KEN ERICKSON inaugural Blade show give away. And the winner is LKJW!

[ken erickson]

I dug my knife show briefcase from the attic to dust it off and get things ready for My first ever Blade show. Well, inside was this little knife that I had made years ago and completely forgot about. It is somewhat traditional in nature as it has a Elk tine as a handle. This knife has no sheath and has been kicked around a bit, but will be a serviceable knife and nice addition to your camp kit. The blade steel is either 440c or ATS-34, really do not remember. It has a NS guard, red spacers with a ebony tip. Blade length is 3 1/2 with a overall length of 8 3/4.

Open to regulars here in traditional forum. A anecdote about your favorite camping trip with the use of traditional cutlery items would be nice but not necessary. I will let this run until midweek (4-27) and pick a winner very un-scientifically(winner possibly picked on strength of anecdote) , ship out priority mail, with delivery confirmation.

Please keep in mind this is an EARLY knife of mine, that has been kicked around a bit, warts and all.

 

[black mamba]

Thanks for the opportunity, Ken. Last year was my inaugural BLADE show, I know you will enjoy it!

My family always took our summer vacations camping, and in the 15 years or so that we traveled, I saw every part of this great country except the far Northeast and Northwest. I have 3 siblings, and all 6 of us (including mom and dad) slept in a 12' x 12' canvas tent. Do the math . . . this was a tight squeeze!

My favorite camping story was when we went to Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg, Tennessee. When we arrived at the camping area, the site next to ours had 2 campers and a tent on it. They were occupied by a middle-aged couple, along with 10 of their 17 children! The youngest was an infant, and the oldest child with them was 14 years old. I hope they owned stock in their local hospital!

The first night there we all huddled around a nice big campfire. I was sitting on a log next to an 11 year old boy (my same age). He said the night before he was sitting in the same spot when he felt something brush across his back. He turned to see what it was, and a black bear was walking away back into the woods! He said he never even had time to get scared, but I assure you I slept with one eye open that first night in our tent.

I had my boy scout knife with me, and my dad always had his old Imperial Prov sheath knife plus a hatchet and a fillet knife in the tackle box.

 

[abcdef]

Well, I have been camping before and would like the knife. No big foot sightings or alien abductions to report, but will testify to both if it will improve my chances. Thanks.

 

[wolfmann601]

nice knife and a nice gesture ken.

I don't know what constitutes a "regular"...................I read this forum daily and I stay pretty regular!!!

 

[eisman]

When I was considerably younger than I am now I went through a period where I just "lost" stuff, knives included. I used to buy the Schrade Old Timers as much for their warrenty as for the edge holding ability. I figured they had me in mind when they offered to replace any knife you lost...

My father had a whole different take on this problem; he figured I needed to learn how to take care of things properly. He'd give me a hard time and extra chores if the tools in the workshop weren't racked right.

One day I went out fishing with a buddy. We were way up a back canyon, and when we got back I knew I'd lost another knife. It wasn't lost; I knew right where I'd left it, on the rock we were using to clean the fish.

My brother laughed and said that Schrade was going to put my name on a list at the rate I was going. I looked over at him and said I figured it would be there the next time I went up there, if not it was my own fault for not bringing it back. My dad took a minute and then chimed in that he'd been wondering when that was going to sink in.

I never did bother with another warrenty from Schrade. And no, the knife wasn't there when I went back. For years I walked along that stream with my head down...

 

[waynorth]

Thanks for the opportunity, Ken!
My wife, Joanne and I went camping in the Okanagan Valley area, and stopped on the shore of Osoyoos Lake, in B.C..
Osoyoos is in a part of the valley that produces great Pinot Noir grapes along its sage covered benchland, and the lake is one of the warmest inland lakes in Canada. As the mountainside behind us warmed up in the sun, it created an updraft that brought a warm breeze off the lake - perfect for early September. I put a couple of extra pegs in on the lake side of our tent, just in case.
No-one told us that when the mountain cooled, the wind reversed! And strengthened!
I was vaguely aware of wind coming up as I dozed peacefully after a lovely day of hiking and exploring. Then I was wide awake as the tent fly tore loose in a rush of hurricane noises, and was flapping furiously, while the tent shivered, vibrated, and tried to take off toward the Lake!!
Fortunately I keep a supply of cord and rope around! And a Bose WT!! After some furious pulling, pounding, cutting and fighting with a tarp, I erected a shallow-sloped lean-to that carried the brunt of the wind up and over the tent site, and then I reset the tent. I had to patch one of the flexible tent stays, and apply duct tape (another invaluable emergency camping material!) where the stay went through the tent.
We enjoyed the rest of our visit, thoroughly protected, and L.L. Bean replaced our new "windproof" tent free of charge, with a better one!
I still have a little chuckle every time I sip some B.C. Pinot Noir!
I will gladly take that wonderful knife camping if I win it, and use it with pleasure (even though it doesn't fold!)!!!
Thanks again for the chance, Ken!!

