Hmmm. I thought I was familiar with most of the US military packs. I’ve got the CFP-90, the new MOLLE framed pack, and, of course, some of the old ALICE packs. I’d never seen these though. Looks like a nice pack, I wonder if they’re as well built as the other packs. Seems like a nice choice for a semi-disposable pack for caching, vehicles, remote locations, or other places where you’d want a good pack but don’t want to leave a really expensive one. Ig anyone gets one of these, I’d very much like to know you think of it.

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THe weather here in western Montana has improved a bit, as evidenced by my buddy pulling his sports car out of storage, but I’m not sure it’s time to put away the snow shovels just yet. However, I must say, the days are kinda nice. The wife purchased a fishing rod last year that I’m wanting to take out for a spin. When I was a kid, $4 bought you 4-piece bamboo cane pole. Hey, for a seven-year-old kid what else did you really need? A ten foot stick with a length of mono and a hook on the end will do the trick. I tried to see if they still make those cheap cane poles but had no luck finding them. However, like everything else, you can find a much higher quality version if youre willing to pay the price.  This is where the Tenkara fishing rod comes in. It’s a telescoping rod of around 12′-14′ in length. No reel, you tie a line to the end of the pole..that gives you a reach of twice the length of the pole. Advantages are that it’s as simple as you can get, lightweight, and fairly compact…nice for small streams and creeks like what we have out here. Drawback? Godawfully expensive. But, I rather like the simple elegance and uncomplicated nature of it. If it telescopes down to a small lightweight package and all the gear (line, flies, hooks) fits in an Altoid tin. Thats kind of attractive. I’m not much for fly fishing but I reckon I can just throw a small hook on the end with a segment of work or grub (which is how I usually fish.) Anyway, since the weather is improving and the rivers are clearing up, I think over the next few weeks I’ll need to find some time to head down to the river and try it out.

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Local gun show this weekend. The only thing Im in the market for are primers. Now that the missus is back into competitive shooting she’s making a huge dent in my supply. So, I’ll keep an eye for those. It’ll be interesting to see if the typical election year panic buying has started yet or if folks will wait until around September. For anyone who is local, this show is at the Missoula Fairgrounds and will be this coming Fri-Sat-Sun.