Knife and axe kit

[Johnboy06]

hi all
Wanting to get into bushcraft as some of u probably know but im off to oz for a nice holiday for a few months first so cant afford the kit yet. However being the curious person i am just thought id ask something for when i am ready financially. Just wondering if this is a good deal?

The Kits consists of:

Cutting Tools
Gransfors Small Forest Axe
A great allround axe, works well for most camp needs be it limbing, splitting small rounds or even reducing a split piece of log into the basic shape of a spoon for carving next to the fire.
Carbon Mora Knife
Possibly the knife used most by beginners and those on a budget, a superb blade that holds a great edge and is comfy to use
Djarv Spoon knife
Hand made by Svante Djarv in Sweden this is a great knife with what seems to be the perfect blade handle for carving hollows in spoons bowls etc...
Warmth/Shelter
Nanok Endurance SF 0 °C sleeping bag
Outdoorcode's best selling bag its both warm, comfortable and a well made piece of kit. Features 2 side zips which are especially useful when getting in and out of your hammock.
Tatonka Tarp2 3m x3m.
Another best seller, available in either poly or poly cotton mix used diagonally this is perfect for hammock camping being a good size to provide protection from the elements. The poly is lightweight at 900g and the cotton version has the advantage of being more resistant to sparks from a camp fire (though the tarp is NOT fire resistant and care should always be taken when camping near an open fire)
Paracord
Always useful paracord is used for the ridgeline of your tarp which does come with guidelines for the side.
Fire
Fireball Firesteel
Good for thousands of strikes giving a great shower of hot sparks . Size: 8cm (3") * Weight: 40g (2 oz)
Tindercard
A flammable piece of impregnated material.Which when pulled apart shows its fibrous nature producing an excellent complement to a flint and striker. Once ignited it burns slowly like a candle, helping to eaily start fires. Only a small amount is required for a survival kit, and it packs smaller than the alternatives, eg. cotton wool balls / tampons etc. * 18 cards (3 x 20cm) * Weight: 174g
DD Hammock
A Multi-purpose, lightweight, compact, enclosable camping hammock made from parachute grade nylon.
Cooking
14cm Zebra billy can
Great for cooking over an open fire or a camping stove, features an upper compartment that can be used as a bowl


This kit for £216.14

Also things like a knife and spoon kit im not too wrried about and prepared to use books and alot of care to teach myself, however i wondered if this is a good idea with an axe too. Ofcourse i would be very carefull and follow alot of advice ect but it it a good idea to just go off and start using it? Or should you go on a course of some sort first? Finally only if u have time does anyone know in breif what the laws for carrying an axe in the uk are as if read up quite a bit and am comfortable with knife laws.


Cheers for any help! :You_Rock_

 

[spamel]

With regards law, as long as you have a good reason to be carrying it you will be fine. If you go nightclubbing with it at your local Ritzys, you'll get your collar felt but if you have the rest of your kit in your pack on your back, it would be fair to assume that you are going camping to the eyes of the law. Put the axe in your pack and you'll be OK, same with the knife until you get to a remote area then put it on your belt.

The kit you describe will certainly do the job, I reckon you may be able to fit it into an LK 35 that would set you back ten quid, a bomb proof pack taht you can get from surplus and adventure. I wouldn't bother with the tinder card, you will soon find things in nature that work just as well such as birch bark peelings. The spoon knife could wait, but if you are getting all of this from Andrew at Outdoorcode, you never know, he may give you a bit of a discount! He's a good bloke, I got my GB SFA from him and it is a fantastic axe.

With regards to using the axe, if you are just splitting firewood with it and limbing downed trees, think of the safety aspects involved. Do a quick risk assessment in your mind, if I make this cut and miss the wood, is there any chance I could hit myself and cut myself badly? If the answer is yes, rethink how you will make the cut. It's not necessary to stand over the bit of wood swinging wildly down between your out stretched legs!!

