Long time no scribbles my friends. I have been AWOL as of late, but rest assured – we had a good reason!
As some of you may have guessed, the girl and I have once again uprooted and made our home in a new country. Some of you may remember that in May 2016 we moved from Canada to the UK, but alas, that was to be a short lived affair due to ever worsening conditions both in terms of the immigration platform for Elise as well as a general dissatisfaction with the social cohesion (or lack thereof) of the country.
Over the past few months, many “news” outlets have reached out to us asking for our opinion as “preppers” with regards to how we see the UK going in light of Brexit amongst other hot topic issues. Frankly, I think Brexit is going to be a clusterfuck, but that’s not even in the top 5 reasons why this country was not a match for the girl and I.
An ever increasing government and intrusion into our personal lives, questionable freedom of speech & expression which runs contrarian to my own political ideals puts us in a risky quagmire as bloggers & many other systematic problems with the way the country is mismanaged.
So yes, the girl & I have effectively tapped out. We now reside in our new home in Portugal. We have a garden, substantially better security, financial foothold, and resilience to issues outside of our control (financial and social collapse, etc.).
We have a lot of plans for the future that are most definitely viable here unlike back “home” in the UK & I think the blog will benefit from our new locale.
I just wanted to throw a post up the moment I got residency & the house was (more or less) sorted. Expect a post very soon.
In the meantime, H. Clay Aalders who used to scribble over @ thetruthaboutknives.com is now the voice of reason at knifemagazine.com. Rest assured that in the forthcoming future, it will be re-launched as a modern knife magazine & we can expect the same authentic, high quality content we have all come to appreciate from him.
I want to stress that I am promoting Clay because he is one of the few real blade reviewers online. The bulk of “knife blogs” are run by marketers who either don’t own the knife and yet still feel the right to discuss a blades performance or get them for free, take a couple of photos and regurgitate some worthless commercial drivel that might as well have been dictated from a brochure.
A real reviewer is a rare thing indeed & the community is lucky to have enjoyed his content for so many years, and hopefully will continue to do so.
As for thetruthaboutknives & it’s new owners – dumb move. A blog is more than its traffic and advertising potential – it’s about the hands behind the keyboard, the community that reads it and the respect that goes both ways. Very disappointing and yet, sadly predictable in this day and age.
You can follow H. Clay Aalders over on Twitter where he will no doubt let you know what he is up to, and keep an eye on knifemagazine.com for the re-launch.
As for me, expect my somewhat regular posts to resume presently.
I’ve enjoyed your reviews and am sorry to see that you’ve had to move due to socio-political dissatisfaction, though I’m much more happy that you’ve found a new place to land. May you and your family be happy and continue to live well and in peace.
Cheers mate, I am planning on starting the blog up but having moved 3 countries in the past 3 years- its been a bit of a setback. ;)
Xavier, as I was reading through this I was thinking about what you said about “real” knife bloggers. I am a knife lover, and used to work for Blade HQ in Utah; I no longer work there, so my biases are my own. How would you recommend setting up my own knife blog? And how do you go about writing the blog after you have reviewed all of your own gear? I am not thinking about a blog so that I can get free stuff, I sincerely love knives and talk about them all the time with people I know. I am also a very amateur knife maker and might want to eventually also blog about making knives for beginners.
I reviewed my own stuff and then bought more as and when required. The bulk of knife blogs are run by people who only care about money/making affiliate income. They don’t own or test the knives they review for the most part. Honestly, its not an industry I would enter again given the choice. A lot of work, little to no reward and frankly the knife world has turned into a caricature of itself. You will notice that I barely review stuff anymore and the stuff I will be reviewing this year will be old models.
I have no interest in blathering about another 3.5″ ti framelock every damn week, sadly, thats the industry today as it stands. Sorry I can’t be of anymore help. I will say that a lot of the knife people are on youtube- so I would give that a shot.
Thank you, that is very helpful. I may just have to go the Youtube route. Having worked at Blade HQ, and buying so many knives myself, I am really interested in the angle of cost vs value. While I love knives from custom knife makers, I just have the hardest time justifying spending $500-$1000 for a folding knife, or any knife for that matter. When I give advice to my friends and family I always try to focus on what you are paying in conjunction with the value.
I used to love Benchmade, and they are alright, but since working in that world I have come to love and have a ton of respect for Spyderco, Kai Industries, Cold Steel, ESEE/Ontario/TOPS and Bark River (BR is on the higher end, at least for me). All of those knives are going to hold up really well, and there is nothing that a $1000 custom folder from XYZ can do that A Spydie Manix, PM2 or ESEE 4 can’t handle. I think the industry has moved dangerously further away from that point where cost and overall value cross paths, and have jacked the prices up so far past value that at some point everything will come crashing down; exactly like the housing market in 2008 here in the US.
