Wild Man Giveaway!

[connormac]

Adventure Photo: A abandond gas station me and my family saw on a adventure to Five Islands Nova Scotia.

[RF52]

This is my go to (and only) wildernesss/camp knife. Its a gerber spine. I like it because it will be good for most things outdoor, you could baton, carve and probably prepare food. Although its not a light knife at all (im not sure of the exact weight but its pretty heavy), But for it being a full tang knife with a thick rubber grip and a nice hard plastic sheath I like it. And of course I will also carry my Leatherman Rebar 

I habe one of those, not a bad knife Which reminds me that I need to sharpen it

Sent fra min FRD-L09 via Tapatalk

[Nix]

Gas station...... Hmmmm..... this is a close call..... I'm going to allow it because it does show Mother Nature starting to reclaim man's works. And it was taken during a family adventure. It's in! 

 

[Nix]

Nix’s Official list of Wild Man GAW participants:

1. RF52 -- Wild Man
2. RF52 -- Adventure photo
3. RF52 -- Wilderness knife post
4. SOS24 — Adventure Photo
5. Mechanickal — Wilderness knife
6. Mechanickal — Adventure photo
7. ReamerPunch — Wild Man
8. ReamerPunch — Adventure photo
9. Aloha — Wild Man
10. Aloha — Adventure photo
11. Aloha — Wilderness knife post
12. Sos24 — Wild Man
13. Sos24 — Wilderness knife post
14. Alan K. — Wild Man
15. Alan K. — Wilderness knife post
16. derekmac — Wilderness knife post
17. Old Lefty — Wild Man
18. Alan K. — Adventure photo
19. Kottskrapa — Adventure photo
20. Kottskrapa — Wilderness knife post
21. Old Lefty — Wilderness knife post
22. Mechanickal — Wild Man
23. NateJ — Wilderness knife post
24. Sea Monster — Wilderness knife post
25. NateJ — Adventure photo
26. Don Pablo — Wild Man
27. TazzieRob — Wild Man
28. styx — Wild Man
29. Chako — Wild Man
30. Chako — Wilderness knife photo
31. Chako — Adventure Photo
32. TazzieRob — Adventure photo
33. TazzieRob — Wilderness knife post
34. derekmac — Adventure photo
35. toolguy — Wild Man
36. toolguy — Wilderness knife photo
37. toolguy — Adventure photo
38. connormac — Wilderness knife photo
39. connormac — Adventure photo

[Alan K.]

I'm so happy that someone finally mentioned Dick Proenneke.  Alone in the Wilderness was so inspirational.

[Nix]

 

[pfrsantos]

Here's my Wild Man entry: Davy Crockett!

Strange how nobody named him. One of my boyhood heros. This book is part of a colection with text and comic. It was a very clever idea to get young people to like reading. You started with the comic and, after awhile, you'd be tempted to read the whole story.

 

[old Lefty]

My adventure entry:
I try to have one long (for me, that is) bike run per year. Last year I did 130 k and year before that the same. This summer I did not really find suitable  date and time so I’m submitting my only run of any lenght:
Early June lunch run,
30 k for a Dr Pepper + burger and back:



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alan K.]

You rode a folding bike for 30k?

[old Lefty]

^
Nah, that is a Moulton TSR30 with Campagnolo groupset. A bike most capable of huge distances and speed and it was 30 k to get the burger and then another 30 to get back

The longest I 've done with folding bike (mine's a Brompton M6R) is about 30 k. Perfectly doable even for a fat powerlifter type such as me btw .

Lähetetty minun SM-T515 laitteesta Tapatalkilla

[Nix]

Here's my Wild Man entry: Davy Crockett!

Cool entry!   

With old Davy it is hard to separated fact from fiction, but there can be little doubt that he was a true 'Wild Man'.   

[Nix]

My adventure entry:

Early June lunch run

Ooooh....this photo doesn't meet all the criteria....but....it seems close enough, and the adventure story of 30K for a burger is worth it. I'll count this one! 

