I bought a mid-tech camp knife a few months ago. I own several dozen fixed blades ranging from about 2.5" - 5", but very few with a nice big camp-knife style/sized blade, so I set out to find the perfect camp knife in 3V earlier this year & the FF mid-tech just happened to come out at the same time, & I knew instantly it was for me.
I remember thinking....man, this thing is literally perfect, except I wish the scales had a bit more pop, at least color-wise....Don't get me wrong, the handle is exceptional W/awesome crenulated micarta, long/lean & able to be gripped in multiple ways, much like myself...I just wished there had been more color options (I got mine in black (grey)). So, I did something I've wanted to try for years now - I purchased some $2 red Rit dye & threw those grey scales into some hot red water & waited nervously for an hour (I also threw in a pair of grey scales from my G.E. Chen Duty II - a 4" 3V blade, amazing hunter, check him out, he's a great Chinese maker with the heart of an American custom maker). My G.E. Chen scales came out OK, kinda purplish & not nearly as cool as the FF camper turned out due to it's lack of crenulations & smooth finish on the micarta, but I could not have been any happier when I pulled them out & allowed them to dry...the coloring was/is perfect!! The right amount of black/grey still shows threw, and all of the lighter crenulated areas are now filled in with a cool rich red color....it's just a stunning look, & best of all, it looks like it was made that way - doesn't look like a mod at all.
And what finally pushed me to dye the scales was seeing all of the awesome Custom Shop campers coming out with sweet high-end scales. So, I've got a mid-custom-tech...or something, but I love it, whatever it is! I'll have to take a pic & post it....if anyone else has dyed their mid-tech FFs, please post your pics & tell your story.
