Random Shots Of Spring 2012 & Some Gear

[Mistwalker]

Well...I've been too busy to have a lot of serious fun while out and about, but I'm always playing around with something when I take a break, even if it's just my camera. I thought I'd share some random shots of spring 2012 and some shots from playing around with some gear I've taken over the last few outings..

Considering the uneventful winter we had I'm glad to see the green returning.

Various flowers blooming, blackberry, fire pink...no idea what the purple ones are..., along with a few flying friends.

The poison oak and poison ivy are coming along nicely...as are the briers and brambles.

Some of the gear I've been playing with on breaks.

I keep an emergency stash of sudafed in the fire kit to keep my head from exploding from all of the pollen.

I like the compass in this advanced fire kit as much or more than the first ones. It moves freely with no hang ups and checked against a more serious sighting compass with both north is always in the same spot on the horiz...err...the wall of foliage.

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[Mistwalker]

Played around with the tin knife some. My thinking was that if I can easily process fatwood for fire starting in wet conditions then things like prepping bar fibers and igniting seed tufts and dry grasses in dry conditions should be a breeze. These little rods are a type of harder mischmetal and with the right pressure and speed throw some very large very hot sparks.

The TOPS whistles that come in these kits are extremely loud, I've played with them in the river gorge before and have been told how far the sound travels by friends. I have put them in all three of my brother's boats as he is required to have a loud whistle on board. I love the little signal mirrors that it comes with, I picked up a few at Blade last year and once the film is peeled they are highly reflective. It was over cast so I haven't had a chance to play with the fresnel lens yet, but it has good magnification and if it's anything like the other fresnel lenses they use it will start a fire. The compass doesn't move quite as freely as I'd like but it does always find its way to north and for the price of the kit and all that it comes with it is really hard to find anything to complain about.

As for the Spartan Hunter I can think of much good too say about it, and nothing bad to say about it yet. It is one of the best made knives I've had the pleasure of fielding, the size is perfect for me to handle all of my field tasks, the ergonomics are sublime, really comfortable in every hold I use, and Mr. Harsey did a phenomenal job on the grinds. I love how the contours of the handle are so comfortable that it nearly melts into the hand yet still provides a very secure purchase under even adverse conditions. This knife and I have covered a lot of miles together since I got it some months back, and there isn't much I haven't done with it from processing game, opening cans to cutting rope and webbing, and puncturing fuel tanks. Back in late autumn of last year I used it to process some very hard seasoned oak for our fire at a little bed and breakfast cabin on a mountain down in Mentone Alabama when they had plenty of firewood but no kindling and no ax. The coating the guys at Spartan use is some amazing stuff, and the sheath is a really simple design that offers a lot of flexibility in carry options.

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[VTguy17]

Wow I guess there is a big difference between there and here like you said. You have green leaves, bugs, etc... we have bare trees, snow, etc...

 

[Hawkeye5]

Cool pic's as always Mist. Hey, was thinking about that old picture you did with the RC-3 and the old Esee fire starter.

The one where you had a stick on the ground and the 3 laying on the stick and you was pulling up on the fire starter.

Think you could do a new one with the Esee- 4 and the new Esee fire started. Just thinking.

Thanks

Jeff

 

[Mistwalker]

Wow I guess there is a big difference between there and here like you said. You have green leaves, bugs, etc... we have bare trees, snow, etc...

Yeah, amazing what a difference 800 miles closer to the equator and 3,500 feet lower in elevation makes huh?

Cool pic's as always Mist. Hey, was thinking about that old picture you did with the RC-3 and the old Esee fire starter.

The one where you had a stick on the ground and the 3 laying on the stick and you was pulling up on the fire starter.

Think you could do a new one with the Esee- 4 and the new Esee fire started. Just thinking.

Thanks

Jeff

I think you're talking about the one in this thread (it's archived now so can't borrow the image code).

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/738721-One-Handed-Fire-Starting-ESEE-Style

Yeah, I know it won't be a problem, I'm sort of thinking I'll be doing it with this combination It wouldn't be a problem with the 4, but the desert tan of the 4 blade reflects a lot of light as far as photos go so it doesn't really make for great pictures...but then that's not really what I bought it for anyway...I am going to try to dye the tan coating a couple of shades of brown or brown and green

 

[TheGame]

Odd how different a few hours can make the weather. I was down there, and it was in the upper 70's and 80's, I get home and it snows on me. Great pics, as usual. Definitely more green there than here, and that was easily noticeable when I was there, too.

 

[Mistwalker]

Odd how different a few hours can make the weather. I was down there, and it was in the upper 70's and 80's, I get home and it snows on me. Great pics, as usual. Definitely more green there than here, and that was easily noticeable when I was there, too.

