Leaner lighter longwalk knife

My Malamute has a devil may care smile on his face that does seem to attract the ladies . I wear fairly good walking shoes though they could use an upgrade . The aches and pains just seem to be my body waking up a bit . As long as I take it slow and steady things shoud go o,kay . I have started to stretch a bit more . Even some of the basic stretches seem a bit beyond me . I guess that will just take time as well . The heel bruise is another matter . I,ll have to look into the upgrade .
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
Don't you love moccasins? Don't you hate stone bruises? I wear my ratty old moccasins just about all day every day, but when it comes time to hike, the moccasins come off and some properly designed hiking shoes go on.

Sarge
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Sarge a pair of well made mocs are the cat's pajama's!!!!
If you use a good 5/16"-3/8" thick latigo leather for the soles you won't feel many stones for a long time and then when you do you'll be used to them and they won't bother you because your feet will have toughened up.
You have to train your feet like any other part of your body.;) :thumbup: :D
 
Yvsa, I've got some big old flat (a family trait) feet, size 13-14 depending on where the shoes were made. Moccasins are absolutely the ideal everyday footwear for me, and the only thing I've got that comes close to matching them for comfort is some black canvas "Kung Fu" shoes. Neither style of shoe takes up much space in a pack, and it's sure nice when you get back to camp from a day's hiking, to yank off the boots and slip on the mocs or the Chinese flats. I get tickled when I see folks flip flopping around in high tech sports sandals. Uh folks, we got fireants, scorpions, cactus, and mesquite 'round here, welcome to Texas y'all. :D

Sarge
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
Yvsa, I've got some big old flat (a family trait) feet, size 13-14 depending on where the shoes were made. Moccasins are absolutely the ideal everyday footwear for me, and the only thing I've got that comes close to matching them for comfort is some black canvas "Kung Fu" shoes. Neither style of shoe takes up much space in a pack, and it's sure nice when you get back to camp from a day's hiking, to yank off the boots and slip on the mocs or the Chinese flats.

Sarge
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Sarge I can empathize with you even though my feet aren't quite as big as yours they are indeed flatter than flapjacks on a wide piece of smooth glass.;)
I wound up making myself two pair of moccasins because the first pair although serviceable really weren't good enough for the Arena and Dancing.
I keep them for ceremonial purposes and for driving.
Instead of buying anymore you really should try making your own.
This video is an excellent teacher and IIRC either comes with the directions on how to cut out the leather or it shows detailed in the vid itself.
You can buy the latigo leather from Crazy Crow as well as the buckskin unless you have your own source for leather goods.
A few of us kicked in five bux and bought the video so none of us would have the full outlay.
If I were the keeper I'd send it too you so you could make your pattern, once you have your pattern the moc's are easy to put together, after you do your first pair anyway.;) :thumbup: :D
These moc's are made with a welt and the tops can be used over and over until they wear out completely.
When you have a nice pair of beaded dance moc's you want to keep them as long as absolutely possible.;) :cool: :thumbup:
 
You know this thread has flavor of the old Cantina that I miss so much. We started out talking about a knife, and wind up throwing in a dose of spirituality, outdoor activity, physical therapy, discussion on the virtues of nDn footwear, oh and dogs, always room for dogs. Some would throw their hands up and start muttering about "thread drift". But to me it's just friends sitting around the table having a nice chat. I'm still here because I like it here, but I used to like it better when we didn't have to "step into the other room to talk about stuff like that".

Sarge
 
Sarge I know it has very little to do with the seasons . I do propose that there is a link . I am on a site which gets a pale infantile version of what they think macho is during hunting season . I think Seasonal affective disorder has a lot to do with it as well . Spring rolls around and there is a lightening up of attitudes . Certainly I do not make a direct comparison with ourselves . I think that as the web matures we as well will mature . The sophistication of sites will rise in proportion to our own sophistication .
Enough with the high falutin words . I only walked two miles today to take it easy on my heel . No broken terrain . The Achiles tendon seems to feel kinked . It is not a healthy joint . It has had a screw in it and a doctor manipulating it to prove it wasn,t broken . I walked out on the broken ankle .
2 days later off to another hospital and a second x-ray showing a space between bone ends that looked like a quarter inch to me . Socialised medecine . You gotta love it .
 
