The Gerber is a pretty decent saw and I like the ability to change blades. But the handle is quite fragile - use with care. I am sure you could improvise a handle somehow if you needed to.

I hate to bring this up ... because it's a bit gruesome. I just got through watching the show "127 Hours". If you haven't seen this movie ... you should probably rent it sometime. My wife absolutely insisted that we watch it last night - because it reminded her of how we both were in our younger days when we were rock climbers. That movie is true to form about the "free spirit" behavior of people in the adventure community.

Anyway ... not to spoil the surprise but the guy winds up having to amputate his own arm. AGHHHHHH ! Watch the movie - you'll see what happens. The ironic thing is that he didn't have a good saw in his kit, and he didn't even have a good blade on his pocketknife. So it was the worst of all possible circumstances.

Anyway, if you really need to amputate something, a small fine-bladed saw would be a very good choice. And it does need to be able to be operated one-handed.

OK ... very sorry to hijack this thread with these gross comments.
Ha! Ha! Ha!!

other Pete

The Gerber Gator Exchange-A-Blade and the Unbelievable Saw are the way to go. No fine motor skills needed to operate either one of these.

I try to have one-handed use as a consideration for "any" purchase. My reasoning is that I may have my other hand busy holding something, or perhaps injured, so its a consideration, not necessarily the only one.

For instance I may have had to reach high, or lean out, to pull down a branch, and then realise that I need to open the saw to cut it .... one handed makes sense. But there's no point in buying a one handed saw if it won't do what you want it to do.

Not exactly for back packing but I have used both a folding pruning saw, and a folding camping saw. I am not sure what the difference really is as they look about the same to me. Marketing I guess.

They both did a credible job of sawing thru 3 or 4 inch chunks of wood.

One of them I keep in my car kit. Not sure what happened to the other one.

I agree, not much difference. A good quality, sharp pruning saw will work very nicely as a backpacking saw. Perhaps even better, since some stuff I see that's sold as a "camping saw" is disposable garbage. For example, I bought a Gerber slide-out saw that seemed like a bargain but the blade turned into a pretzel in minutes; yet Home Depot carries a Fiskars that looks very similar but is of much better quality. Weekend car campers will toss something that breaks into the garbage; gardeners/arborists will return it to the store and give some pointed feedback as they demand a refund.

The Gerber Fiscars Sport Saw. Scarey sharp, feather light, and retractable. I drilled a hole in the back for a paracord lanyard.

Byrd Man ... thanks! I'll check that out. I normally don't have a saw in my lightweight kit - but that might do the trick.

Pete #2

Yep, that's the one.

Since there's a newer model out, I'm holding out for a sale. Then every kit gets one of these.

EDIT: But avoid this turkey like the plague: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442626997&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302696925#tab3
(MEC is simply awesome; but on this occasion they've been 'had.')

Both Gerber and Fiskars are made by the same company (Fiskars) in China, makes you wonder why does one suck but the other doesn't eh?