Speaker 1: As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days
Speaker 1: in the field. This show is about translating my hard
Speaker 1: won experiences into tips and tactics they'll get you closer
Speaker 1: to your ultimate goal success in the field. I'm Remy Warren.
Speaker 1: This is cutting the Distance. Welcome back to the podcast. Everyone.
Speaker 1: This week is gonna be a little bit different because
Speaker 1: this week is going to be all about gear. I
Speaker 1: think if you get a bunch of hunters in a
Speaker 1: room together, uh, first, they're probably gonna talk about some
Speaker 1: of their hunting stories, share stories of hunts or recent
Speaker 1: hunts or other things that they've done, and then the
Speaker 1: conversation always tends to go toward gear. Gear that they like,
Speaker 1: gear that they don't like, gear that they want to
Speaker 1: try or want to buy. It's just, for some reason,
Speaker 1: is in hunter's DNA to talk about gear. And I
Speaker 1: think it's because there's so much good gear and gear
Speaker 1: so integral to what we do. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: good gear out there that helps us be more successful,
Speaker 1: be more comfortable. Um, and there's a lot of gear
Speaker 1: out there that you know is really good, and there's
Speaker 1: a lot of gear out there that it's not so
Speaker 1: good and It's just something that we like to talk about.
Speaker 1: We like to see what everybody else is using. We
Speaker 1: like to talk about what we like, what we don't like,
Speaker 1: and I am no different. So this year, I've decided
Speaker 1: to make a top gear of list. I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: running through all my favorites and all the things that
Speaker 1: I got to try, things that I like, and why
Speaker 1: I like them. Now I feel very, very fortunate because
Speaker 1: when it comes to gear, I get to try a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff. For some of the magazines that I
Speaker 1: write for, I get to sample gear for um just
Speaker 1: various things. I work with a lot of companies very
Speaker 1: closely through partnerships and sponsorship type things, but also just
Speaker 1: get to try a lot of different product lines and
Speaker 1: other things to sample some stuff I really like, some
Speaker 1: stuff I don't like. But generally the stuff that I
Speaker 1: don't like, it's not even necessarily worth talking about for
Speaker 1: the most part. But for me personally, I've always been
Speaker 1: the type of person that when it comes to picking
Speaker 1: out gear, I have the philosophy that I'd rather buy
Speaker 1: it once and use it forever. I really like high
Speaker 1: quality gear that I know is gonna last a long time,
Speaker 1: that's going to get the job done. And I also
Speaker 1: am very cognizant of the fact that my uses for
Speaker 1: gear might not be the same uses as other people.
Speaker 1: You know, I've professionally guided pretty much my entire adult life,
Speaker 1: and I'm using these things day in day out as
Speaker 1: part of my job. But also, you know, you're using
Speaker 1: it every day, so I really demand some of the best. Um,
Speaker 1: I understand that maybe for a week long hunt or
Speaker 1: something that might not necessarily be necessary, but also I
Speaker 1: think that there is something to be said for how
Speaker 1: having gear that gets the job done. I'm a really
Speaker 1: big proponent of that. Now, good gear doesn't necessarily mean
Speaker 1: it's the most expensive, but it does mean that it's
Speaker 1: high quality, it does the job, it works really well.
Speaker 1: Now for me, I get to try a lot of
Speaker 1: different stuff, and which is awesome because I work with
Speaker 1: a lot of companies. I always think it's good to
Speaker 1: just disclose, like, yes, I am sponsored by some companies,
Speaker 1: and I do get to try a lot of different things,
Speaker 1: so I can be very well versed in all things
Speaker 1: gear because I get to try so much different stuff,
Speaker 1: and I get to kind of report back and say, Okay,
Speaker 1: here's what I liked about this here's what I think
Speaker 1: is really good at this price point. You know, I
Speaker 1: think that that's something to just kind of keep in mind.
Speaker 1: It's not like nobody's paying me to say these things.
Speaker 1: These are just kind of my own opinions, and I
Speaker 1: just kind of like to lay it out there that, yes,
Speaker 1: I am sponsored by a lot of these companies, but also,
Speaker 1: you know, that's because I choose to work with them,
Speaker 1: because I seek out things that I already like and
Speaker 1: use and find as good quality gear, and then end
Speaker 1: up building these working relationships with these companies as well.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of my stance on it. You know,
Speaker 1: take it as you will. I just think it's always
Speaker 1: good to disclose that kind of stuff. And then also,
Speaker 1: you know, it's really nice because I might be working
Speaker 1: with a certain company, but I also get to try
Speaker 1: a lot of their products within that company. And I
Speaker 1: say that whenever I do these gear things, because I
Speaker 1: think it's good to know where I'm coming from. But
Speaker 1: on this gear list in particular, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: things UM companies that I work with, and then some
Speaker 1: of that's just completely random stuff for other stuff that
Speaker 1: I've tried, other stuff that I've sampled, UM I get
Speaker 1: sent sample things for the magazines and other things like
Speaker 1: I mentioned, So some of this stuff just also just
Speaker 1: who knows where it comes from, just cruising Amazon and
Speaker 1: being like, oh, this looks nice. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: that in here as well. We might as well just
Speaker 1: jump in. I know that sometimes when I start talking gear,
Speaker 1: I could talk this could be a forty four hour
Speaker 1: podcast and then we'd just be barely scratching the surface.
Speaker 1: And I could probably and then we can move from
Speaker 1: the first one. But I figured if we do kind
Speaker 1: of like a best of that's going to be the
Speaker 1: best way to kind of showcase some of the things
Speaker 1: that piqued my interest this year, some things that I
Speaker 1: was really excited about. And I think there's some cool
Speaker 1: stuff in here that you know, especially coming around that
Speaker 1: time holiday season, this might be a really good kind
Speaker 1: of gift guide. I always get these messages from people who, um,
Speaker 1: it might be like husband listens to it, and his
Speaker 1: wife and kids listen to it all the time. The
Speaker 1: wife and kids don't hunt, but they'll be like, hey,
Speaker 1: I listened to every one of your podcasts. Any suggestions
Speaker 1: on something from my husband? So this this is for
Speaker 1: you as well. So This is for the hunter and
Speaker 1: the non hunter. This might be the perfect gift guide
Speaker 1: for those of you, uh, if you've got someone in
Speaker 1: your family that's really hard to buy for. It kind
Speaker 1: of has everything you might be able to glean some
Speaker 1: tips out of here. Let's start with the best of optics.
Speaker 1: I know optics for me personally, the way that I hunt,
Speaker 1: that's one of the categories that I would say is
Speaker 1: really integral to success, something that's very important. I work
Speaker 1: with Vortex Optics, so I got to try a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff in their product lines. If we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about binoculars for me, I think that this year the
Speaker 1: ones that really stood out would be the ten by
Speaker 1: forty two razor u h D s. Now, that's their
Speaker 1: top of the line, highest in binocular I know in
Speaker 1: the past, you guys you've probably heard me talk about
Speaker 1: liking twelve by fifty binoculars. But these u h D
Speaker 1: s are super super, I don't know, just like really
Speaker 1: easy on the eyes, really clear, really crisp. They're a
Speaker 1: little bit heavier than the regular razors, so the weight savings,
Speaker 1: but I think that the quality over the weight is
Speaker 1: kind of worth it. They're similar shape and design, but
Speaker 1: just a little bit you know, I actually haven't read
Speaker 1: the specs on it, but they just feel a little
Speaker 1: bit heavier to me. It might just be of a
Speaker 1: different glass in there or whatever. I originally went with
Speaker 1: the twelve by fourty two is just because they fit
Speaker 1: a little bit better in in my favorite by no
Speaker 1: Harness it. Then I just kind of like fell in
Speaker 1: love with them and can't part with them. So I've
Speaker 1: been rocking the ten by forty two u h D
Speaker 1: s and I think it's the best class of four
Speaker 1: Texas come out with so far. Um it is their
Speaker 1: highest then binocular. But for me, you know, using it
Speaker 1: day in and day out, I really really really like them.
