When I was young, I hunt birds using a slingshot. In our country a slingshot is every young boy's treasured possession. Using round pebbles picked up from the riverbanks, I would hunt pugo (quail)and bato-bato (pigeon) in the forest the whole day
Slingshot is easy to make yet it is a very versatile hunting weapon. For projectiles, you can use pebbles for small animals and arrow for fish.
To make a slingshot, you will need a twig with a forked branch.
Remove the bark and shape the frame so it would be comfortable to grip in your hands.
For the elastic material, I used 8 rubber bands that I knotted together, 4 rubber bands each strip, since I don't have surgical tubing or latex sheet.
The fully-assembled slingshot. The pocket for the projectile is usually made out of leather but in this one I used a nylon mesh. The elastic material is attached to the frame and pocket with strips of rubber bands.
After 4 consecutive weekends of biking with my son, it's time to take the wife for a short walk. We visited the River Trail Nature Center of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.
Here are some pictures we took.
Des Plaines River swollen after the previous day's rain.
Watchmen's house in the woods.
Some of the flowers you will find in the Nature Center.
And part of the museum.
The Nature Center is a nice place for young and old to learn about native plants and animals. Be sure to bring insect repellant though or else the mosquitos might carry you away.
Yesterday, July 24, 2010, there was no electricity when we woke up. The power company said electricity will be back by 9:45 am. By that time however, there was still no electricity so we call the power company again and they said electricity will be back by 12:45 pm. Come 12:45 pm still no electricity and the power company said electricity will be back by 6:00 pm.
Wow! No electricity and we don't have propane stove - how do we cook our lunch? Well, I guess its time to use the hobo wood stove again. Here's a link on how to make a hobo wood stove.
Hobo wood stove and bag of dried twigs.
In just a few seconds I have a blazing fire.
My grandchild's arroz caldo (porridge) first.
Caldereta is next. Caldereta is beef cooked in tomato sauce with potato, peas, green olives, and bell pepper.
And lastly, our staple food - rice, fried rice that is.
The hobo wood stove performed very well and we're able to cook our food with just a bunch of twigs.
Given the outstanding record of the power company for broken promises, I made a lamp so we will have a light during the night. The lamp is made from a glass bottle, pop can, old cotton t-shirt for wick and vegetable oil for fuel. Just punch a hole in the bottle cap, make a cylindrical tube out of a piece aluminum cut from a pop can, insert the wick into the tube and then insert the tube in the hole in the glass bottle cap. Fill the bottle with sufficient vegetable oil and you're done.
Here is the lamp being tested. But I was not able to use it because the power company made good on its promise this time - we have electricity by 6:00 pm. I wonder how those people who rented generators feel.
Sometime ago, I learned that the Mora 510 has been discontinued. I checked Bensbackwoods and Ragweedforge and it is no longer listed in their catalog. Luckily, I was able to buy one last December, 2009 from Bensbackwoods before it ran out of stock.
Here's my Mora 510.
One lesson I've learned is, when you find something you want get it at once. That is what happened with the Mora Viking 640 I wanted to buy. I dilly-dallied and when I checked online again it is no longer available at Ragweedforge.
With Mora 510 no longer available, people are scrambling for a replacement. Either the Mora 511 with the fingerguard or the Martiini M571 Carbon Puukko is a strong candidate. Having the Mora Viking case in mind, I bought one M571 while they are still in stock.
My Marttiini M571 carbon Puukko. I got it from Bensbackwoods.
M571 and Mora 510 side by side. Mora is longer by a mere 1/4" although it looks substantially longer in the picture. M571 is 3 1/2" in length while Mora 510 is 3 3/4".
It feels comfortable in my hand and has a very good balance.
But this is still my favorite fixed blade knife - Mora 840mg Carbon Clipper.
Busse Woods has a paved bike trail that winds through the forest and meadows around Busse Lake. You can also fish on several fishing walls on the lake. It's a 11.2 mile long trail with the Red Trail loop running at 7.7 miles.
Having completed biking the northern portion of Des Plaines River Trail in Cook County, we continued on to the Lake County part starting with Half Day Woods.
Monday being a holiday, my son and I decided to bike part of the Des Plaines River Trail. It was so hot that day that I have to stop 5 times to rest and rehydrate.
