My backyard is… a wilderness. I have to knock down some pretty serious bushes to try an eco-friendly weed removal technique. Basically it consists of cutting everything down and putting plastic over it. This will get to 160+ degrees in the summer heat and bake all of the plants/seeds under it. Hopefully sterilizing the ground so I can plant grass or prairie seed bundles at the end of the year. Just down the hill is where I’ll have a small veggie garden… that’s another reason for not using chemicals.

Any way… I was looking around for a machete. With my love for gadgets/tools/sharp things I found a “few” sites with some American made knives and such.

• Ontario Knives can be found at Discount Cutlery Where I found a nice selection of Machetes.
• Leatherman (I feel naked when I don’t have my c33 in my pocket)
• Case Knives
• Buck Knives
• Ka-Bar Knives
• Kershaw Knives had some stuff made in the USA (Under the ZT brand also.)
• Tops Knives
• Bear and Son Cutlery
• Bark River Knife and Tool
• Silver Stag Knives
• Great Eastern Cutlery
• Schatt & Morgan
• Remington Cutlery
• Spyderco
• Colonel Coon
• Queen cutlery
• Cripple Creek cutlery
• Schrade Knives
• Heckler & Koch -  I couldn’t find knives on their site
• Masters of Defense
• Kissing Crane – I couldn’t find a website
• Randall King Knives
• RAT Cutlery (Now EESE knives)
• Wilson Tactical
• Fehrman Knives
• Entrek USA
• Marbles – Their website was broken.
• Bradley Knives
• Outdoor Edge
• Gerber

That is about all I could find. Comment if you know of more.

Update:

Found another while reading “Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life” By Neil Strauss

• Mad Dog Knives

Update again:

• Boye Boat Knives – Made with a cobalt alloy to be completely rust free, hold an edge, and sharpen quick.

Tags: Knives, made in the usa

I bought some hiking socks from wigwam after doing some reading about the benefits of hiking with a sock designed for hiking.

What a difference it has made. I’ve been on a couple long hikes while wearing the “Cool-Lite Hiker Pro” and they keep my feet dry and blister free. The socks seem to be lightly padded and very well made.

Check out the Wigwam Amazon Store for more Wigwam products that are Made in the USA.

As always, Shop local.

Tags: clothing, hiking, made in the usa, Outdoors, socks

Long time no see, huh? Ha! I’m back.

I was looking for a kayak for about a year. I’ve been researching and I found a couple companies, thanks to Americans Working, Jammer Canoe and Kayak and Old Town Canoe and Kayak.

On further research, I ran across Emotion kayaks, I must say, they make a beautiful kayak. They were, unfortunately, out of my price range.

I was looking around for a 12′ kayak that could hold some gear for overnight river adventures. I ran across the Loon 120, from Old Town,  at a Cabela’s… Though I don’t like buying from big chains, they had an unbeatable price on the kayak. Unfortunately… I did purchase a paddle and life jacket of unknown origin I feel kinda crappy about this.. I’ll try to make it up in the future.

Took the loon out last night for it’s maiden voyage. Kayaking is wonderful. It reminds me of fly fishing, it keeps the mind focused on one thing and the rest of the world is put on hold. So relaxing… I may have to try them together! Fly fishing from a kayak sure sounds fun.

I went kayaking with my dad a few weekends ago in his kayak, It seemed a lot of people were sporting old town kayaks.

Also, as a side note, I had been looking around for used kayaks for about 6 months. Nothing turned up on the craigslist that was what I wanted, in my price range. I prefer to buy used if possible. Saves me money and gives money to someone local.

Tags: boat, boating, canoe, kayak, made in the usa

I recently began geocaching. It’s a lot of fun, keeps me out of the house, and I’ve been places I’d never have seen without it.

To do geocaching, you just need a GPS device and a coordinate. The GPS device I started with was my cell phone but I wanted something durable that I didn’t need to worry about dropping. My phone wouldn’t survive a drop from 4 feet, The Apisphere Geomate.jr sure will.

Over 250,000 caches, 2 aaa batteries last 12-hours. The accuracy is as good (if not better than), my phone. The build quality of the Geomate Jr is impressive. Simple, shock resistant, and very smooth. Best of all, Made in the USA.

Happy Geocaching.

Tags: electronics made in the usa, geocaching, geomate, geomate jr, gps, hiking, made in the usa, Outdoors

Finally!! I’ve been searching all summer, maybe longer, for a Maul Made in the USA.

Council tool, a 123 year old company manufacturing out of Lake Waccamaw North Carolina, makes a huge selection of axes.

Take a look at this beauty. General purpose, RC 45-55, Natural steel finish. I need one of these for my truck.

Not to mention the rest of the stuff they make:

• Brush Clearing Tools
• Clamping Products
• Forcible Entry Tools
• Forged Bars
• Municipal Firefighting Tools
• Picks/Mattocks/Gardening Tools
• Sledge Hammers
• Tradesmen Hammers
• Wildland Firefighting Tools

Get ready for splitting wood for your fireplace or stove. It’s going to be a cold one this year.

Tags: axe, axe made in america, axe made in the usa, Brush Clearing Tools, Clamping Products, Forcible Entry Tools, Forged Bars, Gardening Tools, made in the usa, Mattocks, Municipal Firefighting Tools, Picks, Sledge Hammers, Tradesmen Hammers, Wildland Firefighting Tools