So, its 2024.....

 Once again, this blog is being updated irregularly. As my interests change, and my free time is precious, I usually forget I even started this, over a decade ago.

So, what are my plans, what have I done, and what am I doing? Interesting question.....

2024 actually has a lot. In my personal life, I will be getting married in June. We will also be taking a trip to Mexico in the fall. My parents, though are still with me, by the grace of God, are getting older, and are experiencing the health issues we will all have as we age. So, their mortality weighs heavily on my mind, almost every day.

As to my outdoors and preparedness, I am beginning a new workout regimen. Sadly, this country is going to shit. This election season may be a challenge to our country. I don't expect a full breakdown of society-but, I DO foresee the targeting of conservatives, more than has been going on in the past decade or so. As such, my preparedness plan is as follows:

Get fit again.

Establish a good comms system, independent of the current mainstream media(ham radio, GMRS, etc).

Become proficient again in my firearms.

Have my minuteman gear ready to go.

Establish alternate locations to "lie low" if things get TRULY bad.

And, of course, anything else that comes to mind.

So, over the course of the next few months, I will be writing articles on my fitness progress, my comms plan, etc.

I am not sure I even have any readers left. Someday, this will, of course, be archived, and, who knows. Maybe it will encourage at least one person to prepare for the worst. I don't think, in my heart of hearts, that it will EVER come to that.

But, neither did Rome.....

Yet again, another irregular update!

 As much as I want to keep up on this, I don't. I dont have any excuses: I just never seem to come back to this blog. But, as social media, and media in general, is becoming more and more biased and, quite honestly, hateful, a return to the old school way of blogging, just may be what I am looking for.

So, some updates to my life:

Still riding motorcycles

Still a semi active freemason

Started teaching myself mandolin (sidelined due to work)

Got my General class ham license (active in that arena)

Have a live in girlfriend

Bought a Toyota Tacoma in 2021

Into overlanding (car camping, as we old timers call it)

And, thats about it for general updates. Now, on to fleshing some of this out:

During the chinese flu times, I opted to pick up learning another instrument. Mostly, for myself. I started learning mandolin, but have since put it down-again, due to work constraints (See a pattern here???).

I also bought a new, in 2021, Tacoma, as my GF also enjoys camping, and this is a near perfect platform for us. Did a minor lift on it (2.3"). and some bigger tires (31.5"), nothing that I would need to alter anything else for. We did do some camping last year, but not as much as we wanted. 

I also got my tech, then general, ham radio license in 2021. I did it largely for preparations. Since I did that though, I have gotten hugely involved in POTA (Parks On The Air). Essentially, this is setting up a radio, out in the field. Its kind of like practice emergency communications. It is fun, and I try to get out as often as I can in regards to it.

My GF moved in the beginning of this year, and that has been going well so far. Nothing really to report there. 

Work has been crazy this year, and is limiting my free time altogether-never mind my adventure time!!

We DID get the opportunity to go to Gettysburg a couple weeks ago. What an experience!! To know what those men went through, back then....to see, and walk, the fields they fought, and died on...I cannot describe in words how I felt. I honestly think that Americans in High School would be far better served, going here, and learning about this part of our history, than going to DC, where its so divided, you lose all respect for ANY person associated with DC. HIGHLY recommended as a trip.

So, thats my current update. I will not promise to update this REGULARLY, but I will update it!

Resurrecting the blog!!!

 Well, its been quite a few years since I have been here. Since my last post, I have changed careers, been married, divorced, traveled overseas, bought a few motorcycles, bought a truck, learned new instruments, and, well, generally lived a life. 

As we are now going in to 2022, I am going to TRY to maintain this blog. I have been absent doing a lot of outdoor things. I no longer geocache-it became commercialized. I want to get into hunting. I do a lot of overlanding and, provided I get my film skills up to snuff, will link a youtube channel here at some point. I know that there are only a few followers, and, for that, I am thankful. Seems that blogs are no longer in vogue-but I want to keep a record of my adventures again, at least, for me. So, the plan is, to blog what I can, video what I can, and generally get outdoors. This will also be a travel blog too, as I do a LOT of motorcycle stuff as well.

So, here is to 2022!!! 

