Carving challenge with a Mora Robust and some foul-mouthed sarcastic philosophy

Having some sort of container is not only practical and sometimes even beautiful, but can also make all the difference in the woods. You can collect water in it and even boil it in order to achieve a certain degree of disinfection. Not the same amount as in tap water, but hopefully keep at least some of it in your body.  And do not get me wrong: Modern people have no defence against E.Coli bacteria or some of the other bstds you can find in the creeks. So please do not try this at home. Your body is accustomed to drink Chloride- disinfected water. Boiling water will remove some of the ugly stuff in the water, but not microplastics or chemicals.  Anyway, you could even improvise a water filter that way, not a good or efficient one, but at least some kind of it.  

I usually use a tool kit for carving stuff like that, a drill wrench, several carving knives, spoon knives and an adze or axe. But of course it is really unrealistic that you have such a tool kit on you all the time.  

Enter the Mora Robust. Developed as a heavy duty work knife for carpenters and construction workers, it also has gained sort of a legendary status amongst bushcraft people and survivalists.  The shorter blade (around 85x3.2mm) offers a Scandinavian grind with the tiniest of micro bevels and a stick tang.  "A STICK TANG?!1!!1!!???", I hear you cry? Yes, a stick tang, but one that reaches nearly to the end of the handle. The culprit is that it consists of a glass- fibre reinforced plastic that is injection molded around the metal and offers almost the same tensile strength as mild steel. Of course I do have issues with plastic.  It simply should not exist, period.  But it does, and better a sustainable product that can be repaired and recycled than some flimsy shit from the webs.  Look here for an extreme test of the knife that can only be called mad:

https://youtu.be/fKlcBpKbAvM?si=rlKoqCWFK1HufZjW

This knife is designed to stand extreme abuse. I do not think it is pretty, but having worked as a construction worker, roof tiler, carpenter and landscaper myself I can safely say that pretty knives need an almost obscene amount of maintenance in such a setting. And, to get that right also, most of the most extreme abuse you can throw at a knife in "survival" (and you know my stance on this) is but children's play compared to what you do on a construction site. Cutting tar paper, construction bricks and interior plaster boards, opening cement bags, prying,, splitting wood, probing rotten beams, and opening bottles 😉 every day for seven to twelve hours is nothing you would do in a survival situation. The knife also has (sort of) a legal reason built in. It is designed as a work knife. If you wear work pants and boots which are well suited for the woods, and you forgot to lock the knife into a bag which locks into a bag which locks into a bag, reinforce it with spells and magical sorcery runes and put it into another lockable bag that locks into a biogazard container (because it is obviously the object that is dangerous, not individuals with criminal intent), chance is, your legal reason (i.e. your claim of innocence towards criminal intent) might even be accepted by the almighty authorities. Or maybe not, because workers and craftsmen tend to be on the poorer side of wealthy, and the law is possibly only enforced on the poorer people in Germany.  (Information-based opinion according to Art. 1 GG). If it would be confiscated, you also only lost 12-18€, and it isn't rare, so you could grumble to yourself and buy another. 

So, chance is, this knife might be a knife you have on your person somehow.  I suggest you keep it in your backpack and as inaccessible as possible, together with an obviously half-finished funny carving like a smiling wood spirit, some heart pendants or something like that. Yes, you got my meaning right.  And I do not tell you to be cheating.  I trust that no reader dropping by has any criminal intent at all, and that you are here for the special atmosphere of this Blog. There are other sites for the tactical crowd alright, and I think a lot of people are here because that is what you do with a knife anyway, namely carving stuff, being creative and prepping food.  It is not your fault one must suspect some sort of hysteria or even villainous intent in people, fellow human beings or politicians.  

That is how that challenge came to be. I honestly cheated a bit by using the saw on my Victorinox Farmer X Alox to cut a piece of birchwood. But the Vic is even more realistic to have on you in a situation where you need to improvise.  The Robust is faster in carving such a container, though, because you can use it like a chisel, too, which I would not recommend with any Slipjoint knife. 

Starting at the centre of the branch, I worked a recession into it. As I said, I also used the knife as a chisel. Fact is, with a different knife than this, you should not use a drilling motion or chiselling motion, but always a cutting movement, because both can damage the tip. Do not apply too much pressure, too.  You can easily hurt yourself or ruin your piece. Patience is key. 

Be it as it may, after about half an hour, I was able to have a #cuppatree from the branch.  You can also char the inside a bit to make it more durable. 

The knife is not the next big thing. It isn't exceptionally pretty or full of prestige.  But it is extremely sharp and durable and does everything you can possibly expect from a knife. It is also pretty cheap, but sustainably and responsibly made in Sweden. 

Actually there is no reason at all not to buy it.  It is also really great for every toolbox at home or at work, around the house and garden and even for harder kitchen tasks like splitting bone.  

Buy it, but do not forget those magical sorcery spells and runes and the biohazard vault to always lock it away.  Remember, knives kill people, not people kill people. 😜

Anyway, do have fun carving and making stuff, take care of yourself and your fellow human beings. It is possibly a culture war against everything non-profit we are faced with. Those are the death throes of the Terror Squid. 

They want to take the innocence from innocent people.  Things like love, care and resourcecefulness are the antithesis to their idea of society.  So they have to remove the assumption of innocence and spread discord. Do not let that happen. Do not even lose yourself in hatred against them. Lose yourself in good things.  In work in the garden, in carving good things and foraging and cooking healthy, hearty meals. 

Because this is human society, not some paper dragon brave new world.