One Awesome Knife: Cold Steel Recon Scout in VG-1 San Mai III® Steel

Do you have tough jobs to perform, and your old knife is just not cutting it anymore?

Tough work requires tough tools!

We have the solution to your Knife trouble with our  Cold Steel Recon Scout In almost every respect, the Recon Scout® is simply a 7 1/2 inch Trail Master® Bowie. It offers the same steel, heat treatment, blade thickness, blade shape, and handle. Unlike other combat knives, the Recon Scout’s® broad clip point is highly resistant to bending or breaking. It’s ideal for long range cutting and slashing. Additionally, the blade is equipped with a slightly concave false edge that measures approximately 3 1/2" long. Like the Trail Master®, the Recon Scout® has a slight curve along the entire length of the blade. This curve allows the blade to be used in a draw cut as well as a chopping stroke. Plus, the extra curve near the tip provides plenty of “belly” for emergency field dressing and skinning. The Recon Scout comes complete with a tough Cordura sheath.

Blade: 7 1/2"

Handle: 5" long. Kraton®

Overall: 12 1/2"

Thick: 5/16"

Weight: 12.7oz.

Blade: VG-1 San Mai III®

Cordura Sheath

Made in Japan

Thanksgiving

    Europeans and Native Americans both celebrated the end of harvest. When the Europeans arrived in North America, the two celebrations merged together. However, Canada's Thanksgiving festivities did not originate from harvest. Martin Frobisher had been trying to find the northern passage to the Pacific Ocean, along the way he and his crew braved many storms and icebergs. In 1578 a feast was thrown to give thanks to God and surviving the long journey. The year 1621 marks the beginning of America's Thanksgiving. Settlers were barely feeding themselves, so Native Americans taught them how grow and hunt their own food. After 1621's great crops, the settlers and Native Americans held a harvest festival. The official date of Thanksgiving changed multiple times throughout history. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be Thanksgiving. It wasn't until December 26, 1941 than Thanksgiving became the fourth and not necessarily final Thursday of the month.

Dove Creek Trading Company wishes everyone a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

Veterans Day

In 1918 on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month "the war to end all wars" ended. The allied nations and Germany had went into an armistice and months later on July 28th the Treaty of Versailles was signed ending World War I for good. President Wilson appointed November 11 as Armistice Day saying, "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…" Armistice Day was set aside to honor WWI veterans until after WWII. Military involvement was at its highest in America's history during WWII. Therefore, on June 1, 1954, Armistice Day became Veterans Day. President Eisenhower stated, "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible." This made Veterans Day into a day to honor all veterans rather than just WWI. This wonderful holiday continues to be celebrated today.

From everybody at Dove Creek, we would like to thank all of America's veterans for their patriotism and willingness to risk their lives for our great nation.

Falling Leaves

    Fall is such a beautiful time of year. The air is crisp and the leaves the are turning. It is the perfect time to curl up with a warm cup of apple cider. However, what exactly is it that turns the leaves' color?

    Trees use photosynthesis to create its food. With sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, plants can create glucose and oxygen. Chlorophyll is a chemical that helps in the process of photosynthesis and is also what makes leaves green. In the fall, trees begin shutting down in preparation for winter. When this happens, all of the chlorophyll disappears. When the chlorophyll is gone, the yellow and orange colors become visible. These colors have been in the leaves all summer long, but have been covered up by the green. Some trees have glucose trapped in their leaves and when it cools off, the glucose turns a red color. This causes the leaves to appear red or sometimes even a shade of purple. As winter gets closer, the leaves will fall off of the trees. The trees will go into a sort of hibernation in which they are no longer creating food. They will survive till spring on the glucose they have stored up.

Hunting Season

    Hunting has been a way of life for people for centuries. It was 18,000 years ago that bows were invented and used to kill game. Dogs were domesticated about 15,000 years ago to aid in hunting. When agriculture and raising animals became part of life, hunting still continued. Farmers continued hunting to eliminate animals that were preying on their domestic animals. Although, hunting became more of a sport than a neccesity. It was a luxury for upper class Europeans and they were the ones that made hunting into a sport or game. This is where the usage of the word "game" meaning hunted animals came about. In modern times hunting is a sport that is available for anyone. However, due to over hunting in many places, regulations have been set. There are now certain times of the year in which hunting is permitted. Here in America, a lot of hunting occurs in the fall. Hunting season has already began in many places across the US. When the game is killed, there are of course things that need to be done before it is ready for consumption. Some of these things include skinning and gutting the animal. To do this a proper skinner knife is needed. Silver Stag offers a wide variety of skinner knives. Visit our website dovecreektradingcompany.com purchase a skinner knife or any other knives you might need for hunting this year.

Silver Stag knife, Big Game Gutter,SV8020, Crown Series

Simpson's Family Farm

    Simpson's Family Farm is famous around the Ozarks for Chandler strawberries. They have been operating a pick your own strawberry business for around 30 years. Simpson's helps a lot in the educational field. The farm has given many tours to Missouri State University's Fruit Experiment Station students. They were one of the first farms in Missouri to grow strawberries on plastic. More recently they have been working on growing plants in a green house. Every year they grow strawberry plugs for other growers and individuals as well as themselves.  This year they grew 120,000 plugs. 40,000 of which they planted on the farm. It takes two full days of planting to get them all in the ground.

If you are interested in purchasing Chandler strawberry plugs visit our website.

Time is running out to get yours.

