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This one is 3mm NitroV steel, with a full flat grind and a tapered tang. Handles are Spotted Gum, with red G10 liners, brass Loveless bolts & brass lanyard tube. The pattern of this knife draws very heavily from the Bark River Gunny Hunter. I had some Auctioneers Promise red oil and gun stock oil sitting here and have been thinking about trying it on a knife handle for a while. I had been a bit nervous about the red oil in particular as I didnt want it to dominate the colour of the handle timber by darkening it too much. I was initially a bit underwhelmed with the spotted gum after I hand sanded it, as it just looked like a very plain piece of light wood. I hit it with one coat of red oil and it was amazing how it brought the figure out in the wood. I stopped after a second coat of red oil, then gave it 14 coats of the gun stock oil and think it came up great.

For the last 18 months I have been working towards becoming a member of the Australian Knifemakers Guild. The Guild has two categories of knife makers, a Probationary Member and a Full Member. There is a third category Life Member if selected & voted for by the membership, but there are only a handful of these. At a high level, you can think of it in terms of a Probationary Member being an entry level knife maker, and a full member is an advanced knife maker. Thats not a perfect description, but its near enough. To advance to these levels, there is a formal checklist of requirements (see here if interested https://akg.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FULL-DOC-Assessment-Checklist-for-Guild-Membership.pdf). To get to Probationary membership, you need to present 3 knives for assessment and achieve a mark of 10 out of 20 for each knife. Once you are a Probationary Member, you can sit for Full Member a minimum of 12 months later and need to achieve a minimum of 18 out of 20 for each of the 3 knives, but there are also specific things you need on the assessment knives that are not required for the probationary test. I have been working for a while to get 3 knives to have assessed, but I keep on picking some fault and deciding its not at the standard required. Occasionally I have a really fantastic knife finished that I am super happy with, but its promised to someone with a very close deadline, so I cant hang onto it until I have the other knives I need to make up the set of three for assessment. Anyhow, I finally booked a date to go see Adam Parker, one of 2 Guild assessors in Vic, and a guy with over 30 years of knife making experience. Adam is between Geelong and Ballarat, and with the traffic on Wednesday, it took me 3 hours each way to go see him. I had a couple of knives that I recently finished, plus I was planning to use a kitchen knife I just finished a day before the appointment. But I found a few scratches on the blade that I wasn't happy with, so at the last minute I took a survival knife I finished a few months ago to make up the required knives. At the end of the assessment process, I ended up scoring 16 out of 20 for the survival knife, 18 out of 20 for the bushcrafter, and 20 out of 20 for the hunter. So as of Wednesday, I am a Probationary Member of the Australian Knifemakers Guild

The assessment covers all aspects of the knife. Take a look at this checklist: https://akg.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FULL-DOC-Assessment-Checklist-for-Guild-Membership.pdf It gives a full breakdown of what the assessor looks at. Plus it saves me typing a detailed answer 🤣🤣🤣 I dont know what the scores usually look like. I actually didnt think to ask. I really thought I would be getting 10 to maybe 15 for each knife, so was pleasantly surprised. Full membership will take me a while I think. I already have an idea of the knives I want to build for that test, but I need a mill for that step. I think probably it will be a couple of years before I am at that stage. But its funny how you progress over time. I have been making knives since 2016, but it was really the lockdowns from 2020 that got me spending a lot of time making knives. So the last 4 years has been the bulk of the time I have been at it. And when I look back at the knives I have made, the serious development has been in the last 2 years. Hopefully I will be able to get out and do a few training sessions with good knife makers to focus on the things I need to do for the full member assessment.

I always take a map, compass and pen when I'm out. But a GPS is a level above so I always take one of them too. Always knowing where you are is handy

🤣 studying the map beforehand is the best preparation i find.

Hello. Australian living in Austria. Used to hunt in Australia in my yoof. This was mostly up around Timor, at the top of the Hunter Valley, NSW. I have fond memories of going though a lot of SKS ammo, when they were still legal. Hunted a bit in Scotland in recent years. Firearm ownwership in Austria is quite relaxed. Any citizen or permanent resident over the age of 18 may own "Class C" firearms, which means essentially shotguns (not pump action), single shot, lever action or bolt action rifles in any calibre. The firearms just need to be registered and stored safely. I own a Husqvarna 1640, 6.5x55mm (Swedish mauser). I can use this at any licensed range. Hunting is a whole different story though. There is a very intensive and pretty difficult course to attend and test to pass. All in German. I haven't done that bit yet. But hunting in places like Hungary, Croatia and Serbia is quite accessible. Bow hunting is not permitted in Austria, but it is in Hungary. 🤷‍♂️

Cheap ones! He’ll drop ‘em for sure

What's wrong with a map and compass linked to the Eyeball MK1. Sure I've been geographically embarrassed but not for long. Once was sitting on a log having a think and a good look around only 30 metres from Joefish and the truck. Grant.

Its the most obnoxious thing a hunter can have

Howdy, from Newcastle. Started bowhunting but still don't know a lot. Looking forward to having fun and learning.

F#*king Rhinos!!

have you thought about a rino 750 and topo maps,

i have a garmin gpsmap62s i think it is, must be 10 years old by now. its pretty good, i did have to load some maps, for memory i bought them cheaply on a card off ebay, the maps are very good but im sure they're "garmin authenticity" is questionable. compass works ok in it, sight n go feature is good. i hardly use it now though as the phone maps on avenza are just too good, 4 times bigger screen and good free maps. the garmin will be more durable if you have a misshap (fall in a river) unless you have your phone in something like a snap lock bag (yep, that's saved me before) there is the garmin inreach mini if you want satellite messenger capability.

Garmin doesn't block free maps, if a free map isn't working there's most likely another issue causing the problem. Encrypted firmware on a lot of their new devices will stop non-legit maps from working, while still allowing free maps to work. Pretty good rundown of the 67i here Better price here

Garmin do their best to block free maps from working to get your extra $200. I got sick of the issues just trying to get the current DPI requirement maps working on the old 64S every 1/4. Still trying and can't get the latest. Lucky as free Avensa maps are so much better and I don't bother with taking the Garmin as a backup in state forests. With a modern bigger phone screen, I can also use it in the car exploring the forest tracks.

I don’t have much info for you Simmo but take a look at Shonky Maps. They are free topo maps for the older Garmins so I’d be surprised if they didn’t work with the newer ones too. I’ve used them for over 10 years and they’re great!

look at Maven, I think they do that size

8x42's bushnell trophy or low end vortex. they're not bad bino's so will be able to use them for years. and a harness.

Cheap 8x30s ok I reckon. Or foldable 8x20's

I'm always the odd one out in bino discussions, I run 6x32's and I grab them everytime I head out because they are so nice to carry. Yes, if I hunted big open country I might wish for more? Also, try and find a bad review on a pair of 6x32's because generally they get good reviews. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk