Cold Steel Scout;
Cold Steel Master Hunter; Mora Heavy Duty; Black Cloud Knives Shark.
I decided to conduct
a test with my comments and impressions of four knives that I have used for the
past 10-15 years, with the exception of the Mora, which I have used for only a
short time.
There is little new
in this video compared to many others on YouTube, except for the comparison
between these four knives at the same time, performing similar tasks.
My ultimate verdict
is that all four of these knives do a great job in the bushcraft arena. They
are durable, comfortable and great quality. The Cold Steel Master Hunter is a
great, lightweight knife that is very flexible in its roles. The Cold Steel Scout
is a bit large and heavy for bushcraft. It is
a better survival knife, but I would not feel disappointed if it was the
only the knife I had. The edge chipping is the real concern here, and I will be
testing this out more. The Mora is a classic bushcraft knife, and it is easy to
see why. I would feel pretty darn good if I had the combination of the Mora and
the Bahco Laplander. That combination can take on just about any bushcraft or
survival task. The Black Cloud Knives Shark is a great player here also. It has
the best steel, an excellent handle, and holds an edge best while still being
easy to sharpen. It is "Black Cloud Sharp"! Again, the BCK Shark and
the Bahco Laplander are an ideal combination that I feel confident can handle
every outdoors situation.
Steels:
Cold Steel Master
Hunter: Carbon V
Cold Steel Scout:
Carbon V
Mora Heavy Duty:
Sandvik
Black Cloud Knives
Shark: ATS-34 with special heat treatment.
This is a review of one of the classic best, all-time hall-of-fame outdoors jackets. The DriClime series has been one of the slimmest, lightest and highest warmth-to-weight-ratio jackets ever made. I have had an older model for more than 15 years and I am still using it. I have brought it on uncounted backpacking and hiking trips as well as an every-day in-town jacket. The Marmot DriClime series has withstood the test of time, durability and design.
The new Ether DriClime is no exception, I fully expect this to be part of every trip I take for the next 15 years.
This video will show you the ridge line modification that allows the Hennessey Hammock to be used as a very comfortable chair, lounger and an open hammock for sleeping. The model used is the Backpacker Hyperlight. Please forgive the low volume in the beginning and sudden increase later, I am still working out my audio setup! Thanks!
It was wet, misty,
cool and mysterious. I started at the trail head to trail 492, headed toward
Jackpot Meadows, then on to Frying Pan Lake. It was alternating misty and
slightly drizzly. The trail had more than a few blowdowns that had not been
cleared yet.
I have not identified this one yet
White Trillium was
blooming on the way down to the Salmon River. From there, I made the looong
climb of to Jackpot Meadows. There were some nice places to camp near the
rushing, steep creek, but I decided to push on to my original destination,
Frying Pan Lake.
I made it to the
lake just near dusk, with enough time to set up camp and get water, then take a
walk to the mist-shrouded lake. This is a very nice area near some logging
activities. The lake has a large swamp area on the east side where I camped. It
is full of Swamp Marigold, one of my favorite edibles from long ago in New
England.
The lake was very
misty and mysterious. I felt like the Loch Ness Monster was going to float by
and tip its hat to me as it passed. I could just barely make out some island
looking spots in the lake.
At camp, I made
dinner and relaxed. I disconnected the center line of my Hennessey hammock and
was very comfortable while I ate and the mist rolled in more heavily,
accompanied by a steady light drizzle. It cooled down but did not get very
cold. I reconnect the center line, and the Hennessey Hammock was as cozy as
ever.
I slept well, woke
up to hot chocolate and oatmeal, and packed. I wanted to leave a little early
to have time to finish all the stuff I had left to do at home, and to prep the
house for the return of my best friend Valerie from her four-week trip to Arizona
to help out her mom.
The walk out was a
bit long but very pleasant, 95% downhill. We will return!
My loadout for the trip. I am still trying to reduce my base weight. For this trip, base weight = 16.5 lbs., and packed weight including water, food, test knives, etc. = 36 lbs.
Oregon never ceases
to amaze and please me with its outdoors opportunities. Last weekend I packed
into Twin Lakes. I hiked in Friday night to Lower Twin Lake, then Saturday
morning into Upper Twin Lake. The hike is not strenuous; more like pleasant.
The weather was amazing. Temperatures in the 50s daytime, 40s night. I met a
great pair on the north shore of Lower; Eric and JoEllen. I hope I spelled
their names right! We talked about hammocks and quilts for a few minutes. Their
young dogler ran around enthusiastically and boldly rubbed himself on our legs
like a big scruffy cat.
