The NEW Post Your Campsite/gear/knife/hiking/anything Outdoorsy Pic Thread!

[Galeocerdoshark]

Amazing shots as usual Lambertiana... It really makes me wish the exams were already over so I'd be able to make some time to go outdoors again.

@HM: happy with the F1? What are your experiences up until now with the knife?

 

[HikingMano]

GS, I am happy enough with the knife to buy it twice I bought my first F1 not long after I joined the forum, the knife got quite a bit of attention then (shared with the BRKT Bravo-1 and RAT RC4, both of which I also purchased). I wasn't as impressed with the F1 as with the Bravo1, mainly for the BRKTs comfy contoured micarta handles. I sold the F1 after some time, while sampling other knives. Long story made short, after gaining a bit more experience in the knife world, I started to miss my F1... it really fills a niche for me. The F1 doesn't immediately "grab" you as some knives do, but the simple fact is the knife is a solid performing workhorse.

First, the negatives. I wouldn't mind a thinner blade, it's about 3/16" and as a relatively small knife, so it's a little steep from spine to edge. I would probably enjoy a 1/8" F1. Nevertheless, the knife performs most tasks I'd need to do outside perfectly well, and the 3/16" does make it robust. I'll need to do something about the aggressive checkering on the Thermorun handle. The last time I used an F1 for a good length of time on a project, it was a little rough on my bare hand. Gloves solve that problem easily enough, but I'll probably work to smooth out the checkering a little so gloves aren't necessary for serious prolonged use. Other than those two things, I can't remember or think of much else at the moment I didn't like about the F1.

Now, for the particular features I like about it, which drove me to pick it up a second time:
-small and relatively lightweight fixed blade with adequate edge for me
-stainless steel cutting edge with decent edge taking and holding (I bought the VG10 version the second time around as well) and an even more corrosion resistant outer 420j laminate
-convex ground, and zero edge that can be easily modified if I wish.
-simple handle suited to a variety of grips
-edge goes right up to the handle with exception of tiny sharpening choil and is in line with handle edge
-versatile blade profile with nice drop point
-super crisp spine from the factory which excels at firesteel and wood scraping
-adequately robust tip
-No exposed tang is nicer when it's cold
-aesthetically clean and simple, also it's not pretty enough that I feel like I should baby it
-good reputation of knife and company
-production knife so readily available for purchase

After using my high-carbon knives for a while and dealing with rust issues during/after my trips in often humid or relatively wet environments, I wanted something a bit less demanding in the corrosion department. My O1 knives seem to rust if I look at them wrong, even with constant cleaning, drying, and pampering. I also wanted a flat-ground-convex-edge or full-convex knife that is decently tough while being relatively lightweight and easy to carry. The F1 fills that niche perfectly, and, for me, should perform well as my go-to backpacking knife.


ETA:
The rust on my O1 knives hasn't been horrendous. I have only experienced surface rust and no real pitting, save for one time when I hadn't checked on a knife for 3 or 4 weeks even though it did get a mineral oil wipe down after drying. Usually my knives get checked or used before any real issue develops. I sometimes worry about the rust at the edges where handle scales contact the blade, but otherwise, the rust really hasn't been too much of a problem. I just prefer to have one less thing to worry about (especially with backpacking), if the knife's cutting performance is good enough for what I need to do.

 

[Galeocerdoshark]

Thanks for the detailed description, I really enjoyed the read. I've been looking at one myself for a while, but something keeps holding me back from purchasing one.
I always wonder what benefits more expensive fixed blades can offer me when I'm out hiking or fossiling. For example: what an F1 would offer me over a Mora or something. I always think: with a nicely patina'd Mora, I can go a long way. Sharpening it on some rock or pavement when I'm out and don't have a sharpener with me is easy. I've practiced this skill since childhood with some cheap carbon blades I've had since then, for when I would need a sharp knife when out in the woods with the youth movement. You don't get a nicely polished edge, but a sharp -yet toothy- edge that will do its job for quite a while. I imagine this to be harder/more time consuming with VG10, for example.

I'm explicitly talking about user/beater knives out in the woods/quarries/... I've got some folders in better steels such as vg10, s30v etc, but I mostly use them at home where I can sharpen and take care of them without any time pressure or anything. It's different in the woods.

Because of your nicely detailed explanation, I'm gonna keep the F1 on my list of knives I'll have to choose between when I'm going to need a bigger fixed blade than the Eskabar that will be arriving next week.

Thanks much!

