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.
Swiss Army Laser Pocket Knife w/ Space Pen | Victorinox Signature Executive Pocketknife, Ruby Red
55 sec read
Until now, I hadn’t seen a Swiss Army Knife with a laser pointer, but the Signature Laser neatly solves the classic problem of pointing things out. You’ll no longer have to explain where something is — just paint it with the laser beam. This would have been extremely handy on the Camouflage Detection Range.
Of course, the real uses pertain more to lectures and business meetings than to woodscraft, but with this handy pocket knife available, anything within 70 feet is in peril of being marked with a glowing red dot, even if just for fun. The knife also includes nail clipper scissors, a nail file with a squared point that doubles as a screwdriver, a retractable ball point pen, key ring, and of course a small penknife blade of high carbon stainless steel.
Other perks include a much better night-time range of up to 300 feet and pressurized ink in the ball point pen, which makes the knife write in any position. Electronic power-saving circuitry behind the ruby-red handle conserves the charge of the tiny battery cell that powers the laser beam. Only 2.5 inches long, the most useful thing in the knife is still the fine-edged knife blade, but the laser pointer is simply irresistible. You’ll be pointing out things you never even noticed before.
All Swiss Army knives from Victorinox carry a lifetime guarantee. Even the smallest versions like the Signature Laser are built with precision and qualify as reliable tools.
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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Until now, I hadn’t seen a Swiss Army Knife with a laser pointer, but the Signature Laser neatly solves the classic problem of pointing things out. You’ll no longer have to explain where something is — just paint it with the laser beam. This would have been extremely handy on the Camouflage Detection Range.
