Hitting the trails with my buddy.

Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Messages
2,341
5/32 hiking buddy with maroon canvas over natural and white liners SFT.

So I've had my hiking buddy for a little while, and my first impressions where the handle a a bit slim for my liking. It came to me in a used but good condition, just need a little time on the stone and a strop. After a few hours of sharping and stropping I noticed no hot spots and just how much it really melted in the hand.

After the touch up I did a few feather sticks and some general carving. I noticed the hiking buddy though a bit thin in my med/lrg hands really became molded. Just as Andy had taken a mold of my mitt.

Then I got to take it hunting. My father, my son, brother in-law, 2 nephews and I all went. Great weekend. My brother in-law shot two does and several hog. He ended up giving me one which I skinned with my hiking buddy and my S! Knives 3.5. Both performed flawlessly in the thick hide of the young pig.
Here's a shot from the deer stand. My sons first hunting trip.


The past few days have been a bit wet with almost 10 inches of rain in about 2/3 days. So when it dried out a little today it was time to get out and roam. Tiny_toothpick and I loaded some gear and hit the pasture, and one of our ponds.







We didn't catch anything so we hit the trail to the creek to check out storm damage. On the way we checked on some of our local fruit stands. :)


A little mistwalker pose for the camera.

The BlackBerry vines are looking great, as well as our wild plum trees. Great to know everything survived this very mild winter of ours, so far.





He just had to have a picture like daddy.

After a few shots it was time to end our little adventure. :(

All in all I'm very pleased with my first fiddleback. I've already gotten another one so I can most certainly say it won't be my last.

I want to give McVeyMac a big thanks for helping me so much when I first started looking at getting a FF.
I also want to apologize for the terrible pictures.
 
nice story & pics. thanks for sharing


the pic pf tiny_toothpick with all his gear on is priceless
 
Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Tiny _toothpick looks great with his gear.
 
Yea one of our rainy day projects a few months ago was to make him a sheath. He loves that thing and carries it every where.
We made it from extra leather from a strop I made and the inside cordage from some paracord. It was my first ever try so don't laugh too much.

His first blade was a Gerber. Lol.
 
Thanks for sharing. It made me remember those times out in the woods hunting, fishing & camping as a kid with my pops. Some of the best I have. They'll be some of the best memories he'll ever have too. :thumbup:
 
Yea one of our rainy day projects a few months ago was to make him a sheath. He loves that thing and carries it every where.
We made it from extra leather from a strop I made and the inside cordage from some paracord. It was my first ever try so don't laugh too much.

His first blade was a Gerber. Lol.


Man, that is awesome! I just went to a KnifeExpo with my six year old boy today (KnifeExpo, Pasadena, CA)--the vendors and makers were pretty taken with him--they were just giving him old cub scout knives and old small slip joints. He's one of four--the other are girls, but they all have knives coming to them. Maybe the old ones will carry something small when we hit the trails in the mountains this spring.
 
Awesome post man, I love seeing this kind of thread! Always good to see people out and about with their children. I was looking around yesterday while I was working and spring is definitely well on it's way here even though it is officially still winter :)
 
He is my trail buddy, no matter where the trail ends. :D Even when he does yell "DEER DADDY" when the we finally see something. Most of my fondest memories are with my father in the out doors. I'm thankful he's still here teaching me and now I can also teach him.

Mist I can't wait for spring, it is certainly a great time to be out doors. My father and I already have a camping trip for spring turkey season.
 
He is my trail buddy, no matter where the trail ends. :D Even when he does yell "DEER DADDY" when the we finally see something. Most of my fondest memories are with my father in the out doors. I'm thankful he's still here teaching me and now I can also teach him.

Mist I can't wait for spring, it is certainly a great time to be out doors. My father and I already have a camping trip for spring turkey season.

Actually for me with my daughter spring is the most worrisome time. It is when the snakes come out of hybernation, hungry and easily annoyed. Alayna is like me, and very curious about everything

DSC_2983.jpg


DSC_2979%20-%20Copy.jpg




We were parking on the side of the road at a pull off at a waterfall where we like to go hiking. There was a copperhead making its way to the same area as we parked. I got out and was going to take a forked stick and toss it off the other side into the gorge below in hopes we wouldn't step on it upon our return. I just wanted a few photos of it first... when it saw me moving toward it it flattened out, but not being in leaves that didn't help it hide lol, so then it coiled up to strike. I was going to back off and let it calm down some and then toss it if it didn't back off on it's own. But then a car coming even had a driver like me who tried not to kill it, and straddled the snake, but he snake was already agitated I think and struck at the car as it passed overhead. Bad idea for the snake...

DSC_2862.jpg


DSC_2863.jpg


DSC_2864.jpg


DSC_2866.jpg




Since the snake was a goner anyway, I decided to turn it into a learning experience and training exercise for her. To show her the fangs and poison, and how well they blend in with the leaves.

DSC_2951.jpg


DSC_2939.jpg


DSC_2915.jpg




This is her mad face because I wouldn't let her pet the copperhead. It was not quite dead, and I didn't want to take any chances with her touching the head. I snapped this pic on my phone to send to her mother. I'm glad phone cameras have gotten much better since then. This was in the spring of 2011 or 2012

IMG_20130518_144739.jpg





Once I had explained things a little better to her, I cut the head off and let her study it while I worked on a project for a while. She was totally fascinated by the snake and studied it for about an hour.

DSC_2970_1.jpg


DSC_2965.jpg


DSC_2961.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yea we have copperheads bad here. I'm lucky he is still in that "hey daddy, what's that?" phase. Its only a matter of time. Looked like a fun little trip.
 
I hope others post their trail adventures in here too. I enjoy living vicariously through others. Not often I get out of Texas. :)
 
Yea we have copperheads bad here. I'm lucky he is still in that "hey daddy, what's that?" phase. Its only a matter of time. Looked like a fun little trip.

It was a fun trip. The snake ended up being the catalyst for a long conversation on safety in the woods.
 
Another great thread. I love seeing y'all in the woods with your kids.
 
lol mist. creative use of a headless snake...

I honestly hated that it died...it wasn't hurting anyone, just minding its own business...but since it did die I thought it was a great subject for wilderness classes with her that day. Opportunities like that down't come along every day, I was going to make the best of it. She also got a chance to study the head very closely too...I just didn't let her handle it :)
 
Back
Top