 

[HikingMano]

GS, I hope to provide an actual review sometime in the future, after using it again for a while. That way I can illustrate with examples the things I enjoy about the knife for my own uses. Much of what I wrote there is simply what I'd come to miss in the F1 and desire in a backpacking knife. The knife will be on my belt during future outings, now that I've got it back with nice new pants

I can't provide proof either way, but I'm of the mind that one could do just fine with a Mora, especially in a beater role. Yeah, it's a "scandi" ground and tends to split and wedge into things as you cut, but the blades are so thin that I've never found it to be a problem. They carve wonderfully in wood (bushcraft type carving/whittling), baton just fine if you absolutely need to baton something, and cut food just fine. So it splits a carrot rather than cuts it cleanly...who cares, the carrot is still in two pieces rather than one.... The thinness of the blade and the wide bevel usually works nicely for splitting too, tends to work against binding/wedging. And Mora's are cheap!

You bring up a good point about sharpening. I don't have much experience sharpening with natural or expedient materials, but I'm sure it doesn't take an inordinate amount of effort to bring a dull carbon Mora back to working sharp in the field (kudos to you for all the practice:thumbup. I haven't encountered too much difficulty sharpening (at home) the Fallkniven VG10 in the past, usually a stropping was all that was necessary to bring it back to shaving sharp if I didn't really go to town. Anyway, I don't remember it being much harder to sharpen the F1 vs BRKT knives in A2 (with similar convex sharpening method, harder to compare with flat bevel Mora sharpening). I do admit I haven't needed to field sharpen very often, and have never tried the F1 on field expedient materials. Hand sharpening a convex on a hard surfaced abrasive (and doing it well) is something I have yet to learn. I can get a working edge on with a diamond stone, but I prefer not to as the results aren't spectacular with my experience. But it's not often I dull a knife on a trip anyway, and I usually have an appropriate field sharpening tool with me if I'll be out long enough or doing something where I think I'd need one. If I'm caught without a tool and forced into it, I could probably put at least a working edge on the F1. I need to practice on some convex beaters....

This is an aside, but you're right, a patina definitely helps with the carbon blades. I think they help a ton, but they've never been 100% protective in my hands. I forced a patina on my favorite O1 blade because I got impatient with it rusting as I attempted to let a patina develop naturally. The patina worked fabulously... until I put the blade to use and sheathed/unsheathed from the inevitable gritty kydex sheath. As the oxidation layer is thin and surface deep, any scratches serve as access for rust formation. Without a careful cleaning, wipe down, drying, and mineral oil coat...I would find rust where the scratches were. Surface rust sure, but all in all still more than I'm willing to deal with. Especially if you'll be out a few days in humid/wet weather or wet environments. And although I clean all my blades before storing until the next use... I've been annoyed to come to a blade a few weeks later only to find some rust that could progress to pitting if discovered later.

Anyway, for knife tasks, I don't think a more expensive fixed blade like the F1 gives you a significant advantage over a Mora. They both cut, they're both durable enough for most "normal" knife tasks, they both can sharpen up nicely if you learn the techniques (field-expedient or at home). I think that, as usual, it comes to preference. I prefer a knife that will obviously last years of normal usage, and even a bit of abnormal usage if pressed into it because of a robust build (without sacrificing too much cutting performance). I prefer a solid and dependable stainless (vs. Mora's stainless, which is still serviceable), one that works well within my pattern of edge usage and sharpening. I prefer the blade shape and design of the F1. I prefer the convex grind and edge because in theory it's stronger, and aesthetically it pleases me more...but in reality cutting performance is the sum of multiple, probably synergistic, factors... it really comes down to how fine of an edge you have and how well your heat-treated steel resists wear and deformation. I prefer sharpening a convex edge rather than holding an exact bevel angle on a stone and through a knife's belly. Etc etc, I think I've rambled enough. Oh yeah, the F1 is just nice and I like it


Anyway, good luck on your post-Eskabar decision I don't doubt that you'll devote proper forethought to the selection and end up with a fine blade for your uses and preferences :thumbup:

 

[Codger_64]

Jake and I hit the road this weekend for a quick float on the local river.

I know I am getting close when I see...

And really close when I see...

The first mate keeps an eye out for fish and fowl...

Jake held his post when we passed the ducks and ducklings, but he bailed on me when we came upon a flock of geese...

Yeah, not having a camera sux, but a cell phone works well enough for an old Codger!

 

[Galeocerdoshark]

GS, *amazing explanation*

You sir, are a scholar and a gentleman. Thanks for the description and the discussion, it was well worth the read!:thumbup:
I'll keep you updated on any future choices/purchases.

 

[shaving sharp]

Here are a few pics I took while at the Michigan UP last year.

