Forum Replies Created
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*BUMP*
Hope to see some Trad Bow folks there this weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or need directions, etc.
Dave –
Haven’t field dressed a large animal with it, as I only got it last winter, after hunting season. But I’ve done lots of other work with it (it has a nice patina on it since I took these pics shortly after I got it), and I think it would work great for game.
The blade is a full-tang, A2 steel, with a convexed edge. I have a number of other knives of the same steel, and same edge grind, and I can tell you that it holds up really well. I prefer a convex edge on all of my field knives now. It’s a more durable edge to begin with, imo (as opposed to a Scandi, for example), especially when combined with a good high-carbon tool steel like A2. And easy to touch up in the field with a strop loaded with some compound, which I always keep in a ziploc in my hunting pack.
Though for big game, such as elk (and beyond), it might be a toss up between the Trail Mate and its larger cousin, the Trail Buddy for something more capable of all around processing, more than just skinning. I think either could work, it just comes down to preference. Here’s a size comparison:
David Petersen wrote: Richardson’s geraniums
Injun paintbrush
lupine (the subject of a great Monte Python skit)
Mariposa (Nutall’s) lily
Thx for the flower ID! I appreciate them, but I suck at retaining names. Well, #2 & #3 are easy, but I was pretty curious about the 4th one in particular, which I don’t see very often, and which, of course, I always forget to look up by the time I get home…
David Petersen wrote: I like the looks of that Trail Buddy … can you post another pic showing the blade better?
You bet. I love that knife – Bark River’s interpretation of the Marble’s classic “Fieldcraft” knife, dressed in some lovely bocote. 6.8″ overall, with a 3″ blade (it’s actually the “Trail Mate” – they also make a larger version called the “Trail Buddy”). Here’s a better pic of the blade:
David Petersen wrote: Yes, for those of us who start hunting the last weekend of Aug., the time in well nigh to get our acts together. I’m doing plenty of indoor exercises but not nearly enough walking thanks to the heat.
Good stuff, thanks.
Yeah, it’s been pretty hot here as well, but at least we’re getting somewhat regular afternoon thunderstorms. I hope that continues. And I hope it cools off by the end of Aug…
We decided this morning, after a couple of hefty egg burritos and a gallon of java, to check out a new trail a friend had told us about, but that neither of us had hiked before. More importantly – I’ve been thinking that elk season starts at the end of next month, and I better start pro-actively working on getting my @ss in shape….So up into the Big Hole mtns we went:
Lots of wildflower action going on right now:
Getting near treeline and better views:
Hank the wonder mutt, topping out:
And me catching up (in the distance, you can see the Grand Teton)…
The obligatory couple of knives I brought along – a Great Eastern “Boy’s Knife:”
And a Bark River “Trail Mate:”
Some cool lichen on a big old spruce we found on the way down:
And that’s all she wrote.
Cool to check out a new trail so close to home.
And now it’s time to hit another cool place close to home…
ausjim wrote:
The list of animals I can stalk up on and then miss is growing every day 😉
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”
Still revolutionary.
Happy Independence Day to all!