Speaker 1: One other thing that I did try though this year
Speaker 1: was the Diamondback fifty fifty six is now that's they're
Speaker 1: more mid price optic and I think it's really it's
Speaker 1: actually pretty smart choice on there. And but I used
Speaker 1: it pretty much all of a Springbury season because a
Speaker 1: lot of sitting glassing. They're a little bit lighter weight,
Speaker 1: but the clarity and quality of them was really surprising,
Speaker 1: like really decent, really good, especially for the price they
Speaker 1: actually are. H D as well, I think it's fills
Speaker 1: a good niche between having those like higher power binoculars,
Speaker 1: but not wanting to spend that primary binocular price. So
Speaker 1: the binoculars you got every day around your neck. You know,
Speaker 1: when I'm thinking about higher power optics, I call them
Speaker 1: my bag bag knocks because They're going to be in
Speaker 1: my backpack and I'm gonna get up sit glass somewhere
Speaker 1: overlooking area and then put them away when I'm done,
Speaker 1: or maybe drive to a glass knob like a short
Speaker 1: walk from there. So it's kind of a good price
Speaker 1: point where you can get into having that type of
Speaker 1: binocular where you can sit because it's so much easier
Speaker 1: on your eyes and better for glassing than staring through
Speaker 1: the spotting scope, which is more magnification. But for a
Speaker 1: lot of hunts man, I just almost prefer high powered binoculars.
Speaker 1: I can kind of verify what I'm looking at if
Speaker 1: I need that verification, as long as I'm not trying
Speaker 1: to like really nitpick the animals that I'm looking at.
Speaker 1: Score wise, I just need okay it's legal or yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a mature representation. I can tell from here because
Speaker 1: having both eyes open and just scanning off a tripod
Speaker 1: with the high powered binoculars is is a nice way
Speaker 1: to do it, and I think sometimes for backcountry hunting,
Speaker 1: I've actually taken those, you know, just go with higher
Speaker 1: power binoculars and kind of forego the spotting scope. But
Speaker 1: um spotting scope still is extremely handy. And I did
Speaker 1: also try out the Diamondback hd UH spotting scopes. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't say they're cheap, but I wouldn't say they're expensive
Speaker 1: as far as spotting scopes go, and it's really good
Speaker 1: like bang for your buck. They're around five that five range,
Speaker 1: still still not cheap, but um really high quality for
Speaker 1: the price. Because when you're talking about spotting scopes, I
Speaker 1: mean you can go up to the kind of the
Speaker 1: skies the limit when it comes to glass, and you know,
Speaker 1: as they say, well you normally get like the more
Speaker 1: you pay, the better it is. But I think some
Speaker 1: optics there's kind of this happy medium where it's good
Speaker 1: enough and you don't really necessarily need to go that
Speaker 1: extra bit more or you know, it's not in the budget,
Speaker 1: but if you can afford this, then you're going to
Speaker 1: be very very very very happy with it. And not
Speaker 1: that it's not big purchase as well, but I think that. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm really impressed with it. I've like, actually, I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: it's a little bit lighter than some of the more
Speaker 1: expensive stuff as well, so I kind of like that
Speaker 1: that little weight saving. So I think it's just something
Speaker 1: to look into if you're looking for optics. Those I
Speaker 1: was really happy with those. The one optical piece that
Speaker 1: knocked it out of the park for me the Razor
Speaker 1: LHT rifle Scope Light Hunter Tactical. Hands down the best
Speaker 1: rifle scope I've ever used. It has everything that I like.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's kind of like they designed the scope
Speaker 1: particularly for me, and they may have I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, every time I talked to him, like you
Speaker 1: guys design that scope from me, right, you know, because
Speaker 1: they know that I like the scope that I've liked
Speaker 1: before and just has the features now that I just
Speaker 1: wanted in a scope. I mean, it's really really good
Speaker 1: optical clarity. I really like the radical in it. Um
Speaker 1: it's got also kind of a light up radical. It's
Speaker 1: super lightweight but has all the tactical features as well.
Speaker 1: So it's got one thing that I think is absolutely
Speaker 1: necessary for a hunting for Like, a feature that I
Speaker 1: really like is a locking turrets. UM. I like an
Speaker 1: m O A scope, So this one has got locking elevation,
Speaker 1: capped windage. It's perfect. It's everything that I've ever asked
Speaker 1: in a scope. It also has like easy to do
Speaker 1: zero stop. It's easy to adjust because I'm actually like,
Speaker 1: when I go somewhere, I'll get out like let's say
Speaker 1: I'm going on a trip actually this week. I just
Speaker 1: shot my gun at the range yesterday. When I get there,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be different elevations everything. I like to set
Speaker 1: my ballistics for where I'm at and the temperature and
Speaker 1: everything like that. So I'll just actually recite that scope,
Speaker 1: pull that top cap off, reset my zero stop, and boom,
Speaker 1: I'm good to go there. And it takes me two seconds.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like super easy. I love everything about
Speaker 1: the scope. It's if you were to ask me what's
Speaker 1: the best scope ever made right now, I would say
Speaker 1: Vortex rasor l h T. That's definitely got my name
Speaker 1: all over it. I guess since we're talking about scoti,
Speaker 1: might as well talk about guns. The best gun of
Speaker 1: best one that I used, I would say I really
Speaker 1: liked the Saco Carbon light. UM. I like a light gun.
Speaker 1: I got it in six five and I if you've
Speaker 1: listened to me talk, you know that my favorite caliber
Speaker 1: is a three short mag and I would have got it.
Speaker 1: It's like, how many three short mags because a guy
Speaker 1: need um, I don't know, it's just like every everything
Speaker 1: to be three in a short. But they didn't make
Speaker 1: this one in three short, and I liked the features
Speaker 1: of it, so I went with the six five cream More.
Speaker 1: You know, I've shot six five cream More a lot.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's like the best caliber ever made,
Speaker 1: but I don't think it's bad either. Um, it's great
Speaker 1: for for a lot of different things. And on a
Speaker 1: cariboo with it this year, uh dear cow elk, everything
Speaker 1: was one shot awesome. So the thing I really like
Speaker 1: about the gun just like the ergonomics adjustable trigger. It's
Speaker 1: just super comfortable, super lightweight, definitely definitely a really high
Speaker 1: quality gun, super accurate. So I definitely liked that. And
Speaker 1: I guess let's go on to the best suppressor of
Speaker 1: the best suppressor of I'm gonna have to say, hands down,
Speaker 1: sure Fire Titanium. I got it in thirty cow that way,
Speaker 1: I put it on everything, so it's um, it's pretty sweet.
