Last spring, I was contacted by the good people of Highnoon Entertainment and commissioned to hand forge a survival knife for the 2nd season of their TV show “Dude You’re Screwed“ that airs Wednesdays on the Discovery Channel.
After looking over some pictures of some standard bushcrafting blade styles they were considering, I sent them a picture of a recent knife I had forged from a RR spike.
In short, the producer’s thought it was “Bad-Ass” and decided to go with it.
The knife ended up being used in Romania by Terry Schappert
However, there are some important things about a RR Spike knife you should know.
Many in the knife community would not call a RR spike knife a serious knife by modern standards, but it’s not exactly useless.
“Wow..that was a rail road spike” is the driving force in play.
It is absolutely NOT the best knife to take into a survival situation. So while the stranded “Dude” being screwed will be happy to have a sharp tool that cuts, the tool he’s been given does have limitations.
A RR spike knife is low in the carbon content that makes up a good knife. It will not retain its cutting edge as well as modern knife steel.
So while the “Dude” getting sent off to an unknown location with minimal supplies is getting a cutting tool to help him on his survival journey, he is still being challenged by the limitations of the RR spike knife.
To complete the knife, I needed a leather sheath.
So, I called upon one of the best leather workers I know. I called my pal Tony Roed at Stony’s Custom Designs.
Tony’s leather work with wolf tracks really put the finishing touch on this project.
Below is a picture of Tony (on the Left) and myself celebrating the completion of the “Dude You’re Screwed” project with a couple of whiskey’s at a local Minnesota tavern.
If you are interested in having one of these custom knives created for you, Tony and I would be happy to make it for you.
olsonironworks@gmail.com
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