There is a fair bit of info on axe work in Mors Kochanskis book bushcraft, or try one of Mearsys' books, he has wrote a bit about it. If you can get a hold of his Bushcraft series on DVD, he shows good axe work on the extras part of the disc sets. Remember to have a first aid kit with you at all times when working with sharp tools!

 

[Johnboy06]

Thnx for that i thinkk that answers it pretty much unless anyone else has any input . Iv got essential bushcraft which im now reading i think for the 7th time and iv watched all the mears bushcraft shows on tv a few times not sure if iv seen all the extreme survival series tho lol. Thats what i thought learn but by being extra carefull at the same time and just thinking things through. That outdoorcode is a brilliant site too. I think itll be a while before i get out there but im genuinley excited now lol. If ud have said a year or 2 ago that this is what would interest me i would have laughed and said no drinking and clubbing is what interests me lol.
Anyways great advice thnx alot

Any other input apreciated too

 

[Justin Time]

Hi John
On a day like to today you could be out there doing some bushcrafting without any other kit than a warm jacket and hat. Go down the park and have a look at what plants are growing, sit somewhere quietly on the edge of some woodland for an hour or so and see what wildlife's about. Maybe get on your hands and knees looking for animal tracks and if you can figure out what they are.

If you're keen to start working with wood buy the Mora knife cos it's got a bit of a guard and just start carving stuff, can do that in the back garden. You could get a locking opinel for a few quid from your local fishing/shooting shop but it's not got a guard so be careful of those fingers. Keep a First Aid Kit with your knife for those inevitable cuts.

Practice making feather sticks in the garden, and then work out the best way to get a fire going. Matches or a lighter work fine for that too..

I guess you can see where I'm coming from here. You can start bushcraft without any kit, no need to wait until you've got loads of dosh saved up. You'll find lots of stuff on here that people have adapted from things they've bought at poundstretcher or TKMaxx.

oohhh. that was a long

 

[Johnboy06]

Yeh i deffinetly see youre point and will start doing something lol. At the moment im out of the job so lots of time but no money which supports the ideas uv put up. And im not coming up with excuses at all but i do live in a big industrial town in a former council house in ellesmere port lol with no back yard. The best thing weve got is a small woods and a park so i mite get down there. Im 19 years old and if im seen by someone holding a mora knife the next thing i see will be a police cell . But all this is no excuse like i said and what i thought mite be a good start is going out there even to this small woods with an identify plant and tree book and just start learning about the different types, not very exciting but i bet its a decent start. Ill just have to avoid the burnt out trailers and tyres the wood has to offer. Mind you when youre in the centre all you can see is trees and if you couldnt hear the main road about a mile away itd be great Once i pass my driving test therell be no stopping me then either geting down to delamere or even goin up to scotland for weekends. Any way im waffling now and its all pie in the sky stuff at the mo, but ur right there is stuff i could be doing other than posting on here as great as it is

 

[sxmolloy]

Hi Johnboy. You seem to have covered most bases with your list of kit there, but don't overlook something to sharpen your tools with. A small pocket stone such as a DC4 should be sufficient. Approx £20 IIRC.

Have a good holiday and good luck with th kit.

ATB....Stu

 

[Johnboy06]

good point there are probably a few bits of kit i need to add to it but i thought it would cover the basics. Its a bit annoying too because i had a shapening stone no idea which one and an opinel knife for fishing , searched everywhere but cant find them now

 

[sxmolloy]

good point there are probably a few bits of kit i need to add to it but i thought it would cover the basics. Its a bit annoying too because i had a shapening stone no idea which one and an opinel knife for fishing , searched everywhere but cant find them now

The Borrowers got 'em!

