The past week, had a few things to do like preps, tomahawk review, day trip to the mountains, and setting up tree stand.

    The past week has been busy with work and other stuff. Since last Monday, when I had a day off with Columbus Day, JUGM and I did a few things that day to add to our preps. JUGM found a person locally that was selling some 55 gallon plastic drums and 15 gallon buckets. Drums were $12 a piece and 15 gallon buckets were $5 each so I managed to get 2 drums and 4 buckets, y'all do the math. I really like the lids and handles on these buckets. The drums had soybean oil in them and with 3 squirts of Dawn Commercial concentrated and filling them 1/4 full, I had the kids roll them around the yard and flipping them end over end to get all the oil out of them. I opened up both bung holes and flushed all the suds out and they are clean as a whistle. I will be purchasing more in the near future as after asking some question from the seller, his wife works at a local business that makes pharmaceutical products. Yes, we also canned 10 quarts of potatoes which she had showed us running two canner's at the same time on the new two burner propane set-up on her blog.

   BTW, he also has pre-plumbed 100 gallon starter tanks for starting my catfish aquapontics in the spring. The local feed store starts taking orders for fingerling's in march from the local fish hatchery. Yes, I will be diving in during the spring along with raising goats for food and selling.

      Since my last post, I have received my new CRKT WOODS CHOGAN Tomahawk and have had a chance to compare it to my SOG Fusion Tomahawk. Yes, if you saw the pictures from my last post, there are differences in them.

     I really like it, but there are some issues I have with it, so let me start. First and foremost, CRKT, you should be ashamed of yourselves for producing a DULL-ASS Tomahawk. I mean, this thing couldn't even cut a piece of my kids notebook paper when I received it. Every CRKT knife I have bought out-of-the-box was able to shave the hair of my arm, so what happened with introducing this product? Secondly, I really think you put too much clear lacquer finish on the handle. There is a good size blob of it under the wooden handle which to me makes the handle very slippery in a dry condition, would hate to see how it is wet. Third, where is a lanyard hole to add a para-cord lanyard?
    So what have I done with it so far. I have since sharpened it with a metal file and sharpening stone. I have drilled a hole in the handle to attach a lanyard. I will be sanding the handle down to remove the lacquer and added some kind of abrasive, maybe some grip tape found on a skate boards so I can grip the thing. Using the Tomahawk for tasks associated with a survival situation, it does the job. It will chop through stuff with ease, after you sharpen it up. It is heavier than the SOG Fusion Tomahawk so it does add more force. Do I feel it would be a good weapon for a hand-to-hand combat situation, YES, but as far as throwing it, I would be afraid the handle would break. If you need a tool/weapon that is good for setting up camp or driving in tent stakes for your Hennessey Hammock or tent, it will do the job, the SOG Fusion will not be the best option for you.

    Here I did some stump chopping on a tree I had recently cut down that was unsafe and the stump is still real wet. I would have cut it down but, this tree was one that should have been left to someone with insurance. Yeah, it had to be laid down precisely. It was a tall Red Oak that was rotten up to 5 foot in the trunk and leaning toward a power line, so you do the math.....

    This is why I like my SOG Tomahawk. When I carry it around the property, I do this all over the place for practice. When thrown just right, it will make a nice whistling sound going through the air. My youngest ND was behind the camera. Listen to his reaction. GOD, I love being a Dad to kids who love nature and the wild.

    As I had mentioned in the title, we all got up early this morning and headed to Boone, NC. JUGM wanted to see the leaves turning and I wanted to make a visit to my stepfathers' grave as he was a very important part of my life and taught me a lot of life-lessons on being a man. My half brother and I also placed my mom's ashes on his grave as he was the true-love of her life and she always missed him. He also served in the Army during the Korean War, so yes, I had to pay my respect to him.

    After we go back, I took the time to set-up my tree stand above the garden in my eager anticipation of bagging some deer in my garden with the bow. I have spotted some rather large tracks through the garden, specifically around the green beans which we have pulled up on this Saturday as they had nipped the tops off them. As you see, there are a few okra plants left which the leaves have been picked on by the deer and also they have really slowed down on their production as the weather is changing and some collards. Cant do this in a home owners association community.......

  Since I have had a long day, I will sign off for the night. Take care everyone, and keep on preparing for the worst.

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