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A wild off-road adventure and an extraordinary canyoning trip to a garden of paradise in the wild

When it comes to wild, untamed beauty, from the bottom of the desert to the tops of the mountains, the state of Arizona tops them all! Famous for its extremely high temperatures, only in Arizona can you escape the heat on a summer day and explore one of its many remote wilderness canyons only accessible by 4×4 and enjoy “non-technical” canyoning; Skipping rocks, wading and swimming through cool and refreshing natural pools make for an adventurous and extraordinary retreat that is simply second to none.

West Clear Creek is described by the United States Forest Service as “one of the most rugged and remote canyons in northern Arizona.” A stunningly beautiful wild canyon, West Clear Creek offers many deep natural pools surrounded by narrow, colorful rock walls that are sure to cool you off on a hot summer day. Most exciting of all, however, known only to locals for many years, and the reward for your day’s canyoning adventure through the West Clear Creek pools, you’ll be amazed to discover Arizona’s Garden of Paradise! , the Hanging Gardens!

So if you’re looking for a retreat and a great way to escape the heat, and you’re ready for a rough and wild off-road adventure and a challenging, but truly extraordinary canyoning trip to the hidden garden of Arizona paradise, then I’m here! I highly recommend visiting the Hanging Gardens Hike, in the beautiful West Clear Creek Wilderness, Strawberry, Arizona!

Starting early on a weekend morning in early August, I drove to a meeting place in far northeast Phoenix, where I joined members and friends of the TLC Hiking Club, a local hiking and outdoor adventure club. directed by Eric Kinneman. After everyone arrived and in preparation for the long day and arduous journey that lay ahead of us, we received a briefing including safety and last minute advisories, then excitedly jumped into our vehicles and were ready to embark on the adventure we all had. we had been. waiting a long time, the Hanging Gardens of West Clear Creek!

Heading north on Highway 87, we reached the town of Payson around 7am, then continued north on 87 out of Payson until we reached 2.5 miles past the Highway 260 intersection. After a quick stop to regroup To all our members, we got back into our vehicles again and with Eric Kinneman in the lead, we turned right onto Forest Road 144 and prepared for what we had been warned would be a very rough and tumble 4×4 adventure. And that was too!

After turning right on all the dirt roads, FR 144, and stopping once more to regroup, we slowly started heading east. Reaching the end of FR 144, we continue to turn left onto FR 149, left again onto FR 142, and then right onto FR 142A. One by one, we moved very slowly and carefully along this extremely rough road and wild terrain, winding through the trees and undergrowth of the forest, and up and over large rocks and boulders. Keep in mind that all of these forest dirt roads are extremely rough and bumpy and require you to have a good 4 wheel drive vehicle, not just an HCV because as a result of the recent rain storms that hit the area, along the way we we encountered some very deep and completely emptied, muddy puddles! Luckily though, they all managed to get through just fine without their vehicles getting stuck, but wow, what an amazing off-road adventure it had been so far!

Once we made the last turn on FR 142J, it was about 9.9 miles and 1 hour and 20 minutes later that we all made it safely to the end of the road and were relieved we made it to the trailhead. Having finally reached West Clear Creek, and our destination at 9am, we parked, unpacked our packs and gear, and then gathered along the edge of the cliff to wait for the rest of the group. There, at the top and rim of West Clear Creek Canyon, I stopped for a few short moments to look around and take some photos of the amazing and beautiful wilderness scenery that surrounded it. How incredibly remote, rugged and pristine this area seemed to be and how lucky we all feel to be able to experience this. This was going to be an amazing day and amazing adventure and we were all so eager and excited to get started!

After getting everyone together to take some group photos, it was time to start our canyoning adventure! Starting from the trailhead at the top of the bluff and with Eric Kinneman in the lead, one by one each of us began to descend into the beautiful canyon below. The drive to the bottom of West Clear Creek Canyon began immediately with a steep, straight-down descent of about 867 feet, along a narrow but well-marked use trail. Lots of loose rocks and gravel, it was a strenuous hike the whole way where there are plenty of things to do throwing on the ground and sliding, rather than risk a dangerous slippery fall.

Having successfully reached the bottom of West Clear Creek, I looked down into the canyon we were headed for and realized how beautiful this place really was as the sun’s rays lit up the tall amber rock walls. It was just amazing! I took a few quick photos and then quickly joined the others. From here in the deep cool canyon bottom our canyoneering started quickly with rock hopping over many large rocks and boulders for a short stretch to our first pools. Knee-deep in the water at most, we quickly dove into the water and jumped, waded, and splashed our way through our first few sets of pools.

By this time almost everyone had made it to at least the first few pools and was now making their way further down this beautiful canyon with deeper and longer pools surrounded by tall, beautifully contoured and narrow rock walls, an area commonly referred to as the West Clear Creek “White Box”. With all of our gear safely packed in dry bags and along with our flotation devices, we swam slowly from one refreshing pool to the next, through the beautiful narrows of the canyon and as I continued to take as many photos as I could, the scenery was amazing! Absolutely amazing and impressive!

After a short stop for a fun and exciting ‘jump rope’, the incredible canyoning adventure through the beautiful White Box and the narrows of West Clear Creek continued as we carefully walked over wet and slippery rocks and boulders while we enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we swam from one refreshing pool to the next, which to our amazement inside these pools there were also many good sized crayfish. Arriving in the middle of the morning at this time and with the heat of the summer day beating down on us, our canyoning journey continued as we inched our way through one deep pond to the next.

