July 2025 Anniversary challenge

[Farmer X]

This challenge was such great fun last year that we're gonna run it again this year! The rules are simple: post a photo of any sort of gear we talk about for 30 days. It is, after awl, an "anything goes" challenge. Even better, you can earn the badge for this challenge even if you're participating in another challenge!

So, who's in for this rollicking good time?

1. Farmer X
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10.

[Barry Rowland]

Sounds like fun!

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
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10.

[Echotech]

 

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
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[Antti Lammi]

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
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10.

[JonesE]

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
5.JonesE
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[PitCarver]

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
5. JonesE
6. PitCarver
7.
8.
9.
10.

[PitCarver]

I like number 6.

[Farmer X]

We awlready have an elite group!

[kottskrapa]

I think I have that badge but I will still join


1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
5. JonesE
6. PitCarver
7. Kottskrapa
8.
9.
10.

[cody6268]

Figure it's a good excuse to drag out some of the tools I bought way back in 2015-6 when I first joined here. I just realized yesterday marked a decade of my being here.

Still use the original Super Tool with regularity, and might as well buy another PST II (or use parts from a broken PST to fix the original).


1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
5. JonesE
6. PitCarver
7. Kottskrapa
8. cody6268
9.
10.

[Farmer X]

Good to have you along, Cody!

[David Bowen]

I'll bite, count me in.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

[BPRoberts]

I'll come along. Just to make things more interesting, I think I'm going to do the Nessmuk badge. If anyone wants to join me in Folder/Small Fixie/Axe land, I'd love to have you. (Not sure what I'm gonna do about the axe, but the other two should be fun.)

[Farmer X]

Glad to have you along, gents!

[kaevin]

I will join

[Farmer X]

Great to have you along, kaevin!

Updated list:

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
5. JonesE
6. PitCarver
7. Kottskrapa
8. cody6268
9. David Bowen
10. BPRoberts
11. kaevin

[BPRoberts]

I awlways get mixed up when we do these challenge in a challenge months. If I plan do do the Nessmuk carry during the Anniversary challenge, I should just post about it here, not make another thread, right?

[IMR4198]

   Should be fine to carry your three tools and apply for the Nessmuk badge while posting them on the Anniversary challenge.  I think the readers of the Anniversary challenge would enjoy seeing some Nessmuk posts.  Best wishes.  G
 

[PitCarver]

I'm looking forward to seeing any and everything in July.



Just saying...

[BPRoberts]

If people don't mind me blogging this thread up a bit, I'd like to talk about picking the tools for next month. We have two threads here and here if people wanted to take a look.

George "Nessmuk" Sears was an outdoorsman who lived in the North Eastern US in the 1800s. He worked as a wilderness guide, and wrote a series of articles for Forest and Stream and later a book, Woodcraft (later Woodcraft and Camping). It's a solid, and pretty quick, read, that's well worth an afternoon or two if you're into camping at all. He also did some poetry that I might talk about throughout the month.


The "Nessmuk Trio" are the three tools he deems indispensable for woodscraft. A sheath knife, a folding knife, and a hatchet. No examples of any of his tools survived, so we're left with his descriptions and a single drawing from the book:

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

The hatchet and knives shown in the engraving will be found to fill the bill satisfactorily so far as cutlery may be required. Each is good and useful of its kind, the hatchet especially, being the best model I have ever found for a "double-barreled" pocket-axe. And just here let me digress for a little chat on the indispensable hatchet; for it is the most difficult piece of camp kit to obtain in perfection of which I have any knowledge. Before I was a dozen years old I came to realize that a light hatchet was a sine qua non in woodcraft, and I also found it a most difficult thing to get. I tried shingling hatchets, lathing hatchets, and the small hatchets to be found in country hardware stores, but none of them were satisfactory. I had quite a number made by blacksmiths who professed skill in making edge tools, and these were the worst of all, being like nothing on the earth or under it—murderous-looking, clumsy, and all too heavy, with no balance or proportion. I had hunted twelve years before I caught up with the pocket-axe I was looking for. [...] But I prefer the double blade. I want one thick, stunt edge for knots, deers' bones, etc., and a fine, keen edge for cutting clear timber.

