A walk in the wetlands

[Camillus]

Today was a great autumn day, so I decided that I couldn't let my fellow porch members have all the fun. I decided to a take a knife for a walk.

In my neighbourhood there is a small nature reserve, called the wetlands. The wetlands are located in the central city, but due to a happy oversight and water, they haven't been developed and they are now a declared reserve, which is used as a hotel for large numbers of Australian migratory birds.

I've explored these wetlands before in my kayak, but after not catching any fish I'd largely ignored them, until about a month ago my family decided to do some exploring on foot. We found that there was a whole lot more there than we expected, and we enjoyed the outing so much we have been back every weekend since. It helps that the weather is a bit more bearable in autumn, and that there is a nice bar and brewery which has recently opened up on the far side!

The knife I chose for today's adventure was this Duck Childress EDC knife in 440c and Desert Ironwood. I decided to slim the handles on this after I received it, and I need to ask Mr Wayne Childress how to re-finish them to his high standard. That explains the odd looking blotches beside the pins (which only a camera notices).

I've never asked him why, but Wayne often finishes his handle-ends with unusual shapes. In this case, they were a little funky for me and I softened the lines a little. It's almost a perfect spot to place your pinky finger, and I think if the knife were wet, this could be advantageous.

The wetlands have a great expanse of grassland, and these fields are normally being closely inspected by various birds of prey. These are a pair of Black Shouldered Kites, a reasonably common Australian raptor. I came across the pair hunting from some dead trees.

I remembered to take some binoculars with me, and on this occasion had my Leupold Yosemite 6 x 30s. These are good hunting binoculars, nice and light, but conversely they aren't very powerful.

Using the binoculars and my iPhone I was able to do some 'digibinning'. A technique I only just read about, and need to learn more about. As I didn't know what I was doing there was a lot of this:

When I got it right, the binos got me a little closer:

And it was good to pick out some features, like those fearsome red eyes!

I have two similar versions of this Childress EDC knife, one in ironwood the other in G10. Both are 6" long with a 2 3/4" blade. If you haven't carried a fixed blade knife this size in your pocket, give it a try! They are about the same weight as the equivalent folder (such as a GEC #71), and the extra length doesn't affect your carry - in fact a knife this dimension stays a lot more vertical alongside your wallet in your pants. As a result these two knives are never too far away, and its an easy decision to place one in my pocket on the way out the door for a walk such as this one.

I'll add some more photos of knives and animals when I do some more field testing.

 

[JohnDF]

I like reading these adventure/knife stories.
Thanks for putting in the effort.
Beautiful knife by the way.

 

[Blackdogfinn1]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Great read. Sounds like it's a great place to spend an afternoon!

 

[Cambertree]

Good stuff mate, really enjoyed reading that, thanks for taking the time to put it together.

There's a black shouldered kite that hunts a field next to my workplace. I try to get outside at least once a day to watch it hovering and swooping, such a beautiful bird to see in action. I've spent many an afternoon watching them through the binos, while I've been sitting off a rabbit warren with the .22. I'll have to give that digibinning a go.

I hear you on carrying a small fixed blade in the bush, too. I like that Childress, you have. I often like to take this 3" bladed knife by Melbourne maker, Zac Cheong in CPM3V along on short walks or daytrips. Aussie timber is often so dry, dense and hard, that I worry about unduly causing side to side blade play by using slipjoints excessively for feathersticking, carving and debarking wood for campfires. This little knife, based on the lines of the Canoe pattern is really not much bigger than a GEC 53, and a lot stouter.

 

[Camillus]

Thanks all,

Maybe the reason the smaller knives aren’t more popular is price. The big name fixed blade makers have a certain price point, and I for one would lean toward a full size knife if I was spending that amount of money. These Childress knives were both under $100.

In this urban environment you don’t need a larger fixed blade, and you would get some strange looks if you had one strapped to your side. But the smaller knife is more concealable and just as useful - such as when I cut some bullrushes for my son. As Cambertree noted, a fixed blade gives you additional robustness for tougher tasks, and it isn’t really any different to carry than a large folder.

I should speak with @Horsewright about getting a fancy sheath.

 

[Will Power]

Excellent post, fine knife there too.

Where do Aus birds migrate to/from?

Thanks, Will

 

[Camillus]

I am no expert, but the shore birds fly from New Zealand to the arctic circle and back each year, following the sun. You can understand why people find them interesting to follow. I am from New Zealand originally, where they only have three birds of prey, so I find the Australian owls, falcons and eagles really fascinating.

 

[meako]

The channel billed cuckoo flies to sydney and.the illawarra from new guinea. The.eggs are laid in the nests of the aust magpie and currawong both large crow like corvines.
The eggs are hatched by the magpie .the CBC young are massive actually larger than the surrogate parents. They dispose of the young Maggie's and the parents go into overdrive trying to bring them enough food.
So.ething to do with mimicking enzymes in the gut allows this to happen. The enormous CBC then flies raucously around the neighbourhood like the the bird at the start of the Flintstones cartoon before flaping off back to new guinea.
There is a population of shore waders at Kurnell (the spot where Cook landed) that migrate to Siberia.

Full marks on that bino shot Camillus.

 

[Camillus]

Thanks. I am looking at getting a special (albeit cheap) adaptor to attach the iphone to the binos for digibinning. But part of me thinks I should just sell some knives and get myself a decent DSLR.

I weighed the Childress tonight, and it comes in at 82 grams. My #71 with a lanyard was 72 grams - so not much difference in their bare weight. The leather sheath adds another 30 grams to the total. But the larger fixed blade knife rides much better in my pocket, and it is soft and barely noticeable when it presses against my thigh, so the weight is not the only factor to assess. Any suggestions on a better sheath/sheath system would be appreciated, I haven’t really investigated the options.

 

[Old Hunter]

Looks like time well spent. OH