Mission??
 

We used to have lots of guys showing up with stuff they wanted to sell to SOF at SWC. Got to a point where some guys were looking for a mission for the bling instead of the bling being designed to fill a mission requirement. What is the requirement for a modern "war hammer"? Perhaps I am just a FOG and don't get it. I once read that only the newbies and the fog's carried issue gear. The newbies because they couldn't afford anything else and the FOGs because they knew what worked.

MVP

A lot of guys carry music on missions, had nothing to do with the mission either......:munchin

Nice looking hammeraxe DJ.

Art
 

Once had a TS that carried a bunch of un-used stuff. He had three knives, a saw, and a hawkbilled wirecutter from the engineer's kit. To carry this stuff he fashioned a ruck from two jungle frames strapped together with as I recall two alice medium bags. We were always waiting on him because he was overweighted with personal s**t (couldn't ski either, but could spell snow). I used to carry a cassette player and cassettes, those were comfort items. Being a former 10th guy I get concerned with unnecessary weight, got to worry about the generator...

Damn those look good. :D

MVP,

I'm just a dumbass knifemaker but I get to spend some time in Ft. Bragg a couple times a year and talk with a few guys about gear.

I don't make any 'hawks or hammers but I know they are carried and have proven useful among some fairly seasoned troops in various units.

The bigger part of the knives and breaking tools picture is we try a lot of stuff out and the better we makers get at our end, eventually the end user has the option of better gear even if it ends up being mass produced by industry.

Bill,

As I said perhaps I'm a FOG and just don't get it.

What ever happened to Gil Hibben, he used to do a lot of this fantasy/art stuff?

MVP

I'm a FOG, too, but even when I wasn't, I found two knives were plenty for me - an issued demo knife in my pocket and an issued combat diver's knife I picked up while at NAVSPECWARUNITONE on my harness. I keep the demo knife in a tool kit in my car and the Mk3 is still on my STABO-harness up in the attic somewhere.

Personally, I never understood either the fascination with or the desire to spend $$ on custom knives like some of my contemporaries, but that's just me and it certainly had nothing to do with my appreciation for the skills, commitment, efforts, talents, quality of product, or the knifemaker's art that I could see went into making them.

And so it goes...

Richard :munchin

Gill Hibben is still active and is a hell of an amazing knifemaker, so if anybody is comparing my work to his, then I consider that to be a high compliment. Thank you very much for that.

Ever since the dawn of time, people have been trying to categorize things. As far as my knives are concerned, what the hell are they? Are they fantasy? Are they art? Are they tactical? I say who cares. Call them whatever you want, as long as people recognize them for what they are at their most fundamental level - tools built to get you through your worst day. Tools built to withstand the rigors of life. I have never claimed to make the most badass knives on the planet, nor have I ever made a perfect knife, but what I do make are some pretty great looking blades with excellent performance, built for guys who actually use blades. Cool looks, cool design, and actual real world performance need not be mutually exclusive. Case in point, look at a Colt Python. Cool looks. Great design. Runs like a top. My knives are no different, although I probably care a great deal more about my knives than Colt does their guns, since everything that leaves my shop and bears my mark passes through my hands. That's not me bagging on Colt, that's just reality. And that's not just one of my knives you're holding in your hand - that's a piece of me.

Those of you who have had kind things to say and who have supported me in my endeavors, I can't thank you enough. That really means the world to me.

To my potential detractors, as it were, some food for thought: I would appreciate it if each of you would sit down and take a moment to reflect on your vocation. Ask yourself why you do it, and how much you believe in what you do. Did you choose your vocation, or did it choose you? I suspect that, like me, many here are driven by an inner force that compels them onward. They were called to their work. Now ask yourself this: What makes you think I believe any less in what I'm doing than you do in what you're doing? I damn well better be in this every inch of the way, because this is for real. Because if I screw up and a knife fails when somebody's ass is on the line, probably the best case scenario is that someone ends up injured. Knifemaking is not a joke to me. I do this for keeps. I have to. Because this is my life. I hope you understand where I'm coming from.

Best to everyone, and stay safe out there.

DJ - I really think your knifemaking has come along way and you are making some great knives. Knives are a lot like opinions, some are given freely, some are paid for; some are wanted, others are not; some are made with thought and intent and some are not; some are peices of crap and should be ignored.

Thanks so much, Mark. Appreciate your support. And you've gotta know by now that I dig your knives too. :D

Looking forward to seeing you in Vegas, bud. Gonna have that folder proto with you again?

Beautiful tools, as always, sir.

Claemore: Thanks pal. Glad you like.

And now, some big scary stuff:

Nice sharps! Is that a patina on the first hawk? What did you use to get it, if you don't mind my asking?

DJ... that pic just makes me want to say..."Bonk, bonk on the head..." (old Star Trek references, sorry... TS, and TR should get it though...:D)

Thanks so much, guys.

Barbarian: Axes on the far left and far right are both blued. There are many ways to do this, but I use an oxpho blue.

x SF med: I like that. :D