Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Did anyone here scale back plans to collect this year based on the high prices for gas?

Actually, the gas out there was cheaper than what I already pay in "Taxed-out-the-a**" New England! It was refreshing to see gas under 3 bucks for a change.
Best...
Jim

It may make it tempting to walk more, but it honestly had little impact on my plans. I did eat a lot cheaper this year though to offset some fuel cost.

Lance

I hunted the Alpine/Davis area more this year in an effort to save gas (rather than River/Black Gap). Typically, I spent less than 1/2 a tank each night (spotlighting, less if I walked).

Troy

They have a 3 wheeled model coming out soon that will not fall over when you jump off for a snake....

.. and the tip-over problem will be solved ;^D

I also thought it would be a nice option for getting back and forth to work.
The MP3

Lance, what's the price on something like that? I own a few motorcycle and i'm familier with the average scooter but that thing is pretty neat.
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Steve W.

It is just hitting the Euro market now, not to be in the US for a year or two.

But some of the Vespa folks are guessing about $7k - $8k

Got to admit, would be nice to put it on a hitch haul and take it out hunting.

Lance

It's pretty cool. It appears you can just jump off of it without putting a kickstand down. Thats great for when you see a snake.
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Steve W.

And they probably would if they saw me cruising River Road on this. But I see some advantages, you can carry it on your larger vehicle so two people can travel together and still easily split up to cover more ground. It would also be cheap to operate. My only worry is what the headlamp output is, and what you can do to boost that if it is not enough.

This year I have been trying my hand at some stuff that is still new to most folks. Steve O. and myself have been trying to hunt down the best light equipment and have spent too much cash on dead ends. But we have found some great stuff too.

My primary walking set up now is a 3watt LED Headlamp and a 4D Mag Light converted to run on 32 .5mm White LEDs (I have a lighter light that is just as good, but like the billy club). You can leave that heave stubby battery at home, plus the light output does not cast a schite load of shadows like the fluorescent bulb. Just hit the dollar store for a bunch of cheap batteries and refresh them every 2.5 to 4 hours of walking.

I also have a few other items in a variety of price ranges that I one day will try put together a well thought out review with some pictures. I just need to sit down one night and document beam patterns in a controlled set up to post. If this is of interest let me know, that will motivate me to do it sooner... maybe? But I plan to do it eventually now that I have had a chance to run some stuff in the field. This will give everybody else a chance to benefit from our trials without having to spend money on all the dead ends.

Maybe we can all do some of this and share the results?

I've been using Princeton Tech diving lights for walking. My headlamp is a 8 led Corona model and my handheld is a 8 c-cell pistol gripmodel called a shockwave with no dark shadow in the center. They came out with a The same 8 c-cell with led's but it's expensive at around $90.00. Being it's a pistol grip the weight is nothing to deal with.
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Steve W.

That's the spirit! I for one am always interested in what you guys cook up! Go for it and we will have some good stuff to preruse during the LOOONG winter break.
Todd Hughes