I was arriving at noon and after about 12 pools and about 3 hours of intense canyoning, I was starting to feel exhausted and a bit tired. Thinking I couldn’t get through another puddle, we rounded the final bend and, noticing how green the riparian vegetation had turned, we climbed out of the water and looked up; We had finally reached the remote and hidden Hanging Gardens! Wow, it was indescribable! We entered this very lush, green, garden-like area, first we passed a beautiful waterfall pouring off the high cliff, then we moved forward and directly to your left, there it was, the Hanging Gardens, a beautiful waterfall trickling down gracefully. over ferns and vines of thick maiden hair, and wow, what an incredible and amazing sight! I could not believe what I was watching. What a unique, remote and truly special place, a true “garden of paradise” and a remote and wild “oasis” of literally epic proportions! This place, the Hanging Gardens, was simply extraordinary and so much more than I had imagined!

Now that most of our group and friends are reunited again, we take a break, have lunch, jump rope some more and really enjoy spending some time together taking lots of photos and videos, trying to capture every moment we can of this amazing place. However, it was around 12:30 and with the afternoon heat upon us, one by one we began to make the long and strenuous hike back through the many deep pools and White Box Narrows of West Clear Creek. , where the imposing rock walls that now shine with the rays of the afternoon sun, made the adventurous canyoning trip back even more beautiful and spectacular every moment of the way.

It was now late afternoon and having traversed the last pool and then climbed 867 feet to the top and edge of the cliff, we were very hot and completely exhausted. But wow, what an incredible adventure it had been! It was around 3:00pm when almost all of us finally made it to the top and the trailhead again where we were parked completing the day’s canyoneering adventure according to our GPS it was 4.70 miles round trip that we completed in about 6.0 hours .

From here we once again got back into our 4 wheel drive and prepared for the rough and tumble ride back. Miraculously, with only one blown tire for the entire group, and around 4:30 p.m. absolutely some of the roughest, toughest, wildest dirt roads we as a group have ever been on before! Wow, what an amazing adventure!

In short, it was truly an unforgettable day and an epic and amazing adventure in nature, which was well researched, planned and coordinated by Eric Kinneman of the TLC Hiking Club. So if you’re ready for a rough and tumble off-road adventure and a strenuous, challenging and truly extraordinary canyoning trip to a wild oasis that is truly a garden of paradise, then be sure to visit Hanging Gardens Hike, in the beautiful desert of West Clear Creek, Strawberry, Arizona!

The Seven Cataracts Adventure Hike: An Exploration of Mountain Sliding and Canyoning in Willow Canyon

Arizona is an incredibly beautiful and wildly diverse state with topography ranging from low-level desert landscapes to towering mountain peaks and alpine forest ranges. However, more than any other geological feature, Arizona is widely known for its beautiful and remote rocky canyons, deep gorges, waterfalls, and ponds that are scattered throughout the state. What I find even more amazing, though, is that many of these wild canyons are accessible via “non-technical” hiking trails that don’t require ropes and are literally within a day’s drive of Phoenix or Tucson. For a great day trip and hike from late summer to early fall, if you’re up for a more exciting challenge and an extraordinary and scenic day hike, then take a canyoning and mountain sliding hiking adventure to Seven Cataracts, and explore Willow Canyon, Tucson, Arizona.

It was the Labor Day holiday and early on Sunday morning I left Phoenix, around 6 am, left the city on I-10 East and arrived in Tucson at 7:30 am at the Ina exit. Road, I exited the freeway and turned left, heading east 8 miles, and met the TLC Hiking Group, led and organized by Eric Kinneman, at the Westin La Paloma Resort and arrived at 8am. Because parking was said to be limited at the trailhead for this hike, we shared it together and left for the hike and day trip east on Sunrise Blvd. at 8:25am

The beautiful drive up Sunrise Blvd through the northern reaches of Tucson and through the rolling foothills of the beautiful Santa Catalina Mountains has always been one of my favorites. The Santa Catalina Mountains are the highest mountain range in Tucson, reaching up to 9,157 feet at their summit, Mount Lemmon. To get there and to the trailhead for our hike, we switchbacks through Tucson, drive east on Sunrise Blvd to Swan Road, turn right (south), onto River Road, turn left (east), and then we turned right onto Sabino Canyon Road, left onto Tanque Verde Road, and headed east on Tanque Verde Road until we hit Catalina Highway, also known as “Mount Lemmon Scenic Byway,” and then left again .

It was about 4 miles past the left turn on the Catalina Highway that enters the Coronado National Forest and begins the winding ascent into the rugged Santa Catalina Mountains. Although it has been a long time since I was last there, I was still in awe of how beautiful and wonderful this trip really is. Immediately as you go in elevation starting at 3000ft the views are absolutely stunning with every hairpin turn offering either a new amazing rock formation or a beautiful view of the canyon in the distance. If you like to stop and take lots of pictures, as I always like to do, you have plenty of opportunities to do so because this tour offers a number of viewpoints to enjoy along the way. However, at about mile marker 5, just past the Molino Canyon Overlook, there is a pay station where you must purchase a $5 Coronado National Forest Day Use Recreational Pass if you plan on stopping anywhere further down the road. path. We bought the day use passes, one for each vehicle, and traveled three more miles until we reached Seven Cataracts Vista Point, just past Thimble Peak Vista and about mile 8 and about 1/3 of the way to Mount Lemon.

We stopped at Seven Cataracts Vista Point, and our trailhead, parked, and started our hiking and canyoning adventure for the day at 9am The view looking down Willow Canyon below was absolutely beautiful, but also incredibly steep! Right off the bat, the drop into Willow Canyon on this “day use” trail was intense, to say the least. Estimated to be about a 1000-1300 foot descent down with a 60% grade on all loose dirt, gravel and rocks, each of us had to literally drop to the ground on our “butts” and from a section to another, slide it down for about a total of ¼ mile until we’ve hit the bottom. What a site it was to see too, really exciting and great fun! However, this “unofficial” trail, used mostly by experienced canyoneers, is considered very difficult, some even say treacherous or dangerous, so I would not recommend doing this hike on your own unless you are an experienced canyoneer. or have a canyon hiking guide with you.

