Christmas Knife and January Adventure

[stabman]

You may remember this thread:

Silly mistakes....this would have been a nice little hunter.

I glued the left scale on the right side and right on the left!! Dang, that's frustrating. Bolsters are tapered at 33 degrees, so the scale goes over the bolster moving the line too far forward. Looks ridiculous. Guess I have another test knife....I should be really good at testing!!!

www.bladeforums.com

Knifemaker nmbarta made a slight mistake while making a very nice knife, and hence it was not up to his standards. Looked good to me (and I said so), and he sent it to me.

It got here just after Christmas, but the tree was still up, so close enough.

Compared to Benchmade Bushcrafter:

Needed a sheath though...

Or two?

 

[stabman]

It will cut onions:

But how does it do at "Bushcraft"?
Let's find out!

It's urban bushcraft, so of course there is a syringe there.
Branch cut off with knife; was quite easy.

Making a trap trigger:

Excellent.

But enough with onions and bushcraft in the urban junky lands...time to go to the woods.

Need fire:

 

[stabman]

It was wet; see the awesome wood "coasters" I made so the chair would not sink into the mud?

It was wet enough that the creek was back! Last time out it was dried up completely:

Obligatory "Knife in Stump" pic:

But let's take a break from good quality knives for a moment.

As every child who grew up the 1980s knows, the key to survival is Pakistan steel.
So, what do you do when the stick tang of the Pakistan knife you got 31 years ago because it came free with another knife at a gun show breaks off?

Oh no, we're doomed!!!
It doesn't matter how much 15n20 or 5160 or M390 blades you have, or saws, etc.
Need to get that Pakistan steel up and running, stat!

So, you use your pull saw, as well as the saw and file on the Swisschamp to get a slot cut. Then you switch to the awl to get holes made:

Then you switch to the ZT 0392PURBLKWC to get the holes to final shape:

Get that paracord through the slots and first hole:

Then complete the wrap while your brother goes to get more wood for the fire. Add a sabertooth cat skull bead to add mega-survival potential.

 

[stabman]

Whew, now we won't die.

But you need a sheath for it.
Why not mould one from the Kydex of one that was half formed before?

Using the foam from a hunter's seat pad, as well as the polycarbonate plate from your backpack, you can mould the sheath, providing the weight by sitting on it.

And you end up with this piece of absolute garbage, because trying to heat Kydex on a stick over a fire in the winter does not heat it up very well.

But it has two more skull beads on it, so we are well on our way to mastery of the wilderness.

So now that we won't die, time to eat.

Here is where the Christmas Knife really does well.
When we went to the grocery store, all the steaks looked like crap. But they had a nice roast of beef, so I said "Hey, we have knives. They'll cut meat...let's buy that."

But WILL it cut meat? You be the judge:

Looks like it cuts meat to me.

 

[stabman]

Time to cook it:

Which leads to steak tacos:

My brother broke his steak up; I just stuck mine whole in the wraps, pretty much.

Fire!

Firelit shots of two of the knives (battery was dying before I could get shot of the Christmas Knife lit by the fire):

 

[stabman]

And I misjudged how many posts I needed to reserve to get it done.

Final thoughts:

The knife by nmbarta is awesome. If this is his idea of a knife that is NOT up to his standards, then damn, you should have no second thoughts about purchasing any knife he is selling. 15n20 steel, black paper Micarta handle with carbon fiber bolster, thin stock with full height flat grind. It cuts like a dream.

Handle ergonomics are nice. Locks into the hand for hard pushing cuts (like if you want to make trap triggers or other wood cutting), and works nicely for more delicate cutting tasks too. It is an all-around good knife. Looks nice, and cuts like a dream.

 

[drawkcaB]

Your excursions into the wild, and your descriptions, are fun to see, thanks for sharing them

 

[stabman]

Your excursions into the wild, and your descriptions, are fun to see, thanks for sharing them

Thanks!
Always fun to get out there.

 

[jfk1110]

Thanx for sharing!!!!! Always good for a smile...