Well it's obvious that our new "Bill" hasn't ever been in a survival situation, or used a wire saw. Most all of the survival military kits have one. I have used them and the one's that I have used, work just fine and they are much faster than trying to chop a 5" woody with a knife. Like I said, if you don't have a hatchet, a wire saw will work just fine. I have also used the wire saw on large animals like elk and moose when cutting the "aitch" bone to keep from cutting a full bladder. It takes 2 cuts but works great and much better than a hand saw IMHO. Been there, used it.