The main stream media has been talking about slipping from the middle class a lot lately. They don’t really understand the bigger issue though. Here is the real story about what’s going on and why the problem is worse than most people realize.
It isn’t just that people themselves are slipping from one class to another, the entire meaning of the class structures themselves are falling when we look at lifestyle quality or all the components of quality of like that I like to call lifestyle quotient or LQ.
I just got parts two and three of the Hugelkultur project uploaded to YouTube. These two videos are chock full of information that can help you build a more self sufficiency into your homesteading projects.
Part Two of the Hugelkultur Project has a lot going on. Some of the stuff I cover includes…
Dealing with the “nitrogen trap” effect
Turning in an existing warm weather cover crop
Planting a cold season cover crop
Success and failure thus far with the project
Using and inoculant for legumes
Damage by the neighbor’s dog
Why I used boxed in beds for this part of the project
Using many varieties of seeds for cover cropping
How legumes fix and share nitrogen
How one cover crop can nurse the next one
How winter kill can work for
Part Three goes into a lot of cool technical aspects and move on to some really cool simple technology such as…
Building an A-Frame level
How to calibrate you’re A-Frame level
Combining swales and Hugelkultur beds
The use of both rotted and newly cut wood for Hugelkultur
An update on the cover crops planted in part two
Part Two of The Hugelkultur Project
Project Three of The Hugelkultur Project
If you want to simply stay in touch with all my Hugelkultur Videos, I have put together a Hugelkultur Video Playlist.
Here is the long awaited review of my custom mammoth tusk neck knife. This knife was made by Patrick Roehrman of MT Knives. The handle materiel was purchased from KnifeKits.com
The blade is a laminated steel,with stainless steel outside and a high carbon steel core on the inside (HRC 63-64) blue super steel Presentation grade Mammoth Tusk handle with mosaic pins and a red vulcanized fiber liner.
There are some really great things about having something custom made and truly unique. The mammoth tusk is absolutely high on the cool factor, it does have a few drawbacks as well.
Only one buck who seems to be the 8-Point from the last video showed up on 7-19 then on 7-20 we had a lot more activity. In total four bucks are seen two large 8-Points I now call “the brothers” a smaller 8-point and a 6-point.
In addition to the raccoons you may also notice a rabbit as it begins to get lighter tward the end of the photos. He starts under the feeder and then ends up off to the right as the deer come back to the feeder. Life is tough for mountain rabbits they are never as big or as fat as field rabbits, may be this little guy will fatten up a bit on the corn?
The game camera is a Bushnell 8MP Trail Camera with Built In Color Viewer I got it at WalMart and here it is on their website. http://bit.ly/ppp1FJ
I can’t find it anywhere else so I am not sure if this model is perhaps made for WalMart by Bushnell or something to that effect, it isn’t even on Bushnell’s own site. I can tell you based on my experience thus far I think any of the Bushnell cameras are a good investment. Make sure you budget in money for the memory card though.
I just love the way the one big 8 sort of ghosts away at the end. The music playing is “Born Country” by Alabama. I figured that this would make a better youtube video than just a bunch of stills. I run the camera on stills on occasion because it doesn’t provide time stamps when set to video.
I did a video in the past of the Moultrie Deer Feeder that I have on my property. Many people liked it but a few made what I consider stereotypical comments about how feeders are akin to shooting fish in a barrel.
As I post videos from the feeder I hope to dispel some of these myths. Feeders in and off themselves don’t turn deer into highly conditioned trained pets.
That said Deer can become highly conditioned to feeders if…
The land owner controls large tracts of land
The land owner feeds heavily year round and
The land owner maintains a deer density beyond what the land can support with out feeding
In such situations I have seen deer literally run in like dogs to a can opener when the feeder goes off. In my situation I have 5 acres and only about 3 is dense woodland. There are thousands of acres of private land around me and I only have access to a neighbors adjoining 5. My feeder in this environment is nothing but an additional feed source among many others.
In the following video you will see one large buck, this is the only deer that visited the feeder (which has been in operation for months now) in a 24 hour period, he was there in the pitch dark at around 3:15 AM. Feeders can be effective, but they are not magic and only a tool. This deer will likely remain largely nocturnal, especially the moment he feels any hunting pressure.
Hopefully this series will be both educational and entertaining. Who knows what we will see as the series progresses. I also wonder if the raccoon in this episode knows how fond I am of raccoon stew?
