A use for the #Victorinox multi purpose hook

Now those Victorinox Swiss Army knives are really a strange thing. I mean, I do make knives myself, and some of them are pretty decent ahem, and I own quite a lot of production knives.  As a kid, I was into those Rambo movies like many others and had to have a Rambo knife. Broke it in no time, of course, because crap.  Got a Ka-Bar lookalike (yes, those WERE different times, and NO, I never, ever, hurt anyone  but myself). But I also carried a small Wenger SAK in my pocket.  I still have it, after 47years.  I sharpened, as in reprofiled it, maybe twice in all these years.  

I grew up in the woods, as you guys know.  I really used my knives. Ages ago, I went on the bushcraft train, mostly because it was simply a name for what I have done all my life.  I have never claimed to be the best or even mediocre, I just kept doing what I have always done.  

Now, with coming of age, so to say, I find that more often than not, I just take my SAK, sometimes two, into the woods, actually, and the guys who know me personally will cry out now "Wut?" , leaving my other knives at home.  Not because of some fear of the authorities or for other ideological reasons. But because these knives, provided you know how to use them, have little to no limitations as to what you can do with them. 

They are some of the most underrated and misunderstood knives in the bushcraft and survival community.  I say that because, like it or not, you will most possibly not use a knife against a wild boar attack.  Not even a Khukhuri.  Plus, like that or not, we are also not allowed to do any such thing as wild camping or starting a fire outside designated campsites. All that tactical special forces mumbo jumbo is just hot wind.  You can go foraging inside very strict regulations, take home a certain amount of mushrooms and other natural provisions, and if it is tolerated by the authorities, take a small diametre deadwood stick to whittle.  You are not entitled to sleep in the woods whatsoever, except in an emergency.  There are slightly lighter regulations on private property, but actually it is almost like that even the owner is not allowed to do anything in the woods than selling timber and planting trees.  

What you can do with a knife in the forests of Germany is strictly limited.  Of course I do love my Helle Fjellkniven Eggen, Norwegian hunting knife, and Temagami, my Casström Woodsman and No10 and all those other lovely bushcraft knives.  Using them gives you the feeling as if you were free.  But since you are not allowed to take wood for a fire, there is no need for batoning or anything like that. If you want to split wood for a spoon, fork or netting needle, well, the SAK can do this, too, if you know what you are doing.  

Now I must admit, I dismissed these knives for a long time, until Felix Immler made me see the light. Visit his YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@feliximmler?si=cAjloXVcVbsHkXh_ 

if you haven't already or buy his books, what this guy does certainly is an eye-  opener. What I want to say is that I simply wasn't aware of how versatile these mini toolboxes actually were.  

Take this multi-purpose hook, for instance. A lot of people would like not to have it on the knife.  Maybe it is not essential. I thought as much myself.  But it is a really handy asset on the knife if you learn how to use it.  I used it for making cordage from grass, which really worked great.  

 There is a saying in Southern Germany: "Des is koa rechta Bua', hoat ka Feitl und ka Schnur. "(That is not a real boy who has neither cordage nor knife). With a SAK, you can have both.  Now that I am getting old 'ish I realize that even as a kid, when I always had a more or less huge knife on my belt, the even smaller Wenger was what I used most.  

If you want to do feathersticking there is no faster way I know of than using a SAK.  

Do not get me wrong. It is a reality check, maybe a reality shock, for me, too.  Maybe it is a case of "the more you know, the less you carry". 

Anyway, if you leave the "special forces" mumbo jumbo behind you, a SAK is a world of its own to discover.  I would not throw away my other knives for the properties of the Vics.  Of course not.  But before you dismiss a SAK because it lacks prestige, you might try out the many possibilities.  

My pants are a whole lot lighter now least.  😉 

From the garden of Drui to the deep of the woods;-) the spider´s lesson of survival

 We were at Drui´s home in Prichsenstadt for holiday, and I was very impressed. Her garden is full of wild herbs and plants and green, and it is always amazing how much love she gives those little green fellows. Most impressive was this beautiful evening primrose (Oenothera biennis, in German: Nachtkerze). Apart from being beautiful, it offers food for many insects, you can process an oil from the flowers that has a calming and antidepressive effect, the root can be eaten as a nourishing and tasty vegetable and pickled.

 Coneflower (Echinacea, in German: Sonnenhut). Great immune system stimulans, against bronchitis and illness of the lung area. Beautiful, too. This one was growing wild, but of course there also is one in Drui´s garden, but an Echinacea purpurea.

