Lansky Deluxe 5 Hone Sharpening System

Lansky Deluxe 5 Hone Sharpening System
By Mike Bell, Sportsmen Portal Field Staff

Cost
$32.49 online

Product features

• Patented, precision-engineered, multi-angle flip-over knife clamp
• Sharpening hones on color-coated, finger-grooved safety holders
• One guide rod for each honing stone
• Specially formulated honing oil
• Extra long knife clamp screws
• Custom molded storage/carrying case to hold all system components
• Complete easy-to-follow multi-lingual instructions

Lansky sharpening angles

• 17 degree – A severe angle recommended for razor blades, X-Acto blades, scalpels or similar tools.  Provides an extremely sharp but delicate edge.
• 20 degree – A commonly used angle for higher quality blades and provides an excellent edge for kitchen cutlery and filet knives
• 25 degree – The recommended angle for most knives that need a durable, sharp edge.  Ideal for hunting and outdoor knives
• 30 degree – An outstanding angle for knives that see the heavy use of cutting cardboard, wire or carpets.  Recommended for heavy duty use.

Personal Assessment of product

Until coming across the Lansky Sharpening System, I was never able to put a sharp durable edge on my knives.  I’ve tried whetstones and though I could put a serviceable edge on my knife, it was never truly sharp.  I had friends, and family who were willing to sharpen my knives for me, but I was always bothered by not being able to do it myself.  I came across the Lansky Sharpening System from a co-worker.  He was telling me about his knife sharpening kit and offered to let me try one of my knives on it.  After receiving the kit and a few instructions from my friend, I gave it a shot.  I took the system home that evening and brought my dull hunting knife to a razor sharp edge on my first try.  This was the first time I was able to get a truly sharp edge on my hunting knife.  I was amazed at how easy this system was to use and purchased a Lansky that night.  After receiving my system in the mail, I had all my hunting knives honed and ready for the upcoming hunting season.  The great thing about this sharpening system is that it takes the “art” out of sharpening knives.  Just put your knife in the clamp, decide what angle you want on your blade, attach the rods to the hones, and use the slots built into the clamp to bring you knife to a razor sharp finish.  Though I already had an idea how to use the sharpening kit, the instructions were thorough and easy to follow.

Product Limitations

There are only a couple of things I could mention as “limitations” when using the Lansky Knife Sharpening Systems.  This system is used by running a hone over the knife as the fixed surface, as compared to running a knife over a whetstone as the fixed surface.  A little more care is needed when using the Lansky Sharpening System. The same friend, who introduced me to this kit, also cut himself bad when the hone slipped off the blade and ran his finger into the knife edge.  This is completely avoidable ,and the system is safe to use, but always use care when dealing with knives.  Also when doing large knives (above 6-7 inches) it is recommended to do ½ of the knife at a time.  When trying to sharpen the whole knife at once, the angle changes too much and the rods might not be long enough.  I have done our chef’s kitchen knife ½ at a time, and though it took a little longer, the end result was great.

Recommendation

The Lansky Sharpening System is easy to use and has brought out razor sharp edges on knives I have never been able to get sharp before.  The process of sharpening my knives before owning the Lansky Sharpening System had been frustrating and often times impossible.  After using this system, I believe this product would work great in any outdoorsmen’s home.

To Those That Wish to Give Back

By Don Ott, Sportsmen Portal Field Staff

I won't be redundant in the thanks to everyone involved with the September 19, 2009 3-D Benefit shoot. But as we know if it weren't for those people that see the good in all people and the importance of God in our daily lives the world we live would be in worse condition.   Without our sponsors and those of you who want to make a difference none of this would of been possible.

The preparation for the day was very time consuming. Once you see the outcome and the day comes to an end you can feel the relief and sensation of a task well done.

Once again there were many firsts as are with the great outdoors we all cherish so much.  New friends, old acquaintances, first time shooters, young and old combating the same passion united as one, and smiles that will last a lifetime.  Being blessed with the presence of Tina Pattison, Hunt of a Lifetime Founder, Arianna Evans one of our Hunt of a Lifetime children. Allowing the unknown person to experience the wow factor.

As I listened to so many people comment about the day and ask how to "Get WIRED".  They are pumped and now hopefully they ARE "WIRED".

