Field Sports In Scotland Pt 4

It's all change here, I've swapped ....

This

 Yo-Zuri, Shimano Bio Master, and Rapala fishing Pliers (2nd pair I've lost - cheap and good)

For this

Rod: Greys Missionary 8'3" #5/6. Reel: Orvis Battenkill #5/6. 

Line: Hardy WF5F line. Fly: Gold Bead Hares Ear

And This

The car park at Rock-A-Nore in Hastings. East Sussex

For THIS!

Andy's private mini-loch.

Grin caused by massive improvement in casting [thanks Andy].
We're going back to work tomorrow afternoon, it's hard life being a celebrity adventure guide!

More to come
SBW

Wildlife At Birthday Party

Still feeling pretty rough after the celebrations, so I was pleased to be able to recycle this post out of one I started a while back.

I only own one hand axe, and frankly can’t see myself needing another one, but if I did get another I’d be sorely temped by the output of Gransfors Bruks.
In a world where ‘not my job’ is the cry and ‘arse covering’ the modus operandi, it’s great to hear that a company gives its people the authority to work on a piece until they are happy to put their name to it. Literally. Each axe bears the initials of the person who made it, one person. A person who actually gave a monkeys, worked on it to their satisfaction, before putting their name on it and sending it out of the factory gate.

Look on any bushcraft site and there'll be pictures of them, look on any bushcraft forum and there'll be people (OK it's mainly guys) waxing lyrical about how much they love them and the things they've made using nothing but. Other brands have spent fortunes trying to get this level of authority in their marketplace. For once 'simple things done well' have won the day. How could we make more of life like that?

So I was totally effing delighted when R&E bought me a Wildlife Hatchet for my birthday!

Here at the time of Un-Boxing are a few observations.
1. They come WAY SHARP, actually a fair bit sharper than some knives
2. They do have magic powers - there's 'just' something about them
3. The shaft-to-head fit aint perfect, but looks adequate to last the first five or ten years.
4. There's a more in depth review here
5. Mine was made by MM
6. Pablo has the next sizes up and down in his 'family' of tools
7. The Backyard Bushman has a great review here
8. The sheath is more of a guard - but making one with a belt loop will be fun

Now I will have to succumb to Kit Tarts Rule 2

"For every 'must have' piece of kit there is a 'must have accessory' to accompany it"
And buy myself a special stone to sharpen it..

The only 'pimping' I can see being necessary will be dyeing the shaft 'ah that's where it is orange'.

Thanks for reading
SBW

Forks and Roasting - Online!

I've been a fan of, and occasional poster on, the bushcraftuk.com site for a couple of years now, and while it's full of really useful information, it's much like human nature itself; a mix of the good the bad and the ugly. It's also not short of moments of high comedy

There are some people who can't seem to think about bushcraft without buying yet more tat to drag around with them.

(sound of glass house resident throwing stones)

As a wise man once said 'there's a seeker born every minute, two to teach him, and another two to sell him 'must have' accessories on the internet'

The Swedish company Light My Fire sells some really cool stuff, but sometimes people get a bit carried way and 'it's a really cool idea' gets confused with 'it's going to be a really cool product'. You know what sales and marketing people are like.

(another stone flies past)

This toasting fork is a case in point. You get some wire and you bend it, it becomes a really sweet way of keeping the bread, sausage, or marshmallow stable on the end of your stick while you're toasting it over the fire. It's not rocket science - but it is the kind of cool idea that the internet is so good for sharing. Barry Crump would be proud of you.

A chap whose forum name on bushcraftuk is Cobweb has gone to the trouble of posting a straightforward tutorial showing exactly how to make one in 12 photos. Nice one mate.

Then follow 3 pages of sad, angry men telling each other how each of them believes they know best. After a while the guy who started the site asks them to play nice, they don't listen!
It's hilarious! Boys and their toys! What can you say?

thanks for reading
SBW

PS the toasting forks absolutely rock - and are very very easy to make
PPS have a look at the silly poll I posted about an English TV show and the responses it got!

