Which blades would you take on a 10 day DIY hunting trip to Alaska?

[RWT]

After reading Pitdogs post on what blade do you grab that will never fail you, I started thinking what sceanrio would I be in that could require this decision. The only one I can come up with is a DIY hunting trip to a very remote location. Russia, Alaska, anywhere in Canada that doesn't have state run health care. The question is what blades do you take with you that you may have to trust your life on and why? Parameters below.

1. Only you and a buddy on this hunt - guide drops you off and is scheduled to pick you up in 10 days. Not a party atmosphere. Assume your buddy goes stupid and forgot his knives.
2. Remote location for 10 days with HIGH possibility of being stranded due to weather for another 14 days. Float plane or boat trip to get you to YOUR DIY base camp is only means of transportation.
3. Clothing and shelter are taken care of - clothes you brought to hunt and tent provided(sleeping system provided as well as enough gear to include food and cooking items for 2 men for a total of 14 days)
4. Food is packed in and enough for 14 total days even though you know 10 days is the expected pick up time frame. You at least planned for 4 extra days of food. So hope you shoot something as you will need something more to eat.
5. You have plenty of ammo and all necessary items to hunt in the area, boots, pack, fire starter, optics, rain gear etc.
6. For blades a maximum 3lb limit as the remaining 122lbs you were allowed to bring constitutes all of your other gear.

Your blades or "tools" are what you need to "survive" the unexpected additional 14 days. What do you take and why?
Photos welcome, I'll post mone tomorrow.

Mine are :

Custom Busse CABS- easy to sharpen, takes a beating, great for cleaning animals, good at wood craft
CRKT Drifter - always in my pocket and is decent enough for general EDC (torn between the Drifter and my Blur in S30V. Blur got kicked out due to difficulty in sharpening and size is to large)
Ontario 12" Machete- easy to sharpen, will baton, I can dig with it, attaches easily to a pack, if I lose it I am out $20 and I don't think I need to chop anything greater than 4" in diameter.


Pitdog asked for one blade and I chose my Busse Boss Jack as it does not work as well as any of the three above for any of their dedicated task, but can do everything all three blades do with either more effort, more time or more skill. I am stating you can take however many you want, just keep it under 3lbs.

I am curious to see who takes an ax, shovel or multitool and why? I thought about an ax at first, but I just can't see the need for the weight. I have a multitool in my PSK and that one is up for further debate.

 

[pitdog]

After reading Pitdogs post on what blade do you grab that will never fail you, I started thinking what sceanrio would I be in that could require this decision. The only one I can come up with is a DIY hunting trip to a very remote location. Russia, Alaska, anywhere in Canada that doesn't have state run health care. The question is what blades do you take with you that you may have to trust your life on and why? Parameters below.

1. Only you and a buddy on this hunt - guide drops you off and is scheduled to pick you up in 10 days. Not a party atmosphere. Assume your buddy goes stupid and forgot his knives.
2. Remote location for 10 days with HIGH possibility of being stranded due to weather for another 14 days. Float plane or boat trip to get you to YOUR DIY base camp is only means of transportation.
3. Clothing and shelter are taken care of - clothes you brought to hunt and tent provided(sleeping system provided as well as enough gear to include food and cooking items for 2 men for a total of 14 days)
4. Food is packed in and enough for 14 total days even though you know 10 days is the expected pick up time frame. You at least planned for 4 extra days of food. So hope you shoot something as you will need something more to eat.
5. You have plenty of ammo and all necessary items to hunt in the area, boots, pack, fire starter, optics, rain gear etc.
6. For blades a maximum 3lb limit as the remaining 122lbs you were allowed to bring constitutes all of your other gear.

Your blades or "tools" are what you need to "survive" the unexpected additional 14 days. What do you take and why?
Photos welcome, I'll post mone tomorrow.

Mine are :

Custom Busse CABS- easy to sharpen, takes a beating, great for cleaning animals, good at wood craft
CRKT Drifter - always in my pocket and is decent enough for general EDC (torn between the Drifter and my Blur in S30V. Blur got kicked out due to difficulty in sharpening and size is to large)
Ontario 12" Machete- easy to sharpen, will baton, I can dig with it, attaches easily to a pack, if I lose it I am out $20 and I don't think I need to chop anything greater than 4" in diameter.


Pitdog asked for one blade and I choose my Busse Boss Jack as it does not work as well as any of the three above for any of their dedicated task, but can do everything all three blades do with either more effort, more time or more skill. I am stating you can take however many you want, just keep it under 3lbs.

I am curious to see who takes an ax, shovel or multitool and why? I thought about an ax at first, but I just can't see the need for the weight. I have a multitool in my PSK and that one is up for further debate.

I'll have to think about this one but I have to say those choil-less Busse CABS are one of my favorite looking Busse-Kin knives !