 

[coniferwoodsman]

Beauty of knife! Thanks for the chance.
When I was young we did a lot of camping up around Lost Lake and the Redfeather Lakes area (N. Colo.) One year we drove my Dad's truck up the hill- it was a retired Fish and Game Truck, which made for great fun when we would run into fisherman without a license. I never saw so many fishing rods get chucked into the river, lake, creek, what have you.
Anyway, we went to Lost Lake and promptly set up camp, only to be awakened by my Dad in the middle of the night. He stood over me with his .357 (he was a cop) and said to pack it up, there was a bear in the area. So we packed it up and drove back down to a place called "Vern's" for an early breakfast. There were lots of hunters running in and out and a few were looking for bear. Dad told them about our run-in and off we went to another campsite.
Four days later, as we were heading back to town we stopped at Vern's again for food. Dad ran into one of the hunters from the previous trip and found out that the bear that had run us out of our campsite had invaded a tent a quarter of a mile away from where we had started. It ransacked the campsite, tent and ran off the campers. Rangers finally had to shoot it as it had priors for invading camps. It freaked my mom out so bad we never went back to Lost Lake as long as he camped with us.

 

[Jenner 515]

Thanks for the opportunity.

Went fishing about twenty odd years ago, and between my two uncles a cousin and myself we caught our limit of Trout (24 total) and my cousin and I were given the task of cleaning them all. My cousin was very proud of a Rapala filet knife in a plastic sheath he had gotten the year before and was eager to prove his fish cleaning skills to me. I was carrying a Schrade Old Timer 123 that for fun I sharpened regularly on an Arkansas stone so it was scalpel sharp.

As I worked through my dozen fish I soon realized that my cousin was still fighting with his first one, he grumbled and grumbled...taking a look at his kife I soon realized it was a dull as a Prybar I helped him with my Schrade and got all the fish cleaned up. Asking him about it I inquired if the knife was sharp when he got it. He said it had been, but in order to touch it up he told me had stropped it on the back step of the concrete porch at home (My Grandma in a pinch had done the same with her cooking knife) .

When I asked him to demonstrate how he did on thin air he did. I then asked him what angle he held the knife at when he stropped it? He responded with "Angle?"
He apparently held that sucker at 90 degrees to the concrete and ground away.

 

[supratentorial]

I live out in the boonies so I suppose my every day life is a bit like camping. Have fun at the show!

 

[Peregrin]

Betty Green Creek (1966)

My dad, younger brother and I spent many a weekend roaming the Adirondacks. One particular trip we hiked up into the Moose River area with our compass and topographic maps. We were looking for a small lake on the map to throw a lure into.

Well this was quite some country we found ourselves passing through. After hours of hiking along the Betty Green Creek, which started out as a hike up a tumbling brook and ended with us fording a beaver meadow, with water up to our chests, we found the outlet of this little lake. This was quite a hike as my left arm was in a cast and my little brother was on my dad's shoulders, my brother was still little then, the water would have been up to his chin.

Another hour of climbing our way up through alder thickets and we were there! Not a soul anywhere to be seen. We got our fishing tackle out of the old willow pack basket my dad carried and in a short while had enough fish (small mouth bass if I remember right) for lunch. We foraged the lake shore for dead wood and using our small axe, sheath and pocket knives we soon had kindling and a enough wood to make a small cook fire. The fish were handily cleaned by my dad with his old slip joint and using the pan from a mess kit and some oil that were packed in that basket we soon had a nice pan of fish cooking. Man did that taste good!

