Question for the "old guys"...Is it just me or are there others?

[SPQR70AD]

That is why we have vanilla & chocolate, because people differ on what they think is good!

a car or bike that breaks down a lot is not a question of a different opinion. it is reality. my friend had a 750 Norton commando. got it new. held up for a couple of summers then I never saw him again

 

[Snake Pleskin]

a car or bike that breaks down a lot is not a question of a different opinion. it is reality

It is your reality, not necessarily that of others. I ran an Austin Healy 3000 for years and a TR7. I had no more issues than i did with the garbage coming out of Detroit! But that was just my experience. I found the bikes & cars took more "maintenance" than some, but if maintained, they ran fine. just my experience.

 

[SPQR70AD]

It is your reality, not necessarily that of others. I ran an Austin Healy 3000 for years and a TR7. I had no more issues than i did with the garbage coming out of Detroit! But that was just my experience. I found the bikes & cars took more "maintenance" than some, but if maintained, they ran fine. just my experience.

but you compared it with the garbage coming out of detroit lol. there was junk coming out of the detroit and the Japanese forced US makers to produce better products. as far as motorcycles the honda 350-450-750 were a million times better then any english bike in the early 70's

 

[Snake Pleskin]

but you compared it with the garbage coming out of detroit lol. there was junk coming out of the detroit and the Japanese forced US makers to produce better products. as far as motorcycles the honda 350-450-750 were a million times better then any english bike in the early 70's

I agree. That is why I never owned a British bike that was built after 1969. The style changed and the Japanese bikes were coming on strong. The Honda CB750 was one of the best bikes of the era. Japanese bikes killed the British cycle industry and their cars put US manuf to shame in QC.

 

[user 30283]

The very best summation of these 8 pages and why we love what we do ( the best I've ever read) in my opinion is found in "The Book of Buckskinning" Vol 1. ----the intro written by **** House. Everyone who is interested in the "old ways" should read it.

 

[SPQR70AD]

I agree. That is why I never owned a British bike that was built after 1969. The style changed and the Japanese bikes were coming on strong. The Honda CB750 was one of the best bikes of the era. Japanese bikes killed the British cycle industry and their cars put US manuf to shame in QC.

you are totally correct. honda made a 4 cylinder 450 in 73 I think. believe it or not it was hondas favorite motorcycle

 

[Snake Pleskin]

you are totally correct. honda made a 4 cylinder 450 in 73 I think. believe it or not it was hondas favorite motorcycle

I had a friend who had a CB450. It was very quick for its size! Those were the days of bike wars between Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki etc. My brother owned a Yamaha 650 that looked exactly like a British twin, but with out the maintenace!

 

[Buckskinquin]

Worst part of getting old (73), for me is the loss of friends & family on an increasingly frequent basis. All of my black powder buddies are gone. Invites to acquaintances/extended family to muzzleload deer hunt are mostly shunned. There are no longer any matches nor clubs within 100 miles. Two dogs left - one's gun shy, the other's deaf. Neither will tree a squirrel nor retrieve a duck. Solitary shooting/hunting mostly sucks.

Moved to South Carolina 7 years ago, just across the sound from Parris Island. I hear the new Marines shooting 2-3 times a week. But, there are few or no shooting opportunities and hunting requires a trip back to NY. My range is an hour away, any organized shoots, minimum 3 hour drive. So yeah, I hear you, but my BP hobby keeps me grounded and asked lots of questions when I do get to the range.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Moved to South Carolina 7 years ago, just across the sound from Parris Island. I hear the new Marines shooting 2-3 times a week. But, there are few or no shooting opportunities and hunting requires a trip back to NY. My range is an hour away, any organized shoots, minimum 3 hour drive. So yeah, I hear you, but my BP hobby keeps me grounded and asked lots of questions when I do get to the range.

I moved to South Carolina in 2017( AIken), may have been a mistake? However, my experience is like yours, can not find any place to shoot! Few if any "real" ranges. Most are a plowed area in a field with a tin roof over a concrete table with a porta potty. Please, these people live in total denial of reality! (IMHO) I came form Ariz. that had ranges , real ranges all over the place. I also think that the "good old" boys are basically too cheap to support a decent range, and will shoot on their own property rather than go to a range. That way they don't have to follow any rules, be safe, or care about anyone else. If I sound unhappy about it, I am! I like to shoot and here it has been a challenge. I have to drive 36 miles each way to do it!

 

[Frederickdav]

I moved to South Carolina in 2017( AIken), may have been a mistake? However, my experience is like yours, can not find any place to shoot! Few if any "real" ranges. Most are a plowed area in a field with a tin roof over a concrete table with a porta potty. Please, these people live in total denial of reality! (IMHO) I came form Ariz. that had ranges , real ranges all over the place. I also think that the "good old" boys are basically too cheap to support a decent range, and will shoot on their own property rather than go to a range. That way they don't have to follow any rules, be safe, or care about anyone else. If I sound unhappy about it, I am! I like to shoot and here it has been a challenge. I have to drive 36 miles each way to do it!

