Hiking with the 124 & Snakeskin sheath, 9-28-14

L

Lawrence Helm

Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
328


It was just after dawn and a bit cloudy:











The sheath was comfortable and most importantly didn't cause the 124 to rattle. :thumbup:

Lawrence
 
Good looking knife and even better looking Dogs. Is the Tan a Rhodesian?

Nothing better than enjoying the great outdoors with a couple of best friends. Good memories :)
 
Doug_86 said:
Good looking knife and even better looking Dogs. Is the Tan a Rhodesian?

Nothing better than enjoying the great outdoors with a couple of best friends. Good memories :)
Click to expand...

edbeau & Doug_86, thanks. Yes the tan one is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a 120 pound one named Ben. These two, Duffy and Ben and I have done this countless times. This morning as we drove down to the river a coyote crossed our path. Duffy watched it from the Jeep window as we parked and after we did Ben chased out after it and Duffy chased after Ben. I followed as quickly as I could but it wasn't long until we were all together moving along on our hike. The coyotes have all grown up as I hiked down thee with Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Ben will be just four years old in November but they've seen his like before.

Not just memories. We need to get out there as often as possible. It is something open-ended.

Lawrence
 
That custom sheath makes your 124 look like a million bucks! Did the sheath maker design the sheath so the blade is protected from the inside metal snap? In other words, is the snap covered somehow on the inside?
 
TAH said:
That custom sheath makes your 124 look like a million bucks! Did the sheath maker design the sheath so the blade is protected from the inside metal snap? In other words, is the snap covered somehow on the inside?
Click to expand...

Yes, the snap is covered between two layers of leather.

Lawrence
 
Glad to hear the dogs put the run on that Coyote. Gotta put the fear of man back into those critters.
 
Doug_86 said:
Glad to hear the dogs put the run on that Coyote. Gotta put the fear of man back into those critters.
Click to expand...

Doug,

Actually I kind of like the coyotes. They howl and prowl, scaring off the casual and fearful hiker leaving a huge hiking area very near my house for just me and my dogs -- usually. Previously I had two female Ridgebacks who got used to the coyotes and vice versa such that they would leave each other alone. Ben isn't at that point. I got him as a three-year old last December and he thinks he needs to chase every coyote he sees.

Our situation with the coyotes at the river doesn't fit the preconceptions of most people who hear about them. I got into some heated discussions on a Ridgeback forum about Ben and the coyotes. Breeders had heard things or had friends who had experienced things and they expected me to change my ignorant ways as a consequence. I've been hiking this region for 15 years and the local coyotes have been around us off and on that entire time. We are not prey. We are alert. I carry a gun, knife and stout hiking stick. I always have at least one dog that can whip any coyote down there. I was warned against coyotes enticing Ben. That hasn't happened and I suspect it of being a myth -- that is, there are other explanations for events that might seem like enticement. And then there are the "pack dangers," but I once saw Ben chase four coyotes into the brush with another following. I hurried after them with Duffy at my heels. I had never seen Ben go after so many coyotes, but I didn't hear any barking from Ben or yipping from the coyotes and before I had gotten too far into the brush, Ben was back beside me with tongue lolling and happy expression on this face. I have often wonder whether Ben and the coyotes treat this as a kind of game. There are plenty of rabbits down there for the coyotes to eat. It wouldn't be logical for them to attack 120-pound Ben who could seriously hurt them, but they might like to run from him for practice and a bit of fun.

I feel about coyotes the same way I felt about sharks when the movie Jaws came out. I was a free-diver back then and no one could hear what I did without asking, "aren't you afraid of sharks?" That movie kept a lot of people out of the water, making the ocean a gorgeous empty place for me to spear fish. :D

Lawrence
 
Whereabouts did all that take place!

Coyotes & even rattlers don't bother me, so long as the latter aren't near the house. I figure they keep the rodents I'm check.

When it comes to hogs, though, I shoot first & ask questions later!
 
Lawrence Helm said:
Doug,

Actually I kind of like the coyotes. They howl and prowl, scaring off the casual and fearful hiker leaving a huge hiking area very near my house for just me and my dogs -- usually. Previously I had two female Ridgebacks who got used to the coyotes and vice versa such that they would leave each other alone. Ben isn't at that point. I got him as a three-year old last December and he thinks he needs to chase every coyote he sees.

Our situation with the coyotes at the river doesn't fit the preconceptions of most people who hear about them. I got into some heated discussions on a Ridgeback forum about Ben and the coyotes. Breeders had heard things or had friends who had experienced things and they expected me to change my ignorant ways as a consequence. I've been hiking this region for 15 years and the local coyotes have been around us off and on that entire time. We are not prey. We are alert. I carry a gun, knife and stout hiking stick. I always have at least one dog that can whip any coyote down there. I was warned against coyotes enticing Ben. That hasn't happened and I suspect it of being a myth -- that is, there are other explanations for events that might seem like enticement. And then there are the "pack dangers," but I once saw Ben chase four coyotes into the brush with another following. I hurried after them with Duffy at my heels. I had never seen Ben go after so many coyotes, but I didn't hear any barking from Ben or yipping from the coyotes and before I had gotten too far into the brush, Ben was back beside me with tongue lolling and happy expression on this face. I have often wonder whether Ben and the coyotes treat this as a kind of game. There are plenty of rabbits down there for the coyotes to eat. It wouldn't be logical for them to attack 120-pound Ben who could seriously hurt them, but they might like to run from him for practice and a bit of fun.

