Carothers and Camping

Smithhammer said:
Wow. Yeah, different times, for sure, before there were books full of extensive "risk mgmt protocols" and the like, as outdoor education became more structured and formalized.

Funnily enough, I only worked one course in the Winds, and that was late in my career. I was a pretty avid rock climber before I took a NOLS course, and when I'd saved up enough money to take a course, I decided I wanted it to be in something totally different that I knew nothing about. I also didn't have enough money for some of the more expensive courses, so I did a 3-week kayaking course in Mexico, and as a 23 year old, it changed my life. Next thing I knew, I was working at the MX branch doing whatever needed doing, and then a year later I got financial aid to do their 'Sea Kayak Instructor's Course" which was 5 weeks in British Columbia. They were desperate for padding instructors at the time, and so I was sucked into that program with full time work, year-round. Eventually, I started leading sailing expeditions as well, and then supervised programs in AK, Yukon and Patagonia, among other things.

Learned a lot during those years and met my Better Half. I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad I'm not doing it anymore. 😉
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Great stories Blues Blues and Hammer67 Hammer67 !!
I missed your reminiscing until just now.
NOLS instructor here, too, from '95-'98.
Appreciate the personal stories heartily, wow!
Originally based out of Lander (living in the park next to the Popo Agie for a couple of years, in my '71 Westfalia, which I still have and may be seen in some pics of mine in this forum), I landed in Driggs, as a base assistant in "the church" behind the Spud drive-in, scouting courses in MT, ID, and OR. while ski patrolling in N. New England nearer my family... when I wanted a bit more than the reconstituted bulk dehydrate beans and rice that sustained me while living the mtn freak dream, for those years.

My first course, fresh off of my IC, was an unbelievable blessing; with Rob Weller and John Mionczynski in the Winds goat-packing. H-O-L-Y ch!t, were those guys amazing!! To this day, I still count them as role models and renaissance mtn men that are spoken of around countless twiggy fires baking bread, pizzas and sweet rolls. The lore of John as a ranger in the 60s-70s, heading out into the Winds with a horse and what he could carry on it, showing back up in society months later, having gained weight as he knew how to prepare and consume any biological form. And the stories about his time on the federal sasquatch research trips. Rob's strength, skills and hilarious nature, despite all types of backcountry stressors. There were so many strong men and women in that crowd, incl. Scott (whose passing was very sobering in my early mtn career, perhaps with Hammer67 Hammer67 's, too... In so many ways we've all lost others close to us, sry for the loss of your friend back then Blues Blues ).

One of the most profound, enlightening and memorable periods of my life. I reflect on those times nearly daily to help ground me. Much of who I am, what makes me happy, what I strive for, and how I want to live, are forged by my time in the mountains following the elders before me.

Man, nostalgia bears a heavy weight tonight. Thanks guys.
🙏
 
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Tensegrity said:
Great stories Blues Blues and Hammer67 Hammer67 !!
I missed your reminiscing until just now.
NOLS instructor here, too, from '95-'98.
Appreciate the personal stories heartily, wow!
Originally based out of Lander (living in the park next to the Popo Agie for a couple of years, in my '71 Westfalia, which I still have and may be seen in some pics of mine in this forum), I landed in Driggs, as a base assistant in "the church" behind the Spud drive-in, scouting courses in MT, ID, and OR. while ski patrolling in N. New England nearer my family... when I wanted a bit more than the reconstituted bulk dehydrate beans and rice that sustained me while living the mtn freak dream, for those years.

My first course, fresh off of my IC, was an unbelievable blessing; with Rob Weller and John Mionczynski in the Winds goat-packing. H-O-L-Y ch!t, were those guys amazing!! To this day, I still count them as role models and renaissance mtn men that are spoken of around countless twiggy fires baking bread, pizzas and sweet rolls. The lore of John as a ranger in the 60s-70s, heading out into the Winds with a horse and what he could carry on it, showing back up in society months later, having gained weight as he knew how to prepare and consume any biological form. And the stories about his time on the federal sasquatch research trips. Rob's strength, skills and hilarious nature, despite all types of backcountry stressors. There were so many strong men and women in that crowd, incl. Scott (whose passing was very sobering in my early mtn career, perhaps with Hammer67 Hammer67 's, too... In so many ways we've all lost others close to us, sry for the loss of your friend back then Blues Blues ).

One of the most profound, enlightening and memorable periods of my life. I reflect on those times nearly daily to help ground me. Much of who I am, what makes me happy, what I strive for, and how I want to live, are forged by my time in the mountains following the elders before me.

Man, nostalgia bears a heavy weight tonight. Thanks guys.
🙏
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PM Sent ;)
 
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carnifex knifeworks said:
This is also posted in the "SDFK is glorious" thread.

I went camping with my wife this weekend to get away from the city hustle and bustle, along with the acvompanying noise. It was an unplanned last minute trip, which made options for camping spots limited.

