Ben Akin Wapiti

This Wapiti design knife was produced by Ben Akin.  It was designed as a hunting knife which was also capable for camping chores.  The blade is 5" in length with a drop point design.  The spine is ground at a 90 degree angle for scraping ferro rods or hides.

The knife is exceptionally well balanced with the balance point being about where you second finger is at on the handle.  This makes the knife feel as if it weighs almost nothing despite being 9 3/4" in length.  This also ensures there is good control of the blade without any fatigue from use.

The blade itself is made from 01 tool steel which has been heat treated and oil quenched.  The blade them received a double temper cycle to improve toughness.  The flat grind makes the edge exceptional at cutting.  

The handle is made from bocote with black g10 liners and pins.  The handle is bonded together with Acraglas.  

I obtained this knife through a trade using an online forum.  When the knife arrived, it did not have the appearance of being maintained very often.  I spent some time cleaning up the flat edges with some 800 grit sand paper and then used a strop to clean it further and then perfect the edge.  A little Obenhauf's on the handle and sheath fixed them up to what is seen above from the starting point below.

Restoring Grandad's Bucheimer Holster

Before my granddad passed away, I purchased both his shotgun and revolver from him.  The revolver came with a Bucheimer AL-3 holster.  The holster has seen quite a bit of use over the years and is very worn is spots.  The leather is also rather dry and brittle in locations.  I decided I'd clean it up a bit today.

I cleaned up the holster with some water and a towel.  I then coated it with Fiebing's dark brown leather dye and then with some Obenauf's leather preservative.  The sheath has a much more consistent color now.  The Obenauf's helped the leather condition some but it still rather brittle in spots and the stitching has come loose but perhaps the leather will improve if I continue to treat it.

Adventure Sworn Huntsman #550

For quite a while, I viewed the Adventure Sworn Huntsman as the perfect hunting knife.  Adventure Sworn knives are custom made and I had thoughts of using it for years and it being such a well made knife that I give it to one of my children.  Perhaps it even comes to mind as something they hope to receive from me when I pass due to the frequent use and memories of me using the knife.

In reality, the knife has not been used much as I feel it is a bit too large for my needs.  The knife is just of such high quality, I've not considered selling it.  I take it out occasionally, look it over in admiration, and then place it back on the shelf in the closet.  The time has now come to sell it because there are no memories of using it or reason to keep it if it does not suit your needs.

Each Adventure Sworn is individually numbers and comes with a letter from the maker.  This particular knife is number 550.  The details of the knife are summarized in the letter"

Steel: 01 Tool Steel

Blade Thickness: 5/32"

Grind: Convex

Handle: Desert Ironwood w/Yellow Liners

Handle Thickness: 4/5

New Entry Gate - Planning

The drive to my property gate is formed from a 50' easement taken equally from my land an my neighbors.  My neighbor states that when no one is around, local high school students park at the end of our drive and drink.  I've never seen any or beer bottles but he states he has pictures of them from game cameras he has setup in the area. 

Two weeks ago while mowing at our land, the neighbor stopped by to say there were some visitors on the drive the week prior.  We discussed adding a gate at the start of the drive and placing a shared combination lock on the gate.  I like the idea as it keeps people off the road but also keeps people from driving down the road and being able to see my cabin.

The following picture is looking from towards where the gate would be added.  I'd like to add on to the post which is closest in the image below.  I'll replicate the existing format with two new vertical posts in the ground with a 16' long top post.  

I measured the existing posts and the vertical posts appear to be 2 7/8" pipe.  

I could not measure the horizontal or top pipe so I measured the circumference.  A little math helped me to find this is 2.5" pipe.  

I need to work on the plan with the neighbor and get more details on his thoughts.  I think it is easiest if I do my side of the easement and the does each.  We can each have a 14' gate which provides a total of 28' opening.  If don'e properly, the center of the two gates is the property line and we each maintain our side.  

Fiddleback Forge Monarch

The Monarch "fills the bill" as a multi-purpose outdoor knife. With a 3.625" cutting edge, it is capable of handling most small to medium-sized bushcraft and hunting tasks with ease. The swedge grind allows the knife to excel at tasks that require piercing and gives it the ability to get into smaller areas for finer work. It is a great every-day carry, general purpose knife.

Specifications / Features

Knife Weight - 4.6 oz

Overall Length - 7.75"

Tang - Full Exposed Tapered

Handle Material - Black Canvas Micarta

Grind - Partial Convex

Blade Steel - 01 Tool Steel

Blade Length - 3.625" Cutting Edge

Blade Thickness - .125"

Blade Type - Drop Point

Blade Finish - 3D Spalted and Satin

Other Feature - Black and White Liners

Other Feature - "Bullseye" Lanyard Tube

Other Feature - Swedge Grind

Original Price $365

Adventure Sworn Wayfarer

The Wayfarer is designed to be a light weight general use bushcraft knife.  It is compact in size, yet the spear-pointed blade has a very substantial 3-3/4" cutting edge, and a comfortable ergonomic handle. The knife has a scandi grind which excels at woodwork.

I picked this particular knife up used and performed a little work to clean it up.  The sheath needed some new edge coat and a good treatment leather protectant.  The spine was damaged from excessive use with a firesteel but I was able to clean it up with careful use of sand paper.  The knife is now back in very good condition.

I've only used the knife a little since I purchased it.  I really like the quality workmanship of both the knife and the sheath.  I'd prefer more of a belly to the blade and less of a pointed tip.  The knife is really designed for wood work which is the reason for these features.  

Overall Length: 8"

Cutting Edge" 3-3/4"

Steel: 01 Tool Steel

Thickness: 3/32"

Handle Material: Brown Canvas Micarta

Handle Liners: OD Green Canvas Micarta

Hardware: brass loveless w/coper tube

Handle Thickness: 3/5

Steak Lunch on a Split Wood Fire

While at the land today working on the deer stand, I decided to make a split wood fire which would ultimately be used to cook my steak.  I used a Sven saw which I recently acquired by trading a couple of sharpening stones that I don't use.  The split wood fire was the longer way to go about the process but the end result of a nice steak during a hard day sure was nice.