When I head out onto my adopted trail for seasonal maintenance trips, I like to keep my pack as light as I can, even with the additional tools. Since most of the work I have to do in the spring consists of cutting up fallen trees and clearing encroaching underbrush from the trail, I can get away with a wonderfully small set of tools that can take care of most of the work while adding less than 3 pounds to my pack.
This tool set includes:
- Silky Gomboy 240mm Folding Saw (9.5 ounces): A very lightweight and sharp folding saw made for branches up to 3 or 4 inches in diameter, although with plenty of time and sweat I’ve cut through trunks up to 8 inches.
- Silky Tsurugi 400mm Saw (16 ounces including sheath): Also very lightweight, but a fixed blade that’s about 16 inches long. Like the Gomboy, it’s best for branches that are up to 5 or 6 inches diameter, but I’ve cut 12 inch logs a few times.
- Fiskars 15″ PowerGear Super Pruners (13.4 ounces): These loppers are pretty compact, but the geared mechanism makes them surprisingly powerful. They cut through brush up to an inch thick like it’s not even there.
- Ironclad Gripworx Gloves (3 ounces): Good for preventing blisters while sawing away all day, and for keeping poking bits of logs from sticking your hands. And thin enough that you can still tie your shoes with them on.
Of course, two saws is unnecessarily redundant, but I just like both of them a lot.
This tool set includes:
- Silky Gomboy 240mm Folding Saw (9.5 ounces): A very lightweight and sharp folding saw made for branches up to 3 or 4 inches in diameter, although with plenty of time and sweat I’ve cut through trunks up to 8 inches.
- Silky Tsurugi 400mm Saw (16 ounces including sheath): Also very lightweight, but a fixed blade that’s about 16 inches long. Like the Gomboy, it’s best for branches that are up to 5 or 6 inches diameter, but I’ve cut 12 inch logs a few times.
- Fiskars 15″ PowerGear Super Pruners (13.4 ounces): These loppers are pretty compact, but the geared mechanism makes them surprisingly powerful. They cut through brush up to an inch thick like it’s not even there.
- Ironclad Gripworx Gloves (3 ounces): Good for preventing blisters while sawing away all day, and for keeping poking bits of logs from sticking your hands. And thin enough that you can still tie your shoes with them on.
Of course, two saws is unnecessarily redundant, but I just like both of them a lot.
Guthook’s arsenal of trail tools.
Photo by Ryan Linn
This small set of tools is great for clearing overgrown trail, or for most of the fallen trees I encounter (since much of my trail is high in elevation, the fallen trees are rarely very huge), and it fits easily in the side pocket of my Gossamer Gear pack. There are often obstacles that are bigger than what I can handle with these tools, but the vast majority of what I encounter is no match for them.
When I have digging to do, or when there are really big fallen trees, I’ll need to bring some bigger, heavier tools. But one of the benefits of the light tools is that I can take a quick trip to my trail in the beginning of the season, or a few times in the summer, and slice up all the easy stuff without having to haul a chainsaw or other heavy equipment. On those trips, I’ll note the locations of any larger issues so that I can come back for them later. Or, I can tag-team with a friend who has a chainsaw– splitting the load is a great way to deal with heavy group gear.
Of course, if you’re going to take up being a volunteer trail maintainer, you should make sure you officially sign up with the local trail maintaining club or land manager. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and Pacific Crest Trail Association are great places to start looking.