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Fixed blades

A dicsussion group about knives of the Great Outdoors needs to have an area to discuss all those fixed blades. This will be a place to show off your fixed blades. Doesn't matter if it for filet fish or just the knife you use around the camp fire. Maybe its your favorite deer skinner! Let's see it!

For years, the knife i took camping was my Camillus Mk2 Fighting knife. But it is now in retirement. Not because I found something better, just because it has too much sentimental meaning to have it confiscated by a park ranger or game warden or lost through stupidity.

My current camp knife is a Rough Rider 844 Burl Wood Hunter. Why? Because it has been getting the job done. I've got Hunters by Bear & Son, Case and Buck that all cost more but this one seems to get the job done better and cost half as much as the others.

The only issue I had with the knife was the strap for the sheath. It got in the way of taking the knife in and out of the sheath . A little altering and all was fine.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on September 20, 2013 at 18:52

Great story Clay, thanks for posting. Very interesting.

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on September 20, 2013 at 21:29

Good story, Clay. The online "inflation calculator" says that $.80 in 1933 (average depression year) would be $14.39 in 2013, so that ain't too bad per pelt/skin. Milk cost $.16/qt, eggs $.14/doz, bread $.06/loaf, and coffee $.23/lb. It was hard living, but these guys got by. For $.80 they could buy milk, eggs, bread and coffee for $.59 and have some left over. Plus, if they had several pelts things would be better. Of course, trying to get by today on $14.39 per pelt, like $.80 back in 1933, would take a bunch of pelts to sustain a family - and pay rent.

A 2-blade folder probably worked very well for them if there were no 16' gators, but then again the small calibre rifle would work on gators.

Permalink Reply by Clay Strong on September 21, 2013 at 0:04

Imagine how these men felt when in the forties they were restricted from hunting gators altogether. Some went to jail for poaching and at least one wildlife officer was killed. Funny that you mention big gators. Most of the hunters carried in their boat a long rod, or pike,.to spear a large gator that a small caliber rifle would not kill or one that a clear shot could not be made.. If one got into a small deep water hole, or under a bank, the pike could be used to roust it out. Then they were mad for sure. There is proof that 2 men once pulled 4,000 (four thousand) gators from one lake in the glades in a month. I'm sure many were.small, but they were marketable for far less than 80 cents. Today, there is a lottery system for the permit to hunt them. I don't believe guns are allowed. People are bad about shooting their eyes out at night, which leaves them alive. I won't tell the whole story or the why. But, I was once in a trailer house that was used by a licensed trapper to hold gators until slaughtering. there were about eight gators in there tied to the studs in the walls. One was 11 feet long and blind. When it felt the trailer shake from another guy jumping in the doorway, that gator flailed its tail and broke several studs in the wall like they were toothpicks.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on September 21, 2013 at 10:27

Gator season is about over, here in Louisiana. It runs through the month of September.

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on September 21, 2013 at 10:45

Fascinating, Clay. Up north here we're coming up on cooler weather, and that means a fire ring and a fire outside the cabin at hunting/target shooting camp. Come on up and tell more stories.

Permalink Reply by Clay Strong on September 21, 2013 at 11:10

Thanks for the offer, Howard. Sounds like good times. Memories of an outing are like a little dose of medicine every time you think of them. If it's just a few hours at a local park, or sitting on the bank of a pond, it soothes the soul.

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on September 22, 2013 at 14:00

USMC Fighting Knife (smaller version) stamped USMC and KABAR Olean NY

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on September 23, 2013 at 14:59

Ken,

I'm not sure if this was ever an issue item or if this was something KaBar decided to do for the civilian market to as a counter to the Jet Pilot Survival knife. The plus side is it has a heavier blade than the Jet Pilot knife and a more traditional sheath.

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on September 23, 2013 at 15:01

Thanks Tobias, so you have seen these before? Wonder how long they have been out? Do you have one?

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on September 23, 2013 at 15:55

I noticed them a couple years ago but I'm guessing they been around longer than that. I've seen this one referred to as the "Little Brother" they also have a 9 1/4 ich blade "Big Borther" I'm really not sure when they started making them. Hopefully someone can chime in. I'll also see what I can dig up. I'm almost 100% sure they were not made under a U.S. Government contract but that doesn't mean they aren't sold in a MCX, NEX, PX, BX, or CGX.

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on September 23, 2013 at 15:57

Thanks Tobias, I will enjoy my "Little Brother"

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on September 23, 2013 at 16:01

Tobias, one more thing, would you look at the TL-29's and comment on the Xcelite and Queen knives? I value your comments, thanks.