Picture of the Day No. 292 "The Beautiful World"

It is a beautiful time we live in. At least in terms of the small world, the one you find if you look down at the ground and see flowers. Here and now, it is beautiful.

If you raise your eyes and squint at the horizon, the world does not look quite as nice. There, life is uncertain. I am fully aware of that, although if I thought about it all the time, I would perish.

For that reason, I only take part in the news at regular intervals. Not two or three times a day, as the previous generation tended to do. It was the morning newspaper, followed by the morning news on the radio. Then there was often another short news update during the day in the same media, followed by the longer quarter-to-five "Ekot". Sometimes, there was an evening newspaper as well, followed by TV with at least "Rapport" at 19:30, and perhaps concluded with a second news program, "Aktuellt," at 9 p.m.

If you were to do something similar today, you would soon lose your mind, as the internet has made news reporting from all over the world available 24 hours a day.

"The beautiful world" 

So, back to the flowers, in the middle of them is currently my brand new Ranger from Spanish Joker. A picture from my first trip to the forest with it as a companion. It was just before it started raining this morning. Since then, the showers have been coming and going.

For that reason, I have no plans to go out anymore today. The sofa looks quite inviting from where I am sitting. I firmly believe that a large part of the day will be spent there.

/ J - sees the small things

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Picture of the Day No 290 "Ain't Peanuts"

It's a goooood Friday, and you're free. But is it good, and are you free? Actually, I should have been at the tattoo parlour now, which I'm obviously not.

What I was supposed to do and why I'm not there is a long story, but I can easily express it that I'm not completely satisfied with how Tello.ink treats its customers at the moment. However, I intend to come back to it if and when it gets resolved, rest assured.

In the meantime, enjoy the April weather whether you like it or not. In this part of the world, "April weather" is an expression. One second it's raining, mixed with snow; the next, it's just cloudy, and suddenly the sun shines for a couple of minutes. 

That's pretty much how my mood has been during the day, as well. 

"Ain't Peanuts"

The advantage of being free and the weather being bad for knife throwing means that things are getting done here at home. Among other things, I have had time to vacuum the car that was filled with sawdust from the target material that was transported in it.

I have also had time to enjoy a cup of coffee with, um, peanuts. Although I must admit that I first drank the noble drink and then ate the nuts. The combination may not be entirely brilliant, it must be admitted.

The knife is an old acquaintance, a Spyderco and not just any other, but number five in the "Sage series", the one that is a tribute to different lock types. This specific model pays tribute to the Compression lock, which is Spyderco's own invention that they are not particularly modest about including in known lock designs.

By that, I just mean that I don't really know if that variant is on par with locks such as back lock, liner lock and frame lock, which are other variants that are highlighted. Well, here it is anyway. It is not a favourite of mine. I think it is a lock that is difficult to release and has a tendency to pinch your hand and be in the way if you grip the knife a little harder.

Incidentally, no Spydercos are being bought at the moment. I think both they and Benchmade have suffered from price hubris. 

/ J - the coffee marauder

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Picture of the Day No 289 "A beautiful sight"

Anyone who is not a knife thrower and who has not suffered from a lack of good target material for some time probably has a hard time understanding the joy of a gigantic pile of logs lying at the edge of a logging area.

Especially if you know that this particular pile of spruce pieces is intended for you and you just have to load it in a car. It also happened that when I examined the logs, I saw that most of them were very well sawn. Although it is clear, this is done by machine and not by hand. The blade of a harvester is quite sturdy and goes through on the first try, leaving a nice surface.

By the way, "just" loading them might be a bit of a challenge. They are between 55-60 cm in diameter and weigh between 65-80 kg each or so. And that was before it rained on them. Most people, mostly Americans, would have thought that a pickup truck would have been a must. But it turned out that between 5 and 6 of them at a time can fit in a small Peugeot 207.

A pile of potential targets

The small car sits quite steadily on the road with nearly half a ton of target material in the trunk.

Now it can be pointed out that there are no longer distances to be covered. But there were three turns. Thus, the first actual training with Växjö Sportkastningsklubb (VAIS) is getting closer. The snow is gone, now there is some kind of leader, that is, yours truly, a place to be and then the last piece of the puzzle, something to throw at. 

Of course, it was a truth with modification. Something to throw with is not so bad either. To start with, I will lend some knife sets for participants to try out. Since I have a few, the good thing is that beginners don't have to decide on what model to buy right away. The only thing left is a date and some people who want to throw!

Later on, the agenda is to buy some suitable beginner knives and axes. But it is important to get participants first so that there is an economy. Everything has its time. The project after that will be to get hold of wood to build a couple of proper target stands for a trippel set up. To start with, my own old tripods will do.

