torstai 14. lokakuuta 2010

Falls gone,winter ahead. Thoughts and M-65 jacket mod 's.

Ive been going to my friends freetime cabin site,in Kuru,chopping firewood,smoking fish,hunting small game and such and cleaning up his piece of land,as he 's building his own cabin there. A real old time cabin,without electric current plugged in,although he 'll be adding solar power panel to the roof to have some lightning and fridge inside,as his family aint so in to un-electrified lifestyle...at least yet.



I spent just some two days in a row again,chasing birds and rabbits and i got a few too,thats just great,as ive been hearing so much nonsense tales about rifle not being a good hunting method for birds specially,and the only right one would be shotgun.Well i 've got some with bullets now and im happy,more than if i would have got my game with fistful of lead balls flying from shotgun.

We woke up one night and almost started to put on our outdoor clothings as there was a real storm outside,and i got bit worried about trees fallin on top of our trailer,which is there as a cabin,till the right one is ready. And at morning the same frigging wind and snow kept coming,with a finger biting speed. That didnt stop us,and we packed up our packs and guns and drove to the place where we wanted to hunt. And almost immediately after some 5 minutes after landing from my friends 4x4,i stumbled up on bird,tasty birds,and snapped one. All day long we hiked in this area which is pretty much rocky hills or moist swamps. It felt pretty good just walkin there,i wasnt goin to disappoint if i would have gotten witout any catch anyway. We found two old huts and lit up small fires in them,fried some sausage ( our national food,hahaa... ),boiled some coffee and such. The sun was shining,wind was freesing and everything was like it ought to be,good for the soul.

During next weekend i am propably heading back there,to make some fire wood,and just to bathe in sauna,etc. The bird hunting season is gone for me for this year now,and then ill be concentrating on (ice) fishing and rabbit hunting.

And IF i somehow can arrange time and everything,i cave a tiny chance at end of the next week,to head up to Kuusamo area 's,to hunt small game,mostly birds,but thats to see then. I wouldnt mind a small trip up north at all :)

Ive been sewing and stitching a bit,to make a better winter jacket. I got a O.D green Tru-Spe 's M-65 Field Coat,again from Varusteleka and i can tell you that it actually is pretty rugged and nicely done clone of the legendary U.S Army jacket.My girlfriend has an issued,genuide M65,and i compared these two and its pretty acurate. Although...my jacket is missing buttons that attach the hood,into the collar.There are the button holes but no sign of the buttons. And one difference is that originals seem to have waist adjustment with a shoelace type of material,and Tru-Specs have this shocord,flexible stuff. I replaced the flexible cord with Paracord,and sewed on the missing buttons.All the seams in the jacket,including ends of seams are done better than well,and the material seems rugged and authentic too.Overall it feels definetely good product for outdoors activities,as it also comes with removable warm liner so its suits for warm and colder weathers as well. Anyway,i also stitched on two paracord loops,near the wrists of jacket so i can attach my gloves to them,so they wont drop immediately to the pile of snow,if i have to remove gloves,or mittens,to use knife,compass,or to release some bodily fluids. Another small addition was to stitch up this piece of sleeping mattress,about 5 millimeters thick and in about size of 30 x 20 centimeters. I made a waterproof cloth cover for the mattress piece,sewed it in to the lowest seam in the back of the jacket,from its upper side,and this way i have a dry insulated waterproof pad to sit on anywhere.It flips like hinged,inside the jacket,and attaches in to buttons that i stitched inside the jacket. So you can release the buttons and the pad drops down,and hangs there. I saw few years ago a jacket with similar sitting pad, i dont remember the brand or anything but it made sense to me. The last mod this far was to attach a small hidden pocketabove left hip,insid ethe jacket,its sewed from all sides,to prevent it from opening accidentally. So it has to be cut open to reveal the firesteel that i also triple coated with nailpolish to prevent it from getting bad. Along with the firesteel theres a single bladed Wenger folding knife and a button compass. This might be over-reacting i know but what the heck,its still better to carry those than to miss those in after loosing your pack and other gear.