Pot Hunting And More Bushman Bargains

While I was looking at the American Bushman's gear sale I noticed that he has these light my fire meal kits WAY CHEAP. I've never seen them for less than £15 ($30) so I was delighted to see that he has them for $10 (i.e £5) The last time I bought a Spork on it's own it was £2.50. I've wanted a set for a while now, but because I really need to by four sets - one for each of us, I'd always found something else to spend the £60 ($120) on. The way the postage worked out I could buy that knife and ship two sets of these for free. Silly not to I told myself.

Now let the justification begin!

1. What a handy set up - bowl and plate, cup with a lid , another bowl-cup-tub thingy, a chopping board/strainer and a spork to eat it all with.
2. I could use them to take a packed lunch instead of going to the curry hut - nutrition,weight loss, cost saving. All good things.
3. Mrs SBW could use them for her lunch too.
4. They would be handy for family days out -picnics and educational trips
5. They were a bargain
6. They last a long time.
   
7. They pack up neatly, much less fuss than what we use at the moment.
8. Joachim Nordwall has done such a good job - they really are a great piece of design
9. Have you seen the price of Sporks?
10. Did I mention that they float?

I'll do a full review on arrival
Thanks for reading
SBW

Witch Blades? Nice Work If You Can Get It!

As you know I usually shy away from the 'draw queen' end of the knife making world.
But rules as they say are made to be bent until they're broken.
Having done a bit of school boy forge work myself in the past, I'm a huge admirer of the work these guys do, but fear of loss or damage, and the kind of money that they have to charge for the time they put in, stops me from buying this kind of tool.

Somewhere along the way, surfing the internet, I came across witchblades where the design ethic sits so perfectly between 'artisan recycler' and the 'serious craftsman' that I thought I'd share it with you.
The top half of the blade is from an old railroad spike and the cutting edge is made from a Damascus steel that the maker Rik Palm beat, twisted, and wielded himself.
Rik has published some pictures of the process here and some excellent pictures of what it takes to make Damascus here.Have a look at the gallery where there are too many neat design ideas to shake a stick at. I particularly like the maggot knife and this totally authentic Nessmuk, with it's blade forged from an old file. Without wishing to sound like some new age loon claiming to 'channel' the spirit of bushcraft's grand old man of letters, I reckon it's pretty much what the old chap would have been looking at when he did those drawings of his perfect camp knife.

Thanks for reading
Bushwacker

Bushwacker Edu. - A Knotty Problem

As James pointed out the other day, unless you come from a family who hunt or live in a small community where everyone knows everyone else, your chances of getting involved in hunting in the UK are relatively slim. The net result is that there are a few holes in my education.

John: Hey, Jeremy, what do you know about holes?
Jeremy Hillary Boob, PhD.: There are simply no holes in my education.
Paul: You mean you haven't composed a "hole" book?
The Beatles - The Yellow Submarine

James has invited me to go Ferreting in a couple of weekends time. As you can imagine I’m fairly excitable at the best of times, so he’d no sooner invited me than I was starting my preparations.
“Apart from my hat & coat what will I need to bring?”
“We’ll need some Purse Nets”
“Where do I buy them?
“Your making them – a kit’s in the post”
“ How difficult is it?”
“ Just one Knot, tied lots of times!”

So I’m about to start making some purse nets that we’ll stretch over the exits to the rabbits warren, before sending in his business of ferrets to flush the bunnies out.

Wish me luck - thanks for reading
SBW

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt2

I keep having a fantasy where there's erhm 'less of me to love' and as the weather warms up I'm thinking a bike ride to and from the office would be a step in the right direction. i could fix up my forgotten bike from the back of the shed, but it needs a lot of new parts, or i could use the inspiration of a gleaming new machine as impetus.
Or i could keep it legal by putting the money towards paying my tax bill...... Ho Hum

Whatever you decide to do with the new year, i hope it works out better than you intended. Or as the heyoka's heyoka once said
"May you live in interesting times - and get to be a part of them"
SBW
CHARGE a very cool bike co.

Wivart Yer Opinel You Aven't Got An 'Ope In 'Ell'!

Showed a vegan friend my blog: Loved the bad puns (even donated one of his own - above). winced at the guns, remained tolerant at the meat eating, hunting 'n' fishing, then brightened considerably on sight of the Opinel.
Takes all sorts
Bushwacker
PS Check out Marc Armand's illustrations

When Going Nuts, First Take A Leek.