Once we all slid safely down and reached the bottom and after a quick group photo, Eric began leading our group on our canyoneering exploration further down Willow Canyon, scrambling, rock hopping, and climbing class 3 to through partially open waterfalls. Really beautiful and spectacular scenery too! We continued for about ¼ of a mile where we had reached some really nice falls and enjoyed the opportunity to cool off, rest and enjoy the peaceful tranquility and beauty of this remote and lesser known canyon. Meanwhile, Eric, along with several other adventuring members, traveled for another 1/3 to ¼ of a mile, and after more scrambling, rock hopping, and class 3-4 climbing, they reached a beautiful 100-foot waterfall. and a bigger hole to swim deep enough. he said that even with a 10-foot cliff jump, they couldn’t hit bottom! Amazing!

After about an hour of rest, we decided it was time to start heading back. Now it was time for the most challenging part of our canyoning adventure: getting back! So we started our hike back through Willow Canyon the same way we came, scrambling, skipping rocks, wading through pools, and then back up through the waterfall. However, it only took a little while and within minutes we had all safely returned to the base of the hillside we had originally “slid” on earlier. It was here that we settled back in with Eric and then split into two groups. You could decide to do the ascent in the same place you came down with a 60% incline on all loose dirt and gravel, where Eric said it was for every 3 steps up, a slide of one or two back. Or my friend Dan decided that it seemed that if he climbed it a little more to the left, he could more easily climb it over the rocks and cliff to the top. So I, along with several other members, followed Dan’s example and hand over foot, slowly and carefully climbing it, section by section until we safely reached the top. Wow, for me and someone who is afraid of heights, and has no rock climbing experience, it was challenging, but great fun and awesome training too!

Once back at the top and in the Seven Cataracts Vista parking lot, we waited for the final members to return safely, then at 12:15pm we headed back to our cars to drive the rest of the way to Mount Lemmon for lunch. at the Puerta de Hierro Restaurant. The views along the way were again spectacular as you make your way from an elevation of 5,000 feet to the Mount Lemmon Sky Valley, an elevation of about 8,200 feet. Although the signs of the devastating Aspen fire in 2003 were noticeable, it was still very beautiful and the temperatures at this time of day, in the low mid 80’s, were very cool and refreshing.

However, with the 2.5 hour wait at the restaurant, due to it being a weekend and also a holiday, we decided it was best to turn around and head back.

We got back to Tucson around 2 p.m. , headed back to Phoenix from there to return home around 6 p.m.

Overall, it was truly an extraordinary canyoneering exploration and waterfall hiking adventure with TLC Hiking Group, carefully researched, well planned, and thought of down to the last detail by Eric Kinneman himself. He really had it all, incredibly beautiful, exciting, but also very challenging. I think this hike is best summed up in Eric Kinneman’s own words, in which he quotes: “The Seven Falls Waterfall Adventure Hike is an amazing hike that I highly recommend to people. It will test your fears, will give an amazing workout and take you through magnificent canyons, a 100 foot waterfall and a swimming hole rarely seen by anyone. What more could you ask for!”

International Truck Parts and Accessories

Truck Parts and Accessories

When it comes to replacing parts and accessories on your International truck, you’ll be glad to know that there are plenty of options. From bumpers to cab skirts, you’ll find what you need at Concord Spare Parts Company. They offer a wide variety of parts and accessories for ‘INTERNATIONAL TRUCK’ vehicles, including medium and heavy-duty trucks. They also sell specialty parts like cab lighting, taillights, and wiper blades.

Fleet Charge helps you stay on top of your expenses and track your spending on parts and accessories. This program offers you special pricing and consolidated billing for all purchases, and access to all makes of International parts at any International dealer. For more information, visit the Fleet Charge website. There are several ways to apply for this program, including online. There are no enrollment fees, finance charges, or hidden costs. To get started, visit a Lakeside parts sales representative or apply online.

International Truck Parts and Accessories are available from 4 State Trucks. These international parts online come from a company that specializes in selling new and used heavy-duty trucks. They have five locations to serve the Thumb and Southeast Michigan. They also sell parts and accessories for semi trucks and trailers. Vander Haag’s Truck Parts is another great option for replacing and upgrading parts on your International. You can also check out their photo gallery, which features many recent International trucks.

International Truck Parts and Accessories

For more details about your particular truck, visit the company’s website. You can also check out their Tech Bulletinder to learn more about the parts you need. They have 2,197,544 parts and accessories to choose from, so you’re sure to find what you need. Don’t forget to read the online reviews and ask the experts if you have any questions. These are just a few examples of what you can expect to find at International Truck Parts and Accessories.

Big Machine Parts carries a wide selection of International truck parts, including engine components and parts for semi trucks. This company also carries tanks for coolant storage and thermometers. If you’re looking to repair your truck’s fuel system, you can also find many fuel components, including valves, pumps, and injectors. The Big Machine Parts website offers a range of parts for International trucks, from engines to lighting.

With more than 400,000 vehicles on the road, it’s not hard to see why the company is focusing on uptime. A recent expansion of their FleetRite stores in Texas and Florida has prompted a company-wide expansion strategy. The company plans to open even more FleetRite locations this year. It is one of the most important aspects of the brand and has an exceptional reputation. Just as important, the fleet-friendly FleetRite stores offer quick solutions for fleet owners and drivers.

