The following text and accompanying photographs were kindly sent in by Woodlore customer Jon Mac:

Dear Woodlore,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jon Mac, I am a spoon carver working in Devon. A few years ago I was given a Julius Pettersson laminated blade to assist me in my work. The blade has excellent quality and performance.

After fitting the blade into the handle which I designed and made, I sent the blade to a knifemaker, Chris Grant, to be slightly reshaped to my specifications. The Pettersson blade was tweaked to my preferences, these being, a narrower belly and finer point to facilitate an ease in carving internal radii.

The handle was designed very much with carving in mind – specific ergonomics for everyday, comfortable and accurate use.

Chris and I wanted to thank you for providing the spark that became this exciting and rewarding project. This has helped me find the working knife that I have been searching for, for many years.

Jon Mac

Jon’s Julius Pettersson Hand-forged Knife Blade before being reshaped

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Woodlore customer Rogelio of Spain contacted us recently to let us know how he got on with his Large Crooked Knife Blade:

Rogelio’s finished Large Crooked Knife (click for full size)

Hello Woodloreans,

My crooked knife blade (Christmas present) finally arrived and I couldn’t wait to put the handle on to it. I went into the woods with only my laplander saw and my mora knife, as I didnt have my axe here.

I found a piece of olive wood, which is an extremely hard wood, that I had used half a year ago to carve a spoon. I cut it into size, removed the rotten outside and started carving; all of this I did without yet having the blade with me.

As woods here in southern Spain tend to be harder, I thought the thumb support would be essential, and as I was carving it I realised that it was starting to look like a bird’s head, so I decided to fashion it in this way.

The engravings I did with a lense, something I had tried before on a walking stick, and I thought I’d finish it with some olive oil, rather than other more appropriate oils for woods, as it was the natural oil that this wood would originally contain: it was a success.

I would recommend anyone thinking about buying a crooked knife to give it a try; the handle was actually easier to make than I first thought, I mean it fits in surprisingly well. There’s also a video at YouTube called “making a crook knife” (parts 3 and 4 are about the handle) which really helped.

Anyway, I’m really happy about this tool, even though at the beginning I thought maybe 80 euros would be too much for a blade, I already gave it a try and it is a superb piece of kit.

Kind regards,

Rogelio L. Lora

The following article was kindly sent in by Woodlore customer Chris Waugh, and features the S. Djarv Hantverk Large Crooked Knife Blade, which is currently on special offer at £45.00 while stocks last:

Dear Ray and all at Woodlore,

I purchased the Large Crooked Knife Blade (Right Handed) not too long ago from you all, and I just wanted to send you my pictures of the finished knife! I used a beautiful piece of South American Cocobolo wood to make my handle:

The handle before being fitted and finished

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The following post was kindly sent in by Woodlore customer John Collett, who recently purchased the Julius Pettersson Hand Forged Knife Blade:

Hi Woodlore,

My name is John Collett and I recently bought this blade from your site. I was so pleased that I thought I would send you a picture of the finished article:

John's finished Julius Petersson Knife (click for full size)

The main body is riendeer antler, with buffalo horn inserts. It’s a great little knife – hope I did it justice.

Keep up the good work.

Regards, John Collett

While most of the nation has been stuck indoors thanks to the recent snow, Woodlore customer Garry Dutfield headed out onto the North Yorkshire Moors for a spot of camping, and even took his cross-country skis along for the journey.

After using a Hilleberg tent for his trip, he kindly sent in the following review and photos:

Dear Woodlore,

About 18 months ago I started looking for a new lightweight, 1-man tent. After many many hours of research and looking at every tent manufacturer I could find, I decided upon the Akto Tent made by Hilleberg – not the lightest, but the only one that was a four season tent. The last thing you want is it blowing down in a gale when in the mountains…

Although it has a hefty price tag I decided it would be the one to go for; I purchased it from yourselves as you offered it at the best price. I’ve used it 3 or 4 times, but never in the winter until last week, where I went to the North Yorkshire Moors. It was used for two nights while we did a cross-country ski tour across the Moors. It performed brilliantly in temperatures of minus 10 degrees centigrade and blizzard conditions – I must say what a fantastic tent in the winter.

I’ve enclosed some photos and  would recommend this tent to anyone looking for a 3/4 season tent. Well done Hilleberg, fantastic quality. 5 stars.

Garry Dutfield

Garry and friend’s skiing equipment at camp (click for full size)

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Woodlore customer Graham Berry recently got in touch with us to show us his finished Julius Pettersson Hand-Forged Knife Blade, which he’s been busy making a handle for. Made from Australian Cypress Pine, it’s a beautifully simple example of what can be done with these knife blades:

Graham Berry's finished Julius Pettersson knife

Hello to everyone at Ray Mears! I’m unofficially your biggest ex-pat fan in Australia; I’ve been watching and following Ray since the ancient times of Country Tracks on BBC2…! Love what you guys are doing…

I was given the Julius Pettersson Blade for Christmas by my wife a couple of years ago, and I’ve finally gotten around to putting a proper handle on! I’ve made one or two other knives in a similar style, but this one is my favourite! The handle is a stainless steel bolster, and the wood is Australian Cypress Pine. I’ve almost finished the sheath, which is made of 2 mm veg-tanned leather. The wood just flames in the sun when it’s been oiled, so good. Anyway, hopefully I’ve done this awesome blade justice.

Thanks, Graham Berry