Working The Trapline — Mountain Man School, Trench Raiding & A Bodyguard Of Lies

I went to college like they asked me to
But they didn’t ask my friends
I don’t think I seen a single classroom
But I drank a lot of beer
My buddies still love to listen to me when I talk about that year

— Charlie Robison, My Home Town

My college experience was pretty good — I loved the redwoods of UC Santa Cruz, and I had some really solid professors. Graduated with high honors in history, for whatever that’s worth. My honors thesis was built around Simon Kenton and was the seed of Frontier Partisans.  Socially, well… it was pretty much a bust; I didn’t fit in and didn’t care to. My girlfriend was in another town. I had basically one friend, a fellow misfit. We drank a lot of beer…

Anyways… looking back, I probably shoulda gone to some Rocky Mountain College. If I’d had this opportunity, I would have gone nuts for it:

Steven Rinella and Randall Williams bring to life the legendary wilderness exploits of the mountain men with presentations at three rocky mountain universities. Along the way, Steve and Randall tour the University of Wyoming’s Anthropology department and the Museum of the Mountain Men to learn more about the tools of the historical trade.

Waugh!

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KA-BAR has introduced a brute workhorse of a new knife — the 1310 Slabby. With a 9.25″ blade of 1095 Cro-Van steel, this is in the same class as the Becker BK-9. Which means I don’t need one. Especially at the asking price — way higher than the BK-9 — which seems out of line.

But… I do love me an overbuilt, chonky knife designed for hard use…

Building on the legendary KA-BAR legacy, the KA-BAR Slabby is an overbuilt, full-tang fixed blade designed for toughness and versatility. This “hand tank” of a knife is proudly manufactured in the USA, featuring a robust 1095 Cro-Van steel clip point blade that is easy to sharpen and holds a formidable edge. The Slabby’s slab handle, made from durable glass-filled nylon, provides an excellent grip, ensuring confidence in hand during demanding tasks. This knife isn’t just a tool; it’s a testament to KA-BAR’s enduring reputation for strength and reliability.

 

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That brute of a KA-BAR would have been appreciated by the trench raiders of the First World War. While the Great War is remembered for its impersonal, industrial-scale slaughter, here was an element within it that resembles what we think of special operations — and was downright primal in its ferocity.

From the Imperial War Museum:

Trench raids aimed at forcing temporary entry into the enemy’s line in order to kill defenders, destroy fortifications and weapons, gain intelligence by the capture of maps and documents, and return with prisoners. Attackers carried specialised weapons — knives, knuckledusters and improvised clubs proved useful in close-confined trench-fighting. Camouflaged uniforms were often worn.

This was a stealthy realm well-suited to the Frontier Partisan.

This  outstanding episode of an outstanding podcast — Not So Quiet On The Western Front — delves deeply into the subject:

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I remain fascinated with the Afghanistan theater of the GWOT.  The early actions of CIA paramilitary personnel and Special Forces are a breathtaking example of effective modern-day Frontier Partisan warfare. Everything after 2002 was a mess, and it ended disgracefully.

As one of the participants in that early campaign said:

“I always viewed Afghanistan as two wars. I felt that we won that first one very rapidly, and the Taliban fled the country, and we really needed to focus on good governance, infrastructure, and the military. We didn’t need to flood the country with troops, but we needed to focus on the country. But we immediately left for Iraq, and all of the folks who developed amazing relationships with the warlords were pulled out to go to Iraq, and all those relationships were lost. We paid lip service to Afghanistan but didn’t do a lot, because there was this false conception that it’s done, we’d won, and [then] the Taliban came back. That was when you really had a second war that nobody recognized until it was too late.”

Paramount+ is dropping a documentary next month that delves into the steaming pile of bullshit that successive administrations shoveled out about the war…

BODYGUARD OF LIES, the first unvarnished documentary of the history of the Afghanistan war, exposing the falsehoods told to Americans and the secrets kept over four administrations. Through damning testimonies from insiders, confidential documents, never-before-seen footage and private audio recordings of those at the highest levels of government, this gripping film reveals how failed war policies and strategies were perpetuated, sacrificing thousands of lives and trillions of dollars in the process.

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We’ve been having some strangely unseasonable weather — cool and more than a little autumnal. Not quite ready for summer to pass, but I did dose my coffee with a shot of pumpkin spice on Saturday morning…

Anyways…  got out with daughter Ceili for an excellent 5.5 mile ramble…

Set us up to feast on a pot roast and launch into Blood of My Blood. Do the thing, Frontier Partisans. It’s a good ’un. Romantic in all the senses of the word. There’s a funeral, and a Gathering. Love at first sight. Love thwarted. Married love. Spicy bits. Interclan rivalry. Intraclan rivalry. A violent cattle raid. Lady Marilyn told off a character on the TV (a certain indication of full investment).

Aye, we’re in…

The soundtrack is phenomenal. Bear McCreary truly is brilliant. He created something that feels like Outlander, but has its own identity. No easy task, and he crushed it. Choosing Julie Fowlis to sing the theme and several other pieces was a very good move…