Young people and knives in Britain and elsewhere

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

We have had knives in our homes, etc., for how long? Boys used to carry a knife on them, in years gone by, and that is not really that long ago, more or less routinely, especially in rural areas, from the simple pocketknife to fixed bladed sheath knives. They also took those knives to school often and how many stabbings did we have among children and young people? Almost zero.

Boy Scouts from Cub Scouts upwards carried the traditional Boy Scouts knife – first in the form of the “official” pocketknife, later the sheath knife – on their belts, openly, and even the Scout hatchet. They attacked each other or others? No.

Now we have this so-called knife culture (sorry, the people who phrased that term have no idea of true knife culture) with all those stabbings and such. When did this phenomena appear? Around 30 years ago or so. And what happened at that time? The proper disciplining of children was outlawed, more or less. A correlation? I sure think so.

The same goes for guns, say, in the United States. People in the Unites States have had guns in their homes for 200 years and more. Mass shootings, including and especially those in schools, perpetrated by students, have only become a problem in the last 30 years or so. If you look closely enough you will sure see the correlation between gun shootings and the decline of and in disciplining our children. Children today believe that they can do as they like having to fear no consequences, as they no longer are permitted, by law often, to be spanked.

When the paddle and the cane were removed from home and school the trouble started. We had – virtually – nothing of this kind in the years until that time. And still people refuse to see the correlation between the two. In addition to that ever since then there seems to have been an increase, generally, in aggression and violence in children and young people, against one another and against other people.

Treating the kids today with Ritalin for supposed ADHD and ADD also is an additional problem for one of the side effects, apparently, of that drug, and of Prozac, is what? Hold on to your hat. According to some medical professionals the side effects are uncontrollable anger. So, while it may dull the kids down when they explode they really do and have – almost – no control of their anger.

Yes, admittedly, violent TV and cinema, computer games and especially virtual reality also have a great deal to answer for but when one looks close enough there seems to be only one real reason for all this malaise and that is that, today, parents and others may not guide their children by the use of proper methods of discipline and chastisement.

Any animal parent chastises their offspring and maybe some people would do well to observe the ways in which this happens but then, most of the do-gooder brigade have so much lost such a connection with reality and Nature, as have our nations' children, that they would not comprehend those ways.

In many other countries that, on one level, have higher cultural values and where the community, in raising kids, is more the focus than the individual, and especially those in the East, and where there is also a lot more focus – in the family and community – on disciplining of children, including physical chastisement, the problems that we, in the so-called liberal West have, seem almost non-existent. But when in those countries and cultures those old values are eroded or abandoned almost the same problems arise.

And still almost no one is willing – in the West – to see a correlation between the abandonment of proper chastisement of children and the rise of the issues that we are faced with, from lack of respect for people and property over general anti-social behavior and mindless violence all the way to knife- and gun crime and the rest.

Talking about rest... I am going to rest my case here; it is becoming rather heavy.

© 2018

Dead-simple pocketknife is the best

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A dead-simple pocketknife is the best to carry, especially on a daily basis, and the Opinel fits that bill on all levels.

Over the years I have owned and used many different pocketknives, some of them not directly cheap, single and multi-bladed, but I have found none as good and reliable than the first kind that I ever owned (or one of the first ones, for my very first was a different one, if I remember, but I was given that as a rather small boy of five), the Opinel. The next one that I was given was an Opinel #6, about two years later, and an Opinel #6 or #8, the latter though rarely, has been a constant companion ever since.

Many of us, outdoorsmen, bushcrafters, and such, seem to be gadget lovers when it comes to knives and other things and many seem to believe that the bigger the blade(s) and the more of them the better. The bigger the better belief is also there as regards to size when it comes to fixed-bladed knives. I seem to be an exception as I don't run after all those gadgets and such and neither do I like knives that are too big, unless I want to use a machete.

However, the best blade is the one that is just big enough for the job and your knife, whether belt knife or pocketknife is not a hatchet or a machete; it is a knife; simple.

The Opinel #6 is my daily-carry-knife, and has been for very many years, and that for more reasons than one. The main one, nowadays, is that carrying any knife – even a folding one – with a cutting edge longer than 3-inches can get one into very hot water with the police. Another the fact that the knife is big enough for almost all jobs that require a knife; a bigger one is not, actually, needed on a day-to-day basis. Then there is the fact that is is light and handy and I just love the lock and the wooden handle.

I do have many other pocketknives as well – I have sort of got a few over the years – but when it comes to it my first choice is always the Opinel, but never bigger than the #8 to be very honest though. As indicated, the #6 is the one that is always with me.

And to make sure that I have one definitely with me at all times I have, because there was not one available to buy – made my own sheath for it (see picture) that enables me to carry it around the neck. Well, I guess even if I could have bought a sheath of this kind I would have still made it myself, as I do love working with leather, as well as with wood. Not only do I make such and other leather goods for myself. Nay, I also make those and others to order.

As far as performance of this dead-simple pocketknife goes the Opinel is, in my opinion, though not just in mine alone, I understand, second to none. All Opinel from #6 upwards come with the rotating ring lock and I have yet to be able to break that lock. I have managed to break the handle at the lock before through misuse and abuse but not the lock itself, unlike with some, even expensive lock-back knives. And in the latter case(s) with very little abuse, so to speak.

The design of the Opinel is timeless and has changed little since its inception, with the exception of the introduction, in the mid-1950s, of the Virobloc rotating lock, and then at the beginning of the 21st century the redesign of this lock so the blade can also be locked in the closed position. Otherwise, generally, it has not change since almost day one. But then why change something that works and works well.

The KISS system is always best, especially when the tool is to be used in the great outdoors, or even not not so great one. It is because of its simplicity and reliability, I am sure, that the German forest schools use the smaller lockable Opinel knives, that is to say the No.6 and the No.7 versions, and that in the standard blade and not the child's version, and we are talking here about those blades being used by children between 4 and 6 years of age. That speaks volumes for the knives' safety.

The Opinel pocketknife embodies the KISS system in its design, reliability and simplicity, to its fullest and makes it the ideal day-to-day companion, and not just in the outdoors. I don't think that it can be beat and definitely not as far as quality and value for money is concerned, considering the relatively low price that it is being sold for. Generations of French mountain people can't be wrong to having stuck with the Opinel knife.

© 2017

Himalayan salt lamps

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Himalayan salt lamps are not made with salt from the Himalayas for starters. They also do not release any negative ions or anything like that. They look pretty when lit by a light bulb or a candle, but that is about all.

Claims that salt lamps release any appreciable amount of negative ions have been shown to be untrue, and from a scientific point of view, not possible. You simply cannot alter the chemistry of salt using a light bulb or candle flame. But they can be quite pretty, so enjoy them for that reason, but don't get sold on any unproven therapeutic powers. http://www.snopes.com/salt-lamps-cure-everything/.

The so-called Himalayan salt is more than a bit of a misnomer as it does not actually come from the Himalayas but from the Pakistani Khewra Salt Mine in the Punjab region of Pakistan which is nowhere remotely near those mountains.

What goes for the lamps also goes for the so-called Himalayan salt that is claimed to have such great health benefits. Hello folks, it is just rock salt, only difference is that it is orange due to iron oxide, in other words "rust". This rock salt, aside from the color, is no different than any rock salt that you may buy in the shops, except that some cooking salt, as well as table salt, which is all rock salt unless it is sea salt, has iodine added.

While some self-proclaimed health experts will now scream that iodine is bad and should not be added, etc. ad infinitum, what is it that you would (hate to) take in the event of a nuclear accident or such? Yes, you got it, iodine. In fact, the iodization was done for health reasons. Iodised salt is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various salts of the element iodine. The ingestion of iodine prevents iodine deficiency.

So, just to recap on Himalayan Salt: it is rock salt that does not come from the Himalayas and is orange in color because it contains iron oxide, which is another word for rust. It has no negative ions and is not different to any other rock salt, such as you ordinary table or cooking salt, whether iodised or not. Don't fall for the clap-trap of the snake oil salesmen and -women.

© 2017

Woodsrunning knives that don't cost the Earth

by Michael smith (Veshengro)

The first knives of the men of the backwoods, of the Eastern Longhunters, of the Rangers and Woodsrunners, the “coureurs des bois” or “coureurs de bois”, and also those of the Mountain Men of the Rockies, in North America, were not purpose-made knives but simple cook’s or butcher’s knives that had been given a rawhide or other kind of leather sheath, and at times converted somewhat for the tasks they had to perform in the backwoods.

The once standard outdoors' knife of the Australian Bushman for a long time was the so-called “Queensland Butcher”. Those were, basically, ordinary butcher knives, more often than not made in Sheffield, England, and put to use and that even by the mounted constabulary of the various territories of Australia, often worn in a sheath in the riding boot.

The Woodsrunner of old, much like the thrifty homesteader of old and of today, mostly converted other blades for his use or made his own knives from scrap steel.

This method of simply appropriating a knife of this kind, without or with reworking, still works today and is still often the best and certainly the cheapest way to acquire a good working knife for use in the great backyard.

The specially made blades that are associated with the Backwoodsmen and the Mountain Men – such as the predecessor of the Bowie and the Bowie knife itself – arrived much later on the scene.

Personally I find it very satisfying indeed to lay my hands on an old butcher’s or cook’s knife and by sharpening it up, maybe also regrinding the shape of the blade if need be, and otherwise reworking it, and then making a sheath for it (often also by making use of the leather from an old and discarded leather bag of sorts), knowing that I could not have bought a woods knife like that one anywhere or if then it would have cost me a great sum of money. What comes out at the end when one does this is, basically, a custom knife and custom knives are rather costly.

What I am trying to say with this all is that you do not have to spend lots of money in order to get yourself the perfect outdoors knife for yourself or for the youngster in your family who is a budding backwoodsman.

Look at Thrift Stores or at Flea Markets for good old cook’s knives and the like and you will find one, I am sure, that, with a little work, will become the perfect backwoods companion. I have been lucky at some of the so-called Charity Shops in the UK in the past to get such old knives. Alas nowadays they are not allowed to even give them away against a small donation but have to throw any knives, other than table knives, away.

The photo shows just one of the knives that I have got and converted, and this with actually very little effort. I call it my “French Gaucho Knife”. It is a small French chef’s knife and with the sheath that I have given it the knife does look a little like the knives that are carried by the Gauchos on the Argentine Pampas.

This particular knife was bought on a Flea Market for a less than 20 cents US equivalent and with a sheath recycled from an old bag that cost virtually nothing it has become one of my companion for the woods.

While that may not be the shape that suits you or that you like it is but an example and I have many others converted that equally can serve as an as such a wodsrunning knife and the same goes for you. There are surely other knives out there at certain sales that you can find for conversion into your own personal outdoors companion.

Don’t shy away from it just because you haven’t done it before. There is always a first time with everything. But aim to produce the best you can even in your first attempt. If it is not the highest quality immediately do not despair, however. Those things come with time.

Today we keep seeing those so-called Nessmuk knives, and knives that are based upon G W Sears' (“Nessmuk”) design, and other so-called Bushcraft knives, that run into hundreds of Dollars and Pounds in price and this is totally unnecessary and silly. Sear's knife, however, was also a rework, originally, of a knife that was to hand and intended for a different purpose and what he could do we can do too. It is not rocket science.

I have seen many designs of so-called Bushcraft knives – I will not name the Bushcraft schools or or such whence they come – and with some of them I must say that I wonder how they actually are supposed to perform all the tasks, as they often are too long and the thickness of the blade is a little on the fat side. That is because the designers believe that the knife must be capable of chopping firewood or at least kindling.

The next person who wants to chop firewood with a knife I hand a hatchet, I think. Even in an outdoors “survival” situation with only your knife as partner you do not want to chop firewood, not even kindling, with a knife (unless the knife happens to be a machete and then it is all but useless for the smaller tasks).

I think that you get the idea now and also that you realize that all the hype about those knives is all just that, hype. You do not need that kind and do not pay out that kind of money to have a good knife – or knives, for even the backwoodsmen would not have just carried one knife on them – to use in the great outdoors.

© 2015

Scandi Grind Bull Dust

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A lot of American “survivalists” keep harping on about the superiority of Scandi Grind, a single bevel grind, that they claim Scandinavian knives come with. I hate to ask where they got this from?

I have many a Scandinavian knife; Norwegian handmade, Swedish and Finish, and not a single one of those has this chisel grind, for that is what it is; not one single one. I also happen to be a knifemaker.

The Viking “Seax” may have had such an edge in some examples as may have some carving and whittling knives but the great majority of knives, Scandinavian or other, have not and that with good reason, I should think.

The true Scandinavian (Scnadi) grind, in fact, does have two bevels and not one and thus the single bevel claim is nothing but, as our Australian cousins would say, bull dust.

The single bevel, or chisel, grind (Scandi grind is a misnomer as 99% of all Scandinavian knives are NOT made with that single bevel) is a lazy knifemaker's choice, though it has its uses, especially in carving wooden tools and such.

This single bevel grind, wrongly referred to, rime and again, as Scandi grind, came about predominately by knifemakers (manufacturers) wanting to save time and thus money and, in fact, was probably first used in cheap kitchen knives.

As far as I, as a knifemaker, knife-grinder and knife user, are concerned the erroneously called Scandi grind is not a grind that lends itself well to fine slicing, for instance, or careful skinning, amongst other things.

The single bevel grind, which could also be called a chisel grind, is not a Scandinavian knife grind and thus not a Scandi grind,

All the talk about this single bevel being such a superior grind for a knife is as false as calling it by the name that some have given it. Scandinavian knives, per se, have a simple two bevel grind and that is the best of all grinds.

So, let's cut all the garbage...

© 2012