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- Jan 1, 2007
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Fiddleback Forge Production Hiking Buddy
When we first heard about the production knives, Im pretty sure we all kind of wondered about the direction that Fiddleback Forge was taking. Andy Roy and company are turning out some absolutely amazing and capable hand crafted knives to the tune of fifty or so a week. Each with character and a clear statement of their unwavering commitment to excellence, they can be found in the Fiddleback Friday Frenzy or various dealers that always seem to have unique and special offerings.
Designed as workers, and definitely able to live up to that mark, the custom knives-- a misnomer as Andy doesnt take orders-- sometimes fall into the category of being too beautiful and refined to beat around in a tackle box or attack an errant pile of carpet. The production line was intended to fill this gap and supply demand for his most popular models. Initial production is done by top-notch US manufacturers and the components are then assembled and finished by hand by the Fiddleback team in Cummings, Georgia. The fit and finish are easily and unequivocally top notch.
It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Fiddleback Forge and their knives. So, it was a no brainer that I ordered one of the first production hiking buddies from Whitty at USA Made Blade as soon as they became available for pre-order. I love to mod knives, so I immediately threw on some liners made from G-10 and Poly index cards from Walmart for a special look and to make it my own. Heres the thread in case you want to follow along on what I did to the production models:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1270768-Modding-the-Production-Bushfinger-Handle-(Picture-Heavy)
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1283232-Production-Runt-Liner-Mod?highlight=modding+the+hiking
So, when the black handled hiking buddy showed up, I was a little pressed to do something unique, so I figured Id try to add a lanyard hole to it like Gary Graley did here to his runt in this thread.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1293844-Runt-Mid-Tech-version?highlight=modding+the+hiking
Gary said his machinist friend used a special drill bit. YES HE DID! This thing was tough. I used a carbide drill and it didnt even phase it-- not even a scratch.
I looked up annealing the S-35V and decided that it was a bridge too far and moved on. However, I did notice some very light corrosion under the scales, so if you are a rough user who rides them hard and puts 'em away wet, then you may want to either seal the handle scales with epoxy or occasionally take a little time to clean out under the scales. Nothing major, but in about 250 years, there may be some slight pitting under the scales if you choose to do nothing at all.
A little cleaning with some steel wool and mineral spirits and this is what's left:
Buttoning everything back up with a thick coat of Renassiance wax, I headed down to the dock to try out my new Tenkara rod and hold class with the local blue-gill. Anyone can catch something on a huge bug or cut bait; but lately, Ive been chasing the smaller ones with a size 28 or so nymph on about a 9x tippet. Now thats some exciting fishing.
Bottom line, you cant go wrong with a Fiddleback Forge knife and if you plan to use it hard, like the idea of a semi-stainless steel that holds a great edge, or just want to save a few bucks over the custom models, these will not disappoint.
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