Amazing, shy, but not boring

Having some experience of stalking deer and trapping foxes and rabbits in England, I thought about the possibility of a hunting holiday. My wife also likes to shoot and she recently got her own deer rifle so we could consider a wide range of options.

Celtic myths and historical accounts gave me a desire to hunt wild boar and exposure to American hunting magazines introduced me to the idea of ​​sheep as a desirable quarry.

We did some research on the internet and in the media and after considering various options, we booked a trip to the Czech Republic with ‘Shooting Enterprise Ltd’. Eva (the general manager) was very helpful and offered us several options. Claire’s .243 rifle was considered unsuitable for even mildly pesky piglets, but perfect for mouflons and my .308 was fine for whatever game it had to offer. In the end we booked for a wild boar and two mouflons. We had a choice of areas to photograph, but in the end we opted for Lany Estate, near Prague.

The Lany estate covers 3,000 hectares (about 7,500 acres) and is owned by the office of the Czech president. The President of the Czech Republic does not hunt himself, but allows 180 hunting guests a year. Imagine an area that size that is free of hikers, dog walkers, mountain bikers, competing landowners, poachers, and cars. Now imagine him holding well-managed and well-fed wild boar, deer and mouflon. This is what greeted us on vacation. Some people enjoy shooting in close quarters and want to hunt ‘in the wild’. Personally, I am much happier hunting on a well-managed estate than depleting the natural stock, particularly when the area hunted is so large.

Flying with firearms was a first for us and went smoothly. Upon arrival at the check-in counter we told them we were carrying ‘sporting firearms’; this was a good idea, as sports gear is free with BA and much less intimidating than announcing that you have a gun.

Arriving in Prague, the lovely Eva was waiting for us and took us to a typical Czech restaurant for lunch, then took care of our luggage as we toured the city. Later we were introduced to our guides and taken to the cabin in the woods that would be our home for the next few days. There we met Zlata, who provided us with food and accommodation. She was delighted when I told her that she wanted to try typical Czech food. Cultural pride came out and she made it her mission to uplift me with frequent large portions of Czech specialties cooked as only a grandmother can cook.

On the first day of our hunt we arranged breakfast for 06:15 and went downstairs to receive a variety of cold cuts and cheese, two varieties of bread, a boiled egg, cereal, yoghurt and two types of jam. I was about to start on my egg when Zlata came in with two plates of scrambled eggs and sausage garnished with tomato, cucumber, Chinese leaves, two mustards, ketchup, and parsley. This set the tone for the entire stay. Our guides arrived at 0700 and took us to hunt mouflon. Stepan was Claire’s guide and they both spoke a little German, Lubos was my guide and spoke ‘baby English’.

We went to the farm and began to stalk, the forest resounding with the bellows of the fallow deer and the unearthly whistles of Sika. At that moment, a magnificent mouflon ram came ‘shaking’ out of the trees, Lubos ducked and I sat up so I could rest my elbows on my knees for a steady shot. Lubos was clearly amazed at our luck as ‘mouflon can be a problem’ they have exceptional eyesight and are usually very cautious. Lubos whistled to stop the ram, ignored it, yelled and sped up for cover, finally making a ‘baah’ sound and stopping to stare at it in disbelief. I shot him right behind his shoulder. Lubos was delighted and arranged the ram with great dignity; a fresh twig was put into the mouth (the ‘last bite’) a second twig was dipped in the blood and presented to me to put in my hat, a third twig was placed in the bullet hole and then they were placed fresh branches around the ram. We solemnly shook hands and exchanged a small bow and a ritual greeting.

The midday meal is traditionally the main meal in the Czech Republic and therefore lunch was a big event. Claire had yet to see a mouflon. The wild boars were declared inaccessible due to a great abundance of natural food that kept them deep in the forest. I wasn’t sure of the exact explanation, but settled on ‘the wrong kind of acorns’. Therefore, I was offered the option of hunting deer. Having never hunted red deer before, I decided to go after a lesser trophy deer.

The afternoon was warm and sunny and Lubos is very fit. We bravely ignored the trails and went straight up and down the steepest slopes she could find; eventually we crawled over the top of a ridge to present ourselves with a view of a flat plateau populated by red deer and fallow deer. We hid in the trees while Lubos ‘watched the pack’ and I tried to calm my heart and control my breathing. It is tempting to think that the deer on a farm will be domesticated or domesticated. This is not the case, they are abundant and you can see many impressive creatures, but they are still wild, fickle and difficult to approach.

Three stems later, after several miles of perpendicular forest, we were hidden behind a small barn-like structure considering our options. Lubos had identified a suitable deer and was trying to communicate which one in mimicry; ‘baby lady (young fallow) links (left) three ‘hands with palms together at the sides of the head’ (sleeping? What does a sleeping deer look like? Do you mean lying down?) the ‘baby lady’ began to hopping around a herd of about 50 deer, Lubos did a ‘walking fingers’ and ‘looping hand’ motion (had my deer gone over the top of the hill?) I give up.

Later we went up to the barn loft. This time we start counting from a salt lick. ‘Okay, one nix, two nix, three gut, three gut.’ I stabilized the rifle on a bale of hay and shot a large deer. Lubos was pleased; I must have hit the right one. The deer had fallen a few paces away and was dead on arrival. Lubos and I shook hands; he complimented me on a ‘perfect 200m shot’ i thanked him for being such a patient guide.

He had never been near a woodland deer before, but it was huge, by Lany’s standards, the 12-pointed head modest but the body as big as a horse. Both of us couldn’t lift it and had to get the truck and lifting equipment to move it. It was getting dark, so the ceremony and photos were postponed to the next day.

