- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
- Messages
- 1,236
I am a pretty simple guy. I find things that work for me and I use them. When I have a set of tasks, I pick tools that I think will help, then I experiment with different ones to see what works best. After a while, I end up settling on a particular tool that seems to work for me, and I get myself set up with that tool, or that type of tool.
A good example is the M14. Years ago I decided I wanted a rifle that was non-restricted in this country, capable of putting down animals up to a few hundred pounds at any distance I think I'm good enough to shoot at - rarely over 250 m, but with an upper limit of maybe 800 m, not that I would hunt at that range. I want fast reloads in the event of using it as a defensive rifle, so that means mag fed. Semi auto also seems practical.
After toying around with various rifles for a while, I got my hands on my first Norinco M14. That's the tool for the job. I have five M14s now, but I really only need a couple. The others are just for fun and a couple of them are only half built anyway. Further experience led me to the 18.5" barrel and the USGI fiberglass stock...then the NM spring guide, and M1 sights. I now feel as though I am done on defensive rifles. I don't really need anything else, and whatever I buy now is just for grins.
But this isn't a gun forum. It's a knife forum.
I have been using knives - mainly fixed blades - a lot, since I was a little kid. I guess I was lucky to grow up with a deranged hermit of a father, because I always had knives and carved and whittled and cut things from when I was quite young...I probably had a childhood more like someone raised eighty years ago than someone raised in the nineteen eighties!
Like a lot of heavy knife users, I ran across Moras pretty early on. I think we always had a few in the house and they are, of course, great cutters. It's a good shape for a knife, bit of belly, good geometry for slicing, comfy handle...I have never wanted all that much more. Just maybe a little more durability, not that I've ever really hurt one. But if you couldn't get another knife, you'd maybe want something just a little tougher. The carbon steel is pretty good. Maybe tool steel would be just a bit better, though.
But the basic proportions are about right. I don't really go for wide blades...to unweildy as you cut. Only really good for chopping. Don't like thick blades, either...my Scrapyard Guard is thick (and wide) and it's not particularly useful, really.
No, I just wanted something like a Mora, but better. Like a Mora on steroids.
So I started a thread asking for suggestions. I got a lot of good advice. One knife I considered right off the bat was a Bark River Aurora, and ultimately that's what I bought, with black and green linen micarta handles. It arrived today.
I was concerned about the convex grind that the Aurora has...shouldn't have worried. It's barely convex at all. More like a very shallow scandi grind. The blade is maybe 3/16 thick, I would say. Just about perfect...good and strong but not chunky. Proportions very much like a mora. Handle fits my hands well...could be a little bigger but it's not small to the detriment of handling and a bigger handle would be ugly. Locks up good in the hand in every cutting position I can think of that I use.
Of course it's not 20 times as good as my good old red-painted birch handled moras, and if someone were to ask what I recommend for a wilderness knife, the Mora still comes in very close to the top...but the Aurora is really the ideal wilderness knife for someone with my combination of requirements and abilities.
So that's it! I'm done. I don't need anything more than this. If you live in the Northern woods, and you have an axe and an Aurora, you are good to go.
So there you have it, guys! It will be a long time before I buy another knife...unless it's just for grins.
A good example is the M14. Years ago I decided I wanted a rifle that was non-restricted in this country, capable of putting down animals up to a few hundred pounds at any distance I think I'm good enough to shoot at - rarely over 250 m, but with an upper limit of maybe 800 m, not that I would hunt at that range. I want fast reloads in the event of using it as a defensive rifle, so that means mag fed. Semi auto also seems practical.
After toying around with various rifles for a while, I got my hands on my first Norinco M14. That's the tool for the job. I have five M14s now, but I really only need a couple. The others are just for fun and a couple of them are only half built anyway. Further experience led me to the 18.5" barrel and the USGI fiberglass stock...then the NM spring guide, and M1 sights. I now feel as though I am done on defensive rifles. I don't really need anything else, and whatever I buy now is just for grins.
But this isn't a gun forum. It's a knife forum.
I have been using knives - mainly fixed blades - a lot, since I was a little kid. I guess I was lucky to grow up with a deranged hermit of a father, because I always had knives and carved and whittled and cut things from when I was quite young...I probably had a childhood more like someone raised eighty years ago than someone raised in the nineteen eighties!
Like a lot of heavy knife users, I ran across Moras pretty early on. I think we always had a few in the house and they are, of course, great cutters. It's a good shape for a knife, bit of belly, good geometry for slicing, comfy handle...I have never wanted all that much more. Just maybe a little more durability, not that I've ever really hurt one. But if you couldn't get another knife, you'd maybe want something just a little tougher. The carbon steel is pretty good. Maybe tool steel would be just a bit better, though.
But the basic proportions are about right. I don't really go for wide blades...to unweildy as you cut. Only really good for chopping. Don't like thick blades, either...my Scrapyard Guard is thick (and wide) and it's not particularly useful, really.
No, I just wanted something like a Mora, but better. Like a Mora on steroids.
So I started a thread asking for suggestions. I got a lot of good advice. One knife I considered right off the bat was a Bark River Aurora, and ultimately that's what I bought, with black and green linen micarta handles. It arrived today.
I was concerned about the convex grind that the Aurora has...shouldn't have worried. It's barely convex at all. More like a very shallow scandi grind. The blade is maybe 3/16 thick, I would say. Just about perfect...good and strong but not chunky. Proportions very much like a mora. Handle fits my hands well...could be a little bigger but it's not small to the detriment of handling and a bigger handle would be ugly. Locks up good in the hand in every cutting position I can think of that I use.
Of course it's not 20 times as good as my good old red-painted birch handled moras, and if someone were to ask what I recommend for a wilderness knife, the Mora still comes in very close to the top...but the Aurora is really the ideal wilderness knife for someone with my combination of requirements and abilities.
So that's it! I'm done. I don't need anything more than this. If you live in the Northern woods, and you have an axe and an Aurora, you are good to go.
So there you have it, guys! It will be a long time before I buy another knife...unless it's just for grins.
) then I will be satisfied w/ those too. 
