Finally broke down and bought a 38-qt Igloo Wheeled Cooler.  I had some stuff in it and lifted it right out of my car with the handle.

Very durrable, I need to fill it up now. I can’t wait to put “Food” it it and go camping.

∞Igloo Coolers

Tags: camping, cooler, Outdoors, stuff I own

Have a Cat or Dog? Thinking about getting a cat or dog?

Check out USA made Pet Supplies for bedding, collars, and toys. Great range of Pet supplies.

USA made Pet Supplies

Please note, they have a spring special running, 10% off until June 20, 2009. Code: SF10

Tags: Pets, Toys

Crosstex makes a number of their face masks and other products in the USA.

Check out the Crosstex Isolator Plus N95 Respirator.

It’s common in Japan for sick people to wear a mask, out of curdosy, to prevent other from getting sick. Maybe we should learn something from Them   Feeling under the weather, Get your mask on!

∞Crosstex

Tags: masks, swine flu

This is the Kel Kroydon Style 2. And here is it’s story.

A friend has a MS fundraising/Birthday party every year. One of the Highlights is a Bluegrass band. One of the dudes in this band plays a mean Banjo. Not to mention, the other guys are amazing.

Back to AMB, Found on one of their press releases:

The new addition to the original Kel Kroydon line will be the closest to a 100% American Made banjo any maker is producing today. AMB will be using hardware made by the Doehl-Jar Company from the Armrest to Tailpiece. This banjo will be competitively priced toward the traditional Gibson style bluegrass banjo made today.

Get Pickin’!

American made Banjo Co.

Tags: banjo, bluegrass, bluegrass band, bluegrass banjo, musical instrument, traditional gibson

Found some Great things this week. I was gearing up for the year outside, I needed some supplies.

Hit a couple stores and this is what was found.

• Suncast Hose Reel – View Suncast on Amazon – I bought a SHA150, sub $30, It’s fair quality but I hardly use the hose through out the year so it will hold up fine.  If you use your hose much, Pickup one of their heavier duty models. They are built much stronger and will run you between $50-100.
• Flexon Hose -View Flexon on Amazon – Nice hose, My current hoses were just too weather damaged. Picked this up at Big Lots for a steal, $15 bucks for 50 ft. The connector is great, easy to attach to the spigot.
• Anchor Hocking Co – Glassware – $5 bucks for a pitcher, another Big Lots score. I’m getting things together to brew beer. This may come in handy when I experiment with keging my beer.  Visit Anchor Hocking on Amazon

My Dad is in the market for some new summer work boots. While we were out we hit a local “Chain”, they have two stores. Chuck’s boots, has an awe inspiring selection of boots(seriously we were there for at least an hour and didn’t make it through Everything). Everything made in the USA is marked with a US flag.

• Chippewa boots – Most everything I saw of this brand was made in the USA. Check your labels though.
• Thourogood
• Rocky Uniform
• Danner - Portland Oregon
• Justin boots
• Carolina Boots
• Corcoran and Matterhorn
• Double H
• Tony Lama

Post a comment if you have used any of these Products. We would all love to hear your experience.

Tags: boots, found this week, garden, glass, Outdoors, Shoes

It’s time for camping. Need gear? Check out these manufacturers.

Tents:

• Springbar Tents
• Stephenson’s Warmlite
• TarpTent
• Wiggy’s

Sleeping Bags:

• Stephenson’s Warmlite
• Wiggy’s

Cooking:

• Camp fire Grill
• Coleman
• Igloo/Playmate

Hiking Packs:

• ToughTraveler

Know about something I missed? Tell me about it.

Tags: camping, cooking, sleeping bag, sleeping bags, tent, tents

I was rather disappointed this week in a local chain of, what used to be, military surplus stores. Not sure what happened, but they have started selling a lot of imported stuff. Some of it looks to be good quality, some is not. They do still have some military stuff. But most of it has been replaced by the aforementioned stuff.

Oh well… still found a couple things.

• Coleman Jugs (bought a gallon jug)
• Igloo/Playmate coolers
• Sterilite (bought a tub for camping gear. Great if it rains)

Didn’t see much else.

Tags: camping, found this week, stuff I own

I stopped by a couple stores last night. One thing I have been looking at for a while is the Leatherman Crater c33
or c33L. Finally found one at Target. They had a pretty nice selection, at a fair price, of Leatherman tools in their camping isle.

My first impression upon opening the package… This thing is light. It actually freaked me out a little. The glass filled Nylon must is very light, along with the metal of the carabiner.  But it keeps a good balance with the blade. Once I felt the “action” of the knife I fell in love.

Opening the knife with the thumb stud takes some effort. This is good, I’ve had other knives open in my pocket… not a good end result. the Carabiner clips easily on a  belt loop.

I own another knife, it has been good, but This Leatherman is a Leap up in quality and craftsmanship. I can’t wait to buy more Leatherman tools now.

∞Leatherman C33

Update: I have had some time to use this thing in the “wilderness”. I love everything about it.   Very well crafted knife. I also love that the Bottle opener captures the bottle cap. No need to chase the cap under the fridge   My only regret is that I may have enjoyed carying the c33t, With the included screwdrivers.

Tags: camping, knife, leatherman, leatherman tools

Get your company listed HERE.

Please include the following:

• Number of Employeed US citizens
• Percentage of USA made products
• Location of Headquarters
• Location of Additional Facilities (US and Other)
• Website addresses, Phone Numbers, Etc.

Correction: Oops, I messed up. Lights of America does not make their Lights in America. Thanks Bill, This has taught me to do more research… I must have read something wrong somewhere.

Sent to Lights of America:

Hello,

Please forward to concerned parties.

I recently ran an article about your CFL Twister style bulbs being made in the usa. I find out today that this is incorrect. I should have inquired, further, prior to running the article, this is my fault.

I respectfully request that you adjust your Company Info page (http://www.lightsofamerica.com/en/Company%20Info.aspx) to reflect this. It currently states “We are proud to be the only ‘US Made’ Twister style compact fluorescent lamp in the United States.”

I have no problem with where you make your products, in fact I appreciate that you do what you do. But don’t claim to be an American manufacturer when you are not.

Sincerely,

-Ryan

Tags: cfl, Lighting