I took my Signature SDFK (SSDFK) along for the ride and decided to use it for whatever tasks popped up along the way.

We knew the area we decided on going would have plenty of dry wood from dead-fall and loose limbs. Enter the SSDFK.

In the photo below you can see a 12 to 15 foot branch from a dead tree. It was approximately 6 and 1/2 inches in diameter. I purposely made processing the wood as hard on the knife as possible. I wanted to test the legendary toughness of CPK'S delta 3V for myself.

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First, I chopped through the fork in the branch using the SSDFK in a three finger grip. Woodchips flew like confetti at a New Year's party. No problem. The limb was separated with ease.

Next, I began to baton the knife through logs I sawed off using a silky. I deliberately split directly through the hard heartwood and even a couple knots.

You can see that the knife blade was deeply embedded in one of the logs in the picture below.
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I hammered the spine of the knife savagely, as hard as I could, to get it to split the log. Then when the SSDFK was so deep in the wood that I couldn't hit the spine any longer, I pummeled the exposed front portion of the blade, showing no mercy or concern for the tip. As I smashed the hard log, chosen as my mallet, into the knife over and over again, I thought I saw the edge of the spine begin to glint and roll slightly. This didn't change the force I used, but my confidence wavered ever so slightly.

At one point the knife was wedged so tightly and deeply I couldn't baton it further into the log. So I raised the knife with the log attached, high up and brought it smashing down into the pavement as hard as I could. The flat bottom of the wood hit the pavement so hard that the concussive soundwave generated sent my dogs running like they'd been stung by a hornet. I kept swinging it down over and over until finally the wood flew apart, split in half.

The next log was worse and I ended up in a similar position. After a few strikes using the knife as a lever to bring the stubborn lumber thundering down on the concrete, the knife began to shift. Soon it was parallel to the log, so I started to pry back and forth with the blade.

I stuck my thickly glove fingers in the widening split on the same side as the blade's spine and I pried the knife hard, like a crowbar. At one point, I even wedged the side of my boot sole in the crack and pulled on the knife with both hands. Eventually, the wood ripped apart, but there were a few times the lateral force being exerted on the blade made me a little nervous. I had to remind myself that the CPK rough use warranty had me covered.

This process was repeated for some time and once all the wood was processed, it was time to inspect the damage.

There was just one problem. There was no damage. Absolutely none.

Where I thought I saw glinting on the spine's edge, it must have been wood particulates or dirt because it was in the exact same condition as when I unsheathed the knife. The tip of the blade was unscathed, despite being repeatedly battered with a large hard log. The story was the same for the edge of the blade. Not a knick, roll, or chip to be seen. No glinting, no detectable flat spots. Nothing.

The blade wasn't shaving hair anymore, but it was still sharp enough to easily make perfect feather-sticks. After a quick wash, thinly slicing some venison summer sausage for a snack was no challenge either. The edge had zero snags and performed exactly as you'd expect if it had never seen prior use.

All I could think, with a smirk and a small hint of chagrin for doubting my CPK, was, "Damn, I love this knife! This is going to be a good campout." And it most definitely was.
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Kind of got this vibe from reading your story and the detail you put into how you gripped/ used your knife with the wood.
 
Tensegrity said:
Originally based out of Lander (living in the park next to the Popo Agie for a couple of years, in my '71 Westfalia, which I still have and may be seen in some pics of mine in this forum) ....
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Here is a reminder of the Popo Agie river just for you. Wife with Frya (RIP) and Baldr a couple of years back.

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In winter last year where it disappears into a sink hole:

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Lander will be were we go for date night once we move :)
 
Cool. I didn't realize that when I attended in the Summer of '74, they had only had the property since the year prior.

We got to "meet and greet" with Paul Petzoldt but not for any extensive length of time. Things were still a long way from operating without various hitches and equipment malfunctions, some of which were pretty miserable. We were like lab rats. 🍻
 
Tensegrity Tensegrity Hammer67 Hammer67

In the "small world" category...I had a couple of guys out to the house this morning to run gas piping to my new generator. One of the guys was an outdoor instructor in the past and when I mentioned I was a NOLS grad, he asked me if Paul Petzoldt was there when I attended.

What were the odds of meeting someone who would just drop that name in a casual conversation? I had to laugh.
 
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2 of my favorite knives in one of my favorite sneaky camp spots. Over looks the “Sleeping Ute” which you can’t enter or hike but I feel this is one of the best viewpoints you can get if you’re a non native Ute


Sunset from the other direction isn’t bad either

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My parents bought a mouse and chipmunk infested cabin that came with 50 acres so my wife and I decided to take the 4-wheeler loaded up with camp supplies and go carve out a camping spot for last night. We spent a couple hours in the afternoon battling flies getting set up but the smoky fire I started cleared them out somewhat fast. It was a fun adventure and I’m thinking this will be a good spot to build a lean-to in the future. Carrying the FK2 in ECAM is still preferred!

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