semi-mini-review...thing (sorry, no pics)
Jul 27, 2007 3:22:11 GMT
Post by randomnobody on Jul 27, 2007 3:22:11 GMT
There are two men I feel I need to express my most sincere gratitude and respect for.
A while back, Mr. Davis of Wild Wolf Forge shared with us some work he'd done on two Generation 2 Norman daggers (thread here: /index.cgi?board=discounts&action=display&thread=1183379230 ). I was on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina at the time, but lucky me my cell phone has some superb internet access. While browsing one night, I came across the above-linked thread, and fell in love instantly with these two knives. Naturally, I shot off an email as quickly as I could, hoping desperately to obtain one. Both to my great luck and utter shock, nobody had expressed interest in these yet. Of course, I claimed one right away.
Some heavy correspondence and a few days later, I finally managed to submit my order through the Wild Wolf Forge website for a dagger and one of their bartender's tools, a nifty little gizmo that serves a very useful role in my home and makes a great conversation piece, to boot.
I received both yesterday, and was ecstatic. Ol' Stan, the Ashland mail man, proudly marched through the door at my store waving this giant box with my name on it, knowing as he always does that what he held was something I was looking forward to having. I ran to the back, tore the box open, and was greeted with the sweetest scent I know, and odd mix of wood, metal, and grease/oil/(later informed it was actually paste wax). God, I love that smell. Unfortunately, I couldn't dig through all the packing paper fast enough, and had to get back to work.
At long last, lunch break. I dove right in and extracted...a vaguely knife-shaped mass of blue painter's tape. With another rod both wrapped and attached by the same. After fumbling around for a few minutes in an effort to remove all the tape, I was greeted with...plastic wrapping. Lots of it. Several tense minutes later, I finally revealed my grand prize, the sexiest dagger I'd ever laid my unworthy eyes on. Then I got to touch it. This granted me the realization that...wow, this is mine...
To get to the point already, the work Mr. Davis did to this dagger is absolutely stunning. I love blue steel more than anything else, but have such a hard time coming across it in a knife/blade I can afford. On top of this, the handles are also spectacular. A rich, dark wood, with a magnificent grain pattern. Absolutely gorgeous to behold.
Now, onto the second portion. This amazing thing would never have been possible if not for Mr. Clyde Hollis' Generation 2 forge. I've been exploring their company and its inventory for a while now, always hovering just outside of actually buying something, until I figure out which I actually like best, and how much I'm willing to spend on it. Then came the QC issues, which held me back a bit more.
That's when Mr. Davis' thread showed up, and I knew then that this was my chance to own something really good. Turns out I was absolutely right.
This knife, even without its newfound finish, is simply amazing. It's everything a "battle-ready" dagger should be, in my eyes. Massive, that is both large and heavy, but well-balanced, such that I only feel the weight where I need to, and of course, solid as a rock.
Being a moderately-built guy of 6'2", some 225lbs (sorry metric guys, no idea how many kgs, and too lazy to figure it out~), a big knife is the only knife I acknowledge. Thus, I thought I had something good in my (retired) Windlass Viking Dirk. It's taken a step down, there's a new kid in town.
The dagger wasn't shipped to me sharp, but I fixed that quickly and easily with a flick of the wrist and a kitchen steel, and now this thing is ready to go. And go it has. My poor thought process for sharpening the blade, THEN buffing the wax. Whoops, pass me the bandaids...
Nevertheless, my curiosity in Gen2 and their products is satisfied, I'm a customer now, and will definitely be buying something from them in the near future. Especially if I can get Mr. Davis to perform this same treatment on whatever-it-may-be. (I'd be willing to pay extra for the service ) This thing isn't going anywhere, I'll be keeping it (or will it be keeping me?) for a very long time. Now, what can I cut? I've run out of hair...
Oh, in case anybody's interested, the bartender's tool (...was going to link to it here, but can't seem to locate it presently... Anyway...) is a glorious bit of metalwork as well. I don't have a ruler handy, or any base for approximate measurement (Mr. Davis could probably help with this), but I'd guesstimate about 7-8" overall, the blade portion being a fat-bellied inchish. The bottle opener at the one end works wonderfully, and the little knife at the other has taken and is so far holding a fine edge, I imagine it'd do quite well with fruit or other small tasks. I showed it to my boss when I got it, and he thought he might like one for his fishing expeditions, seeing the knife as an excellent gutting blade, and the whole unit as a handy tool in and of itself. For ten whole dollars, one can't really say anything bad about it. Heck, if one isn't full of praise for it, they have no business near it.
I think I've rambled on enough by now. Thanks again to Mr. Davis for offering this opportunity to us, and for putting up with me. I can be a pretty tough customer, especially when money is running tight, but Mr. Davis was very patient and understanding, and helped me greatly throughout. He even caught me when I forgot to submit for the SBG discount, and fixed it for me. The man is awesome.
Thanks are also due, again, to Mr. Hollis and Generation 2, for having first produced this wonderful piece. It gets full marks from me (taking into account what it was like before Mr. Davis' work) on fit, size, weight, and overall stabby-slashy goodness. A fine weapon, indeed.
Any chance at all of having the accompanying sword similarly treated? I'd buy one, whatever it took. (hint, hint...HINT!)
My camera being out of service at present, this post is without photos, but if needed, I can borrow a working camera. I'm just lazy right now, work is hard and taking its toll. What is this "energy" people keep telling about, and where can I get it?
A while back, Mr. Davis of Wild Wolf Forge shared with us some work he'd done on two Generation 2 Norman daggers (thread here: /index.cgi?board=discounts&action=display&thread=1183379230 ). I was on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina at the time, but lucky me my cell phone has some superb internet access. While browsing one night, I came across the above-linked thread, and fell in love instantly with these two knives. Naturally, I shot off an email as quickly as I could, hoping desperately to obtain one. Both to my great luck and utter shock, nobody had expressed interest in these yet. Of course, I claimed one right away.
Some heavy correspondence and a few days later, I finally managed to submit my order through the Wild Wolf Forge website for a dagger and one of their bartender's tools, a nifty little gizmo that serves a very useful role in my home and makes a great conversation piece, to boot.
I received both yesterday, and was ecstatic. Ol' Stan, the Ashland mail man, proudly marched through the door at my store waving this giant box with my name on it, knowing as he always does that what he held was something I was looking forward to having. I ran to the back, tore the box open, and was greeted with the sweetest scent I know, and odd mix of wood, metal, and grease/oil/(later informed it was actually paste wax). God, I love that smell. Unfortunately, I couldn't dig through all the packing paper fast enough, and had to get back to work.
At long last, lunch break. I dove right in and extracted...a vaguely knife-shaped mass of blue painter's tape. With another rod both wrapped and attached by the same. After fumbling around for a few minutes in an effort to remove all the tape, I was greeted with...plastic wrapping. Lots of it. Several tense minutes later, I finally revealed my grand prize, the sexiest dagger I'd ever laid my unworthy eyes on. Then I got to touch it. This granted me the realization that...wow, this is mine...
To get to the point already, the work Mr. Davis did to this dagger is absolutely stunning. I love blue steel more than anything else, but have such a hard time coming across it in a knife/blade I can afford. On top of this, the handles are also spectacular. A rich, dark wood, with a magnificent grain pattern. Absolutely gorgeous to behold.
Now, onto the second portion. This amazing thing would never have been possible if not for Mr. Clyde Hollis' Generation 2 forge. I've been exploring their company and its inventory for a while now, always hovering just outside of actually buying something, until I figure out which I actually like best, and how much I'm willing to spend on it. Then came the QC issues, which held me back a bit more.
That's when Mr. Davis' thread showed up, and I knew then that this was my chance to own something really good. Turns out I was absolutely right.
This knife, even without its newfound finish, is simply amazing. It's everything a "battle-ready" dagger should be, in my eyes. Massive, that is both large and heavy, but well-balanced, such that I only feel the weight where I need to, and of course, solid as a rock.
Being a moderately-built guy of 6'2", some 225lbs (sorry metric guys, no idea how many kgs, and too lazy to figure it out~), a big knife is the only knife I acknowledge. Thus, I thought I had something good in my (retired) Windlass Viking Dirk. It's taken a step down, there's a new kid in town.
The dagger wasn't shipped to me sharp, but I fixed that quickly and easily with a flick of the wrist and a kitchen steel, and now this thing is ready to go. And go it has. My poor thought process for sharpening the blade, THEN buffing the wax. Whoops, pass me the bandaids...
Nevertheless, my curiosity in Gen2 and their products is satisfied, I'm a customer now, and will definitely be buying something from them in the near future. Especially if I can get Mr. Davis to perform this same treatment on whatever-it-may-be. (I'd be willing to pay extra for the service ) This thing isn't going anywhere, I'll be keeping it (or will it be keeping me?) for a very long time. Now, what can I cut? I've run out of hair...
Oh, in case anybody's interested, the bartender's tool (...was going to link to it here, but can't seem to locate it presently... Anyway...) is a glorious bit of metalwork as well. I don't have a ruler handy, or any base for approximate measurement (Mr. Davis could probably help with this), but I'd guesstimate about 7-8" overall, the blade portion being a fat-bellied inchish. The bottle opener at the one end works wonderfully, and the little knife at the other has taken and is so far holding a fine edge, I imagine it'd do quite well with fruit or other small tasks. I showed it to my boss when I got it, and he thought he might like one for his fishing expeditions, seeing the knife as an excellent gutting blade, and the whole unit as a handy tool in and of itself. For ten whole dollars, one can't really say anything bad about it. Heck, if one isn't full of praise for it, they have no business near it.
I think I've rambled on enough by now. Thanks again to Mr. Davis for offering this opportunity to us, and for putting up with me. I can be a pretty tough customer, especially when money is running tight, but Mr. Davis was very patient and understanding, and helped me greatly throughout. He even caught me when I forgot to submit for the SBG discount, and fixed it for me. The man is awesome.
Thanks are also due, again, to Mr. Hollis and Generation 2, for having first produced this wonderful piece. It gets full marks from me (taking into account what it was like before Mr. Davis' work) on fit, size, weight, and overall stabby-slashy goodness. A fine weapon, indeed.
Any chance at all of having the accompanying sword similarly treated? I'd buy one, whatever it took. (hint, hint...HINT!)
My camera being out of service at present, this post is without photos, but if needed, I can borrow a working camera. I'm just lazy right now, work is hard and taking its toll. What is this "energy" people keep telling about, and where can I get it?