Knife and Knot Workshop

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Knife and Knot Workshop is a single day class. In the morning, students will learn various knife skills, including safe use and practices, blade profiles/styles, strengths/weaknesses, and correct knife sharpening techniques. In the afternoon students will learn a variety of knots to use in their outdoor adventures, including the practical applications for each knot.

Your knife is your most valuable tool, if you know how to use it correctly.  With knowledge and skill you can become completely self reliant with just this tool and overcome the majority of survival tasks. These are necessary skills in the backcountry and even in everyday life, but are frequently overlooked resulting in performing tasks incorrectly or inefficiently and even causing injury.

Learn or improve your whittling skills, how to fashion tools, or creature comforts from the forest around you. No matter the students skill level, this class is useful to anybody who spends time outdoors or frequently finds themselves using a knife to perform tasks.

In the afternoon we will focus on knots and their applications. There is a commonly used phrase, “If you don’t know a knot, tie a lot.” We feel this is a very poor standard to go by, especially when your life depends on it.  The first knot you learn is to tie your shoelaces and that’s nice, but it may not keep you dry, or hold a load securely in place. In other practical applications, many people struggle to tie the simplest of knots. In our experience, there is nothing better than knowing a practical application for each knot type. There are tutorials for knots all over the internet, but knowing which knot to use and when to use them can be difficult.

In our survival training classes we believe that knot and knife skills are vital and necessary for your foundational education and we encourage everyone to improve these skills. In this class, you will learn several different types of knots and their applications like: creating primitive tools, setting up expedient emergency shelters, securing loads, fastening guy-lines, snare traps and even knots that can be used in everyday life.
COURSE TOPICS

Knife use and safety
Knife sharpening and maintenance
Batoning wood
Feather sticking for starting fires
Carving various notches
Evenk hitch/ Siberian hitch
Tarp taut line hitch
Trucker’s hitch
Over hand on a bite/ over hand
Canadian jam knot
Prusik knot
Guy-line tensioner/adjustable grip hitch
Slippery half hitch
Cross lash
Square lash

COURSE OUTCOMES AND DEMONSTRATED SKILLS

You show proficient use of knives and knots to effectively perform multiple functions
You understand the importance of knife safely and demonstrate correct use and care for a knife
You will use your knife to improve your fire starting skills and techniques
You will carve a variety of notches and use them in practical applications
You will tie a variety of knots and understand the practical applications for each knot