Making do. (Idea Pool)

mymindisamob

mymindisamob

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Feb 1, 2005
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As many of you, my family is struggling to make ends meet. We get stretched tighter and beyond every month. The only knives I have left are basically ones that have been gifted to me in some fashion or other. Selling gear has been the only way to try something new. Thank God I have a job and some sidework. I work for a school district that is struggling as well and may let some of us go soon. But in the meantime we are making do with what we have at hand. I am needing an arm guard for archery and was wondering what I could use to make something out of materials around the house without looking totally ghetto. Still figuring that one.

So, to the point. I was wondering what you folks have made do with. What have you made from stuff around the house? I was hoping this might be an idea pool for those of us trying to make ends meet, but still are OCD when it comes to outdoors/survival/camping/etc..
Knives, shelter, packing, accessories, share any ideas you have please.
 
when i first started shooting i needed an arm gaurd and had no $$ and no leather, so i cut up an old ratty leather purse that my wife had in the garage.. i have made do with it for many years...:o up until yesterday actually "Boomstick" gifted me another one..

tis the season to be struggling Mike, we know how that goes.. i hope all goes well for you man.. good luck.. drop me a line if you need anything...:thumbup:
 
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mtnfolk mike said:
when i first started shooting i needed an arm gaurd and had no $$ and ano leather, so i cut up an old ratty leather purse that my wife had in the garage.. i have made do with it for many years...:o up until yesterday actually "Boomstick" gifted me another one..

tis the season to be struggling Mike, we know how that goes.. i hope all goes well for you man.. good luck.. drop me a line if you need anything...:thumbup:
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Cool idea! I need to see if my wife has anything like that layin' around.

Thanks Bro! For the idea and concern.
 
Yeah, pretty much any thick material will do. vinyl, leather, etc. from purses, furniture. Just look around and see what you got that you can cut up. Then all you need are two buttons, or some antler slices, or whatever you can use as a button, and some round elastic cord.
In fact here is a link to some from Jo-ann fabrics, only 94 cents, or just go to your local fabric store, they usually have that stuff on bulk reels so you can just buy the amount you need, and you don't have to pay shipping: http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat2846&PRODID=prd2904

If you have three buttons you can make one like this: http://www.3riversarchery.com/Armgu...With+Bone+Buttons_c1_s5_p0_i6114_product.html

Or if you only have two buttons, make one like this: http://www.3riversarchery.com/Armgu...th+Large+Armguard_c1_s5_p0_i6137_product.html

Actually, you can make the first one with only two buttons too, just omit the middle button, this is how my armguard is.
 
Salvation army, buy the cheapest cowboy boots you can find, scavenge the top.
Any stiff plastic would work but looks more getto than other options.

Wear a long sleeve denim shirt and practice your hold. I didn't find myself using an arm guard at all after a short time. I shot a long bow for several years before moving on to a compound I made from a kit. Then a modern production bow. I can't shoot my Fred Bear re-curve as it has started to delaminate. In all though the only one that left raspberries was the long bow.
 
I don't shoot a traditional bow, so take this for what it is worth. If you need an arm guard- at least for a compound bow- you are holding the bow incorrectly.
 
hlee said:
I don't shoot a traditional bow, so take this for what it is worth. If you need an arm guard- at least for a compound bow- you are holding the bow incorrectly.
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I was actually thinking the same thing. I was shooting incorrectly, needing an arm guard until Dee and Reo Wilde showed me what I was doing wrong. I was lucky enough to shoot at the same club they shoot at for a a year or so (Pocatello, ID). Rather than rotating your arm so your elbow is pointed straight down and your arm is bowed in (almost hyperextended) you want to have your elbow pointing down at like 45 degrees, keeping your arm straight.

But, like hlee said, I don't shoot traditional, just compound so I could be way off base ;) Regardless of what you choose to do, good luck.
 
Like a couple of people on here, I'm just making ends meet as well. Traded one of my
knives off last year for a bow, and have been thinking of what to use for an arm guard too.
Thanks for the ideas folks.

mymindisamob, it's good that you are in the mindset of making due. Many people don't, and are suffering with huge debt.
I got laid off last fall, haven't found anything yet. My son and I had to do survival fishing for the family before winter.
It helped out with the food bill a lot, but we treated it like a job and didn't come home without our limits each time we went out.

Cheers
 
I think that this should be a sticky.

Friends have given us a good amount of deer meat, and we've used it to supplement groceries. Putting in a garden every year helps out too. Even if you are in an apartment, have no land, etc, you can do indoor hanging gardens, window potted plants etc. Reuse soda/beer cans for camp stoves, milk/water jugs etc. My dog food scoop was an old larger coffee cup, plastic cup, jug, vegetable can etc. I was using old coffee cans. You don't want a ton of crap around the place, but theres nothing with reusing stuff. My father reuses those pre packaged deli meat plastic containers to take his lunch to work. Cut out plastic ware and paper plates etc. I've gotten a couple of older kitchen knives at the Goodwill for my mother. An old Case, a few Old Hickories etc, for a couple bucks here and there. If well maintained, they cover your kitchen duties very well. I have done a lot of produce shopping at a farmers market in York called Morning Star. If you go towards closing time, the outside produce vendors don't want to take all these vegetables home. Go with the people you know, and you can get all kinds of deals. Last fall, I got a great deal on Stamen winesaps. Most of the apples were in great condition, for eating or cooking. Use those online coupons too. They can add up. Be careful though, some stores do not take them.

For outdoor gear, I want to learn how to read a topographical map. I was set to get some maps, a book and a compass. My father had the compass I was looking for; a friend has a book he will give me, and I got some old topographical maps free at the Goodwill.
 
With three teenage girls, there is not much room in the budget for woods gear.