End of 2015, start of a new year

Well, this past year conspired against me. I rarely had an opportunity to get outside. 2015 was a hard year; wife left me, we have been down 2 people at work, causing a LOT of overtime, I made a decision to leave my pipe band that I have been with for 8 years now.
All of these things have pointed me to an inward journey. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my life, what I want out of it, where I should be, etc. I spent a lot of time, I guess, seeking a certain spirituality. But, as I normally obtain this while spending time outside, this forced me to, I suppose, examine myself internally-whereas, my time spent it the woods, I sort of achieve a state of non-thinking, akin (at least to me) to meditation.
I have never been a particularly religious man. Largely because, although I agree with the fundamental tenets of almost all religions, I simply could not accept the dogma of organized religions. There was something about it that simply rubbed me the wrong way. That, although they purport to be the words of their respective Gods-they are, in fact, human interpretations of these ideas and concepts. Which, of course, is an OPINION-not a fact. That has always struck me as wrong.
Take, for instance, the 10 commandments. One doesnt NEED to be instructed by their religion that stealing, murder, etc, are wrong. There are millions of people in this world who have no exposure to these 10 Commandments, and have followed them.
Are there many, many lessons, in, for instance, Christianity, that are good? Of course. I am not coming down on Christianity, nor ANY religion. In fact, even though I have no desire to be part of that, I will STRONGLY defend someone else's faith. Because, after all-who is the one being wrong, when one person chooses to live by the code of their religion, and another person chooses to make fun of and belittle that person for their beliefs?
Anyway, as I was in this sort of soul searching mode, I came across the writings of Thomas Paine. Specifically, his references to Deism. I decided to look into that. After some reading on this, I found that this sort of resembles how I feel. Let me explain:
Deism, to reduce it down to its fundamentals, is a belief in a higher power, but that higher power has little to no influence over our lives. Call it a supreme being, God, whatever. This supreme being is responsible for the universe, and all its constructs (or, the creation of it), and is not a conscious pseudo-person. More of a force, one could say. Honestly, the interpretation is a personal thing. But, the concept is that EVERYTHING around us is the result of a higher complex intelligent design-how you choose to define that is totally up to you. It is NOT atheism, which is a lack of belief. It is simply an acknowledgement of a supreme being, without the hindrances of "revealed" religions. If you are interested, feel free to look it up. Anyway, this allows me to segue into my next topic:
Freemasonry. This is something that I, like most Americans, are marginally aware of, but never really gave second thoughts to. Again, during my soul searching, I found that to make myself truly happy, I enjoy being a positive force in my community. During a motorcycle ride this summer, a family friend casually mentioned Freemasonry to me. I decided to look into that.
There is a LOT of false information out there. Like, far more than actual, truthful stuff. It takes a while to separate the chaff from the wheat. But, once you get a feel for who is who, you can dig a little further. My journey with this fraternity will begin on January 11, 2016, about 2 weeks from today. No, there is no world conspiracy regarding them. No, there is no New World Order they control. Masons work within their communities, being very charitable, and trying to make their fellow men better, by simply acting like moral, upstanding men. Something that, I think, is largely lost this day and age. If this is a journey you are interested in, and, I would strongly encourage men to at least look into it, I suggest going to a local Lodge, introducing yourself, and ask to speak to one of the Brothers. There is a LOT of misinformation on the internet out there, and, if you are just beginning your research, you MAY stray down the wrong path. Two sources I recommend, is a book by Chris Hodapp called Freemasons for Dummies, and the website www.masonicinfo.org. Both of these are well vetted, and great sources.
Well, that is where I am, as of today. 2016 should be interesting, to say the least. Several things will happen, as a guarantee: I will become a Freemason. I will become divorced. I will continue on my personal journey. I will become a better person this coming year, than I was last year. I would like to say I will get outside more, but, to be honest, I dont know. I WANT to-it is my church-but, that really depends on my work schedule. I want to hunt. To hike. To bushbum. To fish. With luck, I will get to do at least some of that. We will see.
Until then, happy new year, and may this year bring you everything you desire.

First woods walk without snow!!

Yesterday, after work, I went out for a walk in my local town forest. My original intent was to get some Tenkara fishing in, but it turned into simply a cross country walk (read: no trail) through the woods, in a giant loop.
Not really too much to report, other than listening to spring peepers, some turkey hen clucks, watching some wood ducks, and seeing both deer and bear sign.
As it was 70 out, I went out with just my sandals on. Mind you, my initial thoughts were to walk to a local stream, and simply fished. But, I kinda got sidetracked. So, what I DID do, was decide to see how well my luna sandals would hold up in early spring new england woods. Well, I put a little over a mile on them (according to my phone pedometer, about 6000 steps) , and the verdict is, they held up fine. Of course, with open sandals, in the woods, you deal with things like thorns, dirt, sticks, etc, getting between your foot and the sandal-but thats as simple as shaking it out. One thing I did notice, is I slow down-far more careful about foot placement. Although, was never concerned about the dampness of the ground. I crossed several streams (and walked through 2 swamps) with them, and they held up fine. So, anyway, here are a few pics I took:

There is still snow in the woods!!! Not much, just little patches that are in cool, shaded areas.

A TRUE New England sign of spring is the blooming of skunk cabbage!

When walking through the woods, in sandals, your feet WILL get dirty. And wet. And muddy. But, at least you dont have to deal with wet socks!!!

Also, cleaning them up is a breeze. Find a stream, insert dirty feet-problem solved!

New England woods look sparse before all the foliage. It makes for fairly easy walking during the shoulder seasons, as the ground is clear, and its FAR easier to choose a walking path. Even without trails!!

I found this while wandering. Something was searching for grubs!!! I had ran into a bear about a mile from here, as the crow flies, digging for grubs last fall. Looking at this rotten log, and the destruction, I'd hazard a guess this is from a bear.

Just a random, cool tree. Nothing special, it just caught my eye.

