Hello canada, hello america

Campbellclanman

Platinum Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2007
Messages
15,650
Hi everyone
Well we are home -the middle of Winter, its cold,Grey,Bleak, and work looms just around the corner, its always hard coming back to reality - especially after such an amazing Holiday, seeing some of the most outstanding sights, amazing Wildlife and meeting some beautiful people - it really doesn't get better.


Starting off in Vancouver, there for 3 days, but it was just a fantastic 3 days, finally we got to meet Charlie and Joanne, Charlie and I have communicated for a few years now, I always look forward to my chat with my Waynorth friend, well I got to see my friend finally and we spent a great day out.
It was a great day, the "Waynorths" treated us to such a great day, a great dinner and a good long chat - that simply IMO could never have been long enough.Its was lovely to have seen Charlie and Joanne's Home-to be invited in-just wonderful.

At times there was even the odd talk of knives :cool:, I'm such a novice in the knife world, when you actually sit down and handle a knife of Charlies OR of any other knife person -I feel privileged and also on the same hand I feel a wee bit of pressure as the knife isnt mine,well you can imagine the feeling when a Ruple was bought out and Charlie told me a bit about it, now by this stage it was getting a wee bit late and I was pretty self conscious of the time... when I got back to the Hotel I realised when looking through the photo's that I didnt even take a photo of the knife with the blade out - Now REALLY!!!:o

Charlie, I hope that you will come in and help fill the gaps on what I leave out about the knife.

The precision of putting such skill to an piece was a test for Bill apparently, the face of the Spine - which was such the focus of the photos, is round - like a rope,now imagine this folks - having an circular shaped Spine as a Major feature on an already OUTSTANDING knife - and then completely file-working this Spine in the most beautiful way MATCHES ABSOLUTELY when the knife is opened to meet the work seen on the spine of the Blade.
Here are a few shots to let you see just how amazing Custom knife making can be......( also check out Charlies First Nation piece of old history that he has shown before-it's quite beautiful ) - is that correct Charlie?











After spending a great time with both Charlie and Joanne - it had to end, I was quite saddened saying goodbye, very happy to have finally met in person - but very sad to say goodbye....Both Charlie and Joanne are lovely people, I wish the World had a lot more folk like them, I feel my time with Charlie and Joanne was far too short, and left Vancouver with a slightly heavy heart.

Sue and I jumped in a car and took off to the Rockies - we saw the most stunning scenery imaginable, the road to Banff and Jasper and Whistler was a road of adventure - a planned drive of 5 hours a day took us nearly twice that as we stopped so often for scenery, wildlife - Oh it was just stunning...

After spending a week in the Rockies we jumped on an Alaskan Cruise for 7 days and that was simply outstanding - again the Wildlife, the scenery, at times the solitude, the land sharing with us it's breath-taking sights of the land, the Sea, Glaciers, Bears, Moose, Eagles, Whales....I could just keep going...

And we did....
To again a very good friend of whom we have shared conversations over the years many times - but yet to met - we did this by flying to North Dakota to meet Mr Paul Hilborn and his lovely wife Nanc.

We got to stay with Paul and Nanc for a few days, now this is what I mean about beautiful people....Charlie - his lovely Lady Joanne, and now Paul and his lovely lady Nanc..These very kind people made Sue and I so so welcome...

Paul and Nanc could not have done more , just amazing, we got to spend some great time together, Paul and I sat up quite late one night as I was treated to such a privilege of Paul showing me some of his knives, not only this, we got to meet Paul and Nanc's boys, friends and see their beautiful amazing Countryside - What a lovely lovely Town Valley City is, full of quaint houses, fantastic friendly people - I could shift there tomorrow.

We also visited the Hilborns awesome shop- Paul and Nanc own a Furniture shop - and it was o great to visit the shop -and what a shop!!! well done to the both of you guys- your shop really is something else.

Paul is my overseas postal box, most times i get people to send any knife that I buy to Pauls so they can mount up - and then Paul sends them to me - Thank you Paul my friend for looking after me so well with this!

So I picked up a stash of knives I had accumulated at Pauls home as well, so Paul and I had a wee look so when we had to say our goodbyes - once again we dragged our feet away from our friends and moved on.....

