using a little blade

"BTW Siguy, where in CT do you live?"

i live in canton, about two miles from the collinsville axe factory.
 
pitdog said:
I know the method you mean bro but I don't think it would work with the size diameter of the wood in the pics, you would have to be superman to put any significant bend in that in order to put the fibres under stress !
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This may only be my take on things, but that looks like barely more than two inch diameter wood. I have never had any trouble with this method on three inch trees personally, and I think I could probably do close to four in the spring. I admit that on larger trees I have had to climb up a little and weigh the tree down, let it go, then weigh it down the other way a few times before I could comfortably pin it down while cutting.

I also use the method pictured at top...can be very precise and fast if you know what you are doing, and IMO safer than chopping (although I love axes regardless.)
 
this tree was behaving like it was spring, because when i took the pictures we were having our usual midwinter thaw and the trees were all getting ready to bloom. the sap sure was flowing (as you can see in one of the pics) it flexed very easily and it would have been easy to bend it for the other method.

i enjoy taking the axes and hatchets out back as much as the next guy, honestly. i have plenty of big sharp things. i just don't like to carry them when i don't have to.

also, as to the comments on folding saws...i love folding saws. i carry one on any trip longer than a day trip when a campfire/woodstove is a possibility, or if i am expecting to do any real pole collection or construction. for a little fire though to warm my hands with on a day hike a pile of twigs is sufficient.
 
CSG said:
It's hard to imagine being lost in the woods with only a pocket knife for any reasonably experienced outdoorsman.
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Yeah but the experiences has to come from some place, before you can become a reasonably experienced outdoorsman.
 
siguy said:
this tree was behaving like it was spring, because when i took the pictures we were having our usual midwinter thaw and the trees were all getting ready to bloom. the sap sure was flowing (as you can see in one of the pics) it flexed very easily and it would have been easy to bend it for the other method.
i enjoy taking the axes and hatchets out back as much as the next guy, honestly. i have plenty of big sharp things. i just don't like to carry them when i don't have to.

also, as to the comments on folding saws...i love folding saws. i carry one on any trip longer than a day trip when a campfire/woodstove is a possibility, or if i am expecting to do any real pole collection or construction. for a little fire though to warm my hands with on a day hike a pile of twigs is sufficient.
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Good info - didn't notice the sap in the pics but there it is! Overall, great thread!
 
Great pics and tip, siguy! :thumbup:

I have also had very good luck with dannyboys "bend and rock" technique.
 
jackknife said:
That is the exact method our scout master tought us when I was about 12-13 years old. He was a stickler for us learning to do as much as we could with a standard size pocket knife like our Camillus scout knives. His theroy was that we would always have our pocket knife on us, but in an unplaned event or emergency we may not have our sheath knives or hatchets with us. Hence we learned to use a small knife for just about everything.

He had us make all kinds of things with just our pocket knives, camp furnature, latrine benchs, tripods for hanging cooking pots over the fire.

To this day I will use my pocket knife to cut off a pole or hiking staff if needed with no problem. Having a sheath knife along is just gravy on the meatloaf. :D

"Choppers? We don't need no steenking choppers!"
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Exactly what you said about using the camilus is exactly the way we were taught. I went to philmont twice and all I had was that camilus boy scout deluxe. It worked out great and I never needed anything bigger (of course that was before I discovered all of the high price knives out there ;)).

For those of you guys who has made Eagle, here is a link to get yourself a Great offer from Buck Knives. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=508904
 
siguy said:
"BTW Siguy, where in CT do you live?"

i live in canton, about two miles from the collinsville axe factory.
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I live in Windham Co., but I currently work in your neck of the woods (Simsbury). It's quite a commute.:grumpy:
 
Interesting thread. One of the more common uses that I find for my choppers is making a hiking stick out of downed branches. This is easily accomplished in under a minute with a decent sized knife. How would you go about this with a smaller one? This is a comfort item, not survival, but still something that I do a lot of when hiking.
 
for breaking up downed branches you do the same thing; a line of notches and then snap it off. with some sticks you still need a knee to break it off.
 
sodak said:
Interesting thread. One of the more common uses that I find for my choppers is making a hiking stick out of downed branches. This is easily accomplished in under a minute with a decent sized knife. How would you go about this with a smaller one? This is a comfort item, not survival, but still something that I do a lot of when hiking.
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I've done this a great deal. I always have my hornbeam hiking staff, but along the trail someone with our party will want a hiking stick once they see the advantage to having one. I just find a down tree with a limb the right size and notch away around where I want to break it.

Once you make the stress line, its no big deal to break it off right where you want. Even easier if there is a close by forked tree with a fork thats pretty tight. You can use it like a pipe bender to put the stress right where you want it when you trim it off at the other end to fit the person.
Only takes a couple of minutes.
 
For ultralight. I carry a mora and this for wholesale cutting. Remember, you are most likely to need about 10 or 20 cuts at minimum to build shelter, bedding or firewood.
ZigSaw.jpg
 
Marcelo Cantu and siguy its great to have other guys from
Connecticut on the forum. do you guys know of any survival things i can do in Connecticut like stores, workshops etc. where do you guys practice your bush craft/survival skills?
 
siguy,

CanDo from slinging.org here. Nice photos! You may have seen that I'm working on a wilderness wiki (http://klippe.funditor.org). May I use these photos in an article on that technique? If you'd like, feel free to write it yourself, as anyone can edit. Otherwise, if you have a website or would like to be credited with your name, please let me know!

Best Regards,

CanDo
 
Lawlor69 said:
Great post, I agree. If the wood you are actually looking to cut is dead wood--either 'standing' dead wood or the stuff on the forest floor--I've found that you can snap even surprisingly thick wood by this knifeless/axeless/macheteless method:
1.find a reasonably stout living tree that has a forked trunk, or else two trees that are growing out of the same root.
2. Manouvre the branch or whatever into the V formed by the trunk or twin trees.
3. Make sure the dead wood is reasonable horizontal.
4. Move the wood so that it's 'locked' into the notch.
5. Now push--possibly with all of your might--against the dead wood.

If it's reasonably dry, and not too thick, it'll likely snap right at the V. Careful you don't go flying head first into the turf, however!
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I have used this method numerous times when I was younger and I didn't have my hatchet. Sometimes though it's hard to find decent burning wood here in NJ that is not wet from the sugar sand.
 
jackknife said:
"Choppers? We don't need no steenking choppers!"
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20.gif


Dannyboy Leather said:
If the wood fibers are maintained under stress, the wood won't split. When you are finished you will have a nice clean cut (wish I had some photos in my file). Your method obviously worked well, too. Come on over to the ranch and we will go out back and harvest some poles.:)
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Then your homework for this month is to go get some photos in your file, then post a tutorial thread on how to do the method you are talking about.

siguy: Great thread, thanks for the tutorial. It is nice to know certain knife skills that will allow you to get along without that large knife or hatchet. It's good to know how to use what is likely to be on you no matter what, like a pocket knife.
 
This is good to remember, especially as my philosophy on wilderness preparedness is KISS. Keep it simple stupid. And this also works for folks who perhaps do not train extensively with a hatchet or chopping blade. I have mentioned this technique to my fiance as well as the bending technique. They are ways to cut a shelter with a small pocket knife or even a kitchen paring knife - things she is likely to have with her in the woods. She's not going to be carrying a hatchet or a machete, and if we were to ever get separated she needs the knowledge to use the tools she has, as do we all.
 
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