After our meal we put out the fire, cleaned up and figured we'd better head back down to the brook. It was mid afternoon and we had some threatening clouds moving in. Well those clouds moved real quick. We were still on the lake shore when the heavens opened up the rain came down. I can't recall ever seeing it rain any harder then it did up on that lake. We even had some small hail for a few minutes. Thankfully the storm passed quickly. My dad and brother were soaked to the skin. I was wearing the one poncho we had, to protect my cast. We set out on our return trip.

We were running late, as often happened when we were in the woods. By the time we were hiking down that Betty Green Creek, past the beaver meadow, twilight was fast approaching. We were still a few miles from where we'd parked the old Ford station wagon.

Dad figured we had better find a place to spend the night, as hiking that creek in the dark would not be the smartest thing to do. As we looked around for a likely camp site, we found an old shack in the woods. It was in some disrepair, no lock on the door and no furniture. It looked like no one had been in it for years. There was an old calendar hanging on one wall with a picture of some old time boxer with his waxed mustache and hair parted in the middle. I don't recall the year on that calendar. There was however an old cook stove in the corner. After making sure it would be safe to build a fire in it we were again foraging for firewood. Our knives and that little axe, more like a hatchet, came in handy again. It was a little harder finding dry wood so we had to make some fuzz sticks (we didn't have a name for them back then).

We got a nice fire going. The cabin was warming up and we were drying off. Dad had one can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew in that pack basket, but no can opener! I saved the day, or at least the dinner, by pulling my trusty Boy Scout knife out of my pocket and handily opening that can with it's can opener.

That was the best Dinty Moore Beef Stew I ever tasted. Too bad we only had one can for the three of us!

I'll close this out by saying; we spent an uneventful night, sleeping on the ground and were on our way early the next morning.

That was one memorable trip. My dad is gone now but the fond memories I have of our wilderness experiences are some of my most treasured memories. I'm reminded of this trip every time I see a can of Beef Stew. In all the years since that trip, no beef stew ever tasted anywhere near as good.

Thanks for the contest Ken.

 

[Peter Parker]

Thanks Ken for the chance, and it still looks good to me! I haven't been camping in so long I can't even begin to remember a favorite, sorry!

 

[Mad_Maxx]

maybe a GA pull my spirit back up!
bought a case xx trapper cv like almost 3 years ago in july, to see how a slipjoint works and holds, didn't know much and had only had a couple chinese ones
well it served me pretty well with the factory edge, used it mostly as my "in pocket knife" on the bike trip and for food
I liked it much and still love it, it's used but in very good shape, gets used pretty often and it's one of the few ones that doesn't get forgotten

I have good memories of that wonderful and HARD week
Maxx

 

[sunnyd]

A very useful looking vintage Erickson sticker, this! :thumbup:

Great G~A and thanx for the kind gesture and opportunity here, Ken!

I'll post a camping trip recollection soon..


Best,
Anthony

PS { I KNOW YOU'LL ENJOY THE BLADE SHOW & HERE IS KNOWING YOU'LL KNOCK'M DEAD WITH ALL YOUR FINE SHARP STEEL! }

 

[Knife Crazied]

Very nice giveaway. I've onlý been camping once and it was not to great. My friends and I decided to stay over nite and the only thing we had was a table cloth. I was sure glad when morning came. My roommate and I are planning a camping trip this year. Thanks for the chance.

 

[Mack]

That is a beautiful knife.
My camping story unfortunately doesn't involve a knife.
We were camping with a large group in the Yosemite area when I was around 14. There was one girl there that I really wanted to impress. A bunch of us were throwing a frisbee and it went high and wild but very close to her. I tried to make an impressive leaping catch but slid on the pine needles at full speed. I caught the frisbee but slid, legs spread, into a tree.
I stood up and tried to say something but a high pitched squeek was all I could manage. I then fell face first into last night's fire pit.
Needless to say, while I made a big impression, I wasn't very impressive. At least to her.

 

[mrbear]

Misadventures in the woods stay in the woods
Thanks for the chance Ken!

 

[joe-bob]

We used to go to the lake for a few weeks at a time in the summer. W had a boat in a permanrnt slip, and we would fish in the boathouse for bluegill. We cleaned 'em up with a Rapala fillet knife, and Oma would fry 'em up for us. They were small, but it was easy to catch a big batch of them.

