Modern Mans Nessmuk "kit" - what would it be?

[Daniel Koster]

If we had to bring Nessmuk into the 21st century - what would the new "kit" be?


Ground rules for this "game":

1 - has to be 3 "edged implements"
2 - has to "cover the bases", "handle most tasks"
3 - has to be "in production already" (whether custom or factory)




So, let's here some ideas.....



Post your "solution" like this:

1 -
2 -
3 -

Give descriptions, details, specs and most importantly, reasons! :thumbup:

Dan

 

[hollowdweller]

 

[Strobengh]

1- SAK, or Multi-tool of some sort
2- 4" fixed blade
3- foldable saw or hatchet

You might get by with only a saw if you have a larger fixed blade, but if saws were more reliable back then I bet you would see a good saw on Nessmuk's kit.

I think that my #1 is pretty safe. Take the utility of Nessmuk's folder, and add all of the functions of a modern Multi-tool . . .
Again, I bet Nessmuk would have carried a SAK, Leatherman, etc . . . if he had one.

 

[SpookyPistolero]

Fun game. Mine will be in this format:
[less expensive option] ([high dollar option])

1- Fiskars hatchet (possibly a GB of comparable size)
2- Mora 510 (Nicer puukko)
3- Vic Farmer (does it get that much better than a nice SAK? )

 

[Fiddleback]

Mine will look like HD's, but will have my own Nessmuk (hickory). A Nessmuk hatchet head by Cegga that is en route as we speak that I will haft with hickory, and a SAK Huntsman that I will rescale with hickory. I'm choosing hickory because I just found some beautiful curly hickory for cheap, and I'm making myself a bow out of hickory too. So it'll be a full matching set.

 

[stingray4540]

I don't think the modern Nessmuk kit would be any different from the original Nessmuk kit; seeing how you can still get a well made double bit belt axe, Nessmuk style knife, and folding knife.

If it was what he preferred back then, what about the wilderness has changed that would cause him to choose different tools?

I think Hollowdweller has pretty much got it, except for the automatic folder.

Now, if Nessmuk moved, then his kit might change, but for the North American Mountain wilderness, an axe, small belt knife, and pocket folder will just about cover everything.

 

[stingray4540]

and I'm making myself a bow out of hickory too. So it'll be a full matching set.

Very cool, you will have to be sure to post pics when the whole set is finished.

 

[Fiddleback]

Very cool, you will have to be sure to post pics when the whole set is finished.

Will do. I'm pretty excited about it myself....

 

[longbow50]

I know I've posted this before, but these would be my choices of the tools that I have on hand. Actually the knife could be swapped out with an M2K, but either will do me just fine.

 

[tknife]

1. NWA Forum knife. Probably the most comfortable knife I've ever owned, tough, sharp, perfect weight and balance.
2. Vic RukSAK, all the tools I need, cheap, reliable.
3. GB hatchet or Gerber slider saw. The GB chops and carves perfectly, excellent quality. The saw weighs next to nothing and is safe and foolproof to use.

 

[David E]

The wilderness hasn't changed, but man's technology has. Tools that didn't exist in Nessmuk's day exist now. Some of them seem better suited than his original picks. Does that mean his choices of the era were bad? Of course not. Does it mean that those picks couldn't "cut it" (sorry!) in the woods today. Not at all. But things might be made easier by choosing a modern tool instead.

My picks:

1) Leatherman Wave with locking tools

2) Busse or Swamprat 7" bladed knife. (Camp Tramp, Ratweiler, or Steel Heart, your choice)

3) Sven Folding Saw.

.

 

[hollowdweller]

I think Hollowdweller has pretty much got it, except for the automatic folder.

That is the "modern" part of my combo:thumbup:

 

[hollowdweller]

As far as modern gear, I think Nessmuk would really love gore tex boots, Sil nylon tarps and tents, titanium cookware. And sleeping bags!

 

[David E]

1- SAK, or Multi-tool of some sort
2- 4" fixed blade
3- foldable saw or hatchet

Could you please elucidate?

Which SAK ? Which Multi-tool? A folding saw or a hatchet?

Would either work equally well, or would one be better than the other?

 

[nodh]

If you were to work and live in the same environment at Nessmuk you would make it with those tools. However nowadays things around you have cables, screws and are made of materials that are not wood. So here is my combo.
http://hem.passagen.se/nodh/trio.jpg
Fallkniven F1, Bahco folding saw, LM Fuse

The heavier version would be a Fallkniven S1, LM Wave and the saw still. Axes are fun but dangerous.
You can split a log with a saw too. Make a cut at the end and pound a chisel shaped piece of wood down the cut.

 

[AustinTXShooter]

Here is what I would take and this is made up of tools I currently own:

1) Wetterlings Wildlife Hatchet
2) Frost Triflex 780 (or maybe a Mora 2000 which I should be receiving anyday now)
3) Victorinox Rucksack

 

[JD Mandrell]

A modern Nessmuk kit??

One thing I notice more and more as I reread Nessmuk, he really emphasizes getting quality but lightweight equipment, so I'm gonna say.

1. Gerber/Fiskars Axe.
2. Mora M2K or similiar.
3. SAK

 

[mrostov]

Sometimes it's this.....

(yeah, I need to make a new bit cover for the hatchet, but this one still works well)

And sometimes it's this....

 

[siguy]

lightweight:
1. victorinox spartan or opinel #7
2. large antique kitchen knife. thin, sharp carbon steel blade.
3. folding coglan's sierra saw (6 inch variety)

this setup is very light, and in most cases i would leave out the kitchen knife, but the rules were that i have to have three. this is what i would carry if i were packing a very huge distance and didn't have to worry about doing any building with logs or sticks.

full utility:
1. same as above
2. take down wood frame buck saw (24")
3. one of my hatchets

with this setup i can do pretty much anything i could possibly want to, and then some. with the saw i can cut large logs (at this date i have cut up to about 10" dead-fall trees) and fell small trees. the folding knife (lately an opinel) cuts everything i need to that i could expect a knife to handle. the hatchet takes care of the bulk of my woods work, cutting stakes, roughing out woodwork, felling small trees and saplings, limbing felled trees, as well as my hammering tasks when i don't have my mallets and hammers handy.

these are all "old fashioned" tools, or are based on such tools, but when you consider that these tools are all cutting implements and that cutting tools have been around for however long, that it is no huge surprise that they have been fairly well perfected.

 

[RescueRiley]

vic farmer
fallkniven f1
12 inch ontario machete ( I like this better than a hatchet as I find it easier to baton with batoning = less swinging of a blade which = less chance of injury) I also find it easier to sharpen than a hatchet