Snow, Cold, nasty - YUK

I really like winter - I always have. We lived in Syracuse NY for 10 years before the 8 months of snow they get there annuallyfinally burned us out. But this winter seems like the worst ever. It's REALLY cold - we've seen -25 and a lot of sub-zero this winter. It never seems to get above freezing. And I just don't seem to be into ice fishing this year.

I think I'm getting old.

Anyway - only a little longer before the open water fishing starts. I can't wait!

Knives

I have always liked knives. Probably started as a Boy Scout, when you always had a knife in your pocket and always found something to carve or whittle. Like most of my other stuff, I have way more knives than I need, but, with SHOT Show coming up, I'll probably get a few more. I know a little bit about the knife construction but am by no means any form of an expert. It's sort of like art - if I like it, I like it. I might like the functionality, the weight, the blade structure, or just the way it looks. When I was going throught my knives recently, I took some pictures and thought I'd share them. Some have neat stories, some no story at all.

A Camillus Yellow Jacket

This classsic pocket knife is known as a muskrat skinning knife with its two long, thin blades. I always liked to use a long bladed knife when rabbit hunting as a youth, and this is my favorite. One of the few I own that are not some form of lock-backs. Sadly, Camillus Knife Co is no longer in business. When I lived in NY, I sometimes would fish in Ninemile Ck against their building for trout!

Beretta Airlight knives

When I repped Beretta in the early 90's I fell in love with these knives. The stteel is good, the knives are durable, and they are LIGHT. The 1/3 serrated knife shown at the bottom of the photo will do about anything you need a knife to do. At the time , Gary Fadden headed up their knife business at Beretta. Gary is now the President of Al Mar Knives, a maker of truly spectacular knives .

An Al Mar Hawk w/ Mother of Pearl handle

An Al Mar Sere folder

Gary's Al Mar knives are treasured by knife lovers around the world. They are terrific knives, no matter how much you know about knives, and you can't help but to appreciate their quality. Seeing Gary and the Al Mar booth at SHOT Show is an annual event for me.

A Sog Crosscut and a Leatherman Micra

Victorinox Money Clip

Leatherman showed the world the versatility of the mini-tool, and nearly everyone has some sort of these multi-function pieces today. Over the years I hacve found that the single most useful item on the pieces pictured above is the scissors. I find myself reaching for them more than I could ever imagine. If you don't own something with a scissors, you owe it to yourself to try one of these out.

In 1995 I was a guest on a trip to Norway with Rapala. We started the trip in Rovenimi, Finland at the famous Martiini Knife Co. (which is now owned by Rapala, but was owned by the Martiini family at the time) TRIVIA: What is the largest city in the world NORTH of the Arctic Circle? Rovanimi, Finland! The Martiini family were terrific hosts, and they gave us some very nice knives as mementos. We could also buy knives if we desired. The following are from that trip.

A pair of curly birch handled knives - one filet and one hunting - that go into one dual sided tooled sheath

A high carbon steel hunting knife. This is one of their earliest models. The carbon content in the steel makes it relatively easy to hone to a razor edge, but the knife dulls more quickly than harder steels.

This rosewood handled filet knife has a bronze salmon head on the end of the handle.

So - what do I normally carry in my pocket? An old, beat up Buck folder! Go figure.

got any knife likes or dislikes??

Wolfy