[Nix]

Nix’s Official list of Wild Man GAW participants:

1. RF52 -- Wild Man
2. RF52 -- Adventure photo
3. RF52 -- Wilderness knife post
4. SOS24 — Adventure Photo
5. Mechanickal — Wilderness knife
6. Mechanickal — Adventure photo
7. ReamerPunch — Wild Man
8. ReamerPunch — Adventure photo
9. Aloha — Wild Man
10. Aloha — Adventure photo
11. Aloha — Wilderness knife post
12. Sos24 — Wild Man
13. Sos24 — Wilderness knife post
14. Alan K. — Wild Man
15. Alan K. — Wilderness knife post
16. derekmac — Wilderness knife post
17. Old Lefty — Wild Man
18. Alan K. — Adventure photo
19. Kottskrapa — Adventure photo
20. Kottskrapa — Wilderness knife post
21. Old Lefty — Wilderness knife post
22. Mechanickal — Wild Man
23. NateJ — Wilderness knife post
24. Sea Monster — Wilderness knife post
25. NateJ — Adventure photo
26. Don Pablo — Wild Man
27. TazzieRob — Wild Man
28. styx — Wild Man
29. Chako — Wild Man
30. Chako — Wilderness knife photo
31. Chako — Adventure Photo
32. TazzieRob — Adventure photo
33. TazzieRob — Wilderness knife post
34. derekmac — Adventure photo
35. toolguy — Wild Man
36. toolguy — Wilderness knife photo
37. toolguy — Adventure photo
38. connormac — Wilderness knife photo
39. connormac — Adventure photo
40. pfrsantos — Wild Man
41. Old Lefty — Adventure photo

[pfrsantos]

^
Nah, that is a Moulton TSR30 with Campagnolo groupset. A bike most capable of huge distances and speed and it was 30 k to get the burger and then another 30 to get back

The longest I 've done with folding bike (mine's a Brompton M6R) is about 30 k. Perfectly doable even for a fat powerlifter type such as me btw .

Lähetetty minun SM-T515 laitteesta Tapatalkilla

Wow! I just hope it was downhill both ways!

 

[ThundahBeagle]

WILDMAN - John (sometimes known as James Capen) Adams. GRIZZLY ADAMS.

Born near Boston. Died in Boston. But traveled the country and chose to live as a wild man. Related to two U.S. Presidents - John and John Quincy -  as well as a well known revolutionary and brewer named Sam.

Sometimes called "The Wild Yankee", and other times called the P.T. Barnum of the west.

It is his pet bear Sampson who is the mascot on the flag of California.

Started life on a farm outside Boston and as a young teen learned to be a cobbler and leather crafter. This helped him on his travels as he made clothing, moccasins and belts for himself and others.

Captured and trained numerous animals throughout New England in the early 1800's, but returned to Boston again to be a cobbler.

Got a touch of gold fever in 1849 and headed west intending to become a supplier to others headed west. Lost everything in a warehouse fire, so he turned his back on society and lived off the land. Met and tamed numerous animals, most famously bears, who would follow him, protect him and even keep him warm.

Sustained head, neck and spine injuries earlier in life, and later more head injuries from a Bengal Tiger. He did heal, but that wound was later opened again and he knew he had little time left. Sold his animals to P.T. Barnum and travelled performing with him for a while, to make enough $ for his wife and kids, whom he had essentially left in 1849.

Died at home in Boston 1860.

While we may not subscribe to some of his methods and circus performances today, we mustn't attach modern sensibilities to people who lived back then. Really was a naturalist for the times, at first capturing animals for display but later literally befriending animals and leaving them to accompany him freely. Unfortunately his debts pushed him to animal circus performances but at the time he was quite progressive,  AND one of the wildest men ever. His legend and legacy lives on through the shows starring Dan Hagggerty in the 1970's

[ThundahBeagle]

ADVENTURE

Me and Scout the Thundah Beagle on a trip up the famed Mt. Washington Auto Road (This car climbed Mt. Washington bumpah stickah obtained). Fasted winds recorded by man were up on that mountain. We were there in good weather in the summer.