If I want to try something new, it has to be a skill.

I've been trying to do more bushwhacking instead of trail hiking. I'm trying to learn how to compose and take good pictures. I have Geocaching, Orientering, fire starting, snares, campfire cooking, etc on my list of things to work on.

Also, I was able (through necessity) to drop the gear based mentality. I actually found my self thinking one day that if I did my summer AT section hike, I wouldn't be able to afford a new GPS. I was actually considering not going on the hike so that I could get another piece of gear. I do not need any silicon, carbon fiber, titanium or S60V gear.

Here is what I use to keep perspective:

Grandma Emma Gatewood was an Ohio farmers wife, mother of eleven children, grandmother of twenty three. She was the first woman to hike the 2,168-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine solo. (The first is believed to have been Mildrid Ryder known as Peace Pilgrim) She did it in 1955 at the age of 67, wearing Keds sneakers and carrying an army blanket, a raincoat, a plastic shower curtain for shelter, a cup, first aid kit, raincoat, and one change of clothes, all of which she carried in a homemade bag slung over one shoulder. Her hiking diet consisted mainly of dried beef, cheese and nuts, supplemented by wild food she would find along the way.
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gatewood.jpg
 
Well, BUYING any acohol is definitely off the menu, so winemaking, predominantly out of wild stuff, is the only way to go. It's a patient hobby- I'm just now getting into my first bottles of dandelion wine... from April 2009.
But think about it- what else are you going to do with all those mulberries, ugly-looking wild apples and pears, blackberries, etc, etc? Just let them rot? Make 9,000 jars of jelly? Not a chance. Wine!

Here's my favorite DIY resource: http://www.thewinepages.org.uk/
:thumbup:
 
People tend to overlook the library, but I've saved a ton of money since I started my library habit. Free books, free movie rentals, and free CDs. Also, most libraries now have computers w/internet access.

I just borrowed a bunch of wild edibles books. Free books = increased skills = free food.
 
John G said:
People tend to overlook the library, but I've saved a ton of money since I started my library habit. Free books, free movie rentals, and free CDs. Also, most libraries now have computers w/internet access.

I just borrowed a bunch of wild edibles books. Free books = increased skills = free food.
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That's actually a great tip! I hate the library, but my wife has been renting our movies and picking up books for us there for a long time.
 
old pair of canvas pants, a darner needle and 550 chord guts... if you triple layer the canvas it should do finely. I personally need a new cooking kit (my saucepan I used as a pack sized skillet melted over a coalbed last fall), and thanks to CricketDave have leathermaking gear on the way. Hopefully now all my sheaths and leather needs will be covered instead of spending a bunch of money on shipping and someone else's labor to have someone else do it for me.
 
Library is a great resource. My wife reserves months out and goes weekly to pick up. My family is very well read.
 
stingray4540 said:
That's actually a great tip! I hate the library, but my wife has been renting our movies and picking up books for us there for a long time.
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Respectfully, bro, how can you hate a library? A library is a storage area for everything you could ever hope to learn and more. It will teach you wild foods, traps and snares, navigation (modern and otherwise), net making, flint knapping, bow and arrow making......... Everything you come to W&SS for, is at the library. (Except for maybe all the wonderful old geezers :rolleyes: )

A library is not a place of books, but rather it is a place of knowledge and skills. In fact there are books there that would teach you how to say 'soapbox' in many different languages. :rolleyes: :D

Doc
 
For a bracer try getting an old leather belt about an inch wide and cut 3 lengths off it about 6 to 8 inches long rivet or stitch(glue even) them to a strap at each end to go around your wrist and forearm and viola u have a non ghetto bracer!
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Respectfully, bro, how can you hate a library? A library is a storage area for everything you could ever hope to learn and more. It will teach you wild foods, traps and snares, navigation (modern and otherwise), net making, flint knapping, bow and arrow making......... Everything you come to W&SS for, is at the library. (Except for maybe all the wonderful old geezers :rolleyes: )

A library is not a place of books, but rather it is a place of knowledge and skills. In fact there are books there that would teach you how to say 'soapbox' in many different languages. :rolleyes: :D

Doc
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That's all fine and dandy, except, like the post office, it is never open when I need it. And when it is open, the book I need is at a different library and I'll have to wait a few days for it to get there. Not so very convenient when you are trying to do a paper or report for a class and you only have a week or less to do it.:thumbdn:

If you're not open when I need you, then you're about as useful to me as tits on a boar. I have even more issues besides hours of operation with the post office, so they can both... well, I'll just shut up now before you guys start yelling at me like my wife does.:rolleyes:
 
d_filgate said:
Like a couple of people on here, I'm just making ends meet as well. Traded one of my
knives off last year for a bow, and have been thinking of what to use for an arm guard too.
Thanks for the ideas folks.

mymindisamob, it's good that you are in the mindset of making due. Many people don't, and are suffering with huge debt.
I got laid off last fall, haven't found anything yet. My son and I had to do survival fishing for the family before winter.
It helped out with the food bill a lot, but we treated it like a job and didn't come home without our limits each time we went out.

Cheers
Click to expand...

thanks Bro! ;)

I trade off cooking for the GF and her kids and she buys the food. Works well, i like cooking, she hates cooking. I'm not working, she is.....

:cool:
 
This is really great and I hope sharing ideas on this level will catch on a little more as time goes by.
I have often wondered what to do with denim after I wear out the top parts of my jeans. Parts of the leg material is still in great condition. Bottles too. How many things come in plastic containers that can be used again and again. I use my empty med bottles for small fishing kits that I gift to friends at work.
Thanks for all the armguard ideas folks.:thumbup:
Maybe I should ask for ideas on how to "replenish" the tires on my truck.;)
 
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