What you did today

[Nepenthe]

Went to watch the North Divisional in the IFAF champions league, where my Helsinki Roosters came from behind to win the hot Swedish favourites, Carlstad Crusaders. Good times.

[Keyrock]

I had a big greasy breakfast, then I put those calories to good use and went on a spectacular bike ride.  It's absolutely gorgeous out today and I spent a good two hours and ten minutes out on the road.  It was my longest ride of the year, not in terms of time spent on the road, but in terms of distance covered.  I was haulin' ass out there, powering through small hills like they didn't exist, and even going up long, but gentle, inclines in very high gear.  I did one rather beefy climb, about a mile and a half up a 8% grade, and a bunch of smaller ones.  Between the bike rides, the weight lifting, and cutting chips and candy out of my diet, I'm starting to get into pretty good shape again.  I still have a good bit of blubber to lose around the belly, but in terms of energy, endurance, and strength, I feel pretty good.  Just gotta keep it up.

 

I'm going to chow down on some Jamaican food to recharge, then I'll hit the weights in about an hour or an hour and a half.  Then a bit of quick cleaning around the house (luckily, not much to do this week ans the place is in pretty good shape), then I'll reward myself with the sweet water of life (vodka).

[Malcador]

Watched Arsenal do it the hard way. But they won, wooohoo

[Blarghagh]

Sunny day so me and my girlfriend decided to check out a traveling funfair that graced a nearby city. Surprised at how big funfair rides have gotten - it can't be easy to set up a log flume and a roller coaster for just a week. The coaster was a spinning wild mouse that... spun a bit too much. Have had a headache ever since. Was still pretty fun.

[Hurlshort]

Heh, you do reach an age where coasters are no longer fun.

[Blarghagh]

I hope that age is still far off. Usually coasters don't bother me, I'm somewhat of a coaster-nut (as much as a European on a budget can be, anyway, I'm still saving up for a coaster tour of America) but it's just that this was one of the freely spinning cars variety that spin ridiculously fast. Pretty much everyone I saw come out had to support themselves because they were too dizzy to walk, even the teens.

[ManifestedISO]

No way, the g-force is strong with this one. Hard-banking, acceleration, deceleration, never gets old. 

[mkreku]

 

What "general purpose" would you ever need such a big knife for?

 

That's a show piece, nothing else.

 

Off the top of my head:

 

Ever tried to chop wood with a knife (to build improvised shelter)? Its hard and it sucks. But its much harder with a small blade. But what blows even more is carrying a bulky machete or woods axe on the backpack.

So a big knife is a good compromise.

 

Ever tried to pry something open with a small blade? It sucks because little blades don't offer much leverage, they tend to slip and snap possibly injuring your arm and hand. Big knife wins hands down.

 

Ever tried to use the handle of a small blade as a hammer? It sucks because it does neither have the mass (Inertia) nor the stability to be used as improvised hammer. Big knife wins.

 

Ever tried to defend yourself with a small blade? The longer, bigger blade is more effective, gives you more range and looks more intimidating to scare off two legged predators. Big knife wins. 

 

Ever tried to dig with a knife? It sucks, but it beats digging with your hands or a stick and a big knife works way better than a small one.

 

Damage. The bigger knife will endure more damage before it breaks. 

 

Also in an emergency you can make a spear using the blade of the knife as head, to hunt and to defend ourself.  Big knife wins. 

 

That's a show piece, nothing else.

I wouldn't call a knife/bayonet that has been designed for and used by a military force a ''show piece.'' Looks nice though. 

 

 

This.. is so dumb, I honestly don't know how to respond.

 

But you keep on digging, chopping wood, prying things open, hammering, testing the durability (?!) and spearing with your.. knife.

 

I'll keep on cutting with my normal sized knife. 

[Keyrock]

I have a Leatherman multi-tool.  Yeah, the blades aren't the largest and you can't get great leverage on it, but it's small, light, extremely portable, and can do a whole bunch of useful stuff.  I'll usually bring an axe if weight is not an issue, but I'll never go anywhere outdoorsy without my Leatherman.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2014 by Keyrock

[Woldan]

This.. is so dumb, I honestly don't know how to respond.

 

But you keep on digging, chopping wood, prying things open, hammering, testing the durability (?!) and spearing with your.. knife.

 

I'll keep on cutting with my normal sized knife.

Talking about dumb, you don't know how to respond because you ran out of arguments, which hardly surprises me anymore.

