Norwegian camping trip tanto pics

A customer from Finland sent me a couple of pictures of his tanto being used to baton firewood and clean fish on a recent camping and hunting trip in Norway.

 

 

These two tasks are kind of opposite ends of the spectrum.  Awesome to see the knife doing both well!

Mean Little Sucker tanto, bushcraft knife, plus carry pics

A couple of knives that went out into the world not too long back.  Forged 80CrV2, approximately 6 1/2" blades, marine epoxy-impregnated paracord handles, Kydex sheaths.  The usual from me.  :)

First up is a long drop point bushcraft knife that went to a bushcraft school owner.  Blackthorn USA

Then a Mean Little Sucker tanto to a LEO.

 

And some pics that past customers have sent me recently of their blades set up on their gear.

A Ranger sniper.

A Texas SWAT team member.

And a fellow who helped with dealing with Hurricane Harvey's aftermath took this prototype Fire Chief rescue 'hawk with him.

Thark bush swords

These are a couple of bush swords I forged at the same time that are kind of linked in my mind, though they went to different customers.  The top one was ordered up by a fellow on an archery forum who was directed my way by a guy who uses blades extensively, who wanted an 18" blade.  The bottom one was a first for me in that the customer had no e-mail or smart phone that I could send him pictures of it before shipping it.  He had based his decision to ask for a bush sword from me on an article by Joe Flowers in the final issue of the lamentably-out-of-print Tactical Knives magazine.  Since it had been several years since I had made the blades for that article, I let the customer know that what he got would, of course, be a bit different and hopefully better.

What links them in my mind is that when I had forged them out and had them laying side-by-side, I immediately saw them as Barsoomian short swords being wielded in the lower limbs of a Thark to ward off any blows that might slip through larger, longer-range weapons wielded by the top pair of arms.  Very different blade shapes, but kindred spirits, if you will.

These are also a jumping-off point for me as I have been making bush swords for years now with integral socket handles.  While I still feel that they make great handles if done correctly, I think that I have refined my multi-layer cord wrapping technique to the point that it is more comfortable than what I am able to do with the integral sockets.  I still built them with Turk's head knots fore and aft to provide a good mechanical lock in the hand.

The longer blade has a black-over-black wrap and a thin false edge that could have a secondary bevel added to sharpen it.  The customer initially wanted a 21" blade, but I felt that I could give him better balance at 18" and he let me go ahead.

We set up his Kydex sheath for baldric carry, with a double-adjustable, quick-detach shoulder sling like I use on my tomahawk sheaths.

I believe the blade may have picked up a bit of negative sori during the quench as the slight recurve seems more pronounced in the post-heat treatment photos.

The shorter bush sword has a 15 1/2" blade.  The top edge is fully sharpened.

The wrap is tan over black, with a tan Kydex sheath.

I have to say that I firmly believe that the customer got a better bush sword than the one in the article that caught his attention.  He was certainly happy with it.  Couldn't ask for more than that.  :)

Hurricane 'hawks

I'm honored to know that at least three of my tomahawks have been used by folks dealing with the recent hurricanes, two in the area hit by Harvey and one in the cleanup of Irma.

 

This 15" Woodsman was used by my brother-in-law (not the guy pictured with it) as part of the Cajun Navy helping folks in east Texas.  In this pic, they're tapping to see if there is anyone trapped in the attic.

 

 

The second one is a prototype rescue ax dubbed my "Fire Chief" model.  This was bought by a fellow who is prominent in Second Amendment matters here in Texas.  I have not yet designed the sheath tooling for it, but he has a Kydex sheath business and built his own.  He headed east to help out folks in high water.

And finally, an 18" War Chief helping clear out downed trees in Florida after Irma moved on.

And my own small way of helping out was to donate this 6 1/2" bladed drop point knife to my church's silent auction fundraiser to assist victims of Harvey.

Bring Your Own Bowie

I was off at the USN Gathering knife show the day of the Bring Your Own Bowie at the Alamo, but Knife Rights ended up postponing the event due to Hurricane Harvey anyway.  Some local knife makers and enthusiasts came anyway.