Jonty

Thanks Morgan, all I know is I was told they ‘were taken to work and dipped in a tank’ - probably 50 years ago. I’m most disappointed about the shield, you can see all of the intricate designs on it - what a crying shame. Thanks for all the suggestions chaps - looks like weak acid is. I may have a try on some wriggly tin first, just to see what happens. Thanks again.

I’m after some advice on how I could possibly remove a galvanised coating form a sword. We’ve inherited some Persian swords, a helmet and a shield from my in-laws. For whatever reason, their predecessors had them galvanised by the look of it (the in laws account was they were taken somewhere and dipped to stop them rusting) - when you see the detail on the shield it was tantamount to a criminal act! I’d like to maybe start restoring them to their former glory, or at least make them look better if I can. I’ve read about using mild acids or using a belt grinder, but my knowledge of metalwork is pretty minimal - if there is anyone in the PW collective with some advice or suggestions, I’d be very grateful. I’m not expect-ting to make them mint, but better then they look at the moment would be nice.

100% agree

I have one in all three of my first aid kits. I can genuinely see the practicality of a belt pouch if you’re doing chainsaw work etc but for me bumbling about the hills etc, all of my first aid stuff is packed way in a pouch/kit. If folks are carrying Celox when they are out and about shooting, consider the impregnated gauze rather than the granules - Sod’s law will dictate it will be peeing it down and blowing a hoolie when you want to use it and the gauze will be far more forgiving in that kind of environment.

Hi Ian probably best to go the the weschenfielder website. They have loads or recipes and pre-made mixes …. You’d be spoilt for choice. I bet they will taste great with your own pork!

I know what you mean, great to support your local butchers. A few years ago I approached mine for some meat for making sausages with, I was a bit embarrassed to be buying sausage ingredients when he had piles of bangers in front of me. But he was genuinely interested and after that would sort me out any cut I needed for curing/pastrami/salami etc……usually on the basis that he got a try of the end result.

Scully, if you get stuck for pork jowls. There’s a butcher near me who has a mail order business called Gridiron Meat he specialises in American BBQ cuts and cuts of meat for home curing and smoking with free delivery over £45 - I’m not affiliated to him in any way but he’s really good.

Yes mate. The bacon cure is a mix of curing salt, sugar, salt, treacle, garlic powder and onion powder. And will be cooked like a ham before I slice it for frying. The jowl is curing salt, salt and a twist of pepper. I will be air dried like Parma ham, only for less time. Come up ferreting and ‘ll make you a bacon buttie!

I'm heading up to Scotland on a stalking trip in a few weeks time. I thought I'd take something a bit different up for breakfast with the lads. It's called Buckboard Bacon, its cured pork shoulder rather than belly or loin and it's cured in salt, sugar and molasses/treacle. You then slowly cook/hot smoke it before slicing. You can eat it like ham, or fry it - it's absolutely lovely fried. Whilst I was at it I've put a pork jowl in to cure to make some guanciale which is air dried. After a week in the cure it'll get hung up in my boiler room until it's lost 25%-30% of its original weight. If you've ever hankered over making a prosciutto or parma type ham, having a few goes with dead cheap cut such as a jowl is a great way to get your techniques honed without the worry of it all going wrong with an expensive leg. Hopefully a few more pics to follow as things develop.

I saw them last night from the yorkshire dales. Took some terrible pics with my mobile but you can make them out. I've just been tinkering with the settings on my wifes DSLR to see if i can get something better tonight. As luck would have it the camera will screw into the top of my primos trigger sticks 😀 so I've even got a tripod to go with a long exposure photo. Here's one of the duff iphone pics

I can highly reccomend 'Bar Keepers Friend' I use it on my 100 litre stainless steel brewery vessels - it works a treat. I think there are sprays available but I use the powder and a sponge, it shifts everything that gets stuck to the pots. Here's a link to someone cleaning a sink with it. https://youtu.be/ns4Qw0zLjpA

The key difference between a life jacket and a PFD is that one is intended for people who aim to be near water but don’t intend to be in the water and those who intend to, and are prepared to be in the water. The pictures here are from some swift water training exercises my rescue team have taken part in recently. All of the swimmers wear PFDs because they are the industry standard recognised best equipment for the task. But, they are also in dry suits, prepared for the task in hand, very well trained for all scenarios, and have the support of several other very well trained team mates. Outside of a rescue environment, if I was partaking in a water sport and had wetsuit/dry suit/etc, I would always opt for a PFD as I’m prepared and expecting that a swim may be on the cards but when I take a boat out on my local trout tarn in my normal clothes and the only chance of me going in the water would be as a result of something unintentional, then I wear a life jacket. generically, yes, a life jacket is more buoyant and will naturally keep your head out of the water which is great for an unexpected drenching (especially where there is a chance of injury) but in certain circumstances such as fast flowing water, a PFD giving you chance to roll onto your front and swim directionally can be more beneficial. Both have their place and both do their job very well.

