I was lucky enough to get this striker in the mail the other day from a very good friend. It is a handcarved boat paddle striker made by Craig Harned AKA decoykrvr. Craig does not use a lathe to make these strikers, instead he uses a grinder with a carving attachment and a lot of elbow grease to make these. He has told me numerous times about his strikers, and I finally talked him into sending me one. These things are the real deal. This one is a mystery wood that I believe to be manzanita and Craig believes to a wood named Mascarey which looks very similar also. This striker grips every call that I have ran it on and gives a great raspy second note on the yelps along with some great volume. I am very thankful that I have the pleasure of knowing Craig and also owning one of his strikers. Thank you very much. Ryan
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/Bonjour_photo/DSC_0006-11.jpg)
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/Bonjour_photo/DSC_0005-14.jpg)
Never saw one like that. Nice work! :icon_thumright:
That's one awesome looking striker ya got there, Ryan!!! :icon_thumright:
-Derick
Cool looking striker.
Quote from: WyoHunter on March 28, 2011, 05:52:41 PM
Never saw one like that. Nice work! :icon_thumright:
:icon_thumright:
Fantastic! Congrats on picking up a goodun.
that one is different, how wide is the paddle? :smiley-char092:
Quote from: hunter22 on March 28, 2011, 06:15:26 PM
Cool looking striker.
:wav: :wav: :wav: :wav: :wav: :wav: :wav: :happy0064:
Quote from: WyoHunter on March 28, 2011, 05:52:41 PM
Never saw one like that. Nice work! :icon_thumright:
That thing is cool
Quote from: MarkJM on March 28, 2011, 08:18:14 PM
that one is different, how wide is the paddle? :smiley-char092:
It's about 1 1/2 inches wide. Gives it a lot of surface area, which I think is why it works so good. It also takes him about 4 hours to make on of these by hand.
awesome!
That is a pretty neat looking striker!! :icon_thumright:
Quote from: doepee on March 29, 2011, 08:36:01 AM
That is a pretty neat looking striker!! :icon_thumright:
:agreed: :icon_thumright:
I, really like that !
Kenny
Ryan, that is very cool
Ryan,
I appreciate the kind sentiments, especially coming from a call maker of your caliber. Several OG members have PM'd me about the strikers, and to answer their queries; I've made well over 100 boat paddle strikers out of over 45 different woods, but have never sold one. I'd like to make more strikers out of the pictured wood, but I've shown it and the wood to a lot of call makers, and it's still unidentified. I generally carry 8-10 different strikers while hunting due to the fact that I carry 3-4 pot calls w/ different surfaces, and the individual calls all have preferential strikers. I always carry the ? striker, Brazilian cherry, hickory, chinaberry, osage orange and then will mix it up w/ strikers of pink ivory, bubinga, walnut, red cedar, vera wood, mountain laurel, maple, boxwood, American holly, ebony, wenge, purpleheart et al., and tipped strikers with ebony, ivory, bone, aluminum, antler, or corian tips.
Craig
Mystery wood identified!! Last month I sent a sample of the wood to the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI, for identification, I got a reply this weekend. Ryan we were both wrong, the wood was identified as Manilkara bidentata, common names, Balata, Paraju, Massaranduba, Bulletwood. A South American, Central American, Caribbean hardwood the reddish heart wood is used for furniture, flooring, etc., and is the most valuable wood exported from Puerto Rico, and is so dense that it sinks in water. This is the best wood from which I've ever made a striker and it runs well on everything I've tried it on. It's extremely high on the Janka scale @ 3190 and would make a good trumpet or pot call. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has access to the wood, since I'd like to get some more for strikers.
Craig
Glad you got word back on that wood. I will definately be trying to find some to make some strikers and try a pot with. That striker you gave me is one of the best sounding strikers that I have ever ran.
Pretty cool!