finally went hunting with a stick bow he made himself strung with deer tendon string he braided, arrows made from dogwood shoots tipped with flint and obsidian points he made himself, carrying a flint knife he knapped himself. it took him a couple of hunting seasons, but he got a deer with that stuff. He said it was the most rewarding game he ever bagged. He even got me sucked into it to a smaller degree. I've been facinated by the single stone flake theroy.

How much do we really need?

Good question.

How much did primitive man use 5,000 years ago. Look at what the ice man had on him when he was found in the glacier over in the Italian alps. If he hadn't been shot in the back by someone, he would have survived just fine with a primitive bow and flint knife.

I think that living in this modern age of large disposable incomes, its easy to fall into the trap of thinking we need all this stuff we horde around us. Since Karen and I have started living a simpler life, we're actually happier. Sure makes it easy to keep the house neat and orderly, let alone find something. Not to mention we're not spending money on things we don't need.

I think its true that we look for reasons to justify what we have. I look over at the survival forums here and other places, and its a show and tell of high dollar equiptment, yet watching Ron Hoods video he makes use of common low budjet items like his wood handle mora, plastic sheeting, and such. Yet some folks think unless you have a thousand dollars worth of gear, you're dead meat if you get stuck someplace. The bottom of a beer bottle can be knapped into a very sharp cutting tool equal to anything a cromagnon man had. A soda can be torn in half and made into a hide scraper. Man evolved because he could reason and use his imagination to make what he needed. Our grandfathers made what they needed. I watched dad make a thermostat housing gasket out of the bottom of a Kleenex box. It worked and got us home. His tools were his peanut and an adjustable wrench from the tool kit in the trunk. He improvised and overcame. But he did not need to carry a tool kit on his person, he just kept a few tools in the car in case of emergency.

I think its easy to become too dependent on gadjets. I don't know if I have related the incident where a family member who is a techno geek had his trusty GPS fail back in the woods on a hike. I had to show him how to make a compass out of his watch, or use the circle on the ground and a couple sticks to find an east-west line. Things fail, whats in your head is always there. He now has a small button compass in his kit. Heck, the Vikings navigated from scandinavia to the new world and back using a sun disk.

I expect to finish this experiment and go back to carrying a couple of knives, but then I'm a knife knut. Its what we do. But its fun to see if we can get by with just what our non-knife knut forfathers got by with. So far the little Buck cadet has done everything I needed. Its like a rediscovery of an older way of living. Going back to the single stone flake, and using our mind to get by. But even early man had his tools. The iceman had not only his flint knife, but a small scraper and a couple other items they're not sure what were for. I'm sure he had his version of the 4-way pocket screwdriver.

You can go along way in a SHTF senerio with a single stone flake and a sharp stick and your mind. Anything else is gravy on the potatos. The old pioneers went through the Cumberland Gap and settled a new land with an ax and a Kentucky rifle shooting one shot at a time. The ax built the cabin and the rifle fed them.

Yes, the question is how much do really need?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top