MLK Winter Camping Trip Pics Part 2

k_estela

k_estela

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For all those dial up users here is the second half of the pictures from the MLK weekend trip.

A little bit of a parking lot trade show at the diner where we met up.
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Dan Schectman's wetterlings for trade
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Kevin T and his wife Shelly
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Jerry "The Man" and his bro-in-law Lee
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Me with the early stages of my shelter
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My shelter's shingles made from dead tree bark and gray birch
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Inside my shelter
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Removing bark from dead and down trees
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Group of woodsbums
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More pics

Home of my shelter and Jerry and John's hunter challenge
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Breaking down Dom's camp
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Breaking down Dom's tent
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Shadow
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Marty and Kev
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Enough Said
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Jerry in action
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Big John
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Aggie getting her Gossman Anniversary Knife
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The knife up close
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Here are the last of the latest

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HD,

Thanks! It could have been done much faster than how I did it but Joezilla kind of challenged me to make one without even realizing he did it. All he had to say was, "it would be cool if you could layer a bark roof." With that in my head, I knew I could do it and wouldn't stop until I got it done. There were some cool shelters made from a variety of resources. Really a great sampling of protection from the elements.

Spooky,

There was no synthetic cordage used to keep that shelter together, just forked branches. Since we were off the trail a bit, I left it free standing. You'd have to travel out of your way to find it and it wouldn't be an eyesore. I'll be back there for another trip soon and plan on using it again.
 
k_estela said:
Spooky,

There was no synthetic cordage used to keep that shelter together, just forked branches. Since we were off the trail a bit, I left it free standing. You'd have to travel out of your way to find it and it wouldn't be an eyesore. I'll be back there for another trip soon and plan on using it again.
Click to expand...

Cool, I'm sure more than one group of weary and cold folks will make good use of it!

Forgot to ask too, what tools did you find to be the most important on this trip? Did you prefer axe to hatchet to large fixed blade? Did a saw eclipse any of them?
 
Spooky, not trying to butt in on your question to Estela, but I found that the bow saw and full size axe were a necessaity for getting fire wood. I still felt good having a large fixed blade along. I used my four inch fixed blade very little. I spent most of the day Sat. chopping, sawing, splitting and batoning firewood. I could have got by with just the axe and saw but I had a large blade that needed field testing. What better way then to baton through frozen oak. :D
Scott
 
Spooky,

For me personally, the axe was king. No other tool is as good of a chopper in my opinion for frozen hard wood. There were only a couple hatchets around and they didn't see much use compared to their full-sized big brothers. Folding saws did make appearances. I have a Bahco laplander and Marty Simon has a Wyoming saw. Others had variants of bow saws and all in all, they were valuable for quickly making work of small branches with little wasted wood that chopping usually has. As far as big knives, there were a few Cold Steels such as the new Barong and Kukhri as well as the Scott Gossman Tusker knives a few of us had. They were popular for battoning and the big blades did better off than small blades. Just to show the utility of the small blades, sections of frozen oak and hardwood was sectioned with our 4" and under belt knives.

My three main cutting tools were these:
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Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe
Bark River Knife and Tool WLC Fox River
Bahco Laplander folding saw
 
Thanks for the thoughts, Scott + Estela. (And I'm certainly happy for both your all's input)

To ask in another way, if you had to pick the winner in utility between the large blade and axe, I assume the axe won? Was the fixed blade even useful aside from splitting, and were you able to split just as well with the axe? Were you guys able to find enough dead wood or did you have to take down a tree to get enough firewood going?

Also, I saw you had a lot of Wetterlings. Did anyone have their 'mid size' model, and how did you like that model/length? Have you tried the larger Fiskars axes?

Lastly, how many questions do you think I can ask about your trip in one post? :D
 
The large blades are fine for battoning wood but they are no where near as efficient as the axe. My tusker (featured below) has an 8" blade and is 3/16" thick. As Scott pointed out at the diner on Monday before we left, the width of the blade can compensate for the thickness in giving it heft. My Tusker chopped and split and I still was able to shave hair. The large blade was useful but it cannot compete with an axe for the function of splitting and be anywhere near as easy to use. Could you get by with just a large knife? Yes, but you would have to work harder than with an axe. The axe's weight provides the advantage whereas the big blade requires more elbow grease to chop through the same amount of wood.

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The woods provided us with a lot of blow downs and dead free-standing trees. It was a chopping paradise! We used large logs for main fuel and had a couple "white man fires" going. You couldn't even tell we used the area as so much wood was left untouched and ready for the next trip. We did fell some trees but they were dead free standing. Some were dropped for wood and others were dropped for safety reasons.

As for the mid-sized wetterlings, I know Joezilla had a long-handled hatchet and Scott had a full-size felling axe. Both were used hard and Scott is damn good with a swinging axe. In examining a couple of the Wetterlings on the trip, I noticed the grain alignment in the handle wasn't perfect or desirable. It is hit or miss with this company. Also, sometimes the grinds on the axe heads are uneven. Overall, these problems can be fixed and you get a decent axe for the money. I'll be doing a review on another brand of axe soon that is an excellent alternative to the Wetterlings, Snow and Nealy and Gransfors Bruks.

As for the full-sized Fiskars, I have one and I like it. It is, dollar for dollar, one of the best values in no nonsense axes out there. Mine has been used for a few years now and has never had a single issue. I wish the blade cover were better quality but other than that, it bites hard and is a good choice for a truck tool. Kind of heavy on the trail but worth it in camp. I'd suggest a full-sized axe for anyone learning axe craft as they are inherently safer than a hatchet. Plus for less than $40, you won't cry like you would if a $100+ Gransfors chipped on you. I am partial to axes and think you would be happy with one.
 
Thanks for the very full review! Lots of good info. I haven't been able to do much mid-winter camping in several years (years when I've been most interested in steel).

I've heard that complaint about the wetterlings (re: blade alignment) which is definitely something to consider. I may have to go and take a look at the Gerber axes at Sportsmans Warehouse, only the Fiskars splitting axes can be found locally (not the plain). Haven't been able to find a Fiskars at ~20", not sure if they make that length (ish).
 
Spooky,

Gerber makes a few different models. I have used them all and can say the back paxe is almost too small to be useful, the 14" is damn near perfect for a hatchet and the next size up features a pretty heavy head for a short handle. You might find yourself fatigued by using it for a while. The full-size is great and comes in a couple options. One has a slightly heavier blade and is meant as a splitter. I have the full-sized model with the lighter of the two heads.

Check out Lowes home improvement or just order it online. Quality control with them is pretty good and most are very sharp from the factory.
 
Hands down on a trip such as this when the temps are in the teens and single digits with 25 mile an hour winds, a bow saw and a full size axe are an absolute must. I like the large fixed blade to replace a hatchet for limbing small downed trees for firewood. I can swing a large blade easier then a hatchet plus it's safer. Even though I batoned, the axe is the king for splitting large stumps. We had a downed, seasoned oak that could be sawed and split for firewood. it was about 20 foot in length.
I have a Wetterlings Forest axe and it's unreal. I was busting full size oak stumps in half with one swing. They were about 14 to 16 inches long.
Scott
 
chabla,

I'm from CT but this trip was in PA near Hamburg just off the Appalachian Trail.
 
ooh hamburg did you get a chance to check out the cabelas there? alot betterand bigger than the CT one i hear
 
Thanks again guys, awesome info. Now to begin the disturbingly long saga of whether or not to try a wetterling or the fiskars....
 
must have been a great meeting. i hope you enjoyed it :thumbup:

sorry for not beeing there :D

Arne
 
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