Mind Nuggets » Outdoor Pursuits

Buying A Skiing Jacket – Things To Keep In Mind

Neil — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:44:01 +0000

Around a decade ago, skiing trips all of a sudden started to become wildly popular. It’s probably because indoor skiing locations started popping up all across the country and everybody wanted to give it a shot. That’s how I started out as well. After two years of practising indoors, I decided to go on an outdoor skiing vacation. One thing I noticed, is that it’s a lot colder outside in the snowy Alps. It made me wish I had read a couple of skiing jackets reviews before I purchased a twenty dollar skiing jacket, which offered me almost zero protection from the outside cold. That was a very big mistake. One that you can prevent from happening to you, if only you know more about some of the features to look out for when buying a ski jacket.

A jacket isn’t suitable for skiing unless it has the ability to make sure that melted snow, which is basically cold water, does not seep in so that it can touch your skin directly. If a jacket can’t keep water out, it’s useless for skiing. With a good jacket such as the Columbia men’s Ultimate Incline parka ski jacket, you can take as many dives in the snow as you want without ever feeling one drop of water. Most of the waterproof jackets I’ve seen accomplish their waterproofing because they have their seams fully taped. This gives the jacket great protection from not only water, but also air. Many jackets also have zipper guards on the inside for extra protection.

Next to keeping the cold out, there is the matter of keeping the warmth in. You can either get a soft shell jacket or an insulated jacket. A soft shell jacket doesn’t have any layering and you are sure to get cold in it if your body doesn’t stay warm easily. Soft shells are highly breathable, so the upside is that you won’t work up a sweat in them. Most people go with insulated jackets, however. Because insulated jacks trap body heat in the layers inside the jacket, your body heat isn’t lost to the outside environment. It’s easy for your body to stay warm for many hours if it doesn’t have to constantly generate new heat!

About Fly Fishing Addicts

Neil — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:51:49 +0000

I remember very well my first fly rod hook-up with a salt water striped bass. I can tell you, to quote a phrase known to addicts of all sorts, not just the flyfishing type, that “one was too many, and a thousand never enough”! I was waist deep with waders, standing in the cold spring ocean, at the mouth of an outflowing salt pond, on Cape Cod’s south facing shore.

There were fish here and a half a dozen fly fishermen. I had come equipped with my lightweight spinning tackle, still a saltwater fly virgin. I was watching fish caught and released all around me. I didn’t even want to cast my spinning rod.

The guy beside me released a fish and turned and said to me, “ever get one on a fly?” “No,” I replied, “except in fresh water ponds and rivers, large mouths not saltwater stripers.”

He handed me his rod, showed me the weighted Clouser minnow bait, and schooled me quick on how to let it drift and bounce along the bottom.

It only took a few casts before I felt the fish pick up the bait. And what a feeling! Helped by the current, the spring schoolie bass made a mad dash for open water, but the leverage of the 9 wt graphite rod soon convinced him (or her) otherwise. At my side, careful not to take the sub legal sized fish out of the water, I removed the barbless hook and set the fish loose.

I turned to look at my new fisherman friend and as I handed him his rod back he gave me a big smile. “Congratulations” he said, “You just spent a thousand dollars!” He was referring to what he new to be inevitable…that I was on my way to the tackle shop to get outfitted for saltwater flyfishing.

The dollars matter less than all the fish I have caught since that day. The only thing I am concerned with is when I will catch another one! Start having fun fishing with Pflueger President reels or Okuma Vashon fly reel.

Choosing The Best Duck Decoys

Neil — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 03:17:10 +0000

Duck hunting requires a great deal of patience, but just as important is the skill of having game come to you. While deer hunters use musk, duck hunters can use duck decoys in ponds or lakes to ease their quarry out of hiding. The best duck decoys use a blend of the visual recognition and the replica sound of duck calls. Many duck decoy models are relatively inexpensive, ranging from only twenty dollars to as much as one hundred and fifty dollars, and all can be found at outdoor goods stores or hunting outlets.

A duck decoy from Cabela’s promises some of the greatest yields on bird hunting. Cabela’s advertises itself as the number one choice of hunters and outdoor enthusiasts alike, and their lineup of duck displays are a wide range of quality and intricate details. A Green Head Gear floating duck from Cabela’s costs only forty dollars, but is custom designed to replicate waterfowl of specific areas, most often mallard ducks. These decoys use anatomically correct features to differentiate males and females; using over sized male models to attract females and replica females to attract males during mating season. Five different species are available from Green Head Gear.

A Mojo Duck combination is one of the most intricate decoys available on the market — with a price tag to match at one hundred and thirty dollars. These replica models are not stationary, but rather use a battery powered wheel to simulate flapping wings, which causes fellow ducks to come over to see what the commotion is about or stake a claim on their territory. Mojo Ducks come in three species models.

For the more budget friendly duck decoys, a simple Air Lucky Duck gives the same real feel without the concern of battery powered contraptions; at only twenty dollars it is also one of the cheapest models to be found. With windup action, the Air Lucky also simulates flapping wings. The Air Lucky only comes in the popular mallard design.