goswasere'

Yer 9hrs is fast, is the blade a total blank or does it already come with that drop point blade profile?

Wow, some serious craftsmanship in that one mate, love the Damascus swirl. How long does it take you to knock one of those out?

WTF?? Who is this guy?

Yer bro probs just grab a Green North Face shell or something similar u can wear around in civvy street and that cause if u get a cam one you'll look real silly runnin it to and from. And probably don't bother getting one of those yank 2 in 1 Jumper/ rain coat things because you will find times when u are humping around and it's hot even though it's raining (yes in Vic too) and you will sweat your ring off. Don't worry about it being that swishy type material either because the sound of the rain will drown any of that out and the reduced visibility will no doubt negate the need for cam as well. I got within Twenty meters of my biggest Sambar stag with one on to knock him over while it was raining so they can't be that bad.

Yer Trizzo i'm with Len I went with that cheaper chinese SKB case he listed simply because I couldn't afford the 700- 800 dollars for the US made one or a pelican. It's still reasonably strong. Although handles and attachments are sheet though. It's Airline rated Lifetime warranty, contents gaurunteed and all that but you couldn't chuck it over the falls and pick it down stream picture perfect though. But then again those ones chuck an extra 10KG's on your airline baggage. When u factor in you have to fit in your pack, binos sleeping kit, clothes and any other kit you will need. You would just keep racking up extra baggage all the time, so you wouldn't stop paying for a case like that. I took it with a Rem 700 that I had spent a bit of money on to NZ and had the best trip of my life with that case. Luckily my journey was trouble free. I have a mate with a horror story about watching his rifle case fall off the top of the baggage loader loading the plane containing his Weatherby Mark 5 deluxe, and Kahles Scope. He never bought a cheap case again. There is always an element of risk and rarely will you be able to fully insure your rifle overseas unless you pay hundreds for a once off trip. My advice would be to take a reliable reasonably accurate rifle u know well that is not irreplaceable, and doesn't cost a mint. Just curiously mate, will you be Hunting Thar and Chamois or Deer? Cause if you are hitting the west coast your gat might want to be able to shoot pretty flat ready for a bit longer shot. Other than that bro good luck with your trip. You will love the joint, I did and can't wait till my next trip!

Yer really good mate I just been moving round the country and super engrosed in work ATM. Zero time for recreation. Just starting to taper off a bit now. Moved to NSW recently just getting my R Catagory Licence sorted so I can get out around Sydney. How is your search for a big Sambar stag goin? Have u guys had your gatta hunt this year yet?

Hey Cam, How are ya mate? What I found with lenses it almost didn't matter what I did I'd still get external fogging. The reason this happens is due to the glass being a different temperature to the ambient air causing the moisture in the air to condense on the lense. The best trick I found is to equalize the temperature of the lense to the outside air well before you head out on a hunt. So as soon as you wake up for a morning hunt take the caps off your binos and scope, it shouldn't take more than 20-30 mins. But don't let them point skyward to the falling dew and once they cool down u should have trouble free glassing, coatings help but temperature seems to be the main cause.

I have a gut hook on the back of a gerber folding knife. Although sometimes useful it is more often a nuisance. It gets in the way when you are trying to carve through thick mussel, like when you are decapitating the animal. When they go blunt they are hard to sharpen, and you have to be carefull when putting it in your pocket that you don't cut it open.

I think if we keep buying up big while our dollar is kicking a$$ we might just save the american economy.

Bad lands is the way to go mate u only have to read their warranty statement to know why! Also check out Eberlastock, Sitka and Markhor. If u can get a back issue, Vic Deer Hunter had a mad right up and comparison on a few!

I don't know what kind of hunting your into mate or whether you need it but I have found it a great advantage to have a combined binocular/range finder. Saves you fumbling with 2 bits of kit, struggling to see your target in bad light to range it and a bit on weight and space. Just thought if you were going to outlay a bit on them down the track might aswell get both. There is probably 4 or 5 manufacturers out there that make them, but only 2 really are the goods. Down side is they cost a sh!t tin though!

Yer there is a reason there is a million types of specialty outdoor shoes from rock climbing shoes to hiking boots. There is even sub categories within each one eg rock climbing shoes could mean an aggressive edging shoe or a smearing shoe for slabbing even a crack climbing shoe. Not one shoe can do everything, shoes aint shoes! But then again anything is better than thongs

Mate depending on the length of your hunt just get a comfortable pack that can fit the amount of gear in it that you need. I have a badlands hypervent that has 2 pockets that clip around with the waist strap but more and more I'm finding that i use it less and opt for the camel back style for quite short hunts or the big 70ltr mountain pack for the week long jobs. I reckon you probably need 3 packs: 1 for avo hunts, 1 for day hunts and one that can fit all your sleeping and cooking kit for a few nights. Some might find a pack that would be good for 2 of those situations but not all 3. At the end of this month I'm getting choppered in to the west coast of NZ. I'll be taking a mountain pack in with a smaller camelbak style rolled up for day walks while I cache the big fella at camp. You'll also find when your hunting the same places after a while you don't have as much need for a GPS or other crap that you used to deem essential so you don't really need the pockets on the front. Now I tend to lean more towards just a small bottle of talc in the pocket, a leather cartridge holder and knife on the belt, a set of bino's with elastic harness to keep it close to the chest, and a back pack with a waterbottle, jumper/raincoat, radio, headlamp, spare batts and map and compass if I really get bumf'd. I'd advise against getting a chest rig you don't really need that many pockets, they are constrictive, make you sweat more and if anyone sees you You u might look a bit ridiculous. Also if your a bit short on cash like you said ex military surplice stiff is cheap, just find good ways of waterproofing everything. But if you need to check the map all the time, big map pockets are the way to go! Good luck

