"Can you think of a single circumstance in camping/backpacking in which is a fixed blade is needed?"
Some years ago, I and a couple of friends came upon a group of four in the mountains of central California who had created a problem. They had built a fire on the roots of a dead pine and the underground roots had caught on fire. It was a very dry area. (Not everywhere is like the green UK.) They had tried to expose the fire to extinguish it, but the ground was very hard, the only wood was pine and their digging sticks just broke to pieces. None of them had a fixed-blade knife or axe. We each had a fixed-blade knife as that was what we had been taught to carry in USMC Mountain and Desert Survival School. We also had one light hand axe. With these tools, we were able to expose the burning roots and extinguish the fire. Wild fire is a BIG deal in the Sierra Nevada.
I will admit that impromptu forest fire fighting is not a scenario I had ever considered. I lived on the central coast and did a fair bit of hiking in the tinderbox called the Ventana Wilderness, so I understand the fire concern. A friend of ours from that area is an SAR volunteer in the Ventanas. Another close friend is a USFS volunteer in Stanislaus NF. Neither of them carry fixed blades or any other equipment for fighting fires.
Your story is a great one though in that it points out there are contingencies that one just can't account for. I consider anaphylactic shock to be in that category. I'll carry some antihistamine but won't bother carrying an Epipen. I'll tell people who have severe allergic reactions not to come on trips with me. An Epipen that buys you minutes won't help if evacuation will take hours or days. Your story is great, but it's not one that I've ever seen discussed as a reasonable contingency to plan for.
When completing the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington, we encountered rain on every day but one in two weeks and that day had heavy, dripping fog You know about fog, I am sure.)d. We were relying on fire to prepare food and try to dry off from the constant rain. Fixed-blade knives allowed us to easily get to the dry interior of wood in order to start fires. Could we have done the same with good folding knives? Probably the answer is "yes," but not remotely as quickly.
I've done many multi-day trips in New England's cold, wet shoulder seasons. Days of rain with temps in the 30s and 40s. I consider this be harder than even most winter conditions.
I use the same approach that pretty much everybody I know does in the Whites and that is to use a wet trail clothing/dry camp clothing system. Essentially, this approach just gives up on trying to dry out clothes and relies on the trail clothing being warm when wet and hiking. Just put that cold wet crap back on in the morning and hike till warm.
This approach is definitely shaped/informed by our experience above treeline, particularly in the shoulder seasons and in winter. Fires are just flat out of the question and the lack of fires can be compensated through a combination of clothing, sleep system and shelter choices. I've twice been on skiing treks on which team members have fallen into a river (temps around 0F both times). Again, clothing systems and shelter dealt with the situations just fine.
Note, I don't think you were *wrong* on relying on fire (if the area could sustain it and I'm sure it could). And if you are relying on fire, a fixed blade makes sense. I do the same thing on long XC ski day trips if there is a risk of being benighted. A small wood stove, fixed blade, small saw and tarp is lighter than tarp and sleeping bag. But then, I've done more XC trips with no wood stove so - and this is my point - my choice to carry to a stove and your choice to rely on fires is a choice. Those conditions, as tough as they are, don't demand it.
"Needed" perhaps has different meanings - to you vs. Lofty, Ray, Mors, Cody, David, Ron, Master Gunny Sergeant Stearns (our survival instructor), and the rest of those who, as you would have it, lack basic knowledge.
Sure. We can stack that set of authors up against Harvey Manning, Colin Fletcher, Ray Jardine, Yvonne Chouinard, Mark Harvey (NOLS) and Chris Townsend to name just a few.
There are different traditions and streams of thought about backcountry travel. Survival/bushraft/campcraft is one. Military is another. And mountaineering/climbing/backpacking is yet another. I like to try to learn from all of them as I think they all have valuable insights to offer. Backpackers have a lot to learn from the survival/bushcraft tradition to be sure. But it flows the other way too.
One of the lessons from mountaineering which has been picked up by climbers and backpackers is that fires aren't needed in the backcountry and neither are fixed blades.
Edited to Add: just to emphasize, I carry a fixed blade on some trips, so this isn't an anti-fixed blade rant.
), would do just fine. In fact, those are what I've carried on my few "lightweight" hikes so far. Wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
