The Armchair Outfitter

. . . once more; totin’ my old .44!

O.K., so it’s a new .44, but you get the idea.  When I was a kid, there was only one thing I wanted to be, a cowboy.  I wanted a six-gun, a lever-action rifle, and a horse so I could ride the range.  Career options for cowboys being rather limited in West Tennessee, I went to college after high school and double-majored in English and Spanish.  I then did the next logical thing and went to law school.  Now, twenty-something years from graduation, I’m trying to save as much money as I can from teaching to get a six-gun, a lever-action rifle, and a horse so I can ride the range.

My dream got one step closer last weekend with the purchase of a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum.  I worked up a mild reload for it, and the Sporting Wife and I headed for the open range . . . the firing range.  I am not ready for whitetail or outlaws, but at seven yards I am on paper and so is the missus.  Cow-punchers we ain’t, but punching paper will do for now.

I Can See (More) Clearly Now

“Lefty” Kreh advocates the wearing of a cap or hat with black under the brim to cut glare and allow better vision for sight fishing.  Having tried an A/B comparison as Lefty suggested in his excellent “Fly Fishing in Salt Water” I agree that a dark color underneath the bill does allow one to see further beneath the surface of the water in bright sunlight.  Unfortunately, not all of my favorite fishing caps come with this feature from the manufacturer.  It’s probably cheaper for them to make the whole thing out of the same cloth.  With some assistance from the Sporting Wife, I’ve turned my beloved Tennessee Titans cap into a much better choice for fishing than it was with off-white cloth under the bill.

In order to complete this project, you’ll need a favorite cap, some paper, a pencil, a marker, scissors, and a sheet of black felt.

First, take some paper and trace the shape of the bill to make a pattern.  You will note those graceful hands in the picture are not mine.  If you can, get your own sporting wife to do this for you pharmacieviagra.com.  If you cannot find a sporting wife, this is not the right website to help with that issue.

Now use the pattern you made to trace a rough outline onto the back of the felt.  We used sticky-backed felt, but you can use plain felt and fabric glue if you like.  Note that I am still doing nothing but taking pictures.  They don’t call me Armchair for nothing.

Cut around the outline.

Peel the adhesive backing if you’re using sticky-backed felt or spray your adhesive if not.

Then just stick the felt onto the underside of the bill.

You may have to do some trimming to get the felt square with the edge of the bill, but don’t worry about getting it perfectly even.  If it cuts the glare coming off the water, that’s all you need.  Lefty talks about using shoe polish in a pinch, but there is another simple method that probably smells better.

I have an el cheapo mesh-backed cap that I like primarily because it weighs nothing.  I didn’t want to add a layer of felt to it, and the adhesive probably wouldn’t stick to the slick material anyway.  I’ve started on it with a marker, and although I’m probably most of the way through the marker already, it’s coming along tolerably well.  I just hope I don’t look like Alice Cooper when the sweat and salt water hits it.  At any rate, it beats shoe polish.

“The whole of the works were put a stop to for three weeks because a party of man-eating lions appeared in the locality and conceived a most unfortunate taste for our porters. At last the labourers entirely declined to go on unless they were guarded by an iron entrenchment. Of course it is difficult to work a railway under these conditions, and until we found an enthusiastic sportsman to get rid of these lions, our enterprise was seriously hindered.” Lieut.-Col click to find out more. J.H. Patterson, D.S.O., “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures” quoting Lord Salisbury