Speaker 1: It's a lightweight. I've got it currently on that Socco
Speaker 1: Carbon Light six five, but I got thirty cow so
Speaker 1: I can just put it on pretty much any rifle
Speaker 1: that I own. You can put a break on your gun,
Speaker 1: and then it's got a quick thread adapter to go
Speaker 1: over your muzzle brake. I know some people think that
Speaker 1: those might not be as accurate because well, you don't
Speaker 1: know if it's seated same, but the brakes are indexed
Speaker 1: on there. It's got like this um so that you
Speaker 1: kind of put it on the same every time a
Speaker 1: little index thing on the break threatens on and just
Speaker 1: like essentially a full or half turn kind of thing
Speaker 1: seats it on there. I've had no problems with accuracy
Speaker 1: with it. Actually kind of increased the accuracy on some
Speaker 1: of the other guns that I've put it on. And
Speaker 1: it's it's awesome. It it does a good job making
Speaker 1: you know, it takes the crack out of the rifle,
Speaker 1: protects your ears a little bit, and also takes a
Speaker 1: little bit of jump out of the rifle. It's really
Speaker 1: nice because you can squeeze off that round and you're
Speaker 1: still on target. Even if on higher magnification. You can
Speaker 1: watch the impact, and it's really nice if you're hunting alone,
Speaker 1: um or even hunting with other people, it's nice to
Speaker 1: have that not blow your drums out like a regular
Speaker 1: break does. So that one, that one's been good. UM,
Speaker 1: I think I got it took me you know, everybody
Speaker 1: asks questions about the suppressors and other things. It didn't
Speaker 1: take me that long to get my tax stamp for it.
Speaker 1: I think it was kind of right around COVID and
Speaker 1: I thought, man, is gonna take forever. This is a bummer,
Speaker 1: I think. I. Let's see. I sent in my paperwork
Speaker 1: in March and got it around September, so it wasn't
Speaker 1: actually too bad. Um. I don't know what the weight
Speaker 1: times are like now, but uh, if it's something you're
Speaker 1: thinking about, highly highly suggests getting one. Uh most states
Speaker 1: it's legal to hunt with. So that's kind of a
Speaker 1: that was like a fun purchase for myself this year
Speaker 1: that um Man, I really really like that one. I
Speaker 1: actually got a couple of them because I was like,
Speaker 1: I tried a couple of different ones, but that one
Speaker 1: was hands down better than the other ones that I
Speaker 1: that I got, So I was really impressed with that.
Speaker 1: Since we're still talking about firearms here, and we'll get
Speaker 1: into some bow stuff here shortly. The best AMMA of
Speaker 1: it's got to be Terminal Ascent, Federal Terminal Ascent. I've
Speaker 1: had really really good luck with it, and for me,
Speaker 1: bullet choice is huge because I'm looking for something with
Speaker 1: good BC, looking for something that I think I kind
Speaker 1: of talked about this earlier, but looking for something that
Speaker 1: also has good killing power, like you it needs if
Speaker 1: it's used for hunting. So I started getting kind of
Speaker 1: disenfranchised of some ammo that's like it was more target
Speaker 1: ammunition that they're selling his hunting ammunition that didn't perform
Speaker 1: like hunting ammunition. There's a lot of manufacturers doing that,
Speaker 1: and it was just really irking me a little bit.
Speaker 1: And this is performing like target ammunition, but on game
Speaker 1: is definitely having that knockdown power that controlled expansion, like
Speaker 1: from a short range to a long range. So I'm
Speaker 1: pretty stoked on that. Actually. Just I just cited my
Speaker 1: three short in with it um yesterday and uh man,
Speaker 1: it was like just a sub m away group two yards.
Speaker 1: I was less than in I would say less than
Speaker 1: an inch for sure, five shot group two with it.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, all right, that's awesome. And it was
Speaker 1: out of a gun that was a little bit finicky
Speaker 1: with some other AMMO. So that's nice because I spent
Speaker 1: a lot of I mean, I did a lot of
Speaker 1: round testing and it likes it, so that's nice. Um.
Speaker 1: But then I've also hunted a lot with it this year.
Speaker 1: You know, out of my six five and everything, I've
Speaker 1: shot one shot drop like dead. That's what you want
Speaker 1: in hunting AMMO, and so it's been pretty good. We
Speaker 1: took it on a caribou hunt and I think three
Speaker 1: out of the four caribouer shot with that same Ammo,
Speaker 1: same rifle actually, and then a couple of wolves and
Speaker 1: deer and uh elk, cow elk and the cow it was.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just perfect four yards lined up shot,
Speaker 1: drop dead kind of thing. And that's what you like,
Speaker 1: That's what you want your AMMO to do. That's what
Speaker 1: you want your shots to do. So very very happy
Speaker 1: with that this year. That definitely gets an award from me.
Speaker 1: Let's go into some bow stuff. I think the best bows.
Speaker 1: Let's do best bows of I mean, I'm a Prime shooter.
Speaker 1: I worked with Prime. I've been shooting Primes for a
Speaker 1: long time. Their new Nexus bow I like a lot
Speaker 1: better than the Black. I think that there was some
Speaker 1: things that I didn't necessarily like about the Black as much,
Speaker 1: but have been like it wasn't a bad bow by
Speaker 1: any means. But this Nexus bow, I think is just
Speaker 1: a step up from it, And so I'm pretty stoked
Speaker 1: on that. I haven't got a lot of hunting time
Speaker 1: in with it, but what I've used it for so far,
Speaker 1: I'm pretty stoked on. I'm also kind of just one
Speaker 1: of those people that I get a bow that I
Speaker 1: still really love the synergy. It's an old boat. I
Speaker 1: don't even they don't make them anymore, but damn did
Speaker 1: I love that do? I still love that bow. I'm
Speaker 1: just one of those people though, with bows, I get
Speaker 1: super sentimental. If I have like a great year with it,
Speaker 1: then um, it's hard for me to switch bows. I've
Speaker 1: always been and I'm like that with rifles as well.
Speaker 1: Like I like to name them, I like to spend
Speaker 1: time with them. You know, you carry something around for
Speaker 1: so long, and it's just one of those things like
Speaker 1: I don't like to each guns all the time. I
Speaker 1: don't like to switch bows all the time. Um, I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sentimental when it comes to I don't even know
Speaker 1: if it's sentimental. It's just you get used to it.
Speaker 1: It's like you carry it through the mountains for a
Speaker 1: certain amount of time and you have a good season
Speaker 1: and you're just like, let's keep these good times rolling, man,
Speaker 1: you know, and you keep that. I don't know what
Speaker 1: it is. I'm sure there's a lot of people like that.
Speaker 1: I'd probably still be shooting. I don't even know if
Speaker 1: they still like if you could keep a bow up forever,
Speaker 1: I probably just keep shooting the same bows that I've
Speaker 1: always shot. Um. But that I say that, and then
Speaker 1: I get a new one and I'm like, oh, there's
Speaker 1: things that I really really like about this new bow.
Speaker 1: So I definitely think that the nexus takes you know,
Speaker 1: I've shot I actually got to shoot quite a few
Speaker 1: bows this year, so UM, that one I really enjoyed. UM.
