Tactical Pens?

 

 The other day I was shopping online for a new pen, even though,  I know i could just go down to a store and pick up a load of Bic Pens cheap.  I work at a waste water treatment plant and the pen is a very important part of daily bag of tricks.  I have broke several pens over the years and I was looking for something a little tougher.  So during my search I came across several Tactical Pen hits.  Really?  I guess in today's market you can spray paint just about anything Matte Black call it "tactical" and you got a winner.  A lot of manufactures are making these pens: Uzi, Smith and Wesson, Tuff Writer, Gerber, and so on. They range in price from $20-$200.  In addition to being a pen they can be used as a striking tool.  Some have a sharp point and are dubbed defense pens.  While others have a point to break glass.  I thought the idea of the tactical pen was equally ridiculous and cool.  I searched amazon and found a pen which would suit me well.
    I paid $25 for the Smith and Wesson stylus tip tactical pen.  It came a day later with the amazon prime free shipping.  The most notable feature of the pen is the stylus tip in the cap.  I have a lot of touch screens to deal with a work, and the pen will see a lot of use.  The construction of the pen is Aluminum and is in no way cheap.  This is a heavy duty pen.  The back end of the pen ends in a point and can be used as a striking weapon or to break glass.  The pocket clip is heavy duty like the rest of the pen and will not slip out.  The cap unscrews to expose the pen and screws on to the back end to hold it while writing.  It seems to be a little thicker than most pens and is heaver at 1.2 oz loaded.  You can get it in Black, pink, and gold.
    So I think the pen would be a winner for anyone that works like a man.  Operators, Mechanics, Line Men, Emergency workers and so on would find the world of tactical pens a handy tool.  I will use the pen at work for a while and post a follow up on my real world experience with this type of pen.  I predict i will not use the striker weapon feature, but i will use the stylus end a lot.    

Kind of like spring

Is winter slowly losing it's death grip?  To half of the country the answer is NO. It was supposed to be a nice day today but cloud cover kept the strong sun from heating the earth up. The good news is a lot of the ice in the tidal zones is breaking up and it gave me and a buddy a chance to get on the clam. We dropped his 14ft aluminum boat in with a hoist and got going. It was a cold ride over, but we made it. We rocked the neoprene waders today as there is still ice along the shore and the water is very cold. We got our fill of clams with little effort and i was happy to see they did not get killed off from the cold. The oysters were another story.  Many of the oysters exposed at low tide did not make it, and it looks to be a lean oyster year unless you find them in water a few feet deep. Even though the weather still sucks it was nice to get a load of winter clams. 

Being Sick Blows

    The month of February was cold and snowy.  Last weekend saw a break in the weather and it reached 48 degrees here in South Western Connecticut.  It was nice to go out with out a coat and take long walks with my old lady and the dog, however, I did end up getting sick.  It seems when the weather changes people get sick and I was the one to get it this time.  So as I am home from work I am taking a few minutes to plan things out.

   1.  March is just about here.  My local TMA should see a trip from the stocking truck as soon as the snow melts.  I need to have my gear ready.  Cabela's has some fly fishing gear on sale.

   2.  Be on the look out for winter gear.  Winter is loosing its death grip on us slowly.  I am going to keep my ear to the ground for winter items.  March and April are good times to get Ice fishing gear, snow shoes, gloves, and so on.  Snow Shoes are the one gear Item I am really after.  I think they will really help out on the ice once the snow piles up.

   3.  My boat!  Right now the G3 is in its own snow cave and I have to dig her out soon and get going.  I really got to do some clamming.

  4.  Go do some shooting.  Shooting is a lot of fun and I have some project guns I need to test out.  By project I mean stuff with a new stock or optic.

 Spring will be here soon!  I need to get my act in gear.

Lots of Ice

     The last few seasons saw little to no ice here in Connecticut, however, the amount of ice on the lakes right now more than makes up for it.  The hardest part about fishing this year is deciding where to go since every body of water is locked up.  Wednesday, after a long day at work I was on the computer and learned the State of Connecticut stocked a few lakes with a bunch of trout.  The information was critical in my decision, and I made plans to hit a lake which received 1100 trout 7 days prior.
 

The Jeep Cherokee Loaded up with ice gear.

      The next day I woke and was in no rush.  I walked my dog, made coffee, cooked some bacon and eggs, and watched some TV.  I swung by Jan D's house and we loaded the Jeep.  We arrived at the spot around 9am and loaded up the sled.  We had to traverse high snow banks to get to the lake.  Luckily once we got over the snow mountain there was a nice packed trail going right to the lake.  I started drilling a hole with my Lazer and noticed a lot of ice.  I would say there was about 15 inches or more of ice, 1 foot of it being good clear lake ice.  My Vexilar flash was light up right away.  The fish had no problem swimming into the jig but would not hit.  Changing jigs or bait did not matter.  I find when the fish are not hitting the jig you are into pumpkin seeds, and not fish predatory fish.  When they turn on they feed hard but they go into lock jaw other wise.  It took us a while but we did get into the trout.  The trout seemed to be holding in 8-12 feet of water.  They were cruising about 3 feet off the bottom and were more than happy to hit my jig.  We got several trout and a few perch before we packed it in.
   The weather was so nice.  No wind and about 45 degrees.  I did not wear a coat or my gloves the whole trip.  The foot or so of snow on top of the ice was melting and getting very slushy, but we had no problem with it.  At one point I had to apply sun screen since it was so bright.  It was by far a very nice day to get out and catch some fish.  Most of the fish were caught using a Swedish Pimple tipped with spikes.  The trout were all rainbows and on the small side, but still fun to catch.

Stocked Trout during release.