Once a week or once every two weeks a question regarding knives is brought up here, im greatfull to have this place to share knowledge but most of all to receive wisdom from others.
My personal evolution of bushcraft and my approach has changed over the years as i have found things to be more simple, i have had the opportunity to see with my own eyes tribes in Nepal and India lighting fires with kits that are available to us these days almost like a shelf product.
An Original from Leh, Ladakh India
One made by myself
During my travels i have seen many different tools and many different ways of using these tools,and yet no matter the grind, size or type of handle it always seemed to me that the tool in hand of the craftsmen had done a superb job. A good example for this are the houses built in a small village Called Taal in Nepal using wood and a Kukri knife as the only working tool.
During a SERE course in the Israeli Air force we were given these knives, they had a red handle and some funky markings on the blade- a scale of some sort for some weird reason
This knife is the one i have always gone back to and helped me become more of the Bushcrafter i am today.(i hope that is a title i am worthy for),Bottom knife was my first attempt at handling a knife.
I went on becoming an instructor for my unit and served there for almost five years, teaching the importance of the wild lands and of nature(mostly specializing in desert and dry climates).
So when the questions of what tool? what Grind? What price? come up i always love to hear some of the answers.My own evoluotion has been an amzing experience, growing and maturing to realize that the knife i had started out with was the perfect tool for the job even today. At the time it seemed dinky and knowing that there were handmade beauties out there i was jealous. When funds became larger I Purchased some blades to handle my self, thus having a hand made beauty.
My Instructors knife- Showing that anything can be done with such a small knife to my students has always been the best part of the first two orientation weeks.
We purchased about twenty of these for all the instructors and cycled the red blades threw the courses,Thanks to a member of this forum mine also got a special treatment of a sheath.
(today a similar knife made by Mora specifically for the Israeli air force is issued to any soldier that graduates the four month SERE course)
I try to answer some of these questions myself when they come up since many can argue that the steel can be better and construction can be stronger. I myself love my three custom knives not only because i had the opportunity to handle them and sheath them myself but because they are sincerely amazing tools, the grinds-flawless, the steel extraordinary.
(01 with turkish walnut on top,52100 with american walnut in the middle,52100 with red oak on bottom all blades made for me by FGYT handled by myself)
Bottom two are my two new favorites and all around best carrying knives IMHO.
So obviously it is the "man who makes the tool work" and not the other way around, i would say my answer to these questions and bottom line- if you are starting out and learning new craft skills in the bush, learning how to handle a knife and to treat it with respect- go out and get a Mora/Hultafors etc. If you are somewhere in that mid range crafty and yet experienced(where i find myself) then go out and make your own, http://vimeo.com/album/1577465- this is an excellent way and i have tried it myself
If you are part of that third group that has been crafting and in the field for years, go out and but a Mora. (i dont mean to give you advice)
Spending lots of money on your knife seems pointless to me, i am glad to see that there are people like FGYT(DorsetWoodlandBlades) and Matt(fieldcrafter)who create these amazing tools and yet ask for a fair price knowing that they are creating a tool and not a collectible or show piece.I would like to thanks makers like these and can only wish and hope that you stay the way you are.
But more importantly go out there stay safe and have a good time, connect back to what nature is today, it might not be the same tomorrow.
This Upcoming sunday i will be going home(israel)for the first time in two years after circling the Globe(more or less), i have enjoyed every bit of my travels and although one can be quite lonely when travelling and moving like a nomad, this forum has always stayed my community during this period of time.
Thank you for that.
Mikey
My personal evolution of bushcraft and my approach has changed over the years as i have found things to be more simple, i have had the opportunity to see with my own eyes tribes in Nepal and India lighting fires with kits that are available to us these days almost like a shelf product.
An Original from Leh, Ladakh India
One made by myself
During my travels i have seen many different tools and many different ways of using these tools,and yet no matter the grind, size or type of handle it always seemed to me that the tool in hand of the craftsmen had done a superb job. A good example for this are the houses built in a small village Called Taal in Nepal using wood and a Kukri knife as the only working tool.
During a SERE course in the Israeli Air force we were given these knives, they had a red handle and some funky markings on the blade- a scale of some sort for some weird reason
This knife is the one i have always gone back to and helped me become more of the Bushcrafter i am today.(i hope that is a title i am worthy for),Bottom knife was my first attempt at handling a knife.
I went on becoming an instructor for my unit and served there for almost five years, teaching the importance of the wild lands and of nature(mostly specializing in desert and dry climates).
So when the questions of what tool? what Grind? What price? come up i always love to hear some of the answers.My own evoluotion has been an amzing experience, growing and maturing to realize that the knife i had started out with was the perfect tool for the job even today. At the time it seemed dinky and knowing that there were handmade beauties out there i was jealous. When funds became larger I Purchased some blades to handle my self, thus having a hand made beauty.
My Instructors knife- Showing that anything can be done with such a small knife to my students has always been the best part of the first two orientation weeks.
We purchased about twenty of these for all the instructors and cycled the red blades threw the courses,Thanks to a member of this forum mine also got a special treatment of a sheath.
(today a similar knife made by Mora specifically for the Israeli air force is issued to any soldier that graduates the four month SERE course)
I try to answer some of these questions myself when they come up since many can argue that the steel can be better and construction can be stronger. I myself love my three custom knives not only because i had the opportunity to handle them and sheath them myself but because they are sincerely amazing tools, the grinds-flawless, the steel extraordinary.
(01 with turkish walnut on top,52100 with american walnut in the middle,52100 with red oak on bottom all blades made for me by FGYT handled by myself)
Bottom two are my two new favorites and all around best carrying knives IMHO.
So obviously it is the "man who makes the tool work" and not the other way around, i would say my answer to these questions and bottom line- if you are starting out and learning new craft skills in the bush, learning how to handle a knife and to treat it with respect- go out and get a Mora/Hultafors etc. If you are somewhere in that mid range crafty and yet experienced(where i find myself) then go out and make your own, http://vimeo.com/album/1577465- this is an excellent way and i have tried it myself
If you are part of that third group that has been crafting and in the field for years, go out and but a Mora
. (i dont mean to give you advice) Spending lots of money on your knife seems pointless to me, i am glad to see that there are people like FGYT(DorsetWoodlandBlades) and Matt(fieldcrafter)who create these amazing tools and yet ask for a fair price knowing that they are creating a tool and not a collectible or show piece.I would like to thanks makers like these and can only wish and hope that you stay the way you are.
But more importantly go out there stay safe and have a good time, connect back to what nature is today, it might not be the same tomorrow.
This Upcoming sunday i will be going home(israel)for the first time in two years after circling the Globe(more or less
), i have enjoyed every bit of my travels and although one can be quite lonely when travelling and moving like a nomad, this forum has always stayed my community during this period of time. Thank you for that.
Mikey
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