Real Hard Use of Knives, Field Experience Only Please

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
Brian asked me to post this over here, it is also posted at the following....

http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum32/HTML/001638.html

OK

So, all you folks who use a knife to survive and craft the wilderness to your convenience...

What do you use a big knife for?

What are the tasks that get done by your field knife?

Please include the circumstances of your use situation.

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Marion David Poff aka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com
Coeur D'Alene, ID
http://www.geocities.com/mdpoff

An interesting business oppurtunity... http://www.geocities.com/selouss

"We will either find a way, or make one." Hannibal, 210 B.C.
 
Hi Marion,

I will make this post based on what I do...not on what I use. There is no question that you knife experts know far more than I when it comes to the knife make up.

A big knife to me is a work horse.

I get the most use from it during wet weather conditions when I need a fire and must use heart wood to accomplish this. Thus, I am using to break down big peices of wood. I may place it at the top middle of a piece of wood broken from a stump (or a wrist size piece bolt of wood) and then hammer (with another firm piece of wood) on the back of the blade to split the big piece into smaller more workable sizes.

Other uses may include cuting dead lower branches from a tree that is about to become a shelter...or cutting boughs for a shingled shelter cover or bed...i may use it to cut 4 inch (safely) dead trees into the right length to improvise a bench...etc., etc. etc. oh yeah...I may just wear it on my waist to impress everyone :>)

Bottom line. It better hold an edge and allow me to beat the crap out of it to accomplish things that may otherwise be to hard to do.

BTW: I could do alot of the above through other means. kick piecses of heart wood from a stump and then swing it against a tree until it breaks into smaller pieces; use a tree wrench to shorten dead 4 inch diameter treas (stick between big tree that has a fork which can be used to break tree when you bend it around it); use your smaller knife to get boughs by cutting around the end or bending it and making a small cut,,,,,etc. etc. There are other ways to do all of this but heck if I name all the ones that come to mind.....

Big knife: work horse that can take a beating!!!!



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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
I gave my answer in the General forum version of this question.
Forgot to mention which blade(s) I used.
I used a Gerber Mark II, an Al Mar Woodsman, and the old POS Buck Bayonet.
biggrin.gif


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The vague and tenuous hope that GOD is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the conscience of millions.

*A. W. Tozer

2 Cor 5:10
 
Hello,
Well a topic right up my alley!!! 8-)

ok where do i start??

ok i went on a Field excursion once, packing the normal Field load of Pack, sleeping equipment, , Limited food, a .22 marlin rifle, an a 9 inch Combat patrol bowie i make. it was Full flat grind , 1/4 inch stock , zone hardened 5160, with brass guard and Black canvas micarta handle and 6061 Butt cap. being that i didnt bring a Tent, because i wanted to make a Expedient survival shelter, i used the knife to Cut 5 inch round supports6 feet long to make a primative leanto, not a problem at all.

Then knife was used to cut pine limbs for thatching said shelter, and to provide a ground cover inside.

Then it was off to find Fire wood for a warming fire. Stumbling along i found some dead fall areas that provided more wood than i needed. and as luck had it they were small enough to be able to be braced against a tree trunk an snapped under foot to make sizes acceptable to carry and for the fire.
the knife wasnt used for this as it wasnt needed. On the way back to cam i spotted
the allusive Tree Squirel, that was handily dispatched by the .22 and then hauled back to camp along with the fire wood.

yes i used the knife on the squirel to great success, once a fire was started i set about cutting some forked sticks and a Cross stick to use to Cook said varmit over the fire, used the knife for this also.

But i think the best use of my Knife ws one of COmfort, you see after that fine squirel dinner i had to do a Number2 in the woods
(defecate that is) and being that i hapened to bring some tissue paper i set out to find a spot away from the camp site, i came across a fallen tree that looked like i could sling my BUTT over and do my buisness.
but as i dont like sitting on Rough Barked tree trunks, i used the Knife as a Draw knife and removed the bark in an expediant manner(cause i really had to go!!) down to the Soft underlying wood undr the bark, and completed my makeshift Toilit.

Then it was back to Getting more fire wood, again without the use of the knife.

I did use to Knife to Sharpen some smaller Chunks to build a Reflecting wall in front of the fire to Reflect heat back into the shelter ,but all in all the knife performed what it had to do. And was still Shaving at the end of the day.

I know this isnt a Romantic tale of Killing Rouge Moose, or Killer Grizzly`s, but it was what was required of my knife that day, and it performed to my need.

Take care,

Allen Blade

 
My first reason for carrying a big knife was for creating blinds in hunting season, especially archery season. Chopping limbs off fallen trees, digging clearing brush etc. This worked into building shelters for nights out when I got into period re-inactment and went out without tents etc. Using small logs to tap on the spine I have found the large knife fully capable of cutting and splitting firewood. Digging the firepit for the fire is another thing the knife helps with. It is hard I guess to think of all the things I have done with one over the years, not glamorous things, but everyday hard usage.
 
Most of the cutting I do around camp involves relatively light material. Typical activities might include cutting cords, creating tinder, or trimming tarps.

I like to take a large knife along because I have noticed that most of the camp clearing activity and "site improvements" we end up making will involve brush. Soft vegetation in the SE tends to pop up everywhere; clearing a site to make room for a tent, means removing some of this though 1/2-1" diameter growth. The stuff is too elastic to work efficiently with an axe, and too strong to comfortably pull out by hand. A big knife (7-9") is ideal for this stuff.

 
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