Been a while hasn’t it? I’ve been ‘up north’ with The Northern Monkey and on my return the lair of the Bushwackers has suffered from water ingress, so I’ve had to dedicate the last few days to plumbing.

The chestnuts are now on form at more northerly latitudes, and I promised I’d post a recipe for my pal The Northern Monkey.

If you’re fortunate enough to be picking your chestnuts off the ground (as opposed to buying them) early picking really seems to help processing, as the dew makes the skins are a little more flexible.And of course your beating the competition to the last nights crop.

When I started using the SharpMaker on everything in the house with a blade, I noticed that I habitually started the sharpening stroke a little way down the blade and this has given my F1 a very slight (1mm) curve with a steeper blade angle on the 5mm nearest the handle. And I’ve started to see this as a lucky accident. The slight curve made the ideal ‘nicker’ for opening the skins and then peeling them off.

Once you get inside the nut you get to the pith which when fresh and damp is much easier to scrape off. If your roasting your chestnuts the pith isn’t really a problem as it crisps up inside the shell and falls off. When you buy pickled or dried chestnuts from the deli they are perfectly pithless, just beautiful ‘brain like’ orbs of, well, yummy-ness.
I’ve always wanted my gathered chestnuts to look like that too. This year I’ve gotten a bit closer.

As I was peeling, I put them into salted cold water, then blanched them in boiling salted water, before plunging them into cold water. Quite a few more ended up skinless this year. It was all pretty time consuming; a carrier bag three quarters full took four hours to go from park to freezer.

Despite this success I had no joy at all remembering that, while my thumb nail is the ideal peeling tool, its my nail-bed that pays the price for the next few days. Ouch!

For the next batch:
I have a boning knife (somewhere?) that has an exaggerated curve at the start of the blade, I’m interested to know how it works out. Also I’ve just learned that the tannin rich skins were extensively used in traditional hide tanning, either dried or fresh. Which will be handy as TNM has a source of unprocessed deer hides. Sadly the skins off the first lot are already in the compost heap.
If any of you have any pointers on how to get a skinless finish they’d be much appreciated.


Marrons du Gallois or to you and me ‘Welsh Chestnuts’

Your going to need:
Leeks (easy to grow or buy)
Cream (Organic unpasteurised is best)
Splash of white wine (maybe a Chardonnay)
Hand picked-hand processed-artisan chestnuts (or failing that ones from the shop).
Shallots (onions wont really do it)
Pancetta (or ‘dry cure’ bacon pieces not the factory farmed watery stuff )
Garlic

Fry the bacon in its own fat until its got some colour leaving the bacon fat in the pan set the bacon aside.
Slice the shallots and garlic as thinly as you can and add them to the pan, reducing the heat to a flicker. Put a lid on the pan and sweat them to a syrupy mush.
While that’s happening you can thinly slice the leeks LENGTHWAYS so the slices look almost like spaghetti.
When the shallots and garlic are really slimy in go the chestnuts, bacon, and the wine.
Turn up the heat to evaporate the alcohol, and reduce by about ten percent.
Pour in the cream and as it starts to reduce add the leeks.
Its important to time the last bit so the cream reduces enough while the leeks are still a vibrant colour. Better under cooked than over cooked for the leeks.

Serve with
Pie crust: (to guarantee a perfectly cooked crust with no nasty stodgy bits, I cook the crust separately – just roll it out put it on a baking tray and stick it in the oven)
Pasta: I vote for papadeli!
Mashed potatoes: or better still mashed potatoes with forest mushrooms stirred into them!

If you’ve got any left add milk and water, wiz the whole lot up in a food processor to make a great soup.
Hope you're all well, thanks for reading
Bushwacker

Why Weight?

The morphic resonances of the bloggersphere never cease to amaze me. Just as the American Bushman was posting ‘unloading superfluous gear’ BoB and I were having a conversation along similar lines. As well as using his visit as an opportunity to give me the Opinels he told me the location of a long-time-no-see Trangia stove that he didn’t have a need for. As things do, the conversation rambled round to talking about the lightening the load, travelling with as little kit as possible, while still having everything you need to look after yourself. I showed BoB the amazing Anti Gravity Gear site and the caldera stove system, which is basically a Trangia that’s been seriously slimmed down.
BoB said he’d seen an article from the 1950’s where guys going on a climbing expedition carrying framed rucksacks had wielded up the holes in the frames, enabling them to use their frames as fuel bottles.

