The New One, the "1-0"

[Mistwalker]

I got this knife some days back and have finally gotten a couple of chances…or rather I made a couple...to check it out today. This knife is very similar to the Warthorn design having the same type guard, but with a little of weight trimmed away here and there and a bit smaller with shorter handle and blade. I have given this one the name "1-0", and there is an explanation for that designation later. The blade on this one measures 5 5/8" from where the spine meets the handle to the tip, and the handle measures 5 3/8 from the end of the tang extension to where the handle meets the spine.

I decided to put it through a couple of tests involving two things I do often; Firecraft, and cooking.
The in experiments with the last design I learned that I liked how the slanted guard and scalloped spine worked really well for scraping fatwood fuzz. So I definitely wanted that feature in this one.

With that fuzz and some thin shavings the razor sharp edge made easy…...

and a flew split pieces of fatwood…...

 

[Mistwalker]

And I had a great start to a fire.

Why fatwood makes a poor cooking fuel, but a great distress signal fire if it's handy. This is just a few small pieces... picture a couple dozen stumps of this stuff split apart and burning good.

 

[Mistwalker]

Then tonight I made some Mutton hash to see how it handled cooking. Now…my potato peeling isn't the greatest with any knife because I seldom peel my potatoes and when I do it's not with a knife. I thought it did ok and would do better in the hands of someone more familiar with the task.

I'll try to get it out soon and try a little chopping and splitting with it but as of now I am very pleased with it. I think this one may just be my favorite.

Now, for those of you who are wondering about the name... I call this knife the 1-0 (one-zero) in memory of some old friends to whom I feel I owe my being alive. These two men are known to me only as Pete and Dave, I was 11 when I met them and their last names…if I ever even knew them…are now lost from my memory. The entire story of my time of hanging out with these two guys is a three-and-a-half-years-long story which has no place being recounted here…just enough to explain the 1-0 nomenclature.

I first met Pete and Dave in Dallas Texas in the later 1970's at a lounge where my mother was head bartender. My stepfather had become quite a jerk over the last couple of years (later learned it was a cocaine addiction) and Pete and Dave were friends of my mother who became like uncles to me. They would take me on weekend hiking trips during the school year and in the summers for some week long camping trips. We would hike in to places with minimal gear and make camp out of whatever we could scrounge together…something these two guys were masters at. They taught me that survival was more about using ones wit more so than a prescribed set of "how-to's". We played games that took hide and seek, and capture the flag to previously unimagined levels, and I learned to eat things that I had previously never considered as a food source. At night sitting around the fire we would just sit and talk, they would talk about far away places, towns with strange names, and a culture with a diet nothing like mine. I think that to Pete and Dave these trips were just to get me away from my stepfather for a while and give me a break from his abuse and to get away from people for a while themselves. At the time they had no idea just how well they were preparing me for a very dark time to come…then again sometimes I can't help but wonder if just maybe they did have an idea. A year later, after leaving Dallas, my mother and stepfather separated and I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Then one night Floyd returned, kicked in the door, and opened fire. It's all sort of blurry now….mainly I just remember the pops and flashes of the beginning and then coming out of shock talking to strangers outside sitting under the apple tree, watching the surrealistic scene of multi-colored flashing lights, and watching the bodies being carried out on gurneys. Then some time later walking back into the house to find the white walls of our kitchen completely redecorated and a lot of my former stepfather on the walls of my bedroom. Thus at the age of fifteen began a very long four year journey through some very dark places. Along the way it would be not only my stubbornness, but the teachings of Pete and Dave, and the grace of some higher power that would allow me to survive many things I that to this day I still have trouble believing I made it through.

On more than one occasion I heard from both Pete and Dave how it was the teachings and actions of men who bore the designation "1-0" that saved their asses in some very grave situations and how those men were the ones they had the most respect for. It was the teachings of Pete and Dave that allowed me to overcome many great obstacles and survive some very dark places. For me these two men were my "1-0's", and so I name this knife in their memory.

 

[wildmike]

Thanks for sharing Mistwalker.

15 is too early for a baptism by fire.

 

[fujita yuji]

I believe a knife named after such guys will save many good lives.

 

[barrabas74]

Thank you for sharing such personal experiences. I am glad you made it out of everything for the better as it would seem.

The knife looks good. Its good to see different designs like that and how they work at the tasks you've shown. Just shows that everyone has different preferences and not one design fits everyones needs.

 

[Loosearrow]

Thanks for sharing your story. Been through some tough times growing up as well. Would like to see the knife in your hand with different grips on the handle while in use. Looks like a multiuse rugged knife. Regards

 

[Katdaddy]

Damn man, that is not something anyone should ever have to go through, especially not at 15. Glad you made it through.
Do you have any pictures of the new knife next to the Warthorn for comparison?

 

[zhangmaster12]

Great Review mate!

Thats a horrible thing to go through at 15, Pete and Dave sound like great people.

Whats the thickness of the blade?

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks guys.

Thanks for sharing your story. Been through some tough times growing up as well. Would like to see the knife in your hand with different grips on the handle while in use. Looks like a multiuse rugged knife. Regards

Growing up and getting cable...watching CNN I learned there were a lot of kids that had it much worse than me. But having listened to the stories from Pete and Dave....I had already heard about some kids who had it much worse...it just took a while to get it back together, and I had no intentions of going to an orphanage.


Here are some, I'll try to take more after the storm passes, maybe I can get Sarah or Lisa to take some of me using it.

Damn man, that is not something anyone should ever have to go through, especially not at 15. Glad you made it through.
Do you have any pictures of the new knife next to the Warthorn for comparison?

Thanks man...me too.

Great Review mate!

