Gary Mills Woodlore Clone - mini review

Well, I still haven't had time to give it a proper testing and review.  I haven't even had a chance to cook in over a month, it seems.

But I didn't want to not post anything about it, so here goes...

The knife came very sharp when it arrived.  Not shaving sharp but very usefully sharp.  The blade, handle and sheath were beautifully made.  Here are some pictures of the only cutting it has done so far.  And I can't wait for our camping trip next weekend!!

Yesterday, a friend gave me some nice big juicy guavas.  Not a challenge for any knife, but Gary's knife cuts very cleanly.  I didn't know that guava juice was acidic.  In a few minutes, it started to etch a patina into the carbon steel blade.  Very cool and I will experiment more with that later.  Hopefully, the next two pictures will show a little of the etching.

Today, I just cut some bread and some pipikaula.  Both were delicious!

I think I will get to camp one night ahead of my family, so I may go early and muck around and play with my new toys, er, tools.  I can't wait!

Kalimalena Neck Knife

The weekend before last, in the midst of coaching one of two soccer games, I get a call from my buddy Craig, aka Kalimalena.

Since we had a conversation about neck knives during our previous lunch, he took it upon himself to make me one.  It is a small scandi blade mounted on an antler handle.  Sweet!

Note to self, next time we have lunch, talk about mansions and sports cars...maybe about yachts too.  ;D

To hold it, he made a kydex sheath with paracord.

He asked to to tear it apart using it, since if I break it, he can make a new one.  But the point was to use it hard and give him my opinions.

Unfortunately, I have been so busy the past few weeks with work stuff that I haven't been able to play much.  I haven't even had a chance to cook for weeks so KP was out too.

But I did slice some fruit for a snack and it is a great slicer.  I did notice that the black coating caused more friction than a polished blade so I may remove it later, even though I like the way it looks.  The coating also made the back of the blade ineffective for striking a ferro rod.  So if I can't get sparks off a ferro rod, I won't get sparks off a piece of flint either.  I will file the back edge after I take off the coating.  And I really like the antler handle with the wrought iron bolster that he shaped and patina'd.  I think the antler point could be used for pressure flaking too.

I mentioned all of this to him when we spoke and he seemed to like the feedback.  More to come after I get to give it a proper review.

Here's a picture of it with a big guava.

Gary Mills Hand Made Knife Score!

When I got my mail today, this beauty was waiting for me.

Gary Mills, knife maker extraordinaire, had a contest a couple of weeks ago for this knife.  I lucked out and won.  So Gary shipped it over from England.  Mahalo Gary!

Not sure why the images are off centered...

Hopefully, when my foot heals up, I can get out and play with this brilliant tool.  It has been screaming to me go out and get dirty!  I will probably post a review using it for food prep in the kitchen, until I can get out and do it justice in the dirt and woods an grass.