Well, with quite a few knives a few fixed blades etc stashed away in the suitcase- it was going to be interesting how I was to get on with these items in my luggage - we have all experienced and heard of horror stories of precious knives being taken from us - well when Sue and I got to the Hotel in San Francisco - I noticed my suitcase ( which was still padlocked ) had been opened by Customs and they went through all the knives to check them out, They left me a declaration of what they had done - and that they had confiscated nothing - and replaced all items - WHEW!!! :):thumbup:
I used that same declaration and it was displayed on top of the suitcase( inside - so if Custom elsewhere would go in - they would see that things had already been checked - and passed!)
Heres what they looked through........

A Matching numbers set of Schrade Scrimshaws, both the Sharpfinger and Folding hunter are numbered 08249 - and boxed separately


TO BE CONT'D....
 
Schrade LB7 with the different Shield - a Vietnam Memorial set - the Box is actually very solid, hinged and well made.



An older HJ, Henry Sears, etched Blade - very little use in it's older life...







A very tidy - some would call it Mint "Made in the USA" knife ( Camillus ) - a nice one this one...









A couple of very nice oldies off our good friend Jake.......
A Clauss I had to buy, etched Blade - a beautiful Jack which reminds me of the Clauss HJ that went missing during transit to me - it was like this but a HJ- whew!!...still hard to think of someone running around with that lovely HJ...




Challenge Cut Co..... again a lovely old knife- ...




The ever popular Buck 110..


A big Camillus made "Remington" Camp knife, not a bad knife at all...


But when compared to the STUNNING Texas Camp Knife - the Camillus pales in comparison to the big Texan which amazingly showed up at Paul's place from a mysterious donor - whom shall remain nameless until they themselves would like to let it slip;)




Actually...... TWO turned up when someone found out I was going to visit Paul - it was one each for Paul and myself, all I can say to this person is THANK you so so much, yet again Charlies knives smash the ball out of the Ball Park - I will treasure this knife greatly...and amazing show of generosity - thank you once again kind Sir! Its so hard trying to say thank you in simple words compared to how grateful you feel:o

I was saving hard for the trip and missed the release - Oh man.... the QUALITY of this massive knife is just amazing - the Punch is not to be messed with - in fact all tools, and blades are quite lethal - what an amazing piece .......





Paul - doing his usual amazing generous thing, upon my arrival he gifted me this lovely Stainless 15 (Cyclops - GEC's Brand - something I am very new to ) Paul and I talked about the Stainless, as we both mainly carry Carbon Blades, I have nothing against SS, and man I love this knife, the 15 Frame is a great size, I just LOVE the Bone, the neat wee Acorn shield, Threaded Bolsters- theres a lot going on with this knife - Paul my friend, once again ( x how many is is now matey?????) a MASSIVE thank you:thumbup:







Very very lucky to get hold of these two wee sweethearts, to our distributor- and you know who you are my friend - a HUGE thank you, once again you have blown us away with your service, your integrity - just amazing kind Sir.......
Wow....just WOW!!!




....... you know...it took me a couple of days to get things settled, catching up with work, fish tanks to deal with, my wee Izzy to spoil - lovely kids to catch up with...lots!!....well I managed to sit down to go through and tend to the new knives - oil them, give a good once over, and I was unpacking them and I said to Sue...."what is this"...I had NO idea what it was- but a knife wrapped up in a tissue very neatly, Sue didnt know, so I unwrapped it and it was like a gun going off.....

Knives like this just do not come up often, its a grail knife- for most, and for those who dont know what this knife is - would it be fair to say this is THE start of the Old Timers, yet this Elusive Schrade is stunning, the Bone is drop dead gorgeous, when Paul showed me this I was blown away just how much better the knife looked in person - as to when I had seen it in Pauls post's - and it was drop-dead beautiful then!!!
I can only try to say thank you - we spoke on the phone and Im sure I didnt get near even trying to say how I felt - but Paul - this knife will be treasure I can assure you my friend, I cant understand how you could let this one go-but you havent - because it will always be waiting here for you when ever you need it my friend.....










What an amazing journey, amazing People - that is for sure, followed by amazing knives.