 

[CWL]

First item that I would suggest to include is an axe. This is required by Alaskan law to be included in all Bush pilots' survival gear so you should understand the importance of having one with you.

When it comes down to harvesting wood for survival, shelter, making other tools, an axe is your best friend.

 

[RWT]

I am surprised this thread has had no play.

 

[LG&M]

I'll play.
TOPS Key B
Snow and Nealley axe
Stihl folding saw
BK 10
And my Dozer hunting knife. It is a hunting trip after all
Leather man surge
The above might not be my dream kit but it is from what I own.

 

[Skimo]

Folding saw, machete and pocket knife. Where is important, some areas are like jungle, others are little more than scrub.

 

[MyDogsHunt]

First item that I would suggest to include is an axe. This is required by Alaskan law to be included in all Bush pilots' survival gear so you should understand the importance of having one with you.

When it comes down to harvesting wood for survival, shelter, making other tools, an axe is your best friend.

+1
An axe and a good belt knife would be my first choices.

 

[baldtaco-II]

Ah, the tranquility. With a tanker full of other stuff I don't require anything special for cutting clout. You've painted a very different scenario from one in which I deliberately make life hard for myself by leaving gear behind and have to use some sort of chopper...........If it wasn't for the nasty rust issue I'd be plenty happy enough with a CS Master Hunter as a main blade, and I'm pretty sure Ontario or Swamp Rat have something just as good but also that sux for the same reason, corrosion. …........Something that is simple and grippy, fantasy and gimmick free, that I can tune to make cut well, which has a sensible margin of safety as toughness is concerned, and works well with gloves or mittens is what I require...........For my taste I'd probably go with a tuned up Blackjack Grunt. It was designed by a the legendary knife writer Ken Warner [look him up if you don't know]. There's a guy that knows a bit about knives and came up the hard way - not some neo-fanboy type that writes now. You know the type, all self publicity, nepotism and advertising, more money than brains and wants to make a name for himself. It's pretty obvious to anyone that Warner is a league apart from these wannabes and their gimmicky “you scratch my back” promotions, and it shows in his designs.......................... The Grunt isn't far estranged from an old Marbles utility pattern, only is is brought up to date with more practical materials. As a true utility pattern it offers a bit more headroom than a thin bladed hunting knife. Whilst it's no dedicated chopper it has sufficient mass forward to do a bit of light chopping, and splitting a few twigs for kindling is hardly a problem.............That said, it can be made to have a good degree of cutting power for the thickness because it is convex. NIB it just comes sharp, and slices easily through the cardboard sleeve when you unwrap it [not surprising really because they are sharpened at the same place that does the Rough Rider slippies, and for all their faults they always come sharp]. The name “Grunt” probably betrays why it doesn't come with optimal cutting performance despite being sharp. Whilst that Noss bloke had a wail of a time smashing through a concrete bock with it, and it did not chip, realistically there's as much excuse for that in the real world as there is letting a child serve rocks on the beach with your favourite badminton racket. But there is bags of potential in that blade. Redone in accordance with tasks likely to be encountered and that can be turned into a cutting champ for a blade that thick. You just need to remove all that obtuse convex and thin it to a convex that cuts right. Easy job. Add to that the new ones are more on a par with AUS 10 than the old AUS 8 ones, and that's an improvement despite many turning their nose up at the change of country of manufacture that afforded the change. Yay, scrape of the silly politics and you've something that works well at tool prices and not priced for bragging rights. A true beater that works for a living. I like my tweaked one a lot. It'll cut through meat, rope, wood, shoes, cardboard, carpet. all sorts with a casual indifference Not bad at all for a knife you don't have to mollycoddle, with a high traction handle, that weighs less than 10oz and still chops a bit, and if that Noss video is to be a demonstration took moving along a vice and bounced up and down on by a 240lb bloke because he failed to break it in the first position. So yeah, that, cutting goodness with a bit of headroom and low maintenance. That's my primary tool pick for this.................................Add in a saw and my SAK Outrider and a little lambsfoot slippy for the really fine stuff and I'm good to go at under 3lbs. With all the other supplies provided in the brief that's so much more than enough.

 

[JParanee]

I have been in that situation many times and usually on a fly in camp they will drop you with a sort of base camp set up that includes an axe and a saw.

From there you will hunt the area. If you have to spike camp that's when you would really need to travel light and in that situation I always have a small capeing/ utility knife which can be accomplished with using a Leatherman. The leatherman gives you the added bonus of a small amount of tools. Along with a smaller blade/ Leatherman I pack a larger fixed blade for light wood duty and emergency shelters etc.

