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- Dec 1, 2016
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After a self-imposed sabbatical on knife purchases, this one from Bill caught my eye recently so I scooped it up. I don't know if he has an official name for it but in the absence of an official name, I'll call it the Nobody Bowie. I'll update it if Bill has something in mind.
If you know, you know.
Buying knives less frequently doesn't mean I have less knives (well, maybe less knives than if I were buying more), but it does mean that I have tended to stick with the same knife in my pocket for longer or I might have a go-to fixed blade that I work with on the regular. Once I got this new one in from Bill, I thought it might be fun to make this blade my go-to for maybe a month or so. I haven't done one of these exercises in awhile, and I've only done them with folders in the past, so this should be interesting.
I will use it for just about everything; food prep, outside chores, fire making (when it starts cooling off), etc. Archery season starts soon and so I'll take it with me on my hunts and maybe it will give me all the luck that Nobody had. I'll use this thread to document its uses, its evolving appearance as a working knife, and my thoughts on its performance as an all-around camp knife.
Here is the knife in question, before I got it dirty.
My first impressions are that it is an excellent mid-sized camp knife. Hefty, as Bill's knives typically are, but balanced well. The tall grind and generous belly make for good slicing cuts, while still having some good forward momentum for some light chopping.
I like to christen a new camp knife by making a meal with it. My son turned 19 on Sunday and he requested that I make him the beef stew that I typically like to make over the campfire. Too bloody hot to make a fire so I had to make do with the kitchen proper. Fair bit of prep work for the stew so this provided a perfect opportunity to get the new knife a bit dirty.
It isn't the most elegant at chopping veggies but as you can see, it gets the job done just fine and I didn't lose any digits.
First step after all the prep is to fry up the bacon.
That takes a bit, so I might as well crack a Guinness.
Next, I remove the bacon and brown the beef in the bacon fat.
While the beef is browning, I add salt and pepper (generously), put the bacon back in and then add all the veggies. I want them to soften just a wee bit.
That takes a little time so on to more beer. Can't be drinking all the Guinness quite yet so I switched to one that my wife has taken a liking to.
After the veggies have softened a touch, I add the garlic, tomato paste, and bay leaves.
Stir all that up to make sure it's mixed well, then I add the beer and the broth.
Let that simmer for a couple of hours until the beef can be cut with a spoon. Serve with warm bread and yes, more Guiness.
A robust camp knife is not the best in the kitchen, but I do appreciate ones that get the job done competently and Nobody got the job done just fine. A quick strop to touch up the edge and he's ready to tackle the next thing. More later!
If you know, you know.
Buying knives less frequently doesn't mean I have less knives (well, maybe less knives than if I were buying more), but it does mean that I have tended to stick with the same knife in my pocket for longer or I might have a go-to fixed blade that I work with on the regular. Once I got this new one in from Bill, I thought it might be fun to make this blade my go-to for maybe a month or so. I haven't done one of these exercises in awhile, and I've only done them with folders in the past, so this should be interesting.
I will use it for just about everything; food prep, outside chores, fire making (when it starts cooling off), etc. Archery season starts soon and so I'll take it with me on my hunts and maybe it will give me all the luck that Nobody had. I'll use this thread to document its uses, its evolving appearance as a working knife, and my thoughts on its performance as an all-around camp knife.
Here is the knife in question, before I got it dirty.
My first impressions are that it is an excellent mid-sized camp knife. Hefty, as Bill's knives typically are, but balanced well. The tall grind and generous belly make for good slicing cuts, while still having some good forward momentum for some light chopping.
I like to christen a new camp knife by making a meal with it. My son turned 19 on Sunday and he requested that I make him the beef stew that I typically like to make over the campfire. Too bloody hot to make a fire so I had to make do with the kitchen proper. Fair bit of prep work for the stew so this provided a perfect opportunity to get the new knife a bit dirty.
It isn't the most elegant at chopping veggies but as you can see, it gets the job done just fine and I didn't lose any digits.
First step after all the prep is to fry up the bacon.
That takes a bit, so I might as well crack a Guinness.
Next, I remove the bacon and brown the beef in the bacon fat.
While the beef is browning, I add salt and pepper (generously), put the bacon back in and then add all the veggies. I want them to soften just a wee bit.
That takes a little time so on to more beer. Can't be drinking all the Guinness quite yet so I switched to one that my wife has taken a liking to.
After the veggies have softened a touch, I add the garlic, tomato paste, and bay leaves.
Stir all that up to make sure it's mixed well, then I add the beer and the broth.
Let that simmer for a couple of hours until the beef can be cut with a spoon. Serve with warm bread and yes, more Guiness.
A robust camp knife is not the best in the kitchen, but I do appreciate ones that get the job done competently and Nobody got the job done just fine. A quick strop to touch up the edge and he's ready to tackle the next thing. More later!
