Well, to my surprise, I was called on to teach a primitive camping series in the beautiful woods of Alabama this weekend. Decided to take My YCS out of the box and test her for the weekend.
Had approximately 20 young people aged 9 - 17 with me and took my beloved 20" Angkhola for backup. After makng camp, Proceeded to the woods to gather fuel for fire. Gathered several pieces of deadwood on the ground, and found excuse to harvest some of the dead trees still standing....
....(namely needed to feel the thud of my ycs on fresh meat).
The YCS performed pretty well on all but the hardest seasoned trees. Think this was due to my poor edge preperation as I was called at the last possible moment to substitute for another instructor. The Angkhola was its usual bad _ _ _ self. Destroying everything in its path.
Chopped several trees appoximately 5-6" in diameter with the YCS with no problem, though the vibration was a little more noticeable than chopping with the Angkhola, but I expected this so no problem.
Several of the other instructors stood amazed at the speed with which the YCS dispatched some of the older trees. Especially since many of them were using hatchets that did little more than place serious dents in the trees.
One instructor even bought a machete which he bragged pretty hard about,claiming its supeiority over the shorter khuks for such harsh environments, but which did even worse than the poor axe on the trees. I did take a swing or two with the machete for comparison, and annoyingly flung it to the ground, as the vibrations were horrid and the bite even worse, mostly just glancing off the wood (And the machete was razor sharp). Quickly picked up the YCS to continue preparing for nightfall and the awesome fire to come.
After an hour or so, my older kids returned to the camp complaining about the axes they had been issued, and requested the use of my YCS and Angkhola to finish their wood gathering. With GREAT RELUCTANCE, I conceded after showing them how to properly cut with the khuks and observing several of them at work.
Needless to say, several trees found themselves hitched to their young hips being dragged back to camp with grinning faces pulling the load..
Several requested additional time to bring in more timber and fights then ensued as to who would get to use the khuks. By the end of the day, we had more timber than we could use, and another round of arguments broke out as to who would get to cut the timber into logs.
It's amazing brothers, as I have never had these type of groups argue about who would get to go cut and gather wood. Usually the argument revolves around not wanting to go gather wood.
The kids were a bit anxious about sleeping on the ground without tents in open forest, but had a great time. They are usually more cooperative than the adults.
All fingers came back to camp in one piece and their was plenty of wood for the night, though I did notice some changes in my YCS. There was a chip in the top of the knife near the tip and the edge had rolled just a bit. I tried pushing it back with the chakma from my Angkhola to no effect. This clarifies my answer to those who request to borrow my YCS on future outings: NO!
Regretably I eventually ended up putting a file to the rolled edge and taking off a minimal amount of metal. I'm pretty sure this was a result of hitting some seasoned wood with the tip rather than the belly of the blade. The wood out there that had been sitting on the ground was pretty hard. I will finish touching up this chink later this week.
The biggest concern I had with the YCS is cracks that have appeared at the tops of five diamond inlays starting from the bolster and ending at the very tip of each diamond.
One of the five is on the left hand side diamond inlay located on the rear of the handle. It is by far the widest crack and I am uncertain as to how to handle it. The others are pretty much just hairline cracks of varying widths, but all concern me as I would like to keep this knife for a long time with the inlays and handle intact. This is the only dissapointing facet of the field usage for me.
Need some advice from you honorable men as to how to remedy this. Thought to putty it, but unsure. By the way, the edge on the YCS and ANG came back just as sharp as it was when we began. I have already sharpened the YCS better than it was before we left in preparation for my scheduled wilderness seminar this coming weekend with a large group of adults, but uncertain as to whether I can take my YCS. I really like this knife and its tools.
The small kardas were invaluable on this last trek, doing all kind of duties. From cutting open noodle packs and cans to shaving bark for eating utensils and forming primitive tools and structures. ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS KNIFE AND ITS TOOLS!.
Bill, I am certain you will have several calls, orders, and inquiries in the upcoming weeks as several parents have been given your number and address at the request of their children. Also several counselors tell me they will be placing orders and thowing away their feeble axes...
I know that the effect will be even more profound this coming weekend, as the upcoming seminar will be even more advanced with the adults requiring more woodwork and primitive structure building.
The local organization I work with (Pathfinders)Will now be openly and officially recognizing and touting your knives for what they are: the best knives made for survival/camping situations and all around work.
Hope this wasn't too long, and hope you get the picture. Need advice on repairing cracks and what you think the prognosis is for the life of this knife.
Overall, I think this knife is one of the best you offer. Acceptable weight load in the field, best set of tools for the field. I will still continue to take my Angkhola for back up and excessively heavy chores but the YCS has earned a permanent place on my survival belt/kit. great knife,great performer.