Speaker 1: But like I said, I haven't got like hunt time
Speaker 1: with it yet. So as of right now, just shooting
Speaker 1: it out of the box, um, hands down, I'm pretty
Speaker 1: stoked on it. Uh, But I guess I don't know
Speaker 1: if I always like to just hunt with it and
Speaker 1: then come back and give another report. So I'm sure
Speaker 1: if I if I like it out of the box,
Speaker 1: it's gonna hunt well. I've never had one that I
Speaker 1: didn't like out of the box. Um not hunt well
Speaker 1: and pretty good about deciphering that. So pretty stoked on that.
Speaker 1: That's I mean, that's the one to look out for
Speaker 1: for sure. Um. It's really there's a lot of things
Speaker 1: I really like about it so far. Like it's pretty quiet, Um,
Speaker 1: it's super dead in hand, things that I kind of
Speaker 1: look for in a bow, um, especially for like Western hunting,
Speaker 1: when you're in the mountains and everything's kind of already
Speaker 1: unstable bow, it's easy to just hold on that spot
Speaker 1: and then something that you know doesn't really have a
Speaker 1: lot of knock travel because you know you've got if
Speaker 1: you're twisted at a weird angle or whatever. You just
Speaker 1: want every shot, no matter the angle you're shooting at
Speaker 1: or whatever, to just go right where you want it. Um.
Speaker 1: So that's been fun. Uh this year too, I kind
Speaker 1: of want to just get back to the basics a
Speaker 1: little bit. You know, it's been so long since I well,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say it's so long. Every year I hunt
Speaker 1: with a trad bow, but I don't necessarily always film it.
Speaker 1: This year I just decided to go like old school,
Speaker 1: bust out my Montana longboat. It's a bare long bow.
Speaker 1: I think I got it at cabela Is like quite
Speaker 1: a few years back, use like the Cabella's credit card
Speaker 1: points and got this thing is like maybe three D
Speaker 1: bucks or something like that. Had a lot of fun
Speaker 1: with that this year, you know, just kind of getting
Speaker 1: back to shooting the trad bow. Why I shoot him
Speaker 1: a lot all the time. But um then a friend
Speaker 1: of mine came out this year with his He had
Speaker 1: a recurve a stalker stick bow, and that thing is
Speaker 1: just like an absolute work of art, handmade like beautiful wood.
Speaker 1: And so I'm like, okay, I need one of these.
Speaker 1: And I actually just got a stalker stickbow too. So
Speaker 1: if you're looking for something that's like absolutely the best, handmade,
Speaker 1: just like beautiful piece of hunting art. I'm gonna hunt
Speaker 1: with the stick bow and allow Aska this week, and
Speaker 1: then I'm gonna come back and help my mule your
Speaker 1: tag with that Nexus Prime. So those are two hunts
Speaker 1: that I'm really really looking forward to here coming up
Speaker 1: and hopefully get first harvest with a couple of new bows.
Speaker 1: Nothing better than breaking in a new bow on a hunt.
Speaker 1: So much fun. Oh yeah, those will be my hunting
Speaker 1: partners for the next couple of years, hopefully. I like
Speaker 1: how I talk about bows and guns like people. I'm
Speaker 1: just a special type. It's okay. You can continue to listen. Packs.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. You can't talk about gear and not talk
Speaker 1: about packs. Packs, I would say, is probably the most
Speaker 1: talked about piece of gear. Because anything that's uncomfortable and
Speaker 1: somebody can make it comfortable, or a task that's hard
Speaker 1: and somebody makes it just a slightly a little bit easier,
Speaker 1: that's a good piece of gear. The pack, I mean,
Speaker 1: I used Stone Glacier. I work with them a lot.
Speaker 1: This year I used the sky on the X curve frame.
Speaker 1: Really really solid pack. I mean there's many many packouts
Speaker 1: that I had. The heaviest pack out that I had
Speaker 1: in that pack this year was a hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: five pounds I think for I don't know, a really
Speaker 1: long ways. I mean we started I started walking, it
Speaker 1: was daylight and I ended up at three in the
Speaker 1: morning getting back. It was it was a slog for sure,
Speaker 1: but that pack really held together. I had stuff strapped
Speaker 1: everywhere to that thing I had. When you talk about
Speaker 1: awkward weight. I had caribou rack over the top just
Speaker 1: trying to balance this thing velvet sluffing. I ended up
Speaker 1: just ripping all the velvet off because it was hit
Speaker 1: me in the face and stinking and just I didn't
Speaker 1: have enough room in the pack. That was the only trouble.
Speaker 1: So I think, um, not that the pack isn't huge,
Speaker 1: and that's not I mean, like, you don't need to
Speaker 1: put that much weight. I don't know why I like
Speaker 1: to load my packs down so much. I just didn't
Speaker 1: want to have to go back for a second trip,
Speaker 1: but I ended up ferrying a lot of stuff anyways. Um,
Speaker 1: next sure I might actually try like a little bit,
Speaker 1: maybe go like the sixty nine or you know, because
Speaker 1: they shrink down too, But pretty dangn good for multi
Speaker 1: day trips and like carrying out lots of meats, So
Speaker 1: that that one gets my stamp of approval on that
Speaker 1: for sure. This is something that I hadn't uh used
Speaker 1: before and didn't even really know existed. But it's the
Speaker 1: Gerber freescape saw. I like to do those boning cuts lately,
Speaker 1: and so I'm like, Okay, a little bit extra weight
Speaker 1: to carry a saw is fine, And I've been using
Speaker 1: like these Exo mood knife. So it's got a little
Speaker 1: saw in it as well. It's like a three you
Speaker 1: can they all kind of clipped together, but it's just
Speaker 1: more of like a skeletonized fixed blade knife. You know.
Speaker 1: For a long time I did the whole replaceable blade thing,
Speaker 1: and I think those are really nice. But something about
Speaker 1: just having like a solid fixed blade knife that I
Speaker 1: just like, you know, I like to get in there
Speaker 1: and um, it's just nice to have like a solid blade.
Speaker 1: So I've been using solid knives a lot more recently. Um,
Speaker 1: And that Exo it does have a saw, but then
Speaker 1: this free Scape saws more of like a I hope
Speaker 1: they still make it. It folds like it's a wood saw,
Speaker 1: but the blade folds into itself. So you know those
Speaker 1: old like white pack what are they called saws of
Speaker 1: wyoming or I can't remember what they were, but it's
Speaker 1: like this in this kit and you have the saw
Speaker 1: blade and you three pieces that you put together in
Speaker 1: a handle and you tighten the blade. This is like
Speaker 1: that style saw, but it folds out. It's pretty incredible.
Speaker 1: I wish I'd known about it sooner. That one. That
Speaker 1: was like good surprise for this year. I liked that. See,
Speaker 1: oh we talked about packs, so we got to talk
Speaker 1: about boots. Um. I tried a lot of boots this year. Actually,
Speaker 1: I thought that was like one of my things. I
Speaker 1: was like, I kept I figured, Okay, I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: I had some boots that I hadn't broken in yet.
Speaker 1: I really beat my feet up on some of these
Speaker 1: hard soul boots. Man, the breaking period on some boots
Speaker 1: is horrible. But once they're past that breaking period, you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: now I'm riding nice. My two favorite pairs that I tried,
Speaker 1: I would say the snays bare tooths really really nice.
