by Kevin Estela
December 16, 2020
1 Comment
A couple decades ago, discussion forums were THE place for folks in the knife community to share ideas, argue, and discuss blades. Remember those days? Remember having to use photo sharing services that required uploading photos from a digital camera, copying a link, and posting it to a thread? Remember the days of dial-up connections and large files that took forever to download and appear on your screen? Those were the days when only the professional photographers had cameras capable of producing photos that looked print-magazine worthy. The internet has changed dramatically over the years and today modern cell-phone cameras rival professional DSLR counterparts. Today, anyone can produce a quality photo with the right light, contrast, and vignette settings. Today, filters make everyone an Instagram star and everyone feels entitled to opine when an idea is presented that runs counter to theirs. This month’s Fiddleback Forge blog is all about those wonderful engagements with “experts” who have to put in their .02 cents worth. I thought it would be fun to look at common arguments made and explain the logic or lack thereof. If you’ve ever had someone start a “flame war”, “pissing match”, or “D*#k-measuring” competition, please keep reading. You may get a laugh out of this one.
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by Brian Griffin
December 02, 2020
4 Comments
I'm going to preface this piece by saying some methods of preventing cold weather injuries and surviving subfreezing temperatures can be hazardous to ones health if proper precautions for the specific methods aren't taken. However cold weather, and cold weather injuries, can be just as deadly. Neither should be taken lightly or approached in a cavalier manner. Having experienced both hypothermia and frostbite myself, and having seen up close people who had died of hypothermia, this is something I can attest to personally.
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by Kevin Estela
November 18, 2020
1 Comment
The term “surf and turf” usually relates to a dinner entree consisting of one protein from the land and one from the sea. Most of the time, this means steak and lobster or some form of red meat and shellfish or crustacean. If you’re looking to dine out on the frugal side, this menu item is usually on the other far side of the menu. I’m going to take some liberty with the term “surf and turf” and extend “surf” to the rivers and tributaries of the great lakes for the purpose of this monthly blog. I’m writing this and I get to set the rules. Trust me, this story is going to be worth bending the terms. You see, I’ve just had an epic week of hunting and fishing so this article for Fiddleback Forge was certainly going to include the amazing bow hunting experience in Kent, Connecticut and catching monster fish in Albion, New York. Granted, the cost of the gear and travel to get these menu items is far from frugal but the taste is priceless.
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by Brian Griffin
November 11, 2020
4 Comments
I've received requests for more information on the small pocket emergency kit that appears in my articles now and then. Some want to know more about it; how it developed and what it contains, so I thought I'd dedicate this article to it.
My work takes me to some interesting areas, especially lately. Some are more questionable than others, and it's usually late night or early morning prior to sunrise. To avoid disruptions and distractions I try to not draw attention. I try to just blend in with the environment, go gray so to speak and be uninteresting, but be prepared for mishaps knowing some could be life or death depending on environment and/or season. So these little kits have developed to contain a variety of contingency items, chosen based on their likelihood of use at the time and place, and still discretely disappear into a pouch or cargo pocket until needed.
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by Brian Griffin
October 28, 2020
2 Comments
There's an old adage in the outdoor community which says the best survival knife will be the one we have on us. There is a lot of truth in this statement, I dare say the best knife for the majority of our cutting chores all through our lives will be the ones we have with us. Because they're the ones we've spent time becoming familiar with, and are the ones we know most intimately. Access and deployment are well rehearsed from use, so it happens intuitively and smoothly. Indexing is immediate even in pitch black darkness, and we know all their little quirks and characteristics. Thus using them effectively comes with very little thought, if any. So they're not the best ones simply because they're in our possession, which obviously will be extremely helpful in any case, more importantly they're the best ones because we've had them.
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by Brian Griffin
October 14, 2020
In early 1979 I was 13, and very fortunate to be given one of my most valuable life lessons by my Shop teacher Mr. Clark at North Dallas Junior High. He was explaining an important step when my pen ran out of ink, so I was hurriedly looking through my pack for another. The commotion caught his attention so he stopped his presentation to ask what I was doing. I explained that my pen had died, and I needed another because he was at an important point. He laughed and said yes it's very important, which is why I stopped to see what was going on.
