So since the time I started this thread I had a little bit of a debacle out in the hills. Enough to give me that final push to send for some saws anyhow. I was in the hills on my snow machine and dumped it trying to get out of a steep little bowl I'd managed to get in. Ended up rolling it several times. The worst casualty was the windshield, ha
I got away lucky, but with snow stuffed everywhere
After I got my bearings back and gear collected from the yardsale-on-the-hill, I got the sled running and found a spot to build a fire and dry out for a bit. I had plenty of equipment with me including a GSO 10 on my side, and also a 4.7 in the pack. The 10 made some quick work out of gathering kindling and producing tinder, no problems there. But as I worked the fire and brought it up to taking larger pieces, I started to realize that if I were needing to spend the night, I'd be working pretty hard for bigger fuel. There was plenty of smaller stuff, but it was being consumed quickly. There would have been very little sleep if I had been forced to stay.
With the saw discussion fresh in my head, I started taking stock of my options if I'd had one with me. I could have easily gathered some larger dry wood with a saw that was possible, but difficult, with the 10. When I got home off that trip, I sent for two Silkys, the Gomboy 210 from S!K, and an Ultra Accel that I could not source from S!K (Ellie, there might be a gap in your line there sister, although I do realize that it's hard to carry everything).
I ran out yesterday to get some practice in, and am very happy with both blades :thumbup: I'm going to feel a lot better about having one in the pack now.
I started off letting the 210 do any delimbing that was necessary before making the cuts on the main section, and then went ahead and gave the first main cut to the 210.
I went ahead and grabbed the 240 after that and started knocking firewood pieces off the trunk fast. The Ultra Accel handled this size cut about ten strokes faster than the 210.
Size comparison. The 210 fits nicely one-handed. The 240 you can definitely get two hands on.
Found an old fire ring that hadn't been used for awhile and carried the makings over
I brought the Fiddleback Production Camp Knife along on this trip. It hadn't seen as much use as I'd like, and it handled it's job really well, an excellent batoning and fire-prep blade IMO. It handled the twisted grain without issue.
The bark on this tree yielded up some nice dry fibrous material that fuzzed up well for catching sparks.
Made a few curls and broke down some more small kindling. The fuzz didn't disappoint, it took a spark well.
This camp fire brought to you by Survive Knives, Silky, Fiddleback Forge, Esee, Victorinox, and Hale Storm Custom Kydex.
