Your DREAM Fiddleback

Well currently , I'm looking for a sneaky pete in stainless 5/32 or 1/8. With some nice shadetree burlap. Preferably with no swedge. I want to try one for edc. My Vic farmer for small stuff and the sneaky for the heavy chores. Also last ditch defense too I guess. I was thinking of an inside the waistband sheath with a clip, so it would be relatively secure and quickly removed.
 
Bumpity bump. Always nice to dream & look forward to Fridays. Maybe some fanatics have changed their ideas & maybe some newbies would like to share their dreams.

Looks like Andy & crew have been busy this week!

I came across this interesting post from Dylan while researching the KPH model. It's Dylan's reply on Andy saying he is average & his thoughts on what makes Andy's knives so damn good. It's an older post from '09 but still a great read & I hope Dylan doesn't mind I post it up:

Fiddleback said:
Thanks bro. But look around. What is average?? I think I'm about average. There are masters enough to fill rows and rows of tables at Blade Show. Now, I did see some work that isn't as good as mine at the show. But, I'm in the middle there.
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Fletcher Knives said:
Sarah and I were actually discussing this last night. She asked me how good I think my knives are going to turn out from the run I'm about to do. I said, "well hopefully, since spending as much time as I do trying to emulate Andy's handles, I'll be able to do a handle about 60% as good as his. My blade designs are good. If it all falls into place, I think they'll turn out pretty damn good." Then she said, "what makes Andy's knives so good?" I said, "His blades are practical. They aren't some fancy bullshit. They work. That's what they're designed for. Then you've got those f@#$ing handles. They are second to none. Most of the knifemakers out there that make user knives have a very simple handle that is just rounded off to keep from creating hotspots. Show knives with awesome handles always either have some exotic handle material or blade design that keeps them from being something you could use without crying the whole time. Not to mention they cost a f@#$ing fortune. Andy's knives are the only knives out there that combine a practical user knife with a handle that rivals, if not totally beats, any handle on any show knife that's made out of a material you could use." Then she asked me if I needed a cigarette after that description. I told her to shut up. Women really have a way of making you sound gay just because you can appreciate someone else's work. ...Well that and I was rubbing my nipples the whole time.:eek:

Bottom line is. For us that use knives and don't just look at them from a collectable standpoint, you don't give your knives or your skills enough credit. Do you realise how hard it is for me now when designing a knife to make sure it isn't a damn woodsman or an EDC when I'm done drawing? Your handles and practical blades f@#$in brainwash people.
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Good bump essublime! That quote of Dylan's is spot on.

Wow, it's cool to look back at this and see what I was dreaming about a year ago. This still holds true:

My dream Fiddleback changes every time I open this forum and see the pictures.
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Since then, I've acquired quite a few of my dream Fiddlebacks.

Something I've been dreaming about for a while but not sure when I'll be able to do it even if one comes up is a Camp Knife.
 
I'm right there with Thurin -- I'm in the hunt for a camp knife, then I'm done for a while (sharks rejoice)!

Although... it would be nice if said camp knife were to be: 3/16 O1, tapered SFT, desert ironwood over natural canvas, with a blue pinstripe; to match my woodsman & HB of course! Heck, if such a knife were to surface, there would probably be quite a few of my FBFs appearing on the exchange as a sacrificial offering the the camp knife gods :D!
 
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Hmmm. If i dream big, I'd like to see a Duke size (5.5") KPH in maroon linen. Probably not the most practical blade but would exude raw sexiness.

Realistically i'd like a Stainless Duke with a purple Kirinite handle.
 
Bushfinger, Duke, hiking buddy, kephart or Sneaky Pete- any thickness raindrop Damascus, tapered tang, convex, highly figured Koa over thin blue G10, over shadetree burlap with mosaic pins. And a partridge in a pear tree...
 
Ok guys, I have a big problem. For me lately the dream Fiddleback has been the one I could nab. I bought 2 on my first Friday while sharking, I skipped a week, I bought one late on the third Friday since I started sharking (last Friday, I wanted a Bushraptor) and now this week I have two more catch and releases coming, and it is not Friday yet. One of them was my first choice of an EDCII on my first Friday that I was too late on, and the other is an F2 that has matching tuxedo handle to the catch and release EDCII I have coming. And I don't even hunt or fish anymore as a hobby. I want to, but time always slips away. Luckily I own some rather good, large knives for hard use, so I have been focusing on the smaller blades, <4" for EDC, light field work and SD applications.

