For a Luckier Game

There is a huge interest in sport memorabilia, and sports-related items include signed commemorative photos, baseballs, footballs, basketballs, pucks and jerseys. A Google search of companies hawking these items comes up with almost 5 million businesses!

Some of the items on offer cost thousands of dollars.

Where there are so many eager and gullible customers, fraud is sure to appear. A Sand Diego federal judge who recently sentenced several sports autograph forgers to prison said, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of the national pastime, has been undone”. The prosecution stemmed from an FBI investigation called Operation Bullpen, which closed down a professional criminal organization that forged and sold bogus autographs. 60 search warrants were served, more than 2 dozen people arrested, and a warehouse with 10 million dollars worth of forged merchandise was seized. The ring leaders received 3 years in prison and forfeiture or assets to the IRS. Both current and “vintage” items were involved. Any sports fan who has a signed souvenir may now want to question its authenticity. Phil Halpren, the assistant U.S. attorney who worked to prosecute the forgers stated that fraud is so pervasive in the sports memorabilia market that unless you personally see an item being signed by the athlete, odds are greater than fifty percent that it is fake. The most athletes most well-known the the public are popular with forgers, too. Halpren said, “If you are looking at a Mark McGuire signature, it’s alost a guarantee, 99.9 percent it is a forgery.” Certificates of authenticity can be fabricated just as easily as the collectible item they supposedly validate, so this is no protection.

Vendors are fighting back in an effort to maintain the integrity of the market. Disney, which owns ESPN, will begin next year to auction signed sports memorabilia online. Disney says it will authenticate the signatures with holograms encrypted with the item’s identifying information and package seals, videotaping the entire process.

Sophisticated forgers can even produce holographic seals which appear, on casual inspection, to be real. However most forgers are amateurs, and the more sophisticated the anti-forgery system, the less likely criminals are to attempt to copy it.

Baseball and football are most popular in America, but a few famous hockey players such as Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr are popular targets for forgery as well.

With all the items available, both off and on the internet, fans can avoid a lot of fraud by using common sense. For example, a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth selling for $500 is obviously a fake, because such a price is unbelievably low, too low for real market conditons. Also, it pays to know a little bit about the development of baseballs and pens. If you see baseballs supposedly signed in the ’20s and ’30s with Sharpie pens, these are obviously fake, because these pens were not invented yet in that era. To quote Phil Halpren : “I have seen Babe Ruth balls signed on a Bobby Brown American League President ball. So, you know, he was president in the early ’80s. That’s impossible to have been done. But someone did it.”

So, while it’s enjoyable to own a peice of sports history, the motto to follow is : buyer beware. Unless you are a professional trader who knows how to authenticate merchandise, don’t buy an item strictly for its potential resale value, because you may be disappointed by what you eventually get for it. Buy an item you personally like and intend to keep, and don’t spend thousands of dollars. This ensures that you will be happy when you look at your purchase, without the lingering doubt that you have wasted a large sum of money on something of dubious value.

Frank Vanderlugt

Buying a motorhome can have its on pitfalls. Overpricing, defective vehicles, disputed property and weak crafts are among the dangers of purchase.

As the first step in your purchase, you will have to determine your needs as that will determine the kind of motorhome you should go for. Motorhomes come in all sizes and therefore in all prices. If you plan well, you can have a small motorhome with all the features as you can buy the accessories and then add them onto a motorhome which lacks them. In buying, take extra care to see that you do not purchase a motorhome with options you don’t need. This is because the options add up to the price so you will be eventually paying more for things you will not use if you go ahead with such a purchase.

You will have to go round the motorhome dealers and look for good deals. Be sure to ask questions about any vehicle you are interested in as further probe can bring out some issues that will not be quite obvious. When you cannot come into contact with dealers, you can look through classifieds to obtain information about latest sales.

You should be concerned about the sleeping space of the vehicle. Check inside to see how big the beds are and if they will fit the kind of people you intend to travel along with. Although the motorhome companies can label the beds as kingsize, they are actualy not the size you would find in the home. For this reason, you need to make a inspection to see how big they really are.

At camping, you need to change clothes a lot. Has the vehicle got enough room space to store both unworn and dirty clothes? You may not realise so but then clothing and accessories can soon overwhelm the camper and soon he may find himself looking for extra space to store them
Does the kitchen come with amenities? Think of the utensils you intend to bring along and the kinds of food you intend to prepare. Can they be made comfortably in the kitchen that size with those accessories in there? Has the kitchen got shelves, sinks and boards to do chopping?
Check out the bathrom accessories to see if it is a shower or tub. If you are coming along with children, you may need a tub as that is the kids preference. If you are all adults, then a shower can be all you need.
Now the legalities. Before you finally make payment ensure that the property is freehold and that it will be free from litigation if you made the purchase.. Ask for documents covering theproprty and check up with the license bureau whether the seller is the rightful owner. Also make sure that the property is not the subject of a collateral by checking with the mortgage bureau.

A motorhome is a lifetime purchase. It therefore has to be done in a prudent manner so you dont lose out on cash or get your vehicle grounded in a matter of months after purchase.

For more more information about buying a motohome please visit http://www.motor-home-for-sale.com.

There are thousands of affordable hotels in London, and most of them can easily be found on the internet as well. London hotels generally offer the same services as everywhere else, except maybe on the picturesque view of the city the rooms may provide; which at the same time may also depend on the location of the hotel.

If you were looking for luxurious and upscale London hotels instead; there are also plenty of them around, primarily found within the areas of Paddington, Hyde Park, Kensington, and others. The tourism industry in London grows annually at a single-digit rate, which means developments in the industry in terms of hotels, pricing, and their offerings do not change that fast. There are still plenty of discounted packages and offers up to 50% depending on seasonal promotions; and at the same time, there are still hotel packages offered with balls and fine dining as complementary. Alternatively, you can also try the hotel-like apartments and live like the locals at very affordable prices, especially if you’re unlucky in getting through budget or cheap hotel bookings in time before the tourist season arrives.

