• Downtime Alert

    THR will be migrating to a new server today. If all goes well this should take a couple of hours where users will just see the maintenance page.

    When I make the actual switchover we should see a Cloudflare message indicatating it cannot connect to the server. While the server is down I will take the opportunity to upgrade the forum software and all addons as well, so maybe an additional half-hour for the upgrades on top of the migration.

    More information is available in this thread.

    As always, thanks so much for your patience.

Seasons Change, aka "Where Do We Go Now?"

JShirley

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Folks, as you probably all have learned by now, we've lost hso (Mike Crenshaw).

Mike has been a moderator here since September, 2006. Setting the tone for what would often be his pattern here, I asked Mike if he would be willing to fill the gap caused by my first deployment to Afghanistan. He was, and he did, and almost 20 years later, here we are

Mike was conspicuous for knowing a lot, and almost always explaining it well, plus having good writing skills, and the ability to express himself politely. He steered the ship here during most of my first deployment, and all of my second deployment to Afghanistan, while I went through BOLC (officer school for my specialty), while I was attending various military schools over the years, and most recently, during three years while I taught at the Special Warfare Center and School. This thread is not about me: I want to make it clear the incredible job Mike did, often mostly by himself.

We have some staff decisions to make, and change will happen, as it does. I just wanted to address what an amazing job Mike did, almost always with a cheery smile and waving off the work like it was nothing much. And thank him one last time for the effort, the expertise, the sense, the good nature, the humor, and most of all, sharing his valuable life with us.

With Love,

John

Edited to add: there is a general thread about Mike, but anyone who wants to say something specific about Mike and knives or his work in this forum is welcome to respond.
 
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I visited the Knoxville TN area in 2023 with my wife. Mike offered advice on where to visit and even offered to meet us for lunch. We were only there a few days, and were unable to connect. I regretted not being able to meet. Always looked forward to reading his posts. We did communicate regularly via pm’s. You can’t replace people like him.
 
Kinda torn on this, we have people here, that are very knowledgeable on knives.

It would be great to keep it in house, so to say.

I think that Valkman, Joe (flat rock) or RA40 would be a great addition, as a moderator here.

I'm sure all are busy, maybe as a backup for you John.

I know Doug Ritter posts on BladeForums and Spyderco forums. Maybe send an invite to him? He usually posts kniferights updates.
 
Kinda torn on this, we have people here, that are very knowledgeable on knives.

It would be great to keep it in house, so to say.

I think that Valkman, Joe (flat rock) or RA40 would be a great addition, as a moderator here.

I'm sure all are busy, maybe as a backup for you John.

I know Doug Ritter posts on BladeForums and Spyderco forums. Maybe send an invite to him? He usually posts kniferights updates.
Joe has kindly offered, but I have a frequent staff contributor in mind, if he's available. No one can replace Mike, but we'll honor his memory and celebrate him by continuing sharing our time with like-minded folks here.
 
I decided tonight would be a good night for a tribute to Mike. we shared a few "off color" PM jokes over the years and he told me to give in to the impulse to buy a few Amazon special knives. those were promptly disassembled to see the guts and how they worked. they were never good steel or fancy build materials but we're novel designs.

Tonight as I am tending the grill I am enjoying a glass of my favorite rum, smoking a good cigar (first one in many years), and carrying my trusty Kershaw Leek.
 

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I'm trying to imagine what it must have been like to know him. Wish I'd had the chance, face to face with adequate time. He surely was not a shallow get to know in five minutes kind of person. JShirley, best wishes in finding a good replacement. If anybody knows this, it's you: Next man up.
 
Shame we’ve lost two people whose contributions to this area were informative and fun to read, Bikerdoc and HSO.

Best wishes in finding someone to take over for HSO.
 
I decided tonight would be a good night for a tribute to Mike. we shared a few "off color" PM jokes over the years and he told me to give in to the impulse to buy a few Amazon special knives. those were promptly disassembled to see the guts and how they worked. they were never good steel or fancy build materials but we're novel designs.

Tonight as I am tending the grill I am enjoying a glass of my favorite rum, smoking a good cigar (first one in many years), and carrying my trusty Kershaw Leek.
That is a good rum!
 
I'd entered the knife world ~88 and guys like him are priceless. The wealth of gained knowledge and way he transmitted that to others in such a pleasant manner will be missed. The influence and appreciation, all I can say in a short manner is THANK YOU MIKE! His contributions and the members here make this such great forum. I wish to have had the opportunity to meet in person.
 
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