So my dream Fiddleback today is the one that I can nab. Do any of you have a psychology/psychiatry background and can advise me as to what I can do about it? I have herd it said that the first step toward recovery is admitting that you have a problem. So here it is guys and gals: my name is Walt, and I am a Fiddleback addict.
 
solid4ever said:
We've all seen Museum quality knives; ornately figured and impossibly engraved but the stuff Andy does (and other amazing forgers like him) are the ones that really pique my interest. It really is a blend of form and function. Beauty and purpose. Too much decoration and it loses the sense of function. Too plain and it is reduced to it's caveman like "toolness". Thurin mentioned his sister in laws fear when she saw a spyderco. Would a Karda inspire that same feeling? A smaller case folder? A micarta handle on a knife is pretty but functional. Change it to a burl and it's still functional but now adds an heirloom quality to it.

It's such a subtle balance.
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Great post Andrew & thanks for starting this thread.

solid4ever said:
I'm not a fan of thick ladies
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Me either...

MajorD said:
Bone handled Nessmuk would absolutely rock!
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Would be cool to see some bone handled stuff!

geargeek said:
So far my favorite is my full height convex 5/32 bushcrafter; it also has a slightly pointier tip than standard, it is a terrific knife. Now if it were in stainless....
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Would love to see a pic of that one geargeek; a pointy Bushcrafter. I love pointy & the Bushcraftter handle is one of my favs.

rustycurtis said:
Chap-

Not bolstered but it does have the curly q. What do you think? These are two of my three (I've got an African blackwood EDKarda not pictured)

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Rusty, that's one of the nicer wood handled Woodsman I've seen!

awestib said:
I wonder if Andy is reading our liking at all?
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I often wonder this as well...

rustycurtis said:
Glad you like it, Heber. This actually was my dream Fiddleback. It's funny how once you have your dream Fiddleback, you immediately look forward to you next one. We live in Provo by the way.
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I have been fortunate enough to acquire a few "dream" Fiddlebacks myself so my original post is ever changing & doesn't seem to be getting any smaller either!

Talfuchre said:
I had a dream Fiddleback. Then I designed one - and he made it.

Still the highlight in my knife using career. ;)
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That's about as good as it gets Tal!

solid4ever said:
Been a while since we visited this one. Some new handle treatments (skeletonized), some new models (new nessmuk, woodchuck), some new materials (pinecone). Has your requests changed??
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Haven't seen any of that pinecone in quite sometime. That red pinecone Sneaky Pete was bad to the bone!

willic said:
I dream of Bow Legged Choppers....
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I believe you scored one of those. You gotta have almost every model at this point Will!:D

mistwalker said:
Ok, since the advent of the new fiddle stamp and a couple of other thoughts, I do now have a dream Fiddleback. A Woodchuck, tapered tang 5/32" O-1, 3/4 height convex grind, beefy handle with black bolsters and antique canvas scales, stainless, mosaic, and carbon fiber pins, and that fiddle stamp on the blade in the same location as the one in the teaser pic in this weeks Friday batch :)
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That fiddle stamp was gone as fast as it came. That Arete with the stamp was a beauty!

willic said:
Boy, a 1/8" Woodsman would be nice in the kitchen!
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That would be super cool to see!

The Camp knife seems to be a popular model in this dream thread. I would like to get my hands on one someday as well.

Now a Fiddleback folder would be insane to see someday. Always can dream...right?
 
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The dream changes often. Currently its a scandi ED karda to match the terassaur that I just picked up. Nat can over black with an orange pinstripe (or what I call "harvest " config)!
 
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Eric,

This is a cool thread! It is really cool to see what my targets were in the past!!! I come up with strange use/justifications, I wish I could remember what those all were at the time! LOL

-Will
 
You are so right, Nathan! WOW, this is a cool thread, and makes me miss some good buddies, who are on a knife hiatus.
 
Hmmm, Camp Nessie TT in SS with a sharpened top edge for striking a firesteel. Through in some "Magma" scales, Electric Orange, or Pine Cone and I would be over the moon. Wouldn't be anymore question about what would accompany the machete on my outings into the jungle.
 
Mistwalker's significant other's bolstered scandi Hiking Buddy is probably my most coveted one, with Thurin's scandi HB not that far behind it.

I'd also really like a scandi Big Sneaky, preferable around or just over 3mm thick with a tapered tang and a nice burl handle, but I don't think one like that was ever made.

And then of course there's this one...

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But I'm also very happy with my eucalyptus burl Bushboot. It's been my EDC knife since I got her and it's kinda like a dream come true. I've been looking for a knife like this ever since I started to get in to knives as a little boy. Small enough so I can always have it on me yet big enough to do almost everything I need it to.

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Now that Andy and crew have started using more 3/16 stock, my dream FB has changed. Now I want a KE Bushie in 3/16, with a full height grind and a tapered tang, OD scales, and orange liners :)
 
I'd love a Camp Nessie in CPM 154, TT, 5/32", Sapphire Blue Shadetree with black liners and orange pinstripes!

That right there's my dream Fiddleback. Maybe I can borrow a pair of ruby red shoes and click the heels together . . .
 
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