Summer Issue 2015 July 2015 Nife Notes h Phone & Fax: 414-479-9765 Badger Knife Club 30 Years Strong E-mail: [email protected] www.badgerknifeclub.com Club Meeting Sunday, July 26, 2015 The next meeting of the The Feature Program A special THANK YOU Badger Knife Club (BKC) will will have a Life Club Mem- to the following persons 2015 be Sunday, July 26, at 7:00 p.m. ber giving us the historical who donated items for the Meeting Dates at the Three Harbors Council, background of the Mark II club raffle: Peter Albert, Boy Scouts of America, 330 S. Fighting Knife. Col. Joe Fox, Keith Ja- All Sundays! 84 Street, Milwaukee, WI, low- The Progressive At- cobs, Jake Jakus, John July 26 er level PieperPower Learning tendance prize is up to $15. Jorgenson, and John Center. Scott Littell missed the Fleming. October 25 Note: The Reconstruction $10 prize at the last meet- Free coffee, juice and 2016 of the I-94/U.S. 45 corridor ing. The Regular Attend- donuts. Bring some knives continues to be a factor in ac- ance prize of $5 was won to buy, sell or just show off. BKC Show cessing the meeting area—use by John Jorgensen and he Come and enjoy an evening April 1, 2 & 3, 2016 caution. The road in front of donated it back to the club. of knives and the fellow- the BSA Center is open. Thank you, John. ship. See you there. Email address? Lost and Found Do we have your current email address? If you received Someone left a knife roll with several older knives inside it at this in the regular U.S. Postal Service, then you need to send the 2015 Badger Knife Show. Call Bob Schrap at 414-771- me an email so I can add you to our distribution list. This will 6472 to claim the knife roll and knives—if you can describe it save postage and paper to me. Or do you know someone who lost it? Club Dues 2015 Badger Club Knives Check the mailing label for your renewal date. If you The 2015 Badger Club Knives have arrived and are in the received a dues statement with this newsletter, please send process of being distributed. For those that paid to have the in your dues right away. You can pay 1, 2 or 3 years at a time knife mailed, they will arrive in a day or two. For those that at $5 per year. You can mail in your dues or pay at the next want to pick them up, they will be at the Club meeting on meeting. Check made out to Badger Knife Club. Your contin- July 26. ued interest and support is truly appreciated. There are a few extra knives available if you forgot to or- Bushcraft Knives der the 2015 knife, a beautiful 3-blade, stag handle, reverse Bushcraft knives are a relatively new term and style of gunstock-stockman pattern made by Queen Cutlery. You knife in knife collecting. The actual style of knife was original- might want an extra one to carry and use. Call Bob Schrap at ly called a Nessmuk or DeWees Knife by Marbles. Here is an 414-771-6472 to make arrangements to pick up or purchase excellent paper by Dave Huber of the North Star Blade Col- one. lectors in Minnesota. Dave gave us permission to reprint it in Badger Club Knives our Nife Notes. Read and enjoy. (Starts on page 4) If you are missing either the 2011 or 2013 Badger Club Knife, we have one of each available. Call Bob Schrap at 414-771- 6472 to make arrangements to see them. Page 2 Badger Knife Club 30 Years Strong Nife Notes Forged In Fire I hope that you watch the History Channel T.V. series Forged In Fire. Our Life Member and knife maker, Peter Mar- tin, is one of the participants in the series. He will be appear- ing soon, probably Monday night, July 27, 2015, at 9:00 p.m. In the future, we will hopefully learn more details of what goes on “behind the scene” in a reality series program. Keep watching . it is very interesting. Great Lakes Knife Show? For the past 20 years there was a show known as the Northern Lakes Annual Fall Knife Show. That show is no more. Mike Balaskovitz of Woodlabs will be running a new Great Lakes Knife Show. The dates are October 9-10, 2015. Please attend and met your old friends there. Call Mike for additional information. See ad below. Page 3 Badger Knife Club 30 Years Strong Nife Notes Please support the generosity of our makers and dealers that donate knives and other items to the Club’s silent auction and Club meeting raffles. We are placing their business card ads at no cost. Thanks everyone. The Club truly appreciates