Sweet! Flouresent bugs. My daughter bought me an electric flyswatter the bug a salt gun. Swatting flies leaved fly parts on stuff. Shooting them leave them stunned, which might require a follow up shot. Comes down to judging the distance, setting up good centered shot, then a coup de grass shot if they twitch. Just like shooting bear. Dont think, just expect to shoot a double tap! It will cripple a yellow jacket, but not kill it. Needs three shots. If you fear a yellow jacket, don’t challenge a bear with a pistol! Flies in the house eventually head for a screen in the window. Perfectly set up for a blast, where the flyswatter could eventually rip the screen.
The electric fly swatter is great, because it sparks and makes an electric snapping sound. Put something to lure the fly in a bowl. Cover the bowl with the flyswatter, then press the zap button when it lands on the face of the grid to get into the bowl. I feel lost without it.
There’s a super shooter. They hype it up, but sounds like a tighter, more powerful pattern, a better trigger and the safety can be turned off and on selectively. The existing sights are fine. Great for self-defense anytime you sit outside during July through October. Big bugs like crickets take quick multiple shots. And it comes in pink!
The Raid spray works very well. Just got to aim it at them when they’re not too high up. The pressure isn’t strong enough to shoot a hard stream to, say, 20’ up. Ask me how I know,
We also sometimes nab them with portable vaccum cleaner. The dust clogs their breathing apparatus, a quick death.
I have literally run outside to chase away a black bear that was banging and clawing at our porch, because my husband had ignored warnings about not keeping birdseed in there. The bear did run away, only to return a little while later. Ran it off again. Reamed out husband about the seed storage and sprayed ammonia around the house perimeter. State Wildlife told me that ruins their sense of smell temporarily. BTW, that was also part of the advice about grizzlies in SE AK while I was kayak camping. No idea if it really worked, but we had zero grizzly problems despite finding huge tracks around camp next morning.
But I don’t worry about black bears UNLESS I am camping in a park infested with dumbkopf tourons who leave food unattended. It’s just not a problem at home. Mountain lions are of slightly higher concern, but I don’t traipse around during their hunting hours, and anyway if they wanted to eat me, they’d be on my neck before I sensed they were even around.
Seriously, the huge problem here is vicious loose dogs. There is a scam “animal rescue” that travels to obtain dogs from out of state shelters where they are going to be euthanized. They do NOT screen out dogs that were put in the shelter for behavior problems. They do not keep the dogs like a true sanctuary would. The free animals are there ONLY to make money. $400 for a sickly or vicious, unvaccinated, unspayed/unneutered (despite their claims to the contrary) dog. The municipal shelter charges half that for a dog that comes with required shots and is already spayed or neutered, not to mention screened for temperament,
Nonchalantly, carrying with one hand the Hornbeck, with paddle and rods inside, while carrying a milk crate of fishing gear with the other hand, always gets a query or two, and/or an envious look from other fisherfolks.
@TealTraveler, I agreeand have no objection to people asking about my boat. In fact, I befriended a person at the launch who later joined the forum. I’ve since then taken the person on two kayak outings using one of my spare kayaks and paddles.
Most of us encourage interest by others, and I believe would allow anyone who seemed responsible to sit in or handle the boat if asked. I even offered to let one person take mine out on a test run (there’s a difference between a 15 year old plastic 145 Tsunami and a delicate high dollar boat - if somebody broke my bost, I’d just fix it or buy a better one).
As a matter of principle, I find it snooty when someone has a nice kayak or a hand made wooden boat or sweet Greenland paddle, and they appear reluctant to talk about it. That seems like they don’t know much about it to fully appreciate what they have, or they’re just not social creatures, or they don’t have time, or they don’t like seedy looking charachters asking questions about their favorite water toys.
And, of course, you have the reverse. I have had a couple folks asked about my Sterling Progression. After some back and forth, I get asked, “How much does it cost?” Rather than sending them to the website, I answer honestly, “It costs nearly $8K.” To which, the reply was “What!?! for a kayak!?!” Or, “I can better spend my money on…” Sure, To which I am thinking, “Go ahead with your money, your choice. Ok.”
Truthfully, when I get asked questions about my gear. I’ll answer superficially to be polite, because the questions are not usually from a place of deep interest. And, that is the end of it. (Social tactic that I learned, for myself and the questioer, is to not overexpend energy or to come across as a gearhead, elitist, or whatever.) Of course, if the person keeps asking and asks more questions reflecting deeper interest and/or knowledge, I’ll keep answering to the best of my knowledge or my developed opinion.
@sing, Aghhh! I’m not afraid to reveal how much I paid for my boat, but would be reluctant with a high end boat. I’d be afraid that one day I’d walk to the restroom and come back to find my boat on another person’s vehicle and heading down the road. Such a shame to worry about owning nice things.
