Just about a month ago I was on the beach struggling to boil water with my Kelly kettle for morning coffee. The few twigs I found would smoke but not light. I gave up and used my propane stove instead 😂 boy I wish I’d seen this first, I might not have given up
I have used hemp cordage quite successfully to start the tender or a vassaline soaked cotton ball. I found that a Firefly ferro rod, which fits inside the tweezer slot of my Swiss Army knife. The Ff has a luminous tip which enables finding the Ff in the dark much easier. I separate the hemp cordage and fray the strands with the saw blade of my SAK. Works great, one strike from the back side of the saw blade started the cordage and tender.
Always....and I can't stress this enough, always buy the aluminium ones. The plastic ones just shatter when you stick a twig - or a pencil for that matter- in them..?
Great video and what I actually need to know which is how to light it! Lots of videos out there about cups and accessories but it’s all academic until you actually have a fire!
I'll give you simple tip, place the kettle on the base before lighting and use a plastic wrapped fire lighter just inside with loads of twigs inside, It's never failed me 13 yqers of using one.
Hahahaha...I'm 60yrs old and never opened my knife this way. Lots of times I needed to hold something and grumbled as I always used to hands to open it. IT WORKS.....where was this video 50 yrs ago...??... Oh thats right computers was not for sale yet.😂🤣
So of course as the chimney encourages the fire you start with your tinder in the fire bowl, put on your kettle (chimney) load up with some fuel from the top and the light the tinder. After a few minutes you have hot water. If you really have to use magnesium or fire steel get the fire covered by the kettle as soon as you can, topping up with more tinder and fuel is done at that point.
Yep, tea/coffee cup and food at the ready first, kettle filled with water, put tinder and small bits in the fire bowl, place kettle on the fire bowl (bung removed or whistle in place), light through the base hole and add larger twigs/sticks down the chimney as the fire picks up. The draw effect of the chimney plus the base hole facing the wind fans the flames beautifully.
I just recently got the Hobo Stove attachment and spent about half an hour and too many matches starting my fire. Thanks for the info this should help greatly.
I learned how to open an Opinel with one hand in the 1990s--as long as the handle is not overly damp--no tap is needed--you can lever the tip out far enough to catch the end of the handle somewhere convenient, open the knife and lock
Thanks Billy Two Knives. I was at a mountain market last Thursday watching a demo about making cheese up on the mountain in summer. And saw this technique in use a few times. (And forgot to take pics, as usual). Watching it, and noting some of the comments made here about the "abuse" of the blade in opening the knife, really pointed up the differences in attitudes. For many, I know the knife is seen as the most important part of the task. So one should preserve it. But to those Basque mountain shepherds, the job, the task in hand, is more important that the tool. Because that's all it is. A €10 tool to help with countless tasks. They've probably got one in every pocket. Of course Health & Safety regs means they are no longer allowed to use it to test the coagulation of the cheese - if they intend the cheese for sale. Thanks again. D.
Yeah but there's a way simpler technique that doesn't neet a hard surface: Open the lock as shown and then use your thumb and middle finger reaching around the back of the knife to pinch the blade, pulling it out enough to open it with your thumb on the side of the blade.
Can you show us... ? The problem I find is humidity. It varies so much throughout the year, in the climates I live in so it can become quite difficult to pull the blade free one day, whilst it could be swinging loose a day or two later. And as I said elsewhere, for the artisan using this cheap knife, the completion of the task is frequently far more important than protecting the knife. For them, this is a cheap consumable. But I'd still like to see exactly what you mean.
Yep. Some people do call it that. But the name give to the "manouvre" by the inventor is "Coup de Savoyard". So "Savoy Tap". Because that's where he made them, and that's where they were first used. In the mountains of the Savoie in France.
I might suggest anyone trying this to practice this technique with your strong hand as well as your weak hand. I would also encourage you to practice with your eyes closed as well as behind your back (with gloves of course) until you can do it without the gloves so you will have the muscle memory to use the technique in an actual emergency situation if needed.
