Well, like you I am surrounded by mesquite. You will find that a lot of the wood that knifemakers call "ironwood" is actually mesquite, while real "ironwood" is known as Palo Fierro as the name implies. It is indeed very hard wood, and some of it is very pretty. I've seen it from yellow to red to pink, and mesquite burl will knock your eyes out <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />!

Another very hard hardwood tree found around here is the Bois D'arc tree, also known as Orange Osage, Horse Apple, or Hedge Apple. Bois D'arc makes really nice axe handle and long bows.

Maybe one of these days I'll do some kind of chop off review using not only Oak, but also Mesquite and Bois D'arc.