Kevin?
(I'm using the patented Kismet question mark and bless him for bringing it to us!!!)

A Patient at the acute psych ward where I worked injured me. She stopped what she was doing, looked me right in the eye, took the heavy laminated table top off her wheel chair and sailed it like a frisbee at my head. I wasn't expecting any of this. She was in a wheel chair. I was not her primary target; she hated some of the staff but was frustrated on this morning and I just happened to be there. She and I actually were on good terms.

I backed away from the flying shelf, thinking it would do no harm. It missed my head and landed against the achiles tendon of my left foot.

It just hurt a little. No big deal.
Next day I could not walk.
I went to see a physician who specialized in industrial accidents. I think half the staff at the facility thought I was 'faking'. Xrays turned up nothing- what else is new? The Doc looked at me skeptically and proscribed ibuprofen.
"Oh, come on, you must have a better anti inflamatory than that."
"We've a lot of them, but I want you to try this."
"OK"

Next week I went to see him. I've been treated by some of the same people who took care of the Dodgers injuries. I was a psych nurse and thought I knew my stuff pretty good. That damned ibuprofen worked wonders on my achillis tendon, though.
When I saw the Doc I told him so.

"I don't know why, but for some reason Ibuprofen seems to help the achilles tendon better than any of the non steriodial anti inflamatories. If you'd come back and told me it had done no good I'd have known you were faking the injury. You must have a small tear. Keep on this for another two weeks and you should be good to go. "


ibuprofen = good on achilles tendon


munk
 
Great work by Sarge, Thank you
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
I'm up to daily five milers now, and starting to re-evaluate some of my gear. Made myself a new hiking stick out of white ash, it's a copy of my old German Alpenstock, sans the carbide ice bit (this one has a rubber cane tip over a copper ferrule). It's shorter and lighter than my old hickory staff, but still big and stout enough to make a bad dog change his mind. Okay, reduced a few ounces there. . . .NEXT

I liked working with the white ash (think Louisville Slugger ball bats, same wood), I like Sgian Dubhs, I like 18th century French Capouchadou daggers, and I like Gaucho knives. I threw 'em all in the bubbling cauldron and this is what came out. The handle is capouchadou style, ash with a steel ferrule. The blade is like a stretched sgian dubh, just a skosh under five inches. The scabbard is wet molded, single front seam gaucho style with a throat embellishment of woven rawhide, and the modification of an added belt loop (gaucho knife scabbards are traditionally just slipped in between the belt and one's body).

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The finished knife is very lightweight, compact, and concealable, but it's surprisingly capable. I've already used it to cut up meat and veggies for the stew pot, cut out leather for another sheath I'm working on, harvest thumb thick saplings and whittle points on 'em for stakes, and cut rope and cordage for some stuff we were lashing together. With it's ash handle, tapered stick tang construction, and compact molded sheath, the dang thing is so light you have to check to see if it's still on your belt. Sweet piece of gear for a lazy old retired guy who don't like packing heavy stuff.;)

Sarge
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Hi Sarge:
Please forgive me for asking. I am very interested to learn how you take files and make such great one off knives out of them.

Would you be able to do a tutorial on your process with photos?
 
Steve, give this old thread a look http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247266 It's probably not as detailed as you're looking for, but might be helpful anyway. Nothing special about a file, it's just a good piece of high carbon steel that's already in a good overall size/shape for making a knife blade. I do most of my blades by stock removal using a pretty humble 40 dollar bench grinder, and taking care to preserve the hardness until I'm ready to temper the semi-finished blade. I do my tempering in a regular old kitchen oven since it provides the kind of slow, steady, and accurately controllable heat needed for that process.

