How'd it go today?

Looks like late spring there, but France is farther north than the much of USA right? It's still dead winter here. Interesting how that works.
Paris is about the same latitude as New york, but thanks to the ocean and the Golf Stream, the climat is much more temperate.

Today job was cancelled, the landscaper went in ER for a kidney stones crisis. Store time for food and gear instead.
 
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Routine day. Laid out some bridge, piles, and stormdrain. I was gonna have an MRE for the lunch, but the bastards didn't put a ration heater in my bag! I wasn't in the mood for frozen chicken chunks, so I ate what I brought. Pretty lame MRE anyway. Had a First Strike bar inside. You could pull your teeth out with those things when they're frozen :^D I have spare ration heaters at home. I'll take one in and hope it still works.
 
Back in the day, I ate a lot of canned food. I remember going on a winter back packing trip in the Adirondacks, mad cold weather at the time. My dinner was frozen, crystalized mac and cheese, I remember I had trouble getting excited about it.
 
I eat a lot of canned soups and stews for lunch in the winter. Bucket truck runs all day and the defroster does a fine job. Now that I’m in a pick up it’s not quite as often but I’ll have someone start it up an hour before I eat or put it in the bucket.
today went well. Hauled a lot of wood across the frozen yard of very nice neighbor. Pretty sure we put 30 miles on the minis today. Talk about mind numbing. Then I took six new climbing lines back to Endor’s for splicing. Ended up staying way past closing hanging out with the owners
 
Made a sheath for my axe tonight. The cheap vinyl one it came with got cut through after I sharpened the axe...

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This is just proof of concept at this point. I drilled 3/4" spruce scrap I milled, then cut the walls out with a knife. I clamped it with my knees, and my eyes suck, so you can see where I drilled through the side. I also drilled too far down one edge. The cord is a piece of elastic from the cargo pocket of some dead ACUs. I'll see how it works out, and what should be changed, and maybe make another one, or maybe not. If this works ok, I'll just use it. I'm not out to win beauty contests or anything. I'll shape it more when I'm bored. Easy to pull a knife out and pass some time.
 
It's actually a hatchet. Appears to be out of stock now...

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRT65C3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got all three tools they sold, this hatchet, a similar one with a full size poll, and a pickaroon. I made a post about them when purchased. I had a feeling they might become unavailable. Not sure why. I'm 95% sure they're made by Adler tool in Germany. I'm unfamiliar with the tools under their own name, but they appeared to cut corners to meet a price point with these, or maybe they're all the same :shrugs: Fully functional, but final finishing leaves a bit to be desired. Nothing someone only mildly skilled can't handle, and worth it to get a German made tool for ~$40

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Side note... Spruce is really fun to work with, and I can see why it's used for musical instruments. The side I misdrilled close to the edge left little stubs to either side, and they're really resonant when you run your finger across them, even with the tiny dimensions I'm dealing with. I bet it would make a really nice mbira. Gonna keep that in mind, and keep my eyes open for parts to use for assembly.
 
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Cheap microwave is handy if you got power, i use a Coleman dual fuel stove a bunch, very cheap to run.
 
I have a little coleman also. I think the generator went up in it. Haven't fooled with it in a long time. I should pull it out and see what it would take to get going. I could make a little wood burner too. I have a truck full of seasoned wood. Wouldn't take much of a fire to heat lunch size portions.
 
Yeah i would cook lunch/dinner on the tailgate all the time. Rides in the back of the truck with the cooler, folds up like a briefcase, uses either straight gas or coleman fuel. I wouldn't backpack with it, but it works great for the truck. I am planning to make a burner thing for my wok, using a 6 inch pipe, torched out to hold a weed burner with a bent shaft (used to preheat pipe welds normally). I'll then be able to cook lunch in about 5 min, like they do at the Chinese restaurants :lol: Another super handy one is the cheap propane grill that uses the little soldering tanks. You can either pipe in adapters to use a full size tank (complete with quick connects) or simply go on Amazon and buy the fitting needed to refill them for 5 bucks. That way you can use the baby tanks for mobility but it won't cost anymore than a normal tank. Brats or burgers right off the grill is a huge morale booster, and keeps people from going out to eat and taking longer.


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Mine's a coleman peak stove. Dunno if they even make them anymore. Single burner dual fuel. I also have a 3 burner coleman, but I think that's coleman fuel only.
 
I can't even remember how old mine is, at least a decade. And it's been outside in the elements for most of that time too. Money very well spent, I'll sometimes cook on it at home too, keeping the smoke out of the house on certain dishes. With the Dutch oven you can even lightly smoke foods, such as queso dip, fish, etc. Put a bit of foil on the bottom, add wood chips, then cook stuff in foil or metal tins. Works great and takes tailgate food to the next level sometimes.
 
Went back over to Endor’s this morning to observe my ropes getting spliced. Forgot he told me he had a class this morning. Guess who became a guest speaker. Basically I was asked to add here and there, offering personal experiences. A few of my guys came in and we did some training with them as well. Needless to say, I was not home by lunch. Ended up home in time to jump in the truck with the wife to drop the kids off so we could hang out with some friends for a few hours. Ended up playing a game called “cards against humanity” I wouldn’t recommend this as a family game night game, but will say for a bunch of adults drinking at a good pace, it’s rather amusing. Now I’m gonna go to bed so I can get up early and run to the store for some flowers or something because I’m a dumbass and forgot about the Hallmark holiday tomorrow.
 
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