Hunter Catapults - The Ergo Hunter

I have a couple of catapults, some going back years but fancied something special while I get round to making my own. After a little roaming around the bushcraft forums I found a catapult being talked about fondly and promptly ordered it.
Hunter_catapult

It's from Hunter Catapults and is a hand made hardwood laminate dyed a 'Jacobean oak'.

Here is the Bumf from the website:

'Hunter catapults' is a small cottage based company nestled into the downs of rural Wiltshire.
I have been making catapults for a couple of decades and have made many custom catapults for folk for some time too, some metal and some wood. I have always preferred wood, it looks great and the varieties available are extensive.
The Hunter has been developed specifically with hunting in mind and I have taken a good few meals with one too!

The feature that really sets these catapults apart from  other commercially available catapults is the fitting of doubled 'Theraband gold' ,this is believed to be the world’s leading catapult elastic and is used by many of the  leading catapult shooters and catapult craftsmen alike, and makes the Hunter capable of 210fps!!! That’s 18ftlbs. 

'Hunter catapults' have been developed to fit comfortably in large and smaller hands assuring many happy hours of target shooting or hunting.

If you think that the UK air gun law limits pistols to 6ftlbs and rifles to 12ftlbs you may have a little more respect for the humble back pocket catapult and it's very capable 18ftlbs. I imagine this kind of power is mainly possible if you're shooting hand cast lead shot and I got a couple of samples sent to me with the catapult. I also have a good amount of stainless steel but care has to be taken due to ricocheting. Also I am not a big fan of using the shot and bearings if not hunting as I don't like littering the wilderness with metal. I normally practise with good old fashioned round stones.

Being left handed I shoot my catapult in my left hand which i thought was the left handed way but this actually seems the norm as others feel the right hand/stronger hand is better placed drawing the catapult back. (When using a bow I draw back the arrow with my left). for me though, I feel the front aiming hand is more important so prioritise my left hand over my right. It's not tough to pull back the Theraband Gold elastics. Just to hold them there.  Handedness would not normally matter in purchasing a catapult but these Ergo Hunters are made to fit either the left or the right.

After a couple of trips out it has not taken me long to find the 'eye' I had when I was a kid and would be confident hunting dinner should the need ever arise.

It's a beautiful bit of kit that I love to use. Way better than the cold hard factory made, mass produces catapults you can get. When I can afford it I'd love to get Fish (the guy behind Hunter Catapults) to make me a custom one. The laminate is nice but some of his 'specials' are just that. Very special indeed.

If you are not sure of the UK law around slingshots/catapults check the BushcraftUK forum for more info.

And if you want to see how accurate a slingshot can be.. check out the video on my other blog.

Happy hunting!

Power Monkey Explorer Solar Charger

This is my second Power Monkey Explorer Solar Charger. It's not a replacement. It's in addition to my first that sits in my pack and is my emergency iphone charger. Having two iPhones and a MiFi means I am always in need of portable power and this secondary solar powered charging device will certainly get a lot of use.

The detachable 'solar slave' remains attached to this one and at the moment it lives in the car constantly topping up the internal lithium battery. In the box with the Power Monkey Explorer is also an AC and usb adapter so you can easily recharge when, as is often the case in the UK, the sun is not shining.

If I'm out in the wilds i'll always have at least one solar device lying around soaking up the light. Occasionally my original grey device blends into the background. I don't think I will have any trouble with this one.

The box also contains a load of extras. So in addition to the battery and solar panel you get the AC and USB adapter, a variety tips for mobile devices (including ipod ) and 3 international plug socket adapters. I tend to select the bits relevant to the kit i have with me and pop them in the small cotton pouch that also comes with the device. This blue model also came with a velcro strap which i think is for fastening the panel to anything that takes your fancy. At the moment it's strapped under my sunroof in the car.

The  LCD display is pretty self explanatory. It shows amount of battery life left and there is also an LED to show charging and discharging.

It's certainly one of the better built devices out there and looks pretty weather proof. Mine has certainly not had a problem to getting very wet in the past.

It's a 2000mah battery and so takes a long while to charge in the sun. With moderate use being really careful I can keep an iphone topped up but for someone like me it's really only for emergencies. If you find yourself in a survival situation you will no doubt think the power explorer a godsend but as a heavy user of tech in the field I use it mainly as a backup and it has given me a much need full charge on more than one occasion. You can get about 1.5 iPhone charges from a fully charged Powermonkey. I am still testing it with my MiFi.

I've not really used the little solar panel on it's own but this can apparently be done. And my only criticism would be that I'd have liked for it to continue solar charging the battery as it restored charge into a phone, much like larger systems do, but for the compact size you can't expect everything.

To sum up, It's a great bit of Mobile charging tech and if you get lots of sun you will love the free power.  I like the build quality, compact nature and the fact it's given me power on many occasions when I really needed it. I've always had all the adapters that I need and like it's intuitive ease of use.