Another Buon Giorno from sunny Italy!

Ok, I just work up, I got my cappuccino right here next to my computer and so let’s see what today’s (or yesterday’s) inputs are…

Someone wrote:

If I had to make one observation or raise a reservation, it is the knife in the enhanced kit. Serrations are good, but not as the one knife as they aren't as versatile, can't be sharped with found stones (cheap knifes I've found are forgiving in this one regard), and suck with ferro rods in my experience. Rather than quibbling about a <$4 knife, any chance of getting a straight edged version to replace it?

My reply:

I agree 100% with you, that having a good knife is extremely important but the problem with most people who are or wannabe survivalists, Johnny Rambos, etc. Is that most of them don’t wanna spend a lot of money on a survival kit.

And so when I decided to come up with these SOS Kits, I didn’t go out searching for some cheap “Made in China” stuff but some reasonably priced and good quality products.

And so the knives that come with my survival kits are hellova lot better than what I’ve seen in some other survival kits. Some don’t even come with knives but instead razor blades. And while some survival kits may come with some really good knives, some of the other survival items in these kits may not be the best quality made products, you know what I mean?

I have a buddy who’s a big time knife freak, he’ll spend BIG BUCKS on all sorts of different knives but when it comes to buying other stuff like survival and outdoor gear, he’s a tightwad.

And so in other words, what I am trying to do is please everyone with my kits, the experienced and inexperienced outdoor enthusiasts as well as the tightwads and big spenders too. You know what I mean?

Hey, I’m still learning about this business, and thanks to you guys I’m learning a lot about other products on the market and so that’s one of the reasons why I joined this forum.

Someone asked:

Are you sure? I am skeptical. This past fall they introduced yet another case (the M Series Case and Lighter) that uses the mini-BIC, it's featured on their site: http://www.bicworld.com/inter_us/lighters/index.asp .That doesn't sound to me like the prelude to eliminating the product given the million of bucks it takes to launch a new product like that to the consumer market.

My reply:

I’m retired and live here in Italy and my supplier use to be my Italian wife who use to work for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) on the military base (Vicenza – Italy) before she retired two years ago. And she was the requisition clerk there who did all the product ordering for her store and others too.

And so I use to buy all my mini BIC lighters from her store, I wasn’t able to get any special price or deals just because she worked there, I wish. But for about six months the mini BIC lighers were suddenly being slashed and reduced in price and she didn’t know why, and so I just kept gobbling them up.

Then one day there were no more mini BICs on the store shelves and she tried to order more. But the main DeCA office back in the states told her the BIC company discontinued or was getting ready to discontinue making the mini lighters, and even today here in all the Italian stores they don’t sell anymore. And so I don’t know what to tell you, but if they still sell them back in the states….won’t do me any good. Can’t have them shipped here for hazardous reasons, and on top of that shipping and import fees would be too costly. So either way I would eventually have to discontinue selling them, but I still have about 100 or so left if anyone is interested.

Someone wrote:

Your in the EEC not the US. They might have some difficulty in claiming copyright on "Ranger Rick" especially if you can prove prior use. A small matter of interllectual property I believe.

My reply:

Yea, I thought so too. But they claim they have had a federal trademark on the name since (I believe) 1952? I was born in 1954 and so that cartoon is older than me.

I own absolutely nothing back there in the states, no property, no car, etc. Hell I don’t even have a US driver’s license anymore since Sept 11. My state (PA) wouldn’t allow me to renew it because I don’t own any property or a car back there and therefore have no residency and can’t have a stateside driver license, at least not from PA.

And so yea, it would be kinda hard for that law firm and the US Forestry Service to take me to court and try to sue me. For what? I don’t own anything back there, so what would they get outta me? You know?

But I gotta come back to the states sometimes to see my 80 year old mom and some of my old Army buddies too. And due to computer technology, it would be just my luck as soon as the custom officer typed in my name his computer would tell him I’m on the “most wanted list” for violating the USFS’s Ranger Rick copyright/trademark. You know what I mean? And so I agreed to this compromise.

Ok guys, that’s about it for today, my cappuccino is now finito, and so I gotta go now. Thanks again for your input and for allowing me to post my comments here and see ya all later, take care for now.