/ J - planning ahead

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Picture of the day No. 282 "Big NoReload"

It's time to curse a little. A lot can be said about the new year 2025, and one of them is that the weather has not been or is not optimal for outdoor activities such as knife throwing. A basic requirement is that the boards are not frozen through. Strong wind or a little drizzle can be handled, but if the moisture in the wood turns to ice, it doesn't matter how hard you throw or how sharp the knife is. It still bounces! Under those conditions, it's impossible to practice.

Yes, I know it's winter and that as a Swede you are expected to put up with this shit but look I don't have that at all! Instead, I am impatient, unreasonably angry at Mother Nature, and frustrated over something I can't control at all. That is, everything you shouldn't be. What do they say in English? "Cool, calm, and collected," I think.

"Big NoReload"

In the meantime, I dream of a time when I can start using this creation again. It is a knife called Big NoReload from the French Zitoon Knives. It and other knives can be added. The arsenal has grown recently and includes not least more contributions from the same manufacturer.

Part of my impatience is based on the fact that I can see from various posts on the Internet that others have already started training for the big event of early summer, the UKAT World Championship in knife throwing in the Czech Republic. At the same time, I barely feel like opening the front door to take out the garbage, and it's definitely impossible to carry through a two-hour session at the throwing range.

Instead, I have to sit inside and write about knife throwing. It is a bit like the famous Swedish actor Lindstedt said "/../ drawing a ham sandwich when you are hungry".

/ J - winter-frustrated

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Picture of the Day No 262 "Silver Hunter"

Here they are, my latest addition from Acejet. The model is called the  Spinner Bowie  and they get the  Silver Hunter addition to the name when they are this shiny. Something which, by the way, they are not that long as they are made of spring steel. One of the properties the material has is that it is anything but stainless.

Coupled with the occasional miss and some "Robin Hood" hits and you have patina in no time. That's the nice way of saying they wear. This was especially true of the tips on these as I broke a couple of millimeters on two of them fairly immediately. It's the first time I've noticed it on knives from Acejet.

Otherwise, I really like these knives. However, they feel very different to throw compared to several other sets of rotational knives I have experience with. Silver Hunter are relatively light for their length and they require "active" throwing. That is to say, you have to throw somewhat harder, especially over longer distances than, say, my Woodpecker from Pierre Cazoulat, which I am most used to. Those knives spin because of their weight and hit the target slowly but with pondus. Spinner Bowie simply requires a bit more speed.

What I like about them is they are easy to aim with. The precision comes from an easily calculated trajectory and reliable feel in the rotation. Then it is exciting that Acejet has also entered the game with a set of blades entirely for rotational throwing. An area they previously stayed away from.

/ J 

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Picture of the day - Baron

 Retro, is a word you can easily apply to this knife. It now has not only to do with the look but that it is de facto a revived design from the 1960s.

Behind the knife is Maniago-based A.G.A. Campolin, which by now is one of the oldest remaining manufacturers of traditional stilettos in Italy. The small family business started in 1947.

This model, on the other hand, does not actually originate from the boot country, but the origin comes from France!

"The Chili Sessions IV - Baron"

In this version, it is called Baron for short and is a formidable knife. Much bigger than I thought when I first saw it. If you only look at pictures without anything to compare with, you do not realize that the knife measures over 20 cm in length. The weight of 155 grams, however, is a clue.

Anyway, it is really good looking and not to bad as an EDC knife either with a blade in N690 and adjustable pivot screw.

/ J - retrofied

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Picture of the Day - The P Brothers

It looked so soft and comfy in the moss that time when I took this picture. But as everyone knows, the eyes can be deceiving. Sure, it was soft, but also very wet, so it was not time to lie down and look at the sky. But the knives seemed to thrive where they lay. Can you see them smiling?

"Puffin Bros"

The smiling metal pieces are two knives from QSP. A brand that loyal readers of this blog recognize by this time. The model is called Puffin. The reason I have two of (almost) the same model is that the bottom one in the picture is a two-handed opening knife that many, including me, thought was one-handed when it was released. The idea was simply to design a knife for those parts of the European market that do not allow the combination of one-hand opening and lock. Among them are Germany. The problem was that with the blade hole, it looks like it can be opened one-handed. It may be added that it is not possible, not with the thumb at least, but it can actually be opened with a "spydie flick".

Besides these two versions the knife can be had  in a version completely without holes in the blade nowadays in order to not cause confusion. It more directly signals "two handed opening".

The finish of these knives is very high and the materials are titanium, carbon fiber, ceramic bearings and S35VN steel in the blades.

/ J - the man who talked to knives