james terrio
Sharpest Knife in the Light Socket
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2010
- Messages
- 22,618
Here are my thoughts on the Fall 2013 BeckerHead Gathering on Ethan's property.
The short answer is, goodNESS that was fun! Very special thanks to Ethan. :thumbup: I can barely express my appreciation and gratitude to all of you.
It's an amazing thing to get together with a bunch of folks and just hang out in the woods. Typical social constructs and class divisions get stripped away and tossed aside when everyone is sharing space and food in the boondocks. No one really gives a hoot what your job-title is or what degree you've earned or what's in your bank account when it's time to gather kindling and split wood for the fire or dice taters for the breakfast scramble.
It's very simple and pure... chip in however you can. And have fun while doing it.
That kind of fellowship tends to break down barriers and bring people together on a very basic and comfortable level. People tend to open up and say some funny but poignant stuff, with a sparkle in their eye.
And I assure you, the 2013 Fall Beckerhead Gathering was overflowing with fun and humor
When I came home I felt like I'd done a few rounds of sit-ups... as it happens, my abs were just pleasantly sore from laughing so hard and so often. 
I consider myself extremely lucky to have been brought up in a family where that sort of thing was considered perfectly normal, and was strongly encouraged as a way to step back from the stresses of "society".
Much like an old-fashioned barn-raising or bringing one's corn to the mill, it's about getting important work done, but it's also about laughter and
encouraging one another to keep going.
I recall Ethan chuckling at us because he and Doc were fixin' to make a video about a little stove that uses found tinder and wood... "Hey, can someone get some tinder and fuel together for us?" Uhhh... yeah... there's at least a dozen rascals here with knives they're itchin' to use... we can probably make that happen
Ten minutes later, there was a bounty, in fact a plethora of tinder and kindling... that's good clean fun!
Food and gear for everyone was not a problem. No one went hungry or thirsty, and no one went without shelter. Here's one example: a Beckerhead brought an extra hammock and offered to let me use it; I gladly accepted his generosity and he taught me how to set it up properly. I slept like a baby in that thng. Thanks, Erik!
Turns out, another dude forgot his tent, so I lent him the one I brought... I didn't need it since I was comfy in my borrowed hammock...Nate was comfortable too, so it all worked out just fine.
Chances were, if you could think of it and didn't have it, someone else had it and would lend it to ya... or 3-4 someones would help you figure out how make a field-expedient version. :thumbup: Heck, I watched Chance spend an hour fixing a broken tobacco pipe with a piece of .45ACP brass under the soft glow of a tiny LED flashlight taped to a bottle of water... his biggest hindrance was the number of goofballs trying to help him! At one point he said out loud, "Gee, I could maybe use a multi-tool right now" and four dudes immediately leaned back and pulled Leathermans out of their pockets
As for food... Everybody chipped in with more than enough. It's the only time I've gone camping and actually gained weight
As far as beer is concerned... yeah. I owe some of you an apology or a sixer, because I drank my weight. But hey, y'all said it was cool and pointed me towards the coolers!
There were cats and kittens from almost every walk of life at the Fall 2013 BeckerHead Gathering, including law-enforcement and fire/rescue personell, factory workers, battle-hardened combat veterans, famous knife-designers, survival experts, knifemakers, farmers and a highly-trained and deeply-experienced surgeon. There was a professional freelance writer who drove a thousand miles to be a part of it, and brought his family along.
My point is, everyone in attendance had a heckuva lot to bring the table, and every one of them happily shared their knowledge and experience.
I can barely express my joy about the fact that some folks brought their children along. That is so incredibly important... I know it sounds like a dumb cliche', but our kids really are our future. Them little rascals need to see us having fun and getting stuff done!
I saw middle-school-age girls with excellent discipline about muzzle and trigger control, and I watched them both start a campfire in a safe manner, with encouragement from thier Dad. I saw toddlers with thier sparkling eyes wide open, enjoying themselves. I saw a friend patrol the entire campsite before the kids showed up and make sure he cut down or removed everything that might be toxic to children.
Responsible adults were playing at sword-fights and other fun stuff with those little rascals, and that's flat-out wonderful. At no time was any child unattended or ignored... they were "spoiled" with attention and I think that's OK. I will say this: A Beckerhead Gathering is about the safest place on the planet for a little kid
Also, dogs. Several dogs were in attendance, and I will go so far as to say that not only were they well-behaved and well-received... they were probably a little bit spoiled with scritches and treats
That writer I mentioned earlier started a fascinating discussion about "What's so special about these people who are right here, right now? Is this happenening all over, or is it unique to this relatively small group of people?"
I opined that it's not entirely unique to Beckerheads (and that's a good thing; there are other communities that promote the same kind of positive attitude, and that's great), but there's no question that in the knife biz, what y'all have going on is pretty dang special. Ethan and the Beckerheads clearly have a firm grasp of what's really important, and you're a fantastic example.
Thank you all very kindly for letting me be a small part of your world!
