Smaug's Den

[Smaug]

Has the troop decided where they are going for summer camp?

Camp Makajawan, which is somewhere in Wisconsin about 6 hours from Chicago. I've never been there before.

[WoodsDuck]

Has the troop decided where they are going for summer camp?

Camp Makajawan, which is somewhere in Wisconsin about 6 hours from Chicago. I've never been there before.

Spring-fed lake, huh? Sounds nice 

[Smaug]

I have a colleague, an electrical technician who lost his MP400 at home or to the TSA some time in the last couple months. It was his constant companion. Being the MT addict that I am decided to use this opportunity to have him field test some of my MTs that aren't getting used a lot.

The first one I loaned him was the Wave. He doesn't like it either. Pliers are too hard to deploy and open with one hand. He felt like it was too heavy in the pocket. He is convinced pouches are junk, since his MP400 ate through about 3 of them. I tried telling him it's only Gerbers that do that, but he's not having it.

He saw me using the Gerber MP600 Pro Scout, and wanted to borrow that one, and I told him: "Nope, this is my work MT. But I'll bring another one for you to try tomorrow." He said: "That's OK Jeremy. Let me know 6 months from now when you get sick of it, and I'll buy it offa you then.  " (he knows me too well)

So today, I brought him the SOG Powerlock. It has the one-handed plier deployment of the Gerber, but with a bit better finish and a much stronger pliers. He feels like it's lighter than the Wave, but I kind of doubt it. Being an electrical guy like me, he also liked the crimper. I'm going to let him borrow it for a week, and if he really likes it, I'll offer it to him at a reasonable price. (and replace it with the scissors version for myself at some future point)

[Smaug]

Some of my recent pix:

A girl who doesn't want to go for a walk:



I liked the lines and contrast in this scene:



An owl I saw while hiking:

[Smaug]

More:

My wife, while out on that hike:



log cabin in the woods, wife in foreground:

[Smaug]

I found my dedicated fruit knife missing from my desk drawer at work. Ivy had come and stolen it, and taken it for her own.

When I challenged her about it, she said: "What's yours is mine." But she had a guilty look.

She gave me SO much guff about being picky with how knives are treated, but now, she has gotten used to working with a sharp knife and is all too anxious to take them.

I guess I will just buy a new one, sharpen it up, and replace it.

[sLaughterMed]

I found my dedicated fruit knife missing from my desk drawer at work. Ivy had come and stolen it, and taken it for her own.

When I challenged her about it, she said: "What's yours is mine." But she had a guilty look.

She gave me SO much guff about being picky with how knives are treated, but now, she has gotten used to working with a sharp knife and is all too anxious to take them.

I guess I will just buy a new one, sharpen it up, and replace it.

That's pretty rude. Why do people think its ok to do stuff like that?

[NKlamerus]

Update?

[WoodsDuck]

I found my dedicated fruit knife missing from my desk drawer at work. Ivy had come and stolen it, and taken it for her own.

When I challenged her about it, she said: "What's yours is mine." But she had a guilty look.

She gave me SO much guff about being picky with how knives are treated, but now, she has gotten used to working with a sharp knife and is all too anxious to take them.

I guess I will just buy a new one, sharpen it up, and replace it.

That's pretty rude. Why do people think its ok to do stuff like that?

Often enough it's because nobody ever put a stop to it. Some people will do whatever they please if it's been proven they can get away with it.
Personally, I've given out roughly a dozen knives and tools in the past few months alone, but still everyone who knows me also knows they can't take liberties with my belongings.

It's up to each of us to let others know where our personal boundaries lie.

[Smaug]

Well guys, here's the long-awaited update. I know you've all been worrying about me, eh?

I got my fruit knife back from my wife; enforced the boundary. Do you know how? Turnabout, that's how. She has a little Toyota Prius C that she just loves. I love it too. So whenever I need a car for some around town errands, I take it. She says: "You took my car?" I correct her: "OUR car. What's yours is mine, remember?  "  and other things like this. Suddenly, my knife is safe, except by special permission.