The reason the personnel in the picture are wearing life jackets rather than PFDs is that none of them are intending to intentionally enter the water. The yellow helmets of the fire crew indicate they are first responders and will provide bank based safety only. I’m no expert on the RNlLI but assume their mission spec is to usually stay in the boar. Any swift water rescue technicians who would be wading and swimming would be wearing a red helmet to indicate their skill set and would also be wearing a PFD as it is more practical and flexible piece of kit for that role and environment.

I have hive and I think it's great. When you buy the unit(s) there's an option to buy installation too - i think it was about £60 for installation and it was a no brainer, it wasn't worth me even considering to fit it myself for that money. In a simple system, they wire a controller directly into the boiler and then you have a small wireless hub to connect to our own wifi and then the thermostat talks to that. if you have multiple heating zones, you have a controller and thermostat for each zone. once its fitted you can set your schedules etc up from a tablet or phone and then also override the schedules or change settings remotely - I really think its a very good system and the installation costs is far lower than getting a sparky in yourself to fit it.

Well….erm….. yes 😀

If you’ve not tried it before, the reverse sear method of cooking a thick steak is fantastic. We bought a couple of 2 inch thick steaks at the weekend and I was a bit worried about cocking them up and over cooking them. I’d read about the reverse sear but never attempted it before. Basically it’s a bit like sous vide - cook the steaks at a low heat and then flash the outer to get that tasty brown Maillard reaction on the outside. I put these in the oven at 120c until one steak was at 40c internal temp (to get a rare finished steak) and the other at 50c (for med rare) - probably took 15 and 20 minutes. Then I flashed them in a smoking hot pan for 60-90 seconds per side. I have to say they were bang on for ‘doneness’ and honestly were the best cooked steaks I’ve ever done. I’m a convert.

I'll have to look into that - I didn't know that was a possible option. Thank you

I don't understand it either - there must be thousands of pickups being used as family cars rather than commercial vehicles.

Just a heads up if anyone is currently insured with morethan van insurance. I had a letter recently that they were stopping providing cover at the end of the life of my current policy and they's partnered with Swinton so my pickup insurance could be seamlessly transferred over. The new premium was just shy of £500 which I thought was quite steep so I phoned and had a moan and they offered to knock it down to £380. I did an online comparison and could get the same cover with Swinton for £260 and there were obviously a couple of cheaper options too. Don't even get me started on the 'where's the benefit in customer loyalty' aspect - but I just though it was worth a nudge if anyone is is in a similar situation with morethan cover coming to an end.

Ow that’s a Bobby Dazzler game king - can’t beat a health dose of vitamin P.

If you’ve never had one, a liver, bacon, onion & brown sauce butty is to die for. Best eaten whilst wearing gralloching sleeve cuffs.

I know what you mean mate. Pre Covid I was there once a month or so with work, I don’t think I ever made the alarm in a morning - there always seems to be a trade waste bottle bin being emptied outside my window irrespective of where I’m staying.

My take on this is similar to @bigroomboy The dog has to know that any tension on the lead around his neck results in not going forwards at all, and 100% of the time. As soon as the lead goes taught, you need to stop dead and initially correct the dog into the heel position before starting moving again. When he goes ahead and the lead goes taught, repeat and continue. Eventually the dog should start to correct himself and you will see progress. It can take an age to move any distance initially but in relatively short period you should be able to walk him on a loose lead. I used this method with my springer dog and it worked an absolute treat. Be sparing with the heel command/prompt until the dog is in the correct position so he associates the word with where you want him to be rather than making him immune to it via over use when he's not where you want him. You do have to be 100% consistent on the no movement when the lead is tight on his neck so the workaround for quick walks etc when you dont have time to train is to use a harness, he can pull all he wants on the harness for a month or so but once hes walking to heel well on the lead you can ditch it. i know there are many schools of thought out there, but from my own experience, this method worked really well for me and produced great results quite quickly.

Do you use Microsoft office? There's a floorplan template in Visio if you do

Just like me 😀