Speaker 1: This type of boot I like full leather boot um.
Speaker 1: The souls a little more flexible on those, so the
Speaker 1: breaking period was not very bad on that. And then
Speaker 1: the other one that I really liked that I'd never
Speaker 1: tried before was the crispy nevadas Um. Those ones are
Speaker 1: good too, and I'd heard a lot of good things
Speaker 1: about that. I have a lot of friends and stuff
Speaker 1: that wear those boots. My brother wears those boots. Um,
Speaker 1: a lot of guys that I hunt with like those.
Speaker 1: I'm really glad I got to try those this year
Speaker 1: that those are really enjoyable to hunt in a little
Speaker 1: bit stiffer soul, but also like really good ankles support,
Speaker 1: really durable. I was pretty pumped on both those pairs
Speaker 1: of boots this year. Those are those both get awards
Speaker 1: I got kind of like a couple of different I
Speaker 1: just did three tents in here, because you know, you
Speaker 1: gotta have your your packable backpacking tent. Um Stone Glacier,
Speaker 1: the Skyscraper two person. That's hands down the best tent
Speaker 1: I've ever owned. Um that's like just for everything. It's
Speaker 1: a two person tent, but I carry it solo most
Speaker 1: of the time. There's a lot of room in it.
Speaker 1: I've taken it on a lot of trips in like
Speaker 1: winter from winter camping. I would consider it a four
Speaker 1: season tent for sure. It's really nice. But then this
Speaker 1: year I also did a lot of early season stuff
Speaker 1: and just like some kind of what i'd call like
Speaker 1: Bonzaye trips or just like BIV whacking and going. And
Speaker 1: I used their u l T like their ultra light tent.
Speaker 1: It sets up with your trekking polls. It was nice
Speaker 1: because I could keep a little bit of rain off.
Speaker 1: Not Um definitely not I wouldn't consider it like a
Speaker 1: four season tents, more early season tent. But it's so light,
Speaker 1: it's like stuffed down to nothing. It's just essentially a
Speaker 1: nice little tarp tent style. But um man, that was nice.
Speaker 1: And then in Alaska this year a tent that I've
Speaker 1: used a lot, just if you've got a lot of
Speaker 1: people and you're flying in or horse packing in. Um
Speaker 1: pretty decent price and like pretty durable. The Cabella's outfit
Speaker 1: or six man that's like kind of a gold standard.
Speaker 1: I just wish it had two vegetables. Maybe they make
Speaker 1: them now. This one's old. I wanted it like a
Speaker 1: Wild Sheep Foundation silent auction or something. Got it like
Speaker 1: a silent auction something like that. But it was really good.
Speaker 1: We had how many people really have the thing? Four people?
Speaker 1: It's a sixth man tent. If four is pretty damn snug,
Speaker 1: I would go more than that. Um but it worked
Speaker 1: out pretty solid. We had a little bit of inclement
Speaker 1: weather and it was good. Let's go into the best
Speaker 1: of electronics. One thing. I think this is actually the
Speaker 1: coolest thing that I got to test this year, and
Speaker 1: I'm actually wearing it right now. I would never consider
Speaker 1: myself a watch guy many moons ago. I used to
Speaker 1: wear a sunto watch a lot um and that was
Speaker 1: way before smartphones and all these other things. And then, um,
Speaker 1: they stopped kind of making the battery for the one
Speaker 1: that I had, and it was an awesome watch at
Speaker 1: the time. It had altitude, a little bit of barametric pressure.
Speaker 1: Obviously it's told time. And then I just kind of
Speaker 1: stopped wearing a watch. And then I recently got the
Speaker 1: Garment Delta Tactics watch and I was like, I'm not
Speaker 1: really a watch person. I haven't taken the thing off
Speaker 1: since I've got it. Absolutely love it. It's the Tactics
Speaker 1: Delta Solar. I wear it every day now and it's
Speaker 1: one of those things I'm like, I didn't know I
Speaker 1: needed it, and now I have one. I hope I
Speaker 1: don't have to give this back. I've tested it for
Speaker 1: a long time now. It's pretty damn awesome and I
Speaker 1: would definitely buy it if I do have to give
Speaker 1: it back. I've just like enjoyed the heck out of it.
Speaker 1: A couple of the features on it. Every time. Every
Speaker 1: time it's like like, sit down, I have to tell
Speaker 1: someone about my watch and how cool it is. But
Speaker 1: it's got a by ballistics curves in it, so I
Speaker 1: can just put in my ballistic data right there, my
Speaker 1: dope chart just on my watch. I've got my drop
Speaker 1: compensation all that. It also has full GPS capability. It's
Speaker 1: got a little bit of solar charging. The battery lasts
Speaker 1: for a long time. Um. I actually lost the charger
Speaker 1: and ordered a couple more off Amazon recently. I think
Speaker 1: it was like thirty days ago that I lost the charger,
Speaker 1: so I still got eleven days left. Um. It's got
Speaker 1: the altimeter shows your steps every day, which is nice. One.
Speaker 1: The feature that I used probably more than anything the
Speaker 1: sunrise sunset table on there. That's pretty rad man. And
Speaker 1: then just like not having to waste the batteries in
Speaker 1: your in your phone for a backcountry alarm. So this
Speaker 1: thing has just been money. I think it's a pretty solid.
Speaker 1: Like if you're looking for a really good upper end
Speaker 1: gift for somebody that kind of has everything, this one's
Speaker 1: hard to beat. I'm pretty stoked. On another couple of
Speaker 1: pieces of electronics. Uh oh, the in Reach many that
Speaker 1: thing's awesome. I upgraded this year from the used to
Speaker 1: be in Reach, but it was delarm and it was old.
Speaker 1: I think they've sold well they I know they've sold
Speaker 1: to Garmin and now the Inn reach you just satellite
Speaker 1: message through your phone. Pretty awesome, and it's a lot
Speaker 1: smaller than the ones of the past, so that one's
Speaker 1: been pretty pretty awesome. Let's go best headlamp of my
Speaker 1: I had a black diamond head lamp that took a
Speaker 1: crap this year, just like stopped working. And then I
Speaker 1: just decided I've had a lot of really expensive headlamps
Speaker 1: that didn't work, and I have a backup headlamp that
Speaker 1: I've used. I always kind of have to headlamp two
Speaker 1: flashlights with me of some kind at all times, especially
Speaker 1: when I'm like even when I'm by myself, but if
Speaker 1: I'm guiding, because it's like somebody whatever, something happens. I've
Speaker 1: had this like Energizer one that I've had forever, and
Speaker 1: so I just thought, instead of buying a really expensive headlamp,
Speaker 1: I went to Costco and I saw a pack of
Speaker 1: Energizer head lamp flashlights. It's like a four pack or
Speaker 1: maybe a two pack, and it wasn't very expensive, and that,
Speaker 1: hands down gets the best head Lamp of the Year
Speaker 1: award because the thing is pretty dang bright. It costs
Speaker 1: hardly anything. You get a couple of them, and so
Speaker 1: far the one that I've had is outlasted both Petzel
Speaker 1: and Black Diamonds, So I'll probably have these two for
Speaker 1: from now until the end of time. We'll see. But man,
Speaker 1: it's bright at everything I want in to head lamp um.