 Towards the forest we ventured. The acorns (Quercus robur, in German: Eiche, Eichel) are getting there. You can make meal from them, and even a coffee  substitute, but they are very bitter, as they contain a high amount of Tannine acid. To process them, you have to water them for at least 24 h. Do not eat too much of them unprocessed, for it will have adverse effects on your stomach! As is, they are a great survival food with a load of starch and protein.

 Some kind of bracket fungus, no clue what this is, or if it´s edible at all, but I found it to be beautiful;-).

 My lovely woman in the woods-two assets at once!*ggg*

 On we ventured into the thicket of the woods...

 ...and waiting there was this sparassis crispa, in German: Fette Henne or Krause Glucke, which, for the most part is a delicious edible funghus. This one was inhabited;-), and we left it be.

 Then we came across this fox´s den, where we found some bones. Drui sneered at them, for they were not suited for her tasks-or so she thought;-).

 At this beautiful grove we had a tiny rest...

 ...and it seems Nessie and her little sister could convince my woman the bones were indeed suited for her tasks... I made some bone needles for her and learned a lot in the process. Flowers are boring gifts...*ggg*

 Beautiful was the dew on this lady´s mantle!

 And then the magic troll tutored me and my dedicated readers on how to make cordage. We took purple moor-grass (molinia caerulea, in German : Pfeifengras). With our fingernails we split the grass shaft in two.

 Then the strands were drilled in opposite directions.

 ...more drilling and twining...

 Then everything should fall into place;-).

 The product can serve as a makeshift cordage. You can also take two and intertwine them to achieve more strength, for that dimension can work no wonders.

 It might be a better choice to take nettles.

 Then my favourite magic troll set out and made a basket out of sand couch strands ( Elytrigia truncea, in German: Binsen). I totally messed up braiding, so I did some carving. But she was so quick, I only could carve out an outline!

 Beautiful, again. It always amazes me, how skilled and clever my woman is...

 Then this little fellow came by on her evening jog... that snail was really fast!*ggg*

 We collected a load of mistles, and kissed under a mistletoe... what does that mean?;-) Anyway, it were great woods out there, and the sun was shining....

 In the field there lived a host of wasp spiders (argiope bruennichi, in German: Wespenspinne). They wrap their prey in silk and then inject them with a paralyzing venom.

 We were witness to such a process, a fact we were right grateful for!

 The prey, some poor grasshopper, being wrapped in silk and paralyzed.

 The spider waiting for more prey to be caught.

Nature might give an impression of being nice and peaceful, and indeed there always is an air of peace under the trees. But one should always be careful to imply our conceptions of good and evil to nature. Nature is never good or evil, it simply is. In my opinion, it is one of the most important aspects of survival to keep that in mind. Nature is impersonal. It does not "mean" anything. It happens, it is.
Just as well as it can provide for you, it can "use" you as a provision, but this term is incorrect. More exactly said, you can end up as hunter or prey.

So many survival concepts are all about the aspect of you fighting against nature. This, in my opinion, might be a wrong path. If you allow it to happen, you will learn that there is a place for you in the structure or, better, the process called nature. The wasp spider is a fierce hunter. We might sympathise with the spider or the grasshopper, but that does not change anything. The spider does not kill because it sympathises. It kills for food, and for its own survival, following the instinct that drives all animals, mammals as well as insects, reptiles or birds-the instinct of survival. It fights, but it fights FOR something, not against something. It is a fierce hunter, but prey to other hunters. My conclusion to this train of thought is:

In a survival situation, I will set my mind not to fight AGAINST the circumstances. I will try to blend into the situation. I will adapt to the task at hand. I will fight FOR my survival, my wellfare, my well-being and health. I will accept the fact that I can fall prey to other hunters, but that I am a hunter, too.

This, by the way, is an important aspect of the hornéd God, Cernunnos.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cernunnos The deer-like shamanic deity that propels modern paganism is hunter, but as a deer, at the same time prey.

Man can be more than a spider, if he / she gets to know the place suited for mankind. Presently, mankind is much less than a spider, for it is anlawful and destroys itself. Presently, mankind is the only species on the planet gone mad.

Bushcraft or survival could change something. But in my book, in modern-day- survival, one most important aspect is missing: Love. Not some silly affection, but a love that can forget about itself, to become a part of the process of naturedom. I want to learn, and this is what I want to learn first and foremostly.

Gnothi se auton.