Has your gear got a style? Does it follow a certain theme or trend? A few people asked me recently what my style means and how it came about so I’ll try and explain as best I can.
I had already decided that any custom work I got done would have some form of Native American theme to it and would have to be personal and unique but deciding what that would be was a lot harder than it seemed.
My first custom knife was a Broc Nessmuk with a custom sheath by Davie Crawford. After sending Davie a plethora of images and bouncing all sorts of ideas around he came up with the lined effect on the sheath. It was perfect and within seconds I knew exactly what it would mean going forward. The lines represented sun rays which sounds simple enough but I delved deeper. The Hopi Tribe have a symbol for the sun, as all the Tribes do but each is slightly different and can have different meanings. The Hopi sun symbol has protruding rays like the sheath design and it represents creativeness and natural energy. They believe that it is the heart of the cosmos and deals with vitality, growth and passion. A universal Native sun symbol with rays means “constancy” which defines the quality of being unchanging or unwavering, as in purpose, love or loyalty, firmness of mind and faithfulness. Uniformity or regularity, as in qualities or conditions; invariableness. This was perfect for my outlook on life and my journeys to the outdoors. It soon became a lot more than just a few lines and became a thing that held everything together. I also decided to name my custom pieces after great Native American Warriors. The knife became Chief Tecumseh (1768-1813) of the Shawnee Tribe Ohio. His father was killed by white men who violated a treaty by entering Shawnee land. Soon after, Tecumseh decided to become a Warrior and defend his land and people.
Next came the Gallagher Leather Field Journal by Roy Gallagher. Again the sun rays had to be part of it and it was matched to the sheath. The Journal was named after the great female Warrior Lozen (1840-1889) of the Chihenne Chiricahua Apache Tribe. According to legend she had a great gift of learning enemy strategies and movements and was strong as a man and braver than most. A shield to her people.
My latest custom piece is the Cold Steel Frontier Tomohawk. I shortened the shaft by 4 inches to an overall length of 18 inches. I treated the wood with a solution to raise the grain then burnt it just enough to colour the grain. I put a deeper burn on the end then faded it out with a bit of stain. Finished the shaft with fine sandpaper and a home made wax. The head was properly seated and now fits perfectly. The head was stripped of the original coating and any flaws removed and smoothed out. I gave it a hammer forged look then forced a patina and put a new edge on it. The overall look I went for was a more modern Native look that would take a beating outdoors and serve as a main tool. The sheath is a custom RedKite Leatherworks one by Toby Hobby. I sketched a design incorporating the sun rays and on the back side I wanted some symbols. A medicine man’s eye which means wise and watchful then underneath I placed the symbol for a fence which means guarding and good luck. Again matched with the other custom pieces and some weathering effects on the closure and dangler. The Hawk is named after Chief Red Cloud (1822-1909) of the Oglala Lakota Tribe Nebraska. One of the most important and capable leaders of his time he led many successful campaigns and was a very intelligent influential Warrior.
I’ve many more custom pieces in the design stage and will continue collecting for many years but one thing that will be on them all will be the sun rays, holding everything together in constancy through my journey for knowledge and experiences outdoors.
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