Speaker 1: Obviously it locks, so as long as you got the
Speaker 1: lock feature. It's bright and works when I want it
Speaker 1: to work. I'm pretty stoked on it alright. Best new
Speaker 1: stuff on the market that I got to try this year,
Speaker 1: there's some meat processing stuff that this company kind of
Speaker 1: just started up and um, meet your maker. They've got
Speaker 1: a chamber of back seealer, so they just go do
Speaker 1: everything like direct to consumer. If you aren't familiar with
Speaker 1: a chain vac sealer and you process your own meat,
Speaker 1: man vacuum ceiling is the worst, I think one of
Speaker 1: the worst. Well, there's the worst part of processing yourself
Speaker 1: is if you've got a crappy grinder. So They're grinder
Speaker 1: definitely makes the cut as well. It's like the I
Speaker 1: use just the half horse grinder, but the one and
Speaker 1: a half horse is just it pretty much sucks. The
Speaker 1: animals off the hill and grinds them for you. It's
Speaker 1: pretty fast. Um, the half horse is good, the one
Speaker 1: and a half horse is better, but both work really well. Now,
Speaker 1: the chamber of Actealer, it's like you can actually vacuum
Speaker 1: seal water in there, so you could put your marinades
Speaker 1: in there. You can vacuum seal, but you also don't
Speaker 1: have to do anything. You just put it in the machine,
Speaker 1: you close the lid, and it vacuum seals it. It's
Speaker 1: really fun to watch as well. It like sucks all
Speaker 1: the year out creates a vacuum chamber makes sense, but um,
Speaker 1: it's kind of cool because like when it sucks, the
Speaker 1: artist I call it said, it just drops the hammer.
Speaker 1: It's like pump pump, pump, pump, pump, and then boom
Speaker 1: and everything vacuum sealed inside there. It's pretty crazy how
Speaker 1: it works. I was watching it, I'm like, how does
Speaker 1: this even work? I don't even get it. So I
Speaker 1: had to watch like videos on the science behind chamber
Speaker 1: vacuum steelers. That's actually quite interesting. We did talk about
Speaker 1: some bow stuff, but I might as well talk about
Speaker 1: some other accessories on the bow sites this year's winner.
Speaker 1: I mean It's kind of the one that I've decided
Speaker 1: every year, And to be honest, though, I really like
Speaker 1: the site that I've got. The spot Hog fast Eddy
Speaker 1: Xcel is the one that I've been using a lot.
Speaker 1: I get a lot of questions on both sites too,
Speaker 1: so that's the one I've been using. I just haven't
Speaker 1: found one that I like better than it yet. I
Speaker 1: never thought I'd be a single pin guy. This has
Speaker 1: kind of got two pins and a slider site. Um,
Speaker 1: but I really like it. The Xcel is essentially just
Speaker 1: a bar that you can push out. I used to
Speaker 1: shoot with my bar further out, but um now I've
Speaker 1: been shooting with it further in, so I think maybe
Speaker 1: from now on I'll just get the fast Eddie. Um.
Speaker 1: The Excel is nice to because I travel a lot,
Speaker 1: so I put in a bowcasing. I just pull that
Speaker 1: rail out and then slide it back in when I
Speaker 1: get wherever I'm going without having to take the screws
Speaker 1: of the whole site housing off. So that's nice. Um.
Speaker 1: One thing I also did try this year, just because
Speaker 1: I was out of curiosity and was pleasantly surprised, was
Speaker 1: that Garmin zero site. I know there's a lot of
Speaker 1: some people like, oh, it's too much electronics or whatever,
Speaker 1: but if you're using a range finder anyways. I haven't
Speaker 1: actually got to hunt with it yet though, because all
Speaker 1: the places I had my tags this year it wasn't
Speaker 1: actually legal, but it's almost It's legal in a lot
Speaker 1: of places, just um, not in Montana and Idaho, um
Speaker 1: and Alaska. Not during the archery only season, but it
Speaker 1: is during rifle season you can use it. But I
Speaker 1: thought it would be fun to try, especially for like
Speaker 1: some stuff when I'm hunting in New Zealand, which I
Speaker 1: you know, obviously didn't get to go there this year
Speaker 1: or whatever, but um, I definitely thought that that was
Speaker 1: that would be kind of cool. Um And I was
Speaker 1: just really really curious about it as well. And actually
Speaker 1: it works better than I thought it would and it's
Speaker 1: at least as advertised and better, so that was pretty sweet.
Speaker 1: I would like to go hunt, access to hear or
Speaker 1: something with it, because there's those times, especially when I'm
Speaker 1: filming myself, and I need that there's like that too
Speaker 1: many steps process where I sneak in, I set up
Speaker 1: the camera. I like it's something that's super cag maybe
Speaker 1: like a jumpy access deer. Then I focused the camera,
Speaker 1: then I ranged the deer, and then I set my
Speaker 1: pin and then I draw back and then the animal
Speaker 1: walks away. So it would just take out a lot
Speaker 1: of steps. Would be like set up camera, sheet the thing, um,
Speaker 1: and that would be nice. So that's kind of my
Speaker 1: thinking behind that, and I definitely think there's some places
Speaker 1: that would be pretty pretty solid work pretty well. Best
Speaker 1: arrows of this year. I did some switching up because
Speaker 1: you know, I had with the whole quarantine thing, I
Speaker 1: gotta play with my bows a little bit more. Instead
Speaker 1: of being on the road so much, I had some
Speaker 1: downtime to just mess with a bunch of things. And
Speaker 1: the more I messed with things, the better I get,
Speaker 1: which is generally a good thing. This year, I just thought, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, let me I want to try a bunch
Speaker 1: of different stuff, try different arrows. I switched to Day
Speaker 1: six arrows. They had a lot of things that I
Speaker 1: like going on. They're a little bit heavier, they're extremely durable,
Speaker 1: and they're extremely accurate. Um. Just by switching those arrows,
Speaker 1: I tightened up my groups quite a bit. They're a
Speaker 1: smaller diameter than I was used to shooting at first
Speaker 1: I was kind of like, how do I want arrows
Speaker 1: with these outskirts? And now I'm like, okay, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: see myself shooting another arrow right now. I've been so
Speaker 1: happy with it. And then another thing that I just
Speaker 1: started doing Brian when the owners of the owner of
Speaker 1: Day six, he suggested doing four fletch on my traded arrows,
Speaker 1: and that has been actually surprisingly much more accurate. I
Speaker 1: like the arrow flights I've been getting with it, and
Speaker 1: I never thought I would go four fletch on my
Speaker 1: like on my compound bow, but I think that's going
Speaker 1: to be the next step for me. And I've just
Speaker 1: kind of shied away from it because I have a
Speaker 1: weird anchor point that I've always used, like with three fletch,
Speaker 1: and it involves the way the fletching sits a little bit,
Speaker 1: so I thought, I don't want to mess at the
Speaker 1: four fletch, but I think I'm gonna I think I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go for a fletch from now on. We'll see um,
Speaker 1: but definitely on my feathered arrows on my trad bow. Um.
Speaker 1: That's been really nice and I just really liked their
Speaker 1: arrows this year and going to continue to shoot him.
