I know I've told this over on the Traditional sub forum, but I feel in view of some recent posts on this sub forum I need to relay it. Its all about SAK's in a primitive place. The Costa Rican jungle.
A bit over 20 years ago, our oldest son, John, was working for a company that had him traveling a lot. Capetown South Africa, Amsterdam, Manila in the Philippines, London, and San Jose in Costa Rica. While in Costa Rica John arranged for us to visit, and we flew down for a vacation. Unknown it us, John, Knowing how Karen and I were avid nature watchers and bird watchers, arranged for an 'Eco-Tour' of the Rain forest. It was a hiking and camping trip of 4 days and three nights in the jungle with very professional guides and arranged camps every night with prepared meals. They did it up very very nice.
Every day after breakfast prepared by the guides on camp stoves, we'd hike to a destination, view wild life, swim in a nice stream along the way, and arrive at the next nights camp set up by the guides. Dinner would again be made by the guides, and the meals were tasty and filling. Camp stoves did a lot, as did the campfire and big cast iron fry pans. I had noticed that while all the guides carried a 10 to 12 inch small machete in a leather sheath, with a mill file for sharpening, they also had a nylon or leather pouch on their belt, that contained a SAK and a Bic lighter. They used the SAKs for any small cutting job, and the Bic lighter for getting the evening camp fire going. I asked one guide why the Bic, and he said because they always work. Very surprisingly, it got chilly enough at night that the fire was nice to sit by with a few cocktails. They had a folding table set up like a bar. The whole thing was kind of like those old Tarzan movies where they dress for dinner in luxury surrounding in the jungle. The secret was, each new nights camp was set up not far from a road where they trucked in the tents, stoves, and chairs and booze. The day hikes were plotted to end up near a campsite near a road. The tour folks had it down to a science.
The SAK's carried by the guides seemed to range from two layer models like tinkers or spartans, to more complex 4 or even 5 layers. I saw one guide use his SAK to replace a valve on a propane stove one night, and another guide open a can the next night. If the cutting job was more than the SAK blade was capable of, then the small machete was put to use. They all seemed very very capable with those small machetes, even to use them like a chef's knife in dinner preparation. SAK's were used like paring knives. On our last night in the rain forest, they had a real pig roast for us when we arrived at the camp site. The machetes were used to slice up and serve the roast pork in a very competent manner. From the easy way the blades glided through the meat, it was clear that they were razor sharp. I had a talk with Enrique, one of the guides, and he said that for most jobs, he always used his machete, but if it was too big, then his 'Swiss knife' was used. He said all the guides used SAK's because they were so rust resistant and the tools got the job done. With the trip over, we spent another week in San Jose with our son, and I saw a lot of black pouches on belts all over the city. It seems like Victorinox has it sewn up I Costa Rica. If you saw a pocket knife being used in San Jose, it was a SAK.
I came away form the trip with a new view point. That was the start of my major downsize of stuff. I figured of jungle guides in Costa Rica got by with a SAK and a small machete, I could too. Simple is good.
A bit over 20 years ago, our oldest son, John, was working for a company that had him traveling a lot. Capetown South Africa, Amsterdam, Manila in the Philippines, London, and San Jose in Costa Rica. While in Costa Rica John arranged for us to visit, and we flew down for a vacation. Unknown it us, John, Knowing how Karen and I were avid nature watchers and bird watchers, arranged for an 'Eco-Tour' of the Rain forest. It was a hiking and camping trip of 4 days and three nights in the jungle with very professional guides and arranged camps every night with prepared meals. They did it up very very nice.
Every day after breakfast prepared by the guides on camp stoves, we'd hike to a destination, view wild life, swim in a nice stream along the way, and arrive at the next nights camp set up by the guides. Dinner would again be made by the guides, and the meals were tasty and filling. Camp stoves did a lot, as did the campfire and big cast iron fry pans. I had noticed that while all the guides carried a 10 to 12 inch small machete in a leather sheath, with a mill file for sharpening, they also had a nylon or leather pouch on their belt, that contained a SAK and a Bic lighter. They used the SAKs for any small cutting job, and the Bic lighter for getting the evening camp fire going. I asked one guide why the Bic, and he said because they always work. Very surprisingly, it got chilly enough at night that the fire was nice to sit by with a few cocktails. They had a folding table set up like a bar. The whole thing was kind of like those old Tarzan movies where they dress for dinner in luxury surrounding in the jungle. The secret was, each new nights camp was set up not far from a road where they trucked in the tents, stoves, and chairs and booze. The day hikes were plotted to end up near a campsite near a road. The tour folks had it down to a science.
The SAK's carried by the guides seemed to range from two layer models like tinkers or spartans, to more complex 4 or even 5 layers. I saw one guide use his SAK to replace a valve on a propane stove one night, and another guide open a can the next night. If the cutting job was more than the SAK blade was capable of, then the small machete was put to use. They all seemed very very capable with those small machetes, even to use them like a chef's knife in dinner preparation. SAK's were used like paring knives. On our last night in the rain forest, they had a real pig roast for us when we arrived at the camp site. The machetes were used to slice up and serve the roast pork in a very competent manner. From the easy way the blades glided through the meat, it was clear that they were razor sharp. I had a talk with Enrique, one of the guides, and he said that for most jobs, he always used his machete, but if it was too big, then his 'Swiss knife' was used. He said all the guides used SAK's because they were so rust resistant and the tools got the job done. With the trip over, we spent another week in San Jose with our son, and I saw a lot of black pouches on belts all over the city. It seems like Victorinox has it sewn up I Costa Rica. If you saw a pocket knife being used in San Jose, it was a SAK.
I came away form the trip with a new view point. That was the start of my major downsize of stuff. I figured of jungle guides in Costa Rica got by with a SAK and a small machete, I could too. Simple is good.
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