2000-2130
Night Walk
Moon 7/8
Clouds High altitude with medium coverage, some thickness.
Only a moon and 3 planets visible at start. Ambient light from nearby towns reflected nicely off the clouds adding their light to the sky.
Equipment included my "always carry" triad of pocket knife, 300 Lumen "chinese" $4 flashlight and "water resistent" 3 lumen Red, Blue, Green, White Nav light.
This was an "unplanned" exercise (I do them sometimes) so I did not have walking stick, water or radio. I did have the Mossberg 500C 20G with 3x#8 shot with one in the chamber.
Temp was 40F, wind was about 8 mph from the West.
I had three light layers on torso (tee shirt, light jacket and light sweater), and 2 layers on head (balaklava and new pilot cap) and had safety glasses needing a refresh of dishwashing liquid. In the pastures I pocketed the glasses and covered my nose. In the woods I used the glasses and uncovered my nose. These actions avoid fog up. I had my usual tan pants bloused in rubber boots.
I did a full perimeter walk, 2 miles total with about 20% woods and creeks. Up two 100 foot hills and down into a 100 and then a 150 foot valley. Then up and down three 50 foot hills on the way home. I walked across about 12 foot of iced over creek, had never done that before.
I used the blue light in the first chunk of 50 yards of medium woods. I was trying to avoid slipping in the mud and bumping into branches. As this wood was encountered in the first 30 minutes of my walk, the night vision adjustment of my MKI eyeballs was still in process. This was the only use of light aids on the walk. The other four chunks of woods were managed with the MKI eyeballs. I did hold the Mossberg at roughly "present arms" when walking through the other woods in case there was a branch in front of me my eyes didn't see. IN the woods I had the safety glasses on as well. I used the blue light, the one time I used lights. In the woods, in the summer, I think green is indicated. There is a lot more foliage and infinitely more spider webs. But in the cooler half of the year, the blue light seems to be more than enough and the blue light will not wreck your MKI NV as much as the green will.
I did not fall and I did not bump my head into any branches. There were a few slippery spots, our area is in the second day of the big melt, removing our snow fall from the past week.
Several gully's had flowing water from the run off of the higher pastures, but the main channel of the creek was still frozen, figure that out.
It was a good exercise and I need to do more pure night walks. Last year about this time I had started doing 5 night outings per week, only one of which involved shooting. I'd like to get back into a similar rhythm.
Night Walk
Moon 7/8
Clouds High altitude with medium coverage, some thickness.
Only a moon and 3 planets visible at start. Ambient light from nearby towns reflected nicely off the clouds adding their light to the sky.
Equipment included my "always carry" triad of pocket knife, 300 Lumen "chinese" $4 flashlight and "water resistent" 3 lumen Red, Blue, Green, White Nav light.
This was an "unplanned" exercise (I do them sometimes) so I did not have walking stick, water or radio. I did have the Mossberg 500C 20G with 3x#8 shot with one in the chamber.
Temp was 40F, wind was about 8 mph from the West.
I had three light layers on torso (tee shirt, light jacket and light sweater), and 2 layers on head (balaklava and new pilot cap) and had safety glasses needing a refresh of dishwashing liquid. In the pastures I pocketed the glasses and covered my nose. In the woods I used the glasses and uncovered my nose. These actions avoid fog up. I had my usual tan pants bloused in rubber boots.
I did a full perimeter walk, 2 miles total with about 20% woods and creeks. Up two 100 foot hills and down into a 100 and then a 150 foot valley. Then up and down three 50 foot hills on the way home. I walked across about 12 foot of iced over creek, had never done that before.
I used the blue light in the first chunk of 50 yards of medium woods. I was trying to avoid slipping in the mud and bumping into branches. As this wood was encountered in the first 30 minutes of my walk, the night vision adjustment of my MKI eyeballs was still in process. This was the only use of light aids on the walk. The other four chunks of woods were managed with the MKI eyeballs. I did hold the Mossberg at roughly "present arms" when walking through the other woods in case there was a branch in front of me my eyes didn't see. IN the woods I had the safety glasses on as well. I used the blue light, the one time I used lights. In the woods, in the summer, I think green is indicated. There is a lot more foliage and infinitely more spider webs. But in the cooler half of the year, the blue light seems to be more than enough and the blue light will not wreck your MKI NV as much as the green will.
I did not fall and I did not bump my head into any branches. There were a few slippery spots, our area is in the second day of the big melt, removing our snow fall from the past week.
Several gully's had flowing water from the run off of the higher pastures, but the main channel of the creek was still frozen, figure that out.
It was a good exercise and I need to do more pure night walks. Last year about this time I had started doing 5 night outings per week, only one of which involved shooting. I'd like to get back into a similar rhythm.
