- Joined
- Jul 9, 2010
- Messages
- 823
Hi everyone, I've been lurking on W&SS for awhile now and have learned alot about bushcraft, flora and about camping without leaving a big mark on the land from all of you. My friends and I have never been litterbugs when out in the wild, but it has been interesting learning how to leave as little of a trace as possible, especially with fires. I just wanted to post some pics and reviews. Sorry for the blurry photos, the sun was shining on some of the knife photos and it did not come through well on my camera phone.
This is the Colorado River in Texas where I was camping
Here's an 18" Fiddleback Forge machete that I was trying out. Mesquite saplings were taking over the boat ramp that hasn't been used for a few years. These nasty little buggers are really tough and will whip back at you with a set of thorns if you don't get all the way through the first time, so the 18" machete was a nice addition to the 14" and 16" Fiddleback machetes I bought a few months ago. The added length really helps with the backlash.
These Fiddleback machetes are the best I have ever used in terms of comfort and sharpness. The handles are just awesome. They are also very light weight and ridgid when swinging, but can flex when they need to. I have used each one cutting various live brush for about 1.5-2 hours each and do not notice much of a loss of edge at all.
My friend bought an Fiddleback Arete from me for his first bushcraft blade, and he couldn't be happier. We used it on various tasks including fuzz sticks, light batoning through approx. 1" live mesquite branches, and an attempt at a figure 4 trap.
The Arete cut like a dream and I cannot wait to try it out again with more experience under my belt. The handle created zero hot spots and I could use it all day. The edge also did not show a very noticeable loss of sharpness after about 3-4 hours of use. My fuzz sticks were "functional," but I can see where practice and discipline can lead to those perfect fuzz sticks I see on here all the time. We were making the figure four trap from memory of a Ron Hood video and did not work as well as expected. I think I need to use longer sticks to start with and spend more time tweaking the notches next time.
I am really glad he remembered to bring his Arete because after I went through my mental checklist before leaving the house, I knew I had forgot something and realized an hour into the trip that my bushcrafter was sitting at home :grumpy: I will pack it the night before next time I go out to review it.
Next time out I will try to make a good figure 4 trap and a pot holder. I will try to find more pictures of the brush cleared from the machetes, but I have no pictures of fuzz sticks since my cellphone was being used for music when I was making them. All in all I am really happy with Andy's machetes and knives so far. I usually bring a Busse BWM with me if I need to baton through thick mesquite logs or dead wood, and now with the FBF machetes and bushcrafter, I think I will have a good all around kit for anything out there. All I really need is a good ax or saw when I'm feeling lazy and I should be set for anything. I should be getting a FBF camp knife in soon, so next time I go camping, I will post a review of the bushcrafter and campknife in action. Thanks for looking
This is the Colorado River in Texas where I was camping
Here's an 18" Fiddleback Forge machete that I was trying out. Mesquite saplings were taking over the boat ramp that hasn't been used for a few years. These nasty little buggers are really tough and will whip back at you with a set of thorns if you don't get all the way through the first time, so the 18" machete was a nice addition to the 14" and 16" Fiddleback machetes I bought a few months ago. The added length really helps with the backlash.
These Fiddleback machetes are the best I have ever used in terms of comfort and sharpness. The handles are just awesome. They are also very light weight and ridgid when swinging, but can flex when they need to. I have used each one cutting various live brush for about 1.5-2 hours each and do not notice much of a loss of edge at all.
My friend bought an Fiddleback Arete from me for his first bushcraft blade, and he couldn't be happier. We used it on various tasks including fuzz sticks, light batoning through approx. 1" live mesquite branches, and an attempt at a figure 4 trap.
The Arete cut like a dream and I cannot wait to try it out again with more experience under my belt. The handle created zero hot spots and I could use it all day. The edge also did not show a very noticeable loss of sharpness after about 3-4 hours of use. My fuzz sticks were "functional," but I can see where practice and discipline can lead to those perfect fuzz sticks I see on here all the time. We were making the figure four trap from memory of a Ron Hood video and did not work as well as expected. I think I need to use longer sticks to start with and spend more time tweaking the notches next time.
I am really glad he remembered to bring his Arete because after I went through my mental checklist before leaving the house, I knew I had forgot something and realized an hour into the trip that my bushcrafter was sitting at home :grumpy: I will pack it the night before next time I go out to review it.
Next time out I will try to make a good figure 4 trap and a pot holder. I will try to find more pictures of the brush cleared from the machetes, but I have no pictures of fuzz sticks since my cellphone was being used for music when I was making them. All in all I am really happy with Andy's machetes and knives so far. I usually bring a Busse BWM with me if I need to baton through thick mesquite logs or dead wood, and now with the FBF machetes and bushcrafter, I think I will have a good all around kit for anything out there. All I really need is a good ax or saw when I'm feeling lazy and I should be set for anything. I should be getting a FBF camp knife in soon, so next time I go camping, I will post a review of the bushcrafter and campknife in action. Thanks for looking
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