The Publishers League

photo credit: The_Gut

Many people are totally in love with those gorgeous horses that have an overabundance of hair. They love the long, thick, flowing mane that whips in the wind and covers the neck. The long, thick forelock that covers the face always gets sighs of envy. The tail that brushes the ground and whips around the legs looks stunning to those who like hairy horses. Add all of the above to the long feathery hair that flows off the lower legs and you have a romantic’s perfect horse straight from your favorite romance paperback. All that hair combined with a muscular frame and prancing and dancing movements and horse lovers grin in delight. Luckily for those feathered horse lovers there are plenty of cheap freisian horses for sale or crosses. There are Gypsy Vanner horses for sale as well. Both of those feathered breeds bring out the looks of wonder in any horse lover.

Luckily for those that can’t afford a feathered horse of their own, there are several kinds of horse gifts available that will give them some form of their favorite hairy horse to look at. Figurines are a favorite. Ones of those dark Freisians or the two-colored Vanner horses. They make calendars with awesome photos of the horses racing across the fields or being ridden in some competition. You can even have your favorite picture put on a coffee mug or a sweatshirt. Hats with decals of the feathered horse are also easy to come by. Fashion carry totes and even pillows show wonderful depictions of the hairy horse for those horse lovers. Even a framed photo of their favorite breed is sure to be a hit. There are many many gift items available to make any feathered horse enthusiast’s hear skip a beat in glee when they are given them.

photo credit: jmayer1129

Many people are aware of all the tactical abilities of the sniper scope. Few people think about or are aware of the defensive abilities that are built in today’s versions. They are much more than the wire reticle scope on your grandpa’s hunting rifle. These scopes are high tech devices for offense and defense.

The original concept of the device is to assist soldiers to better see the target for a more accurate shot. Logic would lead to the fact that this makes it an offensive device used in attack. However it has evolved to also help protect the soldier making it just as effective in defending. The telescopic properties of the original device are still being used today. Overtime additions like reticles helped soldier’s calculate the distance of a target. Improved vision coupled with a better gauge of distance made soldiers much more accurate.

As time went on so did the evolution of the sniper scope. Bullet drop calculations that often troubled many a rifleman started being incorporated into the capabilities of the reticles. In current times these calculations can also be made with laser technology. Instead of using the optics of the reticles, a laser is aimed at the target. All the same distance and bullet drop information is calculated for you with the information received from the laser.

All of these features will help a soldier find and effectively eliminate a target. Unfortunately this tool that is so helpful can also be very dangerous for a soldier to use. The glass that the optics utilize can reflect light and give away a position. Lasers have been made to shoot into the optics in order to damage the eye of a shooter looking through a scope. New devices employ honeycomb filters to reduce reflection. Also used are eye safe laser filters that prevent the damage from blinding lasers. Sniper scopes are true tactical devices and go great in any gun collection or gun safe.

photo credit: Apex Feline

The Pygmy Marmoset and the Star Nosed Mole are some of the world’s weird animals, and I think if you have ever seen these weird animals on the television or in person that you would probably have to agree!

The world’s smallest monkey is the Calllithrix pygmaea, or the Pygmy Marmoset, from the rain forest of Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. This monkey is less than 16 cm tall, but has a tail that can be up to 20 cm long. Male pygmy marmosets can weigh approximately 140 grams and females just 120 grams. It has a yellowish-brown coat, and it uses its unique claws for tree climbing. Pygmy marmosets eat insects, fruit, leaves and sap from the trees in the rain forest, and they use their special claws for making holes into the tree’s bark and extracting the sap.

One of the strangest-looking animals in the world is the Star Nosed Mole, or Condylura cristata. This small, dark brown and furry creature has 22 pink tentacles right in the end of its snout. It uses its fleshy tentacles, which form a circle on the snout, to find food including insects and worms. The Star Nosed Mole lives in northeast US and in east Canada in wet lowlands, and like other mole species it digs tunnels underwater and swims well.

The Helarctos malayanus, or Sun Bear, lives mainly in Southeast Asia. These rare animals of the tropical rain forest is the smallest bear in the world, and is just four feet tall. Its fur is much shorter than other bears’, and dark black or brownish black, but on the chest it has a yellowish orange mark that is shaped like a horseshoe. Another small creature, the Ailurus fulgens or Red Panda is less than half a meter tall. An inhabitant of the Himalayan mountains in south China and in Nepal, the Red Panda is not much bigger than a normal house cat.

photo credit: naosuke ii

If you are planning a camping trip or if you want to go hiking for a couple of days than you will need some light to see where you are going during the night. Light is a necessity for many of us and because of that we will bring the light with us if there is no light to the place we are going. Many years ago the only way of lighting up an area away from home was with torches or oil lamps but luckily there are nowadays much better options available. Although you can still use an oil lamp on your hiking trip, you will always have the danger that the oil will leak from the lamp or that the lamp will fall over and sets fire to your camping site. Wind up lanterns and gas lanterns have proved to be a much better outdoor lighting fixture because they are easier to use, safer and more reliable.

