I like tools and leaving my multitool behind is like a 2 year old forgetting his Teddy bear. I swing between just a pocket knife (CRKT Wrangler) or a Leatherman Micra. I was surprised to find this macho streak in me where I wanted to haul a “real” knife– not that the 1.5 ounce Wrangler is anything like a Bowie knife.
I do like the idea of adding a single edge razor blade to my essentials– it’s about as light and cheap as a cutting tool could get. I remember watching a documentary on some remote tribe and watching somone do some very precise work preparing hides for sewing— with a single edge razor blade as a prized tool. Lookng back to cultures who used stone cutting tools, we find smaller chips that were used for finer work like this.
I found this little jewel by accident when I went surfing to look for Swedish Fire Sticks after eading about them here:
http://www.countycomm.com/straightrazor.htm
These little straight razors are made for pre-surgical shaving and they are wicked sharp and weigh 0.2oz/5g.
What is comes down to with “survival” tools is that you need something you can clean small game or fish with, make a snare, shave some tinder for a fire, fix your shoelaces, etc. This tool is certainly capable for those jobs.
It is made by Derma-Safe ( http://www.derma-safe.com/folding-utility-knife.htm ). BPL might consider adding them to their specialized catalog of items.
Get the orange one so you can find it when you drop it!
I cringed a little when reading some threads about folding saws and hatchets, let alone hammers for driving tent pegs:
“Is this a ROCK which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a ROCK of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable as this which now I draw” (my apologies to Mr. Shakespeare).
We’re supposed to leave no trace and I see those tools as part of the older woodsman mystique, where we were raised to know how to lash logs together to make our shelters and so on. That was 50 years ago, on another planet.
So what do we need tools for when trying to practice leave no trace and hiking light? Grooming, repairing gear or clothing, and cooking/preparing food. I can’t think of any UL tool that would really be worth much for self defense. A trekking pole or sharp stick, or a club, or a ROCK (gain) would probably be of more use for that.
Part of gettin’ light is to throw off some old conventions and assumptions. Searching my own soul, I find myself in that MAN vs. NATURE mode where I am fearful and must protect myself. I am sure that Nature has far more to fear. A little common sense and preparation is what is needed. Brains over brawn. For all the things Ray Jardine wrote of, the idea of learning to live in the wild and not working on a basis of fear has done a lot to lighten my pack.
So my pack now has the folding razor, strung to a fire stick and I can take my Micra on a ring with a micro light and whistle and my tool kit complete.
What’s in your wallet?