I haven't been posting much. But we finally moved out from our little apartment and bought a house. The previous owners were Korean doctors. They think they are smarter than they are, because they have made a real mess of some things, and hidden some things for me to discover later. The dining room is an addition (beware of additions, if you're buying a house, because they are often not built to code) and it has a nice big skylight, which lets natural light down on the dining room table during the day.

But #1, it is not insulated and is a single pane plastic dome. #2, they tried to seal it up with silicone caulk. The thing is that the roof on the addition is flat. Flat roofs always leak, it is only a matter of when. So 2 weeks after we bought the house, we had a hell of a thunderstorm, and it leaked. The ROOF leaked, but around the skylight. So they thought they could seal up the skylight and mask the problem. Lucky for them, it had not been raining when we were looking at the place. But now, I see that we need to replace the stupid flat roof with a pitched roof, so water drains properly. And we are thinking of whether to have a skylight in that roof. We like the light, but it is a hassle, down the road... The handyman quoted us $2k to replace the roof.

Do you know what else I found in this house? The electrical wiring in the garage was terrible. I'm an electrical engineer, but don't know about bending conduit. Also, I'm about out of vacation. So I hired a nice electrician to fix the garage wiring and several other sloppy electrical issues. He re-wired the garage and installed 6 LED light fixtures. It will be my workshop later.

Yesterday, I replaced the hose on the output of the dryer. It had some gray junk on it. It seems the previous owner taped the power cord from the washing machine onto the hot exhaust hose from the dryer, with regular plastic duct tape. Of course, it melted and left a huge mess. I took that off and replaced it. Cleaned out the dryer lint from the duct as far as I could reach with a coat hanger. Replaced the house with a new one. (which I cut with my Spirit X)

The range hood was not ducted outside, and predictably, the switches were all gummed up with 20 years' worth of cooking grease. So today, I had an HVAC technician come and install ducting through the cabinet and out the roof. I had the new range hood there with him. He saw the instructions. But somehow, he still installed the wrong ducting: 6" diameter, instead of 7", to match the new range hood. So now, we don't have a range hood for my wife's stir fry. (she's Chinese, so that's almost every day) DAMMIT. I have to call them back to ask them to install the correct 7" ducting. I have a feeling they will fit an adapter, and neck it down to 6" to fit the ducting that is already there. (thus lowering my exhaust airflow) I'm not happy. I hired the professionals because I wanted it done better than I could do it, not sloppy.

I hope the plumber is better than this. It is getting quite hard to find competent tradesmen in the USA. The electrician was quite good, but he is at least 60 years old. Not sloppy like these young guys.

On a different note, now that I'm a homeowner, I'm using the plier-based MTs more than I ever did in the past 5 years. Classic on my keys for T&T, but the Spirit X is always on my belt when I'm off duty. My trusty Gerber MP600 Pro Scout would not have cut muster, because its Phillips is not long enough.

[Smaug]

"Fat Birds are Easy Prey"

Thinking of our buddy Crow, here is a guy from his area of the world, who "hunts" birds called fulmars. We would call them 'seagulls' in the US. How does he "hunt" them? With a net in a motorboat. They are too fat to fly!

Then what? He pulls off their heads, in a special way that takes the esophagus and stomach with it, so the bile comes with it and they are easier to clean. Next? Up to the hills to pick some wild potatoes to go with the birds for dinner. Yum!

[Crow]

What, you got hungry and thought i would make nice dinner?

Nice to see ya buddy.

[Aloha]

Good to see you checking in  .  Congrats on the house as well. 

[sLaughterMed]

Hey Smaug, long time no see. Congratulations on the new house, although it stinks you are having so much trouble with it. Still, at least you have an excuse for using your multitool...

Maybe its time to consider an MP600 Sight Tool, with its extra long Phillips driver. Ive had my eye out for a cheapie on ebay, but so far no luck.