Along with the jacket came a Swiss Army 's surplus canteen with a metal cup.
It holds about one liter,or bit less,has a good seal,and its kind of flat,which it makes it easy to carry in just about any pocket you find.The cup has well made folding wire handles and the bottle fits very snugly in the cup with out any clanking or other irritating noise while carried. This small,lightweight,and dirt cheap piece of gear is something thats very useful,as it offers a good way to collect,purify and carry water,in compact size. I ve encountered some suspicious thoughts about surplus gear,every now and then,and whining about that surplus aint really for hiking,and should be avoided. this sounds only ridicilous in my ears,really. Army gear is in most cases made to last,and and serve you well in the woods,and in surplus shop you wont pay looks and trends and such.Offcourse,surplus is used and sometimes worn a bit but its also pretty cheap at that case.It might be heavier compared to average joes outdoor & sports shop stuff,yes,but its usually the materials,that weight,as its made to last longer in harder enviroments where low weight isnt only goal.Usually (IMO) the lighter it is-more likely ill break it some day.But its just me and my thoughts. I my self wont pay extra for lightweight ever.For bright "happy" colours,i wont open my wallet either.If its compact in size,i might consider it yes indeed. But i just like to melt in the surrounding woods,to camouflage and trust that my gear is built to last. And this always makes someone to see me,and most of my friends as some warcrazy,home Rambo 's,as surplus obviously makes their users look militaristic. And some people just wont accept this,and i just dont get it. Everyone should have freedom to choose,may it be Ultralight packpacking or heavy duty old school rubberboot-guerilla,tubular-frame pack dragging,as long as theyre happy doing it,and there is nothing wrong about doing it this or that way. I try to keep my eyes and ears open,and learn from other hikers,and its nice to argue in relaxed way,about different styles of hiking but hey,if it goes too narrow minded its soooooo much waste of time and oxygen. Some like to go fast,and are taking it as one challenge,againt heart-rate and time spent. Some like to take it slow,enjoy the nice views and carry their favourite heavy books out there,along with cast iron pans and pots.Some like to chew their energy gels in the light of keychain Led-light,some like to chop the fire wood with their own axe,and stare it,while munching their favourite kalakukko. Whats wrong in these different ways....? Nothing,i think,but ive seen this annoying "my UL group sits here,your Heavy gear group sits there,and we keep casting judging looks from group to another" thing happening time after time and kept wondering it. Every man out there,is,still a hiker and outdoorsman,and in my opinion they should try to unite,if not melt into one family,but still,to be bit more open minded and concentrate on our common enemies as companies that waste the land,rape the soil and make out paths shorter day after day,by cutting down every tree they can,to produce profit,at any cost without any worry about our woods,streams,lakes,flora and fauna.

Theyre something to judge and investigate,not that man in different outfit & gear.

This leads my thoughts to this one thing......I 've understood that theres speeches and plans made,to put up a payment,that you should,or must pay,to use our every-mans-right cabins. This far ive used them quite a lot,and i think theyre already maintained well,by taxing this nation. Theres whole lot of discussion and fight,among hikers,offending this future plan. I understand that as theyre always been free for our use,its pretty bad to pay for the service. Nonetheless, i still,would pay for the 20 Euros payment,to have access and legal right to use the cabins. Government 's stopping the maintenance,gas bottle exchange,firewood service,already,from the cabins that are getting older and/or those that arent so popular,mainly the ones that are really far,where the main public arent visiting often. By paying this fee,i hope the cabins could still be kept somewhat like now,and they would serve the next generation(s) too.

There are loads of "wild" cabins,that arent served in any way,by goverment money,some are now only ruins and memories,few mossy logs crossed in river banks,next to old,througly rusted cast iron stove hiding in bush,but there are also many cabins kept well,and used by determined hikers,that ski uncounted kilometers in waist high snow,with intention to stop a leak,in some age old cabins roof,just to have this simple place to sleep and stay,for next summers fishing trip.All this just for the cause,with no expectation of ever getting rewarded or paid. Its something to admire and appreciate.

So hats up for every man or woman that takes care,even in modest methods,of these traditional hide-outs,with their own wallets,own hands,own tools and their own time.

Heres a link to the greatest website ive seen,about the cabins,their locations,history,pics and everything.Ive stared this for days,for many years:

Patikka.Net



Ei kommentteja: