The Survival Shovel

So let’s take a look at this survival shovel. I’m telling you right now….it’s quality.

Many other survival shovels sacrifice durability and quality for convenience and price. They’ll use plastic parts instead of metal, which always end up breaking. The only plastic you’ll find on this survival shovel is in the washer between the head of the shovel and the handle.

It adjusts into three different positions. The first position, straight out, is for digging, sawing and using the blade side of the shovel head. The second position is with the head at a ninety degree angle and most likely used for a hoe, or pick. The third position is angled down and away from the handle and could be used for climbing or or easier storage.

I used it, and I like it!

I took the shovel out for a spin, at night. I wanted to test it out on a dead apricot tree I had out towards the back of my property. My target of choice for the axe was a branch around two to three inches in diameter. With a mediocre swing, I nearly chopped half way through the limb. You’ll have to watch the video to see what happened on my second attempt. Totally unexpected.

After hacking away at the tree, I took it into the front yard from some good ole night time digging. I’ve been replacing some sprinkler lines and put the survival shovel and hoe into action. Due to the length of the shovel, it’s not something you want to use for a full day of work, but it can get the job done. And when switched to the hoe/pick position, it works exactly like it should.

In conclusion, I was impressed. It’s a quality built survival shovel will last me for a very long time. Great addition for your camping, hunting or prepping gear!

Here’s my quick YouTube review as well if you’d like to check it out:

If this review was helpful, take a look at carseatexperts.com for other helpful reviews.

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For the longest time I saw headlamps as something dorks used to read with, but things have come a long way since then. Up until a few weeks ago I had yet to use a headlamp. With all the camping, hunting and outside work I perform after the hours of daylight, I still didn’t see the need for a headlamp. In my mind, a flashlight or my phone worked just fine for what I needed to do.

Man was I wrong. There’s nothing like a beam of light focused exactly where I’m looking. We’ve all done the “propping” of the flashlight thing, trying to wedge it just right so that it’ll shine where you need it to…only to have it slip and fall when you’re in the middle of the task at hand.

The LED Headlamp from SportsTek

So let’s talk about the quality of the LED Headlamp SportsTek sent me. My impression after weeks of use is five stars. It’s comfortable, bright enough to do almost anything during the night hours and from what I have seen so far, the batteries seem to last a good while.

Features

The LED Headlamp has three settings for the light: Flashing, High and Low. It comes equipped with a scoping lens used to adjust the focus of the light beam. It also comes with a separate attachment used for bike handles.

In conclusion, it’s a nice product. I was actually using it the other night for some outdoor plumbing, and while walking through the house, my mother-in-law sort of giggled at me. She probably wasn’t expecting to see me mounted with a headlamp, but until you find yourself in pitch black, leaning over a hole in the ground and trying to use the light of a flashlight, you’ll be wishing you had a headlamp.

While they’re in stock, you can pick one up on Amazon here: LED Headlamp by SportsTek

Here’s my quick YouTube review as well:

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This past Saturday, I was out with my brother and brother-in-law quail hunting. We didn’t stray far off the beaten path dedicating a washy area just south of a development called Daily Estates, here in Arizona, as our hunting grounds. It had been a fairly profitable area for me in the past so I figured we’d try that area again.

We parked the truck next to a water tank near to the area we wanted to head to and started our trek. We only had a few hours to hunt that morning and had time to walk a few miles before it was time to head back to town.

Dog Collar Found While Quail Hunting

As I was about 3/4 to a mile into it, I looked down and found a dog tag laying there in the dirt. It was attached to what was left of a small pink collar. The collar had been chewed on or worn down and the dog tag read “Dusty.” There was also a phone number on there as well.

I glanced around to see of there were bones or some sort of a grave site, but didn’t see anything.

So here’s my question: What would you do? Would you call the number on the tag?

Here’s the reason I’ve decided to make an entire blog post about this, there are a number of things that could have happened to that dog and I’m not sure how to proceed.

1. They could have simply lost the collar, out in the middle of nowhere.
2. Coyotes could have snagged the little guy for a little snack.
3. Dusty could have been a long time family dog and was buried somewhere out there in the desert, only to be dug up again by scavengers.
4. The dog could have run away.

My guess is either the coyotes snagged it out of their yard or it died, they buried it, and it was dug up again. Even if it was situation one or four, me calling them wouldn’t really help at all, right?

Another question: If any of the above situations were true for you, would you want to receive a call if someone found your dog’s collar in the middle of nowhere?

Anyway, give me your take on this. Let me know what you’d do. Everyone on Facebook seems to think that I should call them. Just hate being the bearer of bad news, you know?

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Basically put, almost everyone who gets drawn for area 28, put in for area 27 as their first pick. So everyone in area 28 is pretty much a reject of 27. Sad but true.

Deer Season Begins in Arizona

We setup camp in the mountains north of a small town called Ft. Thomas. The spot we chose is one of the better places in that specific area. In under an hour, would could hike to a saddle just south of us and have great visibility of everything on both sides of that ridge. We thought we would see something, if not get our buck.

Well, after hiking up and down ridges for nearly six hours through terrain that makes your knees hurt, we see absolutely nothing. Heck, we barely found any sign of deer in the area.

So after putting our heads together, we decided that they were probably further south, closer to the river. So day one was a bust. No deer in sight.

The second day, however, was much different. We woke up at 5:30 am, before it was light enough to see, and headed out with higher hopes. Besides, we had out lucky charm with us….my brother, who decided to join us the night before.

Twenty minutes down the road, by brother-in-law spotted a deer about a hundred yards off his side of the road. He jumped out to take a look at it, and couldn’t see any antlers. So naturally, I start glassing the rest of the area to find the rest of the deer it was traveling with, with nothing in site.

Then I heard him say, “It’s a buck!” I scoped it one more time and as it turned it’s head, sure enough, there were two spike about eight inches long. I confirmed it, and before I could say anything else, he squeezed the trigger and the little buck was down.

Now, for all you sensitive souls out there, don’t be sad for Bambi. Just because this wasn’t a huge buck doesn’t mean anything. The younger deer don’t have as much of a wild taste and the meat is more tender.

Later on that day, my brother and I ran across seven more doe and no bucks. But the hunt isn’t over yet, I still have a few days. Being that today was my anniversary, I couldn’t very well stay hunting and expect to have a space in my own bed on my return home.

We’ll see if tomorrow brings more luck.

I’ll keep you posted!

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So he guts his Elk, packs it up and takes it away. It wasn’t until he was already home that he noticed the Mountain Lion in the background of his photo. The flash must have scared the cougar away and may have been the only thing that saved the hunters life!

In times like those, when it’s pitch black outside or getting close to it, having a pistol on your hip may not be able to help you a whole lot. If you can’t see it coming, you’re toast!

Another story, my father-in-law was on a deer hunt in Arizona one year and had started to clean his deer. He stood up to take a break and out of the corner of his eye, noticed a Mountain Lion on a ledge just above him. He had just enough time raise his rifle and fire from the hip as the Mountain Lion lunged toward him. They’re not only extremely quiet, but quick.

You can never be too careful…and I bet the guy in this picture was a bit sick to his stomach after seeing what lurked from behind for the first time. Crazy stuff!

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