GettinByPreparedness

Sticking with the Alone ten item theme, I try a bunch of crayfish traps and finally get to one that seems to be decent.

I got one of Harbor Freight’s newly released multitools, reminiscent of the Leatherman Wave. I do some light mods on it. UPDATE: the Stihl file mod worked beautifully! Just the shank needed thinned a bit- drilling file metal is tough, kept sharpening and cooling the bit and eventually got through. A dremel stone helped start things.

Seems like I get this question a lot, even from people that use chainsaws professionally- how is your saw so sharp? I did not mention, but should have, that the hand not using the file is pinching the chain so it doesn’t wiggle around in the bar groove. Decent files: Stihl, Save Edge. The Oregon ones are ok, but wear pretty fast. The Save Edge ones are very agressive. Stihl ones wear nicely and are not as aggressive- nice middle ground. For the observant- yep, that’s my favorite saw, a 1986 Echo 450 with (gasp) a Stihl bar and chain. If you ever want to put a small pattern stihl bar on a non stihl saw (Husquvarna, Echo, Shindaiwa, Poulan) add two links to the chain (so a 50 link 14 stihl chain becomes a 52 link). Might have to remove the adjuster, its not necessary anyway.

8 minutes to manually mount and inflate a tire using a very few tools. This has saved me a few times. Sometimes, just knowing something CAN be done is all it takes.

Its already a great tool. Here I attempt to make it even better. Note that these are genuine USM surplus- made in the usa- the reproduction brands made elsewhere seem to be, well, trash. I had a long standing grudge against e tools after owning a taiwanese copy as a kid and thinking they were all that bad.

Like it says. Be sure to check out Modern Minuteman’s channel.

Not too big, not too small, doesn’t leak and its free. What more could you ask for?

My “standard” patrol bag for the prepared citizen. I failed to mention my radio, which is a short range setup. There are better ones out there and plenty of good info on them.