Yeah, can make an amazing amount of difference. My first trip above the Mason-Dixson line was in autumn and I was a teenager. I had fished and trapped commercially and had hunted in and along the rivers down here my whole life and thought I had good grasp on winter. I was woefully unprepared for what was to come in a couple of months, and I barely survived to learn the lesson.

 

[Hawkeye5]

That's the one I was thinking about.Thanks for the link to that post. I have a RC-3 and the old style Esee fire starter. I got to try that bamboo trick of yours. Was just wanting to see how the RC-4 would do. or what it would look like with the new fire starter. More stuff for me to spend money on.
I think the RC-6 combination will work great as well.

Thanks
Mist.

 

[JohnnyO]

I absolutely love your Spartan Hunter. Great looking knife.

 

[Mistwalker]

That's the one I was thinking about.Thanks for the link to that post. I have a RC-3 and the old style Esee fire starter. I got to try that bamboo trick of yours. Was just wanting to see how the RC-4 would do. or what it would look like with the new fire starter. More stuff for me to spend money on.
I think the RC-6 combination will work great as well.

Thanks
Mist.

Bamboo is like a gift of nature, though if you have it in your yard it's a gift that just keeps on giving, good resource for lots of uses in wilderness environments.

With the possible exceptions of going for the thinnest possible slice of something, a flex test, and being more discrete, anything the 3 can do a 4 can do and usually better. As dry as it is in Texas the cost of the new fire kit may not be justifiable for you, that's up to you...if you're like me and like to keep your emergency gear in a pocket on your person rather than a pack and you sweat a lot on hikes you may really like it. The 4 is actually plenty of knife for most of my uses, I just really like the the handle design of the 6 better, especially now with the after market scales. With the full flat grind it does 95 percent of what I usually use a short machete for, especially maintaining the wilderness that is my back yard and it's quick in the hand.

I absolutely love your Spartan Hunter. Great looking knife.

Thanks, me too. It is without a doubt one of the best strokes of good fortune I've had as far as knives go.

 

[Frostyfingers]

Well...I've been too busy to have a lot of serious fun while out and about, but I'm always playing around with something when I take a break, even if it's just my camera. I thought I'd share some random shots of spring 2012 and some shots from playing around with some gear I've taken over the last few outings...Various flowers blooming, blackberry, fire pink...no idea what the purple ones are..., along with a few flying friends.

Mistwalker, I'm pretty sure the purple flowers are Vinca Minor, or Common Periwinkle. I believe it was imported from Europe for use as ground cover. It's all over by my house, and I spent hours trying to identify it after I noticed it on a short wild edibles walk.

Frosty

 

[Mistwalker]

Mistwalker, I'm pretty sure the purple flowers are Vinca Minor, or Common Periwinkle. I believe it was imported from Europe for use as ground cover. It's all over by my house, and I spent hours trying to identify it after I noticed it on a short wild edibles walk.

Frosty

Yeah, I'm starting to think so too. I really need to transplant some to my yard. It seems to like shade and I have some shady areas where grass doesn't do so well.

 

[Frostyfingers]

Yeah, I'm starting to think so too. I really need to transplant some to my yard. It seems to like shade and I have some shady areas where grass doesn't do so well.

Interestingly, I'm contemplating the same thing. My yard is surrounded by older trees, which allows for a lot of poison ivy growth. I'm wondering if the periwinkle would help preclude that evil weed.

Frosty

 

[Tilley Knife]

Beautiful photos Mist, thank you for sharing them. I've got to start carrying a better camera with me in to the bush. I always find myself having to use my phone. I'm glad you’re still liking the 6. :thumbup:

 

[Mistwalker]

Beautiful photos Mist, thank you for sharing them. I've got to start carrying a better camera with me in to the bush. I always find myself having to use my phone. I'm glad you’re still liking the 6. :thumbup:

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed the post. Hey my wife just picked up a small Nikon Cool Pics 14MP P&S that's about the size of a deck of cards but thinner and weighs practically nothing, image stabilized zoom, larger file sizes than my DSLR, and that takes amazing pics for a P&S for like $180.00 I think. I gave almost $400.00 for my Canon P&S about 3 years ago and though I love that camera I am ready to replace it with one of the little Nikons.

Yeah, loving that 6, especially with the custom scales. It like having a custom knife that melts into my hand for less than half what a custom that size with those ergos would run me.

 

[G.Moll]

Fantastic pictures! I'm itching to hit the woods after looking at this forum!

 

[Mistwalker]

Fantastic pictures! I'm itching to hit the woods after looking at this forum!

Thank you! And yeah, this forum can have that effect on you!