your support. Page 4 Badger Knife Club 30 Years Strong Nife Notes More Thoughts on Bushcraft Knives Dave Huber There are so many versions of The ESEE Laser Strike is basically complaints about BHK's. Canterbury bushcraft knives, from small Moras a Kephart-style knife on steroids; sells some of the original line still in to that BK-9. I've got a friend that 3/16" thick, with firesteel & tinder his store, Self Reliance Outfitters. swears by the BK-9, & millions of included, stored in a compartment SRO also sells Jeff White knives people swear by the basic Mora. sandwiched between the handle there -- carbon steel blades with a Condor is starting to come out scales. Watch for deals that put these pioneer feel. I've got a few Jeff with an ever broader selection of around $100 shipping included; nor- Whites -- primarily in 3/32 stock, but bushcrafters -- including the mally you can get them pretty easy recently White has been branching Bushlore, which is a clone of Ray for about $125, but there are often out to 1/8" stock, specifically for Mears' Woodlore knife. The original guys selling them new on eBay in the heavier use. You'll have to buy a version of the Bushlore was stout but $74 to $100 range. Originally pro- sheath separately in most instances unwieldy -- a little clumsy, mostly due duced by TOPS, it's now produced with Jeff White knives. by Rowen Manufacturing for to the grind. They've reduced the Speaking of 3/32" stock, most of ESEE. TOPS currently produces a thickness by about half to 1/8", & it the Ontario Old Hickories I've had more "tactical" version called the feels & works fabulously now have been 3/32. Especially if you're Black Star, which morphed into a (though mine is fairly new so I can't going with the most common 7" series, with the Black Star Evolution, comment on edge retention). blade, that's pretty thin for limbing & & now the CUMA Evolution, all with There's a huge camp that backs likely too thin for batoning. Great Jeff Randall's blessing. the BK-2 (including Adam from for game & food prep though! Jeff Randall is the guy behind Equip2Endure on Youtube) & an- And also on Ontario, I love my ESEE. He split off from Ontario other huge camp that finds them too Ontario TAK-1 (pretty sure it was some time back, with litigation & all, bulky & awkward (including Chris designed by Randall). I also keep due to his design of the RAT from PreparedMinds101, also on finding myself drawn to my Ontario (Randall Adventure Training) knives Youtube); many of the latter have RD-4, which is really quite similar to that were too successful for Ontario had the BK-2 & gave it up. I don't the Ontario RAT 5 & the ESEE 5, to let go. Not sure how all that got have a BK-2, but I do have an Out- which share similarities with the resolved, but it did. ESEE is known post Command by TOPS, which has TOPS Outpost Command & the Ka- for having pretty much the best war- been compared to the BK-2. That bar Becker BK-2. The RD-9 is the ranty in the business. Randall Outpost Command will take apart a same blade shape, just extended sev- tweaked & largely improved on the small tree no problem, but the grind eral inches longer -- though the han- designs made for Ontario, & they've is too thick for a lot of finer work dle is the same size (good size for the got some new ones out this year in (oh, but my Leatherman Charge ex- 4, way too small for the 9). cels at feather-sticking, better than their bushcrafting line, including a Oh, and Ontario has a new line of most I've tested actually). sweet drop-point flat grind designed by Dave Canterbury of “Dual Surviv- knives focused on the bushcraft If you can handle the knives be- al” fame. crowd, the most famous being the fore purchase, try this: shave a Blackbird SK-5 (oh yeah, as made Dave Canterbury designed a wooden matchstick into something famous by Fat Guys In The Woods -- pricey but incredible knife for Blind that looks similar to a Christmas I love this show, by the way, for its Horse Knives called the Pathfinder -- tree. The easier it is to do, the better positive message, but I di- this knife was meant to do everything that knife will handle other detail gress). Thing is, Ontario already had in the bush -- food prep, game prep, work, like whittling traps or anything a number of knives perfect for bush- fire prep, shelter prep, every- else.