To those that weren't able to attend you can still be apart of our wonderful family. Get involved, get "WIRED", and continue your support.  Thank you all for your kindness.

Take time to take a friend, loved one or a first timer and introduce them to our wonderful sport.



Above, Pat Gonsman, United Bow Hunters of PA



Sportsman Portal Field Staff, (from left to right), Don Ott, Teresa Patterson, Kyle Schwabenbauer and Andy Traister with Arianna Evans in the center. Arianna was presented with a plaque made by Joanie Haidel, Joanie's Beard Busting Calls.



Buying raffle tickets for prizes.



The "running deer crew", Jimmy Patterson (Teresa's son) and his good friend Nick Eberhardt.



Rex Fahr (right) Teresa's dad organized the 3-D shoot, and Brenda Martz, President of the Loop Sportsman Club.



Tina Pattison's son, Jaimie and his daughter shooting her bow.



The running deer target group effort



Arianna driving her chariot.



Wendy and Mark Blystone some of our "Wired Fans" from Facebook and My Space came out to join us for the shoot that day.



Rex, Jr. (Teresa's brother) and his wife, Larissa Fahr enjoy the concession.





Thanks to all our sponsors.





Jimmy Young and crew came out to support the cause.



Is he milking that deer???



East Coast Archery Manager talking with John Ott.



The "gut gang"



Tanner enjoying the ride.



Ben Fahr (Teresa's brother) and John Lubert out for the shoot.



Nice Sportsman Portal fan truck!

My Trapping Season - Part II

By Kevin McCloskey

Well trapping season (08-09) is finally over for us, and what a good year it was. The boys had a blast, and hopefully learned something along the way. We did real well most of the season, until all the snow showed up. After that much snow things really slowed down.

This would be the last open water we would see. This is one of our beaver area’s, it’s almost 1 mile from the road, add 14in of snow and the walk will wear you out. But when you catch these…

Michael with a 40 + lb beaver

it makes the walk worth it. By the time we got to this spot most of our day was done, the boys were tired, but look at the smile. That is why I do this. These are the times we all will cherish as we get older and the boys find other hobbies {girls} that catch their interest.

Coon and muskrat drying

Fox and coyote ready to sell

Cameron Hall [L] and Michael Mccloskey with some of their furs

This is the end of this season for us, but we are already planning for next year. We are going to do some float trapping down some of the rivers. Should be a blast for the boys.
Well till next time…. Final totals – coon – 38, red fox – 11, grey fox – 2, muskrat – 21, beaver – 4, mink – 1, and coyote – 1.

Sale amount…about $800.

But the memories….Priceless !

My Trapping Season

By Kevin McCloskey, Venago County, Pennsylvania
My name is Kevin McCloskey, and I started trapping for the first time [again] last season. My son Michael’s friend Cameron and his dad Chris have been trapping for years and Michael wanted to start.  I wish I had taken more photos from last season, but this year I did better.

From left to right - Chris, his son Cameron, my son Michael and me. 2007-08 trapping season total: 41-coon, 5 –coyote, 3-red fox, 3-grey fox, 3-beaver, and 7-muskrats

We had a lot of fun on the trap line, and I had an opportunity to share some things with my son that some people will never see in their lifetime.
One morning while running a small line up by Tionesta, we had the pleasure of seeing not one, but two bobcats. In all my years in the woods I have only seen one. That alone is a thrill, but to see two at once and be able to share it with my son is something we will never forget.

Bobcat tracks

We had a lot of fun on that small line, but there was so much woods and so little time.  We spent a week there and only caught one coyote.

We started our regular line around home and caught a nice coon on our first set. Good start.

My son and I run a small line in the mornings before he goes to school. We then meet Chris and his son in the evening and run about a 50 mile line.
One afternoon after meeting them, my friend Chris (who is kind of a jokester), said get the coon out of my trap box.   Much to my surprise, it’s a live baby coon.  The coon was too small to harvest, so he brought it to show me and the boys.  Nice guy… maybe next year!!

This is a nice grey fox in one of my best coon culverts.

Some days all you get for your efforts is some tracks at your sets to show that the animals are still smarter than you.  Other days you get to share memories with your son that will last forever….like the morning we found this in one set.

What a surprise… an adult female fisher, what a mud ball she was.  Most people will never see one, but we have caught and released 4 this year.