By the way, caught one of the kids trying to chop large rocks with the Angkhola, issued a few stern words of heated rebuke. But amazingly my 20" baby had absolutely no damage, and the edge was and still is razor sharp.
Shalom
Had approximately 20 young people aged 9 - 17 with me and took my beloved 20" Angkhola for backup. After makng camp, Proceeded to the woods to gather fuel for fire. Gathered several pieces of deadwood on the ground, and found excuse to harvest some of the dead trees still standing....
The YCS performed pretty well on all but the hardest seasoned trees. Think this was due to my poor edge preperation as I was called at the last possible moment to substitute for another instructor. The Angkhola was its usual bad _ _ _ self. Destroying everything in its path.
Chopped several trees appoximately 5-6" in diameter with the YCS with no problem, though the vibration was a little more noticeable than chopping with the Angkhola, but I expected this so no problem.
Several of the other instructors stood amazed at the speed with which the YCS dispatched some of the older trees. Especially since many of them were using hatchets that did little more than place serious dents in the trees.
One instructor even bought a machete which he bragged pretty hard about,claiming its supeiority over the shorter khuks for such harsh environments, but which did even worse than the poor axe on the trees. I did take a swing or two with the machete for comparison, and annoyingly flung it to the ground, as the vibrations were horrid and the bite even worse, mostly just glancing off the wood (And the machete was razor sharp). Quickly picked up the YCS to continue preparing for nightfall and the awesome fire to come.
After an hour or so, my older kids returned to the camp complaining about the axes they had been issued, and requested the use of my YCS and Angkhola to finish their wood gathering. With GREAT RELUCTANCE, I conceded after showing them how to properly cut with the khuks and observing several of them at work.
Needless to say, several trees found themselves hitched to their young hips being dragged back to camp with grinning faces pulling the load..
It's amazing brothers, as I have never had these type of groups argue about who would get to go cut and gather wood. Usually the argument revolves around not wanting to go gather wood.
The kids were a bit anxious about sleeping on the ground without tents in open forest, but had a great time. They are usually more cooperative than the adults.
All fingers came back to camp in one piece and their was plenty of wood for the night, though I did notice some changes in my YCS. There was a chip in the top of the knife near the tip and the edge had rolled just a bit. I tried pushing it back with the chakma from my Angkhola to no effect. This clarifies my answer to those who request to borrow my YCS on future outings: NO!
Regretably I eventually ended up putting a file to the rolled edge and taking off a minimal amount of metal. I'm pretty sure this was a result of hitting some seasoned wood with the tip rather than the belly of the blade. The wood out there that had been sitting on the ground was pretty hard. I will finish touching up this chink later this week.
The biggest concern I had with the YCS is cracks that have appeared at the tops of five diamond inlays starting from the bolster and ending at the very tip of each diamond.
One of the five is on the left hand side diamond inlay located on the rear of the handle. It is by far the widest crack and I am uncertain as to how to handle it. The others are pretty much just hairline cracks of varying widths, but all concern me as I would like to keep this knife for a long time with the inlays and handle intact. This is the only dissapointing facet of the field usage for me.
Need some advice from you honorable men as to how to remedy this. Thought to putty it, but unsure. By the way, the edge on the YCS and ANG came back just as sharp as it was when we began. I have already sharpened the YCS better than it was before we left in preparation for my scheduled wilderness seminar this coming weekend with a large group of adults, but uncertain as to whether I can take my YCS. I really like this knife and its tools.
The small kardas were invaluable on this last trek, doing all kind of duties. From cutting open noodle packs and cans to shaving bark for eating utensils and forming primitive tools and structures. ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS KNIFE AND ITS TOOLS!.
Bill, I am certain you will have several calls, orders, and inquiries in the upcoming weeks as several parents have been given your number and address at the request of their children. Also several counselors tell me they will be placing orders and thowing away their feeble axes...
I know that the effect will be even more profound this coming weekend, as the upcoming seminar will be even more advanced with the adults requiring more woodwork and primitive structure building.
The local organization I work with (Pathfinders)Will now be openly and officially recognizing and touting your knives for what they are: the best knives made for survival/camping situations and all around work.
Hope this wasn't too long, and hope you get the picture. Need advice on repairing cracks and what you think the prognosis is for the life of this knife.
Overall, I think this knife is one of the best you offer. Acceptable weight load in the field, best set of tools for the field. I will still continue to take my Angkhola for back up and excessively heavy chores but the YCS has earned a permanent place on my survival belt/kit. great knife,great performer.
By the way, caught one of the kids trying to chop large rocks with the Angkhola, issued a few stern words of heated rebuke. But amazingly my 20" baby had absolutely no damage, and the edge was and still is razor sharp.
Shalom