Strawberries: Healthy and Delicious

    Almost everybody loves strawberries. But did you know that these delicious little treats also have amazing health benefits? Scientists have discovered that strawberries may help in the prevention of cancer. They also contain a compound that helps protect organs that are commonly damaged by diabetes. Another benefit from strawberries is that they have vitamin C which helps strengthen the immune system. Teeth getting a bit dingy? Strawberries are a natural teeth whitener. With all of these great benefits and excessive yumminess, many people like to grow strawberries in their home gardens. Chandler strawberries are a good choice for this, because they are high yielding and produce large berries. Now is the time to plant strawberries for next year. Here at Dove Creek we are currently selling strawberry plugs. If you want some you better hurry before they all get bought up by other strawberry lovers!

Tomahawk: The Come-Back Kid

    Tomahawks have been used in almost all of America's major wars. During the Revolutionary War, they were issued to soldiers for usage as a weapon and a tool. Soldiers even carried tomahawks before the Revolutionary War. In the Korean War soldiers would take their standard issued tomahawks and grind the handle down into a spike to make them better for fighting. In World War II many G.I.s carried them and used them during combat. However, tomahawks are most known for their usage in Vietnam. The Vietnam Tactical Tomahawk was designed by Peter LaGana and from 1966-1970 sold around 4,000 of them to Armed Forces members. They made a comeback around 2000 when Andy Prisco got premission from LaGana to begin remaking them. The Vietnam Tactical Tomahawk is very popular with modern soldiers. The US Stryker Brigade in Afghanistan, is one of the many forces that use it. In fact, every Stryker vehicle comes with a Tactical Tomahawk in the “Modular Entry Tool Set”.

SOG Tactical Tomahawk, Fusion Series F01T-N

The Making of a Knife's Home

    Here at Dove Creek we take great pride in our knives. We think that a beautiful knife should have a beautiful case. All of our knife cases are hand crafted out of solid wood. We would like to share with you some of the processes in which we make these lovely cases.

First, all of the pieces are sawed down to correct size and sanded. 

The next step is adding red felt to the inside piece in order to protect the knife from scratches.

 

Then all of the pieces are ready to be assembled.

We then make up a putty out of the saw dust, to create an exact color match, and fill in the nail wholes.

When the case is completely assembled, the knife's name is burned into the lid for an added touch.

The final step is polishing the case.

Rather than using a stain we use mineral oil to bring out the natural beauty of the wood.

 Here is our finished product with the knife fitting safe and snug in it's new home. This case was made out of walnut to perfectly match the knife's walnut handle.

    We hope you enjoyed seeing how are cases are made. We sure enjoyed making it. This knife and case, as well as many other products, can be purchased at our online store.  

Origination of Labor Day

    Labor Day is the workingman's holiday and pays tribute to the contributions of American workers. It originated due to the awful working conditions in the late 1800s. At that time the average work day was 12 hours long and the work week was all 7 days of the week. The workers weren't given enough breaks, didn't have enough fresh air, and work in very unsanitary conditions for little pay. Labor unions began appearing to form strikes and rallies protesting the poor treatment of workers. 10,000 workers took unpaid time off of work on September 5, 1882 to hold the first labor day parade in history. They marched from City Hall to Union Square in New York City. The idea of Labor Day on the first Monday of September caught on and many states began recognizing it. However, it wasn't until 1894 that Congress made it into a federal holiday.

    From everyone at Dove Creek Outdoors, we wish you a safe and happy Labor Day.

The Rippling Water Blade of Damascus

       In the ancient middle east there a was legend of  an incredibly strong blades made in Damascus. The metal was strong enough to slice through another sword and sharp enough to cut a hair falling across the blade. These powerful blades had a look of delicacy. Many poets compared it too rippling water. The art of making these beautiful blades has been long lost. However, for decades scientists, historians, and smiths alike have been searching for the ancient technique to making Damascus blades. Although the exact method is still unknown, modern Damascus blades have been made since the 1970s by a method called pattern welding. In this method, steel of different carbon contents are folded and twisted together until the blade is solid. It is then ground and polished to reveal the layers of folded steel. Next, the blade is treated with an acid to give the steel layers more differentiation in color. The blade then has the rippling water effect of the ancient blades.

Custom Damascus Skinning Knife

    This knife will be added too our inventory at http://www.dovecreektradingcompany.com/ soon. Keep checking back for more information about this and our other custom Damascus knives.

The Legendary Jim Bowie and His Knife

      The Bowie knife was made famous by Colonel Jim Bowie during the Sandbar Fight of 1827 in Mississippi. In this duel Bowie was severely injured but managed to make it out alive due to his knife that was specifically made for him. Bowie earned quite the reputation for his knife fights and in 1829 spared an opponet's life in a fight. After recovering the man hired three assassins to kill Bowie. In December of 1830, Jim Bowie presented a wooden carved knife model to an Arkansas blacksmith named James Black. Black made Bowie's knife as well as a modified one with a sharpened edge on both sides of the blades curve. The double edged knife became so popular in Sheffield, England, who began mass-producing in by 1850, that it was named the Sheffield Bowie knife. Upon his return to Texas Colonel Bowie was met by the three assasins in 1831. Although the assasins had firearms, Bowie still defeated them all with his knife building his and his knife's fame even more. He later became an American legend after dying at the Battle the Alamo in 1836. Long after his death, his legacy lives on and so does his knife, however; nobody knows what happened to the original knife. In the Historic Arkansas Museum there is a knife with the engraving "Bowie No. 1" but scientists have no way of proving if it is the original.

Colt .45 Bowie Knife, CT306DM, Damascus Blade