Need for Speed?

D

Dr. Pepper

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Sep 26, 2006
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I know I was stupid….. Recently I was out rambling in a new place and only had a water bottle, a snack, lighter, compass, and 4” knife and inadequate clothing for night temps. I was having fun and oblivious to how far away I was from the car and how little daylight I had left. All of a sudden I stumbled over two roots in rapid succession. I did not fall but wrenched by back and knee trying not to. (Easily could have been much worse) I was not having fun anymore and wanted to rest but would run out of daylight if I did. So I thought long and hard about just spending the night. The quality 4” knife I had with me would have definitely worked for everything, it is just that I (with my skills) would have had to spent more time and energy doing it. I would much rather have had a tomahawk or 9” chopper to quickly make a shelter and get a fire going before it was too dark. I admit the prospect of having to work harder with a smaller tool did affect my decision. If I felt good enough to screw around and apply hobby quality bushcrafting skills I could have just walked out and not given any thought to spending the night in the woods. No, in this moment I just wanted to hack a few pine boughs for a bed and few more dry ones to burn and be set.

I thought about a couple of people in my life who would get over excited if I cell phoned in and said that I was spending the night unexpectedly. So I hobbled back slowly, thankfully I had moonlight (boring I know).

Thought #1 I now agree fully with the idea that backpackers need a much smaller knife than a dayhiker as the backpackers usually have everything but the kitchen sink in their packs. The larger tool lets the dayhiker improvise with the environmental resources more readily.

Thought #2 I never really thought about larger tools being time saver before. I had previously viewed them as being fun and macho. Not so anymore.

Thought #3 My ideal size of a survival knife just doubled.

There is probably not much to comment on. I just wanted to share my eye opening to the value of the items I normally leave behind for being “excessive.” Probably a simple thing for you but thinking about it has changed the way I see things.

Thanks
 
That is a great point of view , maybe that is why I couple up so many of my blades , 3"-5" fixed blade to a blade over 8" .
 
A 14 inch Fiskar Hatchet and/or folding saw would have saved the day without adding much weight. If i'm carrying any kind of pack while hiking i'll at least put one or two of the above inside it. Thats in addition to the usual SAK/Multi and Mora.
:)
 
Excellent example of how something like a dayhike could have turned into an unexpected night in the woods.
 
I hate small jobs with large knife. I always carry a 3-4 inch blade usually a Mora because of their light weight. However I always carry one of these choppers which work 100 times better for me that a big knife. If I don't have one of these, I have a small folding saw. Glad you made it out OK. Both choppers are under a pound.

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Excellent post and excellent points. This is precisely why I carry a SRKW ratweiler when i'm hunting in the big woods in northern Michigan. I don't usually carry it when I'm close to home hunting small parcels close to houses as I have cell coverage. IMO the ratweiler falls into the "jack of all trades" categories in knives. It has a 7.5" blade which is a little small for a "chopper" but the design of it's handle makes it chop more like a 9" blade. Plus its small enough to do most "normal" knife things with. Obviously there are better choices at both ends of the spectrum, but it fills it's "jack of all trades" role quite well.
 
No, its always nice to have a chopper, or some type of saw. either one works well, though a chopper is funner of course. :D
 
From another viewpoint, had you been injured and required to stay, proper clothing and a lightweight tarp could gotten you much farther than a large knife. Building a watertight, windproof shelter and gathering enough fuel to stay warm requires a lot. Considerably more than an injured person is going to accomplish. Carrying proper kit turns an unexpected problem into a camping trip. Carrying a large knife instead of proper gear simply lets you try to play survival games under unfavorable conditions.
 
Any Cal has a good point. I think both are necessary. On dayhikes, I "wear my shelter" in the form of a German army poncho, and have several lengths of paracord and a walking stick with me. I also have the other layers I need with me or on me rolled together and tied with paracord. I can make a shelter using branches, tying the poncho to them, closing the hood, and propping the walking stick up into the hood hole in the center, and the resulting tension provides me with a very fast shelter.
 
Cool story... Thanks for sharing. I carry a small fixed blade, but I can see why all of a sudden you wanted a bigger blade.

I go back and forth over what to carry. There were times I had all sorts of stuff in my pack. Then there are other times I go light so that I have an enjoyable walk on a trail. I'll remember your story the next time I go out I the woods.

Scout
 
I completely agree with Any Cal. I love my knives (obviously, being a member of BF), but I would take my rain shell and pants (Gore-Tex Pro Shell on the way :D) along with an emergency bivy over any knife any day of the week. I am not saying that I would ever have to make that choice, since I always take both no matter how long the trip, but there is no substitute for warm, waterproof outerwear, especially in the southeast. Forget about being able to build a watertight shelter with a knife, how about being able to build a watertight set of clothing so that you can actually move around?