Speaker 1: Oh u arrow rests still, I can't get away from them.
Speaker 1: Hamski Hunter Pro. That one's like it's got some microadjust
Speaker 1: it's a limb driven but I don't know. I really
Speaker 1: like that rest. It's like bomb proof, bulletproof. It seems
Speaker 1: like it's got everything I need and I like that
Speaker 1: micro tuning ability. I know Tim Burnett, a friend of mine.
Speaker 1: He does the Solo Hunter stuff too. He's kind of
Speaker 1: set up his own little bow shop over there, and
Speaker 1: so I've been going over there and just like shooting
Speaker 1: bear shafts and just tuning my rests and really getting
Speaker 1: everything dialed. And that's been a lot of fun this year.
Speaker 1: So um release, I haven't had a new release and
Speaker 1: I don't know, probably fifteen years. Um just a Scott.
Speaker 1: I think it's like a Scott little mongoose. Not even
Speaker 1: sure they make those anymore, but UM, I like it.
Speaker 1: It's got the kind of parachord thing so I can
Speaker 1: tuck it. It's like on a webbing, so I can
Speaker 1: tuck it underneath and wear the release I don't really
Speaker 1: like to use. I mean, I I shoot all kinds
Speaker 1: of releases just in the backyard for fun. When I'm
Speaker 1: target shooting. Um, I've got a back tension, I've got
Speaker 1: a thumb release, I've got I even bought this release
Speaker 1: this year. You press the trigger and then it's like
Speaker 1: and then you release it, and you release the trigger
Speaker 1: and it's like kind of it's a pure surprise release,
Speaker 1: but it's like risk style and so it just like
Speaker 1: slowly opens on a hydraulic and then let's the aero fly.
Speaker 1: So you just gotta focus, focus, focus, focus, focused on
Speaker 1: the boat just goes off whenever it once. I thought
Speaker 1: I'd try that and just see it's like, okay, um,
Speaker 1: it's just kind of fun, you know, try something different.
Speaker 1: It's not something you would hunt with, but I thought
Speaker 1: it was kind of cool. Um, just for target shooting
Speaker 1: and switching between my releases and just making sure like okay,
Speaker 1: checking my form and you can really pay attention to
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff, just more as a training tool
Speaker 1: than um an actual hunting device. But I won't remember
Speaker 1: the name of it. I'll have to go find it
Speaker 1: and then report back later. Best archery target Oh I
Speaker 1: got this, uh the backyard Mini Rheinhardt Elk. Things pretty
Speaker 1: awesome and it's a good price to the big Elk
Speaker 1: targets are way too expensive, I think so. Um, that
Speaker 1: was pretty solid. Uh, just kind of fun planking with
Speaker 1: the old bow, getting to shoot at something that looks
Speaker 1: like an elk. That was good. Best broadhead this year,
Speaker 1: I have to say, is I mean as you know,
Speaker 1: I've talked about it before. I'm a big fan of
Speaker 1: the mom text and then they got the M three's
Speaker 1: this year, so it's unvented solid Um. That's in a
Speaker 1: really good broadhead for me. Best field tips I cruised
Speaker 1: the Amazon for a lot, a lot because I was
Speaker 1: shooting a lot and I got sick of having to, Like,
Speaker 1: my arrows were just so hard to pull out of
Speaker 1: my target. So I was looking on Amazon. Found these
Speaker 1: Trophy Taker easy outfield tips. Maybe everybody else in the
Speaker 1: world knows about these, but it essentially when it hits
Speaker 1: the foam, it creates a little bit of a gap,
Speaker 1: so it's easier to pull your arrow out. I don't
Speaker 1: know why I didn't use those before. It's probably one
Speaker 1: of the best things I've ever bought. Best gun cleaning rod.
Speaker 1: My father in law gave me a would dow with
Speaker 1: some stuff on the end, and that has been probably
Speaker 1: the best gun cleaning rod I've ever owned. So next
Speaker 1: time you're at home, depot, get some wood dowels. The
Speaker 1: best hunting tool, I think, probably the best hunting tool
Speaker 1: ever now as far as technological hunting people has to
Speaker 1: be on x hunt app and it's it's crazy how
Speaker 1: much scouting I did this year, um just from home
Speaker 1: while quarantined. I spent a lot of time on that
Speaker 1: half This year Best Gators year and Year out goes
Speaker 1: to Outdoor Research O our Gators. I don't think you
Speaker 1: can get a better set of gators right now, but
Speaker 1: I did learn something new this year. So I've always
Speaker 1: gone with the size Gators fitted for my boot, but
Speaker 1: I have size twelve boots and fairly small calves I
Speaker 1: mean very strong caps. Okay, don't worry, but um, I
Speaker 1: don't need like like this giant tops that they're always
Speaker 1: a little sloppy. So this year, because I needed a
Speaker 1: new set of gators, I walked in in my hunting
Speaker 1: boots and then tried on the size down and found
Speaker 1: out that they still fit the boot that they aren't
Speaker 1: sized for and they fit my leg better. So if
Speaker 1: you also have that struggle with the gators, maybe try
Speaker 1: sizing down. The best thing I didn't know I needed.
Speaker 1: This year, I got a caribou gear Hunters tart. I
Speaker 1: didn't even know I need it. I think it's like, um,
Speaker 1: it's this super lightweight foldable tarp. It's saved my caribou
Speaker 1: meat and I've been carrying it around ever since. It's awesome.
Speaker 1: It comes with some steaks and you can use it
Speaker 1: as tarp, as a shelter, as a whatever. It's not
Speaker 1: real big. I've slept on it many nights, and I've
Speaker 1: also like used it to cover up meat when it's
Speaker 1: raining and other things. Pretty solid little piece of year.
Speaker 1: Let's go best snacks for me because Nature's Bakery fig
Speaker 1: bars those are pretty good. They stay pretty soft even
Speaker 1: when it's cold out and even when it's hot out,
Speaker 1: very stable snack um taste pretty good too. It's like
Speaker 1: a giant fig Newton. And then I read the back
Speaker 1: of the package and they're made in Reno, Nevada, where
Speaker 1: I grew up. So hey, little hometown I didn't even know.
Speaker 1: And it turns out I liked them before that, so hey, um,
Speaker 1: I think you can get them everywhere that anything is sold.
Speaker 1: But they're pretty good. Best drink mix, I would say,
Speaker 1: if you ask me in the summer, I would say
Speaker 1: the Wilderness Athlete watermelon because I had this. Um, I
Speaker 1: thought I was gonna be sheep hunting all of August,
Speaker 1: so I really wanted to stay in shape and I
Speaker 1: was just running a lot and then I would run.
Speaker 1: I'll run a lot, drink the watermelon, and then jump
Speaker 1: in the river. And that was my twice a day
Speaker 1: little thing that I did. And I think I drank
Speaker 1: way too much watermelon because it was so good. And
Speaker 1: then I think I burnt myself out on it, but
Speaker 1: it's still good. Um. So then now I'm gonna have
Speaker 1: to either say strawberry pomegranate or KEEPI pineapple. And then
Speaker 1: if I want a little caffeine, I go Tropical Fusion
Speaker 1: and the best dehydrated meals of the year. Uh that
Speaker 1: goes Peak Refuel. They've really they just kind of came
Speaker 1: out of nowhere stepped it up. Well. I think they've
Speaker 1: always been good, but there I think way better than
Speaker 1: Mountain House. Now. I've been talking a lot about them
Speaker 1: because of the I'm like, yes, uses less water taste
Speaker 1: a lot better. Um, I feel better when I eat it,
Speaker 1: and they're best to meal. I think this year, they
Speaker 1: did like a Chad Mendez thing. It was like a
Speaker 1: partner was a bison bacon ranch mashers. I was addicted
Speaker 1: to those. I don't know how many I ate this year,
Speaker 1: but it was a lot. I don't know if they're
Speaker 1: gonna keep making those ones or not, but they should.