I get a ton and I mean a ton of questions from the audience about a good quality emergency radio. There are some really good ones and there are some that are total crap (for an example of total crap see my prior review of the Kaito Voyager).
So when Eton asked me to review the new Eton Scorpion I was quick to accept the opportunity, while skeptical of what I would receive. I am happy to report despite a few nit picks this is a great radio, check out the video below.
The Eton Scorpion has some Great Features Including
AM/FM receiver with digital tuner
NOAA weather band radio
Built-in LED flashlight
Large and efficient solar panel
USB charger converts the Eton Scorpion multipurpose radio into a recharging station for cell phones and other devices (did not charge and iPod or iPhone for me)
Audio line input lets you use the radio’s speaker with your music player
Headphone jack allows you to listen without being head by others
Battery charge indicator
Rugged, splashproof body for outdoor use
Includes a integrated bottle opener
Aluminum carbiner for hanging the radio (not as rugged as I would like)
Special Update – Old Grouch Emailed me about 24 hours after I uploaded the video. You guys must really have liked the review because he just sold out of these bags. Make sure to join his facebook page and/or mailing list and he will be announcing when more come in.
I have been looking for a truly modular, high capacity, rugged, well planned, water resistant and above all comfortable to hump bag for a long time.
It turns out that the Italian military has been building the perfect bag for their troops for many years now and they are now available on the surplus market.
These are real Italian military issue packs, used but in great condition. The Italian military drew upon the countries long history of alpine exploration and excellent outdoor industry when they designed and made this pack.
Very light at just 4.5 pounds, the main compartment measures 14″x7″x28″, and the side compartments are 6.5″x4″x15″ each. These have lots of extra straps for lashing gear to the outside which is one of my favorite features, a bonus top compartment on the top flap, sturdy plastic frame, and great padded straps. The assault packs which can be broken off and run independently really increase the adaptabality of these packs both for trail use (think overnight gear and day pack) or as a BOB (think all your stuff and daily or often used gear).
In this video I don’t just review the emergency seed bank from Directive21.com I dispel many myths about GMOs vs. Hybrid Variety seeds. Emergency seed vaults are in my view an outstanding addition to your long term preps but the hype in the emergency seed industry is really misleading. Tune into this video for hard and somewhat harsh facts about emergency seed products and the real reasons to invest in them vs. the fear based marketing of many other manufactures.
Having seeds is a vital part of preparation and survival. One really great seed bank is the seed bank that comes with 37,000 seeds or 1.4 Lbs of Non-Hybrid seeds, sealed in an airtight military grade Seed Vault from Directive21.com You can find this seed bank at www.directive21.com/emergencyseedbank.html
Most of the listeners will know that EDC, stands for “everyday carry”. This is the stuff you carry with you all the time, perhaps a knife, some cordage, a means of defense or may be even a micro survival kit. It isn’t your Bug Out Bag or your Go Bag or anything you don’t have directly on your person at all times when out and about hence the EVERY in EVERYday. I think the Gerber EAB belongs in your EDC and when you see the video below I think you will understand why.
If you are going to make an item part of your EDC to me it must meet certain criteria, not necessarily all of these but a few of them…
Something you will use often or rely upon in certain situations when nothing else will do
Provide some sort of every day function, (like a cordage bracelet)
It must small and lightweight (comparatively speaking of course a gun is bigger then a pen light)
It must be convenient to carry so that you will actually carry it EVERYday
Provide for multiple functions or provide a way to preserve other EDC items from excessive use
Afford the ability to create things that you can’t carry
It must be concealable or blend it so as not to arouse the interest of others
Like I said you don’t have to have all of the above but I won’t make something part of my EDC unless it fills a few of the roles listed above. Well I just found the Gerber EAB Folding Razor Knife (EAB means exchange a blade). You can find these on Amazon for between 9-12 bucks via this link. I will leave it to you as to which of the above roles this nifty little tool will fill for your needs but suffice to say I think it can do a lot for most of us.
Additionaly I just want to be clear, I am not saying to carry this as your primary knife but as one of your knives. There are many things you may need a knife for that the Gerber EAB will not do well and there are some things it will do better then a full sized knife. To me the chief advantage is that I can replace very cheap blades as I need to and I save my primary knife blade for the critical tasks that I need it for. The EAB may also be one of the very best small game skinning tools I have ever found.
