Author Archives: Woodsbum

Knife Handles- MP Seax and Wolf Creek Forge Patch Knife

by Woodsbum

I figured I would take the time to explain the whole process involved with putting a handle on a full tang knife. Even though it seems like a very scary proposition, it is MUCH easier than one would believe.

The first couple steps in the process involve getting the right materials collected. You will need:

Some sort of epoxy to glue the scales down.
A couple of pins for the handle.
Use of a drill press.
Some wood working clamps of some sort.
A belt sander.
A couple of fine tooth files.

The first step with putting a handle one a knife blank deals with cleaning up the tang and making sure the scales are squared up enough to drill with your press. I used some sand paper to clean up the tang and get rid of all the black scaling left over after the forging process. Once I got it down to a decent metal, I then scored up the tang a bit with a grinder (my choice and not needed) so that there was a rougher texture for the epoxy to adhere.

Then, I lined everything up and drilled the holes for the pins. The secret that I found with regard to getting straight and properly drilled holes was through the use of good scales to begin with. Each time I used a set of wood scales that were not squared up well, the holes would be off enough to leave a huge gap between the scales and the tang. When I finally used decent scales I got a good fit. Only went through a couple chunks of wood before I figured that out.

Next, contour the front of the scales where they will meet the blade. If you do not, you will have to sand right next to the blade and potentially remove some of the dark scale left after forging. If you want to keep this look, it will not last when sandpaper hits it. Please look at how I removed some of the dark coloring on this Wolf Creek Forge because I didn’t contour the handles before I epoxied them on.

Wolf Creek Forge with rogue sanding marks

When you get your holes drilled, the edges that will meet the blade are contoured correctly and all looks good, bust out your epoxy and get things glued together. I put the pins in during the epoxy/glue process so that the pins get permanently attached with epoxy the same time that scales get glued as well. Once all is glued up, grab some clamps and squeeze it all together. don’t worry if you get some epoxy that squishes out the sides. That will come off during the sanding phase. Do clean up the part next to the blade where you won’t be sanding, however.

MP Seax getting scales

Here it is from a different angle. Notice how there is a thin line of epoxy that has squeezed out along the line between the scales and the tang.

MP Seax all glued up

After the epoxy dries you can remove the clamps, saw off the excess pin stock and start to shaping the handle. Now I did most of the shaping through the use of a belt sander. If I had a band saw I would have used that to remove any excess handle material. Since I don’t I just went to town with the sander and let the dust fly.

When you get to the point where you are trying to take the pins down a bit you can use a fine tooth file and then smooth things out with sandpaper afterwards. It worked quite well and didn’t leave any major marks on anything. I did learn something about the use of pins, however. Matt from MP knives showed some pictures of his process and it seemed to make sense. He peens the ends of the pin so that it works like a rivet to hold the handles on better. If you look at this picture you can see a touch of a gap around the pins on this knife.

MP Seax

If I would have known about the peening thing, it would have been a much cleaner handling job.

Here are a couple more pictures of the handle after I was done with it.

MP Seax with a touch of epoxy still on the tang.

MP Seax with a good look at the contours

As you can see, I did a lot of contour work on this to make it really fit the hand for those long hours of bushcrafting. This bad boy ended up being the most comfortable feather/fuzz stick maker I have ever used. The contours just made holding the blade almost effortless and like everything Matt makes, it is incredible at cutting. This baby is an absolute dream.

Now other than the peening of the pins and ensuring that the front of the handle scales are contoured before they are glued into place, these two projects were actually quite successful. I was quite pleased as was GunGuy, who’s Seax is pictured in this post. My last bit of advice is to use the long drying epoxy and not the 5 minute stuff. The quick drying stuff seems to be more brittle and I had to reglue the handle on my Wolf Creek four times until I was smart enough to try a longer drying epoxy. The scales would crack loose during the sanding if it chattered at all. This was not a problem with the long drying time epoxy.

Now that you have a good idea of how this process is done go get yourself a quality knife blank and get to playing around. I love my knives that the makers fully built, but somehow I have a soft spot for those that I handled myself.

Go get dirty!!!!