This is the kind of leg-pull some of my friends would post. So I'm not sure if you are serious. But yes on the sea rescue courses I've taken, that's exactly what we are taught. And yes I can tie a bowline under water, with my hands behind my back, and my eyes closed. And I can open my rescue knife with one hand and cut boat line with it. But I wouldn't use this knife it would be wholly unsuitable. For local rescue work, we generally use a knife with a very rounded sheepsfoot blade so as not to stab anyone or anything - for example when a wave hits. And I always use a serrated blade, it cuts modern synthetic lines faster and can easily be sharpened onshore. Finally this particular Opinel also has a wooden handle, it would be difficult to use when swollen through being wet. But yes, for anytime you have to use a knife under duress having the ability to use either hand is an advantage. And you are right about the gloves warning. Mountain trekking just a month ago, I used this knife to flake some tinder for cooking a late lunch. Sometime later I noticed blood over a lot of gear. I'd cut myself, but the blade was so sharp and the weather so cold, I'd been completely unaware. So yes it would be easy to injure yourself practicing as you suggest. Finally spotted the Spyderco logo on your profile. Are you a fan?
I wasn't joking or speaking directly to you, but more to your audience. You know, those people who see something and then say, "Watch This, Hold My Beer"! Yes I'm a Spydie fan as well as a fan of other makers too. I'm not totally brand specific. I'm a firefighter and in my bunker gear I have a Byrd Meadowlark Rescue (fully serrated sheepsfoot) for cutting applications around rescue victims. I made it even safer by flattening out the grind on the tip so as not to puncture anything. I also always have another knife in my gear if I need it and of course my EDC(s) in my pants pocket. I'm a true believer in practicing skills until muscle memory kicks in to high gear. I stress this point to the people on my department all the time. It makes things so much easier when in a high stress situation. I'm about 85+ percent ambidextrous and try to practice everything with both hands (just in case).
I understand completely... Grinding off the tip is something I've seen for years in both the Alps and the Pyrénées. I'm guessing either because it had broken, or they were cautious not to injure a beast. And now of course you can buy it described as "Mon Premier Opinel"- My First Opinel -for kids. Same knife large radius round tip. And yes to the muscle memory. I have arthritis and dupuytren's contractures in both hands. So it is possible even with such disabilities. It just requires regular exercise and it fights-off degeneration. And with your knife knowledge maybe you can make a suggestion... On the water I use Myerchin, mainly a folding rigging knife with a fid/marlin spike, but for blue-water I have a fixed blade serrated and carry a separate fid. Trekking/general mountaineering I use the Opinel- including the newish Outdoor. If you are interested here's a review bws.re/Opinel101 with an anecdote of us using them when aiming to climb the Piton Des Neiges (Indian Ocean). But now I'm looking for a better fixed blade knife. We are in East Africa and then north of the Arctic Circle in 2017. I forage fuel a lot (small pieces, not chunks of trees). I do use a very light commando chain saw and a BCB (Rolson) survival tool, but I'm looking for a modest fixed blade knife - flaking tinder would be the physically toughest job. The rest would rely on the sharpness and shape of the blade. Full tang, 8/9", straight edge, 0.14/0.16" thick, drop point, probably with a scandi grind or maybe full convex. And if it were made in Sheffield England that would be awesome. Any suggestions?
Thank you for being the first person on the internet I could find demonstrating a one-handed opening with an UNMODIFIED Opinel. One's first solution should never be to go in and remove material as so many on RU-vid and forums seem so inclined to do.
To be honest I never knew much about the Effile. It does look like a gentleman's folder. And 12C27 is a good steel. I hope you will take the camera with you on your future outings
.... thanks... I think these knives belie their utility.... It's true the effilé does have a very elegant "sabot" and since the blade is only around 1.7mm thick on the 7cm model it is a bit restricted for some outdoor uses... Cameras always seem to me to be excess weight when I'm backpacking... but thanks for the comment... I might try and capture some original images.
