One Tool............

[Hoodoo]

Well, unless you are camping in winter, I'd say the big chopping tool is about the biggest piece of dead weight you could take. I have no idea what you guys are going to do with those things. Are you going to chop down trees? Clear the forest? Spit big hunks of wood? The scenario you've described I've done many times, or close to it, and I can't think of a time where I needed an axe or a golok. If you can't live well for 7 days in a temperate forest during moderate weather without a big chopper, something is wrong imo.

 

[widu13]

Another vote for MOD survival knife.

A billhook would do, as would a small axe, but the MOD can chop, skin, cut, dig adequately but the others can only just about manage all of those taken together but the MOD does them easily.

 

[gregorach]

GB hatchet's only a teensy wee pocket axe really. Makes short work of the little dead pines in the plantations we have in such abundance up here though. And you can never count on "moderate weather" in Scotland!

My usual combo is knife and a wee folding pruning saw, but if I'm only allowed one...

 

[John Fenna]

I think that the presumption is winter conditions...for which I would be tempted to take either my SFA or my new love - the Billhook! Chops, cuts, slices, dices and is even good for spreading buter on my toast (thats right aint it Dave?)
All else a simple beltknife or even a large SAK would surfice, iffen I did not need to make a brush shelter and long fire....
Mind you, my reprofiled Golok would be tempting as well......

 

[markheolddu]

Billhook for me, no surprises there then

Mark

 

[andythecelt]

I'd take my Lofty parang. Too heavy for an everyday blade but extremely effective, more versatile than an axe and at a push can do anything an axe/knife combination can do.

 

[Everything Mac]

I think that the presumption is winter conditions...for which I would be tempted to take either my SFA or my new love - the Billhook! Chops, cuts, slices, dices and is even good for spreading buter on my toast (thats right aint it Dave?)
All else a simple beltknife or even a large SAK would surfice, iffen I did not need to make a brush shelter and long fire....
Mind you, my reprofiled Golok would be tempting as well......

he he - i'd like to see that! lol.

 

[squantrill]

Mmm well I would take my bacho laplander saw.. it's light will cut most things
less accidents light to take and easy to carry..

 

[topknot]

Hi, My one tool will have to be my Saperka why :
1/ dig
2/ chop
3/ cook on it
4/ use it to cut
5/ light to carry
6/ its not a weapon
7/ signalling (polished up)
8/ use it to measure because it 50cm long
9/ a paddle
10/ plybar
11/ firesteel used with flint.

Yes it will have to be my Saperka.

Cheers Topknot

 

[British Red]

Well now, for genuine flexibility I reckon my Wenger 57 would work well

Its nice and meaty compared to a normal SAK

and has a very tidy saw as well

Not "traditional Bushcraft" but the saw would make a very welcome addition for firewood and shelter building. No big weight premium either

Red

 

[John Fenna]

he he - i'd like to see that! lol.

Which one?

 

[Cael Nu Mara]

i put SFA, but i could probably cope with something like an F1, most of my time out and about its either an F1, Mora 2000 or Vitorinox Rucksack. In winter though ide go SFA, F1 and sod the one chopper rule.


Sam

 

[Dave Budd]

I think that the presumption is winter conditions...for which I would be tempted to take either my SFA or my new love - the Billhook! Chops, cuts, slices, dices and is even good for spreading buter on my toast (thats right aint it Dave?)
All else a simple beltknife or even a large SAK would surfice, iffen I did not need to make a brush shelter and long fire....
Mind you, my reprofiled Golok would be tempting as well......

spot on mate Anybody who has either spent time with me at my place or when I'm out at a show will have seen me reach for teh nearest tool to do whatever job I happen to be doing. The nearest tool often ends up being my billhook I've sliced the loaf before using it to spread butter, turn my sausages on the barby and then cut them for my sarny. I've carved spoons with it (just for the sake of it mind).

The thing with the billhook is that there are a huge array of shapes and sizes out there for people to choose from, but your basic Devon pattern or Bristol pattern have in a 10" blade will do anything a bushcrafter may want to do save fell a large tree (and that's only because there is a hook in the way, in which case go for a Yorkshire hook ). it chops, splits, carves, skins, buitchers, spreads, hammers nails, acts as a froe (makes splitting things much more controlable than an axe, which is why hurdleakers use a hook and not an axe), etc.

heck, I ran a 7 ton digger over mine and it was still in working order. Could you do the same to your all sainted SFA?

