Mora Knives and Nature

My camping knives.

 
My Mora Clipper.


My vintage Mora with birch handle.

Around the same time I developed my interest in archery I started to watch the series Survivorman. I know this series finished quite some time ago, but I don't have cable so you would be surprised how many television shows I have not watched. However I got a hold of the 3 seasons, and man it opened up a whole new world to me. It rekindled the interest I have in the wilderness and the skills I need to survive and be comfortable in nature. Les Stroud (Survivorman) focuses on extreme situations but because I worship his show and what he does I have come across some other individuals who have inspired me to maintain and learn more about nature and how to experience it in a safe and respectful manner. Ray Mears is another individual who I watch and respect greatly. He is a British survival expert who focuses a bit more on Bushcraft (the skills needed to live comfortably in nature). The third individual is Dave Canterbury a survival expert who focuses on North American frontier style living, which includes archery, black powder rifles and self reliance skills. He has a vast youtube library where he shows you a plethora of skills for free.

The pictures I have posted are of my camping knives. When I got interested in doing some outdoor camping activities all these experts (Les, Ray and Dave) agree a knife is essential for anybody trying to practice primitive or survival skills. I chose to get a Mora knife which is a wonderful brand made in Sweden. They are very tough and reliable and very affordable. You can pick one up from MEC or Lee Valley for under $20 dollars.

The Mora Clipper is my main camping knife it has a synthetic handle and a synthetic sheath. I have beaten the living bejeezus out of it and it is still sharp and functional. 

The second knife is one my father-in-law gave to me, it used to be his when he was a kid. It is also a Mora which bodes well for the craftsmanship of the company (the knife is roughly 40 years old). It was pretty dull and beat up when I got it but I sharpened it, sanded and oiled the handle and made a moulded sheath that holds the knife using friction. Meaning that I do not need a strap to make sure the knife doesn't fall out of the sheath if inverted. It was my fist attempt at this kind of sheath and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. As per my father-in-laws request, I will hold onto this until my daughter is old enough to use a knife and give it to her as her first camping knife.

Well enough of my nature/knife nerd-out. Thanks for stopping by I hope some of you find the time to get out and enjoy some of the natural spaces you have at your disposal. I know I will.

Hunting Knife Sheath

This is a hunting knife sheath that I put together as a gift for a friends brother-in-law. I used tooling leather and neats foot oil for a natural finish. I sewed it using nylon sail thread and some rivets.

I moulded the leather for a friction hold. which means the knife will not slip out of the sheath if inverted. I did however ad a safety band with a snap just in case.

I think it looks really rugged. I have posted a shot of the hatchet and the hunting knife together. The hatchet sheath uses a much lighter leather and it did not take the oil anywhere near as well as the tooling leather. So note to self, vegetable tan tooling leather is the bomb.

I have one more craft project to post and then I am back to artwork and such.

Refurbished Hatchet

I like to fix up old tools, especially old axes. I also like to make stuff out of leather. So when a friend had a beat up old hatchet with a smashed handle covered in paint. I took the opportunity to replace the handle, re-sharpen the head, and remove the paint on it. I then made a Gransfors Bruks style sheath to protect it. It was a fun little project. I have also refurbished a felling axe and made a scandinavian forest style axe. I have not taken photos of those yet.