As even the most cursory look at the scouting and hunting technologies of the first nations shows, the need-for-speed in backcountry travel is as old as backcountry travel itself. Saxton Pope took instruction from Ishi’s in the art and science of travelling light.

‘In our early training with Ishi, the Indian, he taught us to look before he taught us to shoot. "Little bit walk, too much look," was his motto. The roving eye and the light step are the signs of the forest voyageur.
The ideal way for an archer to travel is to carry on his shoulders a knapsack containing a light sleeping bag and enough food to last him a week.....This will weigh less than ten pounds. With other minor appurtenances in the ditty bag, including an arrow-repairing kit, one's burden is less than twenty pounds, an easy load...... If you have a dog, make him carry his own dry meal in little saddle-bags on his back...

Nessmuk was also an early devotee, taking it as a focus in the classic Woodcraft and Camping.

While I was looking for a downloadable copy Nessmuks book for you I found Nessmuking, a site about super lightweight canoeing with this interesting ‘gear list’ challenge.
How light can you get a 35-day pack?

Last word goes to Mors Kochanski
"The more you know, the less you carry."
Bushwacker.

The Opinel – Another Kind Of French Whackin’

Earlier this week BoB (Brother of Bushwacker) passed by the house on his way down under. Amongst the other goodies he brought me were a twenty-year-old stash of Opinels from our childhood bushcraft adventures.

They really are fantastic knives. The design so simple, the edge so keen, the price so low!

The Carbon steel blade
A 20º edge, holds an edge well, and as the scar on my index finger testifies, cuts into flesh and even bone very well.

The Lock
Simplicity itself, the collar twists to hold the blade open. Could there be a simpler way to lock a knife blade in place?

The Beech Handle
This classic of ergonomic design is probably why New York city’s
Museum of Modern Art have added one to their collection.

The Tapping (or whackin') Point - at the end of the blade/far right of the photo
One of the Opinel tricks that every user comes to know well is tapping the handle to open the knife. When the knife is new, or the air is moist, the handle grips the blade a little tighter and its necessary to give the handle a sharp tap on a hard surface to eject the blade. I just never knew it had a name. ‘Le coup du Savoyard’ is the official name the company gives it.

The Opinel Museum and its website



There are now quite a few ‘special purpose’ Opinels available.
My current favorite is this mushroom hunters knife.


Bushwacker

Ceramic File Set

At the same time as I got the SharpMaker (see Really, Really Sharp Knives) I ordered these ceramic files.

Ceramics may clog quickly, but they scour clean even more quickly. No file ever wears less. In this set the profiles are round, square, triangular, and teardrop (with a groove for sharpening points on fishing hooks and darts). They come in a comforting suede pouch.
I would have liked to see a conical file included in the set. But, for the money,they are what they are.

£41 in the UK
$31.95 (£16) from the usual suspects
Spyderco SP-400F ceramic file set

Non illegitimis carborundum
Bushwacker.

Really, Really Sharp Knives Spyderco Sharpmaker Review

Being a bit of a lummox with a whetstone I wanted to try one of the sharpening systems that have proliferated in recent years

The Lansky system received a glowing recommendation from my cousin T, but honing oil and a clamp to attach the system to a table top have little place afield, so ruled it out for me. I settled on the Spyderco SharpMaker, as it looked more portable, less complex and is a ‘dry’ sharpener.

While I don’t currently own any Spyderco knives I’m a fan, for the most part their blades seem well made and with a few exceptions the designs are well thought out.
And being a lover of the simple direct self-explanatory sales pitch, I’m very taken with their slogan:

“First we made things sharp, then we made sharp things”.

Loads of glowing user reviews on the net tell how the new owner sharpened everything in the house, then the shed, and nearly all of them report how much sharper their nail clippers are!
I’d like to be more committed to sustainability, but it had never occurred to me to give a new lease of life to my nail clippers, until I saw the instructional DVD and book that came with the SharpMaker. Presented in an irony free infomercial style it gives you clear instruction and uses nail clippers as an example of how you can use the SharpMaker on anything with an edge.

If you use braid fishing line, you'll know just how much some people are charging for 'braid clippers', the SharpMaker means you can make your own from even the cheapest nail clippers.

