One is none, two is one.....Boy Scout or Hoarder?

[Winelover]

I use the lansky which is similar to the DTM.

I have the mostly plastic Lansky, and also the original predecessor to it. The Loray, which was made of metal..............purchased at a Detroit area gun show, back in the late 70's. The biggest issues with them are that the stones develop bellies in them after extended use. DTM, not going to happen, due to the metal between the circular diamond abrasive sections.

 

[fiver]

Lansky upgraded to a diamond type stone for one of their kits too.
I was gonna buy it, then decided on the multi stone unit instead.
it has too many stones for normal use unless your really working a blade over, but the finish stone and the strop come in real handy for quick touch ups when I'm cutting up a deer or elk.

for the dozen or so knives I keep real sharp I think it's about all I need, and certainly better than the old whet stone I had been using.

 

[Rick H]

I have a Loray from the 70's too, and a Lansky and use both quite regularly....the Lansky at home and the Loray at the cabin up North. I make sure to keep the stones oiled and cleaned and they are both in great shape after all these years. I rarely use the courser stones, except for the first time on a knife that is chipped or in very bad shape. I doubt I will ever live long enough to wear either of them out.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Fiver - the 6 and 8 boxes are about all salt Gotcha's. But as you say, I figure bass/smallies/bream and for sure crappie! They WON'T go unused!

 

[fiver]

when I seen the stuff on the upper left I was envisioning a push pole and a tall stand on the front of the skiff.

but when I seen those others I was like HMM I kind of need to copy those maybe a little better than what I'm doing now.

 

[JonB]

Since we are talking knives, not that I am an expert or anything, I do have a little story.

In 1997, I spent 2 weeks in the Alaska interior visiting my native cousins. While I have a ton of stories from that vacation, this is the story of the ulak knife.

I went there to fish salmon as well as visit family. My cousin dropped me off at a nice place to fish, at a confluence of two rivers, east of the village. I was the only one fishing there. There were several other visitors fishing farther down the main river, they didn't appear to be catching anything. My cousin said it wasn't good fishing on that side of the main river. This was during a time, known as the Silver Salmon Derby. I didn't have any luck on the first day. When my cousin came to pick me up and seen I got skunked, he said, "how were you fishing, to not catch anything?". I responded that I was using these dare devil looking things with different colors and I was casting and reeling in like I do for Northern Pike.

The next day, he dropped me off and gave me a silver spoon with a red egg cluster center. He said just cast out along the point in the fast moving water of the confluence, and let it sit/drift on the gravel. I guess the salmon see it and it looks like salmon eggs. They don't eat the eggs, they will pick them up, as they are not in a place that they should be, I guess they carry them to a more safe spot? In a few hours, I had caught several fish.

When we get back to their place, we set up to clean fish. I had brought my typical fish fillet knife. My Cousin's Mom brings out a strange looking broad knife, looked like it was made from a set of thin brass knuckles. She called it a ulak. I later learned the name that would be more familiar to those of us in the lower 48, is ulu.

By the time I had one fish filleted, she had 8 Silvers cut up and and boned. She told me that she never seen anyone cut up a salmon like I did, then she asked if I wanted to do surgery on the last one. Did I mention she is a Nurse? She was near retirement age at that time of my visit, and she had been a nurse in that region most of her adult life. The Tribe built a new clinic, just a few years prior to my visit there, I was surprised and impressed that it was named after her.

Clara Morgan Subregional Clinic (aniak Subregional Clinic), Aniak Community Health Center

Clara Morgan Subregional Clinic (aniak Subregional Clinic) is a Community Health Center in Aniak AK

freeclinicdirectory.org

 

[freebullet]

My one fly rod & small lure collection would be laughable to this bunch. It works for introducing kids on panfish but I'm just not into it myself.

I was thinking ulu there Jonb. Then you said it so I didn't have to look up the other spelling. I used an ulu for skinning deer for years before I learned the truck method. Great story.

 

[Winelover]

Cindy went to Alaska, a couple of years ago, I had her bring home a Ulu. We use it enough, that is sits on kitchen island, on it's stand.

Went I worked as a maintenance pipefitter for GM............I pretty much had to sharpen my folder weekly from cutting rubber hoses and whatnot. Use to put the aligner in a vise. Other employees would come by and before you knew it GM was paying me to sharpen knives. Quick way to wear out stones.