Traditional Crook knife

We've all watch Ray Mears in his series Bushcraft making a beautiful Birch bark caneo and we've all heard Ray praising the crook knife for its ability to carve wood to a plain shavingly smooth finish.

Well recently my mate Frenchy made me a traditional crook knife for me to play with - and mightly impressed I am with it too.

Its my belief that the Native Americans first obtained crook knives from the early pioneers and european settles in trade - logic tells me that the natives wanted steel tools but the whites fearing giving them proper cutting tools which they could easily use as weapons traded old farrier hoof knives with them instead and this is what Paul has used for this tool too. The blade is a frost mora farriers blade so (excuse the pun) it comes from a good blade making stable!

To this paul has attached a fist sized lump of antler which fits my hand perfectly. Remember the crook knife is designed to be used in the draw method of carving so the handle needs to fit the hand backwoods (if that males sense)

Anyway slightly dull from the packet I sharpened the blade (sharpening only on the flat unbeveled side and soon had it razor sharp and ready to carve with. I carve a spoon from start to finish with this fantastic looking and aesthetically pleasing tool with no problems what so ever - all it took was a little time to accustom myself to gripping the tool in a different maner to that which Im used to.

Overall very pleased with it - I found an old sheath for it and now its my only carving tool - well after my main knife of course.

If you'd be interested in obtaining a hand made - unique - beautiful yet practical tool like this please contact Frenchy direct ..........remember to mention Bearclaw when you do and he'll ensure you get service and a tool second to none - contact piuspaul@fenech0.wanado.co.uk

Among our anglosaxon forebears no tool was as import than the SCRAMASAEX - (scramseax, scramsax ) Indeed so important was the tool that the people were eventually names after it - the SAEX or Saxons. The AE are known as ASH and are prounced AA - so SAEX reads SAAX's

Ths tool was their camp knife, butcher knife and weapon in the press of the shield wall when the warriors came to Briton and banished the Celts to its rocky fringes. Indeed it could be argued England would not exist if not for the Scramsaex.

But enough history lets look at the tool.

Pictured above is the prototype saex which I have recently had the pleasure to trial - and it has been a great pleasure indeed.

The SEAX itself comes with a 4mm thick 8" bearing steel blade which terminates in a slightly clipped point. The overal design follows the artist and practical lines of the BFK making it a real users tool witht he balance being at the termination of the scales and the cutting edge. This excellent point of balance means that though a big knife it can be used for both chopping and heavy chores while still remained agile enough for feather sticking or fine carving! The scales shown are horn a traditional material of the Saxon peoples and are good in the hand withputht e risk of slippage in use.

The sheath (pictured) is made of two leather sleeves the outer is laced together and sits snuggly in the laced belt loop - but is not attached to it - means we can wear it left or right handed and change it to suit or needs (truely ambidextros) The inner sheath is a siliconized leather which protects the blade and is removed for drying if wet ....................but this is the prototype remember and its been decided that we aregoing to folow a more traditional sheath idea which was used by our Angloseaxon ancestors, instead of the silicon leather all bushcraft Seax's will have a more traditional sheep skin liner, the sheep skin (real sheep skin not PC faux crap) will do several things most important of all imparting lanolin to the blade which will naturally protect it!!

Once ready I think this will be the Rolls Royce of bushcraft knives .......

I can see your appetite is wetted .............so watch this space for more details as the trials continue

Whats new?

Sorry I havent been updating the blog recently but we've had a busy old time at bearclaw.

So whats new?

Firstly my mate Frenchy is now producing some cracking traditional crook knives - Mora blades mounted in the materials of your choice and designed to be used in the traditional manner as a draw knife. With a little practice they can also be easily adapted for use in spoon carving - one knife for the whole job cant be a bad think!!

Also were pleased to announce that in the waning months of last year we contacted Fjallraven and suggested they make a 45 litre version of their 20 litre Vintage sack (a excellent sack which is the choice of the whole bearclaw team!!) - anyway the guys at Fjellraven took this on board and we are pleased to announce they will be arriving/released in Feb 2008 - this is excellent news as these really are the best sacks I've every come across!

I'm working on a couple of articles too - one about Knife and cutting tool care - the other is a picturial on the classic rabbit stew cooked over the fire.

Hope this brief update has wetted your appetite - see you soon.

