The other day I made my case for a four-piece set of edged tools — a pocketknife, a folding knife, a fixed-blade knife and a small axe (or machete). I left out one tool that lots of folks onsider just as essential as the others, even suggesting that it replace the axe.
The question is, does a saw have a place in a set of woods tools? And the answer is yes, absolutely.
I guess that should be obvious, considering that most of us (including me) reach for a saw more often than we do an axe — chainsaw, pole saw, etc. A hand saw goes with me everywhere in the bed of the Ranger, while an axe does not. For purposes of this discussion, however, we’re talking about something more compact than any of those.
I’ve long been a fan of the American-made collapsible bow saws made by Wyoming Knife Company. The bad news is that Wyoming Knife (according to its website) is “currently undergoing a transitional period.” I don’t know if that’s bankruptcy or what, but its products are unavailable.
The good news is that the design of the Wyoming Saw has been cloned by a US-based importer. The Allen High Mesa Takedown Saw (Taiwan, $33) basically is a copy of the Wyoming at half the price, albeit with a plastic handle (instead of cast aluminum) and a nylon case (instead of leather).
Four pieces come together to make the saw — the handle, a two-piece frame and an 11-inch blade. Assembly and takedown are simple. Like the Wyoming, the Allen comes with both a wood blade and a bone blade.
In use, it excels at limbing and light felling. Bucking loose wood is somewhat more difficult, given the combination of a short stroke and an aggressive blade. (Wyoming offered a version of the saw with a frame extension and an 18-inch blade, which was better all-around.)
I’ve also spent many years using the Bahco Laplander folding saw (Sweden, $29). It’s a straightforward design — the 7.5-inch blade locks open and closed. Because it’s smaller and lighter, it doesn’t cut with quite the authority of a bow saw, but it gets most jobs done smoothly.
Both are good saws. They take different approaches to the same task. But if I had to choose one or the other, which would it be?
That’s actually an easy answer — the Bahco Laplander. As I said, it’s smaller and lighter. It’s also much easier to deploy and stow. Used realistically, the Bahco punches above its weight performance-wise.
That’s why I carry one in all of my last-ditch kits. I recommend it.
“…It is preposterous to imagine that we ourselves are determinate, and hence susceptible both to correct and to incorrect descriptions, while supposing that the ascription of determinacy to anything else has been exposed as a mistake. As conscious beings, we exist only in response to other things, and we cannot know ourselves at all without knowing them. Moreover, there is nothing in theory, and certainly nothing in experience, to support the extraordinary judgment that it is the truth about himself that is the easiest for a person to know. Facts about ourselves are not peculiarly solid and resistant to skeptical dissolution. Our natures are, indeed, elusively insubstantial — notoriously less stable and less inherent than the natures of other things.
Harry Frankfurt, Princeton University, from “On Bullshit”
“And insofar as this is the case, sincerity itself is bullshit.“
The Mountain’s rugged and rocky terrain is home to all kinds of wildlife, much of which I’ve documented here. That includes two species of venomous snakes, the eastern copperhead and the timber rattlesnake. Though we’ve adopted a live-and-let-live mindset here, we recognize that we need to be prepared to neutralize threats to our immediate safety.
Deb carries a Ruger LCR in .38 Special while woodswalking. My .38-of-choice is a Smith & Wesson 638-3. Both are loaded with five rounds of CCI “snake shot” (manufacturer’s part #3738).
Deb’s cousin does the same. He told us a while back that he’d once fired a round of the CCI ammo to dispatch a pest, and when he tried to fire a second shot, the cylinder jammed. He chalked up the malfunction to heat and sweat deforming the plastic capsules holding the #9 shot.
Ever since then, we’ve examined our carry ammo regularly and replaced it when necessary. I came across some information recently, however, that hinted at another reason for the failure to fire. This from CCI’s website:
“Cylinder lockup may occur in lightweight revolvers due to capsule movement resulting from recoil inertia.”
That is, in a low-mass revolver like my Airweight or Deb’s LCR, the loose shot inside the capsules of unfired rounds can push them forward, preventing the cylinder from rotating. Apparently that caution has accompanied these CCI shotshells for a very long time. I’d just never seen it.
I didn’t like the thought of either of us pulling the trigger for a follow-up shot and having a dead revolver in our hands. I went looking for an alternative.
Based on a friend’s experience and recommendation, I chose DT SnakeShot from Doubletap Ammunition, a small business located in Utah. Doubletap’s snake cartridges are very different, compared to CCI’s — brass case, #9 shot and a hard-cast lead wadcutter up-front.
I swapped-out our woods ammo today. We’ll pattern it soon and I’ll report back.
Those CCI shotshells aren’t going into the trash, though. They’ll work just fine in my large-frame .357 Magnum revolver.
Volunteer of the Day: Rocket larkspur (Consolida ajacis). Screen-grab from the Seek app.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB