Weekend Open Thread: Back to the Grind Edition

H. Clay Aalders
Weekend Open Thread
·5 Comments·

The title can be taken either literally or figuratively. In my case it is figurative, but given I was at Blade Show last weekend, my knifemaking friends are all getting back to their grinders and back to work. Above is a photo of Murray Carter fixing my Funayuki on a Wilmont Grinder just before the show ended.  There is a story to that, but will be in a later post.

I got back from Atlanta around 7pm last Sunday. At just after 7am Monday morning I was taking the field at Knoxville Catholic to help coach their girls lacrosse camp. I was the most outnumbered man in Knoxville.

 

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I was the only male for 200 or more yards in any direction. But it was a lot of fun. I helped out back in 2019, but I felt like an imposter next to college coaches, assistants, and some veteran High School coaches. Now I have several years as a head coach under my belt. It makes a difference. But today was the first day in several weeks I have been able to catch up on a little sleep.

I wasn’t nearly so productive. Caffeine was simply keeping me upright this week. I apologize that I have been more than a little sporadic. I wasn’t in the office since I was at camp all day, and by the time evening rolled around I was dozing off at my keyboard. It was all I could do to get a couple of newsfeed items out before I was off to bed.

Free Fly Rod, no questions asked.

I have my Part 2 of Blade Show post almost finished. As I said, I have not been able to work for long blocks of time this week. I will finish it tomorrow afternoon.Speaking of Blade Show, this was me before the drive.

No knife shows this week. But keep an eye on our event’s calendar. And take it easy on the hard stuff…

This week I have a BladeHQ t-shirt to give away. Up to 5 comments and replies are valid. You all know the rules.  Hopefully I new knives to give away show up in the coming weeks.

What have you all been up to? It will actually be good to get back into a routine on this end.

That is pretty much all I have for tonight. It will be nice to spend a low-key Saturday with the family.

Have a good one folks.

 

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H. Clay Aalders

H. Clay Aalders is a lifelong edged tool user. He spent the past 20 years as a woodworker and fishing guide in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Tennessee. While guiding in Idaho, Clay worked part-time writing for a local newspaper, and upon moving to Tennessee began writing for the blog The Truth About Knives - spending his last 5 years there as Managing Editor. His background is in fixed-blade hunting and bushcraft knives, but has jumped into the world of vintage slipjoint collecting with both feet since coming to work at Knife Magazine. Clay’s primary role is as Digital Editor, curating and creating new content for our website and blog, as well as maintaining the Knife Magazine social media accounts (FB/IG: @theknifemag, Twitter: @knifemagazine). He is also a contributor and Associate Editor of the print magazine.

5 Responses

  1. Scratch 6 of those buggers! Tossed them in the platform feeder for the birds. They were enjoyed rather quickly! To make this a knife related post- I cut the tomato branches they were on with my trusty stainless steelp Opinel #9.
    I moved to north Texas from Houston, in part, to get away from the miserable humidity,. With all the rain we’ve had it’s like being back there. Heat index has dropped to a balmy 99. Was 110 earlier! 1095 wouldn’t last 30 minutes out there. The stainless Opinel just laughed at it!

    Reply

    1. Its amazing how hard the Horn worms are to spot given their size! I recently picked up an Inox No. 9, after a few mods it’s the new favorite, great for camp kitchen.

      DCS’a latest vid on Blade Show was a great round up the knives and the effort that goes into covering it. Sounded like a fantastic event. The best news is that it seems like an emergence from the dark pall of last years nastiness.

      Reply

  2. Clay-Glad you got to touch base with so many at Blade. Looking forward to your second post.
    The Buck folder looks interesting. I await a full report!
    Looks like the rain has finally mostly stopped. For now.The last 6-8 weeks have been quite rainy. The ground sounds like you’re walking sponges! Humidity is so high our heat index is 100+ At least the plants are thriving!
    And so are the tomato horn worms….off to go hunt them.
    Enjoy your weekend everyone.

    Reply

  3. noaa has said highs in the 70’s all week while displaying temps in the 90’s. weird.
    living off of briquets and cevapcici this weekend. wifey slept ate all the busghetti sauce on the stove.
    17 gauge trap under the sink now; still had to power blast whatever the girls put down there.
    eh, la. time for a ride.
    thanks for the blurb on the case flippers. have to look closely at those, the buck.

    Reply

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