I can be faithful to a single woman, but not to a single multitool. However, if I were forced to run with just one multitool for the rest of my life, it would be the Leatherman Surge.

(NB every time I’ve ever been on the range with others I’ve needed something from my LM MUT, and today was no exception. If I could only have two multis it would be a Surge and a MUT.)

Oops! The forecast was for 10°C, and just hours before the forecast had dropped to 7°C; I only brought the bivy without a backup. The actual temperature was 4°C after the clouds and forest smoke cleared off. I woke up at 2:30, relieved myself and was chilled so I put on my wool anorak and was good until 5:30 where I had to get up again to relieve. At that point, the only thing cold on me was my feet where I was wearing a single pair of socks. I was actually pleased that it got colder than expected and that I had a truer test of the bivy. The Tyvek was reasonably breathable and no moisture collected on it. It had loads of room even wearing the anorak. The reflective coating on the Tyvek just worked.

I am impressed -- this equipment is going into my everyday kit and will be used to extend the seasons my other sleeping gear. (I have a 0°, -7° and -12°C down bags and a -12°C polyester bag). The -7° bag is oversized but it wasn't quite designed to be used as an overbag. I should be able to insert the 0° bag inside that one and put them into the bivy to use as a really cold weather system. But I will have to wait several months to try that out. I can wait.

We have had a fire ban on for a couple of weeks because of the extremely dry conditions and last Saturday the temperature got up to a blazing 43.3°C.

So since I can't use my axes for wood chopping, I figured I may as well clean them up, touch up the edges and oil the handles. 3 light coats to the wood handles (2 axes and 1 heavy maul) - the last coat took about 3 days to dry. I used boiled linseed oil. Then apply leather protectant to the sheaths. Now they all look pretty.

Looking at machetes...

TeacherRO.... not sure what part of the country you are in, but if you are looking for a tropical vegetation cutter you might look at a 14" Tramontina Bolo... mine works like a charm for Florida... you will need to sharpen it

Added a cell phone case and external battery.
Added fall gloves to the jacket carry.

checked the stored gasoline and propane... will top off the car tomorrow in case TS in the Gulf veers off projected track...tried out the GasOne propane single burner stove....

Stay safe. Hope that you are not in direct line of the hurricane when it hits landfall.

Teslin... thanks, I'm on the very southern edge of watch area... some above average tides locally, and some wind gusts... should be okay...projected rain and wind soon...my fear was that it would make a right hook in mid Gulf...when topping off the truck last night, the feeling was definitely of impending tropical weather change...

Got an amateur radio (ham) license over the weekend - it's the entry level 'technician class' but it gets me started. With that, I have opened up a huge resource on the local level of individuals who can help me learn about communications and a lot of other things. To start, I have a 'simple' (still complicated to me) hand held but the possibilities are amazing.

Tied into the "best use" thread, this may turn out to have a lot of other benefits I never expected. I've not received the actual call sign / license yet - that takes about a week or so - but once that is official, I can broadcast and not just listen. With only a couple of months researching this and becoming involved I think I've found a multi-level opportunity. More as I explore and discover.

Paul -