Work knives tend to get battered and broken and lost, so I didn’t want to spend much for a new one, but I did want carbon steel of good quality. If you want something like that today, you have to know in advance what you’re looking for and who makes it.
Continue reading
A good pair of long-nosed pliers is handier than a knife for freeing hooks, clipping the ends of mono-filament, and crimping sinkers. Neither one works very well if you have to take a reel apart or tinker with an outboard motor. If you depend on hardware and engines to get you places, carry a tool kit to match.
Continue reading
The real Damascus steel remains at least a partial mystery, although some modern approaches to steel-making seem very close. The rippling layers within a true Damascus blade didn’t come from forging, according to a study published in the Journal of Mining (JOM) in 1998. Wootz steel ingots imported from mines in India provided the raw material for Damascus blades…
Continue reading