[Smaug]

Ah, it's no biggie. Buying a 60 year old house in this neighborhood, I expected to have to fix some things. (the neighborhood is quite expensive, we couldn't afford a house with no problems)

Today, we unpacked a bunch more boxes. I moved the gun cabinet down to the basement, bolted it to the wall, and moved my guns in. Put together another storage rack for the man cave, fixed a shelf (with the table saw), re-assembled a click bed, and fondly fondled my airguns for the first time in 3 years. My favorite is probably the Benjamin Marauder, in .177.

I pumped it up, loaded a magazine with the 10.5 gr. Crosman Premiers, and propped it in the corner of the breezeway connecting the house to garage. Each time I walked to the breezeway or garage for another load of stuff to bring in, I glanced out in the yard.

I saw a European Starling, which are invasive here and drive away our native songbirds. So he got a pellet. Sadly, I just broke his wing and knocked him down, and he got away and probably died in the weeds or something.

A bit later, I saw a chipmunk; they seem to be breeding under the front steps. He got a pellet through the chest and only got a couple steps away before falling over. Threw him into the weeds for the raccoons to get tonight. (I know we have raccoons too, because they're pooping in the yard; big poops full of mulberry seeds)

Then, during dinner (Ivy made ox bone soup) I saw a squirrel out there, eating mulberries. I went down to the breezeway, got the Marauder and slid the door open as quietly as I could. She noticed me though, and went back to the tree. She climbed up maybe 6 ft, and watched me from the crook of a branch as she ate the mulberries from her cheek. I shot her through the chest; she jumped up and out probably 4 ft. high, and belly-flopped on the lawn. Started to run back and climb up the tree, but she fell off and expired on the lawn. Turns out the pellet went right through the ribcage and both lungs, but missed the heart. (their hearts are tiny; about the size of your pinky fingernail) Got her skinned and gutted. Found a YouTube video which promised to teach me how to cook her so she's tender instead of tough. So here she is in the pot, simmering away for over 45 minutes. Tomorrow, I'll season her up and pan fry her.

The Leatherman Skeletool helped to skin her. I used a paring knife inside, but forgot it when I went outside to pull the skin off. Skeletool finished the job.

[Smaug]

Today is my wife's birthday.

As a special treat, I cooked squirrels for us. 

One was marinated in homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing for a day, then seared on the skillet, then baked in the oven at 325°F for 25 minutes while wrapped in foil. The other was boiled for 45 minutes, then pan fried. The marinated one was definitely the best.

Pic1, you can see the male before cleaning. He took his pellet right in the head.

Pic2, in the frying pan.

Pic3, ready for our bellies!

[sLaughterMed]

Ooo yummy

Although if I made squirrel for my wifes birthday, if get a nice on the head, regardless of how good it was!

[Smaug]

Ooo yummy

Although if I made squirrel for my wifes birthday, if get a nice on the head, regardless of how good it was!

I'm lucky my wife came from rural China, where they understand that killing animals is part of eating meat. She was a little disgusted by the skinning and cleaning though. To her, cleaning fish or chicken is normal. Mammals though, came to her pre-cleaned.

Western women react like your wife would. One time, I got a rabbit from the backyard before my ex-wife got home from work. It was cooking on the grill when she got home, and the conversation ran like this:

Her: MMmm, that smells good. What is it, chicken?
Me: Nope.
Her: Pork?
Me: Nope.
Her: What, then?
Me: Rabbit
Her: Oh, you got one at the grocery store?
Me: Nope.
Her: Where then, butcher?
Me: Backyard, with the pellet rifle.
Her: Unbelievable. What's the matter with you?!
Me: Meat always comes to us from an animal. The only difference is wither it's farmed or wild, killed and cleaned by someone else or by us.
Her: Whatever. I'll eat out tonight.

She officially wrote me off as crazy at that point.