The design is a very simple and ingenious mix of freehand and guided sharpening. Two ceramic hones fit into a stable plastic base, two brass rods stop you cutting the back of your hand open.
The base has 30, 40, 12.5 and zero degree settings. The 40 setting gives you a 20 degree edge – acute enough for sharpness yet obtuse enough to withstand extended use. The 30 degree (2x15 degrees) setting lets you ‘thin’ the profile of your blade. The presenter of the DVD suggests that you wont have to use this feature that often, but if like me you've got a whole variety of different edged tools in varying states of sharpness, you might be pleasantly surprised at how good this feature is. It had the most fantastic effect on one of my kitchen knives. The 12.5 degree setting is for scissors and the zero degree setting lets you use the stones as a conventional flat grinding area. The hones are formed by mixing synthetic sapphires (alumina particles) with a ceramic bonding agent, then kiln-firing at temperatures around 1,600 degrees C (3000 degrees F). Ceramic upside: very hard will file almost anything. Ceramic downside: clogs easily. Spyderco also offer two other sets of hones that fit the SharpMaker, a pair of steel hones with very course alumina particles stuck on the outside for rough shaping work ( I’ve not found a price for them) and an ultra fine pair for an even finer edge.
List price $75
Rip-off Britain a laughable £75 (yes $150!!!!)
Best Knives have them for $42.95 (£21.50p) Or about the same price as a 'high end' braid clipper!
The ultra fine hones are $57.95

The bit where Spyderco have missed a trick is the additional hones don't fit into the case.
http://spyderco.com/

http://bestknives.com/spydtriansha.html

For the last word in sharpening have a look at this guy.
the guys who know say he's the guy who knows
Old Jimbo
Old Jimbo too

Anti Gerber Bias Alleged. And Confirmed.

It’s not that I hate Gerber, it’s that I want to love Gerber, and feel so let down.

Let down by the struggling design ethic:
Last summer The Northern Monkey (you’ll meet him later) and I were provisioning for a trip across the US,
I was in a buying mood. I was happy (even exited) about dropping $100 on a multi tool.
We went to REI and perused the selection.
Even the salesguy couldn’t disagree when I pointed out that across the price range all the Gerber multi tools were all much of a muchness.
There was no stand out model.
In a reversal of our usual roles,* I bought the cheapest one (a suspension),
TNM spent a bit more and went for one with spring-loaded pliers.
Even he can’t explain why.
Less than a year later TNM hates his, and it lives unloved at the back of a draw, and mine is broken. Pah!

Let down by the poor build quality:
The picture doesn’t do it justice there is hardly any wear on the tool, and it failed. Pah!

Let down by the exploitative pricing strategy:
As mentioned previously if you buy the axe as a Fiskars or Wilkinsonsword its £20 if you buy THE SAME PIECE OF KIT as Gerber it’s £33-45 Pah!

Gerber Hmmmm.

*“There’s tight-fisted, there’s people from Yorkshire, and then there’s me!”
TNM The Black Hills SD Aug 15th 06.

Credit where credit’s due
Recreational Equipment Incorporated were excellent, and gave me a full refund

http://rei.com/

Bushwacker
The worlds leading authority on his own opinion.

Cut To The Chase

There are only two things you need for great food, really fresh ingredients and really, really, sharp knives.

As regular readers will know I pendulum between the futurist and atavist positions on most things and knives are no exception. Over the last few months I’ve been fetishising Tom Brown Jnr’s $260 T2 Tracker knife – but I didn’t buy one..............

CHOOSING:
A word as to knife, or knives. These are of prime necessity, and should be of the best, both as to shape and temper. The "bowies" and "hunting knives" usually kept on sale, are thick, clumsy affairs, with a sort of ridge along the middle of the blade, murderous looking, but of little use; rather fitted to adorn a dime novel or the belt of "Billy the Kid," than the outfit of the hunter.
George Washington Sears AKA ‘Nessmuk’ writing in the1880’s

For ‘murderous’ read ‘tactical’ and Nessmuk, Field and Streams venerable canoe camping correspondent, could be blogging today. I reckon he would have pissed himself laughing at the camo coatings offered on so many of today’s outdoor and hunting tools. I love my camo as much as the next redneck, but in the field ‘camo’ is often a pseudonym for ‘never seen again’.

