pjpvi
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Posts: 110
Registered: 2-17-2019
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A plug for Zihul
Before leaving for Baja in February I stumbled on a business card from Zihul buried on my desk. I have no idea when or where I got it but got me
thinking of a tip from a moose rack I have been carrying around since a teenager that I acquired while backpacking in Mt. McKinley NP in the 70's.
Don't judge please .... I was a teenager and had no idea it wasn't cool to cut the tip off of a moose rack I found back in the mountains. I wouldn't
do it now.
Anyway, I've always wanted to make a knife out of it so I found it buried in my toolbox and brought it along with me. I stopped at Zihul's on the way
south and he agreed to make a knife using it as the handle. After my unexpected long stay in La Paz, I finally made my way back to Guerrero Negro to
collect my knife. I couldn't be happier! It's very cool.
On the way south I also bought one of his knifes as a gift for a friend in Agua Verde. He was delighted to receive it!
If you are looking for a cool hand crafted high carbon steel knife, I highly recommend stopping in on Zihul. These are not shiny stainless steel
perfect looking knifes, but I personally like the rustic look of the high carbon steel hand shaped blades.
 
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boe4fun
Super Nomad
Posts: 1040
Registered: 1-22-2006
Location: Margaritaville
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Mood: Circling the drain........
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X2, Zihul’s da bomb!
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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cool
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pjpvi
Nomad
Posts: 110
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Haha. I have no idea what the source of the blade material is. I will say it's a very sharp edge on it.
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JZ
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9236
Registered: 10-3-2003
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Good story.
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5809
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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Quote: Originally posted by pjpvi  |
Haha. I have no idea what the source of the blade material is. I will say it's a very sharp edge on it. |
I wonder if leaf springs would make good knife stock? They wouldn't be as hard as a file, but probably easier to work with but are high carbon and
capable of being tempered.
I occasionally pick up shed deer antlers on my property in Nevada county. I left a whole pile of antlers in Anchorage when I sold my house there a
couple of years ago.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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bajaric
Senior Nomad
Posts: 602
Registered: 2-2-2015
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| Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | | Quote: Originally posted by pjpvi |
Haha. I have no idea what the source of the blade material is. I will say it's a very sharp edge on it. |
I wonder if leaf springs would make good knife stock? They wouldn't be as hard as a file, but probably easier to work with but are high carbon and
capable of being tempered.
. |
Only if they are from a Volkswagen --
(That is a little inside knife joke, some say German steel makes the best knives)
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LancairDriver
Super Nomad
Posts: 1587
Registered: 2-22-2008
Location: On the Road
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I sold a machine to a guy in Sandpoint Id who makes very expensive knives and sells to most of the large Sporting Goods stores.
He uses these blanks. Supposedly the best steel with different patterns.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1336470617/damascus-steel-bille...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Zihul is a Facebook friend, has his knife shop and little campground in Guerrero Negro, named 'Spondylus'.
He speaks English and will offer to assist travelers in need. Zihul also leads tours to places like the giant cave paintings, past El Arco and Pozo
Alemán many of us have been to.
https://www.facebook.com/zihul.martinez
https://www.facebook.com/ZihulKnives
http://www.zihul.com/
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Bajazly
Senior Nomad
Posts: 992
Registered: 6-4-2015
Location: Goodbye Cali and Hello San Felipe
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Mood: More Relaxed Everyday
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I ran into him and some of his family out at the cave paintings near Piedra Blanca a couple years ago while we were pre running for the 1000.
We had found a dog wandering along the road out in the middle of nowhere so we picked him up and figured we could find a good home for him in La
Bocana when we got there that night. Zihul ended up taking the dog saying he looked like he needed a good home.
He invited me to his place when we were coming back north after the 1000 but we were pressed for time and couldn't stop in, I look forward to stopping
in next time I'm down that way, he was a super cool dude and I'd like to see his work.
Believing is religion - Knowing is science
Harald Pietschmann
"Get off the beaten path and memories, friends and new techniques are developed"
Bajazly, August 2019
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13165
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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We never had the chance to meet him either but his work is certainly beautiful.
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surfhat
Nomad
Posts: 493
Registered: 6-4-2012
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Zihul is a true Baja treasure. His passion for history and knowledge of the local desert regions when guiding us up to Cueva del Carmen makes every
trip, whether it is the first time or a repeat, like new every time.
His former career as a local college professor did not end when his teaching career came to a close. He is now setting up an art school at his shops
property to teach others how to make items so they too can become self sufficient by working with their hands.
A talented craftsman he is and it shows. Stop by his shop and you too will see some beautiful knives, jewelry, coral earrings, and other cool items
like whale tail pins and so much more.
His specialty was engineering and in the past he set up a back country communications system for the ranchos that previously had had no means to
communicate with the outside world. He used some mules or burros to haul the transmitters and receivers up to the highest points of the local
mountains to create a network that could work for the ranchos to have a reliable means of communication. I am no engineer. haha Let him tell you all
about it. It is still in use a couple of decades later.
Every trip with Zihul is an education. I could go on, but stop by and find out for yourselves. A day with Zihul is a highlight of my and my friends
annual gray whale sojourn to GN.
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surfhat
Nomad
Posts: 493
Registered: 6-4-2012
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If anyone stops by the Mision Santa Maria Hotel in Catavina, [highly recommended], he has some of his handiwork in the small shop off the side of the
lobby inside a cabinet there. His fame must be growing beyond GN.
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WideAngleWandering
Nomad
Posts: 390
Registered: 3-13-2012
Location: US-Based but traveling
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| Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo |
I wonder if leaf springs would make good knife stock? They wouldn't be as hard as a file, but probably easier to work with but are high carbon and
capable of being tempered. |
I can tell you they do as I am currently in San Felipe admiring my new leaf spring knives.
In July I drove down and delivered the leaf springs I'd taken off my land cruiser and asked him to make a variety of knives. I just picked them up.
I wanted to have camp knives made out of my own truck. He said he often uses leaf springs but he had to adjust his tempering process for the toyota
steel (something about the vanadium/tungsten content).
They are bad burro knives for sure. Very happy with this project.
Traveling the Americas via my old land cruiser
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5809
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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Asked, and answered!
Thanks for the response. I kind of thought that might be the case.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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pjpvi
Nomad
Posts: 110
Registered: 2-17-2019
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| Quote: |
I wanted to have camp knives made out of my own truck.
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I think that's a great idea! Any pics you can share?
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jwheel1970
Newbie
Posts: 24
Registered: 5-16-2017
Location: San Diego
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The storefront in Guerro Negro is very cool - Zihul does some great work for sure. The idea of camp knives from your own vehicle's leaf springs is
pretty great!
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13033
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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Zihul is an outstanding artisan, guide, husband, father and friend! He started off with knives but has expanded his repertoire to include beautiful
jewelry made of local shell and bone and petrified sharks teeth etc. His shop is a must see in Guerrero Negro and just around the corner from our new
hacienda BAja Magic!
He is also the best guide around for tours to the cave paintings, Pronghorn Preserve, ranches etc.
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