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by Kevin Estela
October 07, 2020
3 Comments
Fiddleback Forge Knives are some of the most recognizable blades around. From the unique finish on the flats of the blades, to the perfect lines of the handles, to the distinctive “bullseye” lanyard hole, you can’t miss them. It makes sense those who prefer an attractive knife would like to carry it in an equally appealing sheath and since the coordination doesn’t end there, a proper lanyard is likely to thread that bullseye lanyard hole to finish off the knife. Lanyards, fobs, pull things, and dangle bobbers are sometimes more function than form when they should be the other way around. The form of your lanyard (I don’t need to call them “dangle bobbers” again do I?) should follow the function. Just like Fiddleback Forge knives that perform and look good, your lanyard doesn’t have to be just a simple knot anyone can tie. This month’s blog pays close attention to an overlooked accessory, the lanyard. Here are a few considerations for your reading pleasure.
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by Kevin Estela
September 23, 2020
1 Comment
Unless you’ve been half asleep, you probably have noticed 2020 is a year for the books. COVID 19, double...correction, quintuplet hurricanes, murder hornets, civil unrest, can we get a break? This year, the fabric of our society has been tested. We’ve seen how the masses will react to the prospect of quarantine and when the opportunity to lash out at the system was presented. Toilet paper was hoarded, ammunition was gobbled up by panic buyers, cities fell to riots deemed “mostly-peaceful protests” by the media, and the public was thrust into the position of seriously considering the lack of safety provided by the government and the benefit of self-reliance.
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by Kevin Estela
August 26, 2020
2 Comments
If you’re someone who participates in survival discussions, you’ve probably heard of the term “bug out”. Bugging out has been popularized by movies like “Red Dawn” and books like “The Road.” You may have entertained ideas of running to the hills or what you would do if some sort of emergency made its way to your front door. There may be a particular event you’re readying yourself for the decision to leave your most valuable investment (your home I’m assuming) and risk your safety to get away. Recently, I had the opportunity to be a guest instructor at the Fieldcraft Survival Bugout On Foot Course in Prescott, Arizona. This course was designed to teach students the reality of mobility on foot and better prepare them with approximately 70 hours of instruction and practical field exercises over 5 days. The students participated in an extensive after-action report and now have a wealth of takeaways and this month’s blog is meant to share some of the most important ones with you.
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by Kevin Estela
August 05, 2020
3 Comments
The year is 1999. Britney Spears burst onto the scene with “Hit Me Baby One More Time” and Keanu introduced us to the artificial world of The Matrix. We were less than a year from the anti-climactic Y2K panic and new millennia. In August of 1999, I was enjoying a great summer off from my freshman year of college and some new-found freedom from an ex girlfriend. My good friends from high school, Nate and Frank, were interested in hanging out again and we were all looking for an adventure. After high school, we all went separate ways but what bound us as friends was the interest we had in the great outdoors and that would unite us again for an epic road trip to Baxter State Park and summiting Mt. Katahdin. That was then. That was over 20 years ago when I was just a teenager who was looking for direction. Since then, I only returned to that part of Maine once in 2003 to summit it again. Now, it has been 17 years and so much has changed in my life. Now, it was time to go back, it was time to seek out adventure again, it was time to give into the draw of the mountains.
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by Brian Griffin
July 08, 2020
Many of us remember this phrase fondly from our youth. We did our best to do it back then, and we work even harder to carry that philosophy forward with us as we grow through adulthood where our lives become so much more complex. It's often hard to even fathom the logic of the events much less try to prepare for all of them, but we try. We plan for the basics, and shoot for some of the contingencies at any rate. We need to be punctual to our events, able to pay our way, able to take or give notes or directions, light up a dark space, create warmth in the cold, and of course open packages or cut anything that needs cutting. And if, like me, you happen to enjoy picnics with someone special, a cork screw can really come in handy and save the time of performing a no glass /no cork bits wine-bottle-opening. Which can be done, and one method featured in an earlier article here a few years ago.
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by Kevin Estela
June 24, 2020
I have a love-hate relationship with revolvers. Sometimes, they make sense. When dangerous game calibers fit better in a cylinder than they do a grip magazine, a revolver is better than an autoloader for self-defense against wild critters. Other times, a revolver is less preferable to commonly carried self-defense pistols like the Glock and SIG as they are heavier, have less capacity, and are slower to reload. Recently, I decided to revisit the revolver after my good friend and outdoor survival mentory, Marty Simon, passed away. Marty carried a .357 Magnum model 60 snub nose. I wanted a similar J-frame revolver to carry for plinking and as a survival kit gun as an homage to Marty. I’ve long carried a .22 Browning Buckmark pistol but wanted to add a small rimfire revolver to my collection and decided to share some thoughts on the “kit gun” idea here.
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