Fimbulmyrk

Freitag, 29. August 2014

After work bimble through the woods

My work is constantly stressing me out, and thusly I am always grateful for the ability to just hitch the bus afterwards and just disappear into the thicket. The woods keep me sane, even if a passers- by would maybe not exactly agree;-). I just took my pack, and, taking off the shirt and the tie, taking off my shoes to feel the earth, I ventured into a valley that has a rare quality: It is a deep crevice in the ground, crossed by few hiking paths, and silent and solitary. Seldom do I meet Humans there, and if this is the case, those few are of a better quality. It is a realm where the fairy tales still thrive and prosper apart from the mayhem that is our so - called everyday life.

The woods are full of roe and sika deer, wild rams, wild pigs, owls, buzzards, of hare and fox and predators. Their tracks are everywhere, and I tread carefully and respectfully when I cross them.

Those are the halls most beloved to my heart, better than a king´s palace are the pillars of the trees, vibrant with bird songs and the breeze in the soft treetops.

Over wood and stone and yonder hill I tread and listen to the maagical song of the water.

Got resin? I took some home for concoctions, for treating wood and illness alike.

Across the runes written by the tracks of deer and ram, of hare and fox, that tell wild and wayward stories of the hunt and the feast.

The sun was shining, and in the distance I heard some rustling noises, and, carefully not to make too much noise myself, I threaded along the creek.

Under those green, green leaves I walked, breathing the balsamic air.

Everywhere where the unmistakable signs of wildlife.

Everywhere there were the sounds of a life alien to modern man, a life that is great enough for me to be a part of, a thread in a web weaved by a gentle hand that needs no names and no agnition, but mere existence.

Into the hazel grove I went...

...drew out a circle, and had a cuppa woods;-).

Yummy...

All too soon the hours had passed.

Across paths seldom trodden that felt like I trod the stairs of time I went back into the world.

And at the frontier... where the veil is thinner...

colour.

Looking for a bushcraft knife? - A brief review shootout

Bushcraft knives have seen quite some development in the last years, and it seems a whole new species of knives is born. Believe me, it is not. A knife has to cut. Period. In some limited cases normally referred to as abusive use of a knife it also has to dig, chop, baton, and pry. Bushcraft knives tend to be constructed to do all that, and sometimes it seems they are more designed towards the abusive side of the work than the actual cutting. For instance, the famed Ray Mears design has a very low scandi grind bevel resulting in a cutting geometry that is more of a wedge, perfectly suited for batoning and surface whittling such as required in carving a spoon and such and also suited for skinning and prying apart animal pelvises, nothing wrong with this, but try delicate work with it and it will not work as well as a knife designed to cut.

One of my favourites, however, is this Hubertus prototype, a bit strangely tauted "revolutionary skinning knife". It has a blade out of 440C with a cryogenic heat treatment at a claimed 60 HRC, beautiful red liners under Micarta scales. It has a high flat grind, very slicey, and comes with a simple leather sheath for belt carry only.

The blade´s not too thick at some 3,2 mm and the serrations and ergonomic handle contour make for a very comfy and secure grip. It measures at a sensible 85 mm EDC length. It has a lanyard hole for the obligatory pimping lanyard beads;-) we all love...

Word: Not a knife for prying, and the handle could be a bit longer, but it cuts like a monster. It is a perfect little task knife for occasions when a larger knife simply isn´t necessary. Out of the box it came hair-splittingly sharp, and the edge retention is very well and I guess the claim of 60 HRC is well there. It is flexible enough, though, to take some abuse, too. It comes in at some 120,00€ if it ever sees production.

The next combo I have taken just for comparison purposes into the evaluation, and to do some myth busting. It´s one of the best ever combos for ´crafting, i.e. the Fällkniven F 1 with a laminate 420J2/VG10 blade, the WM - 1 with a solid VG-10 blade and the Victorinox Swiss Tool, famed for being the only tool with which you can drive nails into a solid concrete wall;-) (a separate review will follow). Those three are a combination not leaving want for anything. BUT! Nowadays those two Fällkniven knives alone sell for roundabout 250-300€. Both are razor sharp and dead reliable and closing the gap between prybar and cutter with an acceptable compromise, but the prize is, as we will see, a bummer.

The Boker Colubris I have reviewed some time ago already. It cuts well, nothing to be ashamed of for sure, albeit not so very slicey, and, due to its heft, can even double for a small chopper. The wide blade makes it suitable for digging for roots also, and it can take quite a beating due to the stonewash finish which makes minor scratches practically invisible. The blade is 440C with a standard tempering at about 58-59 HRC. The g-10 handle can be used to drive nails into a wooden wall;-), it´s that durable. The thick blade 6mm x 109mm inspires confidence. It sells at 69,00€.

