Hey everybody.....
What a great spring it has been for me.....The place I live has never been more beautiful---the forest is absolutely bustin" with bloom and new, lovely green growth.....my annual spring migration to PWYP, held at thr prestigious Chestnut Proving Grounds in the enchanted forest of Terrill and Roxie Hoffman was as usual full of fun and the celebration of the blade in all it's myriad forms.....
Doug Ritter and I drove over last wed and our fire was surrounded by the usual suspects...ScatyLobo, Robbie Oliver, Adam from Equipped to Endure, William and his lovely wife Diana, Chance and Laura, a couple of very welcome new newcomers....Gregg the quiet and Mike the indomitable Czhech or Pole or Roosian or whatever....A GREAT group to share fire and food and brew with......We really missed Jim and Dave the vole.......
As soon as I returned, I headed down to Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin's Woodland Survival school to help out for a day.....A very good time with a bunch of real good pros....It was Based out of Jimmy Dunn's place in Fort Payne Alabama and some of the instructors are world class.....Jimmy Dunn, Reuben Bolieu, our very own Moose, Patrick and a guest appearance by the incredibly informative Darryl Patton......The students had very diverse skill set levels which was fun........
And finally I am getting to the really important part......I GOT TO TAKE PROTOTYPES OF THE NEW MACHAX and THE TWEENERS TO MESS AROUND WITH..... YESSSSSS.......YEAH......WOW..... OK.......
I have had Tweeener blades for about ten days and I was real excited, but, I FINALLY got blades with the scales on......Please bear in mind that in my tiny littlt mind I started working on this blade when I got my second "quality" knife at age 13, or 14 when I saved what allowance did not get "invested" in .22 Short Hollow Points for a Puma 'Hunter's Friend'......No matter what other 4-5 inch blades (and there were a bunch) came between us I ALWAYS came back to this handy blade.......The Tweener Drop Point is my tribute to this fine and treasured blade.......I am very happy........There is a Clip Point version (very nice indeed) and a lovely Jerry Fisk "mini Magnum Camp" lovely and light in the hand....Very Fast......
I got a lot of very positive feedback at both PWYP and from the Alabama crew.....Thanks for the positive words, guys.......This project has been a LOOOOOONG time coming........I am not sure anything is worth a fifty year wait but I AM a Very Happy man......The handle is as nice as any mid size handle I can think of in MY hand and I am confident many of you are gonna like it too..
The new MACHAX is in 3/16ths material and is a dream to use.....Slicey as all get out and a choppin' fool.....The slightly slimmer than middle Cincy era blades with the tang cutouts make for a lovely balance, indeed.....More happiness........
Tooj and Jason at Ka-Bar really contributed to the all around wonderfullness.....Tooj really does have a good idea now and again and Jason is really hot with Solidworks........Thanks for making me look good guys.....
I will be taking and posting pix over the weekend.........
All Best....
ethan
P.S....
The new blades will be available at SHOT and sneak previews will be available at BLADE Show........
