Saw Blade in Survival Belt?

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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
In a video I have seen Mors Kochanski mentioned the idea to put a saw blade into a survival belt.

What do you think how this could be done?

Did belts like this already exist?

Does somebody currently produce them?

Which blades are flexible enough to use them like this?

How should the belt be made?

Any ideas, recommendations and suggestions?
 

Greg

Full Member
Jul 16, 2006
4,335
259
Pembrokeshire
In a video I have seen Mors Kochanski mentioned the idea to put a saw blade into a survival belt.

What do you think how this could be done?

Did belts like this already exist?

Does somebody currently produce them?

Which blades are flexible enough to use them like this?

How should the belt be made?

Any ideas, recommendations and suggestions?
Bow Saw blades are flexible enough, I'd assume the belt would need some sort of 'pocket' for it to slide into... Much like a money belt.
 
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Broch

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Jan 18, 2009
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You can readily buy lined belts. Leather ones usually have a softer leather on the inside. You would have to cut a slit in the lining of the buckle end to slide the bow saw blade into. Of course, it won't work with a glued lining. I should imagine that it would be very easy to damage the stitching and/or lining but, theoretically, you will only be taking it out in an emergency :)
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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I think to avoid that the teeth work themselves through the seam the belt has to be made like a knife sheath and the teeth have to point upwards.

One could pull out the blade with a thin cord that goes through a hole in the blade.

I think that the inner leather of usual lined belts isn't thick enough.
And perhaps the teeth should be protected somehow with a plastic rail or sleeve or whatever.
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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Berlin
:confused2:

What???

I need that should a bus break down in an outer district of Berlin, or I suddenly discover that it's Christmas and I have to steal a tree somewhere!

A knife I always have in the pocket.
That's not the point.
 

Greg

Full Member
Jul 16, 2006
4,335
259
Pembrokeshire
Question is, do you have the survival belt when you need it? And you need a knife to make a bow for the saw blade.
You don't need a knife.. But if you regularly carry an EDC then you should have a knife of some description with you.
Ref your response about the belt.. Its not a survival belt.. Its just a belt, most people in the bushcraft / survival fraternity wear one.
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
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Mmmm... would it be classified as a 'hidden blade' if you carried it anywhere other than in the wilderness. If that was the case you could only have it with you when you were camping or trekking or similar in which case you would have gone in prepared anyway.

Having said that, carrying a bow saw blade safely is difficult and it is one solution to the problem.
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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Berlin
That is an interesting legal question!

Surely it depends on the national laws.
But because it's a saw and no knife and not so easily reached, in the end of the day every judge will see that it's a survival tool.
 

demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
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I would have thought a cut bandsaw blade with a hole each end would do it.
I have a German made Ulmia framesaw (for woodworking) which uses a modified bandsaw blade.
 
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TLM

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Nov 16, 2019
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Vantaa, Finland
According to one source the idea of carrying a saw blade in your belt was put out here by a well known author of hunting stories around 1930.

I think he just had a fold of leather in his belt and the blade was there. Now a folded piece of plastic over the teeth and it can be put in any material.
 
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TLM

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If your bright enough, you wouldn't put yourself in such a predicament that you need a 'survival saw' let alone one that held your trousers up.
If you had told A.E. Järvinen that he was in a survival situation he would have laughed. With high probability he was carrying the blade to make a log fire for the night, at the time a man was supposed to be able to make an H-saw in half an hour or less. He was known for his hunting trips tens of clicks from the nearest roads and villages. Maps at the time basically told you that there is something there, might be a lake or maybe a mountain.

At the time if you went to the middle of who knows where you were supposed to know what you were doing and people did. Nobody thought that it would require exceptional skils.
 

Herman30

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Different times, different skills needed. Take A.E Järvinen and sit him infront a computer and a 5 year old will beat him 100-0.
 

TLM

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Take A.E Järvinen and sit him infront a computer and a 5 year old will beat him 100-0.
At first surely but people then were not any dumber than now, if he could have overcome the need to know how it works and just use it. He would have recognized qwerty and probably guessed writing was involved and so on, algorithms were in use in many fields, mechanical computers existed. Basically just cause and effect, except with Windows, that is not deterministic.
 
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Erbswurst

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Mar 5, 2018
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I think it is a big difference between carrying a folding bow saw in the rucksack or just a saw blade in the belt.
 
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TLM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 16, 2019
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Vantaa, Finland
carrying a folding bow saw in the rucksack or just a saw blade in the belt
I think this shows the difference between approaches, I think most Finns would be trekking or walking oriented where minimizing weight (and volume) is big deal. So far I have understood that the British bushcraft orientation is somewhat more sedentary and fireplace oriented. (Lets not start a war on that, I am sure there are many British walkers on this forum.)

When walking (or skiing) long distances the difference between a saw blade and the whole contraption is the difference of going somewhere or staying at one place if the same principle is applied over all your equipment. In winter using ahkio makes it possible to have some more equipment that is sometimes needed when it gets cold. (Just had our first snow of the year and last night it went down to -5C.)
 

Herman30

Native
Aug 30, 2015
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At first surely but people then were not any dumber than now, if he could have overcome the need to know how it works and just use it. He would have recognized qwerty and probably guessed writing was involved and so on, algorithms were in use in many fields, mechanical computers existed. Basically just cause and effect, except with Windows, that is not deterministic.
And people are not dumb today either. If they needed same skills as Järvinen in the woods they would know. But they don ´t need in their daily life so the skills needed for living in the woods have disappeared. I´m sure you get my point.
 

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