It has been a fun filled season so far. We are trapping beaver this year and have caught two so far.

This is Chris with a 40# beaver, but the best was in the next set.

It doesn’t look big with me, but when we had the boys hold it up

This one goes 50# ….   What a haul. How many kids go to school and can say they helped catch a fifty pound beaver over the weekend.

Now we are not hard core trappers out to catch everything we can. We are trying to pass along some of what we know to our sons and hope they will enjoy it and maybe pass it along to their children.

New Year’s Day brought us one more surprise on the beaver line.

Yes…. It’s an otter… 21 miles from the clarion river, as the crow flies.  We never saw any sign that otters were in the area, but there he was at 8:00 in the morning.  We called the game warden and he said to hold tight and he’d be right there. He [Rodney Bimber] showed up about 20 minutes later.

He managed to get a catch pole on him and we released it from the trap.  It was caught in a 330, in front of the hind legs.  Although we set all our traps for beaver and try to avoid otters, sometimes things just happen.

Unfortunately, this catch would end on a sad note.  The trap had broken its back and the otter had no use of its back legs. The game warden had to put it down. The otter was an adult male and weighed 23#.

This has been a great season so far.  There have been a lot of surprises and good times, and as my son says “it’s good father/son bonding time”

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Thanks for the great story and photos Kevin.  You can send us your hunting or fishing story and if we use it on our web site we will send you a Pennsylvania Sportsmen Portal T-Shirt. The Pennsylvania Sportsmen Portal is all about folks who hunt and fish in PA and we love to feature our site visitors. Only criteria is, you must be a Pennsylvania resident. Stories can be from out of state adventures also, but we are really looking for stories that feature hunting and fishing in PA.  Click Here For More Information.

Hunter’s Specialties Game Cleaning Gloves

Product Review by Mike Bell, PSP Field Staff

Cost:$1.99 online

Product Features:

• 1 pair Latex field dressing gloves


• 1 pair shoulder length poly gloves

Personal Assessment of product

This is one of those inexpensive products that just makes sense.  My experiences in field dressing before using these gloves have always been messy.  After field dressing game animals, my sleeves were always covered with blood, no matter how careful I was.  I wasn’t immediately sold on the gloves when they first came out.  I thought the mess was part of hunting, and I didn’t mind. I received these gloves as a Christmas present a couple of years back and threw them in my pack for the following year.  They are extremely compact and take up almost no room.  I was amazed at how well they worked, and for the first time completed the chore of field dressing with no mess.  I have been using them ever since.


Product Limitations
There are few limitations associated with this product.  The gloves are a simple idea; designed to reduce the mess of a dirty job.  The only limitation that comes to mind when using these gloves is to be very careful with your knife.  When wearing these gloves, your knife can become slippery throughout the process of field dressing.  My main concern with the popularity of this product is that people remember to bring the dirty gloves back out after using.  I pack the glove kit in a zip lock baggie, so when I’m finished, I put the dirty gloves in the zip lock baggie and stuff them in my pocket for my trip out.

Recommendation
I do not consider the Hunters Specialties Field Dressing Glove Kit to be a necessity for big game hunting, but I consider them to be a huge convenience.  They do however, limit mess and exposure to bacteria, and they just make sense to have along on a hunt.

Wildlife Research Center Scent Products

Product Review by Mike Bell, PSP Field Staff

• Scent Killer Spray


• Scent Killer Detergent


• Scent Killer Antiperspirant and Deodorant


• Scent Killer Body Wash and Shampoo


• Scent Killer Clothing Wash

Cost
$19.99 for kit online

Product Features

• Scent killer spray
  
  
  
  • Kills human scent on contact
  
  
  • 99% effective at stopping replicated human odor in testing at Rutgers University
  
  
  • Permeates clothing and lasts for days
  
  
  
  


• Body wash
  
  
  
  • Eliminates odor down to the molecular level
  
  
  • Gentle on skin, tough on human odor
  
  
  • Concentrated for long term effectiveness
  
  
  
  


• Detergent
  
  
  
  • Contains no UV brighteners
  
  
  • Cleans clothing and removes odors
  
  
  • Works in both high efficiency and standard washing machines
  
  
  
  


• Bar soap
  
  
  
