Timestepper

  As is floating both the Clinch (Norris Lake tail waters) and Nolichucky Rivers. Someday, I'd also like to get around to doing a two-day float on the Holston.

  If you can get to Knoxville, I'll personally guarantee you a ride out to the campsite, even if I have to hijack a friend to do it.   :hat:

Ok, so there's no hostility here and yet you just inferred that he's "dumb" if he does what he's been doing (and training to do) all his life i.e., walk a high wire with no safety equipment. And personally, I'd be thrilled as hell if he came to my back yard and walked a wire 5' off the ground because I know can't. And the safety gear wouldn't matter because even with a harness, tether, helmet and magnetic shoes guaranteed to stick to the wire, I still couldn't do it.   Anyway, my mistake and I offer my sincere apologies to all those who used the words dumb, stupid etc... in reference to the subject being discussed. Several words have changed meaning over the years and these are obviously ones that missed my radar.   BAD Timestepper.! :slap:   :leaving:

    Factual as always, OS., but it still doesn't explain the <perceived> hostility of the thread.   And I'm not overly concerned about "national sacrilege." In fact, I'll admit that I can't quite pin down why I feel the way I do concerning his choice of venue. Maybe it's because... No, that doesn't define it. Just one of those things, I guess. Maybe that's why the <perceived> hostility towards Njk Wallenda? Just one of those things? :shake:  

Wow! I can't believe the way people seem to take personal offense to this guy. It's like he drove by your house, jumped out and kicked your dog (or walked across the top of your fence while whizzing in your flowers).   His family has been doing this stuff for more than 200 years and the only death during an actual wire walk was his great grandfather. And who the hell cares if he uses a tether or not? We deer hunters use tethers in a 20 foot tree stand and he's gonna' be 1500 feet above the Colorado River! I'll admit that I'm not real crazy about his using the Grand Canyon, but dang, wire walking is what he does. It's what his family does. For SEVEN generations. How many of us have family careers going back seven generations? And yet the inference is that Mr. Wallenda is stupid or "retarded" for doing what he's been doing since he was two years old. Well, he's 34 now and hasn't been "culled" yet. I couldn't do what he does and wouldn't want to, but on some level I've got to admire the fact that he's better at it than anyone else in the history of mankind has ever been.   I'll turn my sorry little rant off now, but if someone can <rationally> explain the <perceived> animosity of this thread towards the subject of this thread, I'll be plum tickled to listen.   :shrug:

:shake:

  Vaseline works better than mineral oil, but the best thing is just not to wash them in the first place. Granted, no one really wants to see an egg with a little shicken chit smeared on it, but the fact is that unwashed eggs have a natural coating that's a better protectant & preservative than anything we can smear on them.

  No guarantees 'cause I'm a sucky picture taker (especially on crutches), but I'm going to tap one of the the big Beech trees in our back yard soon in hopes of getting a pictorial "how to." If the pics come out worth a darn I'll post them here. Otherwise, it'll have to wait for one of our get togethers when we can maybe do a "hands on" demonstration.

        Indeed!   And make DAMN SURE all your info is correct BEFORE you sit for the picture! (I was processed by a "supervisor" who was "in a hurry" and I ended up with a license that said I had Hazmat & tanker, but not doubles & triples and a few other "minor" mistakes - the codes for various endorsements differs from Ks. to Tn., but I didn't realize that at first - then, when I finally did catch the mistakes, AFTER I had already surrendered my Ks, license, but before I'd left the building, she blamed it all on a subordinate and it took three freakin' weeks to correct everything!)  :ugh:

Good looking chicken tractor!   We've raised various breeds of Bantams for a couple of years now and had six full-sized Rhode Island Reds for a while (until my wife sold them because they were cannibalizing our younger banties). No room for a chicken tractor on the side of a heavily timbered ridge, so I had to build a permanent structure, but made it big enough for chickens, roosts, nesting boxes and sealable storage areas for both chicken & goat feed. Made the exterior chicken run critter proof with enough room for a rabbit hutch in one corner, then added a 3'-6"X8' divided hutch/rookery to the East end. (Later added a goat shed onto the other end complete with sleeping shelf, but that's another story.)   Love our little Banty eggs! Rich and tasty and the shells get crushed and put right back into the chicken feed to lessen the need for calcium supplements/additives. Only problem we've had since we got rid of the RIR's is when I was in the hospital for a couple/three  weeks in March/early April: My wife was spending as much time as possible at UTMed with me & couldn't take care of the two-leggeds as much as usual. As a result, we had nine hens go broody and ended up with a total of twenty five new chicks. Natural attrition and a feral cat (we open the run and let them free-range during the day) have reduced the total to about fifteen spring chicks which should start laying in a couple of months.   With me being disabled for the foreseeable future with zero income, our little banties have been a genuine blessing, although I honestly never knew how many different damn ways there were to fix eggs! :lol:   ...TS...

Reminds me of the caves in East K.C., Mo. that they use as grocery warehouses: Don't know exactly how many acres they consist of, but the ceilings are high enough for a 13' 6" tractor trailer with several inches to spare. And the last time I delivered there (in '91, I think) the facility I delivered to (just one of several) had a shipping/receiving dock with 10 bays.   Very neat and my claustrophobia didn't really flare much during the two hours it took to unload, but I'm not sure if I actually live in something like that. Great name, though! (And if one of the faults along the Missouri River should screw the lid on permanently while it's filled with people, future archeologists will have a heyday!)

  Somehow I doubt that there'd be enough wrist left to put into a cast... unless you just wanted the powered bone to beef up the casting medium.  :whistle:

5. Raw honey is a great natural anti-biotic (internally and externally) and bee's wax makes for a good natural wound protectant. (Case in point: Several years ago at the Rocky Mountain Nat'l Primitive Rendezvous outside Creed, Co. I found out the hard way exactly how sharp my tomahawk was and cut my left index finger to the bone. By all rights I should have at least gone to the Medic Tent (if not to the nearest hospital for stitches). Instead I had my best friend dig through our supplies while I put water on to boil and poured copious amounts of "Taos Lightening" both on my finger and in my gullet. When the water had heated and I'd cleaned it as best I could, I daubed a bit of raw honey onto and into the cut, then warmed some honey comb to make it pliable and completely sealed the wound then wrapped & tied the whole thing with gun cleaning patches. By the time we left for home a week later it had almost completely healed.)   6. Whether or not you choose to carry "flint & steel" for fire starting, it's a good idea to carry a piece of flint, chert or obsidian for emergency cutting and/or surgery. (Several years ago a couple of scientists used an electron microscope to examine the edges of flint, obsidian and a scalpel blade. Under severe magnification both flint & obsidian edges were smooth, whereas the surgical scalpel looked "like a saw blade.") A little practice will teach you how to knap a fine, thin cutting edge.   7. One of the most useful skills you can teach yourself is basic cordage making. I mean, you can carry 6 jillion feet of paracord wrapped around everything in your entire kit, plus both arms and legs and eventually you'll still run out or it will otherwise be rendered untenable. BUT if you learn (and practice!) making cordage from natural materials, it will always be available.   8. Tapping hardwood nut & fruit trees like black walnut, pecan, hickory, cherry, apple, sassafras and maple is a good way to secure nutritious, delicious & PURE source of hydration. Tapping evergreens like pine & cedar will render a supply of natural sealant. In this part of the country where river cane (bamboo) is readily available simply cut a short piece (2-3 inches long and up to 3/8" in diameter) cut or taper both ends of the cane at roughly 45 - 60 degrees - this is your "spile." 2. Whittle another 3-5 inch stick to a sharp point. 3. Take the point of your knife and "drill" a small hole roughly 1/2 inch into the bark about waist level. Pound your sharpened stick tightly into the hole you've just created. This will give you something to hang your collection vessel from. 4. Using your knife "drill" another hole about 3-5 inches below your peg at a slight upward angle, making sure to go completely through both outer and inner bark. 5. Very carefully work your sharpened (and hollowed) bamboo piece into the bottom hole. 6. Hang your collection vessel from the top peg and check twice daily for several days. Depending upon the time of year the yield will vary, but other than straining bugs or other debris, no processing is necessary. (7. An alternate collection method is to fit a length of surgical tubing into the end of the bamboo spile and run it into a one or two liter bottle. If you cut or drill a hole into the cap of the bottle the same diameter as the tubing, then run the tubing through the cap, you can completely eliminate the need for straining or otherwise purifying.)   Hope some of these "odd" tips help.   :hat:

