Fixing knives and axes

[zerocool]

Repairing such items does not require scrap metal in real life. It would very rarely require wood. Sharpening either item requires access to a file, sharpening stone, and/or leather strop. If a handle breaks, it would be a cool exercise to have to craft the handle for the axe. On most knives leather and maybe guts are adequate to make the handle useful. If a blade snaps, no amount of scrap metal can fix it.

BTW, very cool idea about trading time for calories depending on tool selection when processing game!

[Raphael van Lierop]

Good feedback! Thank you.

[zerocool]

This game has spurred a bunch of research on my part and I've discovered that mass-produced axes are a new phenomenon. It was in fact very common to buy the head and "hang" it yourself on a piece of wood (typically hickory) yourself. Apparently a lot of woodsmen took great care and pride in designing and fashioning axe handles. If you take a look at various survival and outdoor texts, there is a lot of pressure for not relying on axes with plastic handles. Should the handle break, the tool becomes useless since it cannot be easily hung from a tree limb. There is also a lively e-bay market for older, quality axe heads like "Norlund". All of this signals to me that axe failures are typically centered on handle failure, and most maintenance time is spent on conditioning the edge between uses.

Thanks!

[ernestww]

Repairing such items does not require scrap metal in real life. It would very rarely require wood. Sharpening either item requires access to a file, sharpening stone, and/or leather strop. If a handle breaks, it would be a cool exercise to have to craft the handle for the axe. On most knives leather and maybe guts are adequate to make the handle useful. If a blade snaps, no amount of scrap metal can fix it.

BTW, very cool idea about trading time for calories depending on tool selection when processing game!

There could be a dynamic where the sharper a cutting tool is (measured by condition) the faster you could gather material, and it could have a higher DPS roll in melee.

[ernestww]

This game has spurred a bunch of research on my part and I've discovered that mass-produced axes are a new phenomenon. It was in fact very common to buy the head and "hang" it yourself on a piece of wood (typically hickory) yourself. Apparently a lot of woodsmen took great care and pride in designing and fashioning axe handles. If you take a look at various survival and outdoor texts, there is a lot of pressure for not relying on axes with plastic handles. Should the handle break, the tool becomes useless since it cannot be easily hung from a tree limb. There is also a lively e-bay market for older, quality axe heads like "Norlund". All of this signals to me that axe failures are typically centered on handle failure, and most maintenance time is spent on conditioning the edge between uses.

Thanks!

Its great to find an old quality axe head at a yard sale.

[ernestww]

In a situation such as TLD it wouldn't be long before I practiced throwing the hatchet as a self defense move.