- Joined
- Nov 7, 2004
- Messages
- 1,011
Unsub, Good job of laying out your observations here.
Few things can create controversy like politics, religion, and knives. Not a wonder that the most highly experienced outdoorsmen that I know - people who generate a living with their outdoors skills - avoid the "knife subject" altogether. Me, I figure that if the subject is not politely breached in conversation, nothing is learned.
Much confusion can be cleared up with regards to choosing the proper cutlery for the task if proper definitions are used. If a term like "bushcraft" is used in the conversation, I am thinking one thing, the other guy may be thinking something else altogether different. Without getting into what "bushcraft" actually means, just let me say that the guys over on British Blades use the term correctly. We, on the other side of the pond, use the term very, very loosely. Sometimes, completely out of context.
A few of my own personal observations about the knives mentioned in the comparison...be they right, or be they wrong.
1). I own a Skookum. Have used other Skookum's. I have also used the Scrapyard. These are very, very different knives that could never blend well on the same task.
2). Like bench planes, wood chisels, spokeshaves, drawknives, chip knives, woodturning tools (a host of others); the Scandinavian ground knives are optimized and designed for *woodcarving*. One does not chop or pound with his woodworking planes anymore than he should with his Scandinavian ground knives (silly to think so). They are not designed for this sort of activity or abuse. There are better choices for hacking, pounding, and chopping. The Scandinavian grind should be maintained like any other fine woodworking tool found in any woodworkers shop (where have we gone wrong with this idea??).
3). With regards to the strength of the Scandinavian grind, one cannot fairly compare this strength (or lack thereof) to other grinds when taken out of the woodworking context. This grind is the race car in woodcarving, not the car to run around town in.
4). In my experience with woodcarving and woodworking (not talking about the category of timber and log tools here); nothing compares with the efficiency of the Scandinavian ground knives on wood. Doesn't take an engineer to figure out why this is true. "Bushcraft" incorporates a tremendous amount of woodcarving in its practice.
5). In my knife collection (impressive to some), I have several (not of my own choosing) shorter knives with choils. I clearly understand the choil on larger knives. I clearly don't understand the choke-up choil on shorter knives. ANY knife intended for "bushcraft" (which incorporates woodcarving) should not have a choil. Why "choke-up" to the edge when you can have the edge in your front yard already with a Scandinavian knife? I have used them both and certainly don't see the logic here for the choke-up feature. To each his own.
Rod (who builds the Skookum) will arrange handle pins, bolts, lanyard holes any way the customer orders them. I agree that the Skookum is heavy for neck wear. However, a number of attachments can be made for the existing sheath that satisfies most people (we have made several here in the leather shop). I simply made a braided belt loop for mine since I like dangler sheaths.
BTW, the only knife that REALLY failed me is the U.S. issue Pilots Survival Knife (shown in your photo) when my military aircraft was forced down in a wilderness area (I was the pilot). I carried something different after that.
Few things can create controversy like politics, religion, and knives. Not a wonder that the most highly experienced outdoorsmen that I know - people who generate a living with their outdoors skills - avoid the "knife subject" altogether. Me, I figure that if the subject is not politely breached in conversation, nothing is learned.
Much confusion can be cleared up with regards to choosing the proper cutlery for the task if proper definitions are used. If a term like "bushcraft" is used in the conversation, I am thinking one thing, the other guy may be thinking something else altogether different. Without getting into what "bushcraft" actually means, just let me say that the guys over on British Blades use the term correctly. We, on the other side of the pond, use the term very, very loosely. Sometimes, completely out of context.
A few of my own personal observations about the knives mentioned in the comparison...be they right, or be they wrong.
1). I own a Skookum. Have used other Skookum's. I have also used the Scrapyard. These are very, very different knives that could never blend well on the same task.
2). Like bench planes, wood chisels, spokeshaves, drawknives, chip knives, woodturning tools (a host of others); the Scandinavian ground knives are optimized and designed for *woodcarving*. One does not chop or pound with his woodworking planes anymore than he should with his Scandinavian ground knives (silly to think so). They are not designed for this sort of activity or abuse. There are better choices for hacking, pounding, and chopping. The Scandinavian grind should be maintained like any other fine woodworking tool found in any woodworkers shop (where have we gone wrong with this idea??).
3). With regards to the strength of the Scandinavian grind, one cannot fairly compare this strength (or lack thereof) to other grinds when taken out of the woodworking context. This grind is the race car in woodcarving, not the car to run around town in.
4). In my experience with woodcarving and woodworking (not talking about the category of timber and log tools here); nothing compares with the efficiency of the Scandinavian ground knives on wood. Doesn't take an engineer to figure out why this is true. "Bushcraft" incorporates a tremendous amount of woodcarving in its practice.
5). In my knife collection (impressive to some), I have several (not of my own choosing) shorter knives with choils. I clearly understand the choil on larger knives. I clearly don't understand the choke-up choil on shorter knives. ANY knife intended for "bushcraft" (which incorporates woodcarving) should not have a choil. Why "choke-up" to the edge when you can have the edge in your front yard already with a Scandinavian knife? I have used them both and certainly don't see the logic here for the choke-up feature. To each his own.
Rod (who builds the Skookum) will arrange handle pins, bolts, lanyard holes any way the customer orders them. I agree that the Skookum is heavy for neck wear. However, a number of attachments can be made for the existing sheath that satisfies most people (we have made several here in the leather shop). I simply made a braided belt loop for mine since I like dangler sheaths.
BTW, the only knife that REALLY failed me is the U.S. issue Pilots Survival Knife (shown in your photo) when my military aircraft was forced down in a wilderness area (I was the pilot). I carried something different after that.
:thumbup: