Camping Cupboard

Camping Cupboard

Neat camping cupboard from Cabela's.

Operation Pay It Forward

Operation Pay It Forward

Please consider donating to this very worthwhile organization; helping veterans overcome the lasting impacts of service.

Worldwide COVID 19 Dashboard

Link to Worldwide COVID 19 Dashboard
If you have been using your state's COVID 19 Dashboard, this is the same thing for the entire world.  Up to date information, and it's down to the county level in the U.S.  

COVID 19 Youtube Playlist

Just some songs that seem to be appropriate in these times.

CORONAVIRUS Playlist

Alabama COVID 19 Dashboard

The link below directs to the State of Alabama's (Chinese) COVID 19 virus statistics by county. This dashboard updates in real time.


State of Alabama COVID 19 Dashboard

BLÜ telephones review.

I have owned several BLÜ telephones over the past several years and intend to provide my experience with them.  I purchased two different iterations of the phones and have used them for 2-3 years (various models).  Here is my review and opinion of these phones.  

Pros: 

• Price
• Well designed
• More durable than an Iphone
• Not too much bloat ware (but a little).
• Cameras are generally good for this price point. 

Cons

• Range.  They don't seem to have as good of reception as other phones.  
• Budget processor can be slow at times.  
• Bluetooth - these phones don't like to work with Bluetooth accessories (including your car).  
• Prone to be buggy.  

Conclusion: I really wanted to support this American company based out of Miami; however, their phones are not up to the standards that other phone manufacturers yet.  They make too many "fashion" phones to understand what you really want and the Bluetooth issues with these phones make them a no-go for anyone with hands free in a car.  Bluetooth.  

Message for BLÜ: I'd be glad to change this review someday when your phones improve.  High hopes for your company.  

Big Blue Catfish

D Tube

For those who do not care for the fact that YouTube censors a lot of content these days there is now Dtube.  It apparently has less censorship than YouTube  Basically, I don't think you can violate any laws or they take the video down.  That is probably a good thing. 

Dtube has monetization for creators in the form of crypto currency.  Seems as though it's just starting.  Let's hope that it takes off.  Dtube is supposed to use upvotes and downvotes to rank videos, which means actual humans.  Should be interesting.  Hope they can get it off the ground. 

YouTube has gotten boring with the never ending barrage of advertisements and endless purchase reviews.  Their AI picks boring content. 

Dtube

HuntStand App

I highly reccomend the ap ppl HuntStand.  Pretty much has all the features I need in a hunting app.

#huntstand

Infographic of the companies Disney owns.

Developed by TitleMax.com

Lewis Simmons Designs

Magazine Review: Modern Farmer - old print version.

At first glance the magazine "Modern Farmer" was very well printed, written and laid out.  While there are some interesting bits, this one is mainly geared towards the urban homestead "dreamer".  The issue that I reviewed was a bit older (took me a while to read it as it didn't grab me immediately).  This periodical is not relegated to a website only so you won't see it on news stands.  Below is my take on why it declined.

The good:

Layout.  You can tell that a very professional magazine staff was illustrating and putting things together.

Quality: Most photo's in the magazine were pro-quality photographs with very few exceptions.  The paper the magazine was printed on was excellent.  A+

Articles: One how to article by Shepherd Ogden on saving tomato seed was very well written and thorough.  Another by Thomas Christopher on raising ducks was informative.

The bad:

Equipment reviews: Most of the reviewed items I found were the "high end" chic.  For instance a wheel hoe/cultivator highly reviewed by the magazine runs about $100 more than similar more practical one from a reputable homesteading store.  Easydigging.com vs ASC.  Actual homesteaders are generally much more practical than chic.

They also demonstrated in their "blueprint" section a three bin composer from pallets that any middle school child could engineer and likely build without the aid of instructions.

Articles such as a hippie priest of agriculture and travelling to India for some reason abound.  Triple meh. 

Their re-bound website is well meh too.  See for yourself, but I'm not leaving them a link.  

Quote of the day:

Chinese proverb - It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.  

Game Camera Time Lapse

A day in the life of a few whitetail.  #deer #game #camera

Prairie Wildlife West Point, MS

Anyone have any experience with this hunting lodge/facility?

https://www.prairiewildlife.com/

Dixie beer is back and being made in NOLA again!

https://dixiebeer.com/beers/

Dixie beer is back and being made in NOLA again!

Backwoodsman Magazine

This has been one of my favorite magazines for years.  It is focused on historical frontier skills as well as modern bush craft.  It's one of the only mom and pop magazines that I'm aware that still exists.  https://www.backwoodsmanmag.com/

Cumberland Island Hog Hunts

I spoke to someone who goes to Cumberland Island to hunt deer and wild hogs.  Apparently this is a very fun way to hunt on a national park area.  The hunts are to preserve the area and there is apparently a significant hog problem in the park.

I am planning to attempt a hunt in the next couple of years.  I solicit anyone with experience with this hunt to provide any insight they have!

https://www.nps.gov/cuis/planyourvisit/managed-hunts.htm

National Center for Home Food Preservation Website

This website is a national resource for advice and methods on canning your food at home safely.  It is taxpayer funded thru Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (CSREES-USDA).

https://nchfp.uga.edu/

Amazing website for Harbor Freight Coupons

Harbor Freight has different coupons for different areas.  In my observation and belief they put better coupons out where their stores are new or maybe when they are struggling for some reason in an area.  Part of their business model is definitely some type of coupon manipulation to get foot traffic.  This website is centered around listing coupons from as many areas as possible.  Basically, every coupon you have ever seen from them is going on somewhere, but you just don't have it.  Now you do.  They pretty much list every valid coupon from HF and give you and image of it to use.

Check it out:

Harbor Freight Tools Discount Database