How Useful Is A Saw When Backpacking? | Men’s Backpack
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There are some people who like to take as many gadgets and tools as possible with them when backpacking. Not all of them are going to be useful and you may be wondering if it’s worth taking a backpacking saw with you when backpacking.
How useful is a saw when backpacking?
If you wanted to make a shelter, create a long-burning fire or complete some trail maintenance, a backpacking saw can be very useful. For casual backpacking, however, it’s probably not required.
When to use a backpacking saw
There are going to be a few key scenarios where you can use a backpacking saw. Here we take a quick overview of them.
Long-term fire
If you wanted to create a camp fire then in most situations you’d be perfectly fine just snapping off branches or collecting broken branches from the floor. In these situations, the fire would burn quite quickly and you’d likely need to keep adding to it.
Thicker logs burn for a lot longer and are required if you wanted to have an overnight fire. Trying to get these using your bare hands or even a hatchet can be very difficult. A saw will be able to give you the logs that you need to create a fire that will burn until the morning.
If you’re going to be on a long camping trip or hiking journey where the temperature is going to drop at night then you’ll need to carry a saw to make these fires.
Trail maintenance
Love hiking along trails? If you do, you have a duty of care to your fellow hikers to try and keep it clear. This can include simple things such as clearing litter or casting aside broken branches that have been blown onto the path.
Sometimes there will be something a lot bigger blocking the path such as trees that have been blown over. In many situations, a backpacking saw can be just the tool you need to clear the path. You can just saw off the broken tree and move it to the side for the benefit of you and everyone else.
If a large tree is blocking the path that is too big for your saw then even cutting off branches so people can transverse over it can be a huge help.
Shelter
Creating a shelter can be a challenge when you’re out in the wild, especially if you’ve not got the right tools. A backpacking saw will allow you to get the right-sized branches and logs in no time at all. This can be especially important in emergency situations.
This could be creating tent poles for your regular tent, using poles to create a teepee with your tarp or creating a simple A-frame shelter. Without a saw the job can take a lot longer as you have to scavenge high and wide for the right materials.
Even if you don’t plan on making a shelter, if you’re on a potentially dangerous trip, it can be very useful in many emergency situations.
Types
Before taking a saw on a backpacking trip, it’s important to know exactly what type you should be taking. Here we look at the three main types.
If you want to read more, click here.
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