The axe for the north, the machete for the tropic, what for the desert?

A spear would be nice, if you can find a long and strong enough piece of wood. Our desert covers hundreds of square miles (mojave/anza) and trust me, the wood is not workable.
 
Overexertion is a killer. We have lost many people this year alone and many others rescued. The saw would be a great accompaniment to a fixed blade. Small blade would be absolutely necessary since most creatures you will find are small. Lizards, snakes, rabbits.

Your best chance of survival is minimal effort during the day and working at night.
 
This is my machete
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This is what it did to a 2 day dead mesquite

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There aren't many trees in the desert.
 
Arturo, what's that "machete" that you're showing? I'm not familiar with that one. I live in San Diego, but play in the local deserts a bit (Anza Borrego, etc.). I usually carry a 14" bolo with me; it's really useful.
 
It's an 18" Cold Steel Bowie but HornDog (I don't know if he goes by that here) put the convex edge and sharpened the swedge. A simple stropping was all it needed even after going through the tough as hell mesquite. I'm impressed by the blade but more impressed by Vic's work. Swings beautifully.
 
ArturoTostadoIII said:
I'm a native San Diegan, Anza is about an hour from me. Gotta love the machete's! :D
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Yep. For Northern forests an axe may be the thing, I guess, but out here a good machete takes the prize. Light woods in our mountains, brush popping in the foothills, or in the deserts, nothing works better than a good machete. For me, it's a bolo; the weight and length are just right for chopping and light digging.
 
I too love to go to Anza desert and if it comes down to it a 23" or so Machete would be great and you can use it for some digging in a pinch. A small knife and a small saw would be all you need. Not all deserts are sand.. There are more rocks and brush then anything.

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Good pictures, Sasha. Yeah, you're right, most of the desert isn't sand. Sure, we have big areas of sand out near El Centro, but most of it is rocks and brush and — where there's water — trees. Where I live in San Diego is technically desert, but — because of all the water we import — there's a lot of green. The desert Southwest is a very, very large area, with incredibly varied terrain and vegetation. Pretty amazing area, really.
 
Its amazing how water can transform the desert... I love the desert in some ways even more then the mountains.... But you can die in the desert so much faster if you dont respect it....
 
Machete, Axe and Shovel + Canteen (full), and a 4 inch fixed blade (Scandi).
This is what I think you should carry as you kit, no matter where you are.
 
sasha said:
Its amazing how water can transform the desert... I love the desert in some ways even more then the mountains.... But you can die in the desert so much faster if you dont respect it....
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Yeah, the desert's great, although nowadays I only go out there in the winter. I don't like dealing with the heat anymore; guess I'm getting soft in my old age (and I'm okay with that).
 
I find just peeing into a t-shirt and wearing it as a hat will just about take care of any issues in the desert.
 
Dawsonbob i like going there on Xmas for a week. Most of the time there are no people and the animals come out.. I got to find some pic from a friends trip when he got more then 6in of snow at big blair valley. Its actualy very pretty.

Sasha
 
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