- Joined
- Nov 26, 2010
- Messages
- 7,567
-I'm trying out photbucket, the pictures com out a little larger then I'm used to, sorry about that
For father’s day my wife and kids decided to take me camping in the yard. And I got to take my new toy, not to mention some older ones
and I thought I'd post up some pictures and maybe re-post it as a first impressions review of the Belt Hawk, just for kicks.
We set up a few tents and a fit pit, cooked out and ate our fill. We also roasted marshmallows and generally bummed around, it was a fun day.
My eldest squirt helped me drag some creek rock back to the yard for the fire pit as well as asked me constantly why I need to keep chopping random pieces of wood with my new JK belt hawk (I tried to tel him it was because it was in our way but he's 5 now and therefore smarter then me, he pointed out we could go around, so I pointed out I wasn't going to and he played in the stream to think about this for a while).
I also managed to cut some wood for the fire, slice some food and make some kindling with the hawk.
The littlest squirt barley managed to eat any dirt at all before we called it a night,
, and had fun playing in the tents.
Up until now I've really only stayed with cheaper hawks or lucky find in flea markets and hard sales and it was only discovering that JK Knives makes hawks that broke me of this. Simply put this is the only hatchet/hawk that I've ever had, which can slice paper like a knife!
This was a gift for my birthday from my wife, I couldn't justify the expense otherwise (yet was able to justify the 2 other Jk knives I got at the same time...ummm) so a big thank you to the Mrs. for the thoughtful gift which she kindly agreed to get after only a few hours of begging
I used to camp out a lot and managed to luck out and work as a Living historian (historical reenactments) for a year not long after moving to Kentucky. Frankly the chance to go to work every day and make fires, talk about history, and generally practiced bush craft from the 17th century was a dream (a very poverty stricken dream, but a dream none the less.)
So I'm used to making fires on a daily bases, several times a day for demonstrations, using nothing but flint and steel and whatever I could pick off the floor (true I was in the same place so I knew where the good kindling was, but still...) I was confidant as I walked out the door with nothing but the hawk, an empty backpack for the creek rock my Jk Toby’s knife and Swiss farmer, that there wasn’t much that could get in my way....
Here's a "newsflash" boys and girls, for anyone who has any bush craft skills, keep them up. After trying with a great deal of dismay to get my kindling to burn I ended up resorting to the bic lighter in my pocket (shame showing all the way up to the top of my now cherry red face.)
On the plus side the JK hawk cuts, it just cuts, that simple. Curls, and kindling whatever you need - with easy, I had to work for a second to find the right grip but when I did, I found myself making them for fun more than fuel.
This was very addictive
It was so much fun that my poorly started fire turned into a roaring mass which was a touch over done perhaps for the purpose of roasting marshmallows
The JK TK was also ready and willing to lend a hand but spent most of the time in its sheath, or stuck in a nearby piece of wood for photo opportunities,
, it did hold up well as a steak knife however (as it has done before) for the food we had before sitting down to the marshmallows. And it helped me clear some weeds out around the fire pit as well.
I did use the hawk as a hammer for a few minutes as I staked out the tents, not the best thing to do with an expensive tool designed for cutting, I’ll grant you, but JK will be the first to tell anyone to USE his knives, they are tough as sin and even better looking when used. So I do. A hatchet/hawk has and will always be the work horse of a camp when I bring one and I don't want to baby this one just because it comes from high society: p
Here is the JK Belt hawk next to the hatchet I've used the most before this:
There was some slight pitting from the metal on metal action of the tent pegs but much less then you can see on that boy scouts hatchet, there are a lot of stones not far under the soil where we were and frankly the tent pegs still disappeared into the ground fast in an effort to get away from the punishment.
And at he end of the day it was still pretty sharp:
(I can't get over how fun it is to slice things with a hatchet)
All in all a happy and fun filled father’s day celebration, and a new tool that can pull the weight of a camp all by itself, or make a nice addiction brought along with it - because it isn't exactly a pack hog either,
Thanks again John for an excellent product, it feels right at home
For father’s day my wife and kids decided to take me camping in the yard. And I got to take my new toy, not to mention some older ones
and I thought I'd post up some pictures and maybe re-post it as a first impressions review of the Belt Hawk, just for kicks.
