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Letter Re: Comments on Matt Bracken's Night Fighting Primer
Hi James,
I followed a link that you recently posted: Matt Bracken: Night Fighting 101. Matt Bracken wrote a fine article. He is correct that the deer hunter that proceeds to his hunting area in the dark has already approached quite a lot of what he suggests.
I would like to suggest this concerning chain link fences. Having assembled perhaps 800 feet of chain link fence, I learned how to break it in two and to reweave it together. If you have to separate a portion of chain link fence laying on the ground it is a snap. It is not under lateral tension and has no gravitational forces influencing it. Standing fence is more difficult but can be unzipped if you know how. All chain link fencing comes linked at the top and bottom in paired strands.
Each strand has a loop in the top and has that loop hooked into the adjoining strands loop.
To break a fence you must unhook the loops at the top and the bottom.
Doing so allows you to use the very top piece of the strand you choose as a crank.
Matt Bracken suggests you cut the fence and remove the strand. This is very difficult to do if you cut off the top strand especially if the fence is under lateral pressure.
Repeated cutting is noisy. If you intend to replace the strand to hide the fact that the fence has been penetrated you will need the uncut strand to reweave it.
It is much easier to un-loop the top and bottom by use of a grasping tool to turn the strand.
The best tool without a doubt is a pair of Vise Grip Pliers
(7 to 9 inch size).
You can clamp it on and use it with gloves under cold or wet conditions.
Once clamped on the Vise Grip will not fall on the opposite side of the fence.
You will lose considerable time recovering it in the dark and could break the silence barrier alerting people.
After you clamp the Vise Grip on to the top strand you just turn the Vise Grip in a cranking motion and the strand will begin to come out.
On a 6+ft fence you will find that you soon cannot crank this long strand coming out standing on the ground.
You will have to remove the Vise Grip and reattach closer to the top of the fence.
Even then at some point you will soon have 3,4 or 5 feet of wire making a big circle above you and arching down in a big curve.
It will catch on anything close especially tree and shrubbery branches.
You will need a second person to catch it when it comes around each time or to untangle it.
You could severely injure a persons eye or give them a significant skin scratch with the whipping end.
Control that end by having some one to catch it.
Be sure to carry out these operations with a good set of gloves on. Fencing of all types and tools will eat your hands up quickly.
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