A word to the wise.

[bushbasher]

My shiny new Gransfors small forrest axe arrived just in time for a big scout group survival course on the Gower peninsular in South wales. It beautifully shaved the hairs on my arms and made short work of creating a friction firelighting set, so all in all I was justifiably proud of my new purchase.

However my pride turned to dismay when I discovered that while I was busy helping to construct a lean to shelter the scout leader had been using my beautifull new axe to chop tree roots out of the ground. My shiny new axe will never be the same again.

The moral of the story is... keep your axe on your belt all the time even when asleep. especially when asleep.

:?:

[Wayne]

Thats tough mate. :hug: I hope he is at the very least walking with a limp.

[leon-1]

Never mind mate, you'll never let it happen again and I hope that he was properly ticked off.

[Hoodoo]

What a dink. I know what I would have done. :madaxe:

[Stuart]

ooooh not good not good at all

did he pick it up or did you lend it to him?

[Tony]

I know how you feel, it's horrid when people just start using your tools and they don't understand what they're doing wrong and they think you're an idiot for getting wound up about it.

I had 2 1/2 inches of edge on my Allan Wood Woodlore turned over by some youth that took the knife out of my bag and tried to create showers of sparks and then drive the knife through a can. I lost the whole edge and had to redo the whole lot...

So, NO ONE touches my knife or my axe without my say so, I have developed the tendency to shout at people and my sixth sense is coming along nicely :wink:

[TheViking]

I know what I would have done. :madaxe:

LOL! :rolmao: :rolmao:

My dad's member of a club called 'Round Table'.....?! Perhaps you know it, cause I believe it's world wide. Well, anyway each year RT make a weekend for children and fathers, where we barbecue, whittle, bath etc.
The great thing is that i'm the oldest this year (and last) and when you're the oldest, all the small ones gather around you to see what you're doing. This gives me the best chance for being the teacher, and teach them the rules of safety and whittling properly.

But it all goes wrong when one of them want's to borrow my SAK... :shock: Have only got one thing to say: NO. The golden rule of your knife, is never lend it. And it would be my responsebility if one cut himself with MY knife.

[Ed]

Don't scout leaders get taught how to use an axe? Maybe you should offer a class ;-)

Ed

[jakunen]

the scout leader had been using my beautifull new axe to chop tree roots out of the ground.

HE DID WHAT!?

I hope you gave the bloke a severe ear bashing about his unthinking stupidity!

I've dinked my Wetterlings as there was a stone on the tree I was cutting down and that made me feel annoyed. But if someone took it without asking and did that to it, I'd be asking for a new axe and for the guy to be publically humiliated.

I thought those guys were supposed to have some sense!

(Womble, if you're reading this - no offence mate! I know you DO have sense and would never do something like that)

[Womble]

Moi?

[AntarcticFire]

CHOPPING OUT TREE ROOTS?!?!

Did he do much damage to it?

I keep my SFA locked in the back of the Landy now, after I saw my brother
using the cheap peice of :***: he calls an axe that he got from some discount
hardware shop.

[Womble]

Personally I've never tried to cut out a tree root, but would be interested to know: What's your preferred method (that doesn't presumably involve JCBs or landrovers)?

[Roving Rich]

Whatever tools i have to hand . Tools are made to be USED.
Rich

[jakunen]

A decent spade with a hardened edge...

[jakunen]

Whatever tools i have to hand . Tools are made to be USED.
Rich

USED yes.
MIS-USED no!!!!

[steve a]

I've used a small digging stick to gather Spruce roots for cordage, I've removed Birch and Cherry stumps and roots from my garden by hand digging, once you've dug all round, cut the roots off, wiped the sweat, had a cup of tea and a fag and are about to pull the thing away, you always, always find a ruddy great tap root going straight down thats a right b****r to get at. You spend the next hour on your belly trying to dig, saw, chop the thing out, skin your hand and knuckles to the bone, fill the hole back up, tread the soil back, nail a bit of wood to the top and announce to the wife you decided to make a 'feature' bird table afterall.
Next time it's got to be a 360 backacter

[KIMBOKO]

Mattocks

[Mikey P]

Personally I've never tried to cut out a tree root, but would be interested to know: What's your preferred method (that doesn't presumably involve JCBs or landrovers)?

Plastic explosive.

[ChrisKavanaugh]

The american double bitted pattern is handy with one end sharpened for fine work and the other duller for rooting. It is also an EXTREMELY dangerous tool with edged steel coming and going. A Polanski is another option.This is the firetool used by hotshots in our forests. It's essentially an axe with a mattock blade on the poll. I had this idiot selling novelty knife sharpeners take my puukko to demonstrate his product. These things sharpen by massive amounts of material removal on cheap knives for a ragged serrated edge. I had an expletive half out when I heard OWEEEEEEAAAA OOOOHH MYYYGAAAAWD!!!!! The twit learned what a real sharp knife was all about by grabbing mine by the blade and dicinig all 4 fingers.

[jakunen]

Serves him right :biggthump

[TAHAWK]

Loan out a knife or axe and some twit might lose it outright.

As for adults in Scouting, some do and some emphatically do not.