What do you do in the field to "sanitize" your knife prior or post food prep?

T

T-Dog

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Nov 28, 2009
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Looking to see what all you creative people do in the field to clean your blade before working with food or after cutting raw food from the minimalist perspective. We are not always around water on our hikes (obviously we have water to drink) but we have just been using a little hand sanitizer and a good wipe. We are bushcraft eating more and more plus the menu is expanding and just wonder what the popular method is.
 
Generally, I'm good with using a dry rag to clean off any dirt, a flame to sterilize it and a damp rag to remove any soot afterward.
 
Germs make your immune system stronger. I don't sanitize anything in the field.




*Fire, kill it with Fire
 
Just spit and wipe with shirt.
As others have said, the food it probably going to be cooked, so I'm not too picky about having an entirely sanitized blade. I just make sure that anything stuck on the blade(like dirt) prior to using it for food is wiped off
 
if Im using my knife just to eat with , Ill wipe it before and after on my pants leg

if I am using my knife to clean game , Ill rinse it and wipe it on my pants leg before , and give it a good wash or as good as i can given the circumstances .. and yeah , dry it on my shirt or my pants leg , which ever is cleaner at the time .
 
I think the question is more about how to clean the knife after using it to cut things like raw meat. I'd say boiling some water and using that to kill any bacteria that may be on the blade would be the best option.
Generally I don't take raw meat to cook when I go camping, so it's not a big issue for me. I do from time to time take bacon though, luckily it doesn't need to be cut.
Mostly I'll just wipe the knife on my pant leg to clean it.
 
sterilize with hot water for both food and surgery. alcohol is too slow and affects food. after using it on food, it's just like any utensil that needs to be washed.
 
When in the field, wether hunting, fishing or just camping, I usually just wipe the knife on my pants, or on a piece of moss if it is rely dirty. I personally think there is to much focus on sterilizing everything nowadays. You can buy antibacterial dish washing soap and so on. If we are not exposed to different types of bacteria, the bacteria culture in our systems will be dominated by a few types of bacteria, and we will not be able to cope with different bacteria's when we come into contact with them. A typical example is the "holiday stomach" many people from my country (Norway) usually gets when on holiday in countries where the bacterial "flora" more abundant then we are used to. Typically these bacteria's do not bother the people who are used to them.

Ok, rant over:o
 
I personaly never sanitize my blades in the field but boiling water or a quick run over flame will kill and bacteria on the blade then a wipe it off on your pants and you're good. If your blade is coated with apoxy then you may want to be careful putting alcohol or fire to it.
 
I usually make camp by some sort of water , weather a lake stream or marsh . but knife cleaning is still just swishing it in the water and wiping it on my sleeve or pant leg . it get scrubbed clean being battoned through wood for the fire ;)


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HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS !
 
Gamma radiation works really good for killing bacteria;).Mostly I just swish in a river or lake and use my shirt to wipe off.
 
I have a small bottle of Purell with me. I usually just put a drop on either side of the blade and rub it around. Alcohol wipes are good as well.

The Purell is doubly useful for sanitizing your hands after using the bathroom (if the bathroom was actually more like a hole in the dirt).
 
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