Joy! And no more borrowing Dad's

Watchful

Watchful

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Dec 8, 2004
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Took the older boy out to Bass Pro Shops on Thursday night. He is 8, and a real adventurer. I asked him to pick out two items on his own.

1. Shooting ear muffs, because he's going to spend a piece of 2011 learning basic firearms operations and very basic marksmanship. Dad doesn't like to share muffs; he needs his own. He picked out a very nice, compact, and inexpensive set of black muffs. Concerned that inexpensive muffs don't block out enough high frequency sounds, we tested them at home with a variety of loud noises and he likes them very much.

2. A compass. This was tricky, because Bass doesn't not have a great selection, and I wanted him to really think about his choice. He's trained on both nav-style and lensatic compasses, both of which they have there in inexpensive models. He thought about it, but went with a Brunton 7DNL model. Any thoughts? So far it's working great for him, and agrees with my Silva. And given that it survived being dropped (ahem...by me...cough), it didn't even get scratched. He picked the nav style (with the clear base for overlaying on top of maps) because, as he put it, "It's easier to see the mouse in the house."

Overall, I think he did pretty well.
 
Good read! Hoping that when and if I have a kid(s) I'll be able to do the same with thing with them.


I don't know anything about that compass model. However, I am a fan of Suunto compasses... but I also use Suunto for dive computers and watches as well. I have a slight trend going on in that area. ;)
 
Its great that he gets to choose his own gear, a big step in a young life.
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Nice read watchful. My youngest is five and I bought her a few things for Christmas this year for her "play" with while we are in the woods. I bought her her first compass, a cheap new version of the old pocket watch style, a new ss water bottle, and a small brass telescope. I wanted her to have some to learn on young without worrying about the cost. The compass agrees with my Silva too. A friend sent me a small custom knife for her. It's 3/32 steel, unsure of the type, made in New Zealand and says SVORD on one side and marked CKC on the other. John of SKW gave her a beautiful knife of D-2 steel with an Ironwood handle and mosaic pins, but the 5/32 steel is hard for her to get used to after learning with my paring knives so I guess I'll let her use this one in the field (stays in my pack for now) until she get more familiar with knife use.
 
Nice read, thanks. Son sounds like he's off in the right direction with help from dad.
 
Watchful said:
Took the older boy out to Bass Pro Shops on Thursday night. He is 8, and a real adventurer. I asked him to pick out two items on his own.

2. A compass. This was tricky, because Bass doesn't not have a great selection, and I wanted him to really think about his choice. He's trained on both nav-style and lensatic compasses, both of which they have there in inexpensive models. He thought about it, but went with a Brunton 7DNL model. Any thoughts? So far it's working great for him, and agrees with my Silva. And given that it survived being dropped (ahem...by me...cough), it didn't even get scratched. He picked the nav style (with the clear base for overlaying on top of maps) because, as he put it, "It's easier to see the mouse in the house."

Overall, I think he did pretty well.
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I believe thats the same compass that I got my self a few years ago. Basic, simple and relatively rugged. Plenty good for me.

Sounds like a good coaching style to me. Keep it up! :thumbup:
 
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