My Svord Von Tempske bowie has become a safe queen. I haven't so much as...

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Peak_Oil

Joined
Nov 6, 2005
Messages
554
opened a letter with it. There it sits, $187 worth of beautiful steel, on the workbench. I looked at it when I broke down 70+ moving boxes to reuse as wood stove firestarters, but I thought there was no need to dull the edge when I had a few Cold Steel Bushman knives handy.

Just went and sliced a cardboard flat with it and it did a better job than the CS Bushman. Still, so what? I could have picked up a box of razor blades for any one of several box cutters I have to break down the boxes. I broke down a very sturdy pallet recently with a pair of wrecking bars. Originally I planned to use the VTB for that purpose, but there's no way I could have gotten the prying power out of the knife that I got with the wrecking bars. For at least part of the work I tried to use the smaller wrecking bar, but it was built way too tight for that to be reasonable. It was much better to use the four foot bar. There were way too many rusty nails in the pallet for me to move forward with loading it into my SUV and further busting it up on the chopping block to burn it. I had to constantly think about where my feet were and where the nails went to bring that tetanus factory into my yard where my daughters play. In the end, I wound up putting the slats in the garbage rather than deal with 80+ rusty nails.

What was I thinking? There's no way I'm going to use the Von Tempske to split wood when I have a perfectly good Fiskars splitting axe handy. What in the name of all that's holy am I going to use this monstrosity for? It's awesome and everything, but I don't think I bought a tool I'm going to use for any kind of real world work. I have a cord and a half of wood to c/s/s, and I need a chainsaw for that. A good chainsaw is somewhere in the neighborhood of $400, and that would be a useful tool.

I don't need a VTB to break down cardboard boxes. That's what a box cutter is for. I threw $187 away on something I'm not going to use. Who knows, in years to come I may find a use for it as my daughters grow up and we start camping again. Between now and then, I could have used that money on a set of chaps and a hard hat. Dammit.
 
Hi Buddy,

thanks for your impressions on the Tempsky Bowie.

I got 2 Tempsky Bowies (and some other Bowies as well), and to my mind, the Tempsky Bowie is one of the best bowies you can buy, for a fair price. - but of course, it depends on what you are expecting from a bowie.

If you consider a bowie as theb traditional FIGHTING knife (what it is), and if you are familiar with the videos of James A.Keating on Bowies, and with Bill Bagwell's work and his book on "Big Blades", then the Tempsky Bowie is an awesome knife. Because it has this really REALLY massife guard.

The Tempsky Bowie is a heavy knife for sure. Thus, it is not so "fast in hand" as a Bagwell Hell's belle or a Keating Crossada. But it still is fast - if the person has enough strength in his arm. With a bit of practise, you can handle this large knife with ease. (Just a recomendation: I added a leather rope at the grip's end. This impoves the grip a lot, because your hand "knows", "feels" where to grip safely).
Here is a clip of mine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc1BIoxSHkE

On the other hand, if you want to fell a tree with it, i perfectly agree that it is much more recommendable to take an axe.

A very good clip on the SVÖRD Tempsky is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r4E2n83dmk
This clip made many people to choose the Tempsky!

Cheerz,
Vincent
 
Peak_Oil said:
opened a letter with it. There it sits, $187 worth of beautiful steel, on the workbench. I looked at it when I broke down 70+ moving boxes to reuse as wood stove firestarters, but I thought there was no need to dull the edge when I had a few Cold Steel Bushman knives handy.

Just went and sliced a cardboard flat with it and it did a better job than the CS Bushman. Still, so what? I could have picked up a box of razor blades for any one of several box cutters I have to break down the boxes. I broke down a very sturdy pallet recently with a pair of wrecking bars. Originally I planned to use the VTB for that purpose, but there's no way I could have gotten the prying power out of the knife that I got with the wrecking bars. For at least part of the work I tried to use the smaller wrecking bar, but it was built way too tight for that to be reasonable. It was much better to use the four foot bar. There were way too many rusty nails in the pallet for me to move forward with loading it into my SUV and further busting it up on the chopping block to burn it. I had to constantly think about where my feet were and where the nails went to bring that tetanus factory into my yard where my daughters play. In the end, I wound up putting the slats in the garbage rather than deal with 80+ rusty nails.

What was I thinking? There's no way I'm going to use the Von Tempske to split wood when I have a perfectly good Fiskars splitting axe handy. What in the name of all that's holy am I going to use this monstrosity for? It's awesome and everything, but I don't think I bought a tool I'm going to use for any kind of real world work. I have a cord and a half of wood to c/s/s, and I need a chainsaw for that. A good chainsaw is somewhere in the neighborhood of $400, and that would be a useful tool.

