William’s First Canoe Trip

 

William's First Canoe Trip
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Today The wife and I had an adventure taking WT on his first canoe trip.  William’s first canoe trip was rather uneventful, we chose the 2.5 hour trip at Tip a Canoe on Hwy 70 in Kingston Springs TN.  They don’t know I am posting this, and I don’t have any relationship with this company, but every time I have went they have had excellent customer service and I have had a good time.  It is a very inexpensive family day trip.

Its Not as Easy as It Was

Today I also learned that 40 ish 350 pound guy with a rocking dad bod can not do the same things in a canoe that he could do as a young 170 pound boy scout camp waterfront instructor.  The hundreds of miles I canoed in the late 80’s and early 90’s don’t count in the new century….

For some reason, the canoe was more tipsy, and it rode lower to the ground.  Actually, with the low water level the first hour of the ride involved me walking behind the canoe and pushing it off rocks.  WT was not a happy camper.

Later, the river got deeper and we ended up having a great time.  WT said he was willing to do it again and while when given a choice between canoeing and going to Dave and Buster’s arcade he choose canoeing before we went and the arcade AFTER the trip.  I know he was scared, and if you listen to his voice you may be able to tell also, but he got a big hug after because even though the tipsy canoe and the times we got stuck scared him, he never complained and really cowboy’d up.

This really isn’t DIY prepping, but like  have said in other family posts, you have to spend a little time doing things other than dealing with possible future disasters so the people you care about know how you feel and have some fond memories – plus its a sneaky way to build a love of the outdoors and some serious skills so my boy will be a future prepper leader (if he chooses that path.)

PSKOOK Fire Bow Kit Review

 

PSKOOK Fire Bow Kit
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Today I want to show something I have wanted to try for decades – a Fire Bow Kit.  This one comes from Amazon and it only costs $15.80 with prime shipping.

It did not come with instructions, and it is not the typical American survival bow, but that does not mean it is not cool.

This one has an interesting wrap of cord that allows the bow to slide back and forth – like a traditional bow drill fire set, but with more power as the string can’t slip.

I was very quickly able to make smoke – lots of smoke, even some embers, but I was not able to make the embers ignite the jute enough to start a fire.

I would be wrong to say it was the kit’s fault, it worked great – but I just did not practice enough to make it work.

Right now I am wanting to get this post out so you can see this kit – I never thought you could actually buy a bow drill fire set, but rest assured this is something I will practice until I can get it right – and then learn how the cord wrap works.

I think with some cotton balls I could have gotten a fire.  But I am not blaming the kit, I just need to practice – actually, trying different homemade firestarters and maybe some instafire, may be a video series.  What do you think?

Ayat Qi Wireless Charger Pad Review

 

Ayat Qi Wireless Charger Pad
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I have wanted a wireless phone charging pad for some time, and when I got the chance to review the Ayat Qi Wireless Charger Pad I jumped on it.  Unfortunately, I did not do my homework and my iPhone does not support wireless charging.

Later (after the video) I found a friend with an android phone and they are very satisfied with the charger.

I really can’t say too much about this particular wireless charger, it was inexpensive, came with a cord, and was basically plug and play.

The Wireless Charger pad works with fully Qi-Enabled devices like:

  •  iPhone X / iPhone 8 / iPhone 8 Plus
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 8, S8, S8 Plus, S8 Edge, S7, S7 Edge, S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge Plus, S6 Active, S6 Duos, Note 5
  • Sony Xperia Z4V, Xperia Z3V
  • Google Nexus 4/ 5/ 6/ 7
  • Motorola Droid Turbo, Droid Turbo 2, Droid 5
  • Nokia Lumia 920/ 928/ 93/ 950/ 950 XL/ 1020/ 1050/ 822/ 735
  • LG Nexus 4/ 5, G Pro, D1L, LTE2
  • HTC One Max T6, One Mini 2, Incredible 4G, Droid DNA
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They do make wireless Qi charging adapters for older iPhones.  I am thinking about getting one for Genny, and if I do, then I will buy another of these devices.

They work similar to an Electromagnetic Pulse (or a transformer)  it uses a electromagnetic field to induct a current which is used to charge the phone battery.

I think the technology is really neat, and the end result makes it much easier to keep a phone charged.

In my house, with the boy constantly unplugging his mom’s phone to watch videos it is hard to keep one charged.

AMOSTING Nerf Tactical Vest for Kids

 

AMOSTING Nerf Tactical Vest for Kids
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Today WT and I show another Nerf item, the AMOSTING Nerf Tactical Vest for Kids.  We have reviewed a lot of Amosting items, and WT and I have had a good time doing so.

One thing positive to say about this set is that WT loves it, right now he had the vest on as he is playing minecraft on the laptop.

One negative thing is that the darts are not nearly as good as the other AMOSTING darts we reviewed a few weeks ago.  These darts tended to have the tips pull out

 

Multifunction Digital Food Scale Review

Multifunction Digital Food Scale Review

 

 

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Today I’d like to show the Aickar Multifunction Digital Food Scale. There isn’t much to say, its a small inexpensive digital scale. It was $12.96 with prime shipping.

I liked how it measures the fluid ounce volume of both milk and water by caluclating the weight.  That is both useful and neat.

I thought it was a little flimsy feeling when I took it out of the box, but that was before my wife knocked it off the table and tried to break it (on accident).  It came through the incident nicely, and a quick check of accuracy by measuring a known volume of water showed it to still be accurate.

Some of the features are that it is:

 

Multifunctional

The Aickar Kitchen Weight Scale allows you to measure both weight and volume of food fast and easily in grams, lb:oz, fluid onces and milliliters. This multifuntion food scale weighs up to 5kg, 11lb:0.4oz, 5000ml and 176 fluid ounces. Switch between weight mode, water volume mode and milk volume mode freely with a touch of a button.

Fast & Precise

This electric food scale has a LCD display that reads the weight & volume quickly and clearly. It’s high precision strain gauge sensor that is accurate to 1g/0.1lb:oz, 1ml/0.1 fluid ounce makes it one of the best digital multi-function kitchen and food scales on the market.

Tare Function

This digital kitchen food scale can weigh food continuously.The tare function allows you to weigh items consecutively without removing them from the scale.You can easily clear the weight of a plate,bowl,bowl,cup or other container from the scale,independently measure multiple items in the container.

Easy Unit Conversion

There are only two buttons, UNIT and TARE.It is very easy to switch among weights and functions by slightly tapping the “UNIT” button.

Slightly tap “TARE” to manual ON or tare to zero, long press it to manual OFF.  It will auto power off in about 2 minutes of inactivity.

Long Time Guaranteed

This black kitchen scale has 30-day money back guarantee & 2 years warranty.Any questions about it please feel free to contact us first,you’ll get a fast response within 24 hours.

Final Thoughts.

Like I said, I don’t think it feels very sturdy, but it does work, and does seem pretty accurate.  For measuring for cooking recipes (and maybe an occasional wooded derby car) I think it is a good value.