Owl Bead Sinnet

After recently taking apart my Spyderco Tenacious to clean it and sharpen it, I needed to put a new fob on it. Over time they become a bit ratty looking. (The old one.) And, I also had a new bead I wanted to use. Went past Tundra Leather and found an owl bead.

Pocket Wear

I’ve had this wrist loop residing on my key chain for a few years now, and noticed that the beads were taking a real beating. Decided to make another one using some more of the same beads. Amusing to see how much the size of the skull bead diminished.

Spyderco Kris

A friend really likes Kris style blades, so I got her this Spyderco Ed Schempp Kris as a Yule gift.

The Kris is a knife that commonly hails from the southern Philippine and north eastern Indonesian archipelago, although it’s found as far north and west as Thailand. Many cultures have blades that were largely utilitarian tools in nature, but that could also serve as weapons. The Kris was never anything other than a weapon. Blades were anywhere between 30 cm to 60 cm (1' to 2') in length, and with handles made of hardwood or buffalo horn.

Just like the shape and design of canoes or snowshoes or arrows would identify different tribes in North America, the number of waves and the notches in the blade near the handle, could identify the tribe, village or island where the Kris was constructed.

The Kris was used with fearsome effect in intertribal warfare, and, of course, against the United States in the early 20th century. The Moros (Filipino Moslems) fought against the presence of the U.S. armed forces in the Philippines following the expulsion of the Spanish after the Spanish American War for almost fifteen years.They used the Kris to fearsome effect. (One of the main reason why the .45 M1911 became the sidearm of the U.S. was that the .38 revolver was largely ineffectual at stopping determined Moros, who would often take multiple hits and still savage US troops with their blades.) 

The design of the blade makes for a much wider wound channel when stabbed, and it’s effective as both a slashing and stabbing weapon. The tip is also less prone to be damaged when encountering resistance, than a straight dagger would be. It’s obviously a more difficult blade to forge though, compared to a straight blade.

Ed Schempp (who besides being a knife maker and metallurgist, is also a wheat farmer - the logo etched into the blade reflects that) has produced a whole series of knives for Spyderco based on traditional ethnic knife designs, including a Barong, Persian and Khukuri, but as folders rather than the usual fixed blades. This time he tackled a Kris style blade.

I reckon this might be the first and so far only folding Kris, and as usual Spyderco has done a really nice job of it. It will certainly appeal to practitioners of Filipino martial arts like Escrima or Kali (it’s been selected as the official knife of Albo Kali Silat, endorsed and recommended by its Grandmaster (Apo Hon Tuhon) Hasting Albo), but it can also be used for very utilitarian purposes. Originally Kris’ had an angled, almost pistol grip like handle, and it shows up here as well.

The steel bolsters not only strengthen the knife at a weak point (the fold), but they’re also good when using it as a striking tool or applying pressure to pressure points.

The edges are nicely rounded, meaning it’s both comfortable when holding it and won’t damage pockets as much.

The weight is 165 grams (5.8 oz.). A bit heavy, but very nicely balanced in the hand.

The overall length is 219 mm (8.625")

The closed length is 124 mm (4.875")

The VG-10 steel blade comes hollow-ground, with a pronounced swedge grind running from mid-blade to the spine and is PlainEdged. And of course, the back edge is not sharpened, for both practical and legal reasons.

The pocket clip (embellished with a gold colored Spyderco logo) positions the folder right-handed, tip-up.

Milled Micarta handle scales are capped with polished steel bolsters.

The locking bar is equipped with a “David Boye Dent”.(This is a small arc or dent of metal removed from the lock bar lever, which lessens the possibility of gripping the handle hard enough to depress the lock and accidentally unlock the blade while using the knife.)

The length of the blade is 95 mm (3.75"), with a cutting length of 78 mm (3.0625"). The thickness of the blade is 3 mm (0.125").

The diameter of the hole is 12 mm (0.46875").

And of course, I had to adorn it with a paracord fob with a skull bead.

It’s likely a bit big and heavy for some folks to consider carrying it every day. But for someone trained in Philippino martial arts, it may be a perfect knife for them. Not to mention anyone else who might want something a little out of the ordinary, but still of excellent quality.

Wrist Loop

Wrist loops can sometimes be a handy thing. If you’ve ever made your way down a trail in the dark, somehow lost grip on your flashlight, and watched as it tumbled down the hill into some underbrush, you’ll understand. But a permanently attached wrist loop is a danger. It catches on things - door handles, cabinet knobs, branches, you name it.

So I made this....

...utilizing a piece of paracord, some beads and a McGizmo Clip.

When the skull bead is at the top, there is nothing much to catch on things. But sliding....

...it down to the bottom forms a loop.

Skulls are cool and all, but the main reason I used the skull bead is because it’s fairly tactile – it gives my fingertips something to grasp.

And these little beads help act as stoppers at the bottom.

When using the terrific Fenix L1D flashlight...

...I can clip the McGizmo Clip to the fob....

...and feel secure knowing I can let go of it if I need my hands for something else, or for whatever reason I lose my grip on it, and it will still remain close at hand.

Simple and elegant solution. I can use it for keys, knife, camera, multi-tool, compass, any number of things really. As long as it has a lanyard hole, or a fob, I can attach it. I can’t recall the number of times I’ve had my camera out over a big drop or a body of water. Perfect place for it. I’ve been in a canoe, reaching forward to saw at an obstruction blocking our path. Perfect place for it. And yet when I don’t need it, it doesn’t form a big loop that will catch on everything I pass by. I can either leave it on the item and slide the skull bead back up to the top, leave it on my wrist as a bracelet, or I can remove it and clip it back onto my key ring, or on a D-ring on my pack.

And when I have keys on it, it also makes a pretty good flail to serve as a self defense tool.

Skull Bead Pace Counter

A pace counter is a simple abacus used to count paces, ie, every time your left foot hits the ground. You get a good measurement of what your pace is, and you can use it to measure off how far you’ve walked. They’re particularly useful if you’re walking around at night. When you get to the amount of paces that equals 100 meters, you slide down one of the top beads. When you’ve reached 1 kilometer, you slide down one of the lower beads. When all four lower beads have been slid down, and you’ve slid down the last of the upper beads, that means you’ve reached 5 kilometers. And then you start all over again.

I decided to make one out of some Tibetan skull beads I have. I have two different kinds. I “believe” one is carved from human bone and one is from buffalo horn.

I had to ream them out in order for the cord to go through. Unfortunately, one or two of them were reamed a little too much and they tend to slide a bit more than I’d like. I was tempted to take them off and replace them, but getting them strung on the cord was such a monumental pain, I opted to just leave it as is. I made it more for fun than anything else. I have other pace counters that I would use in real life anyway.

Attached to the shoulder strap of a Kifaru Scout.

Hitchcraft – Griptillian

Once I discovered how to tie a variety of sinnets, virtually anything that I could tie one to, got one.

One of the applications – fobs on knives. Mainly just as decoration, but they can be handy to help pull it loose from a pocket.

This is the Benchmade Griptillian, which is a really fantastic knife. Love the roller lock mechanism. Very elegant and very secure.