Wilderness exploration with a David Mary field knife

[Currawong]

I spent a few hours exploring a remote forest area in South East Australia today. Thought I'd share some pics.

The drive in.

Hiking into the forest. It is all off-trail / bushwhacking.

I took this 'field knife' (as I am calling it) along with me. It's the test knife David made on his run of MagnaCut knives.

A big old growth tree burnt in the bushfires of two years ago. Still black, but also still alive. I could walk around inside.

Pushing through chest-high ferns down the steep slope.

 

[Currawong]

The field knife was great for pushing spiky branches out of the way (and sometimes when it was impossible to move forwards, a judicious trimming of the branches).

A baby Giant Stinging Tree growing up after the fires. You do NOT want to touch these.

Also pushing or chopping these out of the way. Smilax vines, a thorny vine that twists through the ferns and shrubs. Also known as Lawyer Vine (because once you're stuck you can't get away).

 

[Currawong]

Some rainforest. This is known as 'warm temperate rainforest'.

 

[Currawong]

Eastern Water Dragon

Some kind of spider as big as my palm.

A few comments on the knife. It is a fantastic field knife! The balance and quickness is perfect for chopping long grasses, small branches and vines. The handle has the perfect ergonomics for swinging, flicking and chopping. Everything is wet in this forest (plus it was raining a little for most of it), but no worries with the stainlessness level of magnacut. David has made a truly top notch bush knife, and this will likely be my standard traveling companion on future exploratory trips into the bush.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

I'm not a lanyard fan.......
But I'd probably add something Bright to keep it from being lost in the bush.... :/

7" blade?

Thanks for showing your part of the world.

 

[Currawong]

It's fairly well camouflaged, that's true.

It's a 9.5" blade.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

It's fairly well camouflaged, that's true.

It's a 9.5" blade.

Nice.... I bet it will serve Many roles.

David made me a knife with that green laminate, too.
And I can say that it looks Alot nicer in person than it does in pictures.
Especially with a nice coat of oil.
So I can imagine how awesome Yours is.

 

[jbmonkey]

beautiful country there. enjoyed the pics and tour. knife looks great too. thank you.

 

[Currawong]

Just so I don't do my other David Mary knives an injustice by ignoring them, here are a few pics from a trip today.

My two hunters in magnacut and suretouch.

This forest type is 'cool temperate rainforest' and is at higher altitude than the previous trip. It was foggy and raining the whole time.

Lots of big vines in this forest.

The view from inside a hollow tree - taking cover from the rain.

 

[Currawong]

 

[Currawong]

There are a lot of thistles coming up in the forest since the bushfires. I cut them out as I went.

A Lyrebird's display feather, used in mating dances.

Another Lyrebird tail feather.

An old growth eucalypt that fell after the fires.

 

[MolokaiRider]

Fantastic scenery, fantastic knives.

 

[studio]

Primordial! Thank you for sharing!

 

[David Mary]

Currawong , thank you indeed! Wow, if anyone ever tells you that you need to get out more, just send them to this thread.

 

[David Mary]

known as Lawyer Vine (because once you're stuck you can't get away)

Bwahahaha!!!!

A few comments on the knife. It is a fantastic field knife! The balance and quickness is perfect for chopping long grasses, small branches and vines. The handle has the perfect ergonomics for swinging, flicking and chopping. Everything is wet in this forest (plus it was raining a little for most of it), but no worries with the stainlessness level of magnacut. David has made a truly top notch bush knife, and this will likely be my standard traveling companion on future exploratory trips into the bush.

Thank you so much for the kind words about my work. I try and just hope I hit close to the mark.

 

[Currawong]

Here's another exploratory trip I did yesterday. It's in a national park and a declared Wilderness Area. It's remote and difficult to get to and required bushwhacking through heavy vegetation in steep country.

Many sacrifices were made!!

(This is just tree sap )

Climbing up into the fog.

Grass trees

 

[Currawong]

I hit a spot where most of the trees had been killed by the bushfires of a couple of years ago.

The fog was getting so thick I had to cut my way through!

The top of the ridgeline. It's so windy up here the trees have a permanent bend. This wind at higher altitude hilltops is what causes the clouds (heavy fog) to form. I was heading towards a 'cloud forest' I believed was down the other side of this escarpment.

 

[cudgee]

It's in a national park and a declared Wilderness Area

Is that Kosciuszko National park???

 

[Currawong]

A short gif to show the wind I was walking through.

The ridgeline I was walking along for a few hours. That ground cover vegetation is generally knee-high to waist-high. There were large patches (a hundred metres or more) where it was well over my head, but luckily there were some relatively clear areas as well.

The cloud forest is somwhere down there.

I followed the cliffs for a while and they just kept going. This spot is where I was going to have to descend. It looked difficult.

 

[Currawong]

It's hard to tell from the pic, but the way down was so steep I basically sat on my butt and slid down. The rocks collapsed under me at one point and made a little avalanche. I fell over a few times on this trip and got a bit bruised I have to admit.

Looking up the cliffs.

It got so steep around here that I couldn't go any further. I was on my own and in a place so remote no one would ever find the body, so self-preservation made me turn around. Plus I was worried night would fall before I got back. Maybe one day I'll return to see what's further down the slope, I just might need to find another route.