 

[HikingMano]

GS, you're welcome, and have fun

Great pics Codger! Looks like a nice day out with a good buddy

SS, I remember that first pic; it's a cool area! :thumbup:

 

[Codger_64]

...

Great pics Codger! Looks like a nice day out with a good buddy

Thanks. Every day I get to spend on the water makes up for the previous week of sweating in the sun. And Jake looks forward to these trips as much as I do, if not more. He is well behaved in the shuttle van, sitting in his seat and watching out the window. But he somehow knows when we are getting close to the river and begins to sing/purr like a tribble. I have to let him swim a while on his tether before we can climb aboard and head downstream. It lets him burn off a little bit of pent up energy until we reach a gravel bar where he can take a nice long swim and dive for rocks.

I hope to do another overnighter on the river either this coming weekend or over the 4th. Jake is well house/tent broken and makes a good tentmate once he settles in. "Settling in" includes relearning that my sleeping bag is not his.

 

[HikingMano]

Jake sounds awesome :thumbup: A dog who enjoys your outdoors activities with you... that's something I hope to have down the line.

Does he have a bag of his own, or does he simply prefer to take yours over?

 

[Codger_64]

Jake sounds awesome :thumbup: A dog who enjoys your outdoors activities with you... that's something I hope to have down the line.

Does he have a bag of his own, or does he simply prefer to take yours over?

Oh, he snuffles around mine till I give him the cue, "Ackk!" then he circles and plops down on his foam mat. "Ackk!" is the extreme version of "no". He has quite a vocabulary (understanding, not speaking). If he is swimming and I tell him "in", he will climb in, even in deep water. If he gets in at the stern or midship, I tell him "move!" and he hops to his place in the bow.

Commanding him to sit in the canoe is just asking too much. He prefers his gunnel perch where he can see everything that goes on and snatch the occasional floating leaf or feather. But... more than this, he is my service dog. He can tell when I am having breathing difficulty and alert me before it becomes a problem. He also hears for me as I am mostly deaf. And he plays chick magnet for me on the river. Gals love cute pups!

 

[HikingMano]

That's awesome, it seems you and he understand each other well :thumbup: I'm guessing his being a service dog has much to do with him readily obeying verbal cues from you.

I hope you and Jake get out on another overnighter this weekend or the 4th! Take some cell phone pics

 

[OwenM]

From the top of the same waterfall, different angles. I'm not in picture-taking mode, lately, and only pulled the camera out once.
This place is so gorgeous in the fall, though...

The upper part of Lake Basin, Kings Canyon NP. No one there but us.
***magnificent pic after magnificent pic after magnificent pic, as usual***

What's the time window for those higher elevations at Kings Canyon? I know it's going to depend on the previous winter's snowfall, but maybe a ballpark.
Along with the permit systems at some of the most popular places, the thing I'm running into with trip planning for mountainous regions is that it's tourist season the whole time they're readily accessible. Are you finding solitude on established trail systems, or because you're making your own routes?

 

[lambertiana]

What's the time window for those higher elevations at Kings Canyon? I know it's going to depend on the previous winter's snowfall, but maybe a ballpark.
Along with the permit systems at some of the most popular places, the thing I'm running into with trip planning for mountainous regions is that it's tourist season the whole time they're readily accessible. Are you finding solitude on established trail systems, or because you're making your own routes?

In an average snow year, places like those recent pictures can be accessed easily mid-July, and the end of the warm-weather backpacking season can be as early as the first week or two of October. Some years the snows don't start until late November or December, but don't gamble on that. Too many people get caught unprepared in the back country in mid-October when an early storm dumps three or four feet of snow in one day. This year is a very low snow year, and you could go there right now.

In normal snow years, before late July you will be dealing with hordes of mosquitoes. By mid-August they are pretty much gone.

You can have relative solitude on-trail if you choose the right location. There are a few places that have heavy traffic - anywhere on the John Muir Trail and the Rae Lakes Loop are two prominent examples. But other places have little traffic. One time I went in on the east side at North Lake, and there were a lot of people all the way to Golden Trout Lake on the west side of the crest (one full day of hiking). But the next day, we saw only a couple people the entire day between Golden Trout Lakes and the John Muir Trail junction at the north end of Kings Canyon NP; here are a couple views on that section:

Another time I started at Roads End on the Bubbs Creek section of the Rae Lakes loop, where there are a lot of people. But on the second day we left that loop and took the trail to East Lake, which is spectacular. We camped at one end of the lake and had it to ourselves, and there was one group camping at the opposite end of the lake. And this was on maintained trails. Here is East Lake, and Lake Reflection which is a little further up the same drainage (pics taken by my brother on that trip):

Some places have a semi-trail that is no longer maintained and that keeps people away. Tehipite Valley, which is just like Yosemite Valley (same size granite walls and domes) is accessible on what can be called barely-a-trail, but you will have it all to yourself. When we were there, from the time we left Crown Valley to the time we reached the John Muir Trail at the top of the canyon, over three days of hiking (in this picture you can only see half of the distance up the canyon) we saw no one else. And the upper half of the canyon has a nicely maintained trail.

