Bear "Fun", "Jungle" Tools, Ideas and Special / Member Projects

Aloha Monkeys,

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween !

Had a question from a Monkey when I said I had a "Huge" Thermette.... the question was... "what is huge?"

Took some pictures... but the stainless Kelly Kettle I have shown in the pictures for comparison is about 1.7 liters or 1/2 a gallon...

The Magnum Thermette is 2.5 to 3 gallons capacity... all thick copper... with a stainless ring and spigots... pretty massive for large groups.... and heating water super fast....

Not even sure if they offer this in copper anymore other than a special order... did a search and couldn't find it... I had to wait almost 2 months for mine a few years ago.

I had some concerns about the joints but after checking reviews and speaking with them... those concerns were put to rest...
This is a company that has many many years of experience making these to last a lifetime and have an unconditional guarantee....
I figure they wouldn't get there making a piece of junk....

Kelly kettle's go back to the 1890's in the UK and Thermette's to 1929 in New Zealand...

Anyway.... here are the pictures....

Thanks for stopping by....

Have a great Sunday all!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

You could probably hook those bad boys up to your distiller coil too!

 

Or use an old time cast iron wash pot.

Making a vapor proof lid should take a bit what with the cone top needed.

Use a sheet of copper and shine it up nice>

Put in a thump keg and you's be all the rage in redneckville.

 

Yea, I found it. Let me know cost and I will try to find a way for the money.
Best Regards, Rick

 

Aloha Guys,

Thanks @RangerRick ... before you make any decisions here's some critical information....

Had a couple inquiries on that copper Magnum Thermette I posted above with the stainless Kelly Kettle... so I did some checking for y'all...

It is a serious piece of gear for a group setting where lots of hot water fast for varied needs can be produced all at once... coffee, tea, cocoa, washing, food, bathing etc....

It's also not a normal stocking item.... I contacted the maker for y'all to check on this... Wilson and Co. out of New Zealand

A new one... and literally they only have one in stock as of last week... is $799.99 Shipping NZ post with no tracking to Hawaii is about NZD 130 or about $85 Fedex... is NZD 330 or about $218... so figure over $900 - $1000 for one of these to the mainland....

That is a serious investment in gear... (worth every penny in my humble opinion when I ordered and got mine from them - although I didn't pay that much )....

That being said... it's not for everyone....

But if any Monkey is seriously considering one... start a conversation with me while I still have this extra one and I might be talked into helping a fellow Monkey out and even save you more than a couple hundred bucks on the one in the pictures here and above versus ordering one (yeah I polished the tarnish off the top of it)

Hope that helps folks who were wondering....

Have a great week all....

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

I bet it is worth ever penny. I live on $819 a month. It is out of my price range. Thank you for letting me know. If I find the gold at the end of the rainbow, I will get back with you.
Best Regards, Rick

 

Aloha @RangerRick .... yup it sure is ... and I like copper so this was worth it to me....

A member was also kind enough to send me the following link for a stainless version that is way cheaper and there are larger and smaller capacities....

Posting it as a reference for folks here....

Thermettes | Spiroloc Tubing

Also note... prices are NZD... so a great deal if you are looking.... here's also something that was sent to me... so be careful and ask before ordering....

"you have to be careful with Ozz, NZ and UK on their VAT or what ever they call it. It is not usually charged on export items but sometimes you need to "alert" the seller.
Happened to me recently in the UK."

Thanks again....

Have a great week all!

Take Care and God Bless!

Bear

 

Happy Thanksgiving Monkeys!

Hope you all are or have enjoyed a wonderful time with family and great fellowship and food!

So what does a bear do when the big get together is dinner???....

Well he finishes up a member's request for a special Christmas present...

One of only a few made...

Hope you like it... oh and it's a spear head with a hollow forged shaft with hole for a screw... just in case anyone is wondering

Have a great evening....

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Way awesome use of the bayonet!

 

Yup @Hanzo ... This one is a Wegner.... See the W and the serial number.... Both Victorinox and Wegner make/made these for the Swiss Army... awesome steel...

Socket was forged separately and then the blade was protected with a massive heat sink I made to protect the heat treat during the forge welding of the blade to the socket... induction forge was used to heat just the junction in seconds to forge welding heat and then it was forge welded with a few 4 ton blows of the fly press... final seams were file beveled and tig welded to ensure a secure seam with the heat sink to protect the blade.... and I finish ground the welds ....

It is a beauty indeed... it will be left unsharpened so the user can decide on that... should be a great Christmas for them

Happy Thanksgiving all...

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Aloha Monkeys,

Got some nice shots of the Yari Walking stick (back on page 25 post 489 of this thread) from the member today... Playing in the snow... brrrrrrr.....
Finally got all the parts for the last 4... will be contacting folks to apologize for the delays ....

Thanks to the member for sharing....

Have a great week all!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Just because I am a trouble maker, I would like to see the member touch their tongue to the cold metal pole...

 

At first glance it looked like a long bladed knife, until I saw that the handle was of steel, and had a hole in it....then thought about it a moment and concluded that it was a thrusting spear head. I really should read the article text before looking at the pretty pictures. Nice job of smithing, Bear.

 

A simple Paracord wrap with Turks Head Knots top and bottom would be a god "tongue" insulator!

 

But it could also soften the impact a little bit, if one were to use it for blunt force. I actually thought about the tongue bit after I thought the bandana was a good idea for insulation. The bandana also makes look more non-threatening.

 

@Hanzo is correct. The bandana is non-threatening but also a multi-use item that is always good to carry when out in the woods.

30 Uses for a Bandana

 

Also, if you are willing to sacrifice some or all of it, tinder and char cloth. Also used it as a sock and for a poultice. Cloth has as many uses as your imagination or need determines.

 

I started a thread Multiple Uses for Bandanas | Survival Forums so if you want to add that comment over thread that would be nice. Best not mess up this thread, I personally don't want to get growled at by the @Bear.

 

Aloha Monkeys,

I love it when I get stories and pics of the "tools" that have been "adopted" out of the bear cave!

Here's a note from one of our members on #1 of 2 of these spears I made and will ever make..... #2 of 2 made it to the hands of it's recipient this week as well... good stuff... anyway... here's the note from the member....

"Aloha Bear,

Beautiful day here so I had a chance to set down and whittle a bit.

The Spear is above and I figure you can see how it got its name.

Hangs well and when you give it its head the blade end lays horizontal and the pointy end swings a bit to left and is exactly positioned at my center line of travel. All pretty much perfect.

The length from the butt end of the shaft to the start of the Blade is a near perfect 70 inches. This works well for me because any stumble and the point will be way out in front.

The shaft has aged for about 2 years and was non runner up for anything I had planned, luck should always be considered as a way of the chosen tools and in this case it is perfect for this application.

I'll let the spear age for a bit and then if the spear head is still tight I will drill a hole for a set screw.

Feel free to display the pictures on your posting, for yours are the only pictures going out from me.

Thanks"

Thanks again buddy....

Hope everyone has a great week!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

@Bear is a good man indeed. Had a nice lunch and he gave me some vanilla beans.



Cut off the black part to scrape it out and hung up the green for later. Got a good amount scraped out. Sorry... blurry.



So what's a fella to do? Make vanilla bean ice cream!! Went a little overboard. Almost overflowed the machine.



And since one of our neighbors gave us Krispy Kreme donuts, made a la mode.



Mahalo Bear!!