New Outdoor Gear We Didn't Think About

https://www.gearpatrol.com/outdoors/a35463561/best-new-outdoor-gear-february-2021/


Good morning all,

Nearly per ...

The coffee grinder has the highly valued burr blades but not enough grind settings.

"Relatively quiet" means the poachers will get guest privileges at Southern Africa Wildlife College.

Yak wool garments from the Tibetian community might mean their community in North Carolina or Channel Islands, California.

Finally, economic stability returning to the US; a short sleve shirt for $68.00.

 

Bought me some gaiters. I have ponchos, long coats, and a long oilskin duster (as seen in the cowboy movies) with hood. These covers extend below my knees. Have waterproofed insulated boots. I even have quick-attach cleats for walking on ice. The latter came in handy during winters in the MidWest -- Canadian blizzard blasts and all.

Side note: I wax the dickens out of anything leather. Waxing your boots properly will massively extend their life. I bought an extra tin of treatment/wax for my duster. The duster material is heavy ... but it will keep you alive. Wear your wool underneath. Watch out not to overheat yourself, because sweat is wet = dangerous in freezing conditions.

What was missing in my winter gear? What went uncovered? A: My lower legs. Water, snow, dirt, you-name-it can get into the top of your boots if one's pant-legs aren't waterproof and covering & secured to the boot-tops. Knee-high linemen boots are great, but very expensive and difficult to get on and off.

So I bought me some gaiters. It's coming up winter and we've already had nights with temps below freezing. Rainy nasty weather has also begun to visit. Next will be the snows and the occasional blizzard.



Here's the oilskin duster my wife bought me. The lower sides are open so that one's legs are free to move and so that you can mount your horse (no, we don't have horses, but I sure don't want my legs restricted). The lower open sides are another reason to have waterproof gaiters.




Note that there are also gaiters for snake-infested areas:



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Here's a very thorough article. I can't even begin to quote all of it, so for all the pro's and con's concerning gaiters, you'll need to read the entire article.

"What are Gaiters, Do I Need Them, and How to Choose?"

https://wheretheroadforks.com/what-are-gaiters-do-i-need-them-and-how-to-choose/

"What Are Gaiters?

"Gaiters are waterproof pieces of fabric that cover the top of your footwear and your lower legs. They are made of sturdy, waterproof, and abrasion-resistant materials like polyester or nylon.

"The purpose of gaiters is to provide extra protection for your feet, ankles, and lower legs. They seal off the top of your shoes to keep sand, twigs, pebbles, mud, etc. out. They also help to keep your feet dry by preventing snow or water from entering your shoes as you hike. Even the most waterproof boots get wet eventually. Gaiters help to keep your feet clean and dry.

"Additionally, gaiters provide protection from abrasions. The thick material prevents brush, branches, or thorns from scraping your legs up. They also protect your legs from poison ivy. "

 

From what I've read about S.W. England, you'll likely never get a hell-winter. Thus your need for heavy winter outfits is not as great. Military surplus ponchos will do. My favorite poncho is the Swiss issued. These last, I've had three over the years.




Winters can be really bad up in the Mountains. Now that I'm retired, I rarely have any reason to cross the mountains in winter and when I do, I take roads most likely cleared by state road crews. Sometimes however, the nasty stuff hits the valleys, not just up in the mountains. Valleys here where we're living now are at an altitude of 1,200 ft to 1,800 ft -- not high, but when a Canadian blast from the north meets up with a wet storm front out of the Gulf of Mexico, we can get slammed. It's NOT the depth of the snow, it is that there is no way for the highway departments to keep up with that ... in the towns. Out in the county, you're on your own.

This is why many folk are preppers and don't know what the term "prepper" means. If you can't get out of your area, then you had BETTER have a well-stocked pantry and a wood stove. Power outages are a yearly occurrence and when is the power company going to get around to getting the power back on out in the boonies?!!! People who are generations here, just deal with it. It is what happens. Trucks, 4x4 trucks, are sitting in at least one out of three driveways in a small town (there's a lot of work trucks with ladder racks). The further out of your small town you go, the more trucks you see -- for farming and for winter. Some have Jeeps, but not as many as one would think. Rural folk have a lot to haul and must haul it during bad winters -- gotta take care of your livestock.

Any work outside in a wet snow with ice can suck the life-heat out of your body in no time flat. The winds aren't as bad as up in the mountains, but you simply cannot get wet, else you are in deep trouble. Skiers like powder snow -- so do the valley folk. Powder snow is much less likely to kill you. Wet snow sticks to trees, roofs, people, cattle, and then at night freezes. Gotta get your critters into shelters. This wet snow not only rips power lines down, it rips the power poles down. Limbs in the trees snap. Having robust winter-wear is a must for the locals.

 

Man, that was way good of the military for helping y'all out! Good on them! Wow.

Here in the States, National Guard units often help-out after hurricanes have devastated an area. Here in the mountains, we only get the residual storms, what's left when the hurricane runs out of energy. We're a couple hundred miles away from the Atlantic.

Here, bad winters come often, but the locals simply assume that things can go bad and are thus prepared. I can't remember the Guard having to help out, but then they didn't have to. Before winter, you see massive numbers of hay rolls. Some farmers (not many) can afford to cover the rolls in protective plastic.

 

Fewer kids staying with farming is happening here in the States also. The profit margin just isn't there. They see their families struggling. It's depressing. The toxic influence of television and video games also leads to a lack of self-sufficiency in youth.

Sometimes farmers will throw plastic over the top of the bails/rolls of hay if they can't wrap the whole bail -- seen that a bunch. I just read an article (Penn State Extension) that the use of plastic to cover the entire roll of hay is increasing. Mold and bacterial growth is a consideration. There's also the matter of how to bail hay for sheep vs. cattle. Used-to here, hay was bailed and stored in barns. If you bailed hay wet and put it in the barn, the evaporation caused heating and each year somebody's barn would burn down. Today it's these big rolls, where to put them, how to keep them from rotting. The article I read went into massive detail (types of bacteria that grow in there ...) and one thing mentioned was that the farmer should roll the hay as tightly as possible. It's a bigger, more complicated, topic than I had realized. Farmers can't be stupid and still get by, that's for sure
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