Tent Pegs and 90 Degree Spines

Several of the regular you-tube channels I watch are from the instructors at the Pathfinder School. Its turned into a game with myself trying to figure out why they use certain pieces of equipment on the basic gear list and the purposes of use.

One thing I have yet to figure out is why you can only take carbon steel knives. My guess is they use the spine to strike off flint. My choice for taking on that course would have been the TOPS BOB Field Craft however I prefer the CPM154 steel version.

The other item I had trouble working out till this week were the plastic tent pegs. On their other videos they always use titanium pegs in their kits.

The answer was tent pegs scraped into shavings can be used as an alternative fire starting material the same as gorilla tape. Which is also another reason for having a 90 degree spine. Not only to use on striking fires off a ferro rod but also for scraping tinder material.

Basic Gear list