A word as to knife, or knives. These are of prime necessity, and should be of the best, both as to shape and temper. The "bowies" and "hunting knives" usually kept on sale, are thick, clumsy affairs, with a sort of ridge along the middle of the blade, murderous-looking, but of little use; rather fitted to adorn a dime novel or the belt of "Billy the Kid," than the outfit of the hunter. The one shown in the cut is thin in the blade, and handy for skinning, cutting meat, or eating with. The strong double-bladed pocket knife is the best model I have yet found, and, in connection with the sheath knife, is all sufficient for camp use. It is not necessary to take table cutlery into the woods. A good fork may be improvised from a beech or birch stick; and the half of a fresh-water mussel shell, with a split stick by way of handle, makes an excellent spoon.


Today, some people try to augment this to a quad, or replace one of the items, using either a folding axe or a multitool. That seems reasonable enough to me, as neither was a reliable option the 1800s, but have come a long way in the 150 odd years since George wrote his articles. But, for the challenge, I need to go old school and stick to the original three.

To help figure out what I want to carry, I compiled a couple notes for each item:

1. Pocket Knife

Visibly, the knife in the picture looks closest to what we'd call a Canoe pattern today. It has a main clip point blade, and an only slightly smaller drop point (maybe a pen?)  Assuming the drawing is to scale, it's a substantial knife, roughly equal to the total width of the hatchet head, and a bit longer than the blade of the sheath knife.

AFAIK, no one is making this pattern today. The usual suspects (Case, Rough Ryder, etc.) make modest sized Canoes, usually with a drop and a pen. A large Barlow might be a fair replacement, or a Trapper. Neither would be exactly the same, but you'd get the clip and a secondary blade. A Moose would keep the opposite ends layout if that's important to you. I wouldn't go for anything too small (probably around a 3.5" handle minimum, if I took a hefty sheath knife) but there's a lot of flexibility here to adjust depending on your other gear. I definitely want a two blader so I can have one cleanish for food prep. I think I'm leaning towards a largish Trapper, but open to ideas.

2. Hatchet

No size specified, but he emphasizes good balance and wright. Double ended, with one kept "thick, stunt" for heavy work like breaking up deer and wood knots, and one "fine, keen" for other wood work. In this way, the hatchet takes a lot of the work that a modern bushcraft knife does for wood processing, batoning, etc. This'll be important when we look at the sheath knife.

I don't have any particular thoughts on what to carry here. I have a few smallish hatchets that'd probably do, though none of them are double sided. Unless I really go out of my way, I'll only use it a few times in the month anyway, so I don't know that I want to put a ton of time/effort/money into a tool for minimal use. I've flirted with picking up some throwing axes and trying to learn that, not as a particularly "Nessmuky" choice, but just to give it some work other than "I went camping one week and split a couple logs to say I did."

3. Sheath Knife

The distinguishing feature in most people's minds for the Nessmuk Pattern is the "hump" behind the tip. I've always felt like it looked like a kukri with the opposite edge sharpened, and wondered if some company couldn't make a buck by repurposing their existing kukri design.

But, beyond the visual, Sears emphasizes that this is a thin knife, designed for skinning, food prep, and eating. While we often think of bushcraft knives today as heavy blades for abuse, a real "Nessmuk 'Nife" is a precision instrument. He mentions using a knife about 10 times in the book, and rarely specifies which one he's using. I think a lot of the tasks we'd expect to use a fixie for today he actually reached for his "strong" pocket knife.

Many companies make a "Nessmuk" pattern (Esee, Condor, and Ka Bar probably being the most known). Some of these are a little on the hefty side like a modern bushcraft knife. There's also a few companies that are making "mini Nessmuks" like the Tango and the CRKT Minimalist. But, at its heart, the Nessmuk is really just a Skinner, and a lot of companies basic Skinner patterns are a good fit for the picture.


My current thought is this:

1. Largish trapper or folding hunter for my folder. This gives me a good heavy knife in case I go lighter on the fixed blade. I have a couple Cases that could already fill in here easily, but open to adjustment.

2. For the sheath knife, I think I'm leaning towards one of the "mini 'Muks". ~3" should be enough for food prep, which would probably be its main job, and is more likely to see "off day" carry when I'm not camping or whatever. I don't really think I want to go grocery shopping with a 4.5 inch fixie on my hip, but I also don't want this to just turn into a Trapper challenge 90% of the month. That said, several of the Skinners and full size Nessmuk-patterns I looked at are nice knives.

3. Hatchet: Probably just grab one of the ones I have out of my shed. I briefly looked at some mall ninja "knife hatchets" and decided I'd probably never carry it AND it wouldn't actually do the job. Still slightly considering throwing axes, but again, not really in the spirit of the challenge.

As far as picking gear, my criteria are (loosely in order):

1. Quality: Since this is a no-substitutions challenge, I can't have my knife break a week into the month.

2. Weight: Nessmuk talks about weight a lot in his book. I'm not actually going to hike into the backwoods, but I figure I can at least park the car further away from the site and hoof my gear in. Not looking to drag around 50 pounds of stuff.

3. Cost: I don't mind buying some gear, but I don't think Nessmuk was the kind of guy to buy a $1000 (adjusted for inflation) knife, and I don't want to spend a pile on something that'll get used once or twice just for the sake of it.

4. Authenticity: Overall, I'd like to lean as close to the originals as possible. I'm not ruling out modern designs, swapping the double bit hatchet for a single, etc., but if two options fit the above criteria equally well, I'll go with the one closer to what was available at the time/in the picture.

If any of you survived reading this door stopper, thanks!

If not, I'd still love to hear any suggestions you have on knives/hatchets for the challenged.

[gra_farmer]

add me to the list...

Just to check this is a free for all, as I have this badge and wanted to go for another...The Batman 30 Day Challenge badge is kind of calling too me!!!

Updated list:

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
5. JonesE
6. PitCarver
7. Kottskrapa
8. cody6268
9. David Bowen
10. BPRoberts
11. kaevin
12. Gra_farmer

[BPRoberts]

That would be a fun one. Glad to see more people picking some of the less common badges.

[WECSOG]

I'm already in for the Dean51 Traditional Challenge; might as well do this one as well. I'm in! 

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
5. JonesE
6. PitCarver
7. Kottskrapa
8. cody6268
9. David Bowen
10. BPRoberts
11. kaevin
12. Gra_farmer
13. WECSOG

[IMR4198]

   Is this challenge still on?  It isn't listed on the challenge roster.  Haven't heard much lately.  Best wishes.  G
 

[BPRoberts]

It's a pretty self guided one, so not as much prep, I guess. Speaking of, I think I'm gonna take a slight variance on mine.

Officially, we're supposed to do a "Day 0" for the Nessmuk challenge with our loadout, but I'm going to be hitting up Case and GEC on the first. As long as I don't carry anything on the first that I don't put on my final list, I don't see any reason I can't lock in the full loadout on day one.

[IMR4198]

1. Farmer X
2. Barry Rowland
3. Echotech
4. Antti Lammi
5. JonesE
6. PitCarver
7. Kottskrapa
8. cody6268
9. David Bowen
10. BPRoberts
11. kaevin
12. Gra_farmer
13. WECSOG
14. IMR4198

    I'm sure glad that some other lucky person got number 13.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have signed up.  I'm not exactly superstitious, but there is no point in taking chances. 
Best wishes, Gary
 

[PitCarver]

I AM assuming that the "Anything Goes" aspect means that there's a no set tool for the month, right?

[Antti Lammi]

I AM assuming that the "Anything Goes" aspect means that there's a no set tool for the month, right?

Yes youre right there is no theme for this challenge and you can can use any tool you desire and change them when wanted

[IMR4198]

    Seems like I knew the rascal that ran the challenge last year.....?  It will come to me later.  Anything on the forum counts.  You could do just watches for the month, or a different sort of thing every day.  SAK one day, CASE the next, flashlights the next, etc.  Now I remember who started the challenge last year.  That guy that talks about raccoons and stuff. 
Best wishes.  Gary
 

[BPRoberts]

It's awlso the one time you're allowed to double up and get two challenges at once. So, if you carried your 110 (for example) all month, you'd be able to take both badges. I dropped Dan a line to let him know we're all thinking of him. Probably busy house hunting. Good luck, buddy!