  • 5 oz bar kills human odor
  
  
  
  


• Deodorant
  
  
  
  • Keeps you dry and odorless all day long
  
  
  • Special odorless formula
  
  
  
  

Personal Assessment
Wildlife Research Center’s Scent Killer products have been a major part of my scent containment efforts through the last few years.  Before every hunt, I shower with the bar soap and use the deodorant.  I change into my hunting clothes when I arrive to the place I am hunting, spray down my stands, and use wipes for my bow and accessories.  Every week during season, I wash my hunting clothes with Scent Killer clothing wash, and treat each piece with the Scent Killer Spray.  The clothes, after washed and treated, go into a scent containment bag.  I am sure this process has helped me, especially when archery hunting.  The name of the game is to get close to the animal you are hunting and scent containment is priority number one.  In my opinion, there is no such thing as scent elimination, but anything you can do to reduce your scent will help in the woods.

Product Limitations
First let me state, I believe Scent Killer Products work great, but there is no magic potion to defeat a whitetails nose.  After taking all precautions I know of, I have shot deer downwind of me, but I’ve also had deer turn inside out as soon as they hit my downwind side.  Anything you can do to reduce your scent is extremely helpful, but I believe there is no better scent control than hunting the wind.

Recommendation
There are many scent control products out there and I believe most work, but I’ve always been partial to the Wildlife Research Scent Killer products.  I would recommend this line of scent control products for any hunter looking to get an edge on tagging a whitetail this year.

ThermaCell Mosquito Repellent

Product Review by Mike Bell, PSP Staff
dilantin back pain
ThermaCell Mosquito Repellent

Included in box
ThermaCELL unit
1 Butane Cartridge (lasts approx 12 hrs)
3 insect repellant mats (lasts approx 4 hrs each)

Some minor assembly involves screwing the butane cartridge into the bottom of the unit, and inserting a blue mat under the grill in front of the unit. Turn the unit on and hit the start button and you are up and running. To verify the unit is on, there is a lens on the top of the unit which shows a glowing coil.

COST

I purchased this unit for $22.95 and I also purchased a refill package (1 butane cartridge and 3 mats) for $7.95. These refill packages will give you approximately 12 hrs total protection.

ASSESMENT OF PRODUCT
When used as directed, this is one of the only mosquito repellants I’ve used that performs as promised. I have used this product everywhere from sitting on my back porch to turkey hunting, but I will tell you of the most extreme instance, in which I was glad I had this unit. I was on an Alberta Black bear hunt, and the mosquitos were terrible. When I say terrible, I mean they would literally blanket you within 5 minutes of being exposed. After being dropped off at my stand, I turned the unit on, swatted, smacked and smashed mosquitoes until I thought I was going to go crazy. After about 5 minutes, the ThermaCELL started kicking in and within 10 minutes there was not a mosquito in sight. I went on to have a pleasurable, and successful evening hunting, free of mosquitoes. When I arrived back at camp, I heard many nightmare stories. There were a couple of hunters that actually had to call their guide to come pick them up because they couldn’t stand the mosquitoes. We were back in the “bush” and hunters were offering their guides upwards of $150.00 to go back to town and pick them up a ThermaCELL, after seeing how well this unit worked in camp. Luckily, I had tagged out with 3 days left to hunt and gave my unit to another guy in our group. He was equally astounded at how well this unit worked, and killed a bear while using the ThermaCELL. If I were a betting man, I would wager every one of us in that camp now owns a ThermaCELL unit.

PRODUCT LIMITATIONS
Air travel can be dicey because of the butane cartridge. Also, extreme care must be taken as the grill on the front will get hot after a couple of minutes of use. The unit is rated for an area 15’ X 15’ or 225 square feet. This product does not work well while on the move and will decrease its effectiveness if it is very windy. The box says the mats are Odor Free, but I notice a slight odor especially in the first few minutes of starting the unit. I have hunted deer, turkey, and bear with this unit and haven’t seen the unit’s odor have any effect on the animals I’ve hunted. Finally the cost can be significant at 6-7 dollars per 12 hours of use.

RECOMMENDATIONS
If you spend any time outdoors in a mosquito area, you must purchase one of the units. Though a bit pricy, this cordless and portable system is by far the most effective mosquito repellant I’ve ever used.