common misconceptions that bother you?

so these 3 guys in their 50's,probably ex-hippies..{nothing against hippies}..wonder to the lean-to i was staying at.they where decked out in their brand new northface and EMS gear,except it wasnt new just never used.

every single thing i did concerning fire starting and all things woods craft they snickered at and finally one of them asked me what was with the huge knife on my waist.that huge knife being a ranger RD4 which aint big in my book.

i told them other than normal tasks its for the numerous pitbulls i've run into on the trail along with other dogs that where extremely aggressive and with the owner always seeming to be trailing way behind.of coarse they look at each other and snicker like i think i'm rambo.

i should've punched'em in the face because the next morning they took off and 20 min later i turn around and there is a pitbull 5 feet away staring at me,luckily he was the only nice one i've run into yet on that trail.and no,i dont have a problem or think all pits are bad but i have almost been attacked 3-4 times,and 2 of those times it would've been a double team with 2 dogs coming at me.

bottom line,these yuppy,poser,out of shape b.s. artists who get out once a year for their annual trip mock me when they are totally clueless.not that i'm an expert but it was my 7th time in that spot alone that summer.i hope to run into them again.i'll tell them to find there own lean-to next time since they dont bring a tent just in case.
 
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Common misconception's that I hate - that the uneducated are necessarily sheeple. I actually hate the word sheeple.
 
Ehhhhh? :confused:

Doc

DOC, you know I love you but there's a subset of guys out there that are convinced that if you aren't an old bearded guy, you are an inexperienced "city dweller."

Naturally I don't think YOU think that way, but there are guys out there that wouldn't take anyone seriously unless they looked like you. No offense meant!

How about this one: people who constantly complain about the "city people" when they themselves live in cities! I have an uncle like that...he bitches and bitches about the "city folk" that ruin the area around his cabin...and yet he was born in Vancouver and lived for about fifteen years in Prince George, a city of what, maybe seventy five thousand people? Why does he have the right to move to a cabin in the woods, while people from other cities don't? Why is he pretending to be from the bush? I can understand the guys who ACTUALLY grew up in the bush (all ten of them) being legitimately upset but most of the trash talk I hear is from other urbanites.

It's also annoying to hear hip Vancouverites mock the "yokels" who live in the places they go to get away from Vancouver...

Not a big fan of snobbery here!
 
I live in a city... I wish I didn't if I didn't have a family to support I'd get out, and as soon as I am financially stable I plan to. That being said I don't dislike city people. just harder to find other people with similar interests in a plastic place than in a wooden one. I like people in general, I don't expect everyone to share my ideas or views. I don't expect someone to appreciate a large chopper who's never had to split a log...Heck I can't make an excell spread sheet, because I never experienced a situation where it seemed important.. Can't blame people for being sheeple if the flock is all they know. Some folks might call me a sheep as well...
 
The quality of the knife you carry is proportional to your probability of survivability in [insert survival scenario here].

Pretty much any knife will do the trick - skills and mindset are the only thing that will save your butt.
 
DOC, you know I love you but there's a subset of guys out there that are convinced that if you aren't an old bearded guy, you are an inexperienced "city dweller."

Naturally I don't think YOU think that way, but there are guys out there that wouldn't take anyone seriously unless they looked like you. No offense meant!

Wait a minute! Now I'm old too?


Just when I have finally convinced myself otherwise! Hell, I was even thinking of phoning Erin to see if she wanted to go out for a drink!


JK bro, no offense taken. Actually you make a good point - without my beard, I strongly resemble Brad Pitt and it makes it annoying when you're trying to get a little quiet time out in the woods.


Here you decide:


whatadifference2daysmake.jpg


The interesting thing is that these 2 pictures above were taken 2 days apart. I'll let you guess which one is which :rolleyes:.


