Not a sword...

I am reluctant to post this, since it is neither old nor unique. This is a machete (incorrectly called a "katana" by its maker) that looks vaguely like a sword. It was made my Ontario Knives, and I bolt it to the side of my lawn tractor in season to prune overhanging limbs and the inevitable sticker bushes that fringe my property. Frankly, this piece is just filler, since I haven't the energy to blog during the holiday weekend. Enjoy it as such...

It's Fish Knife Friday #13!

After yesterday's lapse into laziness, here's your regularly scheduled fish knife:

This one's a steel handled affair...

Bonus Fish Knife Friday (on Thursday)!

Because I can't be bothered!
Happy Turkey Day!

Needle case

We think this wooden "box" is a Chinese needle case. It appears to be turned from a single piece of wood, with a threaded top and Chinese (?) characters inked on the side. Whatever - it's a pretty cool piece that I bought in a nearby antique store for about $5. I use it to hide..stuff..in.

K-BAR!

Now this is my preferred sheath knife. It's a Navy KA-BAR. It is the modern equivalent of my grandfather's old version (now lost to me, I fear). This is the third one of these I've owned, and has yet to see a field deployment (I just got it a few weeks ago). My first well-worn KA-BAR had an untimely rendezvous with the bottom of the Delaware Bay back around 1995. Its replacement resided in my old olive-drab field bag, which I inadvertently left on the ground at a site around 1998. When I recalled that I left my bag behind, I returned - within 15 minutes, the bag, the knife, clipboard, pencils, and other sundries (bug spray, poncho, gum, etc.) were all gone. I hope the thief falls on the KA-BAR point up.

The KA-BAR is a great field knife - quick to draw when working around nets, line, and other potentially deadly fishing gear, light enough to wear all day (I wear it sailor style, in the back near the small of my back so that it can be reached with either hand), well balanced, sharp, and the leather grips don't get all slippy even when your hands are slimy from fish.

Many people don't understand the utility of a large, sharp sheath knife on a work boat. I used to require all of my crew to have one while on board, and I used to have dollar store steak knifes all over the place in case of an accident. Before you scoff, recognize that I learned this lesson the hard way while bottom trawling Shinnecock Bay in 1991. We were just beginning to shoot a 16' trawl off the back of a pontoon boat, when the net snagged on the quick-lace of my hiking boots (lesson 2 - never, ever wear boots with quick-lace eyelets on a work/research boat). In a blink, I was on deck and being dragged toward the stern along with the net - through jellyfish, fish slime, and algae. A readily accessible knife would have put an end to this ten seconds pf panic - as it was (an by sheer luck), the quick-lace eyelet bent, releasing me just before going overboard with the net.

So to those of you who think carrying a so-called "Rambo" knife in the field is overkill, think again.

Another ugly knife

This is another hideous monstrosity that I only post here for sentimental reasons. This is an unmarked (who'd claim it?) Bowie-style knife with a steel handle with, of all things, ducks in flight adorning it in bold relief. It was another one of my grandfather's hand-me-downs. He kept this one in the side panel of his old Ford pick-up truck, ready to strap to his (or my) hip on impromptu evening trips to Bower's Beach or Port Mahon. It's so spectacularly ugly that it definitely provided me with great incentive to remember to pack along my own sheath knife on overnight trips to the grandparents' house. When if finally came home to roost (as it were), my affection for the horrid thing took time to grow - which it eventually did. Now I think of it as an old (of ugly) friend.

Big brass shell

This brass shell casing is an old Winchester 10 gauge shotgun shell. It has an interesting story behind it. A few years ago, whilst working for a client at their offices at an old farm house in New Jersey, I found this old shell in what we called "the Muskrat Room". It is one of several artifacts I found on the property, including an old horseshoe nailed to a tree out back.

Fast forward a few years, and I finally got to meet my wife's (then, fiancee's) best friend, Marianne. Marianne was later to become my wife's maid of honor at our wedding. In talking to Marianne, I got to telling her about my job and where I worked. As it happened (it's a small world), the house in which my office was located used to be the home of her (my wife's friend) grandmother. She vividly remembered the house and hunting for Easter eggs in the yard, and she even remembered the "Muskrat Room". She didn't know that my client had bought the house years after the death of her grandparents.

Now here's the spooky part - Marianne also remembered (as a little girl) an old horseshoe that was nailed to a tree in the yard. Well, imagine her surprise when I went into Flintlock's Arsenal and retrieved that very same horseshoe for her to keep. I also gave her an old door lock that we found in the barn out back - probably dating from the original 1700's part of the house.

Well, long after I gave her that old horseshoe, and even after she was my wife's maid of honor, I myself was honored when Marianne asked if I would be willing to officiate at her wedding ceremony. I promptly joined the Universal Life Church, and performed said ceremony on the beach in a beautiful and highly secular exchange of vows. I count this as one of my favorite 10 experiences in my entire life, along with my own marriage and birth of my son.

Back to the shell - this I kept. I now use it as a slide for a lap steel guitar that I refinished last year. Go to my My Space Band page to hear some of my blues music (if not this slide or guitar). I can't play slide with this shell without thinking about the improbable chain of events that surround it.