Official "Guidelines" Post
First and only rule:
If you want "IN" please post the official word here no later than 8/19. Previous posts do not count, only those after this post. I mainly want to do that because this thread has evolved a bit. If it started off sounding like a good idea, and turned into something you are not interested in, I wanted to give you all the chance to say yeah or nay.
I think it would become a mess if we keep allowing late entries. So that is the cutoff. I think it allows sufficient time for people figure out if they want in or not, without dragging out the deadline.
If, for some reason, we get way too many entries that would make testing not feasible, we may have to figure out a way to narrow things down. I don't really want to worry about that just yet. Let's just see how it goes first.
As many folks have mentioned, there are not going to be any "rules" for those entering. However, Pit and I have chatted, and he is looking for a knife to handle all camp tasks. So, I figured it fair to give makers an idea of what the knives will be put through. Maybe it will influence design, maybe it will not. In the end, the design is all up to you.
Here goes:
Cooking - Camping involves cooking. I will use the knives to make some traditional camping fare to see how they do in this area.
Bushcraft - I am a bit tired of tent pegs and traps. So, I will come up with something more interesting to build and test woodworking capabilities. This will be on green wood. Hard and dry wood will come later.
Tinder Prep - Firemaking is such a big topic, I want to break it up. So here, I am talking about the finer aspects of it. (Batoning and such will come later).
Fireboard - Technically could fall in a lot of different areas, but I would like to squeeze this in somewhere. Because it can concentration on shaping, notching and drilling.
Chopping - Self explanatory.
Batoning - Self explanatory.
Game - These knives are going to come to me during hunting season (it looks like). I have a high probability of being able to skin and butcher deer with them, unless you think it would be too graphic for the forums.
Any other thoughts? - I am trying to keep things in the realm of realistic. But, I am very open to suggestions.
Additional Info for Knife Entries:
I am asking that knifemakers supply two things:
1) Specs
I would like each knifemaker to submit as many specs on the knives as possible. I want to publish all specs, and it is better that they supply them rather than me measuring and/or guessing. Some of the stuff I am interested in would also be difficult for me to measure. Some is obvious, some is not.
Blade length
Overall length
Thickness
Steel
Grind type
Hardness (if known)
Grind angle (if scandi)
Secondary bevel angle (if it applies, which it will not to convex styles)
Selling price of the knife reviewed
Any other specs you might think are appropriate.
2) Return shipping
Whatever it takes to send the knife, please send that along so I can ship it to the final destination. That might be back to the owner, to a raffle winner, or wherever. The point is that shipping will be covered. If there is some sort of contest or raffle, sending me the shipping money will allow me to not be involved in all the money handling of all that. I will just send it where you tell me to.
This is still mostly my initial thoughts. I am WAY open to suggestions, and I have a lot of "hidden" stuff in mind that I do not want to tell
This is going to bug a MUCH bigger undertaking than I was thinking, but I think it will be fun and worth it!
B
Rick