Actually, what I think I still look like (taken with a buddy's sister at his wedding):

WITHROMANSSISTER.jpg


(Damn, I probably shouldn't post when I'm into the Triple R's :o

Doc
 
Some comedy,IMO:)
In the span of two weeks two people, a guy I sometimes work near and a woman my wife works with at school sub-teaching saw the OD Mora Clipper I had on my belt and asked If was Rambo. I said since it was a Scandinavian knife I was most likely a viking:)
The very next week I was wearing the bright orange Clipper and sheath and both of the same knuckleheads asked me if I caught any fish today.

Obviously OD is a dangerous color...

Mark
 
Greenwoods, I have noticed that too. About the colors. I used to have a black fatboy murse. I got all kinds of remarks when I used it as my edc bag. I got rid of it, because sawdust and black don't mix well. Got a tan one and never heard another remark.

What gets me the most is when folks ask why you carry a knife, then in the next breath ask to use it. I have had folks cringe and take a step back when I pull a SAK Recruit out of my pocket :( . I try to explain to some they are tools not weapons. Most I don't even bother with. My wife carries a Mini Dejavoo or a CRKT Wasp, and still my mother in law asks why. Then asks to use it. I used to worry about scaring innocent folks, not I say forget it and carry my SnG everyday.

My second fav. moment is when that total Case knife knut asks about the Sebenza or Strider in your hand and refers to it as "one of those flea market jobs". I have no problem with Case knives or folks that use them or collect them. It's the folks who have never used anything else, cause they learned at an early age Case was the only knife worth owning. Nothing else is worth having,lol. But this can be said for any number of products that have a loyal following. Or folks who have no internet access :)
 
A certain T.V. show personality that dramatically noodles for catfish here in the South. I usually get pretty irate watching his show (so why can't I stop watching it?) but why does he have to groan about the fish biting him? It promotes a misconception about cats that is totally false. Of course, it goads me to wonder about everything else that gets over dramatized.

Never noodled for catfish in Missouri or Louisiana, have you?
Catfish don't bite in a traditional way, they clamp down and spin. That grinds your hide off via zillions of tiny abrasive teeth...sorta like feeding your knuckles into an 80 grit belt sander.
Been there, done that.
Edit to clarify: The cats I refer to above weighed 20-50 lbs, not the little guys. Watch out for getting 'finned' tho'. :)
 
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Wait a minute! Now I'm old too?


Just when I have finally convinced myself otherwise! Hell, I was even thinking of phoning Erin to see if she wanted to go out for a drink!


JK bro, no offense taken. Actually you make a good point - without my beard, I strongly resemble Brad Pitt and it makes it annoying when you're trying to get a little quiet time out in the woods.


Here you decide:


whatadifference2daysmake.jpg


The interesting thing is that these 2 pictures above were taken 2 days apart. I'll let you guess which one is which :rolleyes:.


Actually, what I think I still look like (taken with a buddy's sister at his wedding):

WITHROMANSSISTER.jpg


(Damn, I probably shouldn't post when I'm into the Triple R's :o

Doc

LOL! I think you would have an easier time going for "Sean Connery" than "Brad Pitt" though!

But how did you get Erin's number? Did Brad Pitt give it to you? He keeps buzzing around hitting on her!
 
The interesting thing is that these 2 pictures above were taken 2 days apart. I'll let you guess which one is which :rolleyes:.

Holy crocs doc - your beard sure does grow fast - 2 days!!!! You must get midnight shadow at 7:15 am! :D:D:D

Reason for interest in sharp things now fully explained.
 
My second fav. moment is when that total Case knife knut asks about the Sebenza or Strider in your hand and refers to it as "one of those flea market jobs". I have no problem with Case knives or folks that use them or collect them. It's the folks who have never used anything else, cause they learned at an early age Case was the only knife worth owning. Nothing else is worth having,lol. But this can be said for any number of products that have a loyal following. Or folks who have no internet access :)

Ran into a few of these this summer.
Was at a distant relatives house for a cook out and I saw him using a case hobo.
I of course commented on it, he said he was a collector.
Later he led me down into his office where he probly had 30 case knives and one fancy engraved ka-bar.
I handed him my s90v millie of course and I got this in return, "Boy this is such a cheap knife I worry about you, you need to get a case they are stainless steel".
No joke.