***edit*** the photo is too big. It's getting late. I will revisit this. But describe it as follows:
Scout the Thundah Beagle with his harness on, leash attached to the front tow hook of my GMC Sierra, both in profile, as Scout looks away to the mountains and valleys of and around Mt. Washington, yearning to run down every rabbit and critter he has been smelling since we started the trek up the mountain.

[ThundahBeagle]

WILDMAN - John (sometimes known as James Capen) Adams. GRIZZLY ADAMS.

Born near Boston. Died in Boston. But traveled the country and chose to live as a wild man. Related to two U.S. Presidents - John and John Quincy -  as well as a well known revolutionary and brewer named Sam.

Sometimes called "The Wild Yankee", and other times called the P.T. Barnum of the west.

It is his pet bear Sampson who is the mascot on the flag of California.

Started life on a farm outside Boston and as a young teen learned to be a cobbler and leather crafter. This helped him on his travels as he made clothing, moccasins and belts for himself and others.

Captured and trained numerous animals throughout New England in the early 1800's, but returned to Boston again to be a cobbler.

Got a touch of gold fever in 1849 and headed west intending to become a supplier to others headed west. Lost everything in a warehouse fire, so he turned his back on society and lived off the land. Met and tamed numerous animals, most famously bears, who would follow him, protect him and even keep him warm.

Met Levi Strauss and a pre-war William Tecumseh Sherman.

Sustained head, neck and spine injuries earlier in life, and later more head injuries from a Bengal Tiger. He did heal, but that wound was later opened again and he knew he had little time left. Sold his animals to P.T. Barnum and travelled performing with him for a while, to make enough $ for his wife and kids, whom he had essentially left in 1849.

Died at home in Boston 1860.

While we may not subscribe to some of his methods and circus performances today, we mustn't attach modern sensibilities to people who lived back then. Really was a naturalist for the times, at first capturing animals for display but later literally befriending animals and leaving them to accompany him freely. Unfortunately his debts pushed him to animal circus performances but at the time he was quite progressive,  AND one of the wildest men ever. His legend and legacy lives on through the shows starring Dan Hagggerty in the 1970's

[Nix]

Cool entries!  Looking forward to the photo!   

[Nix]

Nix’s Official list of Wild Man GAW participants:

1. RF52 -- Wild Man
2. RF52 -- Adventure photo
3. RF52 -- Wilderness knife post
4. SOS24 — Adventure Photo
5. Mechanickal — Wilderness knife
6. Mechanickal — Adventure photo
7. ReamerPunch — Wild Man
8. ReamerPunch — Adventure photo
9. Aloha — Wild Man
10. Aloha — Adventure photo
11. Aloha — Wilderness knife post
12. Sos24 — Wild Man
13. Sos24 — Wilderness knife post
14. Alan K. — Wild Man
15. Alan K. — Wilderness knife post
16. derekmac — Wilderness knife post
17. Old Lefty — Wild Man
18. Alan K. — Adventure photo
19. Kottskrapa — Adventure photo
20. Kottskrapa — Wilderness knife post
21. Old Lefty — Wilderness knife post
22. Mechanickal — Wild Man
23. NateJ — Wilderness knife post
24. Sea Monster — Wilderness knife post
25. NateJ — Adventure photo
26. Don Pablo — Wild Man
27. TazzieRob — Wild Man
28. styx — Wild Man
29. Chako — Wild Man
30. Chako — Wilderness knife photo
31. Chako — Adventure Photo
32. TazzieRob — Adventure photo
33. TazzieRob — Wilderness knife post
34. derekmac — Adventure photo
35. toolguy — Wild Man
36. toolguy — Wilderness knife photo
37. toolguy — Adventure photo
38. connormac — Wilderness knife photo
39. connormac — Adventure photo
40. pfrsantos — Wild Man
41. Old Lefty — Adventure photo
42. ThundahBeagle — Wild Man

[derekmac]

Just went back to the first post to look at the pics of the knife again, and 

[Nix]

Good luck!   

