btb01
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2008
- Messages
- 7,669
Well, I didn’t expect to be starting this thread just yet, but the cat’s out of the bag, so here we go. 
I’m sure you all remember Earl the Barlow (bit of a scoundrel, running from the fuzz in Yorkshire, joining up with pirates and whatnot) and Pearl (a bit more civilized, though she did enjoy a drink every now and then). Well, there’ll be a new kid on the Porch soon enough, going by the name of Merle, and he’s looking forward to meeting as many of y’all as he can.
Honestly, the Earl and Pearl threads have been some of my favorite on the Porch. It’s the sort of thing that makes this place really special. And since it’s been a few years since either of those knives have done any traveling, I figured maybe it was time to give it another go.
I thought my 2021 BladeForums Barlow would be a great candidate for this, and that big ol’ bolster was just begging to be engraved. So that’s what we’re going to do. And by “we,” I mean
WValtakis
(‘cause he knows what he’s doing, and I do not). I really like the design we came up with.
Ok, so that’s not really the design (even though I do kinda like it).
But trust me, the knife is going to look great when Chip gets done with it, and I can’t wait to see it travel around the world.
In the meantime, let’s set a couple ground rules for Merle’s travels:
— You must have joined BladeForums prior to January 1, 2021 and have at least 100 posts on the Porch to participate. This is simply to ensure that the knife is in the hands of folks who can be trusted to follow the next two rules.
— You should be willing to take photos of Merle around where you live and share them here in this thread (that’s the idea, after all). Feel free to get creative and have fun!
— Please don’t hang on to Merle for too long. I don’t want to rush anyone, but a few weeks should be plenty of time. We want to keep this thing moving!
— When it comes time for you to send Merle on to the next person, I ask that you be willing to pay the postage. It shouldn’t be more than the cost of a USPS small flat-rate box.
— I think, like Pearl, it’ll be best to let Merle travel around the US first before he goes international. (Once it’s time for him to head overseas, I’ll probably have the last US participant send him back to me, and I’ll take care of the initial international postage.)
— Please post in this thread that you want to participate and I’ll get a list started.
Ok, I think that pretty much covers it. This should be a lot of fun (especially if we get enough folks interested in participating). If you’re newer and weren’t around for Earl and Pearl, give those threads a look and join in this time around. And if you’re an “old timer” and previously participated in one of those other threads, I’d ask that you please consider hosting Merle as well — the more the merrier!
Now the only thing left to figure out is if anyone lives near Muskogee, OK and could take Merle for a visit!
I’m sure you all remember Earl the Barlow (bit of a scoundrel, running from the fuzz in Yorkshire, joining up with pirates and whatnot) and Pearl (a bit more civilized, though she did enjoy a drink every now and then). Well, there’ll be a new kid on the Porch soon enough, going by the name of Merle, and he’s looking forward to meeting as many of y’all as he can.
Honestly, the Earl and Pearl threads have been some of my favorite on the Porch. It’s the sort of thing that makes this place really special. And since it’s been a few years since either of those knives have done any traveling, I figured maybe it was time to give it another go.
I thought my 2021 BladeForums Barlow would be a great candidate for this, and that big ol’ bolster was just begging to be engraved. So that’s what we’re going to do. And by “we,” I mean
WValtakis
(‘cause he knows what he’s doing, and I do not). I really like the design we came up with.
Ok, so that’s not really the design (even though I do kinda like it).
But trust me, the knife is going to look great when Chip gets done with it, and I can’t wait to see it travel around the world.In the meantime, let’s set a couple ground rules for Merle’s travels:
— You must have joined BladeForums prior to January 1, 2021 and have at least 100 posts on the Porch to participate. This is simply to ensure that the knife is in the hands of folks who can be trusted to follow the next two rules.
— You should be willing to take photos of Merle around where you live and share them here in this thread (that’s the idea, after all).
Feel free to get creative and have fun!— Please don’t hang on to Merle for too long. I don’t want to rush anyone, but a few weeks should be plenty of time. We want to keep this thing moving!
— When it comes time for you to send Merle on to the next person, I ask that you be willing to pay the postage. It shouldn’t be more than the cost of a USPS small flat-rate box.
— I think, like Pearl, it’ll be best to let Merle travel around the US first before he goes international. (Once it’s time for him to head overseas, I’ll probably have the last US participant send him back to me, and I’ll take care of the initial international postage.)
— Please post in this thread that you want to participate and I’ll get a list started.
Ok, I think that pretty much covers it. This should be a lot of fun (especially if we get enough folks interested in participating). If you’re newer and weren’t around for Earl and Pearl, give those threads a look and join in this time around. And if you’re an “old timer” and previously participated in one of those other threads, I’d ask that you please consider hosting Merle as well — the more the merrier!
Now the only thing left to figure out is if anyone lives near Muskogee, OK and could take Merle for a visit!
Last edited:
= Merle is in transit.
= Merle is currently visiting this member.
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