Swamp Rat and SYKCO Chat

[Uncle Timbo]

It sure does. The problem, as the pictures highlight, is all of the wood's hidden under the grass. It's like a Michigan Jungle. But don't worry, the ratweiler compels people to find a way to give it something to gnaw on.

Somewhere across bridge 2 is this pile of deliciousness from the winter that never made it to the lumber camp for processing. Could be a good weekend if the weather stays low enough that I can sweat a little but not overheat.

I feel the same way about knives as I do my bikes, sure they can get expensive but it that's what it takes to get you off your butt to enjoy the outdoors then it's money well spent. And the rat... was money well spent.

You have a great perspective and I think any reason to get you out in the wild blue yonder is a good one. Especially if it involves chopping stuff up with a great knife from the Swamp.
A whole bunch of guys here like the Chompweiler. I do too. I had one and let her slip thru my fingers like an idiot.
But I LOVE the Ratweiler.

 

[bikerector]

Another weekend out in the bushes for some outdoor therapy and another day it was great having the ratweiler on me. Another reason I love this thing, when the primary tool of the day fails you know the ratweiler can step in and get it done, even if it's not the best at it. It's the back up for everything short of a rifle and the primary for a few things too. Today, it was my machete.

Side effect of cutting so much brush is it picked up a wicked layer of patina and I think I love this thing even more. Gorgeous. Getting this stripped one from Uncle Timbo was a grand decision.

Trying to dig back into bridge number 3.

The task at hand

In process

Pile of what I've removed from the path.

The rat finally snuck over to bridge 3.

Side note, heard a buck tromping on the other side of stream when I first start getting to work. Snorted at me for a while and made a lot of racket tromping down the brush just on the far side of the weeds and out of sight. I thought I was going to wrestle with the guy but he finally walked off after a few minutes of waiting to see where he was going to pop out. I haven't had one so interested in my presence, snorting around, and making a racket. Was thinking it was something else at first since I've walked up a coyote or two and there are larger predators in the area too. Got the adrenaline going after the critter started breaking limbs and sticks so close by.

After getting to bridge 3 I finally finished working my way into this really old, crazy looking tree. It has a bunch of shoots coming out of the trunk and the think has to be about 4 ft across. The ratweiler is in this shot on the left side of the tree about center of the pic with my hook stick hanging from it (pulls the weeds out of the way so you can get to the base of plants; Essential when using a small knife for a machete).

looking back at the way in

And a few pictures of the wild flowers while watching the honey bees do their thing. They're much more enjoyable when they're not by the house getting into the hummingbird feeders. There should be bees in a few of these but they blend in pretty well and my camera doesn't get the resolution for nice contrast so they're visible.

Finally, the patina after cleaning her off, beautiful. I love the looks of a well used but cared for blade.

 

[elof_alv]

Mate, keep it coming!
More than anything else, the Swamp needs some fresh blood!
Your enthusiastic posts are a welcome sight!
Thank you!!!

 

[bikerector]

I think I need to dig out my old outdoors camera and see about getting a battery for it finally. The resolution is so much better than my phone, it's just that the batteries cost more than what the darn camera is worth anymore.

 

[Uncle Timbo]

I'm with Elof, love your pics and the narrative!
Have you ever considered giving that Rat a bath, taking her in the kitchen and make a P&J sandwich?
Maybe use the Ratmandu?

 

[bikerector]

I'm with Elof, love your pics and the narrative!
Have you ever considered giving that Rat a bath, taking her in the kitchen and make a P&J sandwich?
Maybe use the Ratmandu?

Good question, and the answer at the time of asking was a no. So I rectified that shortsightedness. If I'm going to whole-heatedly say this thing can be a good do-everything knife and camp cooking could be one of those things I probably should test that out. So I sliced up some marinated turkey turkey for dinner as a short test. I'll be honest, it's not a kitchen knife.

To be fair to the rat, it's pretty hard to compete with the custom I got from Hardedge knives before he retired (I think) from knifemaking on the forum (and apparently the wife made brownies and didn't clean up the counter before running off to work).

 

[Uncle Timbo]

So I rectified that shortsightedness.

[/QUOTE]

LOL! I like that rectification! Maybe the Weiler would work better in the kitchen if you chopped that Turkey instead of slicing?

 

[bikerector]

LOL! I like that rectification! Maybe the Weiler would work better in the kitchen if you chopped that Turkey instead of slicing?

The only reason it got that far into the kitchen was because my wife works late on Monday's and I was able to get in and out before she saw the shenanigans. Pretty sure the splashed marinade on the walls would've given me away.

On the bright side, I would've already had some meat and the ratweiler so I'ld be well prepared for some time in the doghouse.

 

[Uncle Timbo]

That's a good way of looking at it. Maybe the Ratweiler can help make the doghouse nicer.
It's kinda like WD40. 1001 uses.

 

[Uncle Timbo]

Hey you bunch of dirty Rats. This is the old Kootaga13. I changed my name.
Howdy y'all.

 

[bikerector]

Another trip to the swamp today and took my camera. I also played with some of the photo editing features of imgur for the first time so there's a bit of interesting effects in here too. Most of the editing is contrast and brightness since my phone thought it would be cool to make it look like I was taking the picture staring into the sun so everything was far bright that it should have been even though these were in the evening in fading light.