I hiked around to
the south end of the lake and backtracked to the spot I liked best. Evening was
heralded by calmness and a gradual drop in temperature. I took a video as I set
up my hammock. I slept very well and awoke to some hot chocolate and oatmeal
for breakfast. I tried bringing honey this trip instead of maple syrup, but the
honey was cold and therefore very difficult to get out of the bottle and into
the oatmeal. I also noticed over the weekend that I am using about 30% to 50%
more alcohol in the cool outdoors than in my kitchen testing. I expected this,
and am not very surprised. I need to re-calculate the advantage of alcohol vs.
butane now for my cooking. Slow cooking things like biscuits and pizza are
problematic with alcohol; not so with my Peak 1 butane stove, which has the
best simmer control of any butane stove I have used.
The hike up to Upper
Twin Lake was very nice. I watched a deer float up the hillside, as you can see
in the video.
Upper Twin Lake is a
great spot. I hiked up past the lake, where the trails come together for the
PCT and the trail up to Palmateer Creek. I was looking for a good camping spot
and a standing, fairly young, dead Balsam Fir tree to cut up for a bow drill set,
and to provide some bushcraft knife testing. Camping was possible, but too much
blowdowns and bushwhacking for this trip, so I decided to hike back and make
camp at Upper Twin Lake. I did find the dead balsam, and use my new Laplander
saw. Great piece of kit!
I set up camp and
filmed knife testing videos while sets of people and sets of horse riders went
by. I was a little off the edge of the lake, so most did not see me.
Evening with a nice
fire going and some good food, was spent watching a pair of deer, mother and
child, working up the courage to get closer and closer to me in my camp. Lovely
sight.
Night came on with
the choirs of frogs singing all around the edges of the lake. The deer
constantly walked in and out of my camp, sometimes snuffling and pawing at my
kit near the fire, waking me many times from another restful sleep.
I stayed in late,
lazily dozing in my ultra-comfortable Hennessey hammock and Jacks-R-Better
quilts, until nature called me to duty. Hot chocolate and oatmeal with too much
honey and some cinnamon later, I packed up and left about 10:30. I made some
selfie videos to use as a basis for some Mother's Day video cards.
The hike out was as
pleasant as the hike in. I found these flowers, which I later identified as
Blue Anemone, or Oregon Anemone. Very pretty! I had a great and relaxing time
here at Twin Lakes, identifying trees and making videos, exploring around and
meeting up with a lot of wildlife. Be back soon!
It was a
spectacular, sunny Spring day in the Mt. Hood Wilderness! We arrived at the
Frog Lake parking lot at 9:30, saddled up with our day packs and off we hiked
onto the Pacific Crest Trail toward Twin Lakes. We have been here before
several times in winter, snowshoeing into the frozen lake and white wonderland,
having fun with the "robber birds" that swoop down boldly and snatch
morsels from our hands.
The hike to Lower
Twin Lake was uneventful and very pleasant. We hiked completely around the lake
to see where all the camping spots are and to enjoy the area. We had been to
the north side, but never around the lake.
South end of Lower Twin Lake
North Side of Lower Twin Lake
South Side of Lower Twin Lake
Next was the short
walk over the pass and up to Upper Twin Lake.
South Side of Upper Twin Lake
Northwest side of Upper Twin Lake
We found a small Hobbit hole! But no Hobbits.
Again, we hiked all the way
around, then proceeded north on the trail toward Palmateer Creek, and the peak
just to the north of the creek that overlooks Mt Hood, for lunch. We passed
through some great areas with some remote camping possibilities, as well as
some Cascade overlooks that were a little too close to cliff-edge for my
comfort, so you only see a part of the view in my video.
Cascades overlook from the trail
Camping spot above Palmateer Creek
Crossing Palmateer Creek
Found a snake near Palmateer Creek!
Palmateer creek is a nice rushing, steep creek that starts in a small, marshy meadow at the base of the peak that looks on Mt Hood. We crossed the creek on some well-placed stones, then hiked up to the top. The views of Mt Hood to the north and the Cascades to the east and south were wonderful. This peak does not have quite the height or the 360 view that Tom Dick and Harry mountain has, but still worth the hike.
flowers near the top of the peak
looking south into the Cascades
Mt Hood
Up the trail to the overlook
Mt Hood views
just me
my best friend and I
some weird red succulent plant
We had lunch here in
the blazing sunlight, then hiked back down and toward the PCT. We were planning
on going back south on the trail and connect with a west-running trail that
would take us to the PCT, then go south back to the parking lot. The connecting
trail turned north as we approached the PCT, taking us in the wrong
direction. The trails were marked incorrectly on my USGS topo map. We bushwhacked up a hill for a short distance and connected directly
with the PCT. By this time we were getting tired, as we had gone farther than
we had intended. We hiked back south to the truck, through a considerable
amount of residual snow left from the week before. Total mileage was about 10.5 miles.
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