RichardR

He should never be selected to represent the United States, in any capacity, ever again.

My phone signal isn't good enough to watch the video, but if the economy collapses, society as we know it will follow, and historically, the longer the duration of a collapse, the more backwards a society will transgress. Geographic areas in which basic resources are very limited, such as cities or essentially any urbanized areas, tribalism will undoubtedly be revived, especially within certain cultures which have never completely abandoned the whole "tribalistic mentality" to begin with, some of those tribes will undoubtedly be more hostile than others, the peaceful tribes barter and trade will be possible, however the more hostile of the tribes will probably send out raiding parties into surrounding areas on a regular basis. What does that mean to us? Probably a whole lot of semi-organized lawlessness post-collapse, so it would be wise to automatically assume that you will eventually experience an encounter a roaving band of bandits, will the roaving bands of bandits consist of experienced combat vets? Maybe not in the beginning, but you can bet your last can of beans &/or you or your loved ones lives, that they will get experienced awful dern quick. Marauders won't spend their days and nights getting experience by cultivating a garden, tending livestock, digging a well or rebuilding, they will be out day and night preying upon other folks in order to obtain resources, and I am guessing that some of them are going to get real good at it too. How can we defend our families, our homes, our resources, our neighbors, etc against scenarios like that? Historically the use of an overwhelming force, that tracks them down and slaughters them, all of them so that they cannot just recruit more fodder & continue pillaging, is the most effective solution, however in a post-collapse modern society, successfully organizing and executing such a task would be extremely unlikely, volunteers and equipment would be in short supply, attempted leadership of this sort of "ad hoc posse" would probably be constantly contested, questioned, undermined and even subverted by those who did actually volunteer. It certainly isn't a scenario that I would ever want to have to deal with, but it is one that is possible if there ever is such a societal collapse, scary stuff indeed, especially considering "how soft" most modern family-men have become.

Nope I am still training a new lab, he has taken really well to the water but I cant seem to get him to fetch his fake duck while in the water, he tries but cant seem to quite get the hang of it yet, however I have had had pretty good luck with training him to find wild mushrooms, problem is he loves to eat them before I can collect them LOL gotta love puppies eh?

My two ultralight rigs are both abu garcias, in fact the vast majority of my rods and reels are abu garcia, I seem to have less issues with them than I have with other brands that I have owned, so I tended to stick with what I know works when buying tackle. In fact just recently I strayed and bought a heavy action Berkley rod/reel for cat/buffalo fishing and the damn crank broke off in my hand while cranking in a (guestimating here) 40ish lb cat, I was quite dissappointed considering that upon inspection the "pot metal" that the crank's shaft is supposed to be held in place by just broke apart. Granted I dialed out the drag, leaned really hard and was cranking with authority, trying to keep the cat from going under a large half-sunken fallen tree, which of course I would have lost him for sure under, but still the line should have snapped long before the damn crank broke off!

Thanks Dave, yea I have been trying to research all of this stuff, but the only internet access I have at the moment is through my cellphone and unfortunately I cannot see well enough to read .pdf files since the print is so small and my phone will not enlarge them like it can with the print on this forum. I do really appreciate all of the help everyone has been giving me, I am really looking forward to this endevour and I hope and pray it will be a successful one.

Thanks Whiskey, those look simple enough to build, I wonder how many seasons I would be able to get out of bamboo though. Riverrat, thanks for the heads up on memphis net and twine, I actually would prefer to use hoop nets, especially the wire mesh kind, but I had a local guy telling me that slat baskets were the way to go so I thought I would look into them more. You wouldn't happen to know if the wire mesh type hoop nets/traps are legal down here in TN would you? I cant seem to find any statute or regulation saying one way or another.

Well I do enjoy being out on the water, but smelling like fish 24/7/365 isn't going to be all that appealing, small price to pay I guess for being able to paddle &/or putter around the Hatchie & Mississippi every single day though.

Thanks Dave, I am buying a commercial fishing license for 2013, so I am planning on either buying or building a bunch of slat baskets to catfish commercially on both the Hatchie & Mississippi rivers, I was planning on starting with an initial 10 slat baskets and a string of 8-10 trotlines (200-250 hooks) eventually adding to them as time/money allowed. But like that TWRA clippet you posted states, they have to be made from wood, plastic or cane slats, where as the only ones I know how to build are made out of wire mesh, they looked sort of like a hoop net only a bit more sturdy. I am sure I can figure out how to build one within TN guidelines but I want to make absolutely sure that I am in compliance or they could fine me or even yank my commercial license for 3 years.

Meh, body armor is becoming standard issue more and more around the globe, so I personally believe that small very high velocity rounds capable of penetrating that body armor like the FN 5.7, the Chinese 5.8 and the HK 4.6 are the future w/regards to sidearms, PDW's & SMG's.

I need to build (or buy) a bunch of slat baskets, only problem is that apparently the wire mesh type that I am familiar with are not allowed under TWRA's rules and regulations. Anyone have any tips or tricks on building, or know of where I can buy inexpensive commercial slat baskets that are lawful to use down here in TN?