My answer to the cost challenge would be, that’s why I’m doing this and you’re not.
Except for the time when I help facilitate the New England Surf Kayakers, I am not really interested in converting, challenging, or justifying myself to anyone out there. I almost always am smiling and polite, probably because I am just stoking to have waves and/or from having ridden some waves. I do my best to keep my “engagements” with others short, polite and positive. I’ve gotten racist comments here and there. I’ve learned to just turn a deaf ear (unlike my younger years, although I always keep an eye for potential aggression).
As mostly a solo paddler, I honestly don’t care what others think or expect of me out there. I am not out there for them. As a surfer, I just make sure I don’t run anyone over and follow surf ettiquete. I am also defensive to not get run over by someone else. That’s about it for me when I am out there.
“As a matter of principle, I find it snooty when someone has a nice kayak or a hand made wooden boat or sweet Greenland paddle, and they appear reluctant to talk about it.”
Snooty…? “…showing disapproval or contempt toward others, especially those considered to belong to a lower social class:” Microsoft Dictionary…
Not very open minded. They might be just grumpy. They might be in a hurry. They might be tired want to put it on the rack. They might be wanting to clear the boat ramp. They might be just not ready for another, "Did you build those boats? How long did it take to build them? How much do they cost? How much do they weigh? They sure are pretty. " Over and over you hear that. Over and over you hear disbelief on cost or time? Over and over at each boat ramp, campground, grocery store parking lot, etc. A truck in the other lane once stopped rolled down their window and asked those questions in a traffic jam in Atlanta.
The truth is that I often talk about the boats. Tell 'em a lot about the construction, woods, and age of the boats. But I have a great disagreement about how beautiful they are. I know every bad thing. Every joint that needed to be filled. I know how oysters cut right through fiberglass to wood. I know the stripper has leaky hatches and will soon be back in the shop. I know the S&G boat with the scarred-up hull and sunburned deck that hurts my back to sit in for hours and has wind and wave performance problems needs to be replaced. They just aren’t THAT pretty all the time. I get a lot closer than they do.
It is kind of like a wedding gift I made once. Perception gets a little out of wack sometimes. I once made a cutting board for a church friend’s kid getting married. It was select woods in a nice pattern. He sent a thank you note. Nice gesture often forgotten. Then he says, " I can’t believe you can do that…" I’m sure he didn’t mean that as an insult. But it came that way.
Snooty…Perhaps that is a compliment. Didn’t know we might be in a higher class.
@bakerman, that’s it. That’s the word I was thinking of, but there could be a better words. Yes, could be all the above. They were grumpy, but they were taking their good old time prepping to go out. In fact, I was working with another forum member introducing paddles and techniques, when they arrived. I highlighted their boats and paddles as examples of craftsmanship and design. We were still near the vehicles, not near the launch. They launched while we were talking, then they returned while we were just preparing to launch so my kayaking partner could make a couple of loops with different paddles before deciding which one to select for our trip - maybe they were in a hurry, because they were only out on a 10 minute paddle.
You are correct that it’s not fair for me to judge “them”, just because their boats and paddles were examples to be admired. I heard that attractive people often get tired of being told how beautiful they look. I wouldn’t know, I don’t have that problem. Rather than bring brushed off as a distraction, they could have simple said that they were pressed for time or that they merely bought the boat and were eager to test them. It never occured to me that they didn’t actually build the boats. That would have made me feel less insignificant for admitting their boats. I had already explained to my partner the boats were CLC kit boats and described the process of building.
The reality is, they didn’t know me, and I was preparing to launch two well-used plastic boats (nothing to see there). My boats didn’t even have a slick coat of 303, and my seat was, and still is, in taters from overuse.
Of all the practical explanations, they were possibly just " . . . showing disaproval or contempt toward others, especially those considered to belong to a lower social class." No! I dont think they meant it that way, but that’s how I felt, “. . . Like my hands were course and my boots were thick.” I hope they didn’t think that, or view me as a bothersome old man. Next time they see me, they might report me to the police. Eh! No big deal, I got over it. I was just admiring three nice boats (one of the boats was for their young son). Next time I’ll be careful about telling someone I like a boat; they might think someone that looks like me will steal it. At least they demonstrated to their son how to deal with a weirdo. Ehww! Now I feel dirty.
I went paddling yesterday and and was pleased to not observe any boater idiocy, on the ramp or elsewhere.
Not as interesting to read, is it? But much nicer.
Someone did ask a brief question while we were both propelling ourselves, him going “backwards” past me in a rowing shell as I went facing forward the other way. “Did you get a new boat?” to which I replied, “Yup, this year.”
There was no need to chitchat; we both were on the same wavelength about keeping that boat going!
