The Bear Adventure, Bear Claws, has us cutting a piece of rope, twine, or fishing line.

This is the method that I learned way back in the day when I was earning my whittling chip as a Bear Cub.

• Take your knife in one hand and face the blade away from yourself

• Make sure that your “blood circle” is free of other people

• Loop your piece of twine around the blade at the spot where you would like to make the cut

• Pinch the twine together below the blade with your fingers, keeping your fingers off the blade.

• Rather than moving your blade, keep it stationary and pull back on the twine. For thicker pieces of twine you may need to slightly slide the twine up and down the blade to make your cut. Take extra care not to slide the twine completely off the blade if you do need some extra friction to make the cut.

• For larger pieces of rope you may need to tape the location of the cut so that fraying will not occur.

• Practice makes perfect… and keep all your digits!