Knife/Survival Knife Info.

[jose lobo]

i would like to share things that i have learned my 16 year though out the world.
live and hunting with the natives, in many regions.
i have change my beliefs on many thing. knifes as well.
i only using a 25' machete,($5) for everything,, i mean everything.. from cutting down a tree, axing firewood, shaving the hair off and skinning a wild borer,
i have learn a way to sharpen a machete sharper than a new buck out of the display window,,( i can go into detail if you would like to learn the technique)

because of it flexibility and thinness, it can be sharpen like a razor,,
the way you bend it, while using a special file they call a leama,

it has become one of the best things i have learn down here, and i would love to sharer it with you all...

[Sarge47]

i would like to share things that i have learned my 16 year though out the world.
live and hunting with the natives, in many regions.
i have change my beliefs on many thing. knifes as well.
i only using a 25' machete,($5) for everything,, i mean everything.. from cutting down a tree, axing firewood, shaving the hair off and skinning a wild borer,
i have learn a way to sharpen a machete sharper than a new buck out of the display window,,( i can go into detail if you would like to learn the technique)

because of it flexibility and thinness, it can be sharpen like a razor,,
the way you bend it, while using a special file they call a leama,

it has become one of the best things i have learn down here, and i would love to sharer it with you all...

I find that highly interesting amigo, please share that here, perfect spot for it.

[Beo]

Don't believe it.

[explodingearth]

yea i need to know how to sharpen my machete and new kabar

[Beo]

ditch the machete its a waste, dude.

[explodingearth]

yea right look what he just said lol how about i not be such a pussy and multiply my outdoor abilities by learning to carry a little weight?

[marberry]

i carry a cold steel kukuri magnum machete and have since ditched my hatchet , using a machete for skinning is just stupid , but try a machete you might like it , its all a matter of preference

[explodingearth]

i dont see why using anything that can get the skin off for skinning is stupid. kukri shape is best why?

[marberry]

it has great weight balance for chopping firewood , and i think it looks cool lol

[jose lobo]

ok... here we go,, i would not have believed it myself, being from your world,
but first i must say , i don't lie!
my machete is sharper than anything you all got.
and when i dull it down, i can sharpen it right back
up to 2 foot razor blade in about 5 minutes.

the most important thing is getting the file(about 6 inches) ready,, that is very important,, you must grind the file to become a very sharp knife itself on one side,
then you sick the tip of the machete into a tree or something that can hold it good,,
then with your knee or with just pressure you bend the machete into a semi arch. not quite a half moon.. then with the file you scrape the metal down off the blade.
about 1 inch on both sides , the full length,, as you scrap, little spiral sliver of shiny machete metal fall all over the place.
i have sharpen knifes, my whole life, and this blew me away.. i will never go back,,

I can send you all a video is you tell me how you would like me to post it..
it is worth learning,,
also, we are killing a pig this weekend, and i can send you a video of us shaving it's hair, and chopping it up,and yes all with a machete!

[FVR]

Lobo,

A month back, I would not have believe ya, but while doing a boring permangenate injection, I decided to do a little work on my machete in the truck.

Clamped it down on a table and took a file to it. First one side, then the other. Then I took my diamond course stone to it, wearing leather gloves of course. What good that would have done as when I got done the machete was razor sharp.

Fine files are what I always use to sharpen my knives followed by stone and a leather strap aka my buckskinning belt.

[jose lobo]

i love knifes, of all sizes, and styles, and i still do,,please dont get me wrong, but
after hanging out with these people of the machete, i have learned may things.
i came with all these high tec blades, and these guys put me, and my knifes to shame,, i had a knife for skinning, and gutting, and one for the joints,and a saw for bone...

i would really like to post a video,, what is the best way?? can we do it on this sight?

[jose lobo]

the one thing that is had to explain,, is it is not like you taking a stone to your knife,,,
this style is not like that at all... this is taking the metal down on the first inch of the blade( the full distance) to a paper thin, blade,, it is not like sharing you buck, and just sanding down the edge,,( this is like making one full inch of your knife ( most knifes are not even an inch wide) thin as a razor as well as sharp as one.

its amazing, that i was once so think headed that i would not believe anything new,,eather.. i guess it just take time tell you realize that the world is full of things to learn.

[MedicineWolf]

Sorry mr. lobo but up here in Montana your machete is pretty useless, I've tracked and hunted most of the northern US and up into Canada for over ternty years and never needed a machete, maybe in the jungles of Costa Rica you need it. There's nothing in the wilderness that I can't handle with my knife, and any blade over 6 maybe 7 inches is useless for skinning North American game.

[jose lobo]

medicine wolf,,
I understand there are many ways to skin a cat!
I am not telling everyone to though your bucks out, but, i am just sharing something i have learn, (and i can never unlearn it!) Is that not what this sight is about???

As i came from Colorado, and lived in BC spending many year doing, what you are doing now!
Then traveled the world looking at new ways of doing things. opening my mind to new ways, and learning thing that are not in any book, for culture that have been doing it forever.
Please, share something that i dont know, with me, and i will be impressed with you.
and I am sure there are many things, my friend. please share!

as far as knifes go, there are only a few country's in the world that think a 4 inch knife is more than a toy, or a kitchen utensil. sorry to say.

I still own a nice collection of knifes from the, good old north,, I just don't use them much anymore.

[marberry]

in the north east manitoba wilderness a machete is a necessity , same as north west BC . tons of places in canada where using a machete makes traveling through the bush much easier.

[FVR]

Ya know, really don't give a crap what ya'll carry, as long as you know how to use what you "do" carry.

Nothing worse than a boot greenhorn (Lt.) with a big knife who does not know how to use it. Bowies have their place, as do machettes and skinning knives.

For skinning, I'm sticking with my chert and obsidian tools.

[Rob]

Responding to the original post I would recomend a good carbon steel over stainless steel. looks more rustic and can be used with flint and native cherts to spark a fire.

[Sarge47]

Responding to the original post I would recomend a good carbon steel over stainless steel. looks more rustic and can be used with flint and native cherts to spark a fire.

Carbon steel rusts a lot easier than Stainless Steel and should be used only in "dry" areas.

[Sarge47]

Lobo,

A month back, I would not have believe ya, but while doing a boring permangenate injection, I decided to do a little work on my machete in the truck.

Clamped it down on a table and took a file to it. First one side, then the other. Then I took my diamond course stone to it, wearing leather gloves of course. What good that would have done as when I got done the machete was razor sharp.

Fine files are what I always use to sharpen my knives followed by stone and a leather strap aka my buckskinning belt.

In one of my older Boy Scout Field Book's, they show how to use the file method on an axe to make it razor sharp.