Sagebrush personal hiking blog
The NMVFO held a training workshop for trail work on March 17, at a meeting room provided by REI. Even though I have gone to a few projects, I thought it would be useful to take the class and learn some of the finer points of trail work.
Chris, Larry, and Ed were speakers, and a good quality Forest Service video helped with the instruction.
[Blog posts on older trail projects help me remember.]
The NMVFO joined with the Friends of Piedra Lisa to maintain trail in the Sandia Mountains above Albuquerque on March 6, 2016.
Main blade, nail file with screwdriver tip, scissors, tweezers, and toothpick: the Victorinox Classic SD Swiss Army Knife is a marvel of design in a lightweight form factor respected by long distance hikers. I do not really need the toothpick, though, so can something else go in that slot? The plastic toothpick is roughly 1.75 inches long x 0.12 inches wide x 0.047 inches thick.
FireSteel.com sells blank rods of ferrocerrium in various sizes, including the FireSteel Tiny, 1/8 x 2 inches, at less than US$1.00 per rod. 1/8 inch is close to the width of the toothpick, so we just need to grind down one side flat, grind down most of the opposite side to a thickness of 0.047 inches. We must leave a thick tip at one end as with the plastic toothpick, to allow fingers to remove the gadget from the handle of the knife.
