What are your minimum edged tools?

[Joe13]

Well... A good friend of mine gifted me a very slightly used TOPS Anaconda (the 10" blade w/hunters tip) today.

I'm still going to try to get that kukuri I have my eye on, but I think I'll try and go spend a night out with just this anaconda and my little rat3 and see if I can find a reason for needing more then that on a 24 hour trip away from a vehicle.

 

[erudne]

Well... A good friend of mine gifted me a very slightly used TOPS Anaconda (the 10" blade w/hunters tip) today.

I'm still going to try to get that kukuri I have my eye on, but I think I'll try and go spend a night out with just this anaconda and my little rat3 and see if I can find a reason for needing more then that on a 24 hour trip away from a vehicle.

I prefer a 12" Bolo but they have no sex appeal, good news is you can cut one out with a torch and grind an edge on one side of it w/ angle grinder and then file a sharp edge always make a grip/handle longer than you think you need. Al Mar always made his grips too short as a means of making the blade look larger. The first custom knife I commissioned had a small handle w/an extended butt cap which I quickly ground off as it cramped my grip. an extra 1/2 inch is a must, 3/4" may be better if your swing it for an hour or more

 

[CoastRange57]

This guy has some cool looking stuff. Integrity Implements located in Forest Grove. <broken link removed>

Personal friend of mine and Lodge brother. Quality work, stand up guy.

 

[CoastRange57]

I carry a 3.5 folding pocket knife with seat belt cutter and glass breaker in my pocket all waking hours. BOB has a nice Fiskars camp hatchet on the side, wind up blade. If I leave the house to go fishing or another activity outside and urban area, a nice 6 inch fixed blade goes on my belt, and I have 2 more of these stashed under my rear vehicle seat, and a rear side pocket. Never more than 4 feet from any weapon in my vehicle.

In the vehicle I have a nice double bit axe with poly handle, a nice Fiskars machete, a 2 foot crowbay and a 4 foot crowbar. As a former firefighter, I want my car entry tools handy, I have used them once for that reason. Usually toss in my 12 inch chain saw as well.

I pretty much buy every axe, hatchet and knife that I come across at garage and estate sales.Seldom pay more than $ 8 for the largest axe and less for the others. Give them away to my kids, trade others, I probably have 6 hatchets, 5 axes and 10 crowbars now.

 

[erudne]

As a former firefighter, I want my car entry tools handy.

BRO!

 

[mjbskwim]

You had Roman Polanski in your truck? Ahhhh Pulaski is what they called them round here.

Brutus out

I don't know the guy so I could care less what the tool is called,but I hope you feel better being able to correct someone,haha even though you knew WTF I was talking about

 

[mjbskwim]

I would never replace the Moras,great knife for the money,but I am liking the Scandi Trekker.
Amazon here I come

 

[The Heretic]

My minimum edged tool in the back of my truck:

 

[Joe13]

That's an awefull lot of chainsaw for such a small truck

 

[The Heretic]

It gets the job done

 

[AMProducts]

So in going through the thread, I'd probably break things down some more:

Camp:
Just going out to camp, the "knife" needs are pretty simple, a kitchen knife for preparing food, an axe and maybe a saw for doing campfire stuff. For a long time I used to carry one of the large estwing hatchets, it's great but once you get into a hardwood forest, saws start to be the better choice.

Bottom line, Morakniv, pocketknife, axe/saw. Usually I bring a folding bow-saw in my pack.

Hunting/Fishing:

I'm probably a little more redneck than some people here in terms of game prep. The morakniv again tops the list for skinning gutting some game, however for the smaller game, a pair of EMT shears can make the work really quick. Especially for birds. For larger game, I use a drywall saw for cutting bones, and I have a few short/sharp knives I use for skinning, and then a big cleaver I got at a yard sale for butchering.

Bottom line, drywall saw, random fixed blade knives with short, broad/thick blades, clever, and scissors

Hiking/Backpacking:

Kinda the same thing as hunting, but I usually drop most of the excess gear, and stick to the bow saw and a mora, in addition to the normal folding pocketknife.

 

[Joe13]

Everyone's input has been greatly appreciated! This is such a great community.

Some stuff I've gathered so far:

No load out is perfect for everything (kinda knew that but efficiency is always nice)

I need/should find a decent folding saw for my pack

I need/should put a hand saw and supliment with a chain saw in my truck (already carry a full size axe most of the time).



So now I'm sitting with a 3" fixed (Ontario RAT-3), a 10" fixed (TOPS Anaconda) and looking into folding/portable saws.

Anyone use those chainsaw chains with handles for use by hand?

 

[Riot]

Just some suggestions...

http://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Factory-Truckers-All-Purpose-Survival/dp/B005HAT9SM


http://gearupcenter.com/exclusive-crovel-shovel/

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Hey, more stuff! I use a hobo stove made from a #10 can in our BOB's. It burns twigs up to as big as a thumb in diameter. To facilitate twig production we have a folding garden bypass pruner. It folds up much like a Leatherman tool, we keep it wrapped up in the stove.
In an earlier post someone mentioned the Havalon knives that use scalpel blades. I use mine all the time and recommend checking them out. Nothing like a scalpel for personal surgery like splinter removal.

 

[erudne]

I wish I could access and post the small collection of pics I made when I was in OZ using different edged cutters. I had a machete, a light weight, straightened out Kukri in D-2 as well as a heavier D-2 Bolo, the Bolo was the hands down winner, weight, length and design was all in it's favor. I chopped green bamboo, heavy eucalypts and everything in between, in many ways Coastal Australia is the perfect land for survival as the vegetation lends itself to shelter and fire.
A traditional Machete relies on length and thinness because a heavier tool will exhaust it's user but a machete is a agricultural tool, not a tool for survival. A heavier chopper is the best bet as it will harvest all the vegetation one can use as well as split light wood/build traps

When I speak of shelter I am talking something more than 1 hour's work and less than 2 days labor.
More than that is either an extension of the original structure or an actual long term engineered base camp/home that requires axes, saws, and a long term commitment. Not to mention a " color scheme" as well as a "nursery room"

 

[erudne]

Seems I cannot past from my personal pics of my blades that I used for 13 months in OZ!
That is major suckage because it is data point rich.
That stuff might be found in some Aussie SAS data bank because we did a beer bash(a) after I did a 15 minute demo for the SAS blokes on the Top End. (The fellows that drive the LC Recondos w/ with the onboard beer fridgies).
Best I can do at this point

 

[erudne]

I plcce great faith in my Mora, I have used their product since I was a child.

 

[Riot]

View attachment 223873I plcce great faith in my Mora, I have used their product since I was a child.

I, too, love Mora...went out and bought all the guys in my family <broken link removed> knives ($20 ea.) on eBay. Still have mine and love it! Sharp as a razor!

 

[The Heretic]

I got this yesterday:



This is the Schrade small tang Kurki

IMO it sucks.

I should have listened to the reviewers and my instincts. The tang/handle is entirely TOO small. I can grip it, but the balance is totally off, and the handle is so small and thin that is just isn't workable.

Oh well, live and learn. If you don't try something then you just won't know

 

[Martini_Up]

It gets the job done

Agreed!! Car camping / motorhome or trailer, I always have a chain saw.

hunting, I carry a BR Gameskeeper and the Gerber hatchet which has the hand saw inside the handle as well as a multi-tool.

backpacking, I carry Les Strouds Camillus survival knife(currently... that changes all the time) and a multi-tool. Walking in the deep woods for 1-4 weeks, you grow very tired of humping around extra weight for things you're not using regularly.