I have a similar problem. The ranges around here are too far away. Instead of making a short trip to the range it takes 45 minutes each way. Kind of takes something out of the fun of shooting.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

The very best summation of these 8 pages and why we love what we do ( the best I've ever read) in my opinion is found in "The Book of Buckskinning" Vol 1. ----the intro written by **** House. Everyone who is interested in the "old ways" should read it.

I’ve read the entire series, that volume is the one that I’ve read the most often…repeatedly find myself drawn back to read it again. It is a foundational text…

 

[vintovka]

Getting old has always been hard. Todays insanity however has increased the problem ten fold.

 

[Nor'Easter]

I grew up in a civil community in a civil society. If I misbehaved not only did the community at large let me know, they also told my family. There was both a belief and a commitment to standards of behavior.

And I believe in that lies the problem and the solution to our current dilemma. Part of the greatness of the old ways was not in the 'what' and the 'how' but in the 'why'.

 

[Nor'Easter]

The weird thing about reunions is how everybody got old but you… very strange phenomenon.

Except the women. Went to a funeral last fall, all of us guys had gray hair (what was left of it) and gray beards. The girls still had the same hair color they had when we all chummed around in our 20's. Hummm.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Except the women. Went to a funeral last fall, all of us guys had gray hair (what was left of it) and gray beards. The girls still had the same hair color they had when we all chummed around in our 20's. Hummm.

Must be the shampoo…maybe I need to start trying my wife’s, see what happens…

 

[OldMaineWoodsman]

Going back to the topic of skills or as some would call old ways, it is stunning to me how ill prepared people are today for any type of emergency.

Just last week I saw another story of a hiker death. This guy was described as an "experienced hiker." He decided to hike up Mt Washington in New Hampshire. Even in June it can get pretty bad weather wise up there, and it is not unusual for snow to be on the ground at the higher elevations. He either got lost or disoriented, I'm not sure. He wasn't dressed properly, and I'm positive he had no survival kit. He did, however, have a phone in which he was texting his wife telling her he was getting worried over the weather and temperature drop.

His last text to his wife was he was "cold and wet." and worried about hypothermia. Rescuers risked their own necks and found him unconscious and sadly he died enroute to the hospital.

Why he didn't attempt to build a makeshift lean-to or shelter I don't know. If he had a basic kit, he could have also built a fire and stayed put until the cavalry arrived. Maybe he panicked, maybe he just didn't know how. I don't know. The news showed a picture of him probably from social media. At least he had nice boots.

Be Prepared. Oh wait, it's not cool for kids to be in Boy Scouts anymore. Or are they racist? Either way, many of the young just aren't going to make it. We have gone from the Greatest Generation to the Weakest Generation right before our eyes. I'm a tail-end Boomer and I'm sure glad I learned this stuff as a kid and had it re-enforced and improved by the Navy and a lot of time in the woods and marsh.

 

[stewall]

". . . an applied detachment from all the current BS . . ."
Amen, Brother!

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Going back to the topic of skills or as some would call old ways, it is stunning to me how ill prepared people are today for any type of emergency.

Just last week I saw another story of a hiker death. This guy was described as an "experienced hiker." He decided to hike up Mt Washington in New Hampshire. Even in June it can get pretty bad weather wise up there, and it is not unusual for snow to be on the ground at the higher elevations. He either got lost or disoriented, I'm not sure. He wasn't dressed properly, and I'm positive he had no survival kit. He did, however, have a phone in which he was texting his wife telling her he was getting worried over the weather and temperature drop.

His last text to his wife was he was "cold and wet." and worried about hypothermia. Rescuers risked their own necks and found him unconscious and sadly he died enroute to the hospital.

Why he didn't attempt to build a makeshift lean-to or shelter I don't know. If he had a basic kit, he could have also built a fire and stayed put until the cavalry arrived. Maybe he panicked, maybe he just didn't know how. I don't know. The news showed a picture of him probably from social media. At least he had nice boots.

Be Prepared. Oh wait, it's not cool for kids to be in Boy Scouts anymore. Or are they racist? Either way, many of the young just aren't going to make it. We have gone from the Greatest Generation to the Weakest Generation right before our eyes. I'm a tail-end Boomer and I'm sure glad I learned this stuff as a kid and had it re-enforced and improved by the Navy and a lot of time in the woods and marsh.

Sad, when a $2 dollar survival blanket in his pocket, could have kept him dry and saved body heat which would have probably allowed him to survive

 

[JohnL]

I’m 48 and right there with you sir. I much prefer scraping a powder horn, working leather, or scrimshaw work as compared to television or cell phone. I’m frequently told that I was born in the wrong Century.

 

[Muley Gil]

I taught both my boys and daughter how to change a tire, jump start the car, and change the oil, and a couple other things a driver of a car should know before I let them get a drivers license. Now that I'm fairly senior I can still do these things though some of them might be painful afterwards.

From what I understand, it isn't safe to jump start these new cars with all of the electronics. Luckily, I still drive the '88 F150 that my mom gave me after my dad died.