Striving

We all start somewhere.  What’s that expression?  Oh yes!  Even a mighty oak starts from a little acorn.  Of course we don’t discuss the acorn is a little nut…

 

I stand next to Teddy Roosevelt:

“The credit belongs to the man … who strives valiantly, who errs …, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming,…, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly,...."          "Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910.

I hope Teddy will forgive me for truncating his humongous run-on sentence.  But I believe in what he said.  So I’m pretty excited.   I just got my hands on a knife made by Brian Davis.  It’s an early attempt, in fact it’s his second attempt.  But it’s a glorious attempt!

That's over 10 inches of honest knife.  You could do a lot worse than to have this on you.

The blade is quarter inch thick, 5.5 inches long and 1.75 inches wide.  It appears to have been ground out of a solid piece of steel.   

I liked the balance and the thick blade is awesome!

The handle is black micarta on a full tang with front and rear bolsters.  It’s pretty awesome!  The blade is so close to a full length flat grind it takes a straight edge and a good light to see the slight curve at the blade edge. 

Strictly speaking the blade is a drop point design, but the point has a shape which reminds me of the belly on a skinner.  With all the metal behind the point, this is a blade you can pry with if you had to.

It was described to me as a camp knife.  I can see it in use at a deer camp or cabin.  The overall length is 10.75 inches and the balance point is right on the index finger when you hold it in a hammer grip.  I prefer the weight in my big knives in that position.  I feel it gives me the most control over the knife.  And with a knife this big, control is a vital.

The blade is finished nicely, but one of the problems with Kydex sheaths is grit gets trapped in the plastic and scratches the blade.  There is evidence of that on the blade.  The blade is sharp, but if you examine the edge with a strong light you can see how the edge faces don’t quite meet.  A little touch-up on a diamond stone will set that right.

The micarta isn’t quite symmetric about the handle, but it’s nicely done with the micarta flowing gracefully into the rear bolster. 

The slight asymmetry in the handle didn't seem to affect my grip.

I'm a sucker for these dressier pins!

The handle sports two nice compound pins seen on fancier and more expensive knives. I don’t know the steel, the Rockwell C hardness, or the price.  I do hope to see more of these knives in the future.

Brian, I like your knife.  I think it needs a lanyard hole and a complete flat grind to a shaving edge if the steel and hardness will support it.  But even more, please start marking your blades, even if you have to use a vibratory engraver to scratch your name in the ricasso.  

Remember what Teddy said and do it!

You can reach Brian at thehatedone@sbcglobal.net.  I'm sure he'd be interested in talking about future projects.