Enter the Ontario Pilot Survival Knife made by Ontario. MidwayUSA.com sells these new for about $44. Based on the reading I have done, these knives can be made to be very serviceable. I decided it would invest in one and see if I could make it useable. What made it more interesting is that currently, they are also selling factory seconds of these knives for under $30. That's my thing, right there. I ordered one.
It arrived today at about 2 PM and I got it inside to do a quick onceover while finishing up some daily tasks in prep for the holiday. It showed up in a pretty plain Jane bag and is marked as a second.
Initial Packaging |
Unpacked and Unsheathed |
The next test is on that really gives me a sense of what our starting point is with this. I have a chunk of cedar I keep on the bench to test cutting and carving for knives I am working. I spent a fair amount of time with this one and was only able to produce these curls.
The Curl-Me-Not in action... :) |
It appears the blade was assembled in March of 2011. I do love the way they stamp these things... There's a good bit of work to do here. I'm somewhat conflicted but am thinking I'll sharpen it first and see how it does. I also need to find a place I can use to run a firesteel. The sharpened swidge would work but I want something closer to the grip. Probably not going to get to mess with this until after Christmas but maybe, just maybe... I can get a few minutes here and there to try some stuff...
Merry Christmas if that's your thing and Happy Holidays if not.
-JP
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