Gear Questions, Blowgun, Pager, and Camera

[SurferNerd]

That was my gut feeling, drop the phone. I'm not going to go all crazy and keep one with a Solio. I think a Moto T900 pager is sufficient, and with its universal AA battery and 4 week life, it's a great take. It's 4 ounces, but it keeps me in contact with humans.

The Canon is great, I found the A590 on TigerDirect for about 159.99 plus a 16GB SDHC for 64.99. I've read some reviews about it being a good trail camera because of its overal pro's.

[SurferNerd]

What state do you live in, my internet hunting has so far come up with no legalities for curare because it is a natural poison used by many Indian tribes? I need more research for your state.

[SurferNerd]

I used to say the same thing. I'm not sure I agree anymore. I carry a spare Li-Ion battery and a charger, and simply make sure I leave town with two fully-charged batteries. As I get three or four hundred shots per charge, I've never even come close to using both batteries before I got to a place where I could recharge them. Luckily, the charger than came with my camera is pretty small and light. (The one that came with my wife's camera is light, but it requires a huge heavy cord. Dumb design.)

If you are using Alkaline AA batteries, you'll need to carry several spare sets, which probably weigh as much as the charger and the spare Li-Ion. Lithium AA batteries are a lot lighter, but freaking expensive.

If that ended up being the case, I'd jump the Olympus waterproof line, but that xd card has me worried. The AA batteries would last me a week of shooting for 2 I guess, and with my flashlight running 1 AA, my SPOT running on 2 that should last the whole trail, as well as my possible pager on 1 AA. It seems to be more easy to carry 4 extra AA at anytime. And Li-Ion are so lightweight, but your right, extremely pricey. I've been toying funds for a year now, so I could splurge if necessary. In your trail history, how did it work with charging, besides hostels where could you charge? And how long was the downtime for charging?

[Bob S]

Buying 14 out of state small game hunting licenses could easily cost a couple thousand dollars. Poaching could cost a lot more. I would not take the blow gun; it’s a thin aluminum tube that can be easily bent. And I would guess you are not going to buy the small game permits. That means you are going to be poaching game. Not a good thing.

[SurferNerd]

Buying 14 out of state small game hunting licenses could easily cost a couple thousand dollars. Poaching could cost a lot more. I would not take the blow gun; it’s a thin aluminum tube that can be easily bent. And I would guess you are not going to buy the small game permits. That means you are going to be poaching game. Not a good thing.

Alright, I'm convinced blowguns are a bad idea. Between varying permits, and varying laws between states, its not worth the hassle or energy to make it work.

[Lone Wolf]

bring the blowgun. wild rabbit is darn good

[SurferNerd]

But is that wild rabbit illegal to shoot? I'm interested in squirrel, rabbit, and maybe fowl. Are there actually hunting permits required for those besides fowl?

[Blissful]

bring the blowgun. wild rabbit is darn good

LW - You're confusing the poor guy! He just said he wouldn't bring it

I'll have to say that's the first I seen on WB about a blow gun. (!)

Honestly the trail is hard and tiring enough. After the first 100 miles, you'll most likely get rid of anything heavy and cumbersome. My son's 2 lb knife went out at mile 50.

But, to each his own. HYOH

[hopefulhiker]

Maybe you could use the blowgun as a tent pole at night...

[SurferNerd]

Maybe you could use the blowgun as a tent pole at night...

Amazingly thats a good idea. I was considering removing the cord from the poles to conserve weight, and this would give me a perfect shaft and barrel. I'd have to verify its internal smoothness and diameter, but I might just look into that. Great idea!

[burger]

One more thought on the blowgun: regardless of state hunting seasons/permits, it's absolutely illegal to do any kind of hunting on National Park Service lands. That includes all of the Smokies, Shenandoah, and the several hundred additional miles of trail corridor owned by the park service. Read more here: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site...QKtH/b.795531/

[Flush2wice]

In most states there's no permit needed to hunt varmints- groundhog, nutria, skunks, coyote, rats, mice, snakes. You'll need a permit to take squirrel, rabbit, beaver, coon, possum, fowl, etc.
I'd take the little one and practice on the shelter mice. The short ones are harder to aim.
I took one of those this spring on a hike from Max Patch to Hot Springs. The darts are easy to lose.

[Bob S]

In most states there's no permit needed to hunt varmints- groundhog, nutria, skunks, coyote, rats, mice, snakes. You'll need a permit to take squirrel, rabbit, beaver, coon, possum, fowl, etc.
I'd take the little one and practice on the shelter mice. The short ones are harder to aim.
I took one of those this spring on a hike from Max Patch to Hot Springs. The darts are easy to lose.