I have been on trips were I would have been seriously boned without rain gear and/or warm clothing, but would have just been inconvenienced without a knife. I can use a rock, bone, slab of wood, or other items in the woods in the place of a knife. They would not work nearly as well, sure, but it would be a heck of a lot easier than keeping myself warm, dry, and mobile without the proper outerwear. Of course, I depend on outerwear sales for my livelihood, so maybe I am slightly biased. :)
 
Now, this may sound trite, if it does I'm sorry. That's just my nature. Having said that, instead of carrying more steel next time...You could just pick up your feet so that you don't trip. I mean, sure it's nice to have the right tool for everything, but more often than not that's just not practical.
That's where the old adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.", comes into play. Food for thought.


Gautier
 
Glad you made it out ok.

Adding a pound or two of tarp would go a long way topwards having shelter with minimal weight added or energy expended.
 
I like storl's idea of good rain clothes. I picked up a rain set from LLBean years ago, and decided to go for a walk in the woods here one very rainy day. That rain set is a part of what I pack now even if I don't think it's going to rain.

If I know it will rain, OK, Helly Hansen parka and pants. :)

Gautier, picking up feet is neat but when you're tired, ya never know. I've had solid ground shift under me and slide off the side of a narrow trail. Gotta be alert but at the end of the day, well, I'm glad I use a hiking staff.

Still, any time you're far enough away that help couldn't get to you for an hour or more, at best, it's not smart to go without a basic med kit and survival kit, too.

There are lots of big enough knives that don't weigh much, either, but a good folding saw is cheap and much more flexible. You can use it in tighter spots and with more control. When you're tired and injured, you don't need to be chopping.
 
Dead on Esav, the part about being alert is what I wanted to draw the most attention to. Again, I apologize if I came off as short or sarcastic. It's not always easy to convey tone with text. As for the rain gear, +1 from me, and a light saw is worth it's wait in gold.
Again, I'm glad everything turned out alright, and I'm sorry if I came off as indifferent or a wise acre.


Gautier
 
Excellent post and observations. A little bit of stress goes a long way. I have been harping on the time factor here for a long time. I will repeat, wilderness emergencies just don't happen at 9 AM when you are feeling good they are far more likely to crop up at dusk when you are injured and conditions are bad.

Two shelter items I routinely carry on day hikes down here are the US Army Poncho and a $30 bivy sack. I camp in this type of shelter often. If I get stuck or injured I'll do just fine in my area with these two no matter what the conditions and the shelter happens right now. They take up very little room in the bottom of the pack, yet allow me to take advantage of whatever natural shelter I can find.

Your point about dayhikers needing a larger chopper is a good one. I would extend that logic to say that if you can think that far ahead you should also have clothes to handle your typical night temps and some form of waterproof tarp. Mac
 
Great post. This serves as a reminder to us all. It's so easy to let your guard down. It kinda creeps up on you!
 
OP - this is my opinion....

It seems to me that the a bigger issue in a situation like this is the lack of preparedness and skills not the lack of the right tool. By no means am I a Survival or Wilderness expert, I am not, but I do recognize the need for propper preparation. Whether that be gear (weather appropriate clothing, flashlight, etc.) or mental preparation (planning for the worst, time awareness, etc. ). I've seen many story when people were able to make due with a less than ideal knife and/or tool.

I'm very glad to hear that you made it back safe and I do hope your back/knee is healed up and you are back on the trail quickly and safely.

Take care.
 
Any Cal. said:
From another viewpoint, had you been injured and required to stay, proper clothing and a lightweight tarp could gotten you much farther than a large knife. Building a watertight, windproof shelter and gathering enough fuel to stay warm requires a lot. Considerably more than an injured person is going to accomplish. Carrying proper kit turns an unexpected problem into a camping trip. Carrying a large knife instead of proper gear simply lets you try to play survival games under unfavorable conditions.
Click to expand...

This is extremely true. With all the talk of chopping up improvised field shelters and building this and that, people forget the most important type of shelter.

Your number 1 shelter should be, at all times, your clothing. If you've chosen it right, it's all the shelter you will need unless something goes really wrong (not just "wrong", but very seriously, completely fubared wrong). If I had to choose to be dumped in the middle of Siberia with either any knife of my choice or a good set of clothing, I'd go for the clothing every single time without even thinking about it. And I would be better off with that choice than with the knife.
 
I thought of another point.
This brings me to question (some more) the thing guys like to tout: "The more you know, the less you need."
Well, what if you're injured to where you CAN'T use your skills to build that nifty primitive shelter.
I know if I was injured, I'd rather unroll my sleeping bag/bivy under a tarp (even if I couldn't pitch the tarp, I could go "burrito-style") than make a debris hut. My bag+bivy+tarp is 5 pounds I'm willing to carry.
 
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