[ReamerPunch]

My wilderness knife entry is the Mora Companion Spark.


Having used it for the Nessmuk Challenge, I have grown to like it. Sure, it is not the most robust knife out there. It won't baton logs or chop down trees.
But it is quite capable. It cuts very well, and it carves nicely. My thumb got a bit chewed up, thanks to the Mora's aggressive spine, but it does the job nicely. It is very comfortable in my hand, and I find it easy to work with. It is very light, and along with the plastic sheath, which I like, the knife is very easy to carry. I bought the LMF Mora first, and liked its thin blade. After all the carving I've done for the Challenge, I have no issues with the Companion Spark. I even used the spine a couple of times.

It even has a piggy-back ferro rod, which will come in handy if you need a fire.
I do not like how they made it snap in place, though. It interferes with ergonomics a little. And there is a little play when the ferro rod in in place. The LMF had the same issue. Not that the ferro rod will pop out, but I have almost managed to unlock it with my pinky a few times while carving.

I like it. I do not regret buying it, and the color turned out much better than the pics. It's a Mora Companion, with a ferro rod in the handle. Slightly worse ergos, same performance, plus the ability to make fire. It's a good camp knife, and if I ended up lost during a hike, I'd be glad it was in my cargo pocket.

[Nix]

Excellent entry--great detail!   

[Nix]

Nix’s Official list of Wild Man GAW participants:

1. RF52 -- Wild Man
2. RF52 -- Adventure photo
3. RF52 -- Wilderness knife post
4. SOS24 — Adventure Photo
5. Mechanickal — Wilderness knife
6. Mechanickal — Adventure photo
7. ReamerPunch — Wild Man
8. ReamerPunch — Adventure photo
9. Aloha — Wild Man
10. Aloha — Adventure photo
11. Aloha — Wilderness knife post
12. Sos24 — Wild Man
13. Sos24 — Wilderness knife post
14. Alan K. — Wild Man
15. Alan K. — Wilderness knife post
16. derekmac — Wilderness knife post
17. Old Lefty — Wild Man
18. Alan K. — Adventure photo
19. Kottskrapa — Adventure photo
20. Kottskrapa — Wilderness knife post
21. Old Lefty — Wilderness knife post
22. Mechanickal — Wild Man
23. NateJ — Wilderness knife post
24. Sea Monster — Wilderness knife post
25. NateJ — Adventure photo
26. Don Pablo — Wild Man
27. TazzieRob — Wild Man
28. styx — Wild Man
29. Chako — Wild Man
30. Chako — Wilderness knife photo
31. Chako — Adventure Photo
32. TazzieRob — Adventure photo
33. TazzieRob — Wilderness knife post
34. derekmac — Adventure photo
35. toolguy — Wild Man
36. toolguy — Wilderness knife photo
37. toolguy — Adventure photo
38. connormac — Wilderness knife photo
39. connormac — Adventure photo
40. pfrsantos — Wild Man
41. Old Lefty — Adventure photo
42. ThundahBeagle — Wild Man
43. ReamerPunch — Wilderness Knife post

[Top-Gear-24]

Finaly got my laptop back in working order (more or less ...  ).

About time I entered this awesome giveaway (thank you Nix, very generous of you   ).

So, adventure story...

This story takes place in the Swiss Alps, back in 2015.

I'll start out by explaining that I always plan every part of our vacation to the smallest detail.  I do research about local hiking trails, set waypoints in the car gps where to park the car, search for opening hours of the cable ride (we normally take the cable ride up, and go down on foot), the difficulty of the trail, the terrain, I try to find a GPX file from the trail to use on my Garmin Map60CSX, and since I don't have topomaps from Switzerland or Austria on my Garmin (they are very expensive), I always buy paper topographic maps from the region(s) we're going to visit.

