I'm sure many of you read Mors' article on try-sticks and have given it a go. Well taking this as inspiration I spent some time this afternoon carving out a tent peg using a few of the different cuts mentioned. I could have done it a lot quicker with an axe or other chopping tool but I was quite happy playing with my knife.
1. Take 1 bit of dry and dead birch
2. Cut it more or less to length by trimming through about 1/3 of the diameter and then breaking it.
3. Point the stick - it is meant to be stronger if the point is off to one side. Makes sense to me.
4. De-bark the stick so it looks nice
5. Round off the other end. Rather than making longer and longer cuts for a point do the opposite and keep making them shorter. Be careful when you get to the end
6. Baton a small cut in a couple of inches down from the top. It doesn't need to be deep
7. Shave up to the batoned cut to create a notch. You can keep shaving and batoning until you are about 1/3 through. Round off the sides of the notch too.
8. Voila! You have one quicky tent peg and you have also practiced several different knife skills!
1. Take 1 bit of dry and dead birch
2. Cut it more or less to length by trimming through about 1/3 of the diameter and then breaking it.
3. Point the stick - it is meant to be stronger if the point is off to one side. Makes sense to me.
4. De-bark the stick so it looks nice
5. Round off the other end. Rather than making longer and longer cuts for a point do the opposite and keep making them shorter. Be careful when you get to the end
6. Baton a small cut in a couple of inches down from the top. It doesn't need to be deep
7. Shave up to the batoned cut to create a notch. You can keep shaving and batoning until you are about 1/3 through. Round off the sides of the notch too.
8. Voila! You have one quicky tent peg and you have also practiced several different knife skills!