These little seed pods are all around the pine trees. I have seen them all my life, but am unsure what trees they come from. Any help would be appreciated in identifying them. The woods are predominantly pine. I would hazard a guess they are from birch trees? But am not sure.

The area I hiked was once a training area for the Army-specifically, training during WW2 and VietNam. There are still signs of old foxholes, and, in some areas, even whole trenches, that you can come across just wandering around.

This is an old trench line, mostly filled in with debris now.

The local river, which was my original goal-but, I took to wandering aimlessly instead :)

There is a lot of history with the Nashua River, here in Massachusetts. One largely of industrial waste, and the cleanup project that continues to today. Its the greatest environmental success story in New England, and maybe in the entire country. The Nashua was so polluted, the river changed colors regularly, depending on the dyes used by clothing mills and newspaper printers-we used to play games, as kids, guessing which color it would be. Today, its been cleaned up, fish and amphibians once again inhabit the waterways. Egrets, ducks, herons, turtles, frogs, and several species of fish have returned. As a result, predatory animals now inhabit the area too-fox, river otter (their hole seen below), and several varieties of hawks and owls now hunt the shores and waters of the Nashua. Even the fresh water clams have returned!

Anyway, that was my little trip for the afternoon. A well needed walk in the woods! I hope you enjoyed the journey!

Been busy

Sorry, I have been busy with work. To keep it short, we are very shorthanded at work, so I have been taking overtime, and I have had some personal issues going on, so, life has been a little hectic. All that being said....
We have FINALLY broken off the yoke of winter! And, what a rough one it was! We had record snowfall this winter, record low temps-and, it lasted a good 4 months! But, warmer days are upon us, so, more outdoors time for me!
I wonder if you have ever heard of geocaching. Geocaching is a sort of hide & seek game, where people hide things out in the world, and, through the geocaching website, you can plug in the coordinates to these, find them, and log them. I have been doing this since 2002. I stopped, for years, but, recently, have gotten back into it. I discovered a challenge on the site, called the "Massachusetts 351 challenge". What it is, is that you must find at least 1 cache in each of the 351 towns in this state to complete it. There is nothing other than bragging rights, but, it definitely gets you outside!
Yesterday, I knocked out 12 towns. I am trying to do it county by county, to make it a little easier. I'm currently working on Worcester county, and have 4 towns left, which I will get on my next outing.
I managed to take some pictures yesterday, while I was out, and will post them up at the end of this blog.
I hope to get out more this year, and get some more blogs in. Right now, I'm trying to figure out myself, as I'm going through a lot of personal stuff. So, I will post as I can. For now, enjoy these pics of my recent outings!

More to follow, as my phone doesnt seem to want to cooperate this morning!

A companion for my solo (stoves)

I was recently on a thread in a bushcraft forum, and there was some discussion regarding wood gasifier backpacking stoves and, if people bring backup stoves, in the event they cannot find fuel, there are burn bans, or, in some cases, you just want to light a stove and boil some water. So, me, being curious, and always looking for new stoves (we all have our addictions!), I started poking into potential backup stoves for my Solo. I came across the Zelph companion stove for the Solo/Bushbuddy wood gas stove. Well, intrigued, I sent a couple of messaged through the Bushcraft forum, and he responded, saying that he will send some goodies along as well as the stove.
So, in typical fashion, each day, coming home from work, I looked for the package. It finally arrived! I opened it, and, to my surprise, he sent me, not one stover-which I paid for-but 4 additional ones, to toy around with! This is what I received:

The top right one, is the one I ordered. The other four, are different sized ones, as well as two models of another stove he sells. Talk about customer service! Before I go any further, let me just say that, if you're looking for a quick, reliable, spill free stove, go to Zelph's site and order one. You will not be disappointed!
Now, in typical fashion, I wanted to test this stove out. I ran out, last night, and got some Methyl fuel antifreeze (generic brand). I wanted to do a test burn, to get an idea of how well this burned in a control environment. So, I did one in my kitchen, during a snowstorm (snowstorm outside, of course).
I used the following:
a generic bottle of gas line anti freeze, methyl alcohol

a measuring cup for the fuel, measuring out 1 oz

the Zelph companion stove
The Solo Stove
The Solo Stove 900 Pot
2 cups (.4l) of cold tap water

My GS5 as a timer, and camera

First, I wanted to make sure that the companion stove would actually store inside the Solo stove. I checked, and it did:

From there, I lit the stove, set it all up, and began timing it:

Then, the wait began. I wanted to test 3 different results: time to boil, time of useful flame (where its still licking the bottom of the pot), and time to burnout (where the flame is completely out). I came up with the following:
Time to boil, 05:44.10

Time of useful flame, unfortunately, I missed, as I was also eating dinner (multitasking), but estimate it to be about 10:30.

Time to burnout was 12:46.39. I took this pic (I turned the lights off, so I could actually witness the flames) right before it burned out:

So, in my controlled environment, this companion stove is well within the realm of useful gear to carry. I will do some real world testing with it, but, my initial feelings are that, yes, this will be carried, yes, it will be used for morning coffee, and, yes, it was a great investment on my end.