I don’t know about that …


I love hunting woodchucks!

In Ohio you need a small game permit (A hunting license) to hunt woodchuck. I would make a guess that other states are not going to let this revenue source get away any more then Ohio does.

[Bob S]

This post is for informational purposes only, I’m not suggesting illegal hunting!


An air pistol would be a better choice then a blowgun.

It provides more killing ability then a small, thin wire dart. I have dropped rabbits with one in one shot; they always run away when shot with a blowgun. ( I have a 2-foot blowgun)

PS I have a hunting license, I don’t illegally kill rabbits so don’t blow a gasket on me.

[kayak karl]

But is that wild rabbit illegal to shoot? I'm interested in squirrel, rabbit, and maybe fowl. Are there actually hunting permits required for those besides fowl?

they will need evidence to find you guilty EAT IT

[SunnyWalker]

Ditch the camera and phone/pager. Take the blowgun!
. . . ohhhhhhh, what's that? What got me? A mosquito, NOOOOOOOOO its a dart, SURFERNERD you are at it again, I told you to stop that!!!

[oops56]

Just get a car iner tube make a good sling shot.Gee don't anybody makes things any more all store bought.

[SurferNerd]

Alright Alright, final decision. After several emails and several opinions, the blowgun will be a no go. I might attempt a hidden one in a tent stake of my Hubba, unless I decide to go with the hammock. I've spoken with a NPS ranger and they said its usable on certain portions, but its not worth the hassle. And he mentioned a good point as well, the bones and skin, and the LNT. Unless I could make good use of all 100% its not an efficient way.

What about pager's, or camera's? I've heard very little on a communication device. I'm waiting for bigcranky's response to camera batteries.

[codpilot]

I too didn't like hauling around the charger etc with me. I carry a Vivicam 6300, it's a 6M camera using standard SD memory - so I get on average 350 shots on a 2G stick (short movies, some high def pictures, some low def) The best part is 2AA lithium batteries work like a charm. The last pair lasted 3 weeks of hiking straight and well over 400 pictures (not many with flash - that eats the batteries to death) And since I had a drop box waiting waiting about every 5 or so days - stuffing a spare pair of batteries to bounce ahead worked like a charm. I'm glad you dropped the blowgun idea. Not for any anti hunting thing - but just because when I get may chance to hit the trail for a few weeks (I'm section hiking, and I'm in Miami - takes effort to get back to the trail) All I want to do is hike. Going to the time and effort to hunt, clean and cook, even incidentally for me would take away the fun of hiking. Heck you want meat - hit a burger joint when you cruise through town! As for pager - whatever. I bought a cheapie phone that let's me use my sim card and if I leave it off lasts easily a month (plus there's that old bounce box thing for the charger 8) Plan for 2009 - I 19E to Harpers Ferry (If the gods of chaos and the Wife are willing) Weee Depending on when we hit the trail maybe you'll run across me (I'm slowing down these days - too many baked goodies in the house - need to hit the gym before next summer!) Eric aka Mapquest '06, '07, boss would let me go this year 8(, ?'09?

[SurferNerd]

I too didn't like hauling around the charger etc with me. I carry a Vivicam 6300, it's a 6M camera using standard SD memory - so I get on average 350 shots on a 2G stick (short movies, some high def pictures, some low def) The best part is 2AA lithium batteries work like a charm. The last pair lasted 3 weeks of hiking straight and well over 400 pictures (not many with flash - that eats the batteries to death) And since I had a drop box waiting waiting about every 5 or so days - stuffing a spare pair of batteries to bounce ahead worked like a charm. I'm glad you dropped the blowgun idea. Not for any anti hunting thing - but just because when I get may chance to hit the trail for a few weeks (I'm section hiking, and I'm in Miami - takes effort to get back to the trail) All I want to do is hike. Going to the time and effort to hunt, clean and cook, even incidentally for me would take away the fun of hiking. Heck you want meat - hit a burger joint when you cruise through town! As for pager - whatever. I bought a cheapie phone that let's me use my sim card and if I leave it off lasts easily a month (plus there's that old bounce box thing for the charger 8) Plan for 2009 - I 19E to Harpers Ferry (If the gods of chaos and the Wife are willing) Weee Depending on when we hit the trail maybe you'll run across me (I'm slowing down these days - too many baked goodies in the house - need to hit the gym before next summer!) Eric aka Mapquest '06, '07, boss would let me go this year 8(, ?'09?

I think I'm gonna stick with a universal camera that uses AA, your right its definitely easier. As for the Pager/Phone..is there such a thing as a phone that uses AA, haha.