KE Bushie - The Appalachian Forest Tool

Filling in the blanks.

Went for a hike in the woods. Snow on the ground, snow in the trees, snow in the air. Snow everywhere.

A good test for the new sheath. Slathered in Huberd's it seems pretty impervious to the white and wet. Very cool,
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I stumbled on an old stump I had cut about two years ago. It was interesting, so I left it high. Thinking it might serve some purpose down the road. The Bushie and the Altoids tin is sitting on it in the first photo above,
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Finding wood on the ground in 20" of snow is a lost cause. So it's best to look up and see what the last wind storm has provided,
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The Bushie made small pieces out of big pices,
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To that, I added some fatwood shavings and fluffed twine,
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It took the spark pretty well. But it was fussy for a bit. Double digit days of continous wet snow has a tendency to do that.
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Some times I envy folks in warmer and drier parts of this great land. It must be so cool to build fires with wood that only sees rain a few times a year. Here some times even with birch bark, pine cones, fat wood, and pine sap it can be a challenge.

But the other side of the equation is. When it's that dry, a lot of times bans are in effect. And even when they aren't, you have to be on your toes.

Plus there are the Gila Monsters, Crocodiles, Fiddlebacks, TzeTze Flies, Komodo Dragons and all sorts of other nasties to consider.

In retrospect, my northern woods are just fine.
 
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I had built myself a little table of sorts. And scavanged some dry low hanging fuel. It's actually pretty amazing how much fuel you can find hanging, once you learn to look up,
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This was an exercise in patience for me. Because of the lack of real estate on top of the stump. I could only add a little at a time. Couldn't just pile stuff on like a ground fire.
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In a lot of areas folks tend to talk about what tool suits the terrain. Axe, knife, machete, golok, parang. Up here there is a lot of talk about snow shovels. A decent lightweight packable shovel is essential. My old and trusted Life-Link gave up the ghost late last winter. I hadn't thought much about replacing it until this little jaunt. Suddenly it is high on the list of things to do.

I alternated between adding to the fire and gathering fuel.
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It was a fun little exercise. I kept it going for quite a while. Enjoyed a few Torpedoes too.
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People always ask what if anything I carry in the woods for self defense. Pistol or long gun. AK or AR. I tell them I'm partial to Torpedoes! They usually get the deer in the headlights look.

Spending time out in the winter woods can be a challenge. Everything is just a little tougher. Walking, staying warm, building fires, looking after your tools. Not impossible, it just takes some thought and a little extra effort.

But the rewards outweigh the extra work. When roaming about on a day like this. Everything is so quiet. All of the troubles of the world just fade away for a bit.

As the sun sets, the woods take on a whole different personality. Just the light from this small fire cast a warm light for fifty yards in every direction. The photo really doesn't do it justice. It was like a Norman Rockwell scene. Well worth the effort.
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I hiked home in the dark. Without the need to turn my flashlight on.

A very cool day to be in the woods. Literally and figuratively.

As back up tools I had an OYO Pocket axe, and an Opinel #12 saw. But the KE Bushie managed just fine solo. The other tools never left my pack

I really like this knife!
 
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good stuff Walt. I carry a Glock 19 or 42 daily, and in the woods. Especially when wandering in the national forest here in MO. You might come up on some freaking meth camp.
 
I actually stumbled on a Meth Camp about 10 years ago. I was looking at buying about 50 acres. Real estate chick couldn't make it. It was down a no longer used town road. So I decided to go explore myself. About a half mile in. I came up over a rise. There were two old school buses joined perpendicular to each other. Resembling a big yellow Tee. At first I thought it was an old hunting camp. A few steps futher and I started noticing toilets. Lots of toilets, like around 30 of them. And hundreds of milk jugs and 2 liter soda bottles.

Funny how instincts take over. I moved laterally off the road to cover. Scanned for traps or trips. And slowly backed off, taking a different route out. No signs of life or movement. No dogs, but definitely a substantial lab.

A call to the real estate chick was almost funny. It went something like this. Yeah the guy that owns it is from Jersey. He said something about a lab on the site. We never actually went and looked. I couldn't believe it. A few phone calls later and it turns out it was one of the biggest meth busts in Chenango County.

That ended my relationship with that real estate outfit.

Odd you brought that up.
I carry if I think there is any possibility of encountering hostiles. I tend to stay off trails and away from roads. Most dopers are fairly lazy. So we seem to miss each other. Plus as you can see. Up here, long term outdoor activities are not for the unprepared.

I used to carry full time. I'm actually trying to dial it back a bit. I know that flies in the face of logic these days.
 
People always ask what if anything I carry in the woods for self defense. Pistol or long gun. AK or AR. I tell them I'm partial to Torpedoes! They usually get the deer in the headlights look.

Spending time out in the winter woods can be a challenge. Everything is just a little tougher. Walking, staying warm, building fires, looking after your tools. Not impossible, it just takes some thought and a little extra effort.

But the rewards outweigh the extra work. When roaming about on a day like this. Everything is so quiet. All of the troubles of the world just fade away for a bit.

As the sun sets, the woods take on a whole different personality. Just the light from this small fire cast a warm light for fifty yards in every direction. The photo really doesn't do it justice. It was like a Norman Rockwell scene. Well worth the effort.
IMG_8301-XL.jpg


I hiked home in the dark. Without the need to turn my flashlight on.

A very cool day to be in the woods. Literally and figuratively.

As back up tools I had an OYO Pocket axe, and an Opinel #12 saw. But the KE Bushie managed just fine solo. The other tools never left my pack

I really like this knife!
I love this picture! I’d probably get hypothermia, falling into a trance and not wanting to leave that beautiful scene. Can’t imagine how awesome it looked in person!
 
I love this picture! I’d probably get hypothermia, falling into a trance and not wanting to leave that beautiful scene. Can’t imagine how awesome it looked in person!

Lady1911 Lady1911

It was so nice. Just a nice warm glow. And with the snow on the trees, it was everywhere. It was like half a sphere of glowing warmth. I spend a lot of nights out in the snow. This one was better than most. All the white in the trees was just reflecting warm light back.
 
Love that knife! I wish more knives were made with that starry night burlap it is magical.

There it is:thumbsup: I wondered who had the beauty!

Thanks Y'all. I really love this knife. Both the design and the handle. It's my first choice when hiking. I also love the Condos Leather sheath that I have with it. Mark does some fantastic work for sure. :thumbsup:
 
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