American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 41 Handsaw and Food Crisis

Without delay, Lin Yu'an immediately began his "new equipment" production plan.

He first carefully examined the chain saw. The chain was about 60 or 70 centimeters long. Except for the broken section, the teeth of the rest of the chain were very sharp and there was no obvious rust.

The preparations for the hunched back required even more effort. He once again went into the forest near the shelter, carefully searching for suitable tree species and branches.

Ultimately, a birch tree with a diameter of about four centimeters was chosen as the back of the bow.

"The wood used to make the bow must have good toughness so that it can withstand the tension without breaking when the saw chain is pulled tight."

He cut down the birch trunk, which was about 1.2 meters long, and after returning to the camp, he carefully peeled off the bark and then began to heat and bend it to shape.

Slowly bake it, taking advantage of the softened properties of the wood fibers, and gradually bend it into a full "C" shape.

Use several pieces of nylon rope that you found to tie and secure both ends of it, and then set it aside to cool and set naturally.

After cooling, the birch trunk had formed a beautiful "C"-shaped arch. Lin Yu'an untied the securing rope and was very satisfied with the curvature and resilience of the arch.

He carefully used the blade of a multi-tool to carve a groove at each end of the bow, the width of which was equivalent to the thickness of the chainsaw chain.

"These two grooves are crucial. They will serve as the base for both ends of the saw chain, ensuring that the saw chain will not easily slip when under stress and can form a tighter fit with the bow."

First, smoothly insert one end of the chainsaw chain into the groove pre-cut on the bow back, with the saw teeth facing outwards.

Then pick up a piece of prepared steel wire fishing line and begin to secure it.

"I will use the strong tension of the wire fishing line and the slight elasticity of the wood itself to 'lock' the end of the saw chain to the bow."

He threaded one end of the wire through the groove between the last few chain links of the saw chain from the outside of the bow.

Next, pull the protruding wire taut so that it is deeply embedded in the saw chain groove. Then, wrap the wire around the bow-backed wood end, pressing it down to secure one end of the saw chain.

The steps for securing the other end were slightly different; he first took a nylon rope.

One end is firmly tied to the end of the bow, while the other end passes through the groove of the chain at the end of the saw chain.

"I now plan to use the Spanish winch method to tighten it."

Lin Yu'an used a small wooden stick as a winch, threading it horizontally through the middle of the loop formed by the nylon rope, and began to spin it.

As he twisted the boomerang with force, the nylon rope became shorter and shorter, tightening like a twisted rope. The enormous tension caused the boomerang to bend further, and the chainsaw chain was stretched taut like a string.

When the tension is at its optimal level, he secures the winch by locking it inside the bow.

Then, the saw chain at one end was finally secured to the bow with steel wire. A D-shaped chain saw was now complete!

(Use the two images together to visualize)

"Perfect!"

Lin Yu-an held up the D-shaped hand saw in his hand and showed its structure to the camera.

The curved back of the chainsaw is full of power, and the black chainsaw chain is taut at the opening of the back, with each sharp tooth gleaming coldly.

"Look at this! A hand saw made from a logger's discarded chainsaw chain! This is definitely one of the most valuable tools I've made since I came here!"

He couldn't wait to test the practical capabilities of this new tool.

Select a dry spruce log from the firewood piled up next to the camp, place one end on a high rock, and stabilize the other end with your foot to form a simple saw frame.

Lin Yu'an bent down, steadying the log with his left hand and gripping the handle of the chain saw firmly with his right. He gently placed the front end of the saw chain on the pre-set cutting line.

"Come on, let me see how you do it!"

He exerted force with his arm and began to pull the saw back and forth evenly.

“Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!”

Almost the instant the saw teeth touched the wood, a crisp and rhythmic cutting sound rang out in the forest!

Unlike the heavy "thump-thump" sound of chopping with a logging axe, the continuous cutting sound was so efficient and pleasant. The sharp teeth of the chainsaw, like a hungry beast, easily and ruthlessly bit into the hard spruce wood.

As Lin Yu'an's arm moved back and forth, wood shavings, carrying the fragrance of pine, fell like snowflakes from the saw cut.

He could clearly feel the saw chain moving steadily and smoothly through the wood fibers, encountering almost no resistance.

The elasticity of the bow and the tension of the saw chain work together perfectly, making every pull feel powerful!

In less than two minutes, he easily split the spruce log, which was as thick as a forearm, in two!
"That's fantastic! This is true specialization, and it's so much more efficient than a lumberjack's axe."

"I was initially regretting not bringing a saw. Unexpectedly, I managed to obtain the crucial materials for making a saw and successfully craft it!"

"The appearance of this saw has completely made up for a huge shortcoming in my tools! The efficiency of preparing a large amount of firewood for winter will be increased exponentially!"

After testing the new saw and briefly planning the subsequent timber processing, Lin Yu'an carefully hung the precious saw on an iron nail on the inner wall of the shelter.

It was still early, and he was preoccupied with another important matter—checking the barbed nets he had set up the day before.

"Guys, the testing of the new tool was a great success. Now I need to go check on the fishing nets."

"I hope I can get something today, my supply of smoked dried fish is running low."

Lin Yu'an once again paddled his "Pioneer" canoe, swiftly heading towards that familiar river bend.

However, as he approached the area where the gillnet was located, Lin Yu'an's brows furrowed slightly.

The buoys he set up, made of balsa wood, only swayed gently with the weak current, and showed no obvious signs of being dragged today.

"Hmm? It seems like nothing's happening."

He anchored the canoe, grabbed the end of the gillnet closest to the shore, and began to slowly pull it back in.

The wet netting was slowly pulled up from the cold lake water, with only a few water plants hanging on it, otherwise empty.

Lin Yuan quietly sensed for a moment, but his keen sixth sense did not detect any signs of fish activity underwater. It seemed that there were indeed no fish in this area for the time being.

"Well, it seems Lady Luck isn't on my side today."

"We haven't caught anything with the gillnets. It's probably because the weather has turned cooler recently, and the fish's activity patterns have changed."

He paddled his canoe around the river bend again, trying several new fishing spots where fish might be present. He even tried fly fishing with his feather lure, but still came up empty-handed.

Returning to the shore in the evening, Lin Yu'an sat on a rock next to the canoe, his expression somewhat solemn.

Lin Yu'an opened his food storage bag, which contained only a few pieces of smoked fish and some dried berries he had collected earlier.

"These smoked fish, if eaten sparingly, can probably last for three days, four days at most. In other words, if I don't get any new food in the next few days, things will get a bit bad."

The brief sense of abundance he had previously experienced from easily gathering Jerusalem artichokes, catching rainbow trout, pike, trapping beavers, and shooting grouse, along with his inexplicable sixth sense, made him somewhat complacent about the difficulty of obtaining food.

A long-lost sense of food crisis began to quietly spread in his heart.

"It seems I was too lucky before and didn't worry too much about food. I can't put all my hopes on fishing and small traps anymore."

"I must take the initiative to find more reliable and abundant food sources! I hope to find opportunities to hunt large prey."

"Fortunately, I got some good news today: I got this hand saw! It will allow me to process wood and collect fuel more efficiently, thus saving more precious time and energy for hunting."

As night fell, the firelight flickered inside the shelter, and Lin Yu'an began to ponder his next hunting plan.

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