Category Archives: Customer Posts

John Collett’s finished Julius Pettersson knife

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)

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

Camping out in the snow

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

Cross-country skiing on the Yorkshire Moors

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

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Graham Berry’s finished Julius Pettersson knife

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 Knife

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

The Hand Forged Knife Blade – a guide to making your handle

The following article was kindly written by Woodlore customer Martin Dryden. Not only is it a great review of the Hand Forged Knife Blade, it also serves well as a guide for those thinking of having a go at making their own knife handle:

Martin's finished knife

Martin's finished knife

I’ve looked at the Woodlore knife for many years and loved the craftsmanship that’s gone into it. I also saw the episode of Ray in Julius Pettersson‘s forge, while he was making a knife. When I saw the Hand Forged Knife Blade listed on Woodlore’s shop I wanted the chance to make my own knife to try out some skills and hopefully do justice to it. I’d had a go with a knife kit before and this was very rewarding but I knew I could do better.

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Flying birds of prey in Cornwall

Zoe Ginster, a long-time customer of Woodlore’s and a familiar face on many of our courses and expeditions over the years, kindly sent in the following article with some great photos:

Hi Woodlore,

I recently spent a wonderful morning handling and flying birds of prey in North Cornwall with my mum Lyndon as her birthday treat!

Zoe with Twilight, the Kestrel

Zoe with Twilight, the Kestrel

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Making your own shave horse

Woodlore customer and Camp Craft course attendee Andy Vaughan kindly sent us the following article:

Hi Woodloreans,

Just thought I would send you a campcrafty picture – it’s been a rather long time in the making, but I finally finished my shave horse. It seems like forever since I did the Campcraft course back in April!

Andy and Susan's shave horse

Andy and Susan’s shave horse (click for full size)

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How to make your own tracking markers

The following post was very kindly sent to us by Woodlore customer John van Zanen:

Hi Ray and Woodlore Team,

After doing the Woodlore Tracking course this year I am keen on getting better and better at tracking. I bought one of the books that Jeremy recommended and can’t stop reading about the subject. This Tuesday I had a ‘father and son day’ and when I asked my son what he would like to do he said, “Let’s do some pace tracking.”

So, with only Monday to prepare, I had to come up with some markers for our pace tracking exercise. I went with my son and daughter to the chemists and bought 46 wooden tongue spatulas (the thing a doctor puts into your mouth when you have to say “Aah”) for the price of 2 Euro’s.

Then it was time to visit another chemist shop to buy some paint to colour the spatulas. I bought two tins of Dylon paint which is normally used for dyeing clothes. I used scarlet red (nr. 32) for the red markers and fluorescent green (nr.64) for the green ones (5 Euro’s for both tins).

At home me and my kids soaked the spatulas in the paint for about 10 minutes and after soaking we rinsed the spatulas to get rid of the redundant paint. For drying the spatulas we used a hair dryer. The kids could do all this themselves and were enjoying making their own kit. The wooden spatulas absorbed the paint quite nicely and it beats having to paint them one by one.

After drying the spatulas we rolled a water based no-colour finish on them so we would not end up with green and red hands after an hour of pace tracking. This really made a nice finish to our home made markers. They look great we think.

I’ve included a picture so you can see the result of our work. It might just be a good tip for anyone who has done the Woodlore Tracking course and wants to make some markers of their own. My son and his friend had a great time pace tracking yesterday.

John van Zanen, The Netherlands

Tracking markers

John’s son and his friend with their home-made markers

Canoeing, camping, cooking and carving…

The following story and fantastic photos were kindly supplied by Woodlore customer Dan Metcalf and his family:

To Ray Mears & the Woodlore Team,

I have just returned from a family canoeing trip in Minnesota, USA (BWCA, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness). I was up there with my 69-year old father and three brothers (30-45 years old). We paddled about 40 miles and portaged about 10+ miles in 6 days.

The Metcalfs

The Metcalfs heading out into the BWCA at Moose Lake; left to right – Bob, Dan, Seth, Andy

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A hand-finished Large Crooked Knife Blade

Patrick Jansen, a customer of Woodlore’s who purchased one of our Large Crooked Knife Blades earlier this year, kindly sent in some photos of his finished knife, complete with an engraved handle made from common walnut:

Large Crooked Knife Blade

Patrick’s finished knife

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Taking Woodlore to new heights…

The following text and excellent photographs were kindly sent in by Woodlore customer James North:

Dear Woodlore,

I have just returned from my month-long trip to Tanzania and would like to thank you for all your help you gave me when I phoned to ask about equipment. My Rogue boots were sublime, my Golden Eagle sleeping bag kept me toasty even at 4,000 m and my Karrimor SF rucksack was solid throughout the trip.

James North at the summit

James North (left) with friend Jack Greenyer, at the summit of Mount Meru in Tanzania

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