- Joined
- Mar 4, 2010
- Messages
- 1,093
So after months of trying to find the perfect emergency hiking/camping knife, I settled on the F1. Wrapped the zytel sheath with some 550, and stowed it in my pack.
This weekend my Lady and I went for a decently long and strenuous hike/trail camp. I never would have thought I would need to use any knife, except my swiss army this weekend. The F1 was supposed to stay in the pack, all nice and new and shiny, only for emergencies...or so I thought...
Without re-telling the whole boring story, the following occurred:
1. we had to use designated firewood, were not allowed to gather
2. we had to use a designated fire pit, which is sunk into the ground, designed to put fires out/keep them small, and was wet in the bottom (found this out later).
3. The firewood we had to use, was wet (just barely)
4. we lit 4 fires, which kept going out
Basically, I just couldn't get any larger wood to burn. Due to the firepit, and the wood, the fire would just burn itself out after 10-15 minutes. There was another set of hikers camping nearby, so we stopped by to inquire how they had managed to keep their fire going, and asked if they had used lighter fluid. It was so wet, so I figured some accelerant had to have been used. When we asked they replied in a really snide way "Just basic fire starting skills."
I'll admit, at this point my ego was feeling smashed. I had never had so hard of a time starting a fire in my life...
Well my Lady was hungry, and wanted to make smores. It wasn't cold out (about 45 degrees) and we had a nice tent and sleeping bags set up. We also had food that didn't require cooking, so it's not like this was a survival situation. But this was a bummed out lady situation, which I'm sure some of you can relate to...a different kind of survival?
Anway, the long and short of it is, after exhausting all our man made tinder (she even broke the cardinal rule when I wasn't looking, and tossed our friggin MAP in!), and even moving to a lighter instead of a firesteel...
I finally decided to break out my virgin Fallkniven F1. I proceeded to use the F1 to baton through a bunch of wood (first time batoning with a knife, ever) and make a ton of kindling, and shavings for tinder. FYI this was no easy task having never split wood without a hatchet before in my entire life..my hands are still sore, and I can't imagine how I would have gotten it done had I not had the thermorun to cushion the blows.
I got the fire built, it held long enough to cook our food and make smores. About this time we made a trip to the stream for water, looked over, and saw that the other campers fire had gone out, and all 6 of them were scurrying to get it re-lit. They never accomplished that.
After cooking, we decided to turn in as the fire died down, finally giving up. I threw some of the lightly charred logs back in that I had pulled out earlier, just for safetys sake to have them in the pit, and we made another water run before bed.
Low an behold, we came back, and WHAM...our burned out fire had turned into a BLAZE, of almost unsafe proportions. I guess we dried out the bottom of that damn fire pit, and got to the dry wood with the knife.
The fire burned furiously for about 7 hours, providing lots of warmth and romance for our little camp site. The funniest part is, my lady who was previously beyond bored when it comes to anything knife related, and not understanding why I would pack such a tool...after now having whittled her own cooking sticks, and seeing what a knife can do when you want to cook and its pitch dark...
Now she wants a knife of her own!
So heres my questions:
1) The Fallkniven came razor sharp. While it is now still sharp enough to cut paper (barely, but still amazing given how much wood I chopped and shaved), it is not shaving sharp, and has some very tiny chips on the edge. What is the best way to sharpen this back to a FACTORY edge? I have never sharpened this knife before...I've already read up on the mousepad method etc, but will that restore it to a factory Fallkniven edge? It sounds like the F1 isn't a full convex from the factory?
2) My f1 is now scratched up to hell...is there a way to polish the scratches out, or should I just consider it a war wound patina?
3) The thermorun came off in a couple spots near the spine of the blade...do I need to fill it in so it doesnt rot or dry out?
4) What knife should I buy the lady? She likes the size of the Izula, but her and I both agree that the Fallkniven (even after being chipped and dulled) cuts things (especially wood) much much better than the Izula.
5) What kind of hatchet can I buy? Looking for something with good chopping abilities, that is light weight, and easy to pack.
FYI, it didn't save my life, but it sure saved the fun on our trip. I will never go hiking/camping without this knife (or another one of similar quality) ever again.
I only wish I could make my knife like new again...
=)
FYI things I learned:
If the ground is wet, and your wood is wet, and you can't build a fire outside of a pit, and you don't have some kind of amazing man made tinder, without a knife that can split wood, you are screwed. Also, in that sort of a situation, you can forget using a firesteel to light a fire. From now on, I'll be using a firesteel as a backup only...stormproof lighter here I come. Also, batoning is hard work. I am buying a hatchet for next time when I _know_ I will be splitting wood. Lastly, the spine of the F1 makes sparks way better than the striker included with my firesteel. Also, it seems that the more times you use the spine on a firesteel, the sharper it gets and the better it works.
so new additions to pack will be:
1) storm proof lighter
2) better tinder (even cottonballs arent good enough)
3) some kind of fire paste/fluid
4) axe/hatchet
While I could see in dry weather, in an emergency, using a firesteel and some kind of tinder...honestly in any real emergency Id rather have a lighter. Getting a fire going with wet wood is much harder than I thought.
-Freq
This weekend my Lady and I went for a decently long and strenuous hike/trail camp. I never would have thought I would need to use any knife, except my swiss army this weekend. The F1 was supposed to stay in the pack, all nice and new and shiny, only for emergencies...or so I thought...
Without re-telling the whole boring story, the following occurred:
1. we had to use designated firewood, were not allowed to gather
2. we had to use a designated fire pit, which is sunk into the ground, designed to put fires out/keep them small, and was wet in the bottom (found this out later).
3. The firewood we had to use, was wet (just barely)
4. we lit 4 fires, which kept going out
Basically, I just couldn't get any larger wood to burn. Due to the firepit, and the wood, the fire would just burn itself out after 10-15 minutes. There was another set of hikers camping nearby, so we stopped by to inquire how they had managed to keep their fire going, and asked if they had used lighter fluid. It was so wet, so I figured some accelerant had to have been used. When we asked they replied in a really snide way "Just basic fire starting skills."
I'll admit, at this point my ego was feeling smashed. I had never had so hard of a time starting a fire in my life...
Well my Lady was hungry, and wanted to make smores. It wasn't cold out (about 45 degrees) and we had a nice tent and sleeping bags set up. We also had food that didn't require cooking, so it's not like this was a survival situation. But this was a bummed out lady situation, which I'm sure some of you can relate to...a different kind of survival?
Anway, the long and short of it is, after exhausting all our man made tinder (she even broke the cardinal rule when I wasn't looking, and tossed our friggin MAP in!), and even moving to a lighter instead of a firesteel...
I finally decided to break out my virgin Fallkniven F1. I proceeded to use the F1 to baton through a bunch of wood (first time batoning with a knife, ever) and make a ton of kindling, and shavings for tinder. FYI this was no easy task having never split wood without a hatchet before in my entire life..my hands are still sore, and I can't imagine how I would have gotten it done had I not had the thermorun to cushion the blows.
I got the fire built, it held long enough to cook our food and make smores. About this time we made a trip to the stream for water, looked over, and saw that the other campers fire had gone out, and all 6 of them were scurrying to get it re-lit. They never accomplished that.
After cooking, we decided to turn in as the fire died down, finally giving up. I threw some of the lightly charred logs back in that I had pulled out earlier, just for safetys sake to have them in the pit, and we made another water run before bed.
Low an behold, we came back, and WHAM...our burned out fire had turned into a BLAZE, of almost unsafe proportions. I guess we dried out the bottom of that damn fire pit, and got to the dry wood with the knife.
The fire burned furiously for about 7 hours, providing lots of warmth and romance for our little camp site. The funniest part is, my lady who was previously beyond bored when it comes to anything knife related, and not understanding why I would pack such a tool...after now having whittled her own cooking sticks, and seeing what a knife can do when you want to cook and its pitch dark...
Now she wants a knife of her own!
So heres my questions:
1) The Fallkniven came razor sharp. While it is now still sharp enough to cut paper (barely, but still amazing given how much wood I chopped and shaved), it is not shaving sharp, and has some very tiny chips on the edge. What is the best way to sharpen this back to a FACTORY edge? I have never sharpened this knife before...I've already read up on the mousepad method etc, but will that restore it to a factory Fallkniven edge? It sounds like the F1 isn't a full convex from the factory?
2) My f1 is now scratched up to hell...is there a way to polish the scratches out, or should I just consider it a war wound patina?
3) The thermorun came off in a couple spots near the spine of the blade...do I need to fill it in so it doesnt rot or dry out?
4) What knife should I buy the lady? She likes the size of the Izula, but her and I both agree that the Fallkniven (even after being chipped and dulled) cuts things (especially wood) much much better than the Izula.
5) What kind of hatchet can I buy? Looking for something with good chopping abilities, that is light weight, and easy to pack.
FYI, it didn't save my life, but it sure saved the fun on our trip. I will never go hiking/camping without this knife (or another one of similar quality) ever again.
I only wish I could make my knife like new again...
=)
FYI things I learned:
If the ground is wet, and your wood is wet, and you can't build a fire outside of a pit, and you don't have some kind of amazing man made tinder, without a knife that can split wood, you are screwed. Also, in that sort of a situation, you can forget using a firesteel to light a fire. From now on, I'll be using a firesteel as a backup only...stormproof lighter here I come. Also, batoning is hard work. I am buying a hatchet for next time when I _know_ I will be splitting wood. Lastly, the spine of the F1 makes sparks way better than the striker included with my firesteel. Also, it seems that the more times you use the spine on a firesteel, the sharper it gets and the better it works.
so new additions to pack will be:
1) storm proof lighter
2) better tinder (even cottonballs arent good enough)
3) some kind of fire paste/fluid
4) axe/hatchet
While I could see in dry weather, in an emergency, using a firesteel and some kind of tinder...honestly in any real emergency Id rather have a lighter. Getting a fire going with wet wood is much harder than I thought.
-Freq
Last edited:
If you shine it up, it will cut you on purpose on your next trip.
)
)