You guys sound like knife experts to me but I thought I might add my 2 bob worth any way: I found a lovely Hen and Rooster stainless drop point with a full tang and antler handle online for 50 bucks at deadwood.com It probably doesn't have the hardest blade on it but I don't have to touch it up too often and when I do that's not hard either. I just can't see why you need to spend $500 on a working knife.

Na phones and tom toms are no good, you need a dedicated GPS to walking cross country, the garmin above is the goods, you don't need fancy maps on it and sh!t, just an 8 Fig grid, and waypoint functions. All models have that on them.

Gidday Perry, I don't think I have chatted to you on this thing before, and I don't think I've read any of your posts but I like you already. Look I'm a fairly young fella and a wog at that but I know exactly what you are talking about. I didn't have a lot growing up but I learn't to make do. Now that I can offord some of that crap I guess I know what I do and don't need. but because it's a hobby I don't have mush else to spend the dosh on I don't mind spending some. Because this is the age of technology you are gunna see the majority of users on this forum would probably be a bit younger and they are going to think differently. Sometimes I think I spend to much time on this thing and less time doing more productive things like learning another language. But it's addictive.

Furthermore, The study goes on to say that the vision of a deer is more bias to UV rather than any perticular colour (of which blue is one of the closest). So if your were to steer away from any perticular colour whilst hunting I would say blue would be the one. So out of that I take that despite what you wear hunting make sure it is not washed with UV brighteners because that will give you away quicker than any colour or pattern will.

Well I wouldn't buy it cause I already look like a ####, I don't need help from these idiots! And because everything I've read says that deer can see blue. One of those types of cells in a deer's dichromatic vision can see in shades of blue. Notice how they quickly skipped over that topic in the video. They said that deer were dichromatic and showed a graph depicting the trichromatic vision of a human but no graph depicticing a deer's di chromatic vision. Well I know where one is and it is contrary to this companies claims. Errol Mason put one in his "secrets of sambar VOL2" and it states that a deer's perceptual spectrum runs from below 400 nanometers to just above 600 nanometers. This incorperates the colour Blue. Errol tends to reference all his text pretty well and if you pick up the book you will see it corresponds with a study done in the USA in 92.

now all we have to do is convince the poachers to wear it!

A pack for every day of the week, hey if you don't end up using that 4500 I'd get some use out of it for ya!

HOLEEEE! you must have some cash mate that sounds like a lot of gear! A bit of good gear is great though it can make life alot easier and at least if you spend it on gear then it's not getting pissed up the wall. BTW how is your Badlands 4500 going?

Mate spotting Scopes are great for a very specific role. They are very handy for extream range glassing. Lets say you know deer are using a certain area by day and the closest you can get obs on to that area is over a k, so you stand off and observe to work out patterns to use latter on. They are also fantastic for trophy recognition, lets say you have picked up a herd and there are 4 potential trophy stags, but that is the best you can do with your binos. With the spotting scope you can more accurately approximate antler length, weight and it makes tines easier to count. Binos, on the other hand, give you a broader feild of view and more clarity in the low light. So they are more suited to glassing within a few hundred meters, although you can get tripods and high magnification binos that are better at longer range stuff to. In conclusion you need both. But I would say the binos get 10 times more use for me. But I hunt in fairly close country. If I was hunting on the side of an open valley in Tajikistan I would want a spotting scope. But unless I was going somewhere open or new I could stand off a fair distance, I would not bother taking it.

You've finished that off well or a first attempt especially like the rivits, did you do the blade to? I saw some really nice knives at the Rutherglen Show, most notably by a bloke named Bruce Merchant. Might even see some mor at the 4WD and boat show on this weekend. Are you Going?

I also have the Garmin Etrex also Bog standard HaHa, I have had this one for about a year. The one before was the same model but the power button shat it's self and I got the whole thing replaced on warranty. But I think the pr!ks sold me an ex display model. Anyway, the model I have has the "High Sensitivity" Antenna (says it on the front) and the reception is flwless, can get reception inside my house on some days and most nights. Just incase I get lost on the way to the sh!tter . I think I paid just under $200 for it when it was new 2 yrs ago. But as the boys said they should be heaps cheaper now. I also just wanted the stocko one without the need for flashy bits, I think you can get internet access and text carnts on the newest ones. But na maps and all sorts of sh!t. I reckon that is what a real map and compass are for. But it does everything I want. Hope ya find the right one.