- Joined
- Jan 30, 2008
- Messages
- 437
You know, every so often, people ask the question "if you could only have one knife, blah blah blah". Today, since the boy was home from school, and not feeling well, we decided to go out into the woods and play, nature always helps the sick. Right?
I wanted to put the "if I only have one knife" theory to the test, mainly, because I only ever carry one knife. Blasphemy I know, but I dont have a small blade for carving and notching, and a large blade for batonning and chopping, and saw, and an axe. Well sometimes I carry a cheap 10 $ folding saw from our local sporting goods store. I wanted to see if I could build a suitable shelter with just a small to medium sized blade.
I turned to my BanTang BT4 Recurve. I tried to photo the process as I used the knife, but my son couldnt quite get the shots. After all he is only 5. I have a few pics of the progress, but not of the actual knife in use.
I used Ban's knife in every part of the process, and only the BT4. There were times that I wedged some saplings and broke them to length, but as far as cutting instruments go, the BT4 was it. I used the Recurve to cut down several saplings to serve as uprights and crossmembers in my shelter, I used the Recurve to split sapling down the middle to make them thinner and more flexible to weave into my shelter. The BT4 harvested all the greenery, in this case cedar, to make up the roof. Ban's knife did a tremendous job. Now granted I had to baton a lot of thicker pieces, and if definitely took me longer than if I had, had a big chopper and an axe, Im not certain I could replicate my success if in the wilderness and injured, though I feel even more comfortable now more than ever going into the woods with just one knife, especially if its my Ban Tang BT4.
One a side note, during one of my cuts I got a little over zealous and plunged the knife right into the ground, causing a small ding on the front of the blade, barely noticeable, but there none the less.
I would also mention that after this entire process Ban's knife is still incredibly SHARP!!!!
Hope you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading.
I wanted to put the "if I only have one knife" theory to the test, mainly, because I only ever carry one knife. Blasphemy I know, but I dont have a small blade for carving and notching, and a large blade for batonning and chopping, and saw, and an axe. Well sometimes I carry a cheap 10 $ folding saw from our local sporting goods store. I wanted to see if I could build a suitable shelter with just a small to medium sized blade.
I turned to my BanTang BT4 Recurve. I tried to photo the process as I used the knife, but my son couldnt quite get the shots. After all he is only 5. I have a few pics of the progress, but not of the actual knife in use.
I used Ban's knife in every part of the process, and only the BT4. There were times that I wedged some saplings and broke them to length, but as far as cutting instruments go, the BT4 was it. I used the Recurve to cut down several saplings to serve as uprights and crossmembers in my shelter, I used the Recurve to split sapling down the middle to make them thinner and more flexible to weave into my shelter. The BT4 harvested all the greenery, in this case cedar, to make up the roof. Ban's knife did a tremendous job. Now granted I had to baton a lot of thicker pieces, and if definitely took me longer than if I had, had a big chopper and an axe, Im not certain I could replicate my success if in the wilderness and injured, though I feel even more comfortable now more than ever going into the woods with just one knife, especially if its my Ban Tang BT4.
One a side note, during one of my cuts I got a little over zealous and plunged the knife right into the ground, causing a small ding on the front of the blade, barely noticeable, but there none the less.
I would also mention that after this entire process Ban's knife is still incredibly SHARP!!!!
Hope you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading.