 

[glennbad]

I have a couple recollections, both are as a scout leader.

One was a trip with our boy scouts. It rained most of the trip, as most camping trips do. I had a well used Schrade walden stockman. It was sharp and worked well in the kitchen area as I cooked with our other leaders. At the end of the trip, as I put all my gear away, I took the knife out of my pocket. It had been so wet out all weekend, the carbon blades had all rusted up. I learner the value of a good patina from that experience.

The other was when I was at resident camp with the cub scouts. We were going to be having marshmallows one evening, so the kids needed sticks. I cut some and sharpened them with my Schrade 225H. Pretty soon all the boys were standing in line waiting for their sticks. That week, when anyone needed something cut, they knew where to go.

Thanks for the chance...

Glenn

 

[cnas122]

Cool...I'm in. Well...this was a while ago. Solo kayaking down the Green River in Utah. Set out for a 2 week trip and only had about 50 lbs of supplies total. That was back when I was in my heavy duty survivalist mode. Anyways, saw a bluff I wanted to climb. So got my rope, gear and put a day pack together. Left everything else on the river bank. It was about a 500 ft. climb and only had 100 foot of rope (don't ask me what I was thinking at the time...especially don't ask how I planned on rappelling down a 500 foot cliff with 100 feet of rope). So I tied in on the parts I thought I needed too and then free climbed the rest. When I got to the top, I realized I was a complete fool. Green River runs through canyons and at the top, there was nowhere to anchor my rope for the rappel down, and I didn't have the guts to descend back down without being tied in. So I set off on foot thinking I could find an easier way back to the river and/or find a road. Well...like a dumbass, I didn't include the map in my daypack as I didn't anticipate needing it. But I had glanced at it about 2 hours before and thought I was at a point where a road was only 5-10 miles away. It wasn't. Spent 4 days in the desert with 1 liter of water and 2 energy bars. Towards the end of day 2, I was hallucinating a bit. Figure by that point I had hiked about 15 miles and the heat was probably close to 110. By day 4, I had concluded that I was done for and had probably lost about 20 lbs. By that time, I figure I had gone about 30 miles. Ended up sitting under a rock for about 3 hours waiting to pass out and praying I wouldn't wake up (meaning that things would be quick and painless)....still hallucinating. Wanted to drink my piss, but didn't have any. Finally, for some reason or another, I got up and started walking again (or maybe crawling) and out of nowhere I saw an old abandoned homestead. Nobody had been there in probably 1/2 century. Looked around and didn't see anything, until a few buzzards caught my eye. By that time I didn't really have anything to lose, so started waling to where they were circling, went over a small hill...and low and behold there was a road. Car came by about 5 minutes later.

Had my Buck 110 with me the whole time. Never used it during the hike out, but used it kinda like a worry stone and rubbed the handle so much/hard with my thumb that it was worn and smooth by the time I got out. At the time, it was my worst experience ever. Now, I look back on it as my best camping trip...mainly because it made me smart and makes me think twice and second guess everything I do now when I'm out in the woods....so I don't act like a dumbass again. What pissed me off the most is that it's a pretty popular place for rafters and had I just waited long enough at the top of the bluff, someone surely would have come down on the river. But didn't see anyone while I was up there (and actually didn't see many people the whole trip). Don't know what I was thinking. I chock it up to being 23 years old and thinking I was Rambo and could do everything myself.

 

[neeman]

So many stories. but since you are asking for a Camping trip not a backpacking.

We had just moved north and there was a lot of camping around us.
I finally convinced my wife we could take all the four girls, then 8. 6. 4 and less than a year camping.
We went to a Youth Summer camp and camped alongside teenage kids of friends of ours.

We set up camp and started cooking and all was fine.
The little one was on her back looking up at the trees and sky.
She was fine and not going anywhere as she could not crawl

Look around and she is gone......
Where is she?
Nobody took her
It took us about 5 stressed minutes to find her
She had learnt to crawl.......

That trip, it became my job to be next to her all the time.
She went to bed, I went to bed
She got up, I got up
We all managed and had a good first trip

But that 5 minute panic......