Sgian Dubh (and a little something not found in Scotland!)

Cool knife and a cool snake. You occasionally see ones close to that size here in Florida. Most mammals down here tend to be smaller because of the nutrient poor food plants (too much rain apparently makes for bad soil and higher than normal water content in the grass, etc) but the reptiles get BIG. I guess that is because we don't have much of a cold season, so they can be active and continue eating for most of the year, or in the case of South Florida, all year long. My dad and his buddy caught one about that size down in the lower Keys back in the late 60's. You really can't grasp how BIG those diamondbacks are from pics. The one they caught has a head darn near the size of your fist. The are fat too!!!!! A rattler the size of your friend weighs more than a king cobra or black mamba that is twice as long!!!
So Terry...how long will he live in captivity? I know that the big gators we have at zoos and places like Busch Gardens will live a LONG time, but I have no clue about pit viper life spans.
 
Oh man thats a GREAT snake! I prefer to Eastern Diamond backs' deep contrasty color pattern to the Westerns and most vipers i've seen. That one looks incredibly beautiful and healthy. Huge too.. I find the faces on those things really cute.

Though not the style im used too, nice knife! Great looking steel as well.
 
The knife is well made and a good rendition of this style. I would expect nothing less from you, Terry. ALL your knives bowl me over.

And this snake business is like Sex in Advertising. There is absolutely NO need for the inclusion, but it sure makes us remember and pay attention. Closely. :thumbup:

You the man. :)

Coop
 
Hi Jim,

You are right. There wasn't any real need to put the photos of the rattlesnake in the post with the sgian dubh. It was just for fun and not meant to detract from the knife content. We had a photo session a week ago and I thought the pictures turned out pretty cool. I'm glad you enjoyed them and I think most here did.

Sex in advertizing! Never thought of it that way but you are exactly right. Early on I was told that you should always have something on your table (other than knives) that would catch a potential customer's eye and stick in his brain. In a room with 400 tables covered with knives, sometimes you can get lost looking for that knife that you saw earlier. Other than erect a pole with a blue light and siren, ala K-Mart, I opted for a photo of me with a big rattler. People would stop to look at the photo, then stay around to peruse my knives.

It worked! But for every positive comment, I got ten downright rude remarks. "You are one dumb son of a bitch!" They would look me in the eye and say those very words in a tone of utter disgust. "I'd kill that (starts with F)!" "I hate those G-D things!" And of course, the old, "The only good damn snake is a dead snake!" Always serious. Now this almost always eminated the somewhat less sophisticated crowd who stopped by because they heard that there was a knife show in town. So I just stopped putting the photo out on the table. It was more trouble than it was worth.

I've personally revelled in the positive comments made by the folks on this forum. They obviously appreciate natures wonders and while they may think that I am, maybe just a little crazy, I'm otherwise a pretty normal guy who occasionally knocks out a decent knife.

Cheers,

Terry


Terry L. Vandeventer
ABS MS
 
Personally, I welcome participants here on the BF sharing little slices of their lives.
We get to know one another pretty well from a knife perspective but often left wondering what's the rest of their story. An occasional hunting/fishing story with photos or one such as Terry's here tied in with a thread can provide a brief brake from the knives and help us to know one another a little better. I believe that's why David's (ddd) "other hobby" thread was so popular.

We have some very interesting characters hanging out around here.
 
Very cool knife and a fascinating line of work that you're in. The husband of a friend of my wife's has similar interests - he's working to re-introduce some near-extinct species of snake back to the Ontario wilds and does a lot of student / public education on the subject. Interesting stuff.

Roger
 
John,

Are you inquiring to the name of the snake? :p I don't name them, per se. I guess I could name him "Big John" (if you're fishin' for the honor). What do y'all think? Should we name him in honor of John White? :D Some might see that as an insult, as in "snake in the grass."

Many might not know it, but John was a bit of an amateur herpetologist himself, back in his California days.

Cheers,

Terry


Terry L. Vandeventer
ABS MS
 
Terry,

I'll go for "Little John", and consider it an honor! Snakes are fascinating creatures, and I absolutely understand your interest in them.

As to "snake in the grass", I would say that a rattler the size of "Little John" would command my respect coming through the sawgrass!

See you in Little Rock, Terry,

John
 
Hear hear for Little John, the snake that is twice as tall as his namesake.;):D

Marcel
 
Terry, I think you should have a real live snake on your table. Maybe then the morons who are so afraid of snakes that they hate them will just leave you alone:)
 
Lorien said:
Terry, I think you should have a real live snake on your table. Maybe then the morons who are so afraid of snakes that they hate them will just leave you alone:)
Click to expand...

Hey now, I resemble that remark

........

I don't hate snakes though, soooooo wait
 
Some people have a fear of snakes, dogs, arachnids, bald spots and/or knives.

Must suck to be them.;)

That is a very handsome snake you have there, Mr. Vandeventer. I used to have a good-sized Burmese python. Snakes can make very good companion animals for the right personality.

The knife is very handsome as well. Personal preference is for a slightly different blade shape, fuller handle cross section(not so flat) and jimping on no more than half of the blade, but that is what makes a horserace.

Looking forward to more of your knives(and snakes) to be posted up on BladeForums.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Thanks for the input, John. Yes, I thought about stainless damascus or Damasteel in the past, but was wondering if there was some trick that someone was using that cuold quickly solve my problem (well... stainless damascus would solve it...lol). I checked out Chad's site, and he makes really nice stainless damascus.
 
I shouldn't be so harsh about herpiphobia (?). Indiana Jones is cool, and he hates snakes...
:)
 
Terry,

Not to change the subject, (from L J the snake), but don't forget to post up the sheath. Quilted Blackwood?

John
 
Great Knife Mr. Vandeventer. A little different from what we normally see from you and I like it.

That's a great looking snake. Whenever we go to a zoo the first thing I want to see are the snakes, they are just way cool to look at and see how they move and to see all the wonderful colors and shapes.

One of my favorite snakes that we have in Missouri is the Pygmy Rattlesnake. They look a lot like the larger rattlesnakes only they're just 14 to 22 inches. They're so cool!

Have you ever handled a pygmy rattler before?

Thanks for the pictures.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top