chainring
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2008
- Messages
- 2,268
I do not represent myself as an expert or an acclaimed critic whose opinion is based on vast reservoirs of experience or technical knowledge where custom knives are concerned. However, my Dad passed on to me a raging case of enthusiasm for well-made knives, production and custom. I'm 31 now, and my tastes have developed over the years. It started as soon as I can remember with poring over dog-eared copies of Smoky Mountain Knife Works catalogs, casting longing eyes at Jigged Bone, pocketworn Case Canoes, Stag Stockmen, Sodbusters, Sunfish, and Buck sheath knives. I confess to having ordered (or tacked onto my Dad's order) a few crappy little Frost Cutlery knives, simply because that was all I could afford to buy with my meager savings at the time. Dad, however, always came through with a lovely Stag Canoe or something wonderful on birthdays and Christmas, and ruined me forever for cheap knives. Since then, my interests have moved through SOG, Graham Brothers Razels, Striders, Zero Tolerance, Buck/Strider productions, and a few other customs along the way. Each knife would get carried or played with, and then stashed, then sold to fund something else. Many of them I would reshape the G10 scales with a file or sandpaper, trying to achieve a grip that felt good - or if the knife was too expensive to butcher then it simply got sold. Many of them had features that I loved. I gradually found the concept of an EDC fixed-blade, thanks to the Graham guys. The Striders introduced me to the idea of a smallish grip allowing the overall size of the knife to remain reasonable, while having a businesslike blade-length. Stainless and G10 and kydex, loved it. All that was lacking was...well...character...and comfort! I love Glock 9mm handguns because they work every time - nothing there that doesn't need to be there. But pride of ownership they aint got! My knives were that way - worked great, but there wasn't anything about them that made me really enjoy using them.
I found Bladeforums, found the customs for sale by individuals area, and my horizons broadened considerably. Then I saw a "Fiddleback" and my interest spiked. Look at the handle on that thing! Found the Maker's sale area and Andy's forum! Pored over the galleries and user pics like a 6 year old boy with a Smoky Mountain Knife Works catalog!
Not only were the knives made of materials that were utilitarian, but they were beautiful. And the handles were works of art - throw away the rasps, files, and sandpaper, not going to need 'em on these! And the knives were affordable - I wouldn't feel too guilty buying one...OR too worried to USE them. Now I wanted a knife that could rust if I wasn't careful, that would take on a patina, that had a leather sheath that would scratch and weather, that had wood scales. I wanted a tool that became mine, and whose character developed as I used it.
I finally snagged my first Fiddleback and it was everything that I had envisioned. The Woodsman is an awe-inspiring force - it makes me feel like Mogua in Last of the Mohicans! The Snubnose prototype (my first Fiddleback) has the angles, materials, blade shape that I LOVE! The little Karda that I "bought for my wife" is one of the best proportioned little knives I've ever beheld - and the first Fiddleback that cut the hooey out of my finger, you gotta watch it when you pull a knife out of a kydex sheath! Thankfully, the red kydex and micarta don't show blood very much! The Bow Legged Belt Knife is the first knife that I will be able to use in front of my customers that won't cause ingorant-sheeple panic. It looks like a tool. It IS a tool. The handle shape fits my hand perfectly, and the blade shape is ultimately useful. However, both the Bow Legged Belt Knife and the Snubnose prototype are off at Talfuchre's place getting fantastic horizontal, square-ended "tool pouch" sheaths fitted to them.
So...I've been killing time with a wonderful little Bow Legged Joe. I took the sheath that came with it to a local saddlemaker and got him to add a couple of belt loops to it to allow me to carry it horizontally. Voila, the best carry package I've ever had. I'm not sure that the BLBK is going to be better!
Here's a few pics of it:
I found Bladeforums, found the customs for sale by individuals area, and my horizons broadened considerably. Then I saw a "Fiddleback" and my interest spiked. Look at the handle on that thing! Found the Maker's sale area and Andy's forum! Pored over the galleries and user pics like a 6 year old boy with a Smoky Mountain Knife Works catalog!
Not only were the knives made of materials that were utilitarian, but they were beautiful. And the handles were works of art - throw away the rasps, files, and sandpaper, not going to need 'em on these! And the knives were affordable - I wouldn't feel too guilty buying one...OR too worried to USE them. Now I wanted a knife that could rust if I wasn't careful, that would take on a patina, that had a leather sheath that would scratch and weather, that had wood scales. I wanted a tool that became mine, and whose character developed as I used it. I finally snagged my first Fiddleback and it was everything that I had envisioned. The Woodsman is an awe-inspiring force - it makes me feel like Mogua in Last of the Mohicans! The Snubnose prototype (my first Fiddleback) has the angles, materials, blade shape that I LOVE! The little Karda that I "bought for my wife" is one of the best proportioned little knives I've ever beheld - and the first Fiddleback that cut the hooey out of my finger, you gotta watch it when you pull a knife out of a kydex sheath! Thankfully, the red kydex and micarta don't show blood very much!
The Bow Legged Belt Knife is the first knife that I will be able to use in front of my customers that won't cause ingorant-sheeple panic. It looks like a tool. It IS a tool. The handle shape fits my hand perfectly, and the blade shape is ultimately useful. However, both the Bow Legged Belt Knife and the Snubnose prototype are off at Talfuchre's place getting fantastic horizontal, square-ended "tool pouch" sheaths fitted to them.So...I've been killing time with a wonderful little Bow Legged Joe. I took the sheath that came with it to a local saddlemaker and got him to add a couple of belt loops to it to allow me to carry it horizontally. Voila, the best carry package I've ever had. I'm not sure that the BLBK is going to be better!
Here's a few pics of it:
