How to Fell a Tree With a Knife

In a wilderness survival situation, you may need to cut down a small tree. Maybe you need to make a debris shelter and need a long ridge pole to get it started. Or maybe you need some logs for creating a parallel fire lay (one of the 6 fire lays every man should know).

But what do you do if you don’t have an ax or a hatchet?

Well, as long as you have a solid survival knife on you, you can still fell a small tree.

You want to use a knife that’s sturdy and isn’t hollow ground. A simple mora knife is ideal for this job. It can take a beating.

You’ll need to find a sturdy stick too. Then, by pounding the back of the knife with it, you can cut small wedges out around the tree until its structure is sufficiently compromised for you to push it over. 

This technique takes some time and sweat, but it works if you need to fell a tree in a pinch.

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