Wind up Lantern

A wind up lantern has proved to be a great invention because with this lantern you will always have a lighting fixture close to you. These lanterns come with rechargeable batteries which can either be charged by a DC connector or by hand. Winding the lantern for 60 seconds will provide you with light for 1 or 2 hours, depending on the light intensity you will need. They are made of strong materials and weight almost nothing which is very useful if you want to bring them with you on a camping trip.

Gas lanterns

You might think that you don’t need another lantern anymore when you have a wind up lantern but this is not true. A gas lantern is nowadays also considered as a save way to produce light for campers and hikers. The main advantage of a gas lantern is that it will produce much more light than a wind up lantern which can be very convenient if you like to play cards or read a book until late at night. You can select multiple light intensity levels and 1 gas reservoir will provide you with 6-10 hours of light.

Both options are suited for lightweight travelers but the wind up lantern is easier to pack and take with you. A gas lantern is also very safe to bring with you but it is larger and weights more, the advantage is that it produces more light.

photo credit: dreamingofariz

Use damp cloth to clean the small stains to avoid repeated washing. Without hesitation, you can use the cleaning solvent to clear the stains that is on the down sleeping bag.

It is advisable to wash the down sleeping bag by hand in the tub. To wash, you may use mild soaps. Avoid detergents, and avoid adding fabric softeners. As you have invested a lot over the bag, it is good to use the down cleaners that are especially prepared for the down products.

Use warm water to fill the tub and use the recommended volume of down cleaner. The key objective is rinsing the bag all out. While the down is in the sack, put the bag into the water and leave it to wet totally. Pull the down sleeping bag from the stuff sack and gently squeeze the soapy water throughout the bag. Take care of scrubbing the dirty places like head and foot. Without hesitation, you may use the cleaner directly on the worst areas. Of course, the cleaner will not remove the entire dirt. Leave the down sleeping bag to soak up to at least an hour. It is important to transform the soapy water at least twice, and do not change it several times. You have to rinse the bag with clean water numerous times to bring the soap out. Bringing out all the soap is a critical one; of course, the manufacturer’s instruction is to rinse several times. After each rinse, empty the tub to let it dry. You should be careful about the stitching, as it may be tear loose. After each rinse, press the bag to get the water out.

After your last rinsing, move your down sleeping bag carefully to the machine. The washing machine will allow using the final spin cycle to remove more water and will save the dryer time.

photo credit: Dylan and Cindi Luder

Before you head out to the water for your next fly fishing trip, you may want to think about tying your own fishing flies to use. You can find materials through a few different sources, from tackle stores, to online suppliers. The types of materials that you are going to want to look for will match different aquatic animals, and insects that are found in the area you intend to fish. This is considered “matching the hatch”.

Tying your own flies really is the best way to enter into the sport for cheap, as long as you can practice patience on a regular basis. Dealing with these small flies is often tedious, so it is recommended to buy your materials in bulk, if possible. Finding vendors through the internet that offer discount and wholesale fly tying materials will be your best bet.

There are quite a few types of materials on the market to choose from, but for new types of flies never seen before, you might want to buy some rare fly tying materials. Consider the costs though, associated with rare materials, as it will usually be quite a bit higher.

For beginners, you can easily get away with purchasing a basic kit that includes all of the different materials for the most common species of fish. By providing you with detailed instructions, and pictures, you can teach yourself to develop a wide variety of flies to be used on the water.

For saving money on your tying materials, a basic starter kit is a great option, as well as discount fly tying materials. Some fish require a certain type of material though, specifically, Salmon. Feathers, and threading are some of the more common types that you will find in a salmon fly tying kit.

Hitting up the inshore flats with a fly rod is an excellent way to enjoy the day. But you have to make sure that you buy high quality saltwater fly tying materials, to ensure that they last more than just a few casts.

photo credit: Jakob Montrasio

Irish forestry transplants trees at the age of 2 to 3 years onto a new site. Once the site has been prepared for the arrival of the trees, the planter will come in and place the trees on top of the mounds at a spacing of two meters. For the next couple of years one or two maintenance runs will be carried out on the fledgling Forest in order to remove or reduce competing vegetation, to fertilize when needed, or replace dead or dying trees. It is very easy to get in amongst the trees at this early stage. But, once the forest reaches their teenage years, it becomes a difficult to gain any forest access.

By the time Irish forestry reaches the age where it needs first thinning, it will be impossible for any individual to access more than a couple of meters into the forest. This is because the tree branches will have closed in to extend that they block any intrusion. This is where forestry inspection lines are needed. Around the age of 14 to 20 years, any forestry in Ireland has to be inspected to ascertain the value of thinning. The thinning process is achieved by removing about one third of the overall tree population in order to give the other two thirds a better chance of growing into decent timber.

