One good knife.... and a folder.

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rust collector said:
Would you agree with me that the American Girl's Handy Book and The Art of War (Sun Tzu?) are not commonly found in proximity?
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Not at all. The AGHB is a 1887 activities and craft book written as a companion to the 1882 American Boy's Handy Book. They both give information that would be very useful in turn of the century (1900) skills from that time's perspective. A young person's "survival" guide for the times. Horace Kephart's famous 1906 Camping & Woodcraft book is in there as well as other primitive and pre electric skills books. There's a full Foxfire collection and a 12th edition of the Britannica. Old fencing manuals. Stick fighting manuals. Begin to see the theme?

The upside down book is an old laboratory log book full of notes on what I have tried and what worked/failed in the woods over the years. Oh, and a D&D book. ;)

rust collector said:
only for ambience
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:rofl:
 
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Boattale said:
I'm the jarhead that posted the Randall. It's a party showoff thing, not a war. We all -most of us anyway- have a fighting knife.
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Didn’t mean to cast shade on your Randall as they may be the best knife ever made. Oohra
 
9x56MS said:
Didn’t mean to cast shade on your Randall as they may be the best knife ever made. Oohra
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Didn't take it that way at all. I was tempted to post my fighting knife instead of the Randall but when the OP mentioned "barbecue" grade goodies, I went Randall. And mine is ordered to my specs, so the possibility exists that it's one of a kind - but with many brothers. And oohra right back at you.
 
We are speaking the same language brother.

I love the SA Camper for the exact same reason.....and my Estwing camp axe is a much prized possession. Both I have had for going on 25 years now and I am 38 so that is quite a portion of my life. Some of the only things I still have from childhood.

I would add my Buck Vanguard into the mix as my fixed blade option.

70A6BE5B-94C9-4264-9977-56DEE766FC62.jpeg

I will say, as good as the SAK saw is on the Camper, for a one tool plan this Gerber is difficult to beat. It has a way too short but similarly designed saw.

EB1FA3B3-A063-486C-8360-59028634F596.jpeg

in the end I have a long folding saw for many woods tasks.

PS: You need to get some more use on that Estwing. Haha.
 
[QUOTE:rofl:TE="hso, post: 11857264, member: 2539"]Not at all. The AGHB is a 1887 activities and craft book written as a companion to the 1882 American Boy's Handy Book. They both give information that would be very useful in turn of the century (1900) skills from that time's perspective. a D&D book. ;)[/QUOTE]

I thought it might have been an acquisition guide.
 
Speedo66 said:
[QUOTE:rofl:TE="hso, post: 11857264, member: 2539"]Not at all. The AGHB is a 1887 activities and craft book written as a companion to the 1882 American Boy's Handy Book. They both give information that would be very useful in turn of the century (1900) skills from that time's perspective. a D&D book. ;)
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I thought it might have been an acquisition guide.[/QUOTE]

Kinda. When you read through turn of the century books and articles on non-power ways to accomplish day to day tasks or defensive or offensive methods they'll discuss the various merits of one tool or another or one type outdoor cooking method or the other or one type camping equipment or the other or methods of protecting livestock, home, or self. It makes you aware of tools and equipment, weapons and defenses that you might acquire outside of what we're familiar this century. So, yes, in many ways these old republished or original texts inform me on what I might want to add to my modern supplies and knowledge.

BTW, here's a closeup of "my" knife. The blades are 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5 inches long, balance of each is on the index finger, the blade is just canted down from the grip for a modified saber grip, the swedge is sharpened and the tip aligns with a fencing thrust, the spine is square for striking a ferro rod, the handles are micarta and 3D shaped with enough palm swell and birds beak to be comfortable in up/down/in/out grips, the steel is CPM D2 that is heat treated by the same people that do Walter Brend's CPM. There are elements of a dozen favorite knives in the design and a couple that I came up with.

20210312_171150.jpg
 
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ApacheCoTodd said:
I can't quite put my finger on when or the manufacturer.
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Probably an Al Mar. I have a few early ones and Al Mar's straightforward designs influenced a lot of designers in the 60's and 70's and 80's. He kept most of his in a straight line from butt to point. His tips were more symmetric or more asymmetric. He didn't use bellies on his grips. And balance wasn't as much a factor. I found canting a bit, moving the centerline up, and using a sharp swedge gave the blade properties I wanted making temporary camps and in defensive practice. The balance has to be right on the index finger in mine and the grip has a balance between just enough swell to be stable making feather sticks and not make hot spots or, again, in defensive use without being bulky. I started off with added guards, but did away with them because it increased weight and cost, but I wanted a bit of guard for the added safety.
 
Sistema1927 said:
How is *one fixed - one folder - one axe* a limitation for your outing? Do you actually take more than that along on these jaunts anyway?
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Yup - it would get completely out of hand as we go older, lazier or just wanted to show off more.

One year, a principal - who's turn it was to make such decisions that year - met us where we thought we were going old to find out that that was merely the start and we were to use canoes and kayaks the rest of the way.

Watching guys shed butt-loads of snivel-gear and dog&pony, gee-wiz, look-what-I-got.... doesn't matter 'cause I don't gotta *carry* it no more plunder was pitiful.

That and a couple other events led to each of us getting to impose parameters in some way each year.

NO BATTERIES has been the funnest to watch fellas cope with.

Todd.
 
