Making feather sticks was one of those skills I assumed I could do easily so this afternoon I thought I’d give it a try and it’s harder than it looks and I’m going to start taking it serious and practice. It’s obvious I need it.

[u/Salt-University1482]

I have two Architect 5.5’s one in 1095 and the other in 3V and I used them both to process larger pieces of firewood into kindling to see how much of a difference there is between the two. CPM 3V stays hair popping sharp forever and the wood doesn’t scratch the blade up. You can really tell when cutting or whittling, the blade glides through wood a lot smoother and easier than 1095 but there’s a $100 difference in price. The Benchmade 162 is probably my favorite fire making knife, it checks all the boxes, easy to sharpen, sharp spine for scraping fat wood and ferro rods and stays sharp. It’s the test control sample lol

[u/BloodbeardsGarage]

Nice looking knives.

I hate festhersticks. Luckily there's plenty of birch trees and spruce around here, so I don't need them.

Are you saving them all in your fire kit?

[u/UncleJoesMintyBalls]

Did you try hitting any of them with a spark?

They look like my feather sticks, and mine always gets going despite looking nothing like the beautiful ones I see online.

Back in the days when me and the boys had to sit in the trees to smoke weed I often had to get fires going with wet wood, in pissing rain, with no knife available. I used plastic bags. Light the corner of it and let it drip molten, burning lumps of plastic onto the wood. I would be hard pressed to call it bushcraft but it certainly meant we were warm.

If your aim is to have a fire then looks don't matter, it's wether it works or not in my book. Yours certainly looks like they will work.

[u/Salt-University1482 → u/UncleJoesMintyBalls]

Yes I actually got two fires going so they will definitely work in a pinch. I’d like to be able to make the big a fluffy looking feather sticks. I’m for a Scandi ground blade to see if I have better luck that way.

[u/otiswrath]

One trick I found to for easier feather sticks is to drive your knife into a decent sized piece of wood (something big enough, like a log, to sit on if you can) with the knife edge facing away from you and then use both hand on your stick to draw it towards you. It allows for significantly more control and reduces the chances of going to far and losing your feathering.

I think I saw it on a Clay Hayes video years ago and it totally brought my featherstick game up a level.

[u/Salt-University1482 → u/otiswrath]

That’s definitely a good idea, I’ll give it a try. I’ll see if I can find the Clay Hayes video you mentioned. Thanks for the advice and info!

[u/Crocuta_crocuta1975]

Youve got the knives. Now get the skills. Try try try try.

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[u/Basehound]

The 162 is very underrated . I’ve got one I keep in the truck in my grab bag .

[u/Salt-University1482 → u/Basehound]

Yes I agree very underrated. I was going to get a new one to put up just in case and I seen it was discontinued. Fortunately they’re all over eBay, I’ve been on the hunt for one of the 162-1 EOD model with the tan scales. The new 163 looks more like a military fighting knife than a bushcrafting knife IMO

[u/AnnualBig700]

Scandi-grind and a locked wrist, with long strokes is the key. Put away the bayonets and stop whittling wood! From an old bushcrafter!

[u/Salt-University1482 → u/AnnualBig700]

Thank you for the advice! I’ll definitely work on it.

[u/AnnualBig700 → u/Salt-University1482]

Thanks for the nice, open reply to a cranky old bushcrafter! If you want to go to the source, look up Mors Kochanski on YOUTUBE. Karamat is the bushcraft school in Alberta. And, Mora knives are cheap! Happy feathersticking!

[u/Salt-University1482]

Thanks man, no I normally use fat wood. I thought I’d try something different.

[u/AlbertHofmann1906]

Maybe this is so basic no one mentions this here: having a sharp knife really, really makes a difference. I mean sharp!

Some folk keep the knife or hatchet steady/pinned to something stable and move the stick instead. May work for you, gotta try