In 2015, we (Misses TG-24, myself and our two boys), my parents and my brother with his girlfriend all went on vacation to Switzerland together, we stayed in a hotel on the shores of Lake Lucerne, which, completely coincidentally, just happened to be close to Ibach and the Home of Victorinox (completely coincidentally, like I said ...).

On our first day there, my father came up with a suggestion to visit Mount Titlis, his brother (my uncle) told him the hike down from mount Titlis to the valley was beautiful, and we had to do it.  Normally, everybody looks at me to find hiking trails and do all the research needed, so I was quite happy that for once, my father came up with an idea.  But, since I knew nothing about his plan to visit this region, I had no info on the trail, no difficulty or terrain info, no topomap ... nothing.

My father asked the person at the cable ride how long the hike from the top to the valley would take and that person said it would take about 3 to 4 hours, and that there was only one trail to follow, so no chance for mistakes there...

So, we started the hike down, and at first, it was stunnigly beautiful, awesome scenery, nice trail, all was great.

But soon enough, we started to run into quite big snowfields, the snow wasn't very deep (about 40cm maybe) and you didn't sink in all the way, so it wasn't that hard to cross these big snow patches but...  turns out, large patches of snow do hide a trail quite well.  So after a while, my brother and I were always tracking ahead to see if we could spot were the trail exited the snowfield, and guided the rest of our group to that spot.  Sometimes we had to improvise and make our own way down to the trail which we saw bellow (I know this can be dangerous, but at that point, we had no choice).  After making very slow progress for an hour or 2, we noticed that we were still a long way from entering the valley, so panic started creeping in.

After the snowfields ended, the trail crossed some very steep gravel/rock slides and we were all happy to enter the three line, which made following the trail a lot easier, but the downside was it made following how much progress we made a lot harder.

After a while, the single trail turned into a 2 meter wide gravel pad, and we could see the town where we parked our cars, but by then, it was getting quite late and we parked in a parking lot which  allowed parking until 20h, and now we were getting worried that they would close of the parking lot and our cars would be stuck there until the next morning.  So my father and I decided to go ahead and get the cars off from the parking lot. We were making good progress when my father noticed that his car keys were in my mother's purse.  We had walkie/talkies (and cellphones) to contact the other group, and my oldest son (10 years old in 2015) and my brother decided to try and catch up with me and my father, bringing along my father's car keys.

My father and I reached the parking lot, got my car and parked it in the street next to the parking lot, and a bit later, my son and brother arrived so we could get the other car.   By then, it was getting dark, and we were just considering going back up to the other group (my mother, misses TG-24, my youngest son and my brother's girlfriend) but just as we were about to head back, we saw lights in the distance (being a gear nut, I always carry multiple lights while hiking, and I left 2 with the last group). 

It still took them more than an hour before they reached the cars, but in the end, everybody reached the cars safely.

Turned out the 3 or 4 hour hike took us around 8 hours, and even if my brother and I would've hiked it alone, we might have completed the hike in 5 hours, maybe, but 3 or 4 hours ... never.

Since then, when a Swiss person tells us something will take X hours, we always multiply that number by two  .

To be clear, we were never in real danger, Misses TG-24 and I always go full out on gear we take with us, GoreTex rainjackets and fleeces for every family member, emergency blankets for all, my trusty Swisstool and Swisschamp (and most of the time, my fixed blade in my back pack, I will tell more about this one in my next post in this topic  ),  led-lights, signal mirrors, 2 ways to start a fire, food and water to last us 3 days, walkie/talkies, smartphones, contact information for search and rescue teams in the region (we always take a travel insurrance from our bank, since I've been told that, SAR teams count by the minute, and if you need to be airlifted from a mountain, you might get a heart attack when you get the bill ...).  The worst thing was not knowing how much progress we made, how much distance we still had to go, having no maps... Things I always take care of normally, but my father ... not so much. 

And worse thing is, he still goes about his hikes the same way when he's on vacation with my mother and some of their friends, drive there, ask a bit of info, and go for it ... lessons learned = zero   

Here are some pics from the first hour from the hike, when it was all still fun and games ... 





Hope this counts as an adventure story  .

