Need help... wilderness tasks that require a knife.

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Heavy

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Sorry if this is a well done....beat a dead horse topic...:o

The point of this thread is to identify wilderness tasks that would require a knife.

You see....I know what makes a good "city" knife. I live in the City.:grumpy:

I know what makes a good "camping" knife. But the camping I do is with all the kids and never more than 200 yards from a flushing toilet.:rolleyes:

Give me real wilderness survival tasks that need a knife.

This will give me some tests to do on my knives so I can find the right one for me in that situation...And it will give me some goals as to which skills this city boy needs to brush up on.


Thanks!

:thumbup:
 
1. making fuzz sticks
2. whittling parts for traps/snares
3. cleaning/skinning/butchering critters
4. making shelters
5. batoning to make kindling if axe not available
6. food prep
 
Food prep is the most commom use for a knife imo regardless of what type of outdoors trip your on.

After food prep is wood cutting. Be it fuzz sticks, shelter building, carving, etc.

Last is game prep but if you hunting I'd expect that you'd have a dedicated hunting kinife.

What type of knife do you take with you now?
 
getting bardie grubs out of their holes in tree roots

doing fish the civilised way ( uncivilised way is to just cook them whole the skin and scales comes off and the guts cook into a solid lump you can discard when you get to it )

making impromtu eating tools

making tent / tarp stakes

sectioning / shredding material for making cordage

removing the sinew from kills to be used later

to take the peelings off the kill

to work the peelings into leather and then work the leather into other stuff

to hang off your belt and look cool like a real bushman ( lets face it , a SAK dangling off the belt just lacks testosterone )

just a few I think of anyway
 
Plus:
- Digging out splinters
- Trimming finger/toenails (carefully)
- Making tools/weapons (bow, arrows, spears, throwing stick etc).
- Possibly handy for killing some animals (mainly when trapped or caught some other way).
- Making/cutting cordage
- Striker for making sparks on natural flint (a hard carbon steel knife seems best for the job...use the back of course. In my experience, few knives will do this well).
- Scraper for creating sparks with a man-made fire-steel.
- A shiny knife might be used to signal with (like a signal mirror using sunlight).
- Defence on extremely rare occasions (a good knife may help build confidence anyway).

I'll think on this some more. Best wishes.
 
Myal said:
to hang off your belt and look cool like a real bushman ( lets face it , a SAK dangling off the belt just lacks testosterone )
Click to expand...

+1:thumbup::D

For me, the tops are
-food prep
-making tent stakes
-clearing minor brush
-whacking on a log while sitting under shelter waiting for the friggin rain to go away!

J-
 
A good way to assemble this list is to go through your survival priorities and then figure out how you'd use a knife to meet them. Also, consider the season, the enviroment, terrain, wildlife, and resources available depending on your geographic location. Additionally, is it day or night, and/or will conditions reverse drastically at night? It helps organize your thinking. The order of these priorities changes with the environment, but here are some ideas in general as food for thought (not complete by any means):

1. Shelter/fire/personal protection (clothing and insualtion)
2. Water procurement/purification
3. Food

Seasons/weather conditions:
1. Summer (hot, humid, or hot and dry)
2. Autumn (wet and cold, dry and cold, but generally above freezing from high 30s-50s F. Possible wet snow or snow/rain mix. The ultimate hypothermic environment, and very dangerous, because the hypothermia can sneak up on you in these conditions)
3. Winter (snow, sub-zero temps, deep now - hard to walk in without snowshoes)

Environments:
1. Lowland wooded, deciduous, and/or lowland wooded, evergreen.
2. Mountainous wooded, deciduous or evergreen. Altitude a factor.
3. Mountainous, above the treeline. Altitude definitely a factor.
4. Desert
5. Jungle/rainforest
6. stranded at sea in saltwater enviroment
7. Arid regions with some vegetation
8. Prairie/plains
9. Arctic or antarctic
10. Coastal northern rainforest/mountains (cascade range for example)

What conditions are created by these environments, and what can you use your knife for to meet your needs in order to capitalize on what the enviroment offers, and to protect against what the environment forces upon you?
 
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You use them to cut open dead animal carcases to sleep in. Don't you watch Man VS Wild. Sheesh.
 
INFI Kid said:
You use them to cut open dead animal carcases to sleep in. Don't you watch Man VS Wild. Sheesh.
Click to expand...

no no no , thats all wrong

you need your knife to open the dead camels you sew your enemies into ...

think its a joke ? its not ... I happened to have a bunch of muslim kids come into my care so I thought Id better get a grip on Islam , and found that little gem , Muhammad done that to more than one of his enemies ... creative bloke that ...

it was starwars that had the bit about using dead freaky creatures to hide inside of to survive the cold IIRC
 
When I am in the wilderness the main things I use my knife for are

food prep.

Whittling extra tent stakes

Splitting small sticks around 1" for kindling

cutting small branches out of my way.

Sparking my firesteel
 
Thanks a lot guys....

Lots of great info here. :thumbup:

I really need to take a 'wilderness' trip and learn some of the shelter and fire starting techniques. Maybe I'll practice in my yard for now...:o


:cool:
 
Knife chores/duties are nearly unlimited, going from heavy wood working, to very detailed carving and food prep. Personally I carry a couple of knives. A SAK OH Trekker that handles the more detailed and lite weight stuff and a fixed blade to take care of the rest.
 
I've found this to be the rule:

Little knives accomplish small tasks much more quickly and safely. Big knives accomplish big tasks much more quickly and safely.

It's all about efficiency, and consevation of your calories and energy in a survival situation.

Edited to add: and conservation of your fingers and other extremities...:D
 
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