Quote: "Has anyone needed a chainsaw or fence cutters while expeditioning?"
It depends on how remote or primitive are the roads you are travelling on, and how heavily forested the region is.
On an expedition to circle East Timor a number of years ago we had a huge tree across the road, and with no chainsaw it turned into a 2-day detour.
When driving remote tracks in Malaysia and Indonesia we often use a Chainsaw to clear brush, and also to cut logs to repair bridges along the way. (If you are planning to do that, make sure you have the rest of the bridge-building gear you need, like a small sledge, a big bag of spikes, and some old motorbike chain to wrap around the logs, which you then nail together).
In Russia we found that there were always a couple of saws along with any group in the bush.
Travelling in Northern China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, nobody ever had a chainsaw. But then, we never needed one. The areas where we were travelling had very few trees. We had lots of picks and shovels though, as most of what we were dealing with was rocks and sand.
In BC we use chainsaws all the time, both for trail clearing and trail maintenance. On almost every trip you pull a saw out at some point unless it is a well-travelled trail like the Whipsaw.
So, I don't see a lot of use for the fence cutter, but if you do plan to travel remote roads in a heavily forested region, like many parts of Central and South America, and you have lots of room, I think a good chainsaw is a good safety tool.
If you plan to stick to the main roads, I would just carry a small emergency hand saw, like
http://www.husqvarnachainsaws.co.uk/acatalog/Hand_chain_saws_.html
As with any tool, make sure you are proficient in its use
before you need it.
Cheers
Ray