Oilcloth Tarp – Fail (Take 1)

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by Woodsbum

Ok, folks. I decided that I was going to make myself a nice oilcloth tarp. Not because I NEED one, but because I wanted one due to the supreme COOL factor of using one. I know that it would be heavy and completely impractical. Really, it doesn’t matter. Being able to show up and put up an oilcloth tarp would just make me incredibly happy.

Now on to the story…….

My first step was to read several forum posts and blogs about how to make oilcloth. Most of the tutorials involved either boiling some chemicals with wax or using some sort of linseed oil. Both methods talked about the destruction of the fibers in the cloth after a period of time. Then I found a method that looked like it works quite well, doesn’t destroy the fabric, and seemed to be very easy. I opted for this method.

With this tutorial printed and embedded into my brain, I went shopping.

I went to Harbor Freight and picked up one of these:

Canvas Dropcloth

I also picked up several (5) jars of Sno-Seal:

Sno-Seal

The first real step was to smear Sno-Seal all over the fabric like this:

Smeared Sno-Seal

That was easy enough, so I used up about 2 (2 1/2) jars of the paste to just coat the heck out of the canvas. Being a tough and manly, man I didn’t care about wearing gloves…… (Use gloves, people)

After scraping all the waxy substance off my hands, I then started to heat up the fabric and melt the Sno-Seal into the cloth.

Melting the Sno-Seal

It was at this point that I discovered a few things:

Wash and dry the fabric first to close up the fibers.
Sno-Seal melts and drips everywhere.
You have to use A LOT of Sno-Seal for this method.
It doesn’t work if you are not aware of 1-3.
Wear gloves when smearing.

Needless to say, I don’t have an oilcloth tarp at this time. I will need to start my search for a better method in addition to taking the tarp to a laundry mat in the middle of the night to wash out the Sno-Seal, close up the fibers, and fix my mess. When my wife saw the failed attempt, she promptly told me that I was not going to be able to use our household washing facilities unless I wanted to get beat severely. I think this attempt at oilcloth making has beat me enough.

Thank you for reading through this and I will post up my next attempt. Hopefully it goes much better than this one, is less messy, and adds to the sheer awesomeness of my bushcrafting gear.

Gear Check – Water Purification

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by Woodsbum

Mainly due to having had to pull out my water purification systems over the weekend, I decided to do a quick post on the different products that are out there that I like. Of course, like almost all subjects, there is a lot of opinion based around my preferences. This is posted and put out so that those that went to the gear check can have a reference for what we discussed.

My most used piece of water purification gear is my Katadyn Mini Ceramic Filter. I use this thing on almost every outing. Although it is slow to fill a canteen and even slower to fill a large bladder, it really is a great piece of gear. Every couple times I use it I clean off the ceramic filter. It doesn’t really go bad. It lasts longer than my gear breaking mind can comprehend. It truly is worth every penny.

: Katadyn Mini Ceramic Filter

MSR also makes a filter called the SweetWater Microfilter. I have also used this filter and it does work well. It actually pumps out water faster than the Mini I mentioned above. The problem I see is that you have to replace the filter cartridges regularly. The O-ring seals also failed for me on the 3rd or 4th use. I found that you really have to keep the seals from getting dry or they crack and leak very easily. I keep my Katadyn in my truck 99% of the time and have had the same exact configuration of the filter for years without issue. Not trying to knock MSR’s product, but you need to compare them with others in the market to assure that you are getting the right filter for your needs before you purchase.

: MSR Sweetwater Filter

I have also used several different types of straws. LifeStraw makes one that I have packed away for emergency purposes. It doesn’t last as long as the Katadyn, but it is really effective in purifying water. If you don’t mind replacing your filter and just want to drink out of a cup of muddy/murky water with an oversized straw, then this might be your choice.