I always allow a couple of each plant species to "go to seed" in my garden so I can replant them the following spring, it's really not rocket science or anything so long as you keep them stored in a sealed, dark, dry, climate controled (room temperature) container they will stay viable for a couple of seasons. The longer they sit on a shelf the fewer of the seeds will germinate though, so it is always best to collect a new batch of seeds every or every other season, I have had really good luck with both heirloom and hybrid species, in fact almost all of my heirloom have become hybridized at some point or another simply due to the fact that it is impossible to prevent or control cross-polination in an outdoor "open air" garden. Fortunately for me all of my heirlooms & hybrids have all produced viable seeds, with the exception of some commadore beans about 4 years ago, which I couldn't get any of the seeds to germinate (not sure what they crossed with but the resulting seeds ended up being non-viable).

I had a really long beard for about 15 years, but after moving down here to TN I had to trim it up because of the heat, I have also been told that I look 20 years younger without all of the facial hair, which unfortunately is pretty grey at this point.

Yea they were fun to catch at first, but the novelty wore off really quick, once you get them up on shore or in the boat they will do everything in their power to get those teeth into you, and that sucks the fun right out of it, especially when they do manage to draw some blood. They are really thick through that area of the Hatchie, most of them are on the smaller side, the longest one that I have caught was just a hair over 3' in length, the rest where inbetween 2' and 3' I only carry a tape measure in my tackle, so I can only guestimate their weights. But if anyone is interested in giving them a try, I would be happy to take ya out and show ya where they are.

Thanks for the angler guide Dave, I downloaded it to my phone and looked at the species of gar in there, the ones I have been catching are alligator gars, so the local guy who ID'd them for me got it correct. Apparently they are a protected species, which is cool since I always toss them back, heck I wouldnt even know how to fillet them anyway, they feel very boney and hard so I didnt even bother trying to eat any of them. They do put up a pretty decent fight on light tackle but I would really rather them just stay off of my lines, I have even resorted to carrying a pair of thick leather work gloves in my tackle box just so that my hands dont look like I have been picking raspberries all day instead of fishing!

Well that is a shame, I really like my little spot there on the Hatchie, I pull some good sized cats, bass and drums out of there, but like I hinted at the gar down through there are just out-in-out nasty, mean tempered and armed with a mouthfull of razor sharp teeth, I have been using 12" of steel lead just to be able to keep my tackle but it might be easier just to use regular line and just keep tying new hooks on it rather than use the steel leads, land them and try to get the hooks back out of thier mouths!

I was out paddling Fort Pillow Lake yesterday, I tried to stick close to the shoreline and stay in the shade as much as I could, thankfully mid-afternoon it got overcast and sprinkled a little, so that helped cool things down a bit. Even though it was pretty hot it was still a really great day to be out on the water, that is for sure!

Yup I am on the far west side of the state, but to be honest I wouldnt know an alligator gar from a spotted from a longnosed one, never saw one before I moved down here and alligator gar was what a local called them. Anyway my main fishing spot is on the Hatchie river, just a couple miles down from where the Hatchie and Mississippi rivers meet, most of the gars that I catch are long and thin, usually between 2 and 3 feet long, not bad as far as the fight in them using light panfish tackle, but not worth the hassle of dealing with all of those razor sharp teeth, especially since I have no interest in eating them. I was just wondering if there was some rig or bait that they wouldnt strike.

These damn things are driving me nuts, anyway to keep them from hitting on my lines, they were kind of fun to catch at first but after dealing with them for a couple of months the novelty has worn off.

Congrats man, best of luck to you in your new position!

With such a niche "hobby" market, in such a piss-poor economy I can't imagine enough demand to keep yet another brick and mortar store afloat, however if you used some cleaver marketing and helped create some demand by sponsering CW events (using the products you sell) you might be able to make the venture a viable one. Special store events don't even have to be large scale reinactments, just simple CW themed campouts or a day long shooting demostration, etc would help generate consumer interest and if done correctly longer term customer loyalty, just make sure to bring decent selection of goods to sell at your events so the folks will get an idea of what you sell at your store. Vending at larger scale reinactments is a good idea, but you'll just be one of many vendors there and while you might make a few bucks and a few new friends, the smaller scale store events will really solidify a consumer/store relationship. Anyway that's just my experience w/vending to niche markets, g'luck to ya.

Especially a house with all of the previous families personal property and furnishings still inside of it.

Yea if I came home from vacation to find strangers in my house there wouldnt be any sort of discussion, just a couple of muzzle flashes and a call to 911 to report the incident. I am not required by law to ask who they are or what they are doing in my house.

A quick google search and I found out what that little surplus alcohol stove/mess kit that I have is called, a Trangia or something like that, anyway great little kit, indestructable so long as you let it cool down before putting the lid back on the stove, if you dont let it cool down you will melt the seal, otherwise you can run the thing over with a tank and it will still work. Only use 90% + ethonol though, anything less wont vaporize and jet as well.

I've got an old Coleman 2 burner white gas camp stove thhat I have had since the late 1970's and it is still going strong, in fact I made breakfast on it this morning, eggs sunnyside up, bacon, and hashbrowns, it is a great camp stove but it is to big and bulky not to mention heavy for backpacking. For backpacking I have been using a small surplus alcohol stove that I picked up about 20 years ago at a gun show, neat little kit, has the stove, and pots and stuff that all nests together in one small, light, easy to carry package, I use it all the time for hiking and picknicking and stuff, I'll try to take some photos of it a bit later, maybe someone can ID it a bit better for any folks interested in something like it.

Congrats on your new canoe, Ive been a river rat for as long as I can remember, great way to spend quality time with family, friends, or even just soloing around enjoying all that nature has to offer.