Most of you are aware the Beer Barrel Oak Beer Scouts arrived last week. I was curious to see what they looked like. My concern was that it might be a dark, muddy looking oak. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the more attractive ‘basic’ wood handles GEC has offered in a while.
It’s a nicely colored wood with some well defined grain. Actually, it’s probably one of my favorite handle options. I have a good supply of them on hand.
I’ve had a couple of inquiries recently about Frog Lube and how to use it. It’s pretty straight forward, but the most effective application is as follows.
Using a mild non-oil based solvent, such as Slip 2000’s 725 Gun Cleaner/Degreaser, a mild mixture of dish soap and water, acetone, etc. My only caution is to avoid getting some of the more aggressive solvents on the handle material. I prefer the Slip 2000 or a bit of dish soap in water as these are about as user friendly as you can get. Cleaning all of the petroleum based oil off from the metal allows better adherence of the Frog Lube to the surface. It’s worth the time and effort.
I recommend warming the metal slight with a hair dryer or letting the knife lay in a warm or sunny area. Once the metal feels a bit warmer then room temperature, simply wipe a light coat of Frog Lube over the entire metal surface. Allow it to dry for a half hour and wipe off any excess lube. A nice feature of the Frog Lube is if you get it on a wood, bone or horn handle…no problem.
Once you’ve done the initial ‘cleanup’, any further reapplication is just a matter of wiping the surface with a light coat of Frog Lube. Just like you’d do with a petroleum based oil. You’ll be glad you took the extra step of cleaning the oil off from the blade to begin with as it’ll allow for much better adherence of the Frog Lube.
I’ve been using it for about a year now and am still convinced it’s one of the best CLP type products I’ve used. I’m on my original bottle and I use a LOT of it on my guns and knives!
The question might arise, does this mean I’ve abandoned my use of the Ballistol? Nope! I really like the Ballistol for cleaning and flushing hard to reach spots. It’s a thinner consistency then the Frog Lube and flows better. If I get a knife that feels gritty when I open it, the Ballistol does a great job of penetrating and flushing away any gunk. I also find it works great for a bore scrubber if you’re a shooter.
Both the Ballistol and the Frog Lube are environmentally friendly. If you don’t like the smell of some of the lubes out there, try the Frog Lube. Works great, smells minty.