I don't need a VTB to break down cardboard boxes. That's what a box cutter is for. I threw $187 away on something I'm not going to use. Who knows, in years to come I may find a use for it as my daughters grow up and we start camping again. Between now and then, I could have used that money on a set of chaps and a hard hat. Dammit.
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Friend, in the words of my knife-making instructor, you need to take her out into the woods and "beat the snot out of it". :D Seriously, you won't truly appreciate a knife like that until you really get to using it. Part of having an "everything" knife is the ability to cut out other tools in exchange for just the one. If you're waiting for another camping trip or such, it's just going to sit there to rust. You have to MAKE a reason to get out into the brush with it, and just enjoy some quality craftsmanship. :)
 
VolundoftheForge said:
Friend, in the words of my knife-making instructor, you need to take her out into the woods and "beat the snot out of it". :D Seriously, you won't truly appreciate a knife like that until you really get to using it. Part of having an "everything" knife is the ability to cut out other tools in exchange for just the one. If you're waiting for another camping trip or such, it's just going to sit there to rust. You have to MAKE a reason to get out into the brush with it, and just enjoy some quality craftsmanship. :)
Click to expand...

Bingo. If you're having a really hard time bringing yourself to use it, take a nail and run a nice big scratch down the blade or rub a handful of dirt on it or something. Once you get it dirty the first time you'll be using it thereafter.
 
Peak_Oil said:
...What was I thinking? There's no way I'm going to use the Von Tempske to split wood when I have a perfectly good Fiskars splitting axe handy. What in the name of all that's holy am I going to use this monstrosity for? ....
Click to expand...

You are right: one only needs a knife that cuts well, all the rest can be done with other tools which are better suited to do the job!
 
Just use it, you'll be glad ya did. Cool looking knives BTW, have you guys seen the new hogsticker version? I saw it the other day and haven't been able to locate it again, I'd link to it if I could find it.
 
I was a little apprehensive about using the VTB because I just ruined a Sarco Khukri in my yard. I was out smashing away at some bushes for maybe ten minutes when I took another look at the blade. I rolled it pretty hard in two places and the point was smashed flat. This was steel vs bushes, it should have been steel FTW. The only thing I can think of is I had it professionally sharpened a couple years ago and I hadn't chopped anything with it since. The edge was probably too thin. Still, nothing was over 0.75"...

There were some down limbs in the back that were about 20-30' long, maybe 2-3" diameter. Still flexible and wet. I pulled out the bowie and whacked away at them. It bit deep with every swing. The heaviness made for good energy biting into the limb. I never would have chopped into that stuff with my CS Trail Hawk, there's no margin for error. It took me about ten minutes to make a stack of limbs the perfect size to carry up the hill and finish off with an axe.

Just for fun, I took a Big 5 Jeep brand solid metal hatchet out to do the same thing. Gimme the Tempske, no question about it. The hatchet wanted to roll in my hand, but the large knife did not. I don't think the actual cutting was much different, but I had to pay more attention with the Jeep hatchet to make sure the blade hit the wood right. The knife just wanted to get swung and it would bite.

That's science, right there.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Yeah--I'll be picking those up for the shop for sure, and maybe one for myself! I have a soft spot for cinquedeas, and that new model is reminiscent of an 1800's rendition of one. There's also a smaller version of the Von Tempsky that'll be out soon, and a GIANT Peasant Knife but I haven't seen pics of that one yet.
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Do you have any pictures or more information on the smaller Von Tempsky, such as size etc? Also, any idea when it will be out?
 
Peak_Oil said:
I was a little apprehensive about using the VTB because I just ruined a Sarco Khukri in my yard.
Click to expand...

Sarco kukris are garbage. I bought two several years ago, and I bent the large one over a 2x4 until it was a funky "U" shape. Heat-treat was non-existent. I tossed it and the other (little) one in the garbage; the smell of the sheaths literally stunk up the whole apartment. We were smelling the chemicals form the leather for several days after.

The quality of the VTB is well beyond any kukri Sarco sells.

~Chris
 
fielder said:
Do you have any pictures or more information on the smaller Von Tempsky, such as size etc? Also, any idea when it will be out?
Click to expand...

6.5" blade. Not sure when it'll be available. Apparently called the "Forest Ranger." This is the only photo I have, which was of a sample received by my distributor.

ForestRanger.JPG
 
Peak_Oil, I hate you. Now I've got to order one of those Tempsky bowies, and a bunch of books on New Zeland's colonial history.
 
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