Tony dropped the Woodsman off this morning. To say I was impressed is an understatement. This knife is beautiful. I don't usually carry or use as my primary knife, one with a blade this long so I was curious how I would like it in use. I had to wait until two in the afternoon to get to my favorite haunt - Collis P. Huntington State Park. In the meantime I snapped a couple of quick shots in my front yard. My other Fiddleback was happy for the company.
In terms of fit and finish, I also had high expectations with Andy's work and this one delivers. There are a few makers who in the past few years have come into their own, and have been able to elevate their craft from spartan working tool to highly functional pieces of art, yet still retain a certain rugged quasi-primitive feel. Andy's knives are to me a prime example of this. There is warm organic feel and look to the handle, blade and sheath.
The first thing I noticed at the outset of my hike was that there really is no difference on the belt between a 4" or 5" blade. The knife rode in an ideal spot for me - not too high or too low.
The second thing I noticed was that it was 24 degrees Farenheit. so I put on my leather gloves. Now, partly because the knife is new to me and partly because it isn't my knife and I didn't want the point hitting a rock if I dropped it, I had to be a bit more careful while drawing the knife while wearing gloves. For my hand I think I would opt for a slightly longer handle. I looped a length of cord through the lanyard hole and solved that issue. Here's a knife in a tree
The cold helped me opt for a sunnier hike so I followed one of the longer ridges in the park and was simply enjoying the beauty of being off trail and at some elevation. I was feeling so giddy that I decided to take some gratuitous knife photos.
All the while during my walk I was looking for an area with suitable wood to work. Mostly I found big logs in various stages of decay, and frozen. This added an element of challenge to the batoning and whittling I planned to do. I finally did settle on a spot and tried my hand. To get this shot, my neck was holding the baton. Do not baton with your neck. It is stupid.
BTW I had my gloves off the these pics due to camera buttons issues
I found the edge geometry to be spot-on for this kind of work. As I said, what I found was frozen so the logs didn't give way so easily. However, what did happen on more than one occasion and as can be seen in this next shot is that one cut gave me three sections.
Next I found that either; A. The cold has an effect on how easily the wood gives up it's curls as I found it hard to keep them from falling off the stick. B. my dexterity was not optimal due to the cold cold air which made my hands hurt. C. I simply suck at making fuzz sticks, or D. The edge wasn't as sharp as it should be. When I got home I was able to dismiss C and D with some quick work on some kindling I had next to my fireplace.
The sun was setting so I decided to pack it in. Here is the sun waving goodnight, the Woodsman, a big log and some fungi.
And now for that well deserved cup of tea!
When I got home, two minutes on the strop brought the edge back to easily gliding through copy paper.
My final thoughts are that this is an awesome working tool that is reliable and beautiful. I am so impressed with the workmanship in Fiddleback Knives. The handles are a joy to hold and behold, and while I would still prefer a longer handle for a blade this size, I found that the issue is mostly in my own personal preference because I was not held back in any way during use. I would like to add that Andy's convex grind has made a quantum leap in the last year or so and kicks serious butt! Thanks to Andy P. Roy for having this passaround and to TonyM for giving me the heads up and including me in this.