A hiking knife has to be able to do multiple things than just cut. When hiking for several days every ounce counts, and I'm not going to take a hammer for the tent poles with me, neither am I going to put a little shovel, a saw, or my entire toolbox into my already heavy backpack.

 

If I had to choose between a little knife that can only just cut and a bigger knife that has multiple uses...well, which one would a sane person take on a hiking trip? 

Edited May 17, 2014 by Woldan

[Keyrock]

 

This.. is so dumb, I honestly don't know how to respond.

 

But you keep on digging, chopping wood, prying things open, hammering, testing the durability (?!) and spearing with your.. knife.

 

I'll keep on cutting with my normal sized knife.

Talking about dumb, you don't know how to respond because you ran out of arguments, which hardly surprises me anymore.

A hiking knife has to be able to do multiple things than just cut. When hiking for several days every ounce counts, and I'm not going to take a hammer for the tent poles with me, neither am I going to put a little shovel, a saw, or my entire toolbox into my already heavy backpack.

 

Go do some serious hiking and gather some first hand experience.

 

I'm not knocking the knife you bought, Woldan, it's a quality blade and has many uses, but for versatility, my multi-tool has got your knife all types of beat.  There are certainly areas where your knife will outperform my multi-tool, such as cutting through dense foliage.  However, need to saw some wood, my multi-tool's little saw blade will outperform your big knife blade's many times over.  Need to pull something out, yeah, you can do it with a blade, pliers are much better.  Need to screw in a screw, it can be done with a blade, much better with a phillips or flat screwdriver bit (the multi-tool has both).  Simply put, for versatility, you can't beat a multi-tool, whether it's a Leatherman (my preference), or Swiss Army, or a knockoff.  Simply put, a multi-tool is the single best tool you can bring outdoors with you.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Keyrock

[Woldan]

I used to carry a Leatherman all the times on my hikes, but I god rid of it when I realized that I only carry it because it has pliers and my knife doesn't, and my knife outperforms it in every other way. It has a saw, yes, but I actually tried to do some sawing with it and I have to say, I can hack through branches with my knife much faster with less effort. The saws on those things are just too damn small.
Yes, a knife is not perfect to fasten screws but it has always worked good enough for me. In fact, thanks to its very pointy end it works for a variety of screw sizes, even for the tiny ones on my camera.

 

IMO a large knife can do more things than th average Leatherman multi tool, especially applications the require mass, stability and size. 

 

I think people here are thinking too much about every day carry, I'm talking about hiking in the mountains for 7 days and general adventuring.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Woldan

[Keyrock]

I used to carry a Leatherman all the times on my hikes, but I god rid of it when I realized that I only carry it because it has pliers and my knife doesn't, and my knife outperforms it in every other way. It has a saw, yes, but I actually tried to do some sawing with it and I have to say, I can hack through branches with my knife much faster with less effort. The saws on those things are just too damn small.

Yes, a knife is not perfect to fasten screws but it has always worked good enough for me. In fact, thanks to its very pointy end it works for a variety of screw sizes, even for the tiny ones on my camera.

 

IMO a large knife can do more things than th average Leatherman multi tool, especially applications the require mass, stability and size. 

 

I think people here are thinking too much about every day carry, I'm talking about hiking in the mountains for 7 days and general adventuring.

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree, because I sawed through wood with my little saw blade way faster and easier than with a larger straight knife blade (yes, I own a large knife, it's quite sharp).  Sure, if I had to saw through a 12 inch diameter tree the little blade would cause problems, but in a survival situation, how often do you have to saw through anything larger than 3 or 4 inches in diameter?  Ideally, I'd carry a machete and my Leatherman, which covers me for almost anything, but I'll never go anywhere without a Leatherman.  Likewise, you can carry your knife and a Leatherman, since the Leatherman is tiny and weighs very little, then you're covered.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Keyrock

[Hurlshort]

Clearly we need to have a Crocodile Dundee thread about knife sizes.

[Guard Dog]

 

 

What "general purpose" would you ever need such a big knife for?

 

That's a show piece, nothing else.

 

Off the top of my head:

 

Ever tried to chop wood with a knife (to build improvised shelter)? Its hard and it sucks. But its much harder with a small blade. But what blows even more is carrying a bulky machete or woods axe on the backpack.

So a big knife is a good compromise.

 

Ever tried to pry something open with a small blade? It sucks because little blades don't offer much leverage, they tend to slip and snap possibly injuring your arm and hand. Big knife wins hands down.

 

Ever tried to use the handle of a small blade as a hammer? It sucks because it does neither have the mass (Inertia) nor the stability to be used as improvised hammer. Big knife wins.

 

Ever tried to defend yourself with a small blade? The longer, bigger blade is more effective, gives you more range and looks more intimidating to scare off two legged predators. Big knife wins. 

 

Ever tried to dig with a knife? It sucks, but it beats digging with your hands or a stick and a big knife works way better than a small one.

 

Damage. The bigger knife will endure more damage before it breaks. 

 

Also in an emergency you can make a spear using the blade of the knife as head, to hunt and to defend ourself.  Big knife wins. 

 

That's a show piece, nothing else.

I wouldn't call a knife/bayonet that has been designed for and used by a military force a ''show piece.'' Looks nice though. 

 

 

This.. is so dumb, I honestly don't know how to respond.

 

But you keep on digging, chopping wood, prying things open, hammering, testing the durability (?!) and spearing with your.. knife.

 

I'll keep on cutting with my normal sized knife. 

 

  That reminds me of a funny story. This was like 20 years ago, I was getting my scuba tanks filled in a dive shop in Dania Beach FL. This real knucklehead was in front of me renting snorkeling gear with his kid. He bought this huge dive knife, the size of a old style bayonet. He told his son they needed it in case they had to fight off a shark. I really think he was being serious. I laughed out loud at the absurdity of that notion. In Florida it would be exceedingly unlikely to encounter a shark that could eat you, and far less likely to meet one that would be inclined to do so. And if you did that knife would do you no good. 

 

Just remembered that.

[Guard Dog]

A leatherman would not be my first choice to cut branches but it is a hell of a lot more effective than a chainsaw that won't start. 

[Keyrock]

Clearly we need to have a Crocodile Dundee thread about knife sizes.

Well, if I'm trying to stab a rhinoceros or a crocodile with my knife then Woldan's knife is CLEARLY superior.  On the  other hand, if I'm trying to stab a rhinoceros or crocodile with a knife, I'm probably ****ed anyway.  Any chance I happen to be packin' a .45 pistol?  Please?  Pretty please?

Edited May 18, 2014 by Keyrock

[Guard Dog]

I bought a new rifle today. It's made by H&R. It's a replica of the 1871 Buffalo, .45-70 single shot. Tomorrow I'm taking it to the bombing range and see what kind of range it has.

[Woldan]

Thats a beautiful rifle, I wanted one for quite some time but I ended up with a different 45-70 because I found it to be too light weight for extended range sessions with my pet load of  525 grain hard casts Postell bullet at about 1450 fps. Kicks worse than a 12 gauge slug from the bench, I recommend a good stance.
 

 

Clearly we need to have a Crocodile Dundee thread about knife sizes.

Well, if I'm trying to stab a rhinoceros or a crocodile with my knife then Woldan's knife is CLEARLY superior.  On the  other hand, if I'm trying to stab a rhinoceros or crocodile with a knife, I'm probably ****ed anyway.  Any chance I happen to be packin' a .45 pistol?  Please?  Pretty please?

 

 
If you're shooting a rhino with a pistol and it notices, its just going to get angrier.  

Edited May 18, 2014 by Woldan

[Rosbjerg]

Woke up, have to study must of the day today - with some gaming breakes thrown in.

 

Clearly we need to have a Crocodile Dundee thread about knife sizes.

 

I agree, but here's mine..

[JadedWolf]

[Gfted1]

So I got a speeding ticket the other day and part of paying the fine is an option to take an online safety course (for an additional $30), which upon completion will wipe the ticket from your record (wont be reported to your insurance). This friggin course is 4 HOURS LONG, is read to you by the computer, and you cant click to the next page until the current one is done talking. Im only one hour in and Ive already lost the will to live.

[Bartimaeus]

You might try Cheat Engine and hook it to your browser (or whatever), and set the browser to 100x speed or something. Not sure if it would work, as it depends on how it's "speaking" to you, but it might be worth a try.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Bartimaeus

[Labadal]

So I got a speeding ticket the other day and part of paying the fine is an option to take an online safety course (for an additional $30), which upon completion will wipe the ticket from your record (wont be reported to your insurance). This friggin course is 4 HOURS LONG, is read to you by the computer, and you cant click to the next page until the current one is done talking. Im only one hour in and Ive already lost the will to live.

You only need to listen to it without answering any questions? Just leave the computer on and do something that brings back your will to live.

[Keyrock]

Another gloriously beautiful day and another bike ride on the docket.  I'm going to take it easy today, and by take it easy I mean I'll ride hard (it's the only way I know how) but only for about an hour or so.