Odds and ends

I have a few new goodies from various dealers in the bushcraft/survival community. Today I received a 4" blade R. Murphy knife from Bens Backwoods. Incredible (for the Post office) considering I ordered it Friday. Its a very nice blade and well made. Cosmetically its a tiny bit rough if that really matters. I buy gear for use so looks rate about 0 on a scale of 1 to 10. It has a nice walnut handle and a very nice leather sheath. I bought this particular knife because it has a somewhat thin blade, not as thin as a parring knife and not as thick as a Mora. This will be a neck knife and used mostly for light weight chores and cooking around camp. Its difficult to cut some food items up nicely even with a Mora as I think the blades are a hair too thick. This little blade will answer. Take a look at this knife at Bens website http://www.bensbackwoods.com/servlet/Detail?no=479. Also in today's mail were a dozen fire steels (read ferro-cerium rods) from Going Gear http://goinggear.com/. Again ordered Friday and arriving today! They are the 1/4" X 2 1/2" rods, the "Fox" model, and I needed them for a class I'm teaching at present. If you go to their site you'll see some amazing things like a 12" by 1/2" fire steel called the "Beast"! I ordered a "Pocket Chainsaw"from them back in November and got to try it out over Thanksgiving on some dead standing Mesquite (read very hard and dense). It took about 3 to 31/2 minutes to cut through a 4" limb. Seasoned Mesquite is really tough stuff. It took about a minute to cut through a 4" section of seasoned western Red Cedar. Not shabby as far as a saw goes! It will be a part of my kit in future adventures. I bought the Military model which has paracord handles and comes in a neat little nylon pack with laminated instructons. There are pic's and a review by yours truly at their site (good gear deserves good reviews IMHO). Another piece of gear that will be arriving shortly is the "Pocket Cooker". I've wanted one of these since I first read about them in Charlie Richies Backwoodsman magazine. I'll let you know how it does after I get it. Of course, I think it will be a bit till I'm up to trying it out because of the shoulder. Speaking of which, it hurts like hell! They gave me some very strong pain killers and they help but the Doc says it will be a while before I can quit taking them and I don't want to build a resistance to them. So anyway...........Until next time, keep yer powder dry and watch yer top knot.