The Colubris sheath fits well, but has one minor flaw. Kydex is a thermoplastic material which looses fit over time when carried in a warm environment. The belt lock in a horizontal position (scout carry mode) allows the handle to point slightly downwards, which makes it slightly easier to draw. When the Kydex loses fit, however, it COULD be possible that you lose the blade. Also, the heft of the blade does not make for a comfortable carry when using thinner belts. A 50 mm belt is close to mandatory, but, hey, this knife´s not made to be carried when wearing a suit and tie;-). It certainly is a knife for the big boys out there...;-).

Last but in no way least is the prize-breaker combo of this review. A Mora craftline High Q Carbon Robust and a Mora laminate carving knife. The big ´un measures in at a healthy 115mm x 3 mm with a good Kraton handle over a hard plastic inlay, which is that hard you can easily crack nuts with it. The sheath is very interesting in that another sheath can be attached to the button in front. The hole in the sheath of the little carver fits into it. The carving knife has a high carbon steel blade, 59 x 2,3 mm long and thick, with a stainless steel ferrule and a birch handle. The tang goes all the way through the handle and is fixed with a rustic but time - proven clamp in the handle. This duo is an eye opener, in that the big knife costs 11,49€ and the small one 17 €. I use those two very much. Both can stand up to day- in day- out abuse for years. They cut extremely well, and the big one prys and batons and begs for more. Both come hairpoppingly sharp out of the box.

All in all I can say that from a merely functional point of view alone there is no reason to spend more than 12€ for a serviceable bushcraft knife. The Fällkniven, Hubertus and Boker knives are good and even great knives, but their performance is easily matched by the Moras. Of course, they lack image and ambiente, and it is not always all about function, so if you want a bit more fascination, just go ahead and buy those other knives. I did, and I do not even regret it.

But if we are honest, what is it that we need? Indigenous cultures do not entertain this attitude. They love their tools and lovingly repair them when they are damaged. We rant on survival and whatnot when all we might be doing is a nice stroll around the local woods practicing some skills to our leisure. It is a hobby. In, say central Amazonas, Papua, Africa or Siberia those skills are not just a hobby you practice at your leisure, but a necessity to if not survive, then at least live better. The individuals relying on knives over there would chose the Moras, if they would at all buy anything. More realistic is they´d make their own from saw blades or even traffic signs.

Now this post is not about spoiling anyone´s joy at collecting knives or leisurely practicing some rewilding. This is maybe even more crucial than the everyday routine of some indigenous backlwoodsman or -woman, for we have to change, and the bushcraft hobby shows us a path we can enjoy, and thusly, love, and thusly use to change our individual life to hopefully get a new perspective on our Western society. But do not be sad if you cannot afford those "blingbling" knives everyone raves about in the forums. Buy a Mora, as accomplished backwoodsmen and boy scouts do for ages, or browse the garage sales and flea markets, or, better yet, roll your own.

Freitag, 25. Juli 2014

Experimental bushcraft knife design-integral bush Barong

This is something I currently have in the making. I was thinking hard about my way of knifemaking, and while I like to make ornamental and artisan concept knives, even spiritual knives, I certainly lack the talent for eloquent ornaments like the ones by my love. What I HAVE a talent for, however, is brutal backwoods beaters that can support your weight;-) but look dead ugly. Now this knife was admittedly inspired by Dan Koster`s Muck camp knife and a Barong in my collection. One of my latest bushcraft knives put to painful questioning here has a slightly offset angle of the handle which makes chopping and whittling a cinch. But the straight edge line makes it a bit difficult to actually use all of the edge when cutting on a flat surface. The Barong style has a curved edge line making for a better compromise when using it for kitchen tasks without compromising whittling and chopping prowess (or so I hope;-)). Now it is not thought socially adequate to carry a big and hefty Barong on your belt around these parts, so the blade has to be under 12 cm in length, which is fine for me, for most of the time I do not need anything larger. The blade also has a very gentle convex bevel, which in unison with the wide blade will make for an excellent slicer even with a 4 mm spine. For steel I used super-tough train wagon leaf spring steel. It does not take the highest of all tempers, but is tough as grandpa. Forging it was a bummer, that I can tell you!;-) The blade is selectively tempered, of course. I have to correct the tang a bit and drill it out some more for balance, for I want the balance point on the index finger. Scales will presumeably be Corsian "pepper" juniper wood or G10 / micarta, in either case with mosaic pins and red G10 liners... we´ll see... and I want to design a decent kit sheath for scout carry mode for it.

