A Question Of Survival

[Judy Ann]

Originally Posted by dinosaur

I'll give my answer later. Choose wisely.

How much later?

[dinosaur]

How about now, Judy Ann? I can see this string is about played out. My answer is also a blade. A good knife can be used to make everything one needs to survive including containers and cordage. You can build a shelter and make weapons and traps. You can skin animals for hides, dig holes, cut toothpicks or build a spit. You can keep it sharp if you can find a good flat rock, but a round one will do. You can even carve a needle for sewing.

The fridge picked toilet paper but he is a very resourceful man and would undoubtedly do just fine. You can't make toilet paper with a knife but you can soften large leaves like Maple or Sycamore by laying them flat and running the edge of the knife over them repeatedly until they are quite supple and smooth. There's nothing wrong with being kind to your backside.

[Barney]

Definitely a knife, that's a no brainer. Like dinosaur said, you can make almost anything with it, even hunt for food. But, it really depends on the situation. For example, compass can save your butt if you're relatively close to civilization and you only need direction to follow.

[wvbreamfisherman]

Well, I suppose you could have magnetized your knife ahead of time, marked the North end, and provided a hole to hang it from for a field expedient compass. Hmmm.....

[dinosaur]

Then again you could just watch the passage of the sun for direction.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by dinosaur

Then again you could just watch the passage of the sun for direction.

A stick, 2 rocks, and a little bit of patience will do the trick.

[ChadTower]

Originally Posted by outdoorchick

I am going to go with the majority of others here and say a knife. Of course I would have to go out and buy a nice knife before the trip began. A knife provides protection and many other capabilities as well.

You can make cutting tools with less effort than it takes to start a fire with friction.

[Grandpa]

Originally Posted by ChadTower

You can make cutting tools with less effort than it takes to start a fire with friction.

My point exactly. I can take a dry pine and slap it over a rock to splinter the end and with very little work have a very sharp point or even a sharp edge. Granite shards are also very sharp. In the environment I was in, I will stick with my metal cup as it will accomplish more than even a knife. In most other environs, the knife would be the most useful, but in these western pine forests, there are short term substitutes. Fire is still my biggest concern and with my cup I can carry my fire from place to place.

Clay of a nature to mold is scarce up here, the soil is either too organic or too mineral for that. Fish and grouse are plentiful, and a sharp stick will do for cleaning them. But many of the tubers I would dig require boiling down and a clay pot of sufficient hardness is out of the question. The cup it is.

[oldsarge]

Great point Grandpa! That's what I like about this site, you can get some good quality feed back from those who have had experience. In Panama we made cutting tools from shells along the coast line. I never really considered having a good metal container and making my own cutting tool. In some applications it does make sense. Being a die hard knife fan, I would find it really hard to go without.

[Grandpa]

Well, you wouldn't have caught me out there without a knife either, but given the parameters of the question............................