Rough Edge EDC: Leather slips, stickers and friendship
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Sometimes, getting a package in the mail from a good friend is all that is needed to lift your spirits after a rough day.
I recently got a package all the way from the Midwest from one of my EDC buddies, John from J.O. Ventures Outdoors.
John makes some great content on traditional pocket knives and other EDC gear for his YouTube channel.
He is also an extremely talented artisan who makes custom-made leather sheaths and slips for knives and other gear.
On top of that, he’s a great guy who is willing to share his knowledge about pocket knives and has gained a reputation for being a patient and generous mentor in the online knife community.
I’ve already teamed up with John on two previous EDC adventures. He has made me a couple of custom slips and sheaths for my knives, and I’ve given him a shout-out in my column a couple of times.
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Anyway, I sent John a box of knives – a few I just wanted him to check out and a couple I wanted him to make some leather for.
He ended up using my knives in a video on his channel, showcasing what I sent him.
You can check it out by clicking here.
What I ended up getting back in the mail were three new slips. He charged me $25 each for the first two and gave me the third as a discount as a frequent customer and supporter of his channel.
Let’s quickly go through each of them. I’ve already showcased each of these knives, so I will keep it brief on them.
First off, John made a gorgeous purple leather slip to go with my Case Sod Buster Jr., that is equipped with purple bone handles.
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At around $60, it is one of the more expensive knives I own. I don’t plan to use it everyday, but the slip he made for it would be perfect to carry it out on the town on special occasions – a stylish, but simple gentleman’s carry.
John also made a brown slip to go with my Rough Rider Desert Fox Barlow. This is a knife I paid about $12 or $13 for but has quickly become one of my all-time favorites. It is small, light but extremely versatile with two blades.
What he made for it is just beautiful. What surprised me even more was that he cleaned up the knife and gave it a quick tune-up. It is now better than new.
The third piece of gear he made was a black slip for my Buck Trio, which is Buck’s small version of a stockman (a traditional pocket knife with three blades).
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All three came with lanyards and beads to give them a nice accent. They all have a simple design with hand-stitching and just his maker’s mark on the back as their only accent.
His package also came with some “swag,” stickers for his J.O. Ventures Outdoors channel and stickers for several other knife and EDC-related channels. He also included a handful of pocket clips that can be used for Swiss Army Knives (Victorinox).
J.O. also sent along a credit-card sized Case collector’s pocket guide. That will come in very handy on future knife collecting adventures.
What really put it over the top: One of the knives I had sent him to check out was an Ocoee River Cutlery “Dirt Buster Jr.”
A bit of an explanation is needed here. American knife maker Case owns the rights to the Sod Buster name. So this is a budget version of that iconic knife. Ocoee River Cutlery is also one of the many sub-brands of Frost Cutlery, a well-known maker of quality budget knives.
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I got this red/orange bone budget version of a Sod Buster on eBay awhile back for about $18. Its blade came with some wobble and it also had some rough spots on the handles, so rough I thought it might cut up my hand if I ever used it.
After John got through with it, those rough spots were no more and the blade wobble had been stabilized. What I now have is a very usable Sod Buster-type knife for about a quarter of the price.
Like I said, nothing like getting a little mail call from one of your buddies in the knife community.
Here is a link to J.O. Ventures Outdoors.
Here are some other YouTube channels that I find helpful, informative and entertaining.
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