Solar Power Home

I compiled a table of different types of insulation
used in solar/renewable energy projects along with some of their
properties. See the above link for the details.

I made a stable version of what I have so far
of a passive solar house simulator. It’s still in the early
stages but it does illustrate the temperature smoothing
effect of using a thermal mass. See the link for the simulator
and some discussion of the effect.

Adding some more supporting information for
folks interested in doing their own renewable energy projects,
here’s a page with the basics of insulation. See the above link
for the details.

Elon Musk gave a talk today at the National Press
Club luncheon about the future of human spaceflight. In that talk
he revealed how SpaceX will make the Falcon 9 rocket, normally
an expensive throwaway item, reusable, thereby lower in the cost
to space even further. This is certainly the first time I’ve seen
serious plans for legs on the 1st and 2nd stages
of an orbital rocket. Truly awesome. See the link for details.

Did you know you can cook using the sun? Or heat
the air in your house and even your tap water using the sun? Many
people don’t know this so I added a getting started page that
gives a brief description of each of the various renewable energy
projects they can do. See the above link for the page.

I was brought up to have my first instinct when
something breaks to be to fix it. Sadly, today most people’s
first instinct is to throw it out and buy a new one.
This new section is all about repairing things, starting with
two examples: a knapsack and a bicycle lock key. Click on
the link for details.

True south isn’t what a compass points to and yet
that’s usually what you want your solar collectors to be facing.
A compass points to magnetic south. This new page shows various
methods of finding true south for optimal solar energy collection.

I made up a video explaining how nuclear fusion works
in the sun and how it provides us with solar energy here on Earth
for things like photovoltaics, solar domestic hot water, solar
air heating and solar cooking. See the bottom of the page at the
above link for the video. Enjoy!

The Svord Peasant knife is a very simple folding knife. I have had some requests for a review, and since I’ve had one for quite some time now, I figured I would pull it out and do the review.

Specifications:
Knife Length: 8 1/4 inches (210 mm) open; 6 3/4 inches (170 mm) closed
Blade Length: 3 inches (78 mm)
Blade Thickness: 1/16 inch (1.5 mm)
Blade Width: 1 1/16 inches (27 mm)
Blade Material: Carbon steel. There is some speculation that it is L6 steel, but I have not been able to find a concrete source that can confirm that.
Blade Hardness: Unknown
Type of Tang: Folding knife without a locking mechanism
Blade Grind: Full flat grind with a secondary bevel.
Handle Material: Wood, also comes in plastic
Sheath material: No sheath
Cost: $15.00

The Svord Peasant is intended to be a simple, low cost knife. There is nothing fancy or sophisticated about it, and that is in part reflected in the price, coming to the US at $15, even though being shipped from New Zealand.

Just for side by side comparison, you can see the Svord Peasant here next to the Mora #1. As you can see, the blade is about 3/4 of an inch shorter than that of the Mora, but it is almost twice as wide. The blades are very similar in thickness. I found the blade to be too short for me, but if you like the ESEE 3 knives, you will probably like this blade design. The handle is significantly longer than that of the Mora, and it is fairly comfortable, although not nearly as comfortable as that of the Mora #1.

An interesting feature of the Svord Peasant, when compared to other folding knives is that it in a way has a partial tang. I am not sure we can call it that, as it is a folding knife, but the blade actually extends about half way into the handle when the knife is open. When closed, that part of the blade (non sharp) protrudes from the handle.

Folding knives typically have a hard time with more difficult tasks in the woods, such as batoning, but I figured I would see how far I can push it, as this is a fairly typical use for a knife in the bush. It was an interesting experience. I found that if you start batoning the knife as you would a fixed blade knife, the “tang” of the knife actually gets embedded deeper into the handle. The joint that holds the blade to the handle is not designed for this type of stress, and the blade will move all over the place. However, if you leave the handle loose to dangle from the blade, you can baton the blade and the “tang” fairly well into the wood.

The exact same thing applies to truncating. The blade itself is fine with the task, but you should not rely on the handle for assistance.

Even though the knife was far from shaving sharp when I got it, after a few minutes with a stone, there was no problem making feather sticks.

While the knife managed to perform all of the tasks, after I finished, I noticed that the knife no longer stayed closed when folded. Apparently everything had loosened up, and now the blade was flailing around. There is probably a way to fix it, but clearly this knife is not intended for any heavy use. It will do well as a basic pocket knife, and will make a fun substitute for a Swiss Army knife, but it is far less robust than a Mora when it comes to common bush tasks.

The knife comes at a reasonable price, and it a lot of fun to use. You can spend hours opening and closing it. It also does fine with cutting tasks. Even though it seems that the “tang” would make the grip uncomfortable when the knife is open, I did not have any issues with it. For heavier tasks however, the Svord Peasant is not the ideal knife. I am sure it was never intended to be. 

In this video I try to go over some basic features of some of the available types of backpacking or bushcraft saws.

For more information on the saws featured in the video, you can take a look at my review of the 24 inch Trail Blazer Take Down Buck Saw along with its modifications; my review of the Bahco Laplander/Kershaw 2550X saw; and the  Trail Blazer and Bahco Laplander comparison.