Swamp Rat and SYKCO Chat

Here's what one of those cedar planks turned into. Not a lot of work from the RW on this one but all of the heavier lifting was performed with the 911. Chopping the logs off from the stump, limbing, debarking, splitting, and planing. Pretty much everything up to sawing to size, sanding, carving, and finishing with linseed oil. Pretty happy how it turned out for a first time type of thing for me.

This is a present for my wife's birthday today. The little man named below is due in 2 months and he's already been called out little lumberjack because I told the mom's I like flannel and they're going crazy with it. Based on recent hobbies, it probably works out just fine.

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Hey BE and everybody, is anybody going to use a Swamp Rat knife to carve up the ol dead bird this Thanksgiving? :D
 
Hey BE and everybody, is anybody going to use a Swamp Rat knife to carve up the ol dead bird this Thanksgiving? :D

I don't think I will as I'll be at the in-laws and that's sure to go over poorly. I'm generally not a turkey person so maybe the wife and I will get a chicken and that will change that a little.

The RW has been getting neglected the past couple weeks with the carving of the name plates and then general crappiness of the rain/snow/shnit that has been pretty non-stop the past weeks. I'm hoping to get out this weekend along with finishing up the re-grind on the rucki. Even though we had all the rain recently, it's been cold enough at night I think the marsh is going to start freezing over so I'll be in good shape soon to start exploring those hard to reach spots I was getting to last winter.
 
I know what you mean brother. It seems like to me that while I've been out of commission for 5 weeks....winter snuck up. We had 2 tenths of an inch of freezing rain followed by a coating of snow.
WHAT HAPPENED TO FALL? We have green and autumn colored leaves falling off the tree at the same time. Even today. They're usually mostly down by Halloween. What's going on?
 
Sounds like we got the same storm Uncle Timbo Uncle Timbo . Helped a neighbor with downed branches and leaf cleanup this morning. Got to break in my GB Small Forest Axe too. :D

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The GB chops really well for its size, but I quickly realized how spoiled I've become using choppers all the time. More control, less fatiguing, longer edge, etc... Will be interesting to do some side by side work between the GB and my BB13.

As an aside, I just got a 12" Parang sheath from Machete Specialists and it's a great fit on the Boom Parang. My tactical cardboard sheath was about worn out lol. I'd love to deck out all of my blades in custom leather and kydex, but it gets expensize fast and this seems like a great budget option in the meantime.
 
Sounds like we got the same storm Uncle Timbo Uncle Timbo . Helped a neighbor with downed branches and leaf cleanup this morning. Got to break in my GB Small Forest Axe too. :D

2ebftc4.jpg


The GB chops really well for its size, but I quickly realized how spoiled I've become using choppers all the time. More control, less fatiguing, longer edge, etc... Will be interesting to do some side by side work between the GB and my BB13.

As an aside, I just got a 12" Parang sheath from Machete Specialists and it's a great fit on the Boom Parang. My tactical cardboard sheath was about worn out lol. I'd love to deck out all of my blades in custom leather and kydex, but it gets expensize fast and this seems like a great budget option in the meantime.

The cost nice sheaths does add up fast. I've discovered that a lot of the ontario nylon sheaths can be had for very cheap from Knifecenter for an upgrade from the cardboard. I have my 911 in a RTAK II sheath and my 311 in a Rat 3 sheath right now. My swamp rats have leather and/or kydex but there is a fair amount of sizes available for the ontartio knives since it includes some of their SP-series knives. Not sure any would be big enough for the BB13 though.
 
I got a little exploring in this morning but I was sure as heck glad I grabbed some free, used rubber boots from work last week. It was a slop fest. But, I was able to get some time to get outside for a little bit at least before sitting in front of the computer for homework. And the ratweiler got to play a little bit too.

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Watched this cute, noisey little booger eat nuts for a few minutes.
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Cleared out a little path to another spot on the water for a little sight-seeing/look-out point. I always try to see if I can spot some fish in the streams but I've only ever snuck up on one during steelhead season. I have to think there would be some suckers or other bottom feeders in the area though. Squeezed the RW in the bottom ;)
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Other random things I felt like taking pictures of
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Clearing up a little brush that I found myself on the wrong side of trying to get back out of the woods with an older trail.
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The cost nice sheaths does add up fast. I've discovered that a lot of the ontario nylon sheaths can be had for very cheap from Knifecenter for an upgrade from the cardboard. I have my 911 in a RTAK II sheath and my 311 in a Rat 3 sheath right now. My swamp rats have leather and/or kydex but there is a fair amount of sizes available for the ontartio knives since it includes some of their SP-series knives. Not sure any would be big enough for the BB13 though.

