Why ?

[hollowdweller]

So you figure if he hadn't been murdered, he'd still be with us today or what?

+40

So since we are talking about him being murdered should we move the thread to Practica Tactical Form?

 

[hollowdweller]

I would bet good $$$ on the fact that he could have shown everyone on this forum a few things about survival.

This speaks to that I think:

Analysis of Ötzi's intestinal contents showed two meals (the last one about eight hours before his death), one of chamois meat, the other of red deer meat. Both were eaten with some grain as well as some roots and fruits. The grain from both meals was a highly processed einkorn wheat bran, quite possibly eaten in the form of bread. There were also a few kernels of sloes (small plum-like fruits of the blackthorn tree). Hair analysis was used to examine his diet from several months before.

Pollen in the first meal showed that it had been consumed in a mid-altitude conifer forest, and other pollens indicated the presence of wheat and legumes, which may have been domesticated crops. Also, pollen grains of hop-hornbeam were discovered. The pollen was very well preserved, with even the cells inside still intact, indicating that it had been fresh (a few hours old) at the time of Ötzi's death, which places the event in the spring. Interestingly, einkorn wheat is harvested in the late summer, and sloes in the autumn; these must have been stored since the year before

Clothes and shoes

Ötzi with some of the equipment found with him.
Ötzi's flint knife and its sheath.Ötzi's clothes were quite sophisticated. He wore a cloak made of woven grass and a vest, a belt, a pair of leggings, a loincloth and shoes, all made of leather. He also wore a bearskin cap with a leather chin strap. The shoes were waterproof and wide, seemingly designed for walking across the snow; they were constructed using bearskin for the soles, deer hide for top panels, and a netting made of tree bark. Soft grass went around the foot and in the shoe and functioned like warm socks. The vest, belt, leggings, and loincloth were constructed of vertical strips of leather sewn together with sinew. His belt had a pouch sewn to it that contained a cache of useful items: a scraper, drill, flint flake, bone arrow, and a dried fungus to be used as tinder.

The shoes have since been reproduced by experts, and found to constitute such excellent footwear that there are plans for commercial production.[9] However, a more recent hypothesis by British archaeologist Jacqui Wood says that Ötzi's "shoes" were actually the upper part of snowshoes. According to this theory, the item currently interpreted as part of a backpack is actually the wood frame and netting of one snowshoe and animal hide to cover the torso.[citation needed]


Other equipment
Other items found with the Iceman were a copper axe with a yew handle, a flint knife with an ash handle, a quiver of 14 bone-tipped arrows with viburnum and dogwood shafts and flint heads (two arrows were finished, twelve were not), and an unfinished yew longbow that was 1.82 m (72 in) tall.[10] Also found were berries and two birch bark baskets.

Among Ötzi's possessions were two species of polypore mushrooms with leather strings through them. One of these, the birch fungus, is known to have antibacterial properties, and was likely used for medicinal purposes. The other was a type of tinder fungus, included with part of what appeared to be a complex firestarting kit. The kit featured pieces of over a dozen different plants, in addition to flint and pyrite for creating sparks.

 

[sodak]

I figure if one wants to know what is effective out in the boonies, just look at what people carried back when going through the booneis was a way of life.

The old mountain men went pretty far into the outdoor suvival relm with a green river knife and a hatchet or 'hawk. The green river knife and the English made ones that were used long before John Russell started his company were in effect large butcher knives. It seems they were onto the Nessmuck thing long before Mr. Sears was even born.

In the jungle wilderness parts of the world, most machete's, parang's, and assorted bush knives seem to be 1/8 and under. A thick Golok of mine is 5/32.

Most panga's on the African contenent seem to be 1/8 and under.

The examples of the long knives, or prroperly called the great knife, carried durring the frontier period of the French-Indian war seem to be 1/8 and under. They of course were teamed up with a godd 'hawk.

Even examining navel cutlasses of the 1700's, blade thickness is way thinner than one would think. I can only conclude that the thick bladed sharp pry bar is something for/by the people who read certain magazines and need more impresive toys. If you're going to chop, carry a tool made for chopping. If you're going to cut, carry a tool made for cutting.

These are good points, but keep in mind that their motivation is unknown to us. The cutlasses and others might have been thin because steel was very, very expensive.

I wish we could go back in time and interview them!

 

[jackknife]

The Smithsonian magazine had a very good article on Otzi. He was very well equipted for a trip in the mountains, and he must have been one tough mother that even after getting a mortal arrow in the back, he still outran and lost his attackers. That he lost them is no doubt, as he still had his copper ax with him when discovered. A treasure like that ax would have been priceless in his day.

It would be facinating to have him along on a backpacking trip. One can only wonder at what he'd think of modern gear.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Mis,

Go grab a rye and coke, and maybe the lovely assistant, hit the easy chair and relax. The rest of us Canucks got your back, bro!



Doc

 

[Sharp Eye]

Back to kitchen knives for bushcraft. This one is for sale in the knife makers for sale area.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=554476
Ira

 

[baldtaco-II]

It just screams out "I'm not a toy, I work for a living".

 

[sodak]

If you guys are seriously considering kitchen knives, you should really look into this:

http://www.dexter1818.com/Search_details_non_login_version.asp?id=11738&group_name=sani-safe.asp

I got one of these from a friend's dad (who worked in a hog plant) back in 1983, and it's by far my favorite knife in the kitchen. Mine has a black handle and the guard is smaller, but the model number is the same. The spine is 0.110 inches by my calipers. The stainless steel and molded plastic handle make cleaning a breeze. The trailing point looks extreme in the photo, but it's not. Plus, that feature alone makes it handy in the kitchen, when you want to "rock" it across food.

I'll be using it to butcher a hog in August.

As much as I like the big boys, I would not feel underknifed with this one.