ETA: I almost forgot to mention, there were a ton of awesome knives there, too, and we beat 'em like rented mules.
The short answer is, goodNESS that was fun! Very special thanks to Ethan. :thumbup: I can barely express my appreciation and gratitude to all of you.
It's an amazing thing to get together with a bunch of folks and just hang out in the woods. Typical social constructs and class divisions get stripped away and tossed aside when everyone is sharing space and food in the boondocks. No one really gives a hoot what your job-title is or what degree you've earned or what's in your bank account when it's time to gather kindling and split wood for the fire or dice taters for the breakfast scramble.
It's very simple and pure... chip in however you can. And have fun while doing it.
That kind of fellowship tends to break down barriers and bring people together on a very basic and comfortable level. People tend to open up and say some funny but poignant stuff, with a sparkle in their eye.
And I assure you, the 2013 Fall Beckerhead Gathering was overflowing with fun and humor
When I came home I felt like I'd done a few rounds of sit-ups... as it happens, my abs were just pleasantly sore from laughing so hard and so often. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been brought up in a family where that sort of thing was considered perfectly normal, and was strongly encouraged as a way to step back from the stresses of "society".
Much like an old-fashioned barn-raising or bringing one's corn to the mill, it's about getting important work done, but it's also about laughter and
encouraging one another to keep going.
I recall Ethan chuckling at us because he and Doc were fixin' to make a video about a little stove that uses found tinder and wood... "Hey, can someone get some tinder and fuel together for us?" Uhhh... yeah... there's at least a dozen rascals here with knives they're itchin' to use... we can probably make that happen
Ten minutes later, there was a bounty, in fact a plethora of tinder and kindling... that's good clean fun!
Food and gear for everyone was not a problem. No one went hungry or thirsty, and no one went without shelter. Here's one example: a Beckerhead brought an extra hammock and offered to let me use it; I gladly accepted his generosity and he taught me how to set it up properly. I slept like a baby in that thng. Thanks, Erik!
Turns out, another dude forgot his tent, so I lent him the one I brought... I didn't need it since I was comfy in my borrowed hammock...Nate was comfortable too, so it all worked out just fine.
Chances were, if you could think of it and didn't have it, someone else had it and would lend it to ya... or 3-4 someones would help you figure out how make a field-expedient version. :thumbup: Heck, I watched Chance spend an hour fixing a broken tobacco pipe with a piece of .45ACP brass under the soft glow of a tiny LED flashlight taped to a bottle of water... his biggest hindrance was the number of goofballs trying to help him! At one point he said out loud, "Gee, I could maybe use a multi-tool right now" and four dudes immediately leaned back and pulled Leathermans out of their pockets
As for food... Everybody chipped in with more than enough. It's the only time I've gone camping and actually gained weight
As far as beer is concerned... yeah. I owe some of you an apology or a sixer, because I drank my weight. But hey, y'all said it was cool and pointed me towards the coolers!
There were cats and kittens from almost every walk of life at the Fall 2013 BeckerHead Gathering, including law-enforcement and fire/rescue personell, factory workers, battle-hardened combat veterans, famous knife-designers, survival experts, knifemakers, farmers and a highly-trained and deeply-experienced surgeon. There was a professional freelance writer who drove a thousand miles to be a part of it, and brought his family along.
My point is, everyone in attendance had a heckuva lot to bring the table, and every one of them happily shared their knowledge and experience.
I can barely express my joy about the fact that some folks brought their children along. That is so incredibly important... I know it sounds like a dumb cliche', but our kids really are our future. Them little rascals need to see us having fun and getting stuff done!
I saw middle-school-age girls with excellent discipline about muzzle and trigger control, and I watched them both start a campfire in a safe manner, with encouragement from thier Dad. I saw toddlers with thier sparkling eyes wide open, enjoying themselves. I saw a friend patrol the entire campsite before the kids showed up and make sure he cut down or removed everything that might be toxic to children.
Responsible adults were playing at sword-fights and other fun stuff with those little rascals, and that's flat-out wonderful. At no time was any child unattended or ignored... they were "spoiled" with attention and I think that's OK. I will say this: A Beckerhead Gathering is about the safest place on the planet for a little kid
Also, dogs. Several dogs were in attendance, and I will go so far as to say that not only were they well-behaved and well-received... they were probably a little bit spoiled with scritches and treats
That writer I mentioned earlier started a fascinating discussion about "What's so special about these people who are right here, right now? Is this happenening all over, or is it unique to this relatively small group of people?"
I opined that it's not entirely unique to Beckerheads (and that's a good thing; there are other communities that promote the same kind of positive attitude, and that's great), but there's no question that in the knife biz, what y'all have going on is pretty dang special. Ethan and the Beckerheads clearly have a firm grasp of what's really important, and you're a fantastic example.
Thank you all very kindly for letting me be a small part of your world!
ETA: I almost forgot to mention, there were a ton of awesome knives there, too, and we beat 'em like rented mules.
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