Another day in the duck marsh

[Marc Retallack]

Very cool Richard. I saw it on page 29 of the Fall 2011 catalog. You're welcome to my copy if you don't have one.

Cheers
Marc

[Bill Murphy]

I know it is quite common to sew new bottoms on Filson bird pants. However, in the past ten years or so, I seem to have outgrown more bird pants than I have worn out. My original Duxback pants are about worn out, but they won't fit me either, so I don't have to worry about the bottoms. When I was a "Filson Company Man", I bought some stuff under the employee program, most notably a pair of uninsulated bird boots for about $75 when the retail was around $275. I can't believe I didn't buy some 6" boots or shoes under the same program. They allow two pair a year as I recall. Filson introduced some tin shorts about ten years ago or so. I bought a pair under the employee discount. What a pair of shorts. I wish I had bought nine pair. Linda hates them. She wants me to look presentable at all times, even in the bush. Now they are out of the catalog. However, I am on the lookout for someone with bird pants they want to throw away that I can make shorts out of. 38 or 40 would be a good size. To simplify, I would like to find a pair of Filson tin pants that someone isn't using any more that I can convert to shorts.

[Steve McCarty]

Hmmmm; now I'm not a doctor (thank goodness!), but I'd dump hydrogen peroxide on those thumbs it apply that polysorum-stuff. I'll bet your bad thumbs are genetic. Your granddaddy probably had the same problem. My wife's thumbs suffer too. So I'm in to thumb problems. When you are gutting ducks all kinds of gunk gets in there and doesn't do you any good. No reason to stop shooting ducks however. Wounds that won't heal are not good, but I'll bet you already know that.

You'll get my bill in the mail.

[Richard Flanders]

Steve: That thumb was no problem at all; just needed some Lubriderm. Didn't really even hurt at that point. Even the right thumb that was far worse didn't hurt. They're not an issue until you see blood.....that won't stop coming. It's just a matter of not drinking enough water. You drink enough and it doesn't happen, especially in extreme winter cold. They never get infected; I see to that. Lubriderm mixed with Bag Balm is the best hand cream I've found when working in extreme conditions. Some people sometimes sleep with cotton gloves soaked with the Lub/BB mix or just pure lanolin, which works very well.

Marc: I got the Fall 2011 catalog today. Don't really need any more. It's been in there off and on for years and I have it digitally from their website. I'd like to know what they did with my pants; they looked a lot like the pair on the cover but with new 'skirts' sewed on the bottom. The Devils Club in SE Alaska used to absolutely shred the leg bottoms. For what they cost now I wish I had them back!! I used to get them for $60/pr. Believe it or not, the cheapest price I can find on them anywhere in the country right now is right here in Fairbanks. The first thing I do to them, after shortening them about 12"(!), is rip out and discard the metal suspender buttons and replace the fly buttons with a heavy zipper. Then I restitch the leg seams from top to bottom inside and out with sz. 99 dacron thread on a vintage hand-crank Singer sewing machine. THEN and only then will the stitching not ever wear out.. and I mean NEVER..... much better than original. I restitch some of my Carhart pants the same way but they don't need it as badly as their stitching is far better than Filsons. You can easily wear the fronts clean through on Carharts in a month of intense field work in the brush but the redone stitching lasts.

[Steve McCarty]

Is that a T-Cart or a Super Cub? I flew a T-Cart for years. Loved that little bird. It was a good 15 mph faster than any other kite with the same engine. No electrical system. No radio. It did have position lights, I think, but no instrument lights. If it got dark I put a flashlight in my mouth. Fuel gauge was a wire on a cork. Had to "prop" it to start it. I'd get that thing to 14,000' if I had thermals to ride on.

Great fun.

Steve

[Richard Flanders]

It's a PA-12, or pregnant Super Cub as some of us refer to them as.... Same engine, same wing, twice the cargo space.

[ch]

Enjoy the silence, I do as well Richard.