Over dinner it became clear that Claire hadn’t killed a mouflon because she and Stepan couldn’t decide between two tempting rams. Were they deciding which one was the biggest or if one was bigger than mine? Time would tell.

The next day I was left alone on a high seat with instructions to shoot “any boar I saw, as long as it wasn’t a screeching sow.” Claire and Stepan continued their hunt for mouflons. I saw more beautiful fallows and mouflons parading in front of me, but no wild boar appeared. Mid-morning I was picked up for photos and taken to meet a wife who seemed very happy. She Not only did she have a mouflon, but she was undeniably bigger than mine! 194.60 CIC points against 186.80 CIC for those who count such things. For me, the smile on her face was much more important.

Again, the game was treated with great dignity and ceremony, photos were taken and pleasantries were exchanged. I saw Lubos telling Eva the story of our hunt. Eva translated that Lubos said that I was good at crawling. I prefer to translate this as ‘good at stalking’. Lunch followed, and Claire and I stayed in a high seat on the off chance that a wild boar was lost in the afternoon. Now that the shot pressure was gone, we were able to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings and the wildlife around us. I saw my first red squirrel and Claire saw an osprey, both of which are common in the Czech Republic.

We haven’t seen any wild boar yet.

The next day we slept and then spent the day in Prague, the day after we flew home. The ever helpful Eva helped us at the airport and even persuaded the airline to send one of the mouflon trophies free of charge. Arriving at Heathrow she came back to reality. The M25 never looked less inviting and the road home was clogged with second home owners fleeing London. The memories of the roaring deer are still fresh and I already want to go back to the golden woods of Lany.

The Big 5 Vintage Fishing Lure Companies: Who Are They?

One of the first things a person new to the world of vintage fishing lure collecting will hear is the so-called “Big 5” companies that dominate the news about the hobby. Knowing who these companies are (or were) and a little about them will go a long way to allaying the fears of someone new to the hobby who is intimidated by all the information available online.

The Hedon Company

The Heddon Company was created by James Heddon, the man credited with inventing the first artificial wooden fishing lures in 1894. The oft-repeated story is that he had his moment of enlightenment when he threw a carved wooden plug into hand in the waters of the mill pond in Dowagiac, Michigan, and watched as a bass hit it. With this idea an industry was born. The original lures were hand-carved frogs on broomsticks by Heddon himself. Lures were originally made by hand in the kitchen of the Heddon family located in Dowagiac, Michigan, but by 1910 there was a new factory in Dowagiac and sales were expanding.

Lucky 13, Punkinseed, River Runt and Meadow Mouse are some examples of this classic brand.

creek pup

Creek Chub was founded in 1910 by three friends in Garrett, Indiana. The company is named after the creek chub, which is a small fish that fishermen often use as live bait.

Henry Dills created the first Creek Chub lure, The Wiggler, which had a metal lip that caused the lure to move in the water, causing more fish to hit it. Another early lure was the Pikie minnow. This bullet-shaped lure had more than one variation available, allowing you to choose the amount of movement desired in the water. The Open Mouth Weedless, later renamed the Open Mouth Shiner, is another early lure. These lures were designed to be weed-proof and featured rear-facing double long-shank hooks so they could be dragged over snags without hanging on them. Open Mouth Weedless lures are a hard to find vintage fishing lure and all three are great examples of Creek Chub vintage fishing lures and collector’s items.

One of Creek Chub’s most important innovations in the lure industry was the process of spraying lures by spraying paint through a net. Paint applied to this net (originally from lady hats!) was used to create the scale patterns now common on Creek Chub lures. Creek Chub was also a very innovative company in other areas. His early adoption of the use of glass eyes in lures and the invention of the aforementioned weedless bait are great examples of this spirit of innovation. Creek Chub also held many other patents related to lure improvements.

Pflueger

Ernest F. Pflueger founded the Enterprise Manufacturing Company in 1881 manufacturing hooks. When his son took over the business in 1906, he changed the name to the EA Pflueger Company. During this time, Pflueger was the first company to open commercial production of wooden fishing lures. The company would also grow from just a hook manufacturer to all areas of fishing gear. As competition in the industry became fiercer, the company began to focus more on real ones than lures.

Two of the lures the company started with were the Flying Helgramite and the Luminous Crystal Minnow lure. These are two very old Pflueger fishing lures that incorporate the E. Pflueger Foundation’s invention of a luminous lure paint.

shakespeare

William Shakespeare, Jr. founded his company in 1897 with a first product that was not a fishing lure. He started with reels before expanding into the lure market. Shakespeare started making fishing lures around 1900 and soon after the first catalog containing just four lures was published: Revolution, Bucktail, Evolution and Frog. The Shakespeare Revolution is one of Shakespeare’s most collectible classic fishing lures. Many of Shakespeare’s early products were rubber lures, including rubber frogs that mimicked the movements of a real-life frog when in the water. A very rare collector’s item is the Shakespeare Tournament Casting Frog, which is a prize find for any enthusiast of Shakespeare’s classic fishing lures.

South Bend Bait Company

South Bend was founded in the early 1900’s by FG ​​Worden of South Bend, Indiana.

Worden had already been selling their Bucktail baits since 1894 before the official founding of the company. These bucktail baits were minnow-shaped wooden lures that were invented and popularized by Worden. South Bend Bait Company also made the famous Oreno fishing lures. The Oreno was also a minnow lure and would become a long-term popular seller for South Bend. The Bass Oreno, which began production around 1915 and was still in production until the mid-1960s, was the most popular bait in South Bend. Another popular vintage South Bend lure is The Vacuum Bait, which can be quite difficult to find and makes a good collector’s item.