Coming soon the new Wilderness knife

Wilderness Knife

The Wilderness traveller needs to be able to rely on their cutting tool. Simply put they need an implement which will never let them down. They need a tool large and strong enough to offer them maximum mechanical advantage for chopping while remaining light and flexible enough for fine carving. The Wilderness knife’s 3mm thick blade is perfectly balanced at the junction of the blade and scales making it agile and highly manoeuvrable in the hand for fine work while the classically shaped Leuku style 7 inch blade is differentially hardened by multiple edge-quenching (meaning it will hold its edge well while the spine still remains malleable enough to avoid breakage during heavy usage *due to this factor use with a fire steel is limited) and oil quenched to approximately 56 Rockwell C so is ideal for chopping and excellent for splitting yet also easily re-sharpened to a stunning razor edge.
In looks this fine knife captures the romance of the Mountain man era having the classical lines and sheath design of a fur trapper’s butcher knife while still maintaining the strong functionality of the Saami reindeer knife (Leuku).
Unlike its Scandinavian cousins this knife has a full tang which is fitted with tough English Oak scales secured via peined over steel rivets (much stronger than brass) giving the tool both a home grown feel as well as superior strength in use.
A functional handmade knife which also comes with a luxurious handmade 3mm chestnut brown tanned leather sheath mounted on a brass O ring swivel and a belt loop capable of taking belts up to 2”. All in all a tough workhorse of a tool.
Being handmade their may be a slight delay of a couple of weeks on orders during busy periods.

Course photo 2007 WEISS

WEISS Temperate course

2007

Well done all who attended and Passed!!

Coming soon - Kuksa

Natural Form Kuksa.

The traditional handmade wooden Kuksa has become a bushcraft icon, a symbol of style and oneness with nature as well as being thermally efficient (drinks do not cool quickly in cold weather and there is no chill factor of skin on cold metal either!) and aesthetically pleasing. Top quality and ready to use these natural shaped Kuksa’s come all the way from Arctic Finland where the birch burls used to make these luxurious cups are hand selected and being formed by nature each one is totally unique in shape, size and colouration. Sizes available are Medium - approximately coffee cup size and Large - anything over this. (Sizes may vary as we can only supply that which nature provides.) Rare, distinctive and utterly one of a kind your hand made Kuksa can only grow better with age and usage soon becoming a trusted fireside companion. Natural form Kuksa’s make ideal gifts for the bushcrafter who has everything!!
*All Kuksa’s are hand made and made to order – as such some delays may be experienced in orders as the woodsman needs to go out and select them individually – we will of course keep a small stock when available

Woollen Capote, traditional bushcrafting wear

Woollen Capote
Something’s just sing of the fur trade era, they typify the Mountain man and his hardy, free life style. Things like the Hawken Rifle, the butcher or camp knife and the Woollen Capote.

While I now have the perfect butcher/camp knife I still aspire to own a 50 calibre Hawken rifle and am now the very pleased owner of a Woollen Capote.

Traditionally made from one blanket the Capote (a corruption of a French word meaning coat or cape) was torn or cut with a knife (Indians didn’t have scissors) and then stitched in one of many various style.

Cut and sewn for warmth and ease of motivation these fantastically warm coats look a little bulky when new but are actually very unrestrictive making them as Ideal now for the bushcrafter as they were 200 years ago.

Being made from almost one entire blanket they are a little bulky to roll and carry when new but they have many pro’s to out weigh this slight negative point – of course they can be worn for warmth, around the campfire they are safe and will not melt if accidentally burnt. Being wool they remain warm even if soaked for up to 6 days!! But they are also the ideal overnighting blanket being big enough to roll yourself in for a warm cosy nights sleep!!

Originally Capotes were made from Hudson Bay blankets and the blankets had a point system. So highly prized where they that a 4 point blanket (with 4 small black lines on one edge denoting its points) was equal to or traded for 4 beaver pelts.

Available in various colours I opted for a nice red one and looking like Father Christmas aside love the rich scarlet colour. Hand made but machine sewn my Capote is a quality item cheaper in price and more traditional to the 'shrafting' ethos than later items such as Swannis.

Now available from the Good old US of A see the links column of the bearclaw website for the maker’s details.

http://www.bearclawbushcraft.co.uk/links.htm