ApacheCoTodd said:
Watching guys shed butt-loads of snivel-gear and dog&pony, gee-wiz, look-what-I-got.... doesn't matter 'cause I don't gotta *carry* it no more plunder was pitiful.
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:thumbup:

I, kinda, coordinate a local weekly Friday Knife Nut Lunch Bunch of collectors, users, makers, and industry pros. The text group is about 30 people who are nuts about knives. Everyone shows up just to show off knives and talk about knives. One fortunate fellow made the life decisions that allowed him to retire with a budget for knives that is the envy of knife nuts. He brings some pretty heady stuff being made by hot new makers (mostly folders). Others bring knives from very well known makers in their age group. And we're very fortunate to have possibly the best Bowie authority in the country that drops in from time to time with treasures from the past (I now owe him money for an interesting Center Cross switchblade Gene Osborn, RIP, made). Still others bring what they carried in service (all sorts of service). It is basically a show and tell lunch so you know there's a lot of fancy cutlery of all sorts passed around the table and bandied about. If I dropped that group into the woods, most of what shows up would be left behind if we had to be more than a mile from their cars.
 
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hso said:
I, kinda, coordinate a local weekly Friday Knife Nut Lunch Bunch of collectors, users, makers, and industry pros. The text group is about 30 people who are nuts about knives. Everyone shows up just to show off knives and talk about knives.
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Doggone, but that sounds like a fun time.

Todd.
 
The kabar mystique was broken for me in the Army when I was taking tiny branches off a birch sapling for a fire and each little branch returned the same sound.... until one not only didn't sound the same but there were in fact TWO sounds.

I had looked away and when I noted the two sounds I realize that I'm holding the friendly end of a brand-new factory-U.S. kabar and the second sound was the unfriendly end hitting the snow.

Sure, it was cold but DAMN!

Never carried a kabar or Mk2 ever-after.

Tiny little sapling branches.:cuss:

Searched the pawn-shops around Ft Bragg for an alternative and came away with a Cataraugus 225Q. Still have it and used the old kabar sheath as 225Qs came with left-handed sheaths.


Todd.
 
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Back from this year's Alamo-rememberance intervention and hog interdiction soiree in Texas.

Great time and as far as only the subject of this thread goes; some observations.

3 guys brought three different major manufacturers' tactifool *tomahawks*. To a tool - they were actually worse than useless on.... well, ANYTHING OUT THERE! All would take major re-contouring to be the least bit useful in the outback for other than bashing skulls. Oaks and boar bones mocked them.... Shameful!

One goofy sumbitch brought an OTF knife. Got to use my lidocaine and suture kit. At our age it'd likely be better to not bring OTFs and save the lidocaine for defibrillation.:D

SAKs were common and classically contoured with one Mountain Knife and a funny fella with a magenta Girl Scouts knife.

One hickory stubbed BSA hand axe went south for lack of a wedge but they're easy enough to make from fire-hardened oak.

Next year is likely to be at one of two memorials on the Continental Divide or out of Fort William Henry Harrison up Montana. Things were getting dicey that close to the border and don't look to be amended any time soon. Border Patrol and mystically-clad non-entities stopped in to camp quite often.

Our goodly bit of shooting provided not just recreation and meat but kept the bush-creepers at bay or at least quiet.

Also, one fella brought out an entire Lansky kit to sharpen - and in my case re contour - our knives. I now take back 82.7% of anything I was thinking about the kit and any posts extolling its virtues. Very impressive.

Big disappointment? Not one single chupacabra, dammit!:cuss:

Todd.
 
ApacheCoTodd said:
Back from this year's Alamo-rememberance intervention and hog interdiction soiree in Texas.

Great time and as far as only the subject of this thread goes; some observations.

3 guys brought three different major manufacturers' tactifool *tomahawks*. To a tool - they were actually worse than useless on.... well, ANYTHING OUT THERE! All would take major re-contouring to be the least bit useful in the outback for other than bashing skulls. Oaks and boar bones mocked them.... Shameful!

One goofy sumbitch brought an OTF knife. Got to use my lidocaine and suture kit. At our age it'd likely be better to not bring OTFs and save the lidocaine for defibrillation.:D

SAKs were common and classically contoured with one Mountain Knife and a funny fella with a magenta Girl Scouts knife.

One hickory stubbed BSA hand axe went south for lack of a wedge but they're easy enough to make from fire-hardened oak.

Next year is likely to be at one of two memorials on the Continental Divide or out of Fort William Henry Harrison up Montana. Things were getting dicey that close to the border and don't look to be amended any time soon. Border Patrol and mystically-clad non-entities stopped in to camp quite often.

Our goodly bit of shooting provided not just recreation and meat but kept the bush-creepers at bay or at least quiet.

Also, one fella brought out an entire Lansky kit to sharpen - and in my case re contour - our knives. I now take back 82.7% of anything I was thinking about the kit and any posts extolling its virtues. Very impressive.

Big disappointment? Not one single chupacabra, dammit!:cuss:

Todd.
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I saw a mystically clad non entity once when I was on mescaline. Never since though, sadly.
 
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Boattale said:
I saw a mystically clad non entity once when I was on mescaline. Never since though, sadly.
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Was that in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine, by chance?

Closest we came to that was a gord.... no kidding - a GORD of mescal. Like a bad western sitting around the fire drinking mescal from a gord sharpening knives and cleaning guns.


Todd.
 
Fixed knife: A Dawson knife, I can’t remember it’s designation.
Folding knife: ZT 300
Axe: A traditional tomahawk from some maker I can’t remember.

hso, your knives look really cool, and I really like your taste in reading material as well.
 
There are lots of large knives that would work well for camping, including kuhkris, sturdy machetes, bolos, etc.

I personally would take a Camp Defender 2 or my Camp Defender Compact, and then something like a Ganzo. My Spydie Chef would also be a good folding option, if the clip hadn't fallen off.

Screenshot_2021-04-17-11-29-09-1.png

John
 
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