What Fiddleback Forge knife are you totin' today?

Lately I've been edc-ing a beautiful JBKnifeworks Shady Baby in some sweet Hellbender leather, and really digging it.
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Nice - that's a beauty too Brian, Mistwalker Mistwalker . How's the handle to blade ratio on that one? ;)
Love the shape/profile, stem to stern and flat grind too - excellent.:thumbsup:
 
RayseM said:
Nice - that's a beauty too Brian, Mistwalker Mistwalker . How's the handle to blade ratio on that one? ;)
Love the shape/profile, stem to stern and flat grind too - excellent.:thumbsup:
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Thanks! This one hits the sweet spot of my perfect size and minimums for edc carry, having a 3-1/8 inches of steel mated to 4-1/4 inches of handle :D .

Me too. It's very reminiscent of the FF Bushboot, but with a bit less curvature to the handle. Feels great in overhand and underhand grips.

I also learned with this knife that I like the wooden bolsters with micarta scales more than I realized. To my mind with most knives, like pocket knives, tactical and field knives, and even bushcraft knives, the bolster was there as a tougher material than the organic handles scales to take the abuse at the business end of the tool, with things abrading the bolster in rougher uses instead of the wood. But then I learned something new with this one I hadn't thought about till I carried it a while. The wood stays in the sheath when being carried so it's less exposed to abrasion and the less fragile synthetic meets the world during carry. But then in use the wood shows more and looks really classy, and it's an edc more so than a hard use knife so most of the time that is fine, and I will just take that into account when I conduct experiments with it. It has been my edc while I document the happenings in our city of the COVID-19 situation, accompanied by a side arm and multi-tool... and a Navy MK3 in my pack if sh!# goes south quickly. Which all things considered seems to be a definite possibility at some point. I hope the current military actions can mitigate that. I like that the black synthetic is what is exposed during carry, and I like that it looks more classy in use, and I like how the profile, much like the Bushboot, lends itself to defensive uses as well as utilitarian uses.
 
B Griffin said:
Thanks! This one hits the sweet spot of my perfect size and minimums for edc carry, having a 3-1/8 inches of steel mated to 4-1/4 inches of handle :D .

Me too. It's very reminiscent of the FF Bushboot, but with a bit less curvature to the handle. Feels great in overhand and underhand grips.

I also learned with this knife that I like the wooden bolsters with micarta scales more than I realized. To my mind with most knives, like pocket knives, tactical and field knives, and even bushcraft knives, the bolster was there as a tougher material than the organic handles scales to take the abuse at the business end of the tool, with things abrading the bolster in rougher uses instead of the wood. But then I learned something new with this one I hadn't thought about till I carried it a while. The wood stays in the sheath when being carried so it's less exposed to abrasion and the less fragile synthetic meets the world during carry. But then in use the wood shows more and looks really classy, and it's an edc more so than a hard use knife so most of the time that is fine, and I will just take that into account when I conduct experiments with it. It has been my edc while I document the happenings in our city of the COVID-19 situation, accompanied by a side arm and multi-tool... and a Navy MK3 in my pack if sh!# goes south quickly. Which all things considered seems to be a definite possibility at some point. I hope the current military actions can mitigate that. I like that the black synthetic is what is exposed during carry, and I like that it looks more classy in use, and I like how the profile, much like the Bushboot, lends itself to defensive uses as well as utilitarian uses.
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I've always thought that wood bolsters seemed a bit backwards, but you make a solid case.
 
I really like the look of the natural linen mid-Shady that was offered a few Fridays back - 3/20.
 
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RayseM said:
I really like the look of the natural linen mid-Shady that was offered a few Fridays back - 3/20.

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Has tempted me but you know there's the thing that they want payment for it. ;) Maybe if a mid-Shady or baby-Shady cousin to the Shogun I keep posting was offered with the matching teal and black, my resistance would dissolve. :) This one, in and of itself though, is pretty perfect. :thumbsup:
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I need to look at the dimensions of the mid shady just to see what they are
 
Brian - here are the specs for the one above - J.B. Knifeworks Mid-Shady - Natural Linen - Natural Liners - Golden Pinstripes - 3.325” Blade - 7.875” OAL - 5/32” A2 - SFT - Flat Grind.

A bit longer handle than I typically prefer and I think this particular knife would look and feel fine with 1/2" less in the handle. All speculation though, without having it in hand. I think the dimensions for all of the SHADY line are moving targets - in the same range but +/-.
 
Congrats and welcome to the family. You are working with a great guy for leatherwork. And the guy that made the knife is alright, too. ;)
 
Thanks, jaz322 jaz322 . Everything I've read, from Fiddleback's website to the posts on the forum here, figured in to my buying a Fiddleback Forge knife. Even Rick, who said he was having issues getting in some of his materials presently, was gracious in saying he could still make me a sheath for the knife. It's just been positive all around.
 
RayseM said:
Brian - here are the specs for the one above - J.B. Knifeworks Mid-Shady - Natural Linen - Natural Liners - Golden Pinstripes - 3.325” Blade - 7.875” OAL - 5/32” A2 - SFT - Flat Grind.

A bit longer handle than I typically prefer and I think this particular knife would look and feel fine with 1/2" less in the handle. All speculation though, without having it in hand. I think the dimensions for all of the SHADY line are moving targets - in the same range but +/-.
Click to expand...

So the Mid Shady has roughly 3/16" more blade and 1/4 more handle, but the handle is measured to a point on the pommel a little beyond the usable length of the handle. My hand measures 3-1/2 across in at the base of my fingers and 3-1/4 in at the first knuckle, and it essentially maxes out the 3-5/8 in of lower curve of the Shady baby handle scales and is still quite comfortable in all EDC type uses, but I'm sure I wouldn't hate the extra handle and blade length in long term uses, if that helps. I think that's why the MS exists maybe, trying to nail down the sweet spot.
 
RayseM said:
Brian - here are the specs for the one above - J.B. Knifeworks Mid-Shady - Natural Linen - Natural Liners - Golden Pinstripes - 3.325” Blade - 7.875” OAL - 5/32” A2 - SFT - Flat Grind.

A bit longer handle than I typically prefer and I think this particular knife would look and feel fine with 1/2" less in the handle. All speculation though, without having it in hand. I think the dimensions for all of the SHADY line are moving targets - in the same range but +/-.
Click to expand...

So the Mid Shady has roughly 3/16" more blade and 1/4 more handle, but the handle is measured to a point on the pommel a little beyond the usable length of the handle. My hand measures 3-1/2 across in at the base of my fingers and 3-1/4 in at the first knuckle, and it essentially maxes out the 3-5/8 in of lower curve of the Shady baby handle scales and is still quite comfortable in all EDC type uses, but I'm sure I wouldn't hate the extra handle and blade length in long term uses, if that helps. I think that's why the MS exists maybe, trying to nail down the sweet spot.
 
so i have to fess up....i haven't owned a FB in a while. add to that that i've often said, "i'm not a small fixed blade guy". i've seen many nice ones come and go (including a HB). but, i'll tell ya...i recently received a handyman (been on my to-try list for a while) and i think i've been won over.

it came with a diomedes pocket sheath. i've tried other pocket sheaths in the past (including making one) and there is something about this one that works for me.

aaanyhooo, i've had several projects this week and this blade rides comfortably along with me. perfect size for me, and cuts like a laser. in fact, i like it so much, i'm keeping an eye out for other handle configs. ;)
hooray! :thumbsup: :D

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