Backpacker Magazine – Holiday Gift Guide 2011

Holiday Gift Guide 2011: Trailblazer Sawvivor Saw

Compact, ultralight saw is a lifesaver

by: Dan Larson

Tags:
• Gear
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• Survival
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For your backpacking friends who like a good campfire, give them a tool to help get the job done. One of my search and rescue friends swears by this collapsible saw. In all his group’s life-saving missions in the wet Mt. Hood Wilderness, he says, “I’ve almost never had any problem using the Sawvivor to find dry wood at the center of soaked logs and build a fire.”

The saw’s innovative design makes it easy to use. Pull the blade from the shaft, which acts as a sheath for storage, and fold the two handles on either end back on themselves. Put pegs on the saw handles through holes in the blade, then use the screw and wingnut to tighten the blade. This saw rocked through branches and logs 6 inches thick in less than a minute the first time I used it. And at 9.5 oz., and 15 -by 3- by 1-in. collapsed size, it’s much smaller and lighter than other collapsible saws with comparable performance.



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