We set up a few tents and a fit pit, cooked out and ate our fill. We also roasted marshmallows and generally bummed around, it was a fun day.
My eldest squirt helped me drag some creek rock back to the yard for the fire pit as well as asked me constantly why I need to keep chopping random pieces of wood with my new JK belt hawk (I tried to tel him it was because it was in our way but he's 5 now and therefore smarter then me, he pointed out we could go around, so I pointed out I wasn't going to and he played in the stream to think about this for a while).
I also managed to cut some wood for the fire, slice some food and make some kindling with the hawk.
The littlest squirt barley managed to eat any dirt at all before we called it a night,
, and had fun playing in the tents.
Up until now I've really only stayed with cheaper hawks or lucky find in flea markets and hard sales and it was only discovering that JK Knives makes hawks that broke me of this. Simply put this is the only hatchet/hawk that I've ever had, which can slice paper like a knife!
This was a gift for my birthday from my wife, I couldn't justify the expense otherwise (yet was able to justify the 2 other Jk knives I got at the same time...ummm) so a big thank you to the Mrs. for the thoughtful gift which she kindly agreed to get after only a few hours of begging
I used to camp out a lot and managed to luck out and work as a Living historian (historical reenactments) for a year not long after moving to Kentucky. Frankly the chance to go to work every day and make fires, talk about history, and generally practiced bush craft from the 17th century was a dream (a very poverty stricken dream, but a dream none the less.)
So I'm used to making fires on a daily bases, several times a day for demonstrations, using nothing but flint and steel and whatever I could pick off the floor (true I was in the same place so I knew where the good kindling was, but still...) I was confidant as I walked out the door with nothing but the hawk, an empty backpack for the creek rock my Jk Toby’s knife and Swiss farmer, that there wasn’t much that could get in my way....
Here's a "newsflash" boys and girls, for anyone who has any bush craft skills, keep them up. After trying with a great deal of dismay to get my kindling to burn I ended up resorting to the bic lighter in my pocket (shame showing all the way up to the top of my now cherry red face.)
On the plus side the JK hawk cuts, it just cuts, that simple. Curls, and kindling whatever you need - with easy, I had to work for a second to find the right grip but when I did, I found myself making them for fun more than fuel.
This was very addictive
It was so much fun that my poorly started fire turned into a roaring mass which was a touch over done perhaps for the purpose of roasting marshmallows
The JK TK was also ready and willing to lend a hand but spent most of the time in its sheath, or stuck in a nearby piece of wood for photo opportunities,
, it did hold up well as a steak knife however (as it has done before) for the food we had before sitting down to the marshmallows. And it helped me clear some weeds out around the fire pit as well.
I did use the hawk as a hammer for a few minutes as I staked out the tents, not the best thing to do with an expensive tool designed for cutting, I’ll grant you, but JK will be the first to tell anyone to USE his knives, they are tough as sin and even better looking when used. So I do. A hatchet/hawk has and will always be the work horse of a camp when I bring one and I don't want to baby this one just because it comes from high society: p
Here is the JK Belt hawk next to the hatchet I've used the most before this:
There was some slight pitting from the metal on metal action of the tent pegs but much less then you can see on that boy scouts hatchet, there are a lot of stones not far under the soil where we were and frankly the tent pegs still disappeared into the ground fast in an effort to get away from the punishment.
And at he end of the day it was still pretty sharp:
(I can't get over how fun it is to slice things with a hatchet
)All in all a happy and fun filled father’s day celebration, and a new tool that can pull the weight of a camp all by itself, or make a nice addiction brought along with it - because it isn't exactly a pack hog either,
Thanks again John for an excellent product, it feels right at home
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on the other hand I got leather, paracord and some tools so i'm all good.