That's a good tip, thx. I hope to find a decent inexpensive ambi/lefty sheath that could fit my Hell Razor, TGSE, and DS8 sometime soon.
 
I got a little exploring in this morning but I was sure as heck glad I grabbed some free, used rubber boots from work last week. It was a slop fest. But, I was able to get some time to get outside for a little bit at least before sitting in front of the computer for homework. And the ratweiler got to play a little bit too.

G9Eeexxl.jpg


Watched this cute, noisey little booger eat nuts for a few minutes.
Ge5bi6Il.jpg

c1A1IUAl.jpg

aJdjdiXl.jpg


Cleared out a little path to another spot on the water for a little sight-seeing/look-out point. I always try to see if I can spot some fish in the streams but I've only ever snuck up on one during steelhead season. I have to think there would be some suckers or other bottom feeders in the area though. Squeezed the RW in the bottom ;)
SPvx6I2l.jpg

upzbRcCl.jpg


Other random things I felt like taking pictures of
5o28KDRl.jpg

4HqxXiLl.jpg

KOquHunl.jpg


Clearing up a little brush that I found myself on the wrong side of trying to get back out of the woods with an older trail.
yqlhLygl.jpg
That Ratweiker is quite the Ham. She somehow finds a way to squirm onto most every picture. I love that about her.
Keep up the good work BE.
 
Happy to report, finally got a nice edge on the full cutting surface of the rucki (still not super sharp in the tip/belly) and this thing will chop like mad. No pics because I finished getting things satisfactory right before dark so I ran out as fast as I could and start beating up my wood pile. It was a good 5 minutes of unfocused wood processing. Sucks how long it took but it feels nice getting a job well done.

I have to imagine I'll redeem myself for the lack of pictures in this post later this weekend... at the RW will probably sneak into a few of those too :). Gonna be a good week.
 
bikerector bikerector almost has me convinced to take the plunge and make my Rucki a user, but in the meantime I busted out the 1311 to continue storm cleanup around here. Chopping up branches, etc. Other blades had been getting all the love for so long that I almost forgot how awesome the "Mother of All Dogs" really is...

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(old pic)

Sometimes I think I need to sell off a few of my 'kin. Then I start pulling them out and the reality that there's no frackin way sets in. :thumbsup: :D
 
bikerector bikerector almost has me convinced to take the plunge and make my Rucki a user, but in the meantime I busted out the 1311 to continue storm cleanup around here. Chopping up branches, etc. Other blades had been getting all the love for so long that I almost forgot how awesome the "Mother of All Dogs" really is...

5cadcn.jpg
(old pic)

Sometimes I think I need to sell off a few of my 'kin. Then I start pulling them out and the reality that there's no frackin way sets in. :thumbsup: :D

You may like my plans for the rest of this morning then. It's already on the belt with my 911 and an HI kuhkri for a little testing and exploring.
 
Short little trip through the woods to chop out a little connector trail to bypass some of the areas that keep flooding out on me. It was a beautiful fall day. Unfortunately that meant I needed to get some work done around the house but I was still able to snag a few photos before getting to the less fun work.

Started with a little brush clearing. The rucki blends right in.
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Looks like the path is blocked. Good thing there was this dead tree to hold my tools while I weaseled in to clear things up.
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Figured I would sneak the new-ish Bk62 in there since he was along for the ride while the rucki did the lion's share of the work today
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I did find some time for a little chop-off
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Marking the new trail with the 4 blades, kuhkri at the end right before a turn down the creek bank to connect to my older trail.
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And then some glamour shots of the good views
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rucki just hanging around on the job
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Relaxing in the sun for a well earned break before heading back home
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Started breaking down some of the larger branches I collected from the ice storm into firewood sized pieces in the garage this morning.

The BB13 is intense. Just devastating on green wood, no need to go full bore with it on relatively light work. Always super-conscious about the path of the blade and overall safety when I swing this thing, any mishap with it would be horrific. :eek:

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One batch before I moved it onto the pile to season:
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Started breaking down some of the larger branches I collected from the ice storm into firewood sized pieces in the garage this morning.

The BB13 is intense. Just devastating on green wood, no need to go full bore with it on relatively light work. Always super-conscious about the path of the blade and overall safety when I swing this thing, any mishap with it would be horrific. :eek:

azcpzt.jpg


One batch before I moved it onto the pile to season:
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That thing looks brutal. Nice!
 
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