The forestry inspection lines are created throughout the forest. They are basically a tunnel which goes from one side of the forest to the other side of the forest and are created by removing the lower branches between two sets of trees up to head height. This allows a person to walk all the way through the forest. These forest inspection lines are placed parallel to each other at about 100 m spacing. When this is carried out around the circumference of the forest, a grid system is created whereby the individual inspector can inspect any area within 100 meters of any other area.

Organising an outdoor event can be both stressful and expensive. In fact, it will be both of these things the majority of the time. The good news is that there is a cheap and easy way to take care of any temporary outdoor shelter needs you may have. Hiring a pop up gazebo is a very sensible option for many professional events organisers, and one that they use frequently. Hiring one of these structures can also save precious time and money for those of us just looking to organize a one off event, especially if we do not really have any experience.

When erecting shelters outdoors, you want to be looking for products that are sturdy and easy to erect in short periods of time. The many EZ pop up gazebo designs currently on the market will meet these criteria. When organising an event for a number of guests, you will likely require a sizeable gazebo that is much bigger than the standard ones designed for use at home. These structures can be expensive to purchase. If you will only be getting limited use from the gazebo on one or two occasions, it will prove to be uneconomical to buy one for yourself. Hiring a structure will make more sense an overwhelming majority of the time.

There are many companies that offer pop up gazebo hire at great prices. When looking at the range of products available to hire, make sure you are aware how many people each design is capable of housing. It is also important to know that you are capable of erecting any structure you rent from a company. Assembly will usually be straightforward, but don’t be afraid to ask for a demonstration if you are unsure. You do not want to wait to the morning of your event to discover that you have no idea how to erect your gazebo properly.

photo credit: The U.S. Army

The ALICE backpack, or All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment, is a military back pack system that was used by the United States military for almost 30 years. This system saw many evolutions in both materials and design throughout its history, but stayed true to its core concept throughout that time. The basic idea of the ALICE pack was to have a carrying system that could not only contain all the gear a soldier could need, but at the same time was light enough to make them effective in combat.

The initial ALICE pack was initially made of primarily of nylon and cut the overall weight of its predecessor nearly in half. The components of this system are now an iconic representation of the American soldier. The initial unit looked primarily like the top half of a vest married with a wide secure belt. Attached to these components were pouches of various sizes as well as holsters for pistols and canteens. The pouches could be used to store extra ammunition as well as any other small items the soldier might need. Grenades could easily be affixed to the pack and detached quickly and easily. The main advantage of the early ALICE backpack was how evenly it distributed the weight. Training and in combat maneuvers were far easier with gear stored and secured by the large ALICE packs.

Over time the ALICE pack continued to evolve. The second iteration saw many needed improvements. The first of which was the removal of the vest top. This was replaced instead by dual suspenders. These better supported the weight and were less prone to coming apart. In addition mounting on the suspender style was much easier. Ammunition, grenades, and other items could easily be clipped on for easy access. The belt also changed, it was made to be much sturdier as well. Much of the steel equipment on the original ALICE was replaced with high grade plastics, reducing weight and increasing the overall longevity of the pack.

Adjustments and fine tuning of the ALICE pack continued over the next twenty years. As lighter materials became available the packs became lighter and stronger. There are many components of the pack that are still in use by soldiers today. While the overall pack has been phased out, components and the philosophy behind it still dominate thinking behind how military gear is carried. The ALICE pack, while not the most glamorous, is one of the most important developments of the tools of the soldier today.

photo credit: Mario Spann

Fishing boots are usually the last thing the new fly fisherman remembers to take with them when going for their fishing lesson or on their first solo trip. Wading in the water is important for the fly fisherman and there are quite a few types of terrain they will have to walk through steadily and the fishing boot helps them do just that.

When fishing in rivers, streams and lakes it is important for the fisherman to be able to stay steady on their feet while wading through the water. Fly fisherman spend a lot of time in the water and need to keep their feet dry and warm. They also want to be able to remain steady on their feet as they are wading through the water so they don’t slip and fall. Good rubber fishing boots have a thick non skid sole to prevent slipping and falling.

Some styles of boots include hip boots that run the length of the leg and attach to the bottom of the shirt or top of the pants are most often used, but there are also boots that go up to the knee and mid calf. Keep the type of waters to be fished in, in mind when choosing which boots to buy. Buying rubber fishing boots are just like buying a new pair of shoes. You will need to know your size and the right style for your fishing preference. There are boots that will work with any terrain the fisherman may walk in.

Sporting goods stores carry a wide variety of fly fishing gear including the many many types of rubber fishing boots. The salesman are knowledgeable their stuff and will be able to provide good advise on how to find the right equipment to fit the fisherman’s ideal fishing trip.