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  • Charles Ek
    Moderator
      Post count: 594
      in reply to: Emergency Gear #39323

      Since it’s winter, I’ll list the cold weather kit items, which are packed in a red nylon stuff sack to remind me to bring it:

      ‘”

        n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
        ‘, ”, ‘

        Esbit tablet stove and four tablets (like the ‘Hammer’s Emberlit, but not nearly as thin and efficient)

        (Allegedly wind proof) matches

        Bic lighter

        Two PowerBars

        Two packets of cider mix

        Titanium spork (not for survival, but just in case I bring some food that needs it)

        MSR Titanium pot, 1 liter

        First aid stuff not worth enumerating here, except to highlight the Combat Application Tourniquet (which actually goes in a pack waistbelt pocket) – http://tinyurl.com/mg6qof9

        Something I consider vastly superior to every alternative in the event I’m on the ground waiting for a while, the Blizzard Survival Bag

        An extremely loud Storm Whistle – http://www.stormwhistles.com

        Backup LED flashlight

        Backup compass

        Backup cellphone battery

        ‘).'”).”n

      “‘

      Charles Ek
      Moderator
        Post count: 594
        in reply to: Howdy #30476

        Wose wrote:

        HA!

        My SAR experience was a little wetter (Coast Guard) but I found myself crawling through puckerbrush looking for people more than I would have expected.

        GSD or Belgian? I’ve never been a professional dog handler, but do love a good GSD. We had to put one down (lymphoma) a year ago almost exactly. We’re gonna get a puppy next year when the baby is a little older.

        You couldn’t get me out of the Northwest with dynamite. We really love it here. We’re out past Yacolt, if you know where that is.

        Am I gonna find Youtube video of you rolling an MLB as you cross the Bar?

        At age 19, I was thirty minutes from signing my enlistment papers for the Coast Guard when my parents talked me out of it. About thirty years later, my wife (not knowing the history) looks at me and says, “You know what, you would have been good in the Coast Guard.”

        I worked two GSDs as SAR dogs and started a Malinois as my third, but he’d been abused before I adopted him and he ended up being my companion dog. My wife prefers the Malinuts and now has a five month-old puppy. There is nothing like a GSD for temperament (and nothing like that statement to get the debate roiling here …)

        “out past Yacolt” = “we really dislike crowds”, for those who don’t know. You’d need a SAR team just to find that town. +1

        Charles Ek
        Moderator
          Post count: 594
          in reply to: Howdy #28812

          Wose wrote: I have a Search and Rescue background, but you are a little out of my bailiwick.

          Well, this is going to have to stop right now, or I’ll have to start worrying that I’ve been cloned:

          I work from home.

          I have a practice range a short walk from my garage door and can shoot several times a week, sometimes twice a day. (But something less than 1000 arrows are being launched biweekly here right now, what with the 2.5 feet of snow and temps near zero.)

          We lived in western Washington for six years, and we’re planning on moving back and residing in Poulsbo or thereabouts within the next couple of years.

          I was a SAR dog handler for many years, including three in WA.

          So, welcome, but fuhgeddaboud hijacking the Enterprise! 😀

          Charles Ek
          Moderator
            Post count: 594

            For the absolute best advice on picking a backpacking stove, turn to Zen Stoves – How to Choose a Backpacking Stove. Among other things, the Zen Stoves site has the facts, not fiction, about Cold Weather Operation of canister stoves.

            Charles Ek
            Moderator
              Post count: 594

              john dilts wrote: Always been a big Fan of Coleman Naptha (whitegas) stoves myself.

              Yeah, what he said. Here in the States, it’s known simply as Coleman fuel. (White gas hasn’t been available for years.)

              I’ve had a SVEA 123 stove and nesting SIGG Tourist cook kit since Tricky was still in office. (John, that’s a Nixon reference.) It has never failed to start, at temperatures running down to -30 ºF. It has never been maintained, much less serviced, in any way. (All that cannot be said for any MSR Whisperlite or later iteration of the same design, I don’t care what you claim.)

              My method for starting is simple and reliable: Open the valve. Hold a couple of matches under the tank (in winter, use a candle for additional heat.) Wait for some fuel to come bubbling up, while keeping the flame away from the fuel. Close the valve. Light the fuel. When it has nearly burned out, open the valve.

              The obligatory Youtube video link:

              Cooking with the Svea 123 and SIGG Tourist cookset

              And yes, you can find both stove and cook kit on eBay, often at ludicrously low prices for this classic, reliable equipment.