He was a nice enough guy, he was patient when I was explaining powder steels to him.

Nother misconception that bothers me that I get all the time.
That because I'm 16 and carry a knife I'm some kind of hood.
 
Misconceptions... Well, first and foremost, the idea that everything you do needs to be rational and well founded. I.e; the good-ol "why do you NEED" -mantra.

I dont NEED to go to the woods at all, just like people in general dont NEED 99% of the crap they have or do in their lives. For example, I carry a traditional puukko and I start my fires without a huge roll of dry newspaper because that's what I wanna do, and because for me using that kinda equipment and techinque emphasizes the experience of being in the woods. I've never needed the mini-PSK I have in my sleeve-pocket, and if I would know for certainty, that I never will need it, I would still carry it.

Are there easier ways to do some of the things I do? Yes. The easiest way of them all would be to stay at home and watch TV.
 
2) Big knives are stupid, you only need an axe, or a SAK is all you need. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE ENVIRONMENT!!! USE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!!! They all have their place and uses.
Exactly! I'm personally pretty convinced that a ~4" puukko is the way to go in Finland. A small axe and a puukko is the best combo for outdoors for ME, and in THIS environment. That does NOT mean, that the same combo would be the Best Set of Equipment Ever for Every Primate on Planet Earth.

For example, I have never even seen a machete (Im not sure if they are even sold in Finland), such tool is not really good for anything in here. But, Im absolutely sure that in some parts of the world a machete is an essential piece of equipment.
 
I've been an avid mountainiker since 1990 and I get sick of people that keep telling me that mtbikers are the most evil thing in our woods- because they constantly go of trail and wreak havoc on plant life and cause erosion of the soil. Have these people ever tried to ride a mtb off trail in the woods? It's about impossile and no fun at all...
ilten
 
Last year in the faculty room of the high school where I worked, I took out my Case peanut to poke holes in the cover of my little microwave lunch before nuking it. Another teacher recoiled at the sight of the peanut and made some comment about me being like Norman Bates from "Psycho." I said nothing at the time, but I have spent a year thinking of snappy comebacks. I wish I had pointed out that Bates used a big kitchen knife, much like the one sitting in the adjacent sink, which didn't seem to bother her. I think people react badly not to USING a knife per se, but actually CARRYING one on one's person.

A semi-unrelated pet peeve misconception of mine is that everyone assumes that all school teachers are rabid, left-wing, granola munching, bleeding heart, ultra-liberals. Several of us are actually moderate or even conservative!:eek:
 
I hate seeing the magnesium fire starters with the flint rod in them, people seem to think it's real cutting edge stuff as they dull the heck out of their blades shaving off it, then don't even use the flint, they pull out a lighter.

Also, I know we all care a lot about our knives (maybe too much :D), but I hate seeing someone with top of the line kit, tents, bag, etc., but pull out a pakistani buck or sak rip off that probably cost more than a mora. I usually end up giving them a sak or mora, and they don't really even seem grateful.
That little mora can mean shelter, food and fire.

One other thing that bugs me is seeing people flinging their cheapo hatchets or knives at a tree 15 feet away, then they lose it and ask to borrow mine for something. More target practice?
 
I've been an avid mountainiker since 1990 and I get sick of people that keep telling me that mtbikers are the most evil thing in our woods- because they constantly go of trail and wreak havoc on plant life and cause erosion of the soil. Have these people ever tried to ride a mtb off trail in the woods? It's about impossile and no fun at all...
ilten

not to mention, alot of us are very active in trail maintnance, and building.:thumbup:
 
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