[Nix]

Awesome adventure story!   

[Nix]

Nix’s Official list of Wild Man GAW participants:

1. RF52 -- Wild Man
2. RF52 -- Adventure photo
3. RF52 -- Wilderness knife post
4. SOS24 — Adventure Photo
5. Mechanickal — Wilderness knife
6. Mechanickal — Adventure photo
7. ReamerPunch — Wild Man
8. ReamerPunch — Adventure photo
9. Aloha — Wild Man
10. Aloha — Adventure photo
11. Aloha — Wilderness knife post
12. Sos24 — Wild Man
13. Sos24 — Wilderness knife post
14. Alan K. — Wild Man
15. Alan K. — Wilderness knife post
16. derekmac — Wilderness knife post
17. Old Lefty — Wild Man
18. Alan K. — Adventure photo
19. Kottskrapa — Adventure photo
20. Kottskrapa — Wilderness knife post
21. Old Lefty — Wilderness knife post
22. Mechanickal — Wild Man
23. NateJ — Wilderness knife post
24. Sea Monster — Wilderness knife post
25. NateJ — Adventure photo
26. Don Pablo — Wild Man
27. TazzieRob — Wild Man
28. styx — Wild Man
29. Chako — Wild Man
30. Chako — Wilderness knife photo
31. Chako — Adventure Photo
32. TazzieRob — Adventure photo
33. TazzieRob — Wilderness knife post
34. derekmac — Adventure photo
35. toolguy — Wild Man
36. toolguy — Wilderness knife photo
37. toolguy — Adventure photo
38. connormac — Wilderness knife photo
39. connormac — Adventure photo
40. pfrsantos — Wild Man
41. Old Lefty — Adventure photo
42. ThundahBeagle — Wild Man
43. ReamerPunch — Wilderness Knife post
44. Top-Gear-24 — Adventure photo

[Aloha]

Terrific adventure story and very happy you all got down safe.   

[Top-Gear-24]

Now, Wilderness knife...

This is going to be a shorter post as my previous one, rest assured  .

I own multiple fixed blades, some cheap (Mora Companions for example), and some a bit more expensive (Casström Woodsman), but nothing above 140 Euros or so.  I also go for the smaller ones, no Becker BK2 or giant Bowie knife in my collection.  Not that I don't like these knives, but knowing people over here look at you like you're some kind of knife wielding maniac when you carry a Companion on your belt, those other knives wouldn't go down well ...

That's one of the reasons why I also like the smaller ones, like my Helle Mândra, my Enzo Bobtail, and my Mora Eldris.

But if I had to pick only one knife, it would be my Mora Garberg, no doubt about it.

Why ?

It feels awesome in hand, the handle (while nothing fancy, being only "plastic") feels great, in every position, for chopping, slicing and also for fine carving.  And that plastic needs no real care, and is almost indestructable.
It's stainless so it needs very little TLC (I also own the Carbon Garberg, and really like it, but what can I say, it rains a lot over here  ).
With the plastic sheat, it can easily be stored inside a backpack, being a very slim sized package, while at the same time offering a very safe way to carry the knife with you, and again, plastic sheath means, no real care necessary.

And the Garberg has everything, it's very durable (look up the destruction video from Mayor Fuglycool on youtube), it's not too big to handle fine work, and it looks as less "tactical" as possible, still some people will be scared by anything...

I love my other knives, the Casstöm Woodsman (I own 3 of them) is awesome, curly birch or Bog Oak handle, leather sheath, Böhler K720 carbon steel  .  Same goes for my Brisa Nessmuk, again, beautiful curly birch handle, carbon steal, awesome leather sheat ... (and that Nessmuk shape is great), but ... the Garberg just beats them by needing very little care in the field in my opinion.  And again, that plastic handle is so durable, if you happen to drop one of the curly birch handles your heart will skip a beat, but with the Garberg, no worries...

[Aloha]

 .  I always like how a knife makes one feel.  Its like a natural kinship once in hand and in use.  Great choice