That’s been a motto of mine for quite a while now. If you’ve followed this blog, you’ve no doubt heard me talk about the pie that is my free time, and how thin the slices get while trying to accomplish all of my goals. Well, along with the “time” pie, there is an equally important pie, the “money” pie. It too gets divided into a lot of slices, and like my outdoor recreation time, my outdoor recreation money slices are the thinnest of all.
When my wife was pregnant, we decided that she would be a stay at home mom. (strike one against the budget) This has required quite a bit of diligence on our part, and making the budget stretch has been a bit of an art form. The one thing that didn’t change after my wife had our daughter was my vast interest in all things outdoors (strike two on the budget). Keeping all of the gear in working order that is necessary for these activities has been a challenge to say the least. Most challenging of all, was being a full dress salmon fly tier (strike three. You’re out!) . If you tie these flies you know the volume of material required to do it. Piles and piles of sometimes rare, often expensive, materials for flies that you are never going to fish. Trying to explain that to a spouse on a tight budget is almost impossible.
So, enter this website and my materials business. It allows me to skim off a few materials here and there for my own tying. But, the ironic thing about this business is, that I rarely get to tie anymore, because I am so busy keeping the materials in stock to keep the business going! The other activities I enjoy are a little bit easier to keep going. Shotgun shells are fairly inexpensive. Canoes are expensive, but once bought, you’re set. Backpacking gear wears out, and I replace it while I can. Hunting clothes….. Read on.
When my wife was pregnant, we decided that she would be a stay at home mom. (strike one against the budget) This has required quite a bit of diligence on our part, and making the budget stretch has been a bit of an art form. The one thing that didn’t change after my wife had our daughter was my vast interest in all things outdoors (strike two on the budget). Keeping all of the gear in working order that is necessary for these activities has been a challenge to say the least. Most challenging of all, was being a full dress salmon fly tier (strike three. You’re out!) . If you tie these flies you know the volume of material required to do it. Piles and piles of sometimes rare, often expensive, materials for flies that you are never going to fish. Trying to explain that to a spouse on a tight budget is almost impossible.
So, enter this website and my materials business. It allows me to skim off a few materials here and there for my own tying. But, the ironic thing about this business is, that I rarely get to tie anymore, because I am so busy keeping the materials in stock to keep the business going! The other activities I enjoy are a little bit easier to keep going. Shotgun shells are fairly inexpensive. Canoes are expensive, but once bought, you’re set. Backpacking gear wears out, and I replace it while I can. Hunting clothes….. Read on.
Mountain quail prints in the snow
This fall I was getting ready to grouse hunt. Not having been as active as I normally am in the fall (too much non-physical work filling my free time), it seems that my favorite upland hunting pants had shrunk. ( Actually, I had grown! ) I sucked in, got them buttoned, and realized I could hardly walk to my car, let alone miles in the woods, they were so tight. Crap! These were no ordinary pants, these were a pair of Filson tin pants that I’d had for a decade. They were bulletproof, waterproof and expensive. Too expensive to replace at this time.
As I was storming around my garage, I noticed my worn out breathable waders from last year. The neoprene booties had been aquasealed multiple times, and a seam failure in the heel finally did them in. The light bulb in my head went off. I rummaged around my workbench and finally found my shears. I cut the neoprene booties off of each leg. I now had a pair of improvised upland hunting bibs. I put them on over a pair of light wool pants, loaded up my gun and setter and hit the grouse woods. They worked great, in fact they worked well enough that I don’t think I’ll replace them with another pair of Filson pants. Plus, I’ve got enough room to grow into them (Hopefully that doesn’t happen!).
As I was storming around my garage, I noticed my worn out breathable waders from last year. The neoprene booties had been aquasealed multiple times, and a seam failure in the heel finally did them in. The light bulb in my head went off. I rummaged around my workbench and finally found my shears. I cut the neoprene booties off of each leg. I now had a pair of improvised upland hunting bibs. I put them on over a pair of light wool pants, loaded up my gun and setter and hit the grouse woods. They worked great, in fact they worked well enough that I don’t think I’ll replace them with another pair of Filson pants. Plus, I’ve got enough room to grow into them (Hopefully that doesn’t happen!).
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