Here are pictures taken in that canyon:

And this area (Cloud Canyon and Colby Lake) is on a good trail but sees light traffic:

Of course, the real solitude is found off trail, and you will go days without seeing anyone else. Here is an example of a place that you will have all to yourself, and it only involves a total of maybe a half mile off trail (from the end of a very popular trail, too):

Permits are easy. Before March 1, decide where you want to go and which trailhead to start at. When you want to start is also an important consideration. If it has been a heavy snow year, go later; this year you could already be in the high country mid-June. First thing on March 1, fax your permit request to the wilderness office at Sequoia/Kings Canyon (request forms available online). Requests are filled on a first come first served basis until the trailhead quota is reached for each entry day. You will get your permit within a few weeks in the mail. Some trailheads are very popular and fill fast, others don't fill at all and you can get a permit late in the season without any trouble. They always hold back some permits for each day for walk-up applicants, but if you are traveling a long distance you should get a permit in advance to make sure you get the trip you want. If the permit is issued by SEKI the fee is $15 with a max party size of 15 people. Once away from the trailheads the prescribed distance you can camp pretty much wherever you want, with a few notable exceptions in a couple high-impact areas and, of course, you should be the required distance from bodies of water.

To give you an idea of which trailheads are popular, you can see which ones have a lot of full dates:

http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/reservation-availability.htm

Cloud Canyon and Colby Lake are accessible from Belle Canyon and you can see that it still has a lot of available dates. The off trail example that is only a short distance off trail is on the Mosquito Lakes trailhead, and you can see that it is wide open all summer still. The pictures I have posted over the last few weeks from Lake Basin in Kings Canyon are accessible from the Copper Creek trailhead, and it, too, is wide open. You could get permits for those locations even this late in the season. The trailhead we took to Tehipite Valley has no quota, so there is never a problem getting a permit.

A lot of my trips are a combination of high traffic locations and complete solitude. The 7/20 full date for the High Sierra Trail includes my permit. But after the first day we will leave the HST and go first on a lightly used trail (including Cloud Canyon) and then off trail to Kaweah Basin before finally rejoining the HST on the return loop on the seventh day. So we will have three days of crowds, three days of few people, and three days of complete solitude. I still have room on that permit if you want to give it a try.

 

[HikingMano]

What a wealth of knowledge :thumbup: Those places are spectacular, Tehipite Valley and Cloud Canyon in particular.

I'd jump on that permit if I were you Owen . If I had more vacation time, I'd definitely be asking John to let me bum along.


I'm really looking forward to seeing Mosquito Lakes myself soon.

 

[OwenM]

Freaking fantastic, and thanks for all the pics!:thumbup:
HM, I don't have enough vacation to do that instead of my CO trip, but I wish I could. It would mean canceling my fall trip, too.
I'm about to order maps for Rainier, and check on the permit process and availability there to see about doing that 45-mile North Loop.
The next step for CO is a "stage 3" shutdown where noone but landowners and firefighters are allowed in the National Forests, and they are already considering it. Looks like I may not get to go to the Weminuche until next year...

 

[HikingMano]

Yeah, I hear ya. I'd have to cancel trips too I tack up enough time. I'm hoping to make the next week-long trip John does though, next year.

I hope CO makes it through this summer and fall without any fire disasters.

Russell

 

[HikingMano]

A little backpacking training today. Climbed Black Mountain from an entrance in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. According to Strava, 13.1 miles with 5,037' climbing...but it looks like there were some GPS issues through the canyons and hills on my route, so that number is inflated quite a bit.... I should just get a Garmin or something. Using gmap-pedometer gives me 10.6mi and about 3,6580'...don't know if the elevation gain is quite accurate with that one either.

iPhone Pic for now, will edit to add other pics from P&S tomorrow if any are worthwhile.

 

[beanbag]

 

[HikingMano]

[...]The next step for CO is a "stage 3" shutdown where noone but landowners and firefighters are allowed in the National Forests, and they are already considering it. Looks like I may not get to go to the Weminuche until next year...

Damn, the fires in CO are crazy.