Carving on Úlenfang done-for the most part, that is...

So, I did the carving of an owl ornament I wanted to do on Úlenfang´s reindeer antler handle. Fitted some mosaic pins, too, for eyes. I am not too fond of the outcome, especially when I compare it to the magic troll´s art, but then I have never said I am an artisan, did I ;-)?

But it grows on me, and I have to refine it some, still, and there will be some runes added. The eyes give a bit of a mad expression to the owl... and this suits me*ggg*. Overall, I love the knife´s balance and rock-solid feel. It just falls into your palm and fits snugly there. The carving gives you a good orientation in darkness. The blade (ancient crucible steel I found in the woods) cuts and slashes extremely well, and this steel gives a very, very fine edge with hair-splitting sharpness to be achieved. The Kopis shape makes it also very able for woodworking tasks. I guess I will forge another;-)...

New En-Nep EDC with damascus

Had this piece of damascus lying around leftover from a knife I made some time ago for Drui (remember, CUTIE;-), when I used to give you complete knives? Those were ´em days...;-)), and I made this En - Nep from it some time ago and fitted a handle recently. The blade is 120 mm long and 2 mm thick. It has a selective temper that was a right challenge to do, for it warped this way, then the other and another still. I had to straighten it after quenching on a wooden block with a wooden hammer while tempering with the spine heat. I can tell you, I wished I had five hands;-)! Just a tiny bit of warping in the tip was left, and I ground this down with a water stone. It has a convex bevel, and it bites like your little sister, making it a great snack knife, yet it is way tougher than I expected, for I bend it 30° each way and it came out straight. I like it and have already a sheath in the making waiting to get tempered itself. Watch this place...

This is a knife that is certainly built at the limit of my personal ability, and I like that. It is funny that when you look at real tribal knives, they often tend to have very thin and slicey blades, even those made for hard backwoods work. The thickest spine of a tribal knife in my collection is that of a Syrian curved dagger, and this comes at 3,2 mm. A Touareg dagger I own measures just 1,8 mm, another even just 0,8 mm(!), a Turkish Zelim even comes at just 1,5 mm. Those are knives made for cutting, and this they do extremely well. And do not get me wrong, those knives certainly have seen some pounding in their lives, judging by the scars and nicks on the blade surface. And still their edges were in great working order.

The smiths that made them often have only marginal equipment. Often there´s just a hole in the ground for a forge, a plastic bag for a bellows and a lump of iron for an anvil. And yet, making knives like those that they make is a right challenge to me.

My respect to them!

Donnerstag, 10. Juli 2014

A hike with CUTIE;-)

When I was in Marburg, the magic troll and I set out to do some hike to our favourite place... it has become sort of a tradition to have a look if things are all in place... and those Marburgian hills are simply beautiful.

In case you wondered how she gets all her gear around, the 4 - people tent is in her bag as well as a car, a railway station, a chainsaw, an entire goldsmithy, a carpenter´s shop, and some other things to be treated discreetly, including a worm hole and another universe. She told me the secret, but I have sworn to keep silent. That much I can say that she once had a friend called Aoífe...

She loves chicken...*ggg*

The light was radiant and warming our hearts... we do not want any gems of treelight...

...for it´s there all the time.

This is the view towards the Marburgian castle. It is nice to dream that artists and writers like Clemens Brentano, the REAL Grimm brothers, Goethe, Schiller, Hermann Hesse and many more went for a stroll into the same hills. I find Marburg breathes this atmosphere still. The fairy tales are alive and well there.

Take for instance this horse head. Okay, so you all know it from other posts, but I am just fascinated by the idea that someone just gets out into the woods with his chainsaw and does some fun carving and then leaves it there. In my hometown few even consider doing this (most are not even capable of spelling their own name correctly, let alone doing something with their hands not ordered by the long-time-unemployed-integration program), and most certainly would not do it for free. If they would, the authorities would hunt them down as easy prey, for they are just artists without being licensed and could be jailed much easier than the professional criminals (bankers, head citizens, pimps, drug dealers).

Over here, someone just gets out and does it, and does it lovingly. Of course there was a tiny badge advertising you could buy stuff like this, but hey, that´s a small price to pay for a bit of enchantment in the woods near the city. And everywhere around people keep telling tales and legends, doing it naturally and consciously, telling and listening. Talk about culture and cultural diversity without sacrificing the soul to Mammon. paying tribute, maybe, but doing no shortcuts. This is beautiful.