Another trend in knife design is wooden handle and steel blade, held together with brass pins. Nowadays known as the ‘Woodlore’ style, popularised by Ray Mears. While these knives do have an attractive handmade-ness, they can be silly money. Perhaps I’m a bit of a pikey but at up to $440 I wouldn’t want to use a blade for duties any more demanding than letter opening!

Between the extremes of ‘weapon’ and ‘handicraft’ I did find a style that suited me. The ‘pry-bar with an edge’ AKA the ‘survival knife’.

After a scouting around on the web for a while. And choosing to impose a limit of $100, (I say ‘choosing’ it was actually fear of Mrs Bushwacker that made me impose it). I came to a choice of design philosophy between- America* and Sweden, the Gerber LMF II for serious mass production and Fallkniven F1 for serious seriousness.

*I know Gerber’s parent company is Finish – if I’m not pedantic enough for you write your own blog

Both designs pride themselves on being strong enough to stab straight into the side of an oil drum. I don’t know what the manufactures had in mind, but I know a barbequing opportunity when I see one!

Fallkniven, which means folding knife in Swedish, designed their knife for pilots who have made an unplanned change from flying, to shanks pony (walking) in sub-arctic conditions. The handle grips against skin or gloves whatever the temperature. The blade is in the 'drop-point' style and a practical 3.5inches long. Made from a stainless steel called VG 10 with a full tang, (the blade goes all the way through the handle), and has a pommel or sticky-out-bit at the end of the handle so you can give it a proper whack when handcrafting your new oil barrel barbeque, splitting logs or boar’s skulls.

Gerber, which means baby food in my house, designed their knife for infantry folk or at least for infantry wannabes. They gave their knife a more substantial pommel, nice, but chose to separate it from the blade, purportedly so as to reduce the shock felt when using it as a hammer. Unfortunately this ‘innovation’ means the handle has to be stronger rather than grippyer. Gerber Hmmmm.
In fairness I did like the idea of a sharpener built into the sheath, but that annoying serrated bit by the finger guard is in exactly the wrong place on the knife. It’s positioned just where a sharp plain edge is most useful for fine work like making tinder sticks. Still it does help give it that ‘tactical’ look. For me the tinder sticks would be more useful than looking ‘murderous’ when in the field.

OPTIONS:
Fallkniven give you three options for the knife and three for the sheath.

Knives
1. Plain blade with a Thermorun handle. Simple: utilitarian, grippy, and sterilize-able in a saucepan of water. Just the thing for my Elk hunt.
2. As above: but with a black blade. A bit too ‘tactical’ for me.
3. Plain blade with a Micarta handle and a nickel silver finger guard.
A very nice mix of useable and hand finished, nearly got my vote.

Sheaths
1.Drop in Scandinavian style sheath – now discontinued but available on Eay.
2.Flap closure style. The standard version, you wont lose it or have to pay any extra.
3.Moulded Zytel with a popper fastener. I like synthetic sheaths, but I’ve seen them done better.

BUYING:
Even though I’m in London, only 1762.65 miles from the Fallkniven factory.
The ‘sharpest’ price I found was from BestKnives.com in the USA. $98.95 or about £50 (they have the Gerber LMF II for $76.95 i.e £36 – pretty good as I’ve seen it in rip-off Brittan for £100+). These guys are cheapest or second cheapest for most knives, they ship promptly, and give you a UPS number to track your shipment with.

POST PURCHASE:
I’m lovin’ it!
I’ve used the knife for a few rough jobs; opening gummed up tins of paint, scratching out putty and broken glass. I’ve beaten it into some logs, cut some fire wood and shaved some tinder sticks. It would never be my first choice in the kitchen or for butchery, but its not designed to be, so fair play.
It takes a reasonable edge pretty easily and holds it well. Due to a lack of skill on my part I’m yet to get it sharp enough to pass the wet cigarette paper test.
Some people have re-ground theirs from the convex edge to a flatter blade profile, which will undoubtedly make for a much finer but more delicate edge. I’m not sure that I’ll bother. While I like the idea of it being a bit sharper. I kinda feel that it would miss the point, you can get all the knife you’ll ever need for fine work for $10 (Frosts – also of Sweden). The F1 is for making shelters, splittin’ firewood, and making showers of sparks. All things it does flawlessly. I have never seen any edge that makes more or bigger sparks from a firesteel. Really this you have to see!
The only modification I’ve made so far is to rub the handle down with fine cabinet paper. My guess is that like with new bike tyres, there is still some of the release agent left from the mould and a light sanding made the handle much more grippy.

