I think we all take ourselves a little too seriously!

Ok--that's the next test! If you don't have a horse to charge me on you can borrow one of mine. I've got two. :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Ok--that's the next test! If you don't have a horse to charge me on you can borrow one of mine. I've got two. :D
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How are you fixed for swords?

well it's true I have two beaten swords, and they cost me deep in the purse.
But you will have the better of them and I will have the worse.

and you will strike the very first blow, and strike it like a man.
I will strike the very next blow, and I'll kill you if I can.
 [youtube]1it7BP5PckI[/youtube]
 
I like your test... I have wondered the same thing before.

The milf has some off brand imported kitchen knives. Granted, they haven't been used for battoning, but every so often I touch up the edge and they work just fine.
I actually just finished using one of them for slicing a Roma tomato, for Elk burgers.
I was able to slice them nice and thin with no effort.
 
Cougar Allen said:
How are you fixed for swords?

well it's true I have two beaten swords, and they cost me deep in the purse.
But you will have the better of them and I will have the worse.

and you will strike the very first blow, and strike it like a man.
I will strike the very next blow, and I'll kill you if I can.
 [youtube]1it7BP5PckI[/youtube]
Click to expand...

I've got a few kicking around. :D

I actually have been trying to find a reasonably priced saddle that will fit a Percheron that has accessory rings on it so I can put my CS 1908 Indian Cavalry Saber on him. No luck so far though. Draft horse saddles are like balisongs--they're either crap or they're spendy!
 
neeman said:
I think you have reinvented the 17th C Trade knife
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Well, they did have a Chicago Cutlery brand butcher knife that I thought about using as the test model for that very reason but decided to stick with the chef's knife model since it was the least expensive knife Wal*Mart had that wast a fully-serrated steak knife/"paring" knife. :)
 
I think the main thing I would be concerned about is the durability of the handle. Many inexpensive knives are made with substandard hafting materials and techniques, so the first thing to go south are the handle scales.

I'm guessing that with a few more "hard use" sessions, those scales will have to be replaced with something more durable.

Andy
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
I think the main thing I would be concerned about is the durability of the handle. Many inexpensive knives are made with substandard hafting materials and techniques, so the first thing to go south are the handle scales.

I'm guessing that with a few more "hard use" sessions, those scales will have to be replaced with something more durable.

Andy
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Believe it or not, the handle feels solid as a rock. Three aluminum rivets are holding the polypropylene scales on, and that works fine and dandy for plenty of machetes out there, which are subjected to a lot more force and with greater frequency. I'd actually be very surprised if the handle ever had to be replaced, and if I did end up replacing it I'd probably cut the beak of the handle/tang off to convert it to a stick tang to put a more substantial grip on it. :p
 
The handle rivits on my henkel's 8" chefs' knife were the first to go (NOT a $4.00 knife). Now it sports a paracord wrap that my wife MUCH prefers. Even the m-i-l commented on how much she preferred the wrap to the standard scales...
 
Dad always said "Better is the worst enemy of Good Enough"...

I have several hundred dollars worth of fine chef's knives in the drawer sleeping nicely. On the counter is a big block of Kitchenaid knives. Good handles, full tangs, mystery stainless. They work just fine and will take a very nice edge with little work. They don't hold an edge great, but again, I don't spend hours sharpening them. I also don't get pissed when they get thrown in the sink or sent through the dishwasher every day.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I think we, as aficionados, are so used to high-end cutlery (even the inexpensive stuff) that we automatically assume that anything made for the common non-knife person is junk and will fall apart if you look at it wrong. Just thought I'd put the assumption to the test. :D
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So very true!

Knife knuts are so obsessed that they loose sight of the real world. Don't forget the old mountain men made a living in the Rocky Mountain wilderness with the Russell's Green River knife, a kitchen butcher knife by another name.

Carl.
 
Nowadays, you will be hard pressed to find a common kitchen knife with the quality of a Russell. Lets not forget too, that old mountainmen weren't exactly the type of folks who liked to part with their coin. The typical working trapper bought several blades at a time. Anything that was mass produced and cheap fit the bill. Between the years of 1840-1860, Russell made 720000 knives for the American West. It was one of the most common working man's blades but that is not to say it was the best performer. That would be like future historians looking back on rain gear and saying that rubberized jackets must have worked just as good if not better than Gortex because more people used them.
 
I think too that the knives were generally used differently back then. They carried a butcher knife to butcher game and to notch traps. Most of their chopping was done with an axe. I doubt you'd see any of them batoning.
 
Shotgun said:
I think too that the knives were generally used differently back then. They carried a butcher knife to butcher game and to notch traps. Most of their chopping was done with an axe. I doubt you'd see any of them batoning.
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Yes... many things change over time. Try "smoothing" it like Nessmuk did, in this day and age.
 
Rick Marchand said:
Yes... many things change over time. Try "smoothing" it like Nessmuk did, in this day and age.
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Are you saying felling a half dozen trees for shelter and bedding would be frowned upon in this day and age? That's just silly talk.
 
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