- Joined
- Mar 22, 2006
- Messages
- 5,944
Took off for a few days with some buddies..what was supposed to be a bowdrill workshop ended up being just a camping trip involving a lot of skills.. incidentally 2 of the 3 fires we made where done by bowdrill despite the immense amounts of rain we had..( the fires just took alot of prep time because everything was so damp). We also worked on traps, primitive fishing and water filtration.
I made a 3 tiered water filter using rags and a tripod of sticks..It was my first time doing this and I mistakenly used charcoal in 2 of the 3 tiers.. so the water kept coming out gray..Well better luck next time I guess.
Despite all the activities the rain made fire making difficult so we ended up spending the majority of our time between splitting wet wood to get dry wood and boiling water.
I brought a few knives to test out..
The mvp of the weekend was my newly convexed 12 inch tram (excellent edge provided by siguy) I used it as a draw knife to scrape dry shavings from externally saturated logs. Used it with a baton to split kindling. Chopped with it, used it as a serving spoon, carved most of my bowdrill, and used the spine to spark a ferro with it which goes to show that a sharp machete can be an extremely versatile tool.. However the edge did suffer some throughout the use..It's totally usable and salvageable, but Does show some minor edge chipping which I have not seen on higher quality blades I own.
I also tried out 2 smaller knives as well. 1 was the Stomper E.W.O.K , Which is out standing, I wore it as a necker throughout the entire trip, and the other was a great little knife that a friend here on the forums made for me and it's a real classical beauty. Both knives saw a variety of use in finer task such as whittling trap parts or making small fuzzies.. both where also employed as my only eating utensils. THe wide blades worked excellent as spoons as I shoveled bowls of oatmeal, beans, and rice into my mouth..they also both cut up massive quantities of meat and are well on there way to developing a nice patina. Both knives performed flawlessly in there role..and it was am honor and my great pleasure to be blessed with the opportunity to play with such great and unique blades.
All in all it was a great trip. Despite the weather I stayed relatively dry. Can't wait to do it again. When my friend sends me the pics I'll try to post them.
I made a 3 tiered water filter using rags and a tripod of sticks..It was my first time doing this and I mistakenly used charcoal in 2 of the 3 tiers.. so the water kept coming out gray..Well better luck next time I guess.
Despite all the activities the rain made fire making difficult so we ended up spending the majority of our time between splitting wet wood to get dry wood and boiling water.
I brought a few knives to test out..
The mvp of the weekend was my newly convexed 12 inch tram (excellent edge provided by siguy) I used it as a draw knife to scrape dry shavings from externally saturated logs. Used it with a baton to split kindling. Chopped with it, used it as a serving spoon, carved most of my bowdrill, and used the spine to spark a ferro with it which goes to show that a sharp machete can be an extremely versatile tool.. However the edge did suffer some throughout the use..It's totally usable and salvageable, but Does show some minor edge chipping which I have not seen on higher quality blades I own.
I also tried out 2 smaller knives as well. 1 was the Stomper E.W.O.K , Which is out standing, I wore it as a necker throughout the entire trip, and the other was a great little knife that a friend here on the forums made for me and it's a real classical beauty. Both knives saw a variety of use in finer task such as whittling trap parts or making small fuzzies.. both where also employed as my only eating utensils. THe wide blades worked excellent as spoons as I shoveled bowls of oatmeal, beans, and rice into my mouth..they also both cut up massive quantities of meat and are well on there way to developing a nice patina. Both knives performed flawlessly in there role..and it was am honor and my great pleasure to be blessed with the opportunity to play with such great and unique blades.
All in all it was a great trip. Despite the weather I stayed relatively dry. Can't wait to do it again. When my friend sends me the pics I'll try to post them.