My wife now thought it was crazy when I stopped what I was doing when I saw them in the backyard to go pop them with the air rifle. Same when I was cleaning it and preparing it. Then, when we ate it, and it was just like slightly tough but much fresher chicken, she was onboard. Still, I don't know if she'll tell her friends about it, hehehe.

[Aloha]

Its great that you can harvest meat from your back yard.  Better even that your wife enjoys it.  I'm ignorant and would worry that squirrels or rabbits running about in the yard wouldn't be disease free.  I think its pretty freaking awesome regardless.   

[Smaug]

Explorer+ is helping to prepare limes to go with tequila and a movie

[Smaug]

Well, today my wife and son went on vacation without me, to New York City and Boston.

My ex-wife has my daughter in Disneyland.

Meanwhile, I'm at home alone, getting some much-needed peace and quiet.

[graphic warning]

Another squirrel decided to try to claim the prime territory that is the mulberry tree in my back yard. Wo unto him, for my Marauder was close at hand. I managed to put a pellet through his head.

This time, I decided to skin him with my Explorer+. One squirrel though, is not enough for the Crock Pot, so he's chillin' out in the freezer now.






I only made the last cut with this dull carving knife, as my hands were all covered in fur, guts and squirrel testicles.Here's the pellet that did the work; a 10.5 gr. Crosman Premier Heavy. It entered just below his left eye, after which it traversed his head and shoulder, and it came to rest just below the skin on the shoulder.



Aloha, yes, that's how I see it. I pay so much for this land, which happens to be a habitat for squirrels. I can pop some of them and eat them up, and also pop all the invasive pest birds. It is paying off now too, because today, I noticed that the mulberry tree is full of native songbirds! Cardinals, woodpeckers, robins, and this one bird I previously thought was a female cardinal, but is actually some kind of nuthatch or something. The fledgling robins are out now; second batch of the summer.

I don't think I ever showed you guys a pic of my top airgun, the Benjamin Marauder, in .177 caliber. I have a custom stock on it.

[Aloha]

Nice looking air riffle.  I love that you can harvest meat from your property.  The squirrel meat looks really nice.  I'd imagine the long cooking times would be needed for such muscle the squirrel has. 

Any comparisons as to the taste of squirrel meat? 

[Crow]

That is beautiful rifle indeed. I would love to see pictures of your backyard. Any neighbours close by?

[Smaug]

Nice looking air riffle.  I love that you can harvest meat from your property.  The squirrel meat looks really nice.  I'd imagine the long cooking times would be needed for such muscle the squirrel has. 

Any comparisons as to the taste of squirrel meat?

It's like chicken dark meat, but a little tougher. It has that wild meat flavor, ("gamey")which is a little stronger too. I like that.

As for cooking, I tried one time boiling one for 45 minutes, then pan frying; that was pretty good.

A couple times, I marinated in the fridge for a couple days, then browned on the skillet, then oven baked in foil for 30 minutes at 350°F. (177°C) That was even better.

This time, on the advice of some guys from an airgun forum, I'm going to try searing them in the skillet with bacon grease, then cook in the Crock Pot with vegetables and cream of mushroom soup on low all day. I've got two in the freezer now, When I get a third one, there should be enough for a big Crock Pot full.

Next time, maybe make a soup in the pressure cooker? A colleague told me: "that'll do it. Heck, even the BONES get soft in the pressure cooker!"

I get the squirrels because that's what I have. I wish like crazy I had rabbits instead, as their meat is better, they're easier to skin, and also not as hard to kill as squirrels.

[Smaug]

That is beautiful rifle indeed. I would love to see pictures of your backyard. Any neighbours close by?

I'll post a couple pix later.

Well, it depends on what you mean by "close by" The neighbors' houses behind me are probably 80+ yards away  ...but this rifle has a moderator and is as quiet as a mouse fart. No sonic boom to give it away, since the pellets only travel at 875 ft/sec. (267 m/sec)   [the speed of sound is 340 m/sec or 1125 ft/sec] So I try to pick my shots carefully: ground as a backstop, tree trunk as a back stop, very high angles, or a long distance and lots of bushes. I've shot one or two squirrels while the next door neighbors were in their back yard with guests, retrieved the body and they didn't even notice!

