James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
SOG’s Woodline WD-50 Folder fits in a belt pouch, not in the pocket. For a compact survival knife large enough to make difference, that’s a very sensible idea — pocket clip styles get snagged on brush and disappear.
The Woodline WD-50 keeps the unusual styling of SOG’s other Woodline civilian survival knives but condenses it to a folding build. You still get a knife big enough to depend on for chores around camp or for dressing small game and fish. Adding stainless steel handle liners and other hardware raised the weight of this smaller knife to nearly the same as for SOG’s small, fixed blade Woodline knife. With a 3.4-inch long blade, there’s only just over 1/2-inch less cutting edge in the WD-50.
All blades in the Woodline series are made from the same high carbon 8Cr13MoV stainless steel and hardened to a tough 57-58 Rockwell rating. The WD-50’s flat ground blade shows the upswept point of a good skinner, built so you can slice with the belly of the blade instead of scoring with the point. Since there’s no serrated portion, you can do fine work at camp with full leverage, right up to the bolster. A jimped section of blade spine gives more control of the cut whether you power it with your thumb or guide it with your fingertip.
Dual thumb studs allow one-handed opening for either right or left hand. As the blade closes, the thumb studs rotate back into the finger choil and out of the way. In this smaller folder, you’ll still get nearly five inches of wide hardwood-slab handle, so even big hands should find it practical.
The SOG Woodline series includes two fixed blades in this same style — start with the Large Fixed Blade SOG Woodline if you’re looking for a tougher survival tool.
James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
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SOG’s Woodline WD-50 Folder fits in a belt pouch, not in the pocket. For a compact survival knife large enough to make difference, that’s a very sensible idea — pocket clip styles get snagged on brush and disappear.