1. A non-lubricated condom inserted into a sock then filled with water makes a passable field expedient canteen.   2. Learn everything you possibly can about cattails - there's a reason they're called "Nature's Grocery Store." (Not an "odd" tip, just an extremely useful one!)   3. Nearly every fur bearing animal and six-legged insect is edible.   4. When camping in bear country with the O.P., always carry a pair of track shoes, keeping in mind that in a close encounter, outrunning bears is not nearly as important as outrunning Spots.   :whistle:

Lots of good advice here and I'll agree with everyone else on brass vs. steel frame. (Shoot it, but keep the loads light.)   Since I hunt with my '58 Remington Buffalo (14"bbl), I use 35 grains fffG Goex and forgo the cornmeal, cream of wheat, etc... and use a pre-lubed felt wad. In a bad pinch you can also use a small chunk of <paper> wasp nest lubed with any number of oils and/or greases, both natural & synthetic. (Either way, it's no where near as messy or time consuming as Crisco.)

I carry a gun because pointing my finger and shouting "BANG! BANG!" isn't near as effective as it was when I was 8...

I carry my keys because I failed Hot Wiring 101...

Might not be up for all week, but it sounds like fun. All depends upon finances and whether or not I've been able to throw away the crutches by then.

    Wow, kind words indeed! Heck, I was impressed that ya'll were polite enough to pretend to be interested the whole time I was flappin' my lips! :rofl:  (Just kidding!)   Hopefully next time I won't have to shag out in the middle of the afternoon and can stick around long enough to earn a new award - Snoremaster!   On a serious note, many, MANY thanks to BBS for putting this together and even more thanks to those who were able to make it out - it was the most fun I've had in a long, loooong time!   :up:  :hat:  :cheers:     ...TS...

Enjoyed it immensely and it was good meeting and talking with those who could make it. Wish I could've stayed past mid-afternoon yesterday, but maybe next time. Hopefully by then I'll have thrown away my crutches and will once again be walking the walk (or at least hobbling the walk) instead of sitting on my kiester & flapping my lips.   Thanks much to everyone for doing their best to keep me from getting tangled up and falling on my butt. :up:  :cheers:   ...TS...

Looks like I'm going to have to pass after all... :-\ 

I like the message, but having been into muzzle loaders and American history for so long and so hard, rather than the Gangster (which practically screams to me, "Come on over and slap the sh*t out of me because I talk loud, but don't have the **** to back it up.") I'd like to see a somewhat understated Mountaineer type gentleman with a full stock flintlock complete w/shooting bag and powder horn.   ...TS...

  Thanks Gordon, might have to give you a holler some time in the not too distant future.   Starting today the boredom may be a little easier to take because I think my lovely wife might let me start driving on my own again. I'm still pretty weak, so I can't get far on my crutches, but if I can get the oomph to load my wheelchair in the pickup, man I can sure burn up Wally World! :lol:

  Speakin' of a pimp limp... When you comin' by again? :P

Quick update: Went back to the orthopedic surgeon today and everything is looking great! (If you'll excuse the fact that I'll never bend my ankle again and might kinda' sorta have to re-learn how to walk.) Anyway, all the pins, screws, titanium rod and bone fusion looked quite good on the x-rays. I go back to see him in four weeks and might actually get to start putting weight on it at that time.   Got another appointment with the plastic surgeon a week from this Thursday and I'm guessing that if the graft looks good enough to him at that point, then I might be able to throw the ace bandage away and start wearing a regular sock - although it'll be another 2 to 6 months before the swelling will go down enough to wear a regular shoe or boot.   So, all in all, I'm pretty damn tickled that things are going great even if I get a little frustrated at not being able to do much yet.   ...TS...