I packed this Bagwell and this little caper along with a Leatherman for many years. I could have got by with just the Leatherman and the big blade but I love a nice little working knife

The stag on the Bagwell was a bit rough but with a light leather glove it always got the job done

I believe in the future and for the ops question I would switch to this knife for a big camp knife and a Leatherman for my small blade

Burt Foster made the Hybrid Khukuri

Again if there was not a base camp with an axe and a saw I would rethink what I was carrying

As for a small capeing/utility knife I have found one of his Darksides a fantastic knife

Stainless and carbon laminate gives you the best of both worlds with edge retention and rust resistance

 

[Runsalone]

Same thing I carry camping here. Jarvenpaa Aito or Kellam puukko, Saw, Large Forest axe, Wave. (I might have gone over a few ounces though....) That pretty much covers everything doesnt it? Lol. I suppose I could see wishing for a longer edge like a machete if I wanted to beef up a natural shelter, but more than that I think Id want fire to be a non-issue. That is, given I have a good Tent as listed.

Cool thread.!

 

[fmajor007]

OK, since there's a weight limit to 3 lbs i'm going to choose utility!!!

1) my Breeden Custom:

2) my "Bob Dustrude Quick-Bucksaw" folding saw

3) my Leatherman Wave multi-tool
no image........

With those three, i'm pretty sure i could manage anything i'd need to.

 

[high desert]

I think to just add a big knife(chopper) would be fine with the cabs. I wonder if a multitool is necessary in the wilderness? They are heavy for there size and will you be around enough hardware related fastners?

 

[JParanee]

I think to just add a big knife(chopper) would be fine with the cabs. I wonder if a multitool is necessary in the wilderness? They are heavy for there size and will you be around enough hardware related fastners?

Firearms and some bows have hardware related fasteners

 

[tidefan]

Wetterlings small hunting axe, TOPS Rogue Wolf, Case xx large stockman in CV.

 

[RWT]

So after splitting a ton of old dried post oak with the 12" Ontario yesterday for the firepit I am convinced it will handle the chopping task I need better than an ax. Granted some of the splitting required more effort than with an ax, but I felt much more in control using a baton vs. my poor swinging technique.

Also, broke out the new Scrapmax in ELMAX - at less than 6 oz with sheath this thing is amazing. Actually consdering making it my belt knife and keeping the CABS in my pack as it seemed to be less noticeable than my CRKT drifter in my pocket.

 

[rwc53]

I would take along the Bowie I made using an 8" forged blade from Solingen, Germany, which I re-ground to have a slant-clip, and which has a steel guard and natural micarta handle scales (a great chopper & nearly indestructable!). Accompanying that fine knife would be my modified Victorinox Farmer with scissors added, and my Breeden modified 4" Pathfinder. Should I require pliers, I would drop in a good pair of needlenose pliers into my kit.

Regards,
Ron

 

[gytheran]

A folding saw, medium sized knife, a pocket knife, and a portable sharpener.

A shovel is used for covering your feces. The last thing you want is to attract a brown bear to your site.

 

[Runsalone]

I think to just add a big knife(chopper) would be fine with the cabs. I wonder if a multitool is necessary in the wilderness? They are heavy for there size and will you be around enough hardware related fastners?

For me its the diamond/bastard file, can opener, scissors, and back up small blades that make it worth taking on a trip like this. The pliers are great for pulling hot suff out of a fire. Of course you can make tongs or something but a dedicated pair of grippers sure is nice. Necessary...No. Handy? Heck yeah Lol. If we were talking about backpacking I would probably leave it at home. But for a base camp type hunting excursion, Im going tool heavy.

 

[the gimp]

This post has special interest to me since I am in the process of planning a hunt to Alaska for the 2013 season. I will most likely be going for black bear and sitka deer and will likely be dropped off on one of the islands with my hunting partner. We will be setting up our own spike camp and will not be supported so any and all gear must be given a lot of thought.
I am sure we will be bringing a small axe along but I have already been giving a blade for my personal carry some thought. As of now I am thinking my Grohamn Survival knife for my main blade along with a locking blade SAK. The grohamn is stout enough to split kindling if need be and has enough belly to work as a skinning knife ( I will be processing some whitetail this fall to confirm this) If I can get a kydex sheath made I should have a nice weather proof package since the wooden handle slabs have been replaced with micarta already. The SAK has a saw blade as well as a couple other tools to help me out and I really like the locking blade feature. I may change this out for a multi-tool though if I can find one lite enough.

 

[thrillbilly]

Probably this combo, I took this pic yesterday while i was out woods-bumming and pond-fishing.

BK9, BK17, BK14 and a TMHunt EDC Warnie.

The BK14 and Hunt blade are my EDC, I grabbed the larger two when I got out of my truck. Honestly I would be happy with just the BK9 and BK17 for the described scenario.

Not a whole lot I couldn't get accomplished with those two.