Brother comin' out from Alaska to vist, what should I ask him to bring back.

T. Erdelyi

T. Erdelyi

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Feb 3, 2001
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Brother comin' out from Alaska to vist, what should I ask him to bring back.

What's a good thing to ask for, Ulu, fossilized Wooly Mammoth Tusk,
whale bone?

Any reasonably priced Custom Makers up there?

Looking for legal ideas, help.
 
There are some good custom makers up there. You may also ask him to bring you some qiveut. Qiveut is muskox fur: incredibly warm, rare and expensive down here. A hat, scarf, gloves, sweater, comfortor - all great stuff. Socks are warm but subject to wear.
 
Send him to Northern Knives 532 East Fifth Avenue. Big yellow building that's shared with Pete's Tobacco. It's caddy whompus from the Sheraton. He carries a full line of knives from Alaska makers, as well as a few belt buckles from my wifes and sons Judo instructor Swanee Swain. He has some real deal Alaskan made Ulus and fillet knives from Eagle River knives (ATS-34 for the Ulus and 440c for the fillet knives?), for about $100-$150, and he's got a really cook kinda Ulu skinning knife hybrid from Anchorage knife maker Dennis Jokela. The Dennis Jokela is about $195, but is an incredibly unique and useful knife.

HE also has some Pretty neat Tomahawks that are handforged by a guy here in the Matanuska Susitna Valley, as I recall the guy doesn't even have electricity. They're very unique in appearance. The spike in the back is more hook shaped than most you'd see.

Bob Flint makes some REALLY REALLY nice knives, very near the nicest made in this state, but he unfortunately does have some designs which don't appear very original to me. IE: VERY strong influence on at least a couple I've seen from Newt Livesay and Greg Lightfoot)

Virgil Campbell out towards Seward makes some very usable fixed blades out of Chainsaw bars that are pretty nice. Sometimes the finish is a bit cruder than one would hope for, but still a bargain. He has a story posted in his shop from a guy that killed a buffalo with one of his knives! (and a newspaper article to go with it!)

There's several more available from local makers, but those are the first ones to spring to mind. Some of 'em can be really unique and original, and others bear an uncanny resemblance to bigger name makers. No lack of selection though! Hope that helps, I'll dream up some more suggestions here in a bit. There's about another dozen names I could throw out there to ya' if I could get my brain to engage properly!:D

I'm thinkin' about stoppin' in there in a day or two, I'll be able to refresh my mind then.
 
Brother comin' out from Alaska to vist, what should I ask him to bring back.

A 200 pound Halibut would fill the freezer!
 
Boy I can think of a number of things he could bring:

Fall run Salmon on ice or smoked. Frozen King crab legs...how about some jerky, caribou and moose sounds good!

I like the Halibut suggestion too!
 
RWS some good ideas, I'm gonna call him tommorow, he's from Eagle River, Bruz, RR he already tried to mail me smoked salmon, but the post offic confiscated it as suspect mail, this was right after 9-11, and he's also done the jerky route.

I'm leanin' more towards the ulu.
 
T. Erdelyi: You are on the right idea.

Have him bring oosic. Intact pieces over 15 inches will bring a good penny here and you can always use it to have knife handles made for a few customs.

I have one from up there which my friend traded a mini 14 for 20 years ago. It measures 21 1/2 by 3 1/2 tapering to a smaller end [ the handle ], natives used them to beat seals with when they came up from air.

Brownie
 
Hope he brings ya' something cool! Let us know what ya' get, eh?

Not sure if you're brother is as badly afflicted as us in the knife area or not, but.....if ya' go the way of the knife and there's any way I can help drop me an email at gcs2inak@hotmail.com and I'd be glad to tap into my shallow well of knowledge and give ya' what further info I can.

BTW, some interesting thoughts on the Ulu...

My mother has begun using one this last few months due to poor circulation, and numbness in her hands. The Doctor suggested it as a way to keep her fingers away from the blade, and provide a safer way to perform kitchen work. So, she's been using one of the Carr's grocery store $19.00 specials for awhile now...

In the meantime I'd bought my father a Microtech Black Marlin to take halibut fishing with them. Now he liked it all well and good except for one problem...

My mother was able to do more work in 20 minutes using her Ulu than my father and brother could do in an hour with the Microtech and an old Case Fillet knife! (and yes, they darn sure know how to fillet a fish)

It's a very cool knife for those who take the time to learn to use it.
 
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