Just because

Swamp snails

Swamp bee tasting the swamp flowers

Rat food

Swamp rat

Satiated rat

Dessert

Finally made it out to the bigger creek crossing where I spent a lot of time this winter when things were frozen

Random very bright orange mushroom that caught my attention

Leaving satisfied with the evening's romp through the woods.

 

[Hard Knocks]

Hey you bunch of dirty Rats. This is the old Kootaga13. I changed my name.
Howdy y'all.

Good thing you kept the avatar, almost didn't recognize you

 

[Uncle Timbo]

Good thing you kept the avatar, almost didn't recognize you

Yea, it might change sometime but I didn't think I should go overboard too soon.
I'm the oldest in my dept. where I work and everybody calls me Uncle Timbo, so it just felt right.

 

[Uncle Timbo]

Another trip to the swamp today and took my camera. I also played with some of the photo editing features of imgur for the first time so there's a bit of interesting effects in here too. Most of the editing is contrast and brightness since my phone thought it would be cool to make it look like I was taking the picture staring into the sun so everything was far bright that it should have been even though these were in the evening in fading light.

Just because

Swamp snails

Swamp bee tasting the swamp flowers

Rat food

Swamp rat

Satiated rat

Dessert

Finally made it out to the bigger creek crossing where I spent a lot of time this winter when things were frozen

Random very bright orange mushroom that caught my attention

Leaving satisfied with the evening's romp through the woods.

BE - you've got a good eye for Mother Nature. Also, it's GREAT when you can get the Ratweiler in the picture!
She's such a "HAM."

 

[bikerector]

Question: Is this what green micarta can look like? I wanted the handle to match the ratweiler which I was thinking was green micarta but maybe it was black which can have a green hue. The RW was also put through the stripping process and has been used a bit so that adds some color variation also, on top of the variation that I already know micarta can have.

I'm trying to figure out if I got tan or green. I have a few other knives for color reference as my phone sucks for getting colors right, likes to add a little bit of yellow hue to everything. This may be more of an greenish tan and it's clearly different than the natural canvas micarta of my lionsteel dom or my GEC's (not pictured).

P.S. I've emailed swamp rat through the website but since I know I'll have to wait a few days and it's labor day weekend, trying to figure out if I'm good to beat on it or if I should hold off and keep ready for a possible return and correction if it's wrong. I have plenty of knives so it wouldn't be a problem to hold off other than the anticipation of playing with it.

 

[Hard Knocks]

Ya that's black canvas on the ratweiler and green on the RMD. That's unfortunate that it wasn't what you were expecting. If it's any consolation, I think it looks really good against the sage blade. If I still had a brand new black/sage rmd (that was my go-to combo for awhile) I'd be seeing if you wanted to swap lol.

 

[bikerector]

Ya that's black canvas on the ratweiler and green on the RMD. That's unfortunate that it wasn't what you were expecting. If it's any consolation, I think it looks really good against the sage blade. If I still had a brand new black/sage rmd (that was my go-to combo for awhile) I'd be seeing if you wanted to swap lol.

Thanks for the help. I think it looks great, just wanted it to look more like the ratweiler but that's not a huge deal in the end. Glad I didn't go with tan if this is green as I was really considering tan for a while as I also like the desert sand look. And of course, none of this changes the functionality which is the primary reason of getting one. Kind of in love with the handle already.

Sounds like I need to take it to the woods this weekend and get some better pictures posted in this thread.

 

[Hard Knocks]

Thanks for the help. I think it looks great, just wanted it to look more like the ratweiler but that's not a huge deal in the end. Glad I didn't go with tan if this is green as I was really considering tan for a while as I also like the desert sand look. And of course, none of this changes the functionality which is the primary reason of getting one. Kind of in love with the handle already.

Sounds like I need to take it to the woods this weekend and get some better pictures posted in this thread.

You're welcome. There can be a lot of variance in the black canvas in my experience. All of these are sage/black canvas.

and the custom shop RMD on top has tan canvas scales

 

[elof_alv]

What HK said, the micarta used by Busse group can vary quite a lot between the batches.
There were a few batches of black that had greenish tinge to it.
The thing is that canvas/linen micarta changes colour with use, from sweat and skin oils

 

[bikerector]

Thanks Elof. The color change is one of the things I really like about micarta, shows it's use and builds character. The grooved micarta of the ratweiler has added a lot more character than my other knives which is pretty need. A lot more corners, ends, and surfaces to change hues, and color.

Now that I can rest easy that there was no mistake and no need to consider sending this back for correction I can comfortable take it hiking/bushwacking this weekend. I have to get some log bridges put together so I can link up with the more wooded area out of the swampy stuff I've been working in the past few weekends. Should be a blasty blast.

Picked up a new tomahawk for a lighter to carry wood processor and was testing that out last night. Should drop at least a pound over my other hand axe and should be easier to port around with the smaller head. Need to build a quick, crappy leather mask, because that's what I'm capable of building for now, and then bring a saw and I think it will be a good.

Also put together a roycroft pack frame during the week so I can haul some wood to the bridge or haul it home from the woods. Should work in some nice calluses and blisters this holiday weekend if the weather cooperates.