Photos Kepharts...They just Work

Very nice! That's what I'm talking bout!

I think that worn Ratweiler likes it better at your house than she did at mine. I'm not sure I could EVER of shown her that much love. :)
 
Uncle Timbo said:
Very nice! That's what I'm talking bout!

I think that worn Ratweiler likes it better at your house than she did at mine. I'm not sure I could EVER of shown her that much love. :)
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Well, after getting an infiweiler, I forwarded it to someone else that I hope will show it some love. I still think that between the ratweiler and a Kephart, probably even a smaller one since the RW will handle the bigger tasks, there's not a lot that couldn't get done in many situations where bladed tools are needed. Given, axes and saws make various things easier, but the RW and a Kephart design I think covers everything up to shelter building. Because I like to keep my food knife clean, I would most likely use the Kephart for food stuff and the RW for the wood stuff. In reality, I usually have a SAK or a trapper, and the trapper as a dirty blade/clean blade on each as well for such things.

Which reminds me, I just put a 90deg spine on my boker trapper last week so it can double as my sparker.

This is actually before the work was done but it doesn't look much different. I really didn't need to take off much material to get it sharp enough to through sparks.

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22-rimfire said:
Just carry a bic lighter.... :D
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But that's not what they test out in videos :eek:

I like to carry both, but I've gotten pretty comfortable with the ferro after using it for the home's fireplace for 2 years as practice. A bic, or the maratac peanut, is still nicer. What I really haven't had the luxury of trying it starting the fire when the hands are cold and acting "stupid" from lack of sensation. Had a bit of that during a very rainy day-hike last weekend that caught us by surprise because we got lost and added 5 miles to the route. No plans to start a fire, but it did make me think when I struggled with candy bar wrappers, how much fine motor tasks could I do that I practice at home in warmth of my back yard or garage.
 
Practicing with the home fireplace is a good idea. Except ours is gas and we don't use it. (Never used it in 20 years.) Fire can be a life saver. I don't think you should depend exclusively on a bic lighter and reduced motor skills certainly affect your ability to use it. At a minimum, I carry some matches in waterproof container along with the bic. You want those dry and functional.
 
Hard Knocks said:
Hi Tim. I haven't been keeping up with this thread, but your above post showed up on my newsfeed. Thanks for the heads-up, those Gossmans are beauties. I just got a WTK of his from another member here that I really like. Here's a custom in the kephart pattern from maker redsquid2 IIRC. It's in AEB-L and it has performed very well for small game cleaning and food prep around camp. Cheers brother.

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That is one of mine. I am glad you are liking it.
 
cbach8tw said:
It hasn't cut a lot of paper and a few boxes. Have not been out camping this year yet....camper is still winterized, so maybe a weekend cook out.:D
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Hmm... makes me wonder if you're another person in an area where we've seen rain nearly every other day. I have so many camping knives the need tested, including a Kephart from JK Knives, that need used but I can't seem to find an overnight stretch where I would stay dry.

Tried a day hike once during father's day, it rained for 4 of the 6 hours we were out and it was a little less than pleasant. At least we got outside, but we didn't stop to enjoy a fire and food or anything.

Hopefully, with summer officially here, things will dry out a little. I have some big hopes for the week of the 4th.

I've been working to build a patina in the kitchen on this guy, so it at least looks like a used knife when I take it out.

1st one with a convex grind and 1st knife in O1 steel. It's pretty interesting. Soaked the handle in mineral oil and it's really made the burlap pop.
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bikerector said:
Hmm... makes me wonder if you're another person in an area where we've seen rain nearly every other day. I have so many camping knives the need tested, including a Kephart from JK Knives, that need used but I can't seem to find an overnight stretch where I would stay dry.

Tried a day hike once during father's day, it rained for 4 of the 6 hours we were out and it was a little less than pleasant. At least we got outside, but we didn't stop to enjoy a fire and food or anything.

Hopefully, with summer officially here, things will dry out a little. I have some big hopes for the week of the 4th.

I've been working to build a patina in the kitchen on this guy, so it at least looks like a used knife when I take it out.

1st one with a convex grind and 1st knife in O1 steel. It's pretty interesting. Soaked the handle in mineral oil and it's really made the burlap pop.
np49V2ll.jpg

urbeqgel.jpg
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Nice JK, I do not have a full size Keppie, I have an EDC one I want to christen too. My outdoor time may only be a trip to a park with some trails, or what would be great would is a picnic at a site off the Shenandoah parkway.
 
cbach8tw said:
Nice JK, I do not have a full size Keppie, I have an EDC one I want to christen too. My outdoor time may only be a trip to a park with some trails, or what would be great would is a picnic at a site off the Shenandoah parkway.
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This is probably blasphemous in this thread... but I kind of really want a Kephart in LC200N/Z-finit lately for kayak camping... even though I haven't even tried that yet. I live 3 miles from the start of a 100 mile water trail in SE Michigan. I guess the trick is that there are almost no campgrounds along the entire route so you are pretty stuck to stealth camping, but there are many houses along the river or the thickets are thick enough that it's unpleasant. I'm not sure, may be worth a weekend trip as a trial. I have an inflatable kayak that makes it really easy to roll up and conceal.
 
cbach8tw said:
Nice JK, I do not have a full size Keppie, I have an EDC one I want to christen too. My outdoor time may only be a trip to a park with some trails, or what would be great would is a picnic at a site off the Shenandoah parkway.
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That's better than staying home all the time. I agree when your outdoors experiences are like this, there is little need to use a fixed blade very often. Most of my outdoor time is at Parks or in the area of parks/national forests. Serious backpacking doesn't really interest me much. Parks, other than urban parks, generally center around some natural feature (water falls, river, etc. or just interesting landscape). So, I try to visit the parks because for the most part, they wouldn't be there if they weren't fairly scenic and interesting.