PS after a while I'd blunted the blade and sent it back for a refurb there's what happened

Full Description http://www.fallkniven.com/a1f1/f1_en.htm

How Strong? http://www.fallkniven.com/test.htm

Best Price http://bestknives.stores.yahoo.net/faf1misukn.html

If You Must http://www.gerbergear.com/product.php?model=1400

Keep ‘em peeled. Bushwacker.

Still Wheezing And A Little Saw.

Not much to report on the fitness part of the project this week.
Sadly there was plenty of Un-Fitness to report on at (ominous drum roll) the Running Club.
Anyone on first name terms with your pal the Bushwacker will surely tell you the words ‘Bushwacker is running’ aren’t usually used in the same sentence unless the sentence ends ‘down to the Off Licence to get more beer, wine, ice, vodka.....’ with the ‘running’ part being a figure of speech. So it was with no small trepidation that I set off for further punishment from the British Military Fitness Crew at their Running Club.

Shock is probably the hardest thing for a person to fake or try to hide, and glee is the response it never occurs to anyone to hide. Most of the attendees of the running club didn’t bother hiding anything, once the shock had subsided they all wanted to stand next to me at the start of every ‘run’, so they could ‘burn me off at the lights’. I felt like the most talented self-confidence therapist in the world. They arrived half whipped expecting more ritual humiliation at the hands of the speed merchants, only to find that far from being the slowest or having the most pitiful wheezing noise, their day had come.
Some of my delighted classmates actually took to letting me catch up with them so the could redress the humiliation they had themselves suffered. Leaving me for dust.
Still if 'waddling' is half way between sleeping and running, I can at least say I met them half way.
Oh the pain of being a wuss, a fat, greedy, lazy...................

Saw these and thought you might find them useful

The Sven Saw (inc 1 blade) $24.99 spare blades $7.95 each


Tested against

The BCB Commando Saw (inc 3 blades) from £4.99 to £12. Will take generic replacement blades (approx £5 for £3.99) and a BCB Nato & US forces 28” eight strand wire saw, cut in two would make two replacement wire saws for £2.61


I’ve used the triangular Sven Saw a few times and the aggressive ‘bow saw’ type blade is certainly very good for
fire-wood-ish type cuts and will stand a lot of abuse. The saw is light, and durable. The triangulation that makes the saw so strong is also its weakness as not all of the blade can cut to the saws maximum depth. The design suffers where an exposed wing nut provides the blade tension. It's jagged and do you really want to have to carry a spare?

The first way the BCB wins is the smooth, square frame design that gives you the use of the whole length of the blade cutting through larger diameter logs. With a choice of three blades kept neatishly in the handle the BCB saw will cleanly cut wood, bone, plastics and metal. Where the BCB let itself down during my test was that the 'all purpose and hacksaw' blades supplied with the saw are not very good. In fairness, this is not a review of cheapo blades, better blades are easy to come by and the handle feels unbreakable. The wire saw is excellent, but was let down by the aluminium crimps that act as its end stops, which are woefully inadequate. One popped off on the saws second use, and the other was very easily pulled off with a pair of pliers. The blade that is supplied with the Sven Saw is much better quality (which you have to pay for), but limits you to rougher cuts. The BCB has an edge, in that on your travels it’ll take any brand of hardware store blade that’s 12-13”.

The Bottom Line:

Both saws are very good choices, strong, cheapish, and lightweight.
The BCB has a neater handle design, bombproof build quality and the option of the versatile and robust wire saw.
All for a fiver! Now that I've added better crimps (took five mins.-was very easy) it will be my choice every time.

http://www.svensaw.com/

BCB's site - lots of other cool stuff
http://webshop.bcbin.eu/index.php

You may get the Sven Saw for a buck or so less, but REI’s customer service is magic.
http://www.rei.com/product/404040

The best price I found for the BCB saw was at
http://www.ronniesunshines.co.uk/Items/269%20-%20copy?