Some people also like to use iodine tablets or bleach drops. Both can be effective and viable choices. Having been in the military and had to use both of those methods quite extensively I would suggest you not do this and save up for a good filter. The iodine tablets seems to give people a stomach ache over prolonged use (me for instance) and the bleach just seems wrong. Sometimes you can find the military surplus tablets at a cheap price as well. Here are the guidelines for using those:

In 1 quart of water, use:

One tablet for clear water
Two tablets for unclear water
3 or 4 in Thailand, Okinawa, or Central America

You should also keep the cap loosely screwed on (not tightly) and shake it so that the threads get wet. You should then let it sit for 15 – 20 minutes, then take the cap off and let it sit for another 10 minutes or so.

My take on the tablets and drops is as such: Using chemicals to make water drinkable just seems to be like using perfume to avoid taking a shower. Ewww……

Another tried and true method is boiling your water. All you need to do is filter the water going into your pot with something like a scarf or shirt, put the pot over your fire or stove, and bring it to a full boil. You don’t need to boil it for 10 minutes or any such nonsense. Just a full boil is sufficient. You can then drink the water afterwards. I do use the method for cooking about 50% of the time, but for drinking it is not my favorite method. Simply put, I don’t want to drink very hot water on a very hot day. I want something nice and cool.

Not matter what method of purification you choose, make sure that it will work for you and fits within your needs. Spending money just to spend money is never advisable, unless you are buying guns or custom knives….. Don’t tell my wife I said that last part.

Gear Check – Packs

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By Woodsbum

To continue our series about gear discussed during our “Gear Check” Meetup, I am going to write a bit about packs. Packs are one of those things that can be hard to nail down and find a good one that fits, has just the right amount of space, and doesn’t break your bank.

Many people are very into the military surplus packs like the ALICE or ILBE. These can be great bushcraft packs and are made to withstand some heavy duty use. They are designed to make it through combat, so they should be able to handle the occasional dirt stain or rain shower. They do have their drawbacks, however.

Medium ALICE Pack and Frame

While I was in the military, I spent about 3 years living out of an ALICE pack. The pack is great, but definitely has its flaws. Let’s discuss the good first. They are one of the toughest pieces of gear I have had the pleasure of using. If the frame gets messed up, it can easily be bent back into shape and lashed back together with 550 cord or an improvised rivet or two can be used until a better fix can be engineered. They seem to have just enough room for a couple day’s worth of gear. Long weekend trips, day hikes, or even packing out meat quarters while hunting fit right within this pack’s limits. For weeks on end or long trips, however, this pack is a bit lacking. There just isn’t enough room. There are large ALICE packs that offer more room, but the frame constraints are the same. Shoulder and waist straps on this are not made for larger people. They are designed for average sized individuals. The shoulder pads are too short without some redesign and modification as are the hip belt and pad. I am not talking about being overweight, either. These straps just don’t fit larger people.

If you are not interested in a frame, the better military surplus pack is the ILBE.

ILBE

These packs have pockets everywhere, carry about as much as the ALICE (granted that you are not strapping on sleeping bags and Isomats) and even have some straps that make carrying an axe very easy. If you are thinking “prepper” style or fashion, this is military surplus and therefore screams, “Motivated and military” so it might not be the right style or fashion for you. The nicest thing about it is the fact that the straps and fit are comfortable for small to large sized people without any major modifications.

These are also a great pack, but are fairly difficult to come up with most of the time. This is the Swedish M39 rucksack.

Swedish M39

The problem comes down to trying to find one it good condition. They are old and have not usually been treated too well during their life. The nice things about this pack are the axe loop on the side, the large flap that keeps rain and such out and allows you to carry a coat or something under it, and the fact that it is nicely framed with a lightweight design. You will have to do some metalwork on the frame to widen the hip area. It was designed for people with a 26-30 inch waist (guessing while cursing the fit). But once you widen out the bottom portion of the frame, they fit really well and are quite comfortable. Unless you are the size of Skeletor don’t expect to be able to use the leather waist belt. Just figure on either making a longer one or not using a waist belt at all.

There is a post to what I built out of an old French pack. Projects like this are quite viable and allow you to make what you want. I highly recommend doing something like this if you are handy.

Last but not least is to mention all the Swiss, German, Polish, Swedish, French, etc., canvas rucksacks that are available on the market. Most are WWII surplus and are great options if you care to explore them. The ones I mentioned above are the most common “bushcrafter packs” that people get and modify to their needs. If you can grab one that suits your needs, grab it and get out to use it!

