Work Tools
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| Knife Porn at its finest I don’t have one (can’t afford it), but they call it the “White Wolf Bowie” |
When I think about stuff that I want…and trust me, I’m materialistic, I look a this sort of thing and frankly, it makes me want to put an apron on and forge stuff, swinging that hammer! If you go to the website, and drift to products, and from there to axes – the Finnish Forest Axe and Finnish Splitting Maul are two that I have my eye on. Yes, they’re expensive tools, which is why I don’t own any. I would like to (fantasy) think that I could make the tools myself. Maybe if I had that level of shop? Who knows? But this company is all about serious craftsmanship.
I own far less expensive axes, hatchets, tomahawks, mauls, splitting wedges, etc. in inventory at the house (or packed into go-kits for specific jobs), but there is something in the craftsmanship that goes into Neeman’s tools that makes them appealing.
Small Stoves
It’s much the same when I am looking for a stove to put into an out-building on the White Wolf Mining property where I want to do my writing, art and other projects. The house is fine but it’s not a place for creating. And in the barn, or whatever you want to call it, down property on the rimrock and near the game trail, I need a proper stove to cook snacks and keep the place warm. It needs to be small, functional and rugged.
A ship’s stove is just the right size to heat a hundred or so square feet of workspace, and it has to be able to handle either coal or wood. It also needs that authentic feel of weight and strength so that it will blend with the setting.
The small oven is perfect for baking small loaves of bread/biscuit and what’s not to love about the smell and taste of freshly baked bread (with butter and honey on it) – when you’re in the mountains and have worked up an appetite.
Self Defense
I recently added a new handgun to inventory. It’s the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan in .454 Casull/.45 Colt. There are those among you who may feel that shooting the .454 Casull cartridge from a handgun with a 2.5 inch barrel borders on the insane, but having done my research, it’s the most pistol for its size for an every-day carry perspective (living on the Mogollon Rim) where bear can be confronted accidentally. Living in a house in the mountains with few others around, the smells of cooking and garbage sometimes brings in an unexpected guest. Some people suggest shouting at a bear or carrying chemical spray to try and dissuade them as they are coming at you to maul you and rip you limb-from-limb. Others like the idea of sitting next to a wild grizz. I take a different approach…and there’s nothing wrong with a bear skin rug in front of the fireplace either. Some suggest wearing the bear skin to keep out the cold, but that is a bit rustic for me.
(LSP – the recoil is roughly the same as shooting the .460 V [.460 S & W Magnum], but the frame is smaller and it’s lighter and smaller for every-day carry. In the video, below, there is a lot of whining about recoil, but you’ve fired the .460 and it packs a larger punch than the .454 Casull.)
Melon Popping with the .454 Casull cartridge.
Bowling Ball Popping with the Super Redhawk Alaskan
Destroying Masonry – for a small handgun with a 2.5″ barrel, it does pack a punch, possibly also effective against zombies who take cover behind a block wall.
I’m carrying the Hornady .454 Casull with 240gr JHP bullets, which is a lighter round with somewhat less recoil than the larger 400gr “DT” bullet options that are optimal against a grizzly bear. (there are black bear in the AZ mountains, not grizz.)
The handgun will chamber .45 Colt, .45 Schofield (.45 S&W) and .454 Casull. The .45 Colt cartridge offers a lighter option for range day and getting a feel for the firearm, but the point of impact is different (beyond point-blank range) than the .454 Casull.
Some people prefer a lower power semi-auto, citing the number of rounds. (me too at times)
Speed is fine. Accuracy is final. Pop the melon. Pulp and splatter it…
No self respecting zombie would take cover behind a masonry wall. Zombies have no need for cover. They don't care whether they get shot or not. All they want is to eat your brains, that's it.
Cover? Nope. Not in the zombie play book.
Television zombies differ from the inner city zombies, who do take cover behind masonry.
I started shooting the .454 Casull back in the late '60s or early '70s. All the guns were custom; and the only reloading information came from the "factory". About half of the loads were Duplex and Triplex loads (compressed loads of either two or three different powders). I don't think the loads in manuals include those any more. They were some real stompers, though.
Ho, ho, ho! The Ruger Alaskan. That's cheered me right up.
Nice bit of kit.
You need a fast burning powder when you're going to shoot it from a 2.5 inch barrel. I have not hand loaded the Casull (yet), but realize that most of the powder is going out the barrel no matter what. During the daytime it's not so much of a problem, but at night, the cylinder flash and muzzle flash would be an issue. My carry philosophy with this handgun is for use in the high mountains as a strictly point defensive weapon – generally in daylight hours.
It will pulp a melon, and will give a bear pause.
Guess I need to trashcan that Halloween gag plan of dressing up like a bear and hiding in your bougainvillea bushes. Maybe I could hide behind the Diavel…
The Diavel is indoors…and if you get that far and haven't been destroyed by fiendish devices, then I've failed miserably. The bear thing would work for a moment (think of the melon). Best stick to being the Grunt of Monte Cristo.
Ooh, a creation barn with a proper little stove. I’d never be out of a place like that.
You can’t go killing grizzly bears and making mats out of them. You’ll be on the news and receiving hate messages on Twitter if you do that. Better to make friends with one and use it as a vicious, guard bear.
Definitely. Good buy.
Nice knife!
It would be a Harambe story that never makes the news. No memes, nothing. Just a loud bang or two in the woods and then silence as the skinning knife goes to work.
I need a creative little space for my crafts (making war clubs and so forth) and it needs to be warm in the winter.
No kidding. But they are too expensive.
Maybe you can hit up Bill to buy one for me.
You can shoot it when you come up to visit the White Wolf Mine.
Being of limited means, I'll keep carrying the same Charter Arms Bulldog .44 I've carried for three decades. Once performed well on a crippled bull elk hit by a tourist in an RV. Unfortunate I didn't get to try it on the tourist.
The Charter Arms .44 Special 5-Shot revolver is a classic. It's much like the Alaskan in that it's small and packs a very healthy punch.
luckygunner.com sells Hornady .44 Special with 165 Grain FTX and 180 Grain FTX if you're looking for factory ammo.
One point of digression… It's black strap molasses, not honey on biscuits… 🙂 Re the .454, I'll stick with my .44mag, thank you very much! 😀
I like molasses too.
Hummmmmm . . .
I think I'll stick with my Astra Terminator
in ,41 Mag. for a walk-around gun
I had a casull with a 4.5 inch barrel a few years ago. I used 300 gr. lead fn bullets at just under 1000fps. They didn't expand, but penetrated a long ways. They were reasonable in the recoil department too.
I shot an inner city person who was shooting at me with an Astra Terminator (in .41 Magnum) in 1983 in Anaheim, CA. I was a better shot than he was.
That's no reflection on the weapon or your choice to carry it – again, speed is fine and accuracy is final.
I prefer the lighter bullets primarily because they'll do the job without the need for penetration, however in my ammo stack on .45 autos magazines, I routinely put two or three steel core rounds at the bottom in the event that somebody takes cover behind something that I may choose to shoot through.
Face it. You're addicted to weapon porn. As am I.
I can't help it, Doctor.
I'll call you later today.
It does a fine job o ghetto apes, doesn;t it?
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