Speaker 1: I will say though, there's certain things that I do
Speaker 1: like about the Mountain House. So I'm going to give
Speaker 1: Mountain House best breakfast because their biscuits and gravy is
Speaker 1: really good. Oh but all dehydrated meals were beat by
Speaker 1: a wild trout that I caught, and they didn't have
Speaker 1: any seasoning, so I used barbecue chips the seasonings. That's
Speaker 1: that's good. And then let's close it out here. It's
Speaker 1: Christmas coming up. Um. You know, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: really good gear out there, but you know, don't have
Speaker 1: to It doesn't all have to be expensive. So here's
Speaker 1: five things for under thirty dollars that I think every
Speaker 1: hunter might might enjoy, or at least I enjoy, and
Speaker 1: if they listen to this podcast, I think if you
Speaker 1: get them some of these things, these are things that
Speaker 1: I would like to get um and do regularly get
Speaker 1: for myself. Or as a gift. But the first thing
Speaker 1: I would say on the list is probably on x
Speaker 1: hunt app you can get a single state around that
Speaker 1: thirty dollar mark if you If they don't have that,
Speaker 1: that's it's just so handy, especially too if they're if
Speaker 1: somebody you know is going to be like planning and
Speaker 1: out of state hunt. That's kind of a cool thing.
Speaker 1: I I guess you could just get the whole yearly
Speaker 1: all fifty states thing as well, but um, that's pretty handy.
Speaker 1: This next one, number two rapid rope, So it's this
Speaker 1: uh cordage that comes out of this. Can I keep
Speaker 1: them in my truck and then it's awesome to just have.
Speaker 1: Shortly after I talked about it on the podcast, they
Speaker 1: were on Shark Tank as well and they got a deal,
Speaker 1: so that was kind of cool. Um that's always like
Speaker 1: a really solid Christmas gift for someone. Number three on
Speaker 1: the list, Husky forty two gallon contractor bags. Probably the
Speaker 1: most useful tool in a hunter's backpack. I use these
Speaker 1: things for everything. It's the most underrated piece of gear
Speaker 1: on the planet. And when I see that yellow box,
Speaker 1: I'm like, yes, now if they're if you're a hunter
Speaker 1: or you're planning on getting a hunter or something, write
Speaker 1: down all the uses of these contractor bay because I
Speaker 1: mean I've used them as waiters primarily. Is what I
Speaker 1: started using for is to line my pack so they
Speaker 1: don't get bloody, but me use them as a tarp
Speaker 1: of melted snow in them to make water. I've actually
Speaker 1: filled I forgot my sleeping pad one time, so I
Speaker 1: just filled them with pine boughs and then slept on
Speaker 1: top of them. It was like kept me warm. That
Speaker 1: was nice. It's a poncho. I mean, it's a million
Speaker 1: different things. They worked pretty awesome. I always have a
Speaker 1: box in my truck or like in the garage that
Speaker 1: are specifically for hunting, not for yard work, just reserved
Speaker 1: for hunting. In that same line of kind of like
Speaker 1: a random thing, but it's like really nice. Uh. Micro
Speaker 1: Flex diamond grip gloves. They are like Latex style gloves,
Speaker 1: you know, like disposable gloves that you'd use, say you're
Speaker 1: like cleaning an animal. You don't want to get anything,
Speaker 1: and it's probably not a bad idea to use gloves
Speaker 1: if you can, just because there's you don't want to
Speaker 1: catch a disease or starts you know, get an infection
Speaker 1: of some kind or whatever. So, um, my dad's actually
Speaker 1: a painting contractor and he uses these a lot, so
Speaker 1: I get them from him. Man, they're way better than
Speaker 1: all the other gloves out there, and they come in
Speaker 1: like a pretty solid box. I don't know, I don't
Speaker 1: really want to mention it too much and then have
Speaker 1: fifty thou people go out and buy them all and
Speaker 1: then never be able to get them again. But microflex
Speaker 1: diamond grip gloves, that's the pro tip right there. And
Speaker 1: then the last thing every hunter can use alan key sets.
Speaker 1: You gotta have both kinds. You gotta have the kind
Speaker 1: that's on the little flipout deal that they're all together
Speaker 1: and you never lose them, and then the kind that
Speaker 1: you can pull out and lose. You gotta have both,
Speaker 1: probably mostly s E. But today I was looking. I
Speaker 1: was like, I've got all as E ones and a
Speaker 1: standard English size and needed a two point five millimeter
Speaker 1: to lighten up my trigger and couldn't find it. And then,
Speaker 1: of course you know what, I looked in a random
Speaker 1: spot and there it was right there, and I'm like, yes,
Speaker 1: thank God, I over by Alan keys because I feel
Speaker 1: like every piece of hunting gear uses them like from bows,
Speaker 1: two rifles to it just doesn't matter you need them.
Speaker 1: You can't have too many of those. So that's a great, great,
Speaker 1: great gift. So I hope that helps. I know it
Speaker 1: kind of got a little long winded, the gear stuff
Speaker 1: generally does, especially when I do big lists of it.
Speaker 1: But I hope you at least maybe enjoyed hearing about
Speaker 1: some of the gear that I got to try out
Speaker 1: and some of the stuff some of some of my
Speaker 1: thoughts on that stuff. So coming up, we're gonna be
Speaker 1: doing a Christmas special. I'm really looking forward to that.
Speaker 1: So it's such a great time of year. Uh there's
Speaker 1: some hunting seasons, some great stories. Hopefully you'll get to
Speaker 1: spend it with some close family. I know this year
Speaker 1: is gonna be maybe be a little bit different. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's gonna be long distance than people won't be traveling
Speaker 1: or whatever, and which is fine. And then we got
Speaker 1: some cool stuff coming up for the new year, talking
Speaker 1: about some planning things and some other stuff. So I
Speaker 1: hope that this helps. I hope that maybe you glean
Speaker 1: some ideas for either your yourself or something you want
Speaker 1: to look into to add to your kit. Next year,
Speaker 1: and if you guys, as always, you know, I like
Speaker 1: to make these two way conversations, so reach out via
Speaker 1: social media. If you try something you really like this year,
Speaker 1: let me know, because you know, the best way for
Speaker 1: me to find out some cool stuff or some good
Speaker 1: stuff is to hear what other people have tried and
Speaker 1: got to use, and then I generally look into it
Speaker 1: and then I'm like, Okay, I gotta try that. I
Speaker 1: haven't tried that, so uh, keep me posted on things,
Speaker 1: some of the things that you guys really enjoyed this year,
Speaker 1: and hopefully yeah, hopefully you have a good holiday season
Speaker 1: and we will talk to you later.