Thank you once again Charlie and Joanne for being such wonderful people, fantastic Hosts and great friends.

Thank you Paul and Nancy for your wonderful hospitality, letting us meet family, friends and for being such good friends as well.
 
What a fantastic thread full of stories Duncan.
Paul is one of the most wonderful guys on the forum and it's always nice to find a trove of knives you purchased waiting for you ;)

That Ruple by Bill is a stunner. I believe I've seen photos of it taken before by Charlie but the raised rope file-work on the back-spring is a thing of beauty.
 
Thanks for the great report of your amazing adventures Duncan. I had just made a cup of coffee when you posted, so it was a particularly enjoyable read. It certainly sounds like you had a fantastic time, with fantastic people. I love all your 'souvenirs', incredible, and some outstanding generosity there. I'm sure you and Sue will remember the trip always, as well our good friends, whom you visited. I dare say you bumped into a few more folk along the trail who will also remember that great big-hearted man and his lovely lady. Great stuff my friend :) :thumbup:

And that Ruple...Wow!
 
What a nice visit from NZ's finest folks! But too brief!
Duncan and Sue, come back any time! And stay longer!!
It sounds like your tour was well planned, Duncan. You saw the best the Pacific Northwest has to offer! B.C, the Rockies, Alaska, wow! And a killer visit in ND! It doesn't get any better.
And that suitcase must have been heavy on the way home!:eek:
Thanks for all the pics of your booty!
:D
 
Hello NZ,
From the Waynorths and Ruple to the Hilborns and the Old Timer and everything in between... Good Stuff!!! Glad you had such an enjoyable time. Thanks for sharing it with us Duncan. -James-
 
Sounds like a great vacation Duncan. Glad to see that the trip was a huge success and that you and Sue enjoyed yourselves!

Oh...and those are some very fine additions to the collection!
 
Duncan, I am happy to read your report of the vacation you and your wife enjoyed. As is usual it's the people that make the knives so much more special. I really enjoyed the read and though I live much closer I have never seen much of what you enjoyed. Thanks for sharing.

Chris
 
Good post, good people, and good knives, but sounds like you needed an extra suitcase for the trip home.
 
What an epic adventure, Duncan! The best part is having those momentos to remember it by. Thanks for bringing us along!
 
Been waiting for this thread since I found out about your visit to North America, Duncan. I'm glad that you and Sue enjoyed your trip so much. That's quite an impressive haul of knives from different time periods, all of which look fantastic.:thumbup:


From the wonderful description of the scenery and your hosts, I'm sure we would enjoy some of your other non-knife photos in either the Lounge or the Mug Shot threads if you would be inclined to share them.
 
What a fantastic thread full of stories Duncan.
Paul is one of the most wonderful guys on the forum and it's always nice to find a trove of knives you purchased waiting for you ;)

That Ruple by Bill is a stunner. I believe I've seen photos of it taken before by Charlie but the raised rope file-work on the back-spring is a thing of beauty.

Thank you my friend - yeah...that Ruple is Way cool - man what a knife! it was a real pleasure to see and to hold - but I get worried as I have sweaty hands-not to the Gross stage- but my hands leave finger prints on any carbon so I am always very concerned when handling someone else's knives - especially a knife with such Caliber as this one!

Thanks for the great report of your amazing adventures Duncan. I had just made a cup of coffee when you posted, so it was a particularly enjoyable read. It certainly sounds like you had a fantastic time, with fantastic people. I love all your 'souvenirs', incredible, and some outstanding generosity there. I'm sure you and Sue will remember the trip always, as well our good friends, whom you visited. I dare say you bumped into a few more folk along the trail who will also remember that great big-hearted man and his lovely lady. Great stuff my friend :) :thumbup:


And that Ruple...Wow!

