Spring Steel

Charlie Portlock is in hunter-gatherer mode, searching for his supper.

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At a recent training event for fellow instructors I was naïve enough to lend my knife to a friendly couple who were learning how to prepare a pheasant for the pot. I say naïve because I assumed that they knew some basic knife courtesy, i.e. returning the knife in the same condition that they found it. I watched with clenched fists as they crushed, hacked and even attempted to saw through bone with the 3” carbon steel blade. I suppose that I should have said something, but I didn’t want to embarrass them in front of the group. They returned it with sincere thanks and a happy smile, completely oblivious to the hour of work they’d given me on the stones. I’m no master sharpener and although I can just about bring my knives up to the ‘paper test’ standard with plenty of stropping, I don’t have the methodical patience to make them shaving sharp; I still find sharpening a chore and am yet to find in it the meditative qualities of which some people speak.

Good kit

Regular readers will be aware of the fact that I don’t generally like to promote equipment within these pages. On more than one occasion I’ve refused free equipment because I didn’t need it, and I’ve even returned one very expensive knife because I didn’t like the design. However, I would like to share a couple of recommendations with you this month. They’re well designed and fit for purpose and I think that those interested in bushcraft and wild camping will find them particularly useful.