For years I have carried a small wire survival saw in my mini PSK in the belief that it actually had a good purpose. On a grouse hunt a summer ago I decided, as I often do, to spend the night in some sort of improvised shelter rather than taking the easy way out and grabbing the tent out of the truck. I wanted to use ONLY what I carry in my mini PSK in order to prove to myself that I was indeed carrying the best items possible for that purpose, should the actual need arise. I always carry a mini PSK that never, ever leaves my possession and a larger, better equipped one in my backpack. My mini PSK holds all the items I would absolutely need in a bad situ, just in case I may become separated from my pack(like screaming like a little girl while running from clouds of angry bees) And this is where I had my wire saw. As silly as this sounds, I sometimes carry a second mini PSK, identical to the first just for the purpose of practicing with the contents, thus keeping one intact for a real emergency. I decided on a basic debris hut, as they are generally easier to make. It was a nice cool sunny day and I was in a great mood, having a couple of nice birds in my pack. That was about to change however. I began by cutting bows for a dry bed. The first few cuts with the wire saw were great, dropping branches with ease. The saw began to bind after a short time, and more effort was needed to do the job. I realized that simply bending the branch and chopping it with my folder was way faster, so I finished my dry bed that way instead. Still unruffled I began the task of dropping a tree for my hut. Before I even cut through the bark of the tree one of the loops broke. No big deal, it happens I thought. I just tied a small thumb knot in the wire and passed a stick through the center and kept sawing. About a minute later the second loop breaks, this time I end up cutting my finger on the dammed saw. Now I can feel the anger starting to rise. I tied a second knot, used a second stick and tried again. By now the saw is really dull and I am about half way through. I am moving around the tree with my cuts trying to prevent the saw from binding in the cut. Anger is turning to Frustration at this point because this tree is giving me more trouble that originally anticipated. I look at my backpack (which I refuse to open) at the Gerber exchange a blade folding saw strapped to the outside and thank God my friends are not here to see me bleeding and fighting with this stupid tree. Still not ready to admit defeat I take the shiny new saw out of my emergency PSK and try again, hoping that the first saw was built on a Friday and was a onetime deal. The new saw cuts fine for a bit and then binds hopelessly about 9/10ths of the way home. Cursing like a drunken sailor at this point I kick and smash the tree until it breaks and falls over. After putting on a band-aid and using my knife to finish cutting sticks to pile over the shelter, not to mention throwing that saw as far as I could into the woods. I finally managed to finish my shelter.

I know there are a lot of experienced people on this forum who may have similar experiences. What I would like to know is if anyone else has had as much trouble with one of these wire saws? Maybe I am just an idiot, who knows? I have never carried one since then, as I have found that I can do just as good a job with my bare hands and my trusty knife.
All comments welcome.