You may have overheard stories about the first one at BLADE Show. Perhaps you know of a rumor or two of the happenings from that epic weekend back in 2017. Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who was there and can verify what may or may not have happened. Cast all of that aside because new memories and experiences are scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend this year in Georgia. The Fiddleback Forge User Weekend is a combination of training, camaraderie, story telling, friendly ribbing, no shortage of fun, and plenty of opportunities to be immortalized in the memory books. If that doesn’t pique your interest, let me further explain what you can expect should you sign up.
Meeting Up
The knife community is a welcoming community. Despite the impression you may have of it from online discussion boards, Facebook groups, or the comments section on Twitter/Instagram, I have found most of the people I’ve met in person with the same interest in knives as me are good people. Think about it, you already have a conversation starter if you attend a Fiddleback Forge weekend event.”Which Fiddleback Forge are you carrying?”, “Is that desert ironwood?”, “Have you seen Andy Roy running around?” all of these will get the conversation going. You don’t need to know anyone and you’ll find at events like the one coming up in May, you will find your place around the campfire and get known which is far better than living in anonymity on the internet. Those who like to hide behind fake profiles and troll good people don’t show up to events like the Fiddleback Forge User weekend. Instead, you will meet people who can become long-term friends much like the ones I’ve made over the years at similar events. You never know who you will meet at one of these gatherings and you’ll be surprised at the depth of expertise and diverse backgrounds. You can decide how much you want to socialize and it is perfectly fine to want to make meals on your own, decompress each night in the privacy of your tent or hammock, or participate in as much of the training as you can handle. Of course, we encourage you to join the group and bring another personality to the fire.
Training
I’m definitely biased when I say I think the training is one of the best aspects of the weekend. Afterall, I’m the trainer who will guide you through the different ways you can use your knife for bushcraft and survival tasks. Andy’s knives are gorgeous and they are just as capable as they are attractive. The training that will take place will address what is both possible and probable and it will all be grounded in realism as well as tradition. Not every skill needs to be doom and gloom or learn it or die as some instructors like to push. Some of the skills will be fun ways to pass the time in any camp setting and especially so when the urgency isn’t there to survive. Cordage and the knots you can tie with it,for example, will make you more capable of securing your belongings in a storm, lashing items to your roof from the hardware store, or even tying your shoes on a daily basis. Some of the skills you’ll learn are absolutely going to be part of the curriculum and some are covered when they come up. In these circumstances, you can’t predict what you’ll learn or when you’ll need it but you will be thankful to have an exposure and a memory of learning and performing them before. If you can perform a skill once, you can repeat it again when you need it. Then again, you’ll have to practice what you’ll learn as you can’t become proficient overnight.
Eating and Drinking
An absolute truth of the weekend is this, you won’t recall all of the conversations you have but you won’t forget the food. That is a constant reality with all camping trips. Food always tastes better in the woods and it definitely tastes better when you work up an appetite. Cutting wood, splitting it with your knife and a baton, jumping (or falling) into a nearby creek, all of it requires calories and you have to replace them. You may wonder what is the best way to pack meals for the weekend and the answer is, “it depends”. You can pack an entire cooler of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, good ole’ raisins and peanuts (GORP), and SPAM packets for ready-to-eat options or you can make your meal prep more of a production with a full dutch-oven ensemble, dual burner stove with 5 pound propane hookup, or barbarian-size grill with plenty of red meat. You can take the easy route and make life as simple as boiling water for backpacker meals or you can bring military MREs if you don’t mind getting backed up for a day or two until the pressure builds up in your descending colon. The Fiddleback Forge User weekend is not a dry event and if anything, moist and wet are words best used to describe the air and the proclivity to imbibe. Proper hydration is mandatory during the day and responsible drinking is recommended at night. That said, you don’t have to have a glass of bourbon or a beer to be welcomed.
Trade Gear
The barter system and secondary market are great ways to improve your knives and gear loadout. If you are like 99% of the population, you likely have a box of holsters or perhaps a bin of knives that for some reason or another did not work for you. You’ve already written off the contents of that box and they probably will be appreciated by someone else who has been looking for those odds and ends. While not an official part of the weekend, one of the fun aspects of any rendezvous or gathering is the trade blanket that develops. You can bring knives to trade up or sell outright. You can perhaps barter a great meal or a drink of a premium brown liquor for something in another person’s trade collection. While not common, I’ve seen Fiddleback Forge knives appear once in a while. Be forewarned, if you trade a Fiddleback Forge knife, you will likely regret it. I’ve seen that happen a few times and will tell you the look of disgust the next morning on the person who caught and released should dissuade you from following their lead. Then again, Fiddlebacks are great to use, collect, pass along to worthy recipients, and replace with new models as they appear on the Knife Outpost.
Limited Space
At the time of writing this, many of the spots for the weekend were already claimed by those looking to get in on the experience. It has been 7 years since the last Fiddleback Forge User weekend and you never know when the next one will be. While Andy told me he wants to offer these more regularly, you never want to miss any of these. You also never know who will be a surprise visitor or who will make a guest appearance. Personally, I jumped at the opportunity to make the drive down from North Carolina to see my friends, share some skills I’ve picked up since the last event, and make up for lost time. Only a few years back, we were confined to our homes, told to social distance, and prohibited from being in a group setting like this one. With no restrictions in place, you have no excuse if you want to attend. We promise you won’t be talked about in the same way we didn’t mention anyone from the last time. Unless of course, you do something exceptional and get a knife named after you. Join us for the Fiddleback Forge User Weekend or miss out.
Send us a message on our Contact Page here, and we'll get you in touch with Justen Cimino. Justen is coordinating this event.
I hate that things are such that I missed this one. Seeing Alayna in almost all of the pics from 2017 brought back a lot of memories.
looking forward to this event
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Hunting is much more than pressing the trigger; it is an entire process you should enjoy year round. From preseason scouting to year round consumption of harvested wild-game meat, hunting can become more of your lifestyle than hobby. Some people think hunting is just as simple as pressing the trigger but to the true hunter, the experience extends long after you leave the field. You hear a lot of people say “I want to know where my food comes from” but so many of the same are quick to hand off their kill to a butcher. No disrespect to the great butchers out there but there are some hacks (no pun intended) in your industry with less respect for the game brought in to be processed. The only way to follow your game from field to table is to take it from field to table by yourself. In this month’s blog, I want to share some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned for butchering wild game. I believe in processing my own animals and staying hands on as much as possible through the process.
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Kevin Estela
Author
As a Survival Instructor, Kevin Estela founded Estela Wilderness Education. He formerly worked for Fieldcraft Survival teaching classes on various survival, preparedness, and firearms related courses. Kevin has been a frequent contributing writer for publications such as RECOIL, Athlon Outdoors, Beckett Media, and of course, here on Fiddleback Forge's site. He is a Sayoc Kali Associate Instructor Level 5, as well as a BJJ Purple Belt.