Fimbulmyrk in Wonderland II - Of owls and bows and militant hares;-)

Then, at the booth of Mr. Morsbach from Katzek55k corporation Solinge, where I dropped by the other day, I came across those novel knives. You can always rely on Mr. Morsbach to come up with some revolutionary, but always very, very knowledgeable and sensible ideas. Those little hunting knives come with 1.4153 Niolox blades, which are smelted with Niobium to make for an extremely fine grain structure. Mr. Morsbach also is one of the last craftsmen in Solingen capable of doing a "Kesselschen Walkschliff", a high convex bevel to zero edge line. With this steel it is possible forthe first time to do this sensibly to a stainless steel knife. I hope to do a full article soon on this knife!

 Then it was off to the Karesuando booth, and while I was a bit disappointed to not find Ulf, Kurt and Martin there, this had not in the least an effect on the fact that the guys and gals are being very, very nice and friendly, and I was fond of making their acquaintance. This is Per - Erik, Kurt´s son-in -law and new head of corporation.

 

 They had a load of material on display.

 And, of course, the quality of their bushcraft and Saami knives goes without saying, and what the Moras lack a bit in aesthetics they have doubly so, and are functional to boot.

A somewhat novel idea for a Leuku:

This is the custom lineup of Karesuando.

 Fire steels.

 This is Gabriele, now German distributor of Karesuando knives. She was doing demos all day long, whittling and showing the firesteel skills, and looking quite good at it. In fact, I tried to whittle one o ´those flowers myself and now have some more interesting scars to show off;-). She did far better.

 I guess this gentleman has no such problems, like cutting himself while whittling, for he is the most accomplished master of traditional German/Austrian/Romanian woodworking I have ever met. This is Mr. Virgil Culda from Jagdgalerie. Visit his homepage and enjoy!

 On through the aisles, and there I met a bear...

 ...and this prehistoric gentleman...

 And Mr. István Dorkó...

 ...specializing in extremely high lustre hunting knives.

 ...belt buckles...

There simply were too many great blades to mention them all. What strikes me as peculiar is how lovingly  they make their products out there in the east. We here tend to quarrell and fight and do the cheap trick stunt, often resulting in less than ideal products.

 Silver inlays in stag antler as a bolo - tie...

 ...damascus and mammoth ivory...

 ...and an oooooold deer. Praise be to the hornéd one!

 Mr. Kalmán Szabó was there showing his great hunting knives, custom made to request.

 ...Hungarian folding knives. Those came with a somewhat easy stay in the spring, but were good - looking to boot. I personally like them stiffer, but that´s a personal preference.

 Those linerlock folders were very great. Mr. Szabó makes them with no play and a very light action. Respect!

 One of my all-time favourites, a mushroom hunting knife with a decent blade!

 Antler carvings.

 And hunting apparel by red fox company.

 They are made from real wool with very much attention to detail.

 ...and those little critters conspirated against visitors. Mind you, I only just so came out with my life";-)

 This lovely amber boothreally fascinated me with the warm and golden gleam of the tears of Laima.;-)

 Then it was SCHNAAAAAAAPPPS at the Wilddieb booth, a herbal liquor that is really good for you;-).

 I got some, and NO, I DID NOT DRINK IT ON MY WAY HOME!!!!!*ggg*. As you might guess, I had quite some fun with the gals and the guy.

 On Saturday I took my time to visit the Bogenzeit booth again to dream about one day being an archer myself.;-) A longbow I have already made...

 ...just lack some arrows still...;-)

 But as it seems, you can now shoot without arrows;-)... virtual archery. Weird.

 I met with these gentleman from the Sauerland region, living in the neighborhood of the Veltins brewery, who actually seemed to enjoy himself in spite of being on an expo;-) we traded some jokes and went on our respective merry ways. This was nice! Nice to meet, guys.

 ...bows galore...

 ...and arrows. They also had a lot of gear on display.. but having spent most of my money already, nothing for me, then.

 Then I came across the booths of the regional forest bureau. They do a great job in educating children and adults alike with a variety of programs, not the least being fores arts programs.

 Then it was off to the booth of the order of falconers.

 I simply love those graceful birds....

 But more so it can be said for me: YOLO (You obviously love owls;-)).

 Cuties... we had a chat by owl gymnastics, and they did not like me any. They were annoyed by my jokes.

I have a strong affinity to the owl and the mythology related to them, but myths aside, look into those eyes, and all tales are told.

And this is a great way to get around in the woods... if you tend towards driving...

 Mr Hartmann from Ed Mahony knives

 ...having a load of goodies from 440A steel

 ...440C...

440C

 440C

 on diplay. Also there was Andy Haas, a German custom knifemaker.

Of course, we had a nice chat, and I learned he is currently doing business again after a forced break. I hope to meet him at Solingen Knifemaker´s fair!