Multiple Uses Of Tools

Some knives are specifically made to be multi use tools. Tom Brown's Tracker knife is a good example of this sort of thing. A Kukri can be ground so that different parts of the blade can be used for different purposes. It will chop firewood, split it for kindling, peel potatoes, skin animals and makes a really good draw knife. You can also use it to dig latrines to some extent.

Which bring me to another multi use tool. High quality trenching tools can dig, chop and in some cases is an excellent battle ax. Mine will also slice and dice. One side is razor sharp while the other side is a more coarse chopping edge.

I have a lot of odd tools that do several things. I have an adjustable wrench that is also a hammer and can be converted into a pipe wrench. I have a FUBAR that is a pry bar, nail bar and hatchet/ax for demo use. For urban survival you need a breaching tool. It also would make a deadly weapon. Look up Fencing pliers and see that it is a multi tool that has the ability to do every thing you might want to do if building barbed wire fences.

Most different trades will have tools that cover several purposes that the layman never sees. I know that I have electrician tools that do a half dozen different jobs. Then there are tools that just by their nature are do it all treasures. Vice grip pliers are one of the must have tools in every survivalist's tool pack. Claw hammers are another that can be used and misused in a lot of ways. I made a hawk out of a carpenter's hammer that will chop wood hammer and pull nails but doesn't weigh a lot and has a shorter handle than most hawks making it easier to carry.

I like and make a lot of tools. Being a machinist makes that pretty easy. Tools are like so many other things these days. Turn off the power and most people are totally shut down. The old hands saws are rusting and nobody knows how to care for and sharpen them anymore. They were drilling holes long before you had power drills. I don't know if there are even carpenters now that could build a house without power tools. Swinging a hammer is hard work and takes a lot of specialized musculature. The saw is true of the same thing. THAT is why nobody does it the old way anymore. The old tools, just like the skills to use them, are disappearing fast.