Butt plate question.......

[Robbi]

Just been asked an interesting question.......

What is the Butt plate on a Shookham Bushtool for ?

I have a Bushy style knife with a steel butt plate that I use for bashing things like fencing staples but what about other people ?

what do you use the butt plate for ?

 

[Dave]

One intention of the butt plate was to cut down large trees, in a specific manner, I think.
Kind of whack it in, then pull it out, then whack it in again, and work it around the diameter of the tree. Its a canadian thing.
Mors states in his bushcraft book that a survival knife should be strong enough to be hammered into a tree and stood on without breaking.
Course the other thing, is to hold the handle and smack down on dowels, or nails etc with the butt as a hammer head.

 

[demographic]

Mors states in his bushcraft book that a survival knife should be strong enough to be hammered into a tree and stood on without breaking.

That's ace and all but I wouldn't even be dense enough to do that with a mortice chisel which is specifically designed for hammering into wood and prying the chippings out.
The bloke may well be totally bushcraft-tastic but everyone talks rubbish at some point in their lives.

 

[Dave]

I dont think he's saying you should do that. Only that a survival knife in his very experienced opinion should be that strong. And owning one, I reckon it probably is...depending on the wood/tree I suppose.
Persoanlly I'd be more bothered about the cutting the tree down method. As Im sure Id lose a few fingers attempting that. As with everything else, there must be a specific way eh?

 

[Robbi]

Gotta say that sounds a bit brutal.

One intention of the butt plate was to cut down large trees, in a specific manner, I think.
Kind of whack it in, then pull it out, then whack it in again, and work it around the diameter of the tree. Its a canadian thing.
Mors states in his bushcraft book that a survival knife should be strong enough to be hammered into a tree and stood on without breaking.
Course the other thing, is to hold the handle and smack down on dowels, or nails etc with the butt as a hammer head.

 

[Imagedude]

A bushcraft knife and a survival knife are two different things. A bushcraft knife should be suited to purpose without being over engineered while a survival knife should be idiot proof hence Mors' criteria.

 

[Toddy]

He does it using a bog standard mora

Sometimes I wish mine did have a butt plate….handy for cracking nuts, y'know ? or bashing out the knots on a nettle stem before it's peeled.
Can't really see me using a knife to hammer in nails or the like.

M

 

[Robbi]

Yep, I got that.

But........what was the idea behind the shookham bush tool butt plate, what's it for ?

Sorry....that was meant for Imagedude.

 

[Imagedude]

It protects the handle should you decide to use the knife as a chisel or a pestle.