Camping and Survival Saws

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Terry Waldele on June 10, 2010 at 6:50

Ben, excellent question! In my car's emergency'survival kit, I keep a folding pruning saw as my Survival Saw. When we lived in Alaska, I bought this great Arctic survival "blade trader" that had a stout saw handle, machete blade, snow shovel blade and ice saw blade, and kept it in my Jeep's survival gear. After we moved back to Oregon, I decided to downsize a lot of my gear and sold it to a another Jeep owner that I worked with. Being a bit of a hoarder, I wish I still had it.

Permalink Reply by Ben on June 11, 2010 at 13:11

I have been using the Gerber Exchange-A Blade for about a year now and I really like it. For the price you can't beat it and I think that I picked mine up on sale at Cabela's in August-September 2009 for $14.99. It has really good cutting ability and doesnt weight a whole lot. It also comes with a spare blade for fine cutting like bone I am guessing for field dressing game. I want to get a Trailblazer Sawvivor to have and use when I need a bigger blade to cut larger pieces of wood. But I always make sure that I keep a can of WD40 or an Off-brand similar lubricant(seems to work just as good, just a few bucks cheaper) to spray the blade with while cutting and that really helps the blade cut through quickly.

Permalink Reply by D ale on June 30, 2010 at 2:27

Interesting .. I don't know .. I have what I consider a great little camping hatchet .. but a saw .. uhm .. don't have one ???

You like the Gerber .. sounds like it .. I have respect for Gerber's product .. owned by Fiskars .. good scissors/shears !!!

I'll bet it is lightwgt .. collapsible too .. had it since fall 09 .. have you abused .... sorry .... how robust an evaluation has it survived ??

Permalink Reply by Ben on June 30, 2010 at 11:24

I havnt really done any extreme tests on it just normal use and it is still holding up great. Yea it is collapsible and is lightweight. It has cut through anything that I have put it up against so I have been happy with it. For the bigger logs and stuff I spray the blade with WD40 or some other lubricant to help keep it from locking up while cutting. I have been very happy with it and would recommend it. I want to pick up a Trailblazer Sawvivor folding bow saw eventually to test out.

Permalink Reply by D ale on July 6, 2010 at 10:56

Ben .. I know the discussion is for SAWS .. but, pls excuse for straying ouside the discussion a bit .. .. thought I'd post a pic of why I haven't needed a saw ..

The lower one is my camping Axe .. wks great dude !!!!
..say .. done any camping yet this year .. I haven't even had occasion to break out my camping gear .. need to rectify that here real soon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Ben on July 6, 2010 at 11:22

Very cool yea, I usually carry a hatchet with me when I am camping as well.

Yea I actually got back from camping yesterday, it was just at a campground for the night that some friends of mine are staying at, but I was glad to get to test out my new backpacking tent Kelty Grand Mesa. But I have been outside in the back yard by the campfire almost every night and been out at our family's farm gathering wood alot.

Permalink Reply by D ale on July 6, 2010 at 11:30

Nice tent !!!!!

My daughter has the Crestone or something real similiar .. I've just a generic $20 special .. has wked great for 25+ yrs .. check this out .. camping w/ my daughter last year ..http://www.iknifecollector.com/photo/hiking-in/next?context=album&a...

Permalink Reply by Ben on July 6, 2010 at 12:31

Nice picture I bet that was a fun trip. Yea I usually went with much cheaper tents before I started backpacking where weight and size mean everything. Still think it is nuts how much some tents cost lol.

Permalink Reply by Phil Stevens on October 14, 2010 at 18:28

I use one of the Gerber folding saws when I'm deer hunting, particularly if I'm hunting from a tree stand. I have found it is a great help in removing a limb that is blocking my view or would potentially disrupt a shot. It is good for sawing small branches up to about 3 1/2 inches in diameter or so. It is a handly tool for both hunting and camping and is not so heavy or bulky as to be a problem bringing along on an outdoor adventure.
I would not want to cut a cord of wood with it but it would be very adequate for cuting up enough wood to make a fire.

Permalink Reply by kage on October 14, 2010 at 20:49

On the sheaths of my Cold Steel Recon Scout, SRK, and Bushman Bowie I keep a wire saw. I also keep one in my miscellaneous/survival tin and one in my EC Bag. Lightweight, flexible, and in a pinch can be used as a snare wire.

Permalink Reply by Terry Waldele on October 15, 2010 at 2:53

This is probably very obvious to everybody else, but no one ever instructed me in the proper way to use a wire saw, so it took me a while to figure this out myself: The rings on each end of a wire saw could be slipped over a finger on each hand, but anyone doing this would quickly get blisters on the ring fingers. A less painful and more efficient way to use the rings would be to cut a stick about 6-inches long for each ring, with the pegs matching the rings' diameters if they're different. Then, slip each ring half way onto each peg to serve as a handle like the one on a pull rope for a small gas engine. Then, use the handles to pull the wire back and forth to cut through a pole or whatever. If this was too obvious to everybody else, my bad!

Permalink Reply by kage on October 15, 2010 at 8:02

The problem with using sticks in this fashion is that one needs the appropriate girth of stick to fit within the fixed rings. Such a size might not be readily available, or will have to be whittled down from thicker pieces, which could be time consuming. Once whittled down, one might probably want to keep the sticks with them, thus tacking up space upon one's self. A better option would be to use Paracord looped upon the rings. Any size of sticks could then be attached/looped to the Paracord. Additionally, longer lengths of Paracord could be attached to the rings in order to facilitate the cutting of high placed branches. One note when using a wire saw, the angle that one holds the rings must be sufficiently wide, so that the wire saw does not bind into the wood/material. One needs to hold the rings at a distance just slightly more wider than shoulder width, and the motion one uses should be akin to that of using ski/walking poles, while incorporating the torso in a side-to-side movement... ya gotta git yer back in ta it. ;)

By far, the most effect way to use a wire saw in the bush, is as a Buck Saw. Simply find a stick (preferably green wood and one that has a slight curve to it) that is slightly longer than the length of the unfolded wire saw, and cut a notch into each end of the stick. Then insert one end of the saw blade/line into the notch so that the split-ring is butted up against the notch, and bend the stick gently and insert the other end of the saw blade/line in the same fashion into the notch at the other end of the stick. You will now have a Bush Buck Saw, which can be used as one would normally use a Buck Saw.

There are various types of wire saws that come with handles and/or gripping attachments, but I find the split-ring style to be far more compact and versatile, imo.


Terry Waldele said:

This is probably very obvious to everybody else, but no one ever instructed me in the proper way to use a wire saw, so it took me a while to figure this out myself: The rings on each end of a wire saw could be slipped over a finger on each hand, but anyone doing this would quickly get blisters on the ring fingers. A less painful and more efficient way to use the rings would be to cut a stick about 6-inches long for each ring, with the pegs matching the rings' diameters if they're different. Then, slip each ring half way onto each peg to serve as a handle like the one on a pull rope for a small gas engine. Then, use the handles to pull the wire back and forth to cut through a pole or whatever. If this was too obvious to everybody else, my bad!

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