So I got a buddy that started up a coffee company. Veteran owned/op. Has a paratrooper blend... in k cups too. ;)
Paratrooper House Blend Coffee Pods - Texas Airborne Alliance https://www.threeriverscoffeecompany.com/products/texas-airborne-alliance-paratrooper-house-blend-coffee-pods-box-of-12
Ah hell. I’ve seen it all now. Flip phones making a comeback. Industry determined to get you carrying a tablet in your pocket lol. Looks neat. Still a flip phone. https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/20/tech/samsung-foldable-phone/index.html
After a long working weekend finishing the last of my coffee in a unit branded @yeti rambler... haven’t decided how sweet or gross it is one of my kids snuck in an animal cracker into my cup. #dadlife #armydad
If you’re a Leg… I say that term gently for my non-Airborne qualified comrades… you won’t understand. If your a Leg with good taste you might have an idea. But I’ve seen the glory that is the old school WWII jump boot and they are dreamy. Let’s talk throw backs. Everyone is all hyped up (and has been longing) for the pinks and greens to come back (albeit dreading yet another uniform purchase. Read: “get it together already Army”). But if this doesn’t become the standard then what do we have standards for?
I saw these beautiful brown leather jump boots recently on a chance opportunity trip to Gettysburg. Walking through the town post the tour my group stopped to window shop a surplus/gift shop store. Walking in like any good gear junkie would do I spotted these. The fluorescent tube lighting cut through the aisle to a pair of something familiar. Something glorious. Have I said glorious yet? To a pair of brown leather jump boots propped up in glory atop of OD green foot locker pedestal. They were just reaching out to me in offer like, “here, take us… we’re beautiful.”
Somehow it never dawned on me that WWII era Jump Boots may have been brown. I just always had to spit shine the hell out of the black ones I purchased after Airborne School. Never. Had. I. Ever. Thought of such a beautiful dreamy pair of brown boots so painful I’d want to wear.
Have I mentioned they were glorious?
See you on the high ground (hopefully wearing these),
AirborneAngler
P.S. If you’re not singing the Divison Song or “Blood on the Risers” after seeing these now… you’re wrong. The only reason I didn’t get them is they didn’t fit. I almost bought them anyway.
This is not a New Years resolution post. And while it is about a new way of doing things, it’s going to come off more like a confession. Scratch that. A confession implies a level of regret. It’s more like an admission of guilt. I’m learning to spin fish.
There. I said it. Is that even what they call it? Spin fish? Using a spinner reel… Conventional tackle… Soft plastics… Hold on I’m getting nauseous.
But if the main image up top didn’t give this new endeavor away (and it should’ve), it also tells you the reason why.
This guy right here. My boy. No regrets. He’s my reason. I’m sure there’s a technique out there- to somehow teach children to fly fish at age 3. But I’m not that instructor and I want to fish while we’re out there too. Let’s admit it, fly fishing is for the most part a two handed sport. And while I’ve actually witnessed a gentlemen miraculously working through fly casting and retrieval with just one hand- I’m not that guy either. Just not that talented. So add a toddler to the equation and conventional gear (for now), is what you get at casa Airborne.
And I have to say it wasn’t all that bad a jig err, gig anyway. Surprisingly/not surprised, we had a good time. The quality time was incredible (worth the couple hours and cash watching endless YouTube videos and buying gear), to get us out on the water. But what amazed me most what how much he loved it. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
Now to be clear it wasn’t all that easy either. Hilarity did ensue. After teaching him a few practice casts he took to enjoying it like a fish to water. (Hehe, I’m giggling anyways.) All I had to do was go a few steps outside his cast and he self engaged. What made it hilarious was each of his furtherest casts, outside the normal 8 feet or so, always managed to come off at nearly a 90 degree angle over my line and directly in front of me. Standing there just about 20 feet away. No judgement but if that’s not funny you either don’t fish, and or you don’t have children. So Murphy’s Law was in full effect.
But at the day’s end it was all so worth it. Yeah it felt a little gross as a snobby fly angler to flip a bail on a spinning reel- with a plastic worm on the working end of my rod… but the kid has got to learn to fish some how right? Who’s going to teach him? Me. I’ll man up for my boy-o and get him hooked on fishing (more giggling). And when the gross and fine motor skills are all more developed past the tender age of three- and if he still loves the sport (he had so much fun today) we’ll pick up a fly rod. It’ll be going on like donkey kong then. Teaching a new generation to feed into the sport- albeit a touch down river.
