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Ordinarily, dry, dead trees which have not been denuded of limbs and "squaw wood" (the small dead limbs under the live crown of a tree) are the most desirable. A few green poles four feet long laid side by side make an excellent hearth for a roaring and welcome campfire. Small trees can frequently be broken off by rocking, either by repeated pushing or by use of a rope. Some mountaineers carry a small ax despite the undesirability of increased weight. Far better for those who anticipate the need of cutting green poles and dry firewood is a thin saw blade 36 inches long, 1 inch wide, and weighing 3 ounces, which is commercially available. Two four-inch nails are the handles. It rolls into a four-inch circle, yet can be used effectively to cut trees over a foot in diameter. The simplest method is to use it as a two-man drag saw, although a bucksaw can be improvised with a bent green pole four feet long, split at each end, with the ends of the blade made fast by the nails as pins. |
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