 

[addo]

Well, unless you are camping in winter, I'd say the big chopping tool is about the biggest piece of dead weight you could take. I have no idea what you guys are going to do with those things. Are you going to chop down trees? Clear the forest? Spit big hunks of wood? The scenario you've described I've done many times, or close to it, and I can't think of a time where I needed an axe or a golok. If you can't live well for 7 days in a temperate forest during moderate weather without a big chopper, something is wrong imo.

Id guess seeing as the post was made in Dec then yeah. And most decent shelters need trees or dead one ones on the deck that need snedding. And a large supply of firewood is a good idea whenever.

Med sized axe for me. SFA will do nicely.

I love bill hooks but they have a limit, and the med sized axe just has it

 

[dogwood]

If limited to one general purpose cutting tool, I'd second the kukuri statement.

I feels its incredibly useful and its versatility is utterly proven. If you had to rebuild a civilization from scratch (including agriculture) you'd want a kukuri.

 

[Mountainwalker]

Cold steel bushman, nice and light, tough as nails and versatile.

 

[Chinkapin]

I just love hypothetical speculation! Many people hate and despise it, but to me it is nearly always interesting.

Well, anyway my first thought was I would like to dispense with the sleeping pad and replace it with a hammock or a tent. However, like the majority of you, I was drawn to the cutting tool dilemma. What to take? My first thought was not unlike Hoodoo's in that I cannot imagine why anyone would want an axe. They weigh a ton (after a few miles), and I wouldn't use it anyway. As a builder of at least a thousand campfires, I assure you I have never split a single large piece of wood to build one. split some small kindling, yes. True a knife is a bit tedious even for this small chore but I'm not going to carry an axe to overcome this minor drawback.

I have an EnZo trapper, and that was what immediately sprang to mind. I do have a kukri and that was a distinct possibility, but I gravitated back to the EnZo. However, after much anguish I have come to the conclusion that BR. Red's Wenger 57 would be the better bet. Not the better knife, but having a good knife with a saw is just too hard to pass up. I was a late comer to folding saws, but have really come to appreciate them. In the real world I would take my EnZo and my Gerber saw. But, in this hypothetical world, I'll take Red's Wegner, if he will loan it to me.

By the way, I love good axes and good hatchets, I split a lot of wood, and I do understand that split wood burns better than unsplit wood. I just never found the need for split wood when out in the woods.

 

[PeterHW]

I think some form of large knife is better all round than an axe....I have searched for some time to find the best solution and have used all of these options....

Never tried a Bill Hook though...but for me a large light knife works best as a one tool option...ideally the best combination of chopping power and lightest weight...you don't need to spend a lot of money...a good machete with a point for gutting will do the job...rounded tip Goloks don't work so well...nor does the Army Golok because of the lack of a tip and belly on the blade for skinning...but it is better than the BRK&T Golok in this instance...

The best for me is the one second down from the top in the second picture...a light weight ( 16 oz ) Jerry Hossum Grand Retribution in S30V...

The point is excellent and so is the edge....and it is a very versatile design...a choked up grip enables very fine work to be done near the hilt...but it equally copes well with chopping wood...I use a lanyard through the butt hole and bring it over my wrist and up to my elbow...this supports the weight of the blade well for holding the knife towards the tip for gutting and skinning work...

You don't have to go this expensive though...but a large knife definately is more versatile than the Axe...

 

[forestwalker]

Say Your in a temparate forest, similar to those found in england.
However, you are there for 7 days,
You need:
Shelter
Fire
Food
Water

Your only allowed to carry one cutting tool, your clothes, some cordage, a ferro rod, thermarest and a sleeping bag.

Which cutting tool would you choose for this senario?

please state Which tool and why, EG "i would carry a mora clipper because............"

For just a week I don't need food; unless I hunted I'd never get enough to get out of semi-starvation anyway. Just about any sensible knife will do for 95% of the jobs, an axe will be better for large chopping (building a high class shelter, cutting down standing deadwood for firewood, etc), and it could *also* do 95% of the jobs. But for a week there is no real need for a cutting tool at all, dead wood for fires should be available with no tool, and shelters can be make with no tool.

But could I replace the thermarest with something more durable, like a closed cell foam mat?

 

[JohnC]

Another vote for the cold steel bushman, failing that, a small axe....