I feel about coyotes the same way I felt about sharks when the movie Jaws came out. I was a free-diver back then and no one could hear what I did without asking, "aren't you afraid of sharks?" That movie kept a lot of people out of the water, making the ocean a gorgeous empty place for me to spear fish. :D

Lawrence
Click to expand...

That's very interesting. I my neck of the woods there are coyote attacks on pets weekly if not daily and the odd person as well. And yes the discussions can get heated. I hate to see wildlife destroyed because of human-animal conflict. That is why I always will maintain to scare them off and killing as a last option. Our Game Wardens in BC were taking stress leave at one point because of the number of Bears being destroyed. It took a toll on them after a while.
 
jamestap said:
Whereabouts did all that take place!

Coyotes & even rattlers don't bother me, so long as the latter aren't near the house. I figure they keep the rodents I'm check.

When it comes to hogs, though, I shoot first & ask questions later!
Click to expand...

The river is located just south of the San Jacinto Mountains. Here are some shots showing the proximity of this usually dry river to the mountains:











Lawrence
 
Pretty country. I had to google to see where the San Jacinto mountains were. We have a pretty famous San Jacinto here in TX, but for a whole different reason.

BTW, according to Wiki, the range includes a "Coyote Peak":-)
 
I have really been lusting after the New 124. This thread did not help.

Great shots, nice looking hounds. Awesome area to hike and beautiful knife to take along. I see one in my very near future.

We have a sizable population of coyotes here. They don't bother me much. The rattlesnake idea though, i'd be scared for me and the dogs.
 
I'm not too far from you Lawrence. Just moved to Murrieta from Riverside last year. I actually work in your area sometimes. It is pretty, especially when we get some rain, which we haven't had near enough of lately. Too bad most of the farm land out there is getting covered with houses....which are getting filled with people from L.A., which is the real downer.

Oh yeah, and I like 124s also. I have three: An early 80s model, one of the new 2112 ones, and a custom one from around 10 years ago that has a reduced guard and a horse (I think.....haven't seen it in a while) inlay in the handle.
 
Very few people hike on the San Jacinto River and those who do like to stay up on the Southern Levee. There is a bit of a turnover in that regard. On Sunday my dogs ran ahead and Duffy got up on the levee followed by Ben. I thought “what the heck,” no one is likely to be on the levee this early. We can hike east a ways and then drop down under the trees, but before I got up on the levee I could see a guy coming toward us with a couple of dogs; so I called Ben and Duffy back. I wanted to get back to the route I originally intended but before I managed that I saw Ben staring off toward the levee. There was an open area where he could see the levee and the guy and his dogs could see Ben. I didn’t like the look of this. This guy and his dogs were about 75 yards away and they were staring at Ben. I said, “come on Ben, we’re going this way,” but Ben took off running toward them. If you have seen monster movies of a well-muscled ferocious beast heading toward its prey that’s the way Ben looked.

The guy’s Rottweiler wanted to get down from the levee but the guy held onto it. He also had an old German Shepherd mix who ran down from the levee a ways but he called for it to come back and it did In the meantime I was yelling for Ben to come back to me. He ran half way toward them, did a 180 and ran back. At first I couldn’t make sense of what had occurred and chewed him out, but after thinking it over apologized to him. Two large dogs staring at him was clearly a challenge. He did something about it without hurting anyone; problem solved. The guy got the message, or some kind of message and hurried on away from us. Still, Ben had upset me, knew it, and stayed unusually close to me for the rest of the hike. I kept telling him he was a good boy and patting him on the head. I had never seen this guy before and chances are I won’t see him again. He probably had himself a stiff drink after he got home.

Lest anyone think Ben is unusually aggressive, the hike this morning was very different: We hiked east almost as far as we’d go on a regular hike and then turned around and headed back the way we’d come – something we almost never do. At least one coyote had come out from the brush after we had passed and when he or she saw us coming back started yipping. It is the sort of yipping I’ve heard in the past when a coyote has pups on the ground. Ben ran into the brush in the direction of the yipping. He wasn’t in there too long before he came running out again, did a turn around a bush and stood there next to me staring at the brush. He didn’t have his tail between his legs or his hackles up but he had clearly been chased out of the brush by the coyote.

I might be wrong but I took this to be a social matter. Ben will take Duffy’s food if he can get away with it, but if he tries when I’m not around Duffy will chase him down the hall. If I come back upstairs and seen him down the hall waiting for me to return to the study I know what has happened. Ben knows he’s in the wrong. It seemed to me that something like that happened this morning. The denning season has been over for some time, but there might be one or more young pups hanging about. Coyotes don’t normally defend a territory except during the denning, but Ben probably came up against one that wasn't willing to play chase with him. I'm wondering if something like this happened with all my previous Ridgebacks. They all liked to chase coyotes when they were young, but they all gave it up when they got older.

I'd just as soon stay on good terms with the coyotes.

Lawrence
 
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