Use this information

Now that you know more about the “Big 5”, go ahead and start using this knowledge to build your collection. Try going to a local fishing tackle show or event and with this initial information you will feel able to hold your own in an initial conversation and start the network that will help you build your collection. Or if you want to go online to find more information or find out how to find articles online, visit the website in the author box below.

Fishing Tackle Review: The Shimano Tribal Ultegra 5500 XTA Reel

Like many anglers, I enjoy shopping for gear and reading about it as much as fishing. Out of season, learning about what’s new in fishing gear becomes almost an obsession, but not quite! When I find a rod or reel that fits me, I like to share my thoughts with other anglers. In that spirit, I would like to offer a brief review of a reel that I really like: the Shimano Tribal Ultegra 5500 XTA.

Fishing Tackle – About Shimano Tribal Ultegra 5500 XTA Reel

The Ultegra 5500 XTA was introduced at a Shimano trade show and has received considerable approval. Although small, this is a perfect reel for larger carp and other species as well. It’s also lightweight, weighing just 570 grams (before spooling line) and features a front spool baiting system. A baitrunner reel, by the way, is identical to a fixed spool reel, with the exception that it is capable of baiting fish with the bail closed, while keeping the reel fully in free spool mode. I have found this real to be perfect for all distances from short to quite long.

Fishing Tackle: Key Features of the Ultegra 5500 XTA

The first thing you notice about the Ultegra 5500 XTA is that it has a unique look. It has a RealTree™ finish. I’ve learned that RealTree is the world’s leading company for distinctive and versatile camo patterns, like the popular Hardwoods™ finish on this reel. This is a manageable, scaled down version of a bit pit reel, making it a great choice for many anglers. Despite its size, it is capable of casting significant distances and offers excellent line placement, along with plenty of control. The real one comes with a spare spool and a carrying case. Expect to pay around £189.99 for it.

Fishing tackle: more information about this Shimano Ultegra reel

The Shimano Ultegra reel has a unique character offering a sleek, modern design and a solid feel, both backed by superior performance. The ergonomics are excellent, making the real one supremely comfortable to hold, even for extended periods. The launch distance is excellent. You can expect a range of 100 to 120 yards, using 4 oz cables. The real handle is large and comfortable, due to its biomechanical design. It spins around one yard of line per turn. The baitrunner system is very easy to engage and only requires a counterclockwise quarter turn of the outer drag knob to set. I found the clutch to be super smooth, a feature that is very important to me. A set of grommets is also included, making it easy to customize the angle of the line run. While I’m usually not concerned with the actual appearance, I have to admit that the 5500 XTA is quite flashy and looks destined to become a collector’s item.

The Shimano Tribal Ultegra 5500 XTA reel would make a great addition to any angler’s fishing tackle collection.

Reviving the Roland MC-303 Retro Groovebox

I have been using the Roland MC-303 on and off since I bought it (1996). I’ve used it on some of the early Anjelicas Baby recordings like “Crawling Back To You” and “Blame It On You”. I think it’s a great little second hand machine for its price of around £100 – £200 depending on condition. However, I am going to be honest about my past experiences with it. The MC-303 was a revolution at the time and the first of many so-called groove boxes. I could do anything from techno to dance to jungle to drum & bass to name just a few. It was packed with vintage synth sounds like the Roland Juno and Jupiter series and had the classic retro sounds of the Roland TR-808 and TR-909. Plus, it also had Roland TB-303 bass-type synth sounds on board. Owning such instruments alone would have cost him millions and thousands of dollars or pounds sterling. So you needed the room to put your vintage gear.

It looked a lot like the old TB-303 and TR-808. It was essentially a sequencer-arranger with 8 recording tracks. It even had special effects built in, like chorus, flange, reverb, and delay. Its real-time features made it a lot of fun to play with. It had filter cutoff, resonance, stereo pan, and arpeggio. The pan and delay effects would keep time with the tempo of your patterns or songs, which at the time was a really cool development. It was 24-voice note polyphony, 16-part multitimbral, and there were 448 preset PCM ROM sounds, 300 preset patterns, and 50 user patterns. Quite extraordinary back in (1996). As soon as it appeared in music magazines like Future Music, Sound On Sound, and The Mix, it was quickly replaced by the Roland MC-505, JX-305, and Yamaha RM1x. I’m guessing this was because it was almost too good to be true for the incredible price of around £500. Yes, you guessed it, there were some major drawbacks to the machine that made using it a maddening experience at times.

1 The first thing I noticed was that it had an overly compressed type of sound and lacked any real punch. It could play dance music very well using the TR-909 sounds. If you ever compare the sounds of the MC-303 to, say, a JV1080 that had a similar set of sounds, you’ll find that the JV has a lot more presence and punch. To make an analogy here, it’s like comparing a wave file to an mp3 file. I suspect that to get all those sounds into the MC-303’s internal ROM, sacrifices had to be made, and perhaps the MC-303’s sample library bit rates were reduced. Don’t get me wrong, the sounds are crystal clear and many are in stereo, but you definitely feel like you almost want to take the sounds out of your speakers and give them a good kick to elevate them. This is a problem I’ve noticed on Roland synthesizers and especially drum machines from this period. The sounds almost sound too nice and clean as if you could invite them over to your parents’ house for Sunday dinner knowing they wouldn’t offend their musical tastes.

2 Real sounds like trumpets, guitars, etc. They were downright horrible. In my opinion, less would have been more on this machine. Everything and the kitchen sink were in it. As a result, in the pre-installed patterns, he had an amateur sound.

3 It only had two audio outputs, so adding external effects like reverb or delay meant you needed to record the sounds on separate tracks on your audio recorder. At the time, mine was a Fostex DMT8 8-track hard drive recorder. Hard disk recording with 16 tracks or more really came at a price back then.

