Jim’s Hunting and Camping

Good Morning;

When you are in your den or living room and have a wall that is just missing something, maybe you should have a picture of your favorite dog, or ducks flying away, or a bear in the woods, there are so many things to consider.  If you are an avid hunter maybe a picture of that huge moose you are looking for.  What ever it is the picture would add to the decor of the room, and it would be a great conversation piece as well.  Have a great day and be safe.

Thanks for stopping by.   Jim

Good Morning;

When you are out backpacking and staying away for a few days or weeks and you still want to keep in touch with home or work you need to keep everything charged.  Well Brunton has a great product that will do just that, it will keep your cell phone, charged as well as many other things charged up as well so that you can enjoy the backwoods and still get that report to your boss.  Enjoying a vacation with friends and family is the most important part.  Have a great day and be safe.

Thanks for stopping by.   Jim

Good Afternoon;

If you don’t have a LED Headlamp you probably have seen them and thought – “hey that looks kind of geeky” or “that looks cool, but it’s probably a waste of money”. At least those were my impressions until recently. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for gadgets, it’s fun to see what neat ideas truly creative people can conjure up!

Flashlights are gadgets that have a very practical side to them and every household and every car should have one readily available. So flashlights have always been particularly interesting to me. However, until recently, I hadn’t realized the usefulness of the LED Headlamp.

This past summer I had been clearing out some of the junk that had accumulated in my basement. Like most basements, I presume, there are a few corners which are poorly lit. When you are sifting through boxes of possibly soon-to-be-discarded stuff it helps to have both hands available – holding a flashlight in one of your hands really slows you down. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I needed a LED Headlamp!

The headlamp I chose has six LEDs providing 4 different settings. The settings are: focused beam, floodlight, combined focused beam and floodlight, and night vision (red LED). It has a comfortable elastic headband and the back of the headlamp has foam padding. Additionally, the angle of the headlamp can easily be changed.

When I Really Needed It

Soon after buying my headlamp I helped my brother load his belongings into a rented moving van. After a long day of carrying boxes and moving furniture, we headed over to the truck rental office to hook a trailer up to the rental truck. This was well past dark, the rental office lot was poorly lit, and all the rental company people were gone. The trailer took longer than we expected, but we finally loaded his car on the back. Having the headlamp was certainly useful while attaching the trailer, but that’s just the beginning.

Around 10:30 PM on a Saturday night in a part of town where you don’t want to hang around, we finally were ready to drive off and call it a day. I was following my brother in my truck (F-150) and as we were pulling out I heard an agonizing sound from one of my tires. I pulled over and sure enough I had a flat. Not good news, and I really didn’t feel like waiting around this part of town for help to come fix it. Fortunately there was an empty parking lot where I could park and do the change.

As anyone that has changed a flat knows, you need both hands. Plus if you are bent over looking under the car it’s hard to tell someone else where you need them to point the flashlight. Fortunately for me I had my LED Headlamp. This kept both hands free and made the whole tire changing process less frustrating. Now I know, this headlamp sure is handy!

This article by Tom Brock of ezineArticles.   Thanks for stopping by.   Jim

Good Afternoon;

When you are out hunting, fishing or camping and you need a tool, take a look at a multi-tool.  They have several different tools in one that can do all kinds of repair.  The suspension by Gerber is one of the best multi-tools on the market and with the suspension you can do most jobs with one hand as it will close by itself.  So if you are looking for a tool to help around the house or in the field check out the suspension multi-tool.

Thanks for stopping by.   Jim

Good Morning;

On a camping trip, the most essential tools to consider for your kitchen are your camping stoves, which is why you should take extra effort in choosing the best equipment in the market. Most of the camping stoves available today differ in their purpose; so, before you go out and purchase one, you should think of what kind of camping activity you are going to engage in and look at the stoves capacity to cook the food you may want throughout the period of your camping trip.

If weight is not a major concern for you when camping, a family camping stove is probably the best camping stove for you. These are the largest of many types of camping stoves, are really easy to use, and are also essential for large range of camping. Their size is due to the fact that they are designed to feed a whole family. Most varieties of family camping stoves have common features, such as a large gas hob and/or a grill for a much wider range of cooking activity. Due to its large size, the gas canister attached to it is relatively large as well.

Backpacking stoves, on the other hand, are direct opposites of the family camping stoves. This type of stove is designed primarily to be carried inside the backpack during a long period of hiking, rambling, cycling or fishing. They are definitely smaller than the other types of stoves and have a lighter setting. Due to their small size, they have only one hob which also tends to be relatively small. Such camping stoves are just enough to fit the needs of an individual camper cooking an average sized meal.

The last stove discussed here is a mountain camping stove. If you want your stove to have an average size and weight, the mountain camping stove is the right cooking equipment for you. It is designed with a minimum weight and size that is critical for most mountain climbing campers. What makes this stove so significant for mountain climbers are the features which allows you to use them even in a very cold climate and in low atmospheric pressure.