Even though I'm limited to smaller blades, due to the small size of my makeshift forge, forged blades are quicker, easier, and offer more latitude in blade shape, distal tapering, and zone heat treatment. Besides, hammering red hot steel makes you feel like a real he-man. ;)

You've probably noticed that most of my knives are simple, guardless affairs, that would not look too out of place a couple hundred years or so ago. That's because I consider knives to be "old technology", and the designs/patterns that make the most sense to me are honest everyday working knives, that date back to the days when folks carried and used their knives daily. Sometimes I'll cross cultures and time periods, and "mix things up" like I did with this knife, but absolutely none of my knives display features that I myself have conceived. They've all been inspired by existing examples in books, museums, et cetera. The "real" custom knife makers can occupy their time dreaming up new bells and whistles, but as far as I'm concerned, the good old wheel that's always worked is little improved by re-invention.:D

Sarge
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
Steve, give this old thread a look http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247266 It's probably not as detailed as you're looking for, but might be helpful anyway. Nothing special about a file, it's just a good piece of high carbon steel that's already in a good overall size/shape for making a knife blade.

The "real" custom knife makers can occupy their time dreaming up new bells and whistles, but as far as I'm concerned, the good old wheel that's always worked is little improved by re-invention.:D

Sarge
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Hayv! It is true.:thumbup: :cool: :D
 
Amen Sarge. I like doing small knives. I don't have your history books or knowledge, so I basically fly by the seat of my pants. So far all my knives have been loosely based on the puukko. That blade is great. Thats why I'm so happy with my little 2 brick forge. All totaled it cost me less than 30 dollars. Heats the steel quickly. And allows me to do knives much bigger than I'm even interested in. I can really grow into it. I don't ever see myself interested in big long thick bladed bowies. I may do a paring knife soon though, I wanna try a kitchen knife soon.
 
aproy1101 said:
I may do a paring knife soon though, I wanna try a kitchen knife soon.
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Hmmmm, kitchen knives. I was looking at one in a store the other day (I'm open to "borrowing" ideas wherever I find them), a "kitchen utility" with a blade just over 4 inches. I liked it's styling, and thought it would make a good bootknife or small belt knife, if only. . . . . . . . Voila'!!! Maple scales instead of plastic, carbon steel instead of stainless, and a slightly beefier convex ground blade 1/8" at the spine. Just right.:D

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The knife below it is a rather whimsical rendition of an old European "folk knife". It's got a nicely forged 3 1/2" stick tang blade that's absolutely scary sharp. I made it to use when I'm teaching folks various folk crafts. Got 'em carving wooden spoons, making tobacco pipes out of deer antler and ash shoots, weaving belts and hatbands and stuff. I get a real kick out of watching 'em run around with childlike glee, showing off something they've made. It's good stuff.:cool: :D

Sarge
 

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Wow I love both those knives, Sarge. I'm starting to see the wisdom in a modified kitchen knife. As soon as i get some time...in November:rolleyes: I really like that folk knife! I think that would be just about a perfect outdoorsy EDC. I'm going to have to try my hand at some of this stuff in the fall...after all my Honeydew projects:rolleyes:

Jake
 
Jake, I don't know how you did it, but you just gave me a brilliant idea. An HI Cantina pass around project knife. One forumite would make the blade (Andy?), another would fashion the handle (don't Steve Poll make some gorgeous ones?), and yet another the scabbard (Yvsa?). Sounds like a bit of a hoot don't it? We've got enough amatuer knifemakers (the pros like Dan, etc., are usually strapped with a tight schedule keeping up with customer orders, wonder why I don't sell knives?) out and about here, that we could have multiple projects going on simultaneously. Jolly good fun, sign me up. :thumbup:

Sarge
 
I like that idea Sarge. A pass around blade project by the HI forumites. Neato. I can't believe you pointed at me for the blade. Wow. :o Neato idea alltogether. Be neat if we had one or two going at a time. We could send em to Steve when we're done for a final sharpening and let him...

do with them as he pleases.
 
I'd be very interested in seeing what all you blade gurus come up with:D I'm a certified datzapertian, so i can bring that to the table if you like.:D

Jake
 
aproy1101 said:
I like that idea Sarge. A pass around blade project by the HI forumites. Neato. I can't believe you pointed at me for the blade. Wow. :o Neato idea alltogether. Be neat if we had one or two going at a time. We could send em to Steve when we're done for a final sharpening and let him...

do with them as he pleases.
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Pay attention to Steve's next fundraiser for Ram. There's liable to be some knives in there you've seen before, and that's all I'm gonna say about that.;)

Sarge
 
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