The neighbors on the other side of me and in the three houses behind me never seem to go outside, and there are a lot of thick bushes between us, too.

[G-Dizzle]

Well, today my wife and son went on vacation without me, to New York City and Boston.

My ex-wife has my daughter in Disneyland.

Meanwhile, I'm at home alone, getting some much-needed peace and quiet.

[graphic warning]

Another squirrel decided to try to claim the prime territory that is the mulberry tree in my back yard. Wo unto him, for my Marauder was close at hand. I managed to put a pellet through his head.

This time, I decided to skin him with my Explorer+. One squirrel though, is not enough for the Crock Pot, so he's chillin' out in the freezer now.






I only made the last cut with this dull carving knife, as my hands were all covered in fur, guts and squirrel testicles.Here's the pellet that did the work; a 10.5 gr. Crosman Premier Heavy. It entered just below his left eye, after which it traversed his head and shoulder, and it came to rest just below the skin on the shoulder.



Aloha, yes, that's how I see it. I pay so much for this land, which happens to be a habitat for squirrels. I can pop some of them and eat them up, and also pop all the invasive pest birds. It is paying off now too, because today, I noticed that the mulberry tree is full of native songbirds! Cardinals, woodpeckers, robins, and this one bird I previously thought was a female cardinal, but is actually some kind of nuthatch or something. The fledgling robins are out now; second batch of the summer.

I don't think I ever showed you guys a pic of my top airgun, the Benjamin Marauder, in .177 caliber. I have a custom stock on it.

I have always skinned my squirrels/rabbits/deer/anything else with a fixed blade for fear that I will get gunk all in the moving parts of a folder and never get it to work the same. Since you've obviously used an SAK for skinning what are your thoughts on this?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WoodsDuck]

Well, today my wife and son went on vacation without me, to New York City and Boston.

My ex-wife has my daughter in Disneyland.

Meanwhile, I'm at home alone, getting some much-needed peace and quiet.

[graphic warning]

Another squirrel decided to try to claim the prime territory that is the mulberry tree in my back yard. Wo unto him, for my Marauder was close at hand. I managed to put a pellet through his head.

This time, I decided to skin him with my Explorer+. One squirrel though, is not enough for the Crock Pot, so he's chillin' out in the freezer now.






I only made the last cut with this dull carving knife, as my hands were all covered in fur, guts and squirrel testicles.Here's the pellet that did the work; a 10.5 gr. Crosman Premier Heavy. It entered just below his left eye, after which it traversed his head and shoulder, and it came to rest just below the skin on the shoulder.



Aloha, yes, that's how I see it. I pay so much for this land, which happens to be a habitat for squirrels. I can pop some of them and eat them up, and also pop all the invasive pest birds. It is paying off now too, because today, I noticed that the mulberry tree is full of native songbirds! Cardinals, woodpeckers, robins, and this one bird I previously thought was a female cardinal, but is actually some kind of nuthatch or something. The fledgling robins are out now; second batch of the summer.

I don't think I ever showed you guys a pic of my top airgun, the Benjamin Marauder, in .177 caliber. I have a custom stock on it.

I have always skinned my squirrels/rabbits/deer/anything else with a fixed blade for fear that I will get gunk all in the moving parts of a folder and never get it to work the same. Since you've obviously used an SAK for skinning what are your thoughts on this?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know it's not as complex as a SAK, (and you didn't ask me  ) but my uncle has used a Buck 110 as his hunting knife for decades. It's dressed countless animals, including many deer. I think as long as you take the time to do a bit of cleaning after, and the knife is of any decent quality, you'll have no worries. A SAK sure doesn't break down easily, I'll say that. You should have seen the condition of a few used ones I picked up and restored to practically brand new.

