I have no financial interest in any of this stuff, but I'm just sharing my thoughts on them. I carry a survival outfit in my Chevy SUV, and I prefer to keep all of the gear in a plastic tote which is secured to the floorhooks in the back by a cargo net.

I always carry a large hatchet, but wanted a sturdy bucksaw that would fit in the tote as a saw is a safer way to get firewood than using a hatchet. I searched online for a suitable saw and found a new Trail Blazer collapsible bucksaw on eBay. It looked like it might meet the needs for my truck kit, so I bid on it and got it for $10.

Earlier, I bought a new 1.5 pound Hunter hatchet from a tool store to replace the old no-name one I had in the kit. I spent the day in the woods yesterday honing survival fire starting skills, so it was a good opportunity to test these items. I assembled the saw, which starts out as a 1.15 pound aluminum tube with a spring steel hang loop on one end. It measures 1 3/8 in diameter, and 19 inches long. I pictured it both deployed and stowed along with my hat and compass for scale.

I was daycamped near a clearcut section of pine forest, so I had easy access to downed branches and treetop slash. I used the saw to buck 6 to 8 inch pine logs. The saw is easy to assemble in warm weather, but with cold wet hands it could freeze to skin or gloves, and the juggling required to align all the loose pieces could be tough in cold weather.

Another concern is there are several small parts that if damaged or lost in forest duff or snow would make the saw useless. Once everything is aligned and the wingnut is tight the saw is pretty sturdy. One must be very careful not to apply too much forward force or a twisting motion which binds the blade.

The blade is very sharp and says says 'Swedish steel, but it has plastic moulded tabs on each end to secure it to the tubular frame. I think that these plastic tabs could strip off. There is also an inexplicable 3/4" gap in the teeth on each end of the blade. Smaller wood tends to hang up in those gaps. The saw is a little tricky to disassemble, as you have to align all of the components perfectly to get them to nest together. All in all, I would recommend it only for occasional light duty use.

The Hunter hatchet is made in Germany, and sells for about $25. It came with a good factory edge, and a small leather edge cover. The head is forged, nicely finished, and is tightly fitted to a good quality hickory handle. I like the bright red paint, as the hatchet would be easy to find if set down in the slash. As always, a person should NEVER set down an axe or hatchet when working in snow.

I used the Hunter to split the pine logs that I bucked with the Trail Blazer saw. It was well-balanced, and the thickness, the oblong cross sectional shape, and curvature of the handle made it a joy to use. I have two other models of Hunter axes and I heartily recommend them all as a low cost option for a car/truck outfit.

After making a decent woodpile and fashioning a log stool padded with my doffed shirt, I sparked up a pretty good fire with my ferro rod and brewed up some Constant Comment tea in a 1 quart SS bowl that I got from a thrift store for a buck. I added a wire bail by drilling two small holes in the rim.

I saw a grouse hen with six little grouslings. When the little ones saw me they scattered into the weeds like dry leaves before the wind, but mama stood there looking at me and even plucked a couple more clover leafs before slowly shuffling into the underbrush several minutes later. Was she the 'fool hen' of frontier legend, or was that a clever distraction? .....Byrd

(*spacing changed by Blast to make it easier to read*)

Here is a "bookmark-let" I wrote I call period2p, it inserts a paragraph tag after every period, makes this post readable

Sorry about the width, i thought code tags would employ scrolling
*snipped by Blast due to excessive width issues by many people*

Nice review! Great pics!!! I enjoy photography and continue to wish I did better "story-telling pics" like this.

I have several of those Buck Saws in both sizes (got them real cheap - long story). The smaller one is plenty big for most needs. If feels real nice in the hand - better than most bow saws.

It takes a moment to put it together - especially the first time or if you haven't used it in a while, but its easy enough.

I especially like that they designed it so the wing nut that tightens it all can't come off and get lost. BUT, then there's that clip that holds it all closed - THAT can get lost. No real harm if it is lost, but I wish they had provided a better solution for holding it all closed.

When its closed the package is nice and round and smooth. I had always worried that the edges of my Sven saw would wear through my pack cloth over time.

What kind of shovel is that in the last pic?

Yeah, I was going to say something about using paragraphs to make the review easier to read, but I didn't want to come across as rude.

Maybe Byrd could edit it and insert some paragraph "carriage" returns. It would help.

Hah ... Blast beat me to it and fixed it while I was writing my message ... much MUCH better. Thanks again Byrd!!!

The shovel is actually an old WWII era German army surplus trench tool. It has a folding head and pick spike. It's made with solid forged steel spike and lockinbg mechanism, and a tempered shovel blade so it's a little heavy, but I doubt that I could break it. I see them on eBay occasionally.