4 Most irritating of all was its almost non-existent midi implementation. When it came to retro, they really took it very seriously. They basically designed it to work as a stand-alone machine. So if you wanted to use any other gear, you had to get the MC-303 to be the master sequencer. Well, at that time the sequencer was no match for Logic or Cubase. Consequently, I had to record the patterns for the MC-303 from its own memory and then save the song to an Alesis data disk. I then had to configure my Atari 1040 computer sequencer to activate the MC-303 as a slave. So very well solved. Oh no, wait a minute, you had to turn on the MC-303 from the beginning of the song every time. As soon as I sped up the Atari sequencer, the MC-303 lost the plot, and well, who knows where in the song it would move to.

5 Any sound you’d like to play in your own sequencer transmitted in omni mode through the 16 midi channels. What a crazy idea for the late 90s. To make matters worse, the real-time controls that made the machine so much fun became powerless when you tried to record, say, the real-time filtering of a bass sound on your sequencer. Come on Roland, you could record the control moves of a Juno 106 on your sequencer from 1985.

Well, as you can tell, at the time I was less than happy with these limitations. Despite this, he had faith in the little beast. He saw the light and hoped that over the years and more audio-based recording products on PCs and Macs, a breath of hope would be breathed into this machine. So with the passage of time, here come the positives.

1 Works great as a stand-alone unit. You can midi all your other equipment to it. Then you can make use of its really cool arpeggio to bring some life back to your boring old synths.

2 It has lots and lots of PCM samples, easily overcoming some of the limitations of the real onboard sounds. This is especially true if you have a lot of other software or hardware synths to use alongside it.

3 With modern technology, you can record a sound on your sequencer, then play with the MC-303’s controls in real time and record directly to an audio track on your computer. This can really jazz you up with modern plugins.

4 It’s a very cheap second hand for such a feature packed retro hardware unit.

5 You can configure it as a standard synth module.

6 It has a handy little bass boost knob on the back of the machine to add more bass to the audio output.

7 If you don’t go overboard and use other equipment to add to the track you’re recording, it can really sound very professional.

Those are the pros and cons of the Roland MC-303 in my subjective opinion. It’s a great little edit to anyone’s setup if used carefully and in moderation.

Shin Guard Facts – Five Things You Didn’t Know About Shin Guards

Shin guards are used in a variety of sports, including football and hockey, and are designed to protect the sensitive tibia bone from injury. Some sports have mandatory rules governing the use of shin guards to reduce the number of injuries. If you are a regular or even occasional player, make sure you invest in a good quality pair of shin guards to avoid long absences from the pitch due to injury.

Although we often think of shin guards as a modern invention, perhaps due to the cutting-edge technologies often used in their construction, they are actually descended from ancient armor worn by infantry troops. Read on to find out more, along with four other shin guard tips you probably didn’t know!

The shin guards descend from the greave. – Like many modern items, shin guards are descended from items worn in battle. The greave was a piece of armor that protected the leg, made from materials including padded cloth and steel. They were most used by heavy infantry and were developed in ancient times, although they continued to be used during the Middle Ages.

Unions would like to see teachers wearing shin guards – in August 2011 in the UK, unions urged the government to provide teachers with shin guards to protect them from violence by school pupils, citing the number of students expelled each year for unruly behaviour. The GMB union said teachers and teaching assistants should be provided with protective gear, including shin guards, to prevent injuries.

Sports shin guards were first used in cricket – Shin guards were originally used in cricket to give the batsman a strategic advantage; by placing his legs in front of the stumps, he could use his legs to block the path of the ball and prevent the wicket from being taken from him. Overuse of this led to ‘leg before the wicket’ rules being introduced in 1809. Leg guards continue to be used in cricket, primarily for protection, and are worn by the goalkeeper, batsman and fielders close to the batsman .

The most expensive shin guards are £150 ($233) – Shin guards range in price from a couple of pounds for an unbranded pair of shin guards to £150 for a top-of-the-line pair of Diadora Totti Mondiali shin guards. Personally cast from Francesco Totti’s leg and using F1 technology, these carbon fiber shin guards are made from a layer of titanium fiber on the inside and a layer of Kevlar fiber on the outside. If you have money to spare, these are the bee knees.

People initially laughed at the use of shin guards. – the first person to wear shin guards in association football, or soccer, was Sam Weller Widdowson in 1874. At the time, soccer was unregulated and brutal, and Widdowson was looking for ways to reduce injuries sustained during the course of a party. . As a regular cricketer, Widdowson decided to cut up a pair of cricket shin guards and tie them to his legs with leather straps. And he was met with taunts from the other players! However, they soon saw the advantages and so the practice began to spread.

We hope you found these facts interesting: Remember to wear shin guards when you practice or play a game to keep your legs protected and comfortable.

MTX Jackhammer, the LARGEST subwoofer known to man

How big do you think the largest automotive subwoofer ever made is? How about 22″ wide, and… get this… 369 pounds! The sound this thing makes is a bone chattering, a teeth chattering, and a heartbeat! Everyone on your block will hear you coming a mile away. This is what MTX has to say about it:

“Designed from the ground up to be the most massive subwoofer ever, JackHammer incorporates radical new technologies. It’s even manufactured in MTX’s custom facility with a magnetizer built just for this woofer, a magnetizer that erases any credit card that dares coming in in 25 minutes JackHammer is the biggest, baddest, boldest subwoofer…ever!