              Charles Ek
              Moderator
                Post count: 594

                Hare tracks in our yard. Sun is shining and it’s +17 F here. Hey, what am I doing inside …

                Charles Ek
                Moderator
                  Post count: 594

                  After some Internet research, my conclusions are these:

                  1. Iron Bull’s family might be on to something. The “cold shortening” process that toughens meat may likely occur when game is field dressed and then cut up at subzero temperatures.

                  2. Leaving the meat in quarters (possibly even just leaving it unboned) until it can be handled at the “right” temperature might avoid this, by restraining the muscles and thus preventing shortening.

                  3. I think killing an animal at subzero temps does nothing to affect the meat. It’s the processing that makes the difference.

                  I rely chiefly on my understanding of this article for my conclusions:

                  Rapid tenderisation of lamb M. longissimus with very fast chilling depends on rapidly achieving sub-zero temperatures

                  I sure wish we had someone involved in meat science who could clear this up for us!

                  Charles Ek
                  Moderator
                    Post count: 594

                    Cabela’s will easily overwhelm you with the range of choices. I suggest that you spend some time first on their website looking at items that interest you. Most products will have plenty of comments on them from people who know what they’re talking about.

                    Charles Ek
                    Moderator
                      Post count: 594
                      in reply to: Bow restoring #49695

                      You will search a long time before you find free resources that exceed Restoration 101 and How to Refinish a Vintage Bow.

                      Charles Ek
                      Moderator
                        Post count: 594

                        I did some poking around on this question last night. As a result, I may be eating tough, “cold-shortened” crow on this one. So far I’ve found seemingly contradictory conclusions in the meat science literature, but there is a possibility that Iron Bull’s family was on to something. More later when I have waded through the literature on the subject.

                        Charles Ek
                        Moderator
                          Post count: 594

                          Some non-fabulous advice from people who get paid to advise the rest of us:

                          “Keep your freezer at zero degrees (0°) or below to maintain the quality of frozen foods.

                          Most foods will maintain good quality longer if the freezer temperature is -10 to -20°F. At temperatures between 0 and 32°F, food deteriorates more rapidly. Fluctuating temperatures, such as those in self-defrosting freezers, also may damage food quality. Do not plan to store frozen foods for the maximum suggested time if your freezing unit cannot maintain zero degree temperatures. Even foods stored properly will lose color, texture, flavor and nutritional quality but will not cause food-borne illness.”

                          Refrigerator and Freezer Storage advice from the University of Nevada.

                          Charles Ek
                          Moderator
                            Post count: 594
                            in reply to: Bear Kodiak Magnum #45825

                            I own and regularly shoot a 1966 Kodiak Magnum, a Kodiak De Luxe, a 1958 Kodiak, a 1970 Super Kodiak and a Dave Paxton Talon Swift that replicates the famous 1959 Kodiak. The Swift is the smoothest, best shooting of the bunch and would probably be in any group of recurves.

                            But it is worth remembering that the Kodiak Magnum as a model has undoubtedly killed more game than all the custom bows and all the high-tech production bows ever produced.

                            Charles Ek
                            Moderator
                              Post count: 594

                              Smithhammer wrote: Of course, she also went all the way up the valley and back on her xc skis, in the time it took me to hike about a 1/2 mile. And then, without a trace of irony, she asked me how I liked my new shoes. She’s a keeper.

                              I’ve been known to bring both many times. (It’s easier when there’s a dog or two available for pulk pulling duty on a camping trip.) I have an extraordinarily low tolerance for inefficiency when it comes to winter travel.

                              Charles Ek
                              Moderator
                                Post count: 594
                                in reply to: Back stops #45240

                                The tires are certainly a good idea. One reason I favored the stall mat is that I can shoot from both sides, which is feasible on our lot. I should have added that it’s probably important to suspend it and not anchor it on the bottom. By being free to move, it absorbs energy better and probably will last longer.

                                Charles Ek
                                Moderator
                                  Post count: 594

                                  It’s said that if you stand at London’s Picadilly Circus, eventually you’ll see one of every type of human walk by. Looks like the same is true for fables on the Internet. 😉

                                  The supposed inadequacies of game taken at subzero temperatures would come as a large surprise to many people, including my late grandfather, every Inuit who has ever walked the earth, and the entire population of Siberia.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 226 through 240 (of 542 total)