Other options are much more expensive, however. You can pick up something from Frost River or Duluth Trading Post. Their packs are INCREDIBLE, but the price point is also INCREDIBLE. That being the case, don’t look while eating. You will choke, so be warned. Of these two, I prefer the Isle Royale by Frost River. The shape, size, construction, etc., seem to be more suited to my particular needs. Although I have not purchased one yet, this is on my short list after I finish up my custom knife purchases.

There are also many options that are not “traditional” canvas type rucksacks. So many that it really doesn’t warrant listing them. The main thing to think about while picking your pack is this: get something that will withstand the rigors of bushcrafting, fits you nicely, and holds all your kit. If any of these criteria are not met, you really should just pass on the pack and move to the next one. The most common criteria that they don’t meet is “withstanding the rigors of bushcrafting.” Bushcrafting requires more durable equipment due to the many tools (axes, Scotish augers, knives, saws, etc.) that you carry with you. Most backpackers don’t take as many sharp objects with them like a bushcrafter will.

Well, it is time to do some searching and testing of some different packs to find what you like. Don’t be intimidated no matter how scared you get. Just get what you like and what fits you. Most other things can be modified with some ingenuity and a sewing kit.

Have some fun and get dirty!!!!

SAR Tracking Course

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by Woodsbum

One fine, Western Washington day I was talked into taking a SAR tracking class. It was at the end of January, wet, cold and duck season had just ended so I was available. At first, I was afraid of getting into another one of those classes where everyone tries to “one up” the next person with regard to their experience or knowledge. Many classes I have been to end up being that way, so with some definite apprehension I paid the money and took the drive to the first day of class.

The first day was nothing more than an evening PowerPoint presentation. We met each other and got to know our instructor a little bit. Our class was taught by Fernando Moreira. He was originally from Portugal, did some time in the military there, and while in the USA came to realize that the skill that he had developed throughout his life was actually something that he could made money from. He has some great stories and is a fountain of knowledge.

Our second day started pretty early. We met at Sauvie Island, OR to head out and get dirty.

: Tracking class, 1st day

This portion of the class involved tracking movement with many of the footprints erased. We had to use only one track to determine where the direction of travel would place the next track. It was a great drill to truly see how disks released, debris fields pointed to the next track, and how weight distribution on the foot was visible during direction changes, etc. Whomever created this “game” was really on to something for it really got us all on “track” (sorry for the pun) for the rest of the training day.

: Examining the ground

We then moved on to other terrain and worked on various techniques to help us stay on trail. Fernando was like a magician.

: Fernado spotting things that no one else could see….. yet!

He had us do several other drills and finally had us following each other over varied terrain. By the end of the day, we were becoming fascinated by the smallest thing out of place. We were becoming transformed into trackers. Believe it or not, this was worth at least 15 minutes of examination.

: Human track.

Here is some transfer as my “prey” stepped on the log and jumped over.

: Sand transfer

After all this, the rest of the class drove to a second location to work on night tracking. This was my son’ birthday weekend, so I had to skip out on this training so that I could be with him. From what I hear, it was incredible training and I definitely missed out.

Our next day started as early as our Saturday did. We were lucky that we got to begin with a warm fire and coffee. The class then moved quickly out to the woods to see how tracks looked in a less forgiving environment. Here is what Fernando called “top sign.” If you look, you can see that the fern branches have been disturbed and are “loaded.” Also, a couple of the leaves are broken. These are the types of things that Fernando pointed out and had us follow.

Some loaded fern branches and top sign.

This is a great picture of transfer, bruising and a broken stick all due to our “prey” walking through.

Leaf bruising, some transfer, and a broken stick.

All being said, it was a great class and worth every penny I spent for it. If you get a chance to attend one of Fernando’s classes, jump all over it. Even with no experience, you will learn to be more track aware and be able to perform basic tracking functions. If you are more advanced, it will help hone your skills all the more. The instruction, my fellow students, and even the weather for January was great. What more could I have asked for?

Fernando Moreira.