Billed as the subwoofer “other woofers have nightmares about,” the MTX JackHammer is a 2-foot-tall, 369-pound behemoth that makes you proud to be American. This 22″ subwoofer handles 5,000 watts RMS (up to 10,000 watts peak) and features a 900-ounce magnet (that’s just over 56 pounds) and a 6.5″ voice coil. The JackHammer is set up for high SPL (sound pressure level), but you can buy a replacement cone assembly that allows you to quickly switch to sound quality performance (and you don’t have to remove the speaker from its case to do the job). change). ). There was a constant crowd around this woofer throughout the show, jaws dropping, watching in amazement as the woofer cone moved in and out. Sometimes excess is a good thing!

The MTX Jackhammer is often used in sound pressure level competitions where the only goal is pure volume. In fact, a jackhammer is capable of producing sound pressure levels high enough that people in close proximity often wear hearing protection. The jackhammer can create sound pressure levels high enough to easily damage human hearing. It has been measured at over 150 decibels, which is 30 decibels higher than an airplane taking off. The jackhammer consumes far more power than the average automobile electrical system can provide, adding to its impracticality. It usually requires multiple powerful bridged amplifiers to drive it, and high-quality cables are needed to carry the current to the speaker. Several large capacitors are also generally used. About four lead-acid automotive batteries are required to power the amplifiers. Between the subwoofer and everything needed to power it, the system weighs more than 500 pounds (230 kg).

From the Business Week report of the Consumer Electronics Show: “Modified cars are a growing phenomenon, thanks in part to pimp my ride. MTV’s popular reality show is offering twenty-somethings a makeover for their old beaters, getting up to $30,000 worth of new supersonic audio and video equipment on equipment worth less than $1,000. So it’s no surprise that a star of the show, Mad Mike, is signing autographs at the booth of MTX Audio, which makes car speakers, amplifiers and subwoofers.

Mike is helping MTX power their JackHammer subwoofer, a 369-pound, 22-inch-tall throbbing hunk of sonic goodness. a recent one pimp my ride The episode featured Mike and his crew putting the JackHammer into a 1986 Buick Regal. The crew added a flashing caution light on the center dash of the car that reads “Warning: Ridiculous Bass” whenever the stereo plays.

So does anyone really need that much bass? “Absolutely,” says MTX’s ever-diligent spokeswoman, Hilary Moore. “Everyone needs a Jack Hammer.” Given that the $7,500 unit pumps out the equivalent of a dozen 12-inch subwoofers, Moore rationalizes that the JackHammer actually saves space.

Jackhammer is actually the name of a line of MTX subwoofers in common sizes like 10, 12, and 15 inches, as well as the 22-inch “monster.” However, while smaller models may be more common, the MTX Jackhamer generally refers to the 22-inch model. To avoid confusion, “The Jackhammer” is often used to refer to the 22-inch model. So, are you looking for something a little more…uh…reasonable? Perhaps a little more practical? The MTX Jackhammer line includes a variety of high-quality speakers for your car. The MTX product line is second to none.

Herbs For Stress Relief: Discover 7 Effective Herbal Remedies That Will Calm You Down Fast

You’re stressed. In fact, you are so stressed that you can hardly function anymore. And you’re looking for help. Sure, there is Valium, but synthetic drugs can have a lot of side effects. If you prefer something more natural, you’re in luck.

There are quite a few herbs that can help ease the symptoms of stress. And they usually do so without affecting your ability to think clearly. Herbs have been used for generations. For the most part, they are not only very effective with few side effects, they are also cheaper than drugs.

Just make sure you don’t underestimate them. Herbs can have powerful effects and you need to learn how they work. Also watch out for possible interactions between herbs and any other medications you may be taking. To understand how herbs can help, it’s helpful to know what happens when we’re stressed. First of all, when we are stressed, we become tense throughout the body.

Our muscles tense, our brain is overwhelmed by stimulation, and our nervous system kicks into high gear. If this condition persists too long or is repeated too often, our body will begin to break down, which is why it is important to find a way to relieve stress without adding even more stressors to our body, as is often the case with drugs or alcohol. alcohol. And that’s where herbs fit in.

These are some of the favorite herbs for stress relief. People respond better to some than to others. The key is to experiment, pay close attention to their effects, and find the ones that work best for you.

lemon balm

Lemon Balm is a member of the mint family. Originally from Europe, he is well known for the calming effect of it. It can be taken as an herbal tea and can be used for aromatherapy.

chamomile

Chamomile is a longtime favorite that is usually drunk as a tea to trigger relaxation and improve sleep.

Green Tea

Lately we have heard a lot about green tea. It is now available in any supermarket or convenience store as iced tea, in tea bags and other formats. It is a natural relaxant, partly due to theanine, the main substance of green tea. But be careful… It does also contain caffeine, although not much. However, if you’re not used to caffeine, it may keep you up at night.

jumps

We tend to associate hops with beer, but it is also used as a tea to relieve depression and calm the nervous system. It also helps alleviate other conditions often associated with stress, such as digestive disorders.

skull cap

Skullcap is a plant that grows freely in North America and in tropical climates. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in Chinese herbology. For centuries, Chinese doctors have used it to calm nervous tension and anxiety.

Flower of the Passion

The passion flower is found all over the world, except for Antarctica and Europe. It is popular in Europe to relieve nervous tension. The leaves can be used to make tea to relieve insomnia, depression, and anxiety.

Valerian

Valerian has been used in Europe for generations. It is very effective in calming stressed nerves. It may take a while to get used to the smell of it, but once you reap the benefits, you may actually like it (or at least develop positive associations with it). If you find the smell too difficult to accept, try it in tablet or pill form. It works just as well.

You’ll find various combinations of these herbs as calming teas at your grocery store or in pill form at your local health food store. Which ones work best? Try some of them and see how they work for you. You may never need another Valium again.

Just remember that herbs are powerful too. Be very careful driving and operating machinery until you know how they affect you. And of course, you may want to check with your doctor first.