By the way, zero fish were had. And it didn’t matter. I’ll end this post with a quick short story of our drive on the way out to the park and pond. A song I love by Granger Smith, “Miles of Mud Tires”, I regularly play out on the drive to fish goes:
It’s been forever since I’ve seen a hook sink I got a pole in a box, up in the back seat And I’ll be taking the long way to the lake And if I gotta go slow it’s better that way Country roads, bumping like the stereo
[Chorus]
A little mud on the windshield A little sun on my skin Six pack in the seat, nobody but me Feels good to be rolling around again
Twisting up lyrics like I always do instead of saying “nobody but me” I quickly added “and my little man”. And just like getting the wind knocked out of you I was caught in a moment of slight nostalgia. Remembering how I used to always go fish. Constantly. Like a mad man. Whenever I wanted. When I was single. When I wasn’t a dad. Then like a flash of lighting I concurred- those were not the “good ol’ days.” I had a little man. And a little girl. And a wife who loves me that gave me these two little joys.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. -Henry David Thoreau
I choked up so fast that if it wasn’t for my nerves of steel and eyes that never water I could’ve run us off the road into the ditch. Fine, I got teary-eyed but the road was straight enough to blink it out. But I’m telling you. What a great day. And since I’ve already caught/got what’s most important in my life, it was ok to just go fishing without any catching.
Happy new year. Here’s to a new you, here’s to a new me.
I’ve been on radio silence. I know. Not writing much (at all), just laying low. I’m one kid into it and one on the way. Biggest blessings of my life but doesn’t leave time a lot of time (at the moment) for false casts and grip n’ grins.
I had a guide trip planned last April. Scrubbed on account of the weather like every other sliver of water time I’ve had over the last year. So now I’ve got a December trip I’m counting on and need in a bad way. This crazy election season is over and like ever other angler out there I just want to get back on the river.
Looking at New Mexico out of Taos. Hoping some unplanned chance of misfortune doesn’t befall me (again)- so not trying to get the hopes too high. So, we’ll see… we’ll pray. I’ll keep you updated.
When I started this question, “3 Things Inquiring Anglers Want to Know About the Apple iWatch,” I was after some pretty basic things. How does it hold up in the water? How long does it hold a battery charge? And, what are the aftermarket options? All this was to decide if it was worth all the hype and the cash I’d have to fork over to have one. Well, after having one for a couple of months now the ultimate answer is still up to the angler- but for me in a word yes. Read on.
Does it hold up in the water? Apple recommends that you do not expose an iWatch to prolonged periods of submersion or much depth. The official claim is “water resistant.” However, reports from online searches and personal experience uphold their claim that it doesn’t melt on contact and some have said they’ve swam with it. While I do not wear it in the shower (great time to recharge), I wouldn’t be afraid to net a fish with it or support an underwater release. Be brief. It is an expensive electronic device after all. If you need to see more here’s what happens when you torture the Apple Watch from cnet.com. I cringed a lot but it survived all minus the final test.
Then there’s the battery life. With my amount of usage, activity and how much I play with it during the day my iWatch it holds over a day’s charge. There are lower power settings adjustable when you start to suck the juice dry- but for me there’s still a daily charge requirement for uninterrupted usage. I find after I wake up I can charge it and be good to go in the time it takes me to shower and walk out the door for the next 24 hours. It works for my routine.
Not only does it work for my routine, but it also works for my style and is AR 670-1 compliant for Wear and Aapearance of the Army Uniform. That might not be important for you, but it’s a necessary evil for those in uniform. The all black silicone stock ‘sport’ band fits the bill for my needs but personal options abound in all the styles, materials and looks just about anyone could want.
In the end I’m glad I have my iWatch. It’s useful but not necessary, handy but not required. I’ve already admitted my gear junkie addictions and the compliments I recieve on it do make it some what of a status symbol. I like the fitness tracking with my health but does it make me a better angler? No. If it did I’d be a pretty sorry sort of angler anyways. But I don’t have to dig for my phone when fishing as much and that alone makes all the value to me. As of now I only see the next gen models getting better.
Do you have one? Let me know what you think. Questions because you’re still not sure if you want one? Ask.
If EDC means anything to you, then I’m pretty sure you already know about Keybar.us. I didn’t know EDC meant “Everyday Carry,” until I stared searching Keybar on Instagram. Then I learned of all the EDC tools out there. So, to revalidate my inner-repressed gear junkie vices for having been so oblivious… I went and bought one. In copper.
I’ve added a foliage green 550 cord lanyard with a cool MOAB copper bead. I also picked up the ‘keyrabiner’ and bottle opener tools just in case. And since it already came with a fob link I didn’t have to buy a spare for the car keys. Now all the jingle-jangle is toned down a bit and my keys are classed up a notch.
So, pocket dump time. Let’s see your Everday Carry pics in the comments below. Load a pic or leave an Instagram link and tell us what your most indispensable EDC tools are.
