I Have To Laugh

 So, here I am looking up some hammock stuff. More so, what people carry as a gear list for hammock camping. Which for some reason, leads to some "survivalin" stuff. Sure, because being a banana in a cocoon is my go o shelter for survivalin. I mean nothing says survival like being a bear taco.

So anyway..............

There I am. Trying to make sense of why I'm trying this hammock thing again. I find some survival kits being in lists of must have gear. I can see that. I mean there's a whole lot of cordage involved in setting up a hammock, so injury is a lot higher then using a tent.

Because at times I love to torment myself, I look up some of the brands mentioned, as well as some of the contents. I came across a few that had QR code cards you can scan you get instructions from the web on ow to use the items. WTF! Do you see it? The problem? 

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If you have internet on your phone you don't need a survival kit. You can call for help. I have to wonder how big of a selling point a QR code in a survival kit is.

I'm not advertising this sort of thing on my blog, channel, or forums!! So no names will be mentioned! However, you are free to look it up yourself.

You can't make this ^**^ up people! 

Lake Bonita, NY

 Myself and a couple friends hiked down into Lake Bonita last Saturday.

It's an interesting area for sure. The land was originally part of the Mount McGregor correctional facility which encompassed over 1,000 acres of land. When the prison closed in 2014 it left a huge area of land that was owned by the state, but was going to waste. In 2021 a little over 7oo acres of the land was transferred to Moreau Lake State Park, and opened to the public. Since that time trails were created that loop Lake Bonita and also go back into the Lake Ann Lean-To.

The land the actual prison facility sits on and all 100 structures are strictly off limits to the public.

But we did gain some nice hiking area with Lake Bonita as the center piece of this 709 acre state run area. There's no camping or hunting allowed in the area, and the lake is said to have some acidic properties. Though some say there's good fishing in the lake. By the sign of all the lures and bobbers hanging from trees and barely submerged logs I'd at minimum say the trees are always biting.

Hammocks

 So a while back I did a Dispelling The Mythos on hammocks. I stand by that post as it was based on facts and an unbiased look. But, I want to take a moment to clarify something, and this one is biased.

While the debate and comparison will probably feud on forever, (or will it?) we have to accept one fact. A hammock isn't a shelter. It's a sleep system. The tarp, is the shelter.

Like a sleeping bag to a tent, so is the hammock to the tarp. So, the debate is over. Since the hammock is not the shelter, it's a sleep system, the tent wins.

That's it. That' all. Nothing more to see, move along!

OK, The Tracker Knife

 I'll keep this as short as possible. After 5-6 years using these, here's the quick and nasty of my findings.

4 years ago:

This Morning:

Not much of a change in opinion on the Tops T2.

Full discussion over on

Firepit Outdoors