Anyone Else Raiding The Wild Edibles Yet?

22-rimfire said:
Is that knife one of your Fiddlebacks?
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Yes. This one is the Protagonist model I wanted for the calendar project. It took me like two years to get it, but definitely worth the wait in the end. It is, in my opinion, the Fiddleback that suits me at my personality better than any other Andy has made so far.
 
22-rimfire said:
From previous posts, I can see your preferences demonstrated with the Protagonist. It is a nice blade!
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It really is. Having had my childhood, I grew up always being a protagonist of sorts, and looking after the underdogs who were small and picked on a lot. Bully-baiting was a fun pastime for me in middle school and high school. Then spending four years on the streets of Dallas as a teen, I was involved in a few frays that left their scars, and developed a taste for specific blade characteristics. I loved my old SOG Bowie when I started posting here years ago, but never was fond of the dark blade or handle materials. Same as my Navy MK3 MoD 0 I've stripped and wish I could find someone to make a crazy colorful burl wood handle for to replace the lack bakelite but keep all the other design elements. I have been a Tolkien fan since middle school in the 70s, and had always wanted something that would work well for dismantling Orcs if needs be, but was beautiful and organic looking rather than black or subdued. I love what Andy has done with this model, and this one in particular :)
 
Mistwalker Mistwalker So you chose the Protagonist model to in fact be a cross over knife between woods craft/usage and general knife usage including self defense? It has a false edge which can be sharpened if you choose. I have been really taken with Kepharts for the last year, but in my heart, I like a pointier knife overall for all field usage whether it be for hunting or just wandering around the woods as I often do. What are the general specs of this knife? Steel, blade length and so forth... I assume it is not one of Fiddleback's A2 models. To this point, I have not purchased one of Andy Roy's knives.
 
22-rimfire said:
Mistwalker Mistwalker So you chose the Protagonist model to in fact be a cross over knife between woods craft/usage and general knife usage including self defense? It has a false edge which can be sharpened if you choose. I have been really taken with Kepharts for the last year, but in my heart, I like a pointier knife overall for all field usage whether it be for hunting or just wandering around the woods as I often do. What are the general specs of this knife? Steel, blade length and so forth... I assume it is not one of Fiddleback's A2 models. To this point, I have not purchased one of Andy Roy's knives.
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Yes. I am actually working on a post that shows the various attributes I really like about this knife overall. And yes, of course a lot of them do stem from the skewed perspective of things I developed whilst living my own little clandestine war with the local unfriendlies, while taking care of other less prepared kids on the streets of Dallas. So there is the ever present "I'd rather bushcraft with a fighter than fight with a bushcrafter" element that people who saw my earlier works here years ago will remember about me. Much like how I am more comfortable working with 1/8 and 5/32 inch thick blades (especially with the right grinds) in a kitchen than I am working with 3/32 or 1/16 inch thick blades for long term uses in the woods. Having grown up living remotely in various woods along various rivers, fishing and trapping recreationally and commercially in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and then living clandestinely rough for four years, I've had plenty of experiences with both.

The specs of this one are 10 inches overall with 5-1/2 inch blade. The steel thickness is 5/32 with a tapered tang. I sort of wish it were 3/16 like his original prototypes of this model, which I feel is perfect for this model and could even get away with tapered 1/4 inch with all the meat that gets filleted off in the upper and lower bevels and so little flat area. BUT I am much MUCH happier with this one than I was with the one I bought at Blade in 2018 which was like 1/8 tapered but felt like 3/32 with all the steel removed. The false edge of the Protagonist, or this one at any rate, has a nice flat. so it isn't painful to use thumb pushes on the spine for me when I'm making notches for trap triggers, etc. Andy and I have had several talks over the years about various elements I would want in a knife I had to use long term in the woods especially if in hostile territories. Between those and our mutual love for Tolkien's stories of Middle Earth, there are a lot of thoughts channeled into this knife that a lot of people may not immediately see. The handle has Andy's usual sublimely comfortable ergos for long term use. And yes, I believe it actually is A2, from how long it is taking it to patina I'm pretty sure it's not O-1. But it has his spalted texturing on the flats rather than the hammered texturing they use on the CPM 154, or the lack of texture they use on the AEB-L. And those are about the only steels he works with now.

I have historically not been drawn to many Kephart style knives. Most makers who make the more "traditional variants" as they say, tend to make the tips rather bluntly pointy and I like finer pointier tips on my blades than that. Andy's production model was a departure from traditional Kepharts, but the blade shape appeals to me very much. The LT Wright Genesis I am currently using to produce the illustration imagery for a new quarterly periodical I am producing, on wilderness and knife skills, firecraft skills, and plant and animal identification for the L.T. Wright Handmade Knives website, is the closest to a traditional Kephart blade I have ever really liked so far. I wouldn't mind if it were just slightly pointier, but so far it hasn't caused me any negative issues. I carry a pointy folder with me just in case I have to perform any more filed expedient surgeries, which is how I developed a preference for pointier blades to start with several years ago.
 
B Griffin said:
A sweet one in the 3/16 it was designed in just hit the website last night. I needed one with wood for my project, but if I had the funds I'd snag this one for personal carry.
https://fiddlebackforge.com/collect...cts/fiddleback-forge-protagonist-mocha-burlap
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That is one cool knife. I really don't have the loose funds to blow at the moment. Life has been a bit rough/unpredictable for the last 6 months financially speaking. But thanks for the link as I simply don't check their knives often. Fiddleback is always a big stop at BLADE.
 
22-rimfire said:
That is one cool knife. I really don't have the loose funds to blow at the moment. Life has been a bit rough/unpredictable for the last 6 months financially speaking. But thanks for the link as I simply don't check their knives often. Fiddleback is always a big stop at BLADE.
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No worries. Was just sharing that one here since it had been mentioned. I wish I had the funds to snag this one as well....
 
Lapedog said:
Yeah the good thing about service berries is they grow super abundant on each little tree. They are actually quite delicious too. However there are so many of them the only way to take full advantage is to collect a whole bunch of them and make preserves with them.
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up here in Saskatchewan, service berries are called saskatoon berries. Saskatoon pies are freaking delicious! I haven't been on here in a while , apparently I mist a few things
 
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