 

[Johnboy06]

tell u wat those borrowers must be on a fortune the amount of stuff goes missing in this house

 

[British Red]

John amte, theres some lovely spots around you on the Wirrall and other spots around Cheshire that are fairly easy by public transport. Might be nice to team up with someone local and split petrol costs otherwise. North Wales is a short train hop for you too. I hve been where you are with no cash, but you really don't need much. Stay on the boards and keep you eyes open for swaps and bargains. Seriously, we could get you out and doing in the summer for sub £50. If you had a camera (even one on your phone - bet you have) and promised to bung up a few piccs of being out and about, people will probably help out!

Red

 

[Johnboy06]

Sounds great i definetly will and iv got some camping (not neccessarily bushcrafty) planned for oz as well so if i get pics from that ill post em too. It easier than you think by the sounds of it just a matter of actually doing it! I was thinking of some trips into wales alread, snowdonia would be good. No excuses really , suppose when youve been used to a town for so long you get it into youre head that the country is hard to get too but its realy not when u think about it.

 

[Zammo]

You could always make some of your own kit. I made myself a meths stove and it really does do the job for boiling water. All you need to do is get hold of an empty small cat food tin and some basic tools and your away.

http://library.jwbasecamp.com/SuperCat.pdf

 

[British Red]

Sounds great i definetly will and iv got some camping (not neccessarily bushcrafty) planned for oz as well so if i get pics from that ill post em too. It easier than you think by the sounds of it just a matter of actually doing it! I was thinking of some trips into wales alread, snowdonia would be good. No excuses really , suppose when youve been used to a town for so long you get it into youre head that the country is hard to get too but its realy not when u think about it.

Spot on fellah,

And seriously, shout for advice, kit loans etc. Between us we'll do what we can - nothing fancy but this is England - what's the worst that can happen? The Famous Five used to go camping with balnkets (I still do ). All you need is a way to heat food, something to keep the rain off and something to sleep in. A couple fo wool balnkets, a £5 stove and a bit of plastic sheeting will do it.

Good luck and keep us in the loop

Red

 

[Johnboy06]

cheers red ur a legend. Only thing im still a bit concerned about is the axe part reading lofty wiseman and mears books it seems the best advice is never attempt as a novice. is this the books being over zealous do you think and with great care you can teach yourself to use an axe skillfully or is it a case of finding out someone who can show you and supervise until ur confident? Maybe a good place to find this out would be a meet?

 

[British Red]

Basic axe skills can be learned on your own..but you risk the odd limb.

There are some skillful guys in the NW - ask them first. You can do a hell of a lot with a saw and kinfe in the meantime. I may be up soon - I'll shout if so!

Red

 

[Johnboy06]

Brilliant, wel i was thinkin wen i do get out about getting the saw too then anything im remotly not confident about with an axe use the saw then over time probably be using it less and less and the axe more, once again thnx

 

[leon-1]

Johnboy, why bother with the axe, save yourself £50 odd quid and get used to using a knife with a baton, a small folding saw on a SAK will do most of the work that you require in this country.

Yes a lot of us have axes and use them a lot, but a saw is probably a far handier tool in many situations.

I was chatting to a mate about little saws and he said "Yeah, carry a little saw as it helps me build the big saw". We were talking about bucksaws at the time, it is probably better and safer to be able to build a Bucksaw which weighs nothing than carrying an axe, which takes up space and weighs.

 

[spamel]

I use my axe all the time, but I'm not suew how often I will once I get back to UK. It seems you can't make a fire without written permission from the landowner in England, not as if you can go out spur of the moment really as you need to put your umbrella up!

 

[leon-1]

The majority of the time an axe in the UK is going to be used for splitting as it is very unlikely that you will be felling with it. First you would probably saw things into manageable sizes, you can still split with a knife or you could use felling wedges and a baton or mallet. It will accomplish exactly the same job. a couple of felling wedges fit into a pocket weigh very little and you can split rounds of 6 to 8 inch diameter without too many problems.

On top of that it would cost probably around £8 a piece and they can't get you into trouble with the law.

Here is a quick look on evil-bay for felling wedges, the Stihl ones are very good, you can also get the ones made by Husqvarna, they are lighter and made from Magnesium.