[G-Dizzle]

Well, today my wife and son went on vacation without me, to New York City and Boston.

My ex-wife has my daughter in Disneyland.

Meanwhile, I'm at home alone, getting some much-needed peace and quiet.

[graphic warning]

Another squirrel decided to try to claim the prime territory that is the mulberry tree in my back yard. Wo unto him, for my Marauder was close at hand. I managed to put a pellet through his head.

This time, I decided to skin him with my Explorer+. One squirrel though, is not enough for the Crock Pot, so he's chillin' out in the freezer now.






I only made the last cut with this dull carving knife, as my hands were all covered in fur, guts and squirrel testicles.Here's the pellet that did the work; a 10.5 gr. Crosman Premier Heavy. It entered just below his left eye, after which it traversed his head and shoulder, and it came to rest just below the skin on the shoulder.



Aloha, yes, that's how I see it. I pay so much for this land, which happens to be a habitat for squirrels. I can pop some of them and eat them up, and also pop all the invasive pest birds. It is paying off now too, because today, I noticed that the mulberry tree is full of native songbirds! Cardinals, woodpeckers, robins, and this one bird I previously thought was a female cardinal, but is actually some kind of nuthatch or something. The fledgling robins are out now; second batch of the summer.

I don't think I ever showed you guys a pic of my top airgun, the Benjamin Marauder, in .177 caliber. I have a custom stock on it.

I have always skinned my squirrels/rabbits/deer/anything else with a fixed blade for fear that I will get gunk all in the moving parts of a folder and never get it to work the same. Since you've obviously used an SAK for skinning what are your thoughts on this?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know it's not as complex as a SAK, (and you didn't ask me  ) but my uncle has used a Buck 110 as his hunting knife for decades. It's dressed countless animals, including many deer. I think as long as you take the time to do a bit of cleaning after, and the knife is of any decent quality, you'll have no worries. A SAK sure doesn't break down easily, I'll say that. You should have seen the condition of a few used ones I picked up and restored to practically brand new.

Thanks for the input! I will have to give it a try!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Smaug]

I have always skinned my squirrels/rabbits/deer/anything else with a fixed blade for fear that I will get gunk all in the moving parts of a folder and never get it to work the same. Since you've obviously used an SAK for skinning what are your thoughts on this?

Well, a fixed blade is ideal, but gunking up a folder isn't the end of the world either, as long as you clean it up right away. Especially this TRULY stainless steel used on the SAKs; it cleans up easily. Rinse it in hot water, then open and close it under soapy water a few times. Use the toothpick to get any stubborn bits out.

There are really no deep cuts that need to be made when skinning an animal, right? What's needed is a razor sharp blade between 2 and 3".

[Smaug]

That is beautiful rifle indeed. I would love to see pictures of your backyard. Any neighbours close by?

Here are a couple of shots of my backyard. (only a month after requested, hehehe) In one, you can see the mulberry tree in the middle of the frame. The other is looking back at the house from the back corner of the yard.

I've gotten about 6 more squirrels since that last pic was taken. Empty territory is like a magnet to them. After a drill a couple of them, I'll got a week or so without seeing any, then all of a sudden there are three more. The best-cooked ones yet were ones my wife cooked in the pressure cooker.

Here are a couple videos of the shots on the squirrels: (graphic)



Slo-mo shots:




I've got three more marinating now, which I plan to either grill or pressure cook.

*********

Crow, I just read a recent article that talks of Teflon coating being linked to cancer. There was mention of this maybe 10 years ago, but now that I see it mentioned again, the last two of my Teflon-coated pots are going to have to go: a 3 qt. saucepan and a 5 qt. soup pot. The 5 qt. soup pot will be replaced by a 5 qt. cast iron dutch oven:



The 3 qt. saucepan, I'm going to just ask her to use our 4 qt. Presto pressure cooker for now, and if she really misses that pot, I'll get her another one.