Thats a horrible thing to go through at 15, Pete and Dave sound like great people.

Whats the thickness of the blade?

Yeah, Pete and Dave were great people.

The blade is 3/16 thick on this one, Bryan is working on a 5/32 version.

 

[EMT_Lee]

The knife reminds me of a Busse or maybe a Swamp Rat.

 

[TheGame]

Thanks for sharing. That is an awful thing to go through at that age, and especially to good people. It is very cool that you are naming the knife after something that has meaning.

 

[Mistwalker]

The knife reminds me of a Busse or maybe a Swamp Rat.

Really? Which ones?

Thanks for sharing. That is an awful thing to go through at that age, and especially to good people. It is very cool that you are naming the knife after something that has meaning.

Thanks man. From what I've noticed people seldom get to choose the things that make them what they are. It has very deep meaning for me.

 

[mcjhrobinson]

thats a sexy knife! at first i wasnt digging the "gaurds" but the more i look at pics of dift hand positions the more im liking it. it looks VERY safe to hold in any position. i also like the balance point on that knife...but i like the pommel of the warthorn better. i think i like the warthorn handle on the 1-0 blade

thats a crappy thing to have happen man. thank you for sharing though and I can see why you named it accordingly.

and thank you for passing on your knowledge in this forum! i appreciate it!

 

[Mistwalker]

thats a sexy knife! at first i wasnt digging the "gaurds" but the more i look at pics of dift hand positions the more im liking it. it looks VERY safe to hold in any position. i also like the balance point on that knife...but i like the pommel of the warthorn better. i think i like the warthorn handle on the 1-0 blade

thats a crappy thing to have happen man. thank you for sharing though and I can see why you named it accordingly.

and thank you for passing on your knowledge in this forum! i appreciate it!

Bryan and I have talked about putting a pommel like the Warthorn on this knife. It does make it a bit more functional and aids in chopping. With this one I was seeing how much bulk I could do away with on a similar design and I was thinking that by removing the birds beak it would get the balance where I wanted it...which it did. Now I am wanting one this size...or close, with this guard and blade shape but with the pommel of the Warthorn. However I am thinking I'll have to thin the handle itself down a bit (which wouldn't be a problem for me) and perhaps extend the length or width (or both) of the blade a hair to retain the balance I want.

Yeah..it was pretty bad. I owe them a lot...and have no way to repay. Spent years looking for them, but had no luck.

Without sharing them with someone...good things lose all meaning. They were shared with me....another way I try to honor Pete and Dave.

 

[ChapmanPreferred]

That is a terrible thing at any age. What a gift to know two men who were willing to invest time, effort, and training in a youth. I for one am glad you are here and willing to share with this forum.

Sincerely,

Doug

 

[Mistwalker]

That is a terrible thing at any age. What a gift to know two men who were willing to invest time, effort, and training in a youth. I for one am glad you are here and willing to share with this forum.

Sincerely,

Doug

Yep...they were definitely two very special people.

Thanks man, me too.

 

[Stickman]

Thanks for sharing the story and the pics. That's a noble legacy for your knife to carry...I hope Dave and Pete know, or knew, how much they helped you. Hey, you might tell your knife he/it has to keep earning that name

 

[sicily02]

Hi all,

OoooooH I like the pics. What a neat way to remember Pete and Dave with a name like that too. From what mistwalker has said about them 2 fellows, it sure was neat that they took you under there wings so to speak and helped in learning skills of the outdoors. Looking back now you can really see where that helped in your life.

What a terrible event to happen at any age, but for one so young in life, it, to me seems worse.

Well I started out making a "1-0" for me but at the last moment I put the pattern for the Warthorn handle on it LOL. I just like the Warthorns handle better. I just put the handles on and came and looked on the forums.

I love those in hand pics. Again this slanted guard is the key to how these knives perform. I have never used or handled a knife like these slanted guard knives. I hate it when you do the food pics though. But boy does that look so dang good LOL. As to the potato peeling.... I am with you keep the skins on LOL I think they have a better taste LOL.
Cool video too Brian, that ol' fat wood really get going and is smoky LOL

Look forward to seeing what else you do with the "1-0"

Bryan

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks for sharing the story and the pics. That's a noble legacy for your knife to carry...I hope Dave and Pete know, or knew, how much they helped you. Hey, you might tell your knife he/it has to keep earning that name

I think they expected me to run away one day...or maybe they knew one day we would face off. I don't think they expected it to go like that, but then again they did tend to teach things as if it were "life-or-death" so who knows what they knew....I saw later on in life that they knew a lot more than I ever realized at the age of 14.

Yeah..I took it out for a while today to put it through a few more paces...so far it's doing very well.

Hi all,

Looking back now you can really see where that helped in your life......



Well I started out making a "1-0" for me but at the last moment I put the pattern for the Warthorn handle on it LOL. I just like the Warthorns handle better. I just put the handles on and came and looked on the forums.

I hate it when you do the food pics though. But boy does that look so dang good LOL. As to the potato peeling.... I am with you keep the skins on LOL I think they have a better taste LOL.
Cool video too Brian, that ol' fat wood really get going and is smoky LOL

Look forward to seeing what else you do with the "1-0"

Bryan

What I learned from them spilled over into most aspects of my life.

I knew you would do that, I'm curious how the balance will be.

Might as well get used to food pics...I like to cook.



and here are a few more pictures from working with the 1-0 a little earlier this evening. I wanted to burn the rust out some old cast iron skillets I found so I wanted some good hot coals.

Chopping and splitting some well seasoned apple wood was a good way to check the toughness of this little knife. The chopping took a minute because the wood was VERY hard, and the knife is smaller and lighter than the others, but I was in no way disappointed with the performance.