Jack Knife Cookery

U

Ultraman

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Oct 28, 2005
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Back when I was a youngster, I came across this book in the school library. It's actually a combination outdoor stories, recipe book and camping guide, written by James Austin Wilder.

This is the kind of book that can leave a lasting impression to young people, enough to get them interested in the outdoors and in the utility of pocketknives! Highly recommended. Here's a short review on Make Magazine:

http://www.makezine.com/01/heirloom/

It's out of print, but I finally got my own copy. I especially like how the author incorporated cooking and camping techniques to the tropics (Hawaii), so it's less tailored to a North woods type of setting. It's definitely about low tech camping and belies a very dated setting. Doesn't matter though, because the yarns are entertaining, and the cooking techniques, recommended gear, and recipes are all still relevant and more importantly, entertaining to read.

Anyone who hasn't read this is in for a treat, if they can find a copy available. Don't forget to check out his recommendation for a pocket knife, and decide for yourself about his "fire pit" method of cooking.

Oh, by way of explanation, it centers on cooking/camping with a jacknife, so I figure it's relevant to post this here. :D
 
Sounds like a great read! Nothing much has changed in outdoor cooking except for the high Tech expensive equipment.
 
Pogo,
I really enjoyed (and still enjoy) this book. Probably used bookstores may have it, or the public library (I got a copy from Alibris). Here's a quick scan showing the cover and two illustrations from the book:







The last page showing the battered jack knife got me to post a thread asking about how used up their knife blades are. I consider a blade worn down from honest use a badge of honor!

The author has been around the world, and has some nifty cooking insights from the Pacific rim countries (including Hawaii, Saipan, Samoa). I haven't read the book back to back (though it's easy enough), but I liked it enough to look for it years after I first found it. The improvised cooking techniques alone are entertaining to read and study.

Check out the story about a fire making competition and blowgun marksmanship between native tribes. It was written in a somewhat more innocent time and remains good reading.

Regards,

Ultraman
 
Don't forget to check out his recommendation for a pocket knife
Click to expand...

ULTRAMAN, let me in on this one will you? what were his recommendations for a pocket knife?

Thanks!
 
OKbookguy,

His recommendation is pretty simple really, maybe even anticlimactic.

That last scan in a previous post shows his recommended pocketknife - it's your basic 4 blade pocketknife . Here it is again, hopefully more readable:



Note the outdated can opener! I'll bet the modern equivalent with better workmanship and better steel is the A.G. Russell Premium Scout knife (http://www.agrussell.com/knives/by_...nives/a_g_russell_india_stag_scout_knife.html) or the Victorinox pioneer or soldier with bail.

There are additional recommendations. Some excerpts that may answer your question:

(page 54)
"Our American Jack-knife! If I had my way, no Yank, Dixie, or Native Son would be allowed to even whistle the Star Spangled Banner who carries no Jack-Knife.
A real one. Not too long a blade, but of good steel and kept as sharp as a razor. This book is not for babies, so sharp and strong is the word.
(See the Knife on page 15)
This is the kind I recommend, actual size. You can get it from the Boy Scout Supply Department in any large town or city.
A larger, heavier knife is called a Bowie, kreiss, cane-knife, machete, parang, cutlass or dirk. This dirk takes the place of the much more dangerous hatchet and axe...but it cannot take the place of these in big, man-sized work, as in building a log cabin or in clearing land. The dirk is good for all a boy wants, going light. It will lop off a hardwood branch with one blow and bring down a dead tree in time. It seldom misses. It hates to glance and is in consequence safer than a small axe. It is easy to carry. It stays sharp a long time if deftly handled. It is worn on the belt, or tucked into your pack, of which more later on, is sheathed in a handsome manner and always tied in on the march or climbing."

(endquote)

Here are two scans:


Hope this helps. Nothing fancy, it's more a book on teaching self sufficiency and ingenuity. In the same light, the book Wildwood Wisdom by Jaeger is a good read too - I think he suggests a basic sheath knife of modest size.

regards,

Ultraman
 
I've been looking for a place to work this in since last August. I think this is a good place:

My family and I were touring the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore OK. There they have Will Roger's personal effects on display, the very items he had on him when he and fellow Okie Wiley Post went down in Alaska. He was carrying a light-brown (delrin) "jack knife" (including boy scout emblem) exactly like the one depicted in your attachment. That drawing was carefully enough done to reveal that the caplifter/screwdriver is the old version: note its elongated lines with the
caplifter hook way back at the base of the knife. On later and modern versions this has been replaced with the much more familiar design: shorter extent for the screwdriver and more prominent caplifter section.

I see the older version on E-bay once in a while by Camillus.
 
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