Getting to London can be quite expensive however, unless you know the right timing to get promotional tour packages that offer affordable flight tickets. Airline tickets to Europe are quite on demand in America, but that doesn’t stop people from traveling to Europe anyway, particularly to London in this case. Almost the entire city is covered by the Tube, so traveling around the city isn’t that expensive as well. Airline tickets to London or in fact any other European city can generally be bought from nationwide agencies, but as a smart buyer, one should be able to distinguish between peak, shoulder, and low seasons to get the best deals in town.

Camping is one of my favorite activities and my favorite type of camping is car camping. However, there are many other types of camping such as base camping, canoe camping, RV camping, tent trailer camping and back yard camping. Regardless of how you spend your time out of doors or how much time you spend out of doors, there is always more to learn. I have compiled an extensive list of camping tips and this installment is for car campers. Here are my favorite tips for getting the most out of your car camping experience.

Organize your gear before you go. The basic principle is to organize or categorize your gear by “when” and “how quickly” you will need it. When I get to the campsite, the first thing I do is prepare shelter. So my tent and shade awning are the easiest pieces of gear to get to.

Plan your campsite. Understand how vehicles, wind, sun and rain will enter the campsite. For example, if the wind is coming out of the west, you’ll probably want your tent and kitchen west of any campfire to reduce smoke nuisance.

Always have a first aid kit in camp. Everyone in camp should know where it is, have access to it and know how to use it. I keep mine in plain sight in my kitchen. If it’s locked in my truck, no one can get to it except me.

Every camp needs a shovel. I believe a shovel is the most important tool in camp. You’ll use it to manage your campfire, leveling sleeping spots and countless other uses. Don’t leave home without it.

What tent should you use? I recommend a tent that is bigger than you think you’ll need. If inclement weather sets in, you’ll have a spot out of the elements for reading and playing games. My tent is big enough for two people, two cots, two chairs and two dogs.

There is nothing wrong with having a checklist. Things frequently forgotten are: extra batteries, trash bags, kitchen towels, hats, reading material, sleeping pillows, hiking boots and pet food.

Your most important camping gear should always be on your body. Not in your pack, not in your tent or in your vehicle. Whenever you leave camp always have a watch, a whistle, a cell phone, a flashlight and a knife on your person.

Some neat tidbits I’ve picked up over the years are: a golf towel is perfect for hanging in your kitchen because it comes with a grommet, you can never have enough zip lock bags, you won’t find me camping without a flare – it’s perfect for lighting wet firewood, my camp chairs have side tables attached to them, I pre-cook baked potatoes at home and warm them up in the camp fire, in good weather my hammock gets lots of use.

Car camping allows you to take virtually anything with you when you camp. But the most important of all is good company. Take along good friends and family. When you do, it doesn’t really matter if you have the best gear or the best techniques, the one thing you will have is the best of times. Use this information and you’ll Get It Right The First Time. Get Outdoors!

The best golf training aid is pretty basic.

But first let us answer a simple question so that we’re all reading from the same page.

What makes the best golf training aid? In other words what qualifies it to be the best?

I believe that the fairest answer to that question is that it must be the sort of golf training aid that has the best impact on your golf game. It has to be the sort of equipment that produces the best results in terms of improvement in your golf game over the shortest period of time possible.

Having laid down the ground rules, or made them clear, let me add that there are a number of different training products that can qualify to be the best golf training aid. But for the purposes of this article, we will focus on only one.

One of the best golf training aids has to be a weighted club. A weighted club has several advantages that makes it so effective in helping many golfers improve their swing technique and thus their golf game.

To start a weighted club enables a golfer to accomplish or practice two different aspects of their golf swing at the same time. With the limited time most golfers seem to have, this has got to be the most favored plus point that this golf training aid that is contention of being the best has.

Firstly because of the additional weight, a golfer is able to exercise and condition the muscles they use for their golf swing. Secondly the weighted club also enables the golfer to work on their swing technique. Right from the set-up to the backswing and follow-through.

Considering what most trainers say is the most common mistake made by poor or bad golfers, the weighted club can go a long way in correcting it. Some experts in golf training say that the most common mistake made on the course is golfers trying to hit the ball as hard as possible. This not only causes tense muscles and the opposite in results, but it can also quite easily result in injury.

A weighted club will help condition and strengthen muscles so that the golf swing is executed in a more relaxed and yet extremely powerful manner, which is bound to produce the best results.

Despite the fact that there are so many different types of equipment, challenging the weighted club for the title of the best golf training aid is not easy.

Why should I pay $25 to $400 for folding knife you ask? I can find one that looks just like the name brand one I want but for $8.95 at the swap meet or on the internet?

The answer is the same for all things: You get what you pay for. Secondly, if all you want is a knife for opening letters, packaged food products or to look cool on your desk, a cheap might do just fine. However, if you actually intend to use the knife as a utility tool, I strongly advise you to avoid buying a cheap knock off knife because it will break very easily, and the steel is often brittle or has a very low Rockwell hardness rating. Sharpening is also more difficult and the blade will not hold a sharp edge very long.

Another point to consider is the reliability factor. If you bought the knife for the wilderness, self defense or as an emergency tool, you want to have confidence in the strength of the locking mechanism, blade steel and general integrity of the construction. You do not want the knife blade snapping in half or popping right off the handles because of some minor lateral pressure if the blade gets stuck in some wood or other matter.

I had a few of these cheap knock off knifes and they are junk. They are