The kayak or canoe thing is lots of fun, but you have to get back to the car/truck and that is usually my problem with floating/paddling down rivers. If a place is used by boaters, there will usually be camping spots that have developed over time.
 
bikerector said:
This is probably blasphemous in this thread... but I kind of really want a Kephart in LC200N/Z-finit lately for kayak camping... even though I haven't even tried that yet. I live 3 miles from the start of a 100 mile water trail in SE Michigan. I guess the trick is that there are almost no campgrounds along the entire route so you are pretty stuck to stealth camping, but there are many houses along the river or the thickets are thick enough that it's unpleasant. I'm not sure, may be worth a weekend trip as a trial. I have an inflatable kayak that makes it really easy to roll up and conceal.
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For the kayak trips, do you have someone take the vehicle and meet you down stream? That way you can load up the kayak and head to a camping area? Sounds fun. I believe you can get an LT Wright in AEBL if you want stainless. Or the smaller Northern hunter is also AEBL.

We went on a raft ride and some of the guides used a river shortie (?), one side plain, one side serrated for cutting rope. It was held securely in a plastic slip form fitting sheath attached to the vest for quick access.
 
Yeah, stage vehicles. If you can get a group, then you can put one vehicle at the top and one at the bottom. That's another nice thing about the inflatable, it can be any vehicle with a trunk instead of truck or trailer to carry the thing. The inflatable feels like a toy while you put it together, but I've been pretty impressed with it so far on some shorter trips around bigger lakes and a little bit in rivers, but nothing too crazy. I don't know how it would handle rapids and such... and all the rivers are really high right now, so a lot of people are unable to finish trips due to crazy currents and downed trees.
 
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Please forgive me but this talk brings to mind the movie Deliverance. You could always just pay some locals? :eek:
 
Uncle Timbo said:
Please forgive me but this talk brings to mind the movie Deliverance. You could always just pay some locals? :eek:
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It does. Paying is one thing, but finding someone is the hard part. Plus many don't have a vehicle that can carry a kayak. The inflatables certainly add to the flexibility, but they aren't as sleek/nimble in the water; mostly paddle floats downstream is what they are intended for.
 
22-rimfire said:
It does. Paying is one thing, but finding someone is the hard part. Plus many don't have a vehicle that can carry a kayak. The inflatables certainly add to the flexibility, but they aren't as sleek/nimble in the water; mostly paddle floats downstream is what they are intended for.
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Not true, some of the inflatables move quite well with the rigid beam inserts or the high-pressure flooring and sides. You're not going to beat a good slender kayak but they can come pretty close. If you start needing stability, the inflatables start to even out even more. The real negative, IMO, is the inflatables tend to sit high and catch wind. The advantage of that is they can carry a lot more weight (couple hundred pounds for some models), which is really nice when looking at a tandem kayak or for touring/camping, they the speed of the hard sides will be a little benefit if you need to cover a lot of distance. The good ones are not cheap and I think a similarly priced hard side will do a lot better, but many inflatables are far from being designed with the intention of only being paddle floats for downstream travel.

The last part of your statement is simply untrue, the rest I agree with. I suspect we would disagree on the difference of how sleek and nimble they are, as sleek and nimble can be can be opposing characteristics in some case, like toughness and edge retention in knives. I assume sleekness is forward speed and nimble is the ability to turn. From what I've seen, for speed you need slimness and length to retain boyancy but the length slows nimbleness. However, weight affects that a lot too so you can make an overall smaller kayak that gets both if you don't need to carry weight, not good for fat guys with wide hips, like myself.

That was long-winded and a bit off topic of knives.
 
Here, water that is big enough for kayaks, canoes, or boats is open for use within the floodplain only when bordered by private property. That is especially true in Texas. Land owners can be a bit controlling (as they should) when somebody essentially has a back door to their property. So, access to the water with private property surrounding it can be a big problem. I have had one of the kayak/canoe rental places ferry or pick up me and yak on waters they provide a service. You pay, but you don't have to worry about your vehicle... either park at the beginning or end of the journey.

I was out yesterday with my new Eastland Kephart putting around in the woods. Walked up on a copperhead snake but we both saw each other at the same time and avoided any issues. No, I didn't kill it. The knife carries nicely and feels good. A dangler type sheath might be more comfortable if you keep the knife on your belt inside your vehicle.
 
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