In general, most mountain camping stoves are very lightweight and use liquid fuels which give the best performance when under the most difficult situations. These stoves also give the most heat for a given amount of fuel. You also can find mountain camping stoves that use gas as fuel, but gas fuel mountain camping stoves can only be used in low-level mountain climbing.

Here are a few tips to help you out when purchasing a camping stove. Find one that is easy to set-up and takes up as little room as possible when you break it down. Good camping stoves should have a good base-of-support and you should avoid ones that tip on less-than-ideal surfaces or when they have a big pot on top of them. Fuel supplies that can be disconnected from the camping stoves also make life easier.

This article by Martin Johnson of ezineArticles.   Thanks for stopping by.   Jim

Goodmorning;

Crossbows are available at the market in many different styles, some of which are match crossbow, target crossbow, sporting crossbow and traditional replicated crossbows. Accessories consist of cases, silencers, quivers, scopes and crossbow bolts. Match crossbows are spanned with a lever and quite heavy. Such crossbows are used mainly in shooting competitions, for distances ranging between 10 and 30m. Target crossbows draw a weight of around 95lb and are mainly used at archery clubs. Almost all the hunting stores and gun shops have crossbows in their stock, making it easy for the interested people to possess one.

Crossbow as a weapon has been used in military warfare for more than 2000 years. These crossbows were invented by the Chinese but spread across the world in no time. Theoretically speaking, crossbows are considered to be the link between the bow and the firearm. It gives the user more power and accuracy compared to a traditional bow that is being used in battle field and for hunting. Crossbows have been used extensively in warfare in North Africa, Asia and Europe, however, today – crossbows are mainly used for hunting and target practicing.

Crossbows have a short lath or bow which is fixed to a tiller. The tips of the bows are connected by means of a cord. The bow consists of a pair of leaf springs and its main purpose is to store energy. When the string is drawn back to the latch, and the latch released, the string moves forward to push the arrow or bolt, which is guided by a bolt rest. Toy crossbows are available with safety sucker darts. Wildcat crossbows have devices permanently attached to the crossbow and require a tension of 16 lbs to function. The crossbow consists of one crank and handle and have anti reverse gear facility. A recurve crossbow set is usually used by people who want to learn about archery. The set consists of a 15 lb target recurve bow, finger tab, quiver, multi colored target face and two target arrows. This type of crossbow has tips curving away from the archer.

High quality 80 lb crossbows are available with self locking features. These crossbows are made of high tech fiberglass. The crossbows come with an auto safety feature and have a range of 100m. Rifle crossbows with a 150 pound draw, foot pull, adjustable sights and durable fiber construction are available. Using such a crossbow you can fire to a distance of 250 ft per second and with an accuracy of 65 yards. This is a heavy duty and a powerful crossbow and is used for target practicing and hunting. This type of rifle crossbow requires immense strength to string and to cock the bow. Usually two people are required to string such a bow. The smallest crossbows available are the pistol crossbows.

Crossbow accessories like extra strings with plastic end caps and string wax is available. When wax is applied on the string it enhances the life of the string. It is advisable to apply wax after every 10 to 12 shots to enhance the life of the string.

This article by Peter Yelland of ezineArticles.  Thanks for stopping by.   Jim

Good Morning;

Good Morning;

When you are out camping and the weather turns cold does your old sleeping bag keep you warm?  If the answer is no than it is time to look into purchaseing a new sleeping bag.  When looking for a new bag a few tips to look for. 

1.  Get a bag that has a hood on it.

2.  Get a bag that is rated to keep you warm in weather much colder than you plan to camp in.

3.  Purchase a sleeping bag that is made by a well known manufacturer.

4. Purchase the best quality you can afford, to get durability and longevity from the sleeping bag.

Hopefully these tips will help you get the most comfort for you while you are camping.

Thanks for stopping by.   Jim

Good Morning;

When you are getting ready to go backpacking make sure you check everything over really well.  If you need any new equipment now is the time to purchase it.  Spring is a great time for sales on tents, and sleeping bags, so make sure you check everything over.  When you get that done it will be time to look at the different areas to go backpacking.  One spot that should be a great area is in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area of Michigan.  You are just West of Traverse City and on the shore of Lake Michigan.  There are lots of bike trails, and hikking trails, rustic campgrounds as well as some with electricity.  Get on the road to tenting your way through spring.

Thanks for stopping by.   Jim

Good Afternoon;

When you are out backpacking and the woods doesn’t look familiar and the trail looks strange you want to consider pulling out your trusty compass.  A compass will tell you which way is North all the time and then you can figure out which way you came in from and how to get back to that point.  A compass will work anytime where if you have a GPS system if you run out of power you can not find your way back with it.  I know that backpacking here in Michigan at this time of year is only for the very hardy but there are lots of parts of this great country that you can go backpacking any time of year, so get out there and have a great time.

Thanks for stopping by.   Jim