Plenty of knife reviewers on youtube for sure. I completely agree on your perspective with regards to customs and performance. I think super high end gear like custom knives are more about want than need, and yeah, I just don’t see how the current prices are sustainable.
I’m glad to hear you moved out of ‘Merry Olde England’, the stories of intrusive government regulations made me cringe. Winston Churchill must be spinning in his grave over what his country.
I don’t know much about Portugal, but I’ve heard the rural parts are amazing. I hope the both of you find happiness there.
P.S. – for ed above, I live in Texas and omigosh, a little global cooling in summertime would be welcome ! Maybe we’ll see some southbound traffic for a change.
Aye, the nanny state in the UK has gone batshit crazy & frankly; I have never felt freer this past year since being here in beautiful Portugal.
Had no idea you moved, I need to catch up. I was actually planning on visiting the U.K. next year, but I am now reconsidering.
Better places for the money my friend. ;) If you are ever in Lisbon, I will be more than happy to meet up and share a glass of Vinho with you!
Where in Portugal did you end up? You must be loving the grilled sardines, egg tarts and coffee wherever you are.
Cascais, we absolutely love it. Forget the coffee- what about the wine?! Amazing place.
I am glad you are ok. I couldn’t figure out the whole England thing because you jumped out of the frying pan into the fire with that one, but Portugal, really? Oh I forgot there’s a border between Portugal and the rest of Europe that is falling apart. That will keep you safe. I enjoyed some of your posts but I’m beginning to wonder if you have given any thought to truly being prepared or thinking this is a nice place to write a lot of fluff from. No matter what the disaster of the day is whether it be collapse of the economy, grand solar minimum, grid failure or the complete unwinding of society as we know it, there is NOWHERE in the northern Hemisphere you will want to live without thinking about eating a bullet. I think you have talent as a writer but please put a little substance and thought into what you do and write about.
I put plenty of thoughts into all my decisions, but we are not all in the same legal or financial situations. I am an EU citizen and Elise is a Canadian, so that rules out many countries right off the bat in terms of easy immigration access for *both* of us. Then we have to look at our funds, what is the best/safest life we can afford and work from there. Yes, in many ways living offgrid in Texas would be a theoretical optimal solution but for us it’s simply not viable based on the legal and financial parameters that we are limited by.
Being prepared is a lifelong goal, we strive for it but it has to be balanced with base happiness in the moment. Do the best you can with what you have and bluntly, what’s feasible in the short-medium term.
I cannot imagine anyone with a lick of common sense thinking anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere is a good place to be. North America is going to be a wreck after a week of a major event and so will all of Europe and Asia. The entitled societies that are flourishing and people who are dependent on government assistance will make anywhere in the Northern hemisphere a short term solution at best. I have chosen South America for my bolt hole after years of research. What is wonderful is I’ve enjoyed it so much I moved here. Like anywhere you chose to live there’s good and bad parts, some more stable than others but if you wish me to elaborate I will privately to anyone who wishes to know what my research has shown me. Too many prepper sites are selling a false sense of security and filling their pages with information that have little to do with being truly prepared. If you follow the information available on the Grand Solar Minimum and the eons of proof they have to set forth the idea that over 1/2 of the grain belt will not be producing food crops in the next 4-7 years because of lack of sunspot activity and cooling of the planet like has not been seen since the fall of the roman empire with a 30 to 50 year recovery span it sheds light on the whole idea of prepping. A 5-7 degree cooling of the planet will push the corn belt from northern Wisconsin to the southern tip of Illinois. NASA is saying that by 2023 we will not be able to count on growing food crops above and below the 45th parallels. 90% of the population lives north of the equator and I don’t want to be among them when people are starving no matter how many guns or knives I have.
Glad to hear your okay and in a more stable environment. You surely don’t hear to much negative about Portugal. I look forward to your post about EDC carry and knives. Thanks for the updates!
Cheers Broadwing, I have really missed this community. I can’t wait to start digging into regional knives, working on my current backlog of reviews (I have had a Tops Litetrekker on the todo pile for over a year now!).
Happy to get back on the horse!
Congratulations on your escape from a police state. The only thing worse than a
mismanaged police state is a poor mismanaged police state.
Preach. +1
I was wondering where you guys had gone – great to hear you’re both doing well.
Cheers Tim, sorry to live the UK but at the end of the way, we have to do whats best for us. Hope you are doing well mate.
I was wondering how long you two would last in the UK. They are so anti-knife there. Glad you are in a better place. Hope to see more post from you guys soon.
I will do my best to live up to your expectations mate!