Jack my friend - this trip took me straight back to where we met at the Station - I will NEVER forget that, and will catch up with you again - Im not too sure when - but if I am that way of course I will - will ring you soon my friend - take Care Jack - I will pop into the Lounge with more photos soon. :-)

What a nice visit from NZ's finest folks! But too brief!
Duncan and Sue, come back any time! And stay longer!!
It sounds like your tour was well planned, Duncan. You saw the best the Pacific Northwest has to offer! B.C, the Rockies, Alaska, wow! And a killer visit in ND! It doesn't get any better.
And that suitcase must have been heavy on the way home!:eek:
Thanks for all the pics of your booty!
:D

Charlie my friend - again a massive thank you, Paul and I have already agreed to start saving for the rendezvous however it times out - in approx two years - so we can save for the flights etc. Man - to meet Bill and all the other folk who are regulars - and then we can have a get together then as well!

Hello NZ,
From the Waynorths and Ruple to the Hilborns and the Old Timer and everything in between... Good Stuff!!! Glad you had such an enjoyable time. Thanks for sharing it with us Duncan. -James-
James mate- it was such a great time - the knife world has taken us to some fantastic places, to meet some of the greatest people that we are so proud to call friends, Sue and I had the awesome pleasure of meeting Jack over in Sheffield - jack was so generous with his time and everything else- it was a battle to try and pay for something around Jack lol - a lovely guy - and now we have been through another part of the great world and again met some pretty fantastic people. This means a lot to me - more than I can express to be honest.

Sounds like a great vacation Duncan. Glad to see that the trip was a huge success and that you and Sue enjoyed yourselves!

Oh...and those are some very fine additions to the collection!

Thank you kind Sir- yeah - some will be added to the collection for sure! Man we just loved the trip -very sad to leave in some stages - coming home was very very mixed feelings.

Duncan, I am happy to read your report of the vacation you and your wife enjoyed. As is usual it's the people that make the knives so much more special. I really enjoyed the read and though I live much closer I have never seen much of what you enjoyed. Thanks for sharing.

Chris

Thank you Chris - where abouts do you live? - I am sure that if you live close by - that you must live in a stunning part of the world!

Good post, good people, and good knives, but sounds like you needed an extra suitcase for the trip home.

Oh man- bringing half the stuff ( made from NZ Woods ) I thought was the worst part - talk about lugging luggage lol - but coming home was just as bad- at one part my suitcase got busted apart - so it was the good old 100 mile-an-hour Tape to the rescue- man thats good stuff!

Duncan, that Ruple is hot, hot, HOT!!

Jeff Sir- almost too hot to handle - Man....what a knife - would love to meet Bill one day - he sure is a talented guy!

What an epic adventure, Duncan! The best part is having those momentos to remember it by. Thanks for bringing us along!

Ones that will last a lifetime Glenn - loved the work Charlie showed us on his recent thread about you being Baaad again! - awesome- another very talented guy who I have to say the Trads love having as a resident!

Been waiting for this thread since I found out about your visit to North America, Duncan. I'm glad that you and Sue enjoyed your trip so much. That's quite an impressive haul of knives from different time periods, all of which look fantastic.:thumbup:


From the wonderful description of the scenery and your hosts, I'm sure we would enjoy some of your other non-knife photos in either the Lounge or the Mug Shot threads if you would be inclined to share them.

The scenery was fantastic Danny - just mind blowing - I will post some photos up in the following days or week in Carls Lounge - I have to go to Chrsitchurch next week - but should find some time after that!
 
Duncan so glad your wife and you got to go on this epic adventure.

Thanks so much Randy - the years leading up to this werent great - so I am glad that I can still Walk the Earth, be with my lovely Lady and see some of this beautiful world and meet beautiful people!
 
I love reading about the generosity and consideration among members here! Thanks for sharing highlights of your travels with us, Duncan, for the great knife pics, and especially the tales of your friendships with other members. They are all great people!!!

Oh, and that Schrade is outstanding! Way to go, Paul. :thumbup:
 
Fantastic Duncan.
What a journey.Mate you deserve it.
I see you are now the proud possessor of a Texas camp knife.Care to join the club ? Membership currently standing at 2.
Outstanding travelogue
Cheers.
 
Duncan, I'm happy that you had a fun trip and picked up some beautiful knives. I just helped move high school weightlifting equipment so I'm a bit short for breath and words but I enjoyed your post. :thumbup:
 
Duncan, thanks for sharing your wonderful trip with us. Sounds like you had a great time. (Also, some beautiful knives!)
 
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