Conquering the English Ivy with an American Classic
Conquering the English Ivy with an American Classic
Easy Peazy with My Boone 2!
It’s been monsoon season in Northern Virginia, and the already lush landscape is growing out of control. Add a couple of rainy weekends in a row—when mowing the lawn and tending to the yard is nearly impossible—and you’ve got a carpet of green growing on trees and manmade structures alike.
This past weekend was sunny—sunny and 98 degrees—but sunny nonetheless, so I had no choice but to tame the growth in the back 40.
So with my jury rigged lawnmower and my Bark River Boone 2, I set out to civilize the place again.
First task, carve a peg to slip in the lawnmower handle to keep it from coming apart. A ritual I repeat anew with each mowing. I swiped the Boone blade at a green sprig of Rhododendron and used its screamingly sharp edge to debark and shape a peg. (I really need a new lawnmower.)
The Boone 2 is inspired by the common prewar clip point hunting knife that so many GIs deployed with at the start of WW2, which later evolved into the Ka-Bar.
The Boone 2 has an aluminum double guard and pommel sandwiching an antiqued stacked leather handle. The 3V clip point blade has a fuller, unsharpened swedge and a convex edge.
For some tasks, like de-vineing a tree, I’d use the Boone 2 in an edge-in pulling motion and a slashing motion to get through the foliage to the brown stems.
With woody saplings—which spring up with alarming speed—I was choking back on the handle, using the polished but bulbous pommel in a light chopping capacity. The convex, or Appleseed edge, did an amazing job of separating the lush, invading hoard from its roots.
Now there is a pile of dead saplings and vines in my backyard, symbolizing my victory over nature—fleeting as it is.
Until next time … Knife Junkie out!
Bob
The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 434)
Lynn Thompson, Cold Steel Knives founder and former president, joined me on Episode 434 of The Knife Junkie Podcast.
In addition to being the founder and public-facing president of Cold Steel, Lynn is a martial artist, hunter, survivalist, shooter, and master at arms. In 1980, he founded Cold Steel with the mission to bring the “world’s strongest, sharpest knives” to market.
After 40+ years of innovating in the edge weapons field, Lynn embarked on a new chapter, selling the company to GSM and carefully ensuring that it was in good hands.
I was so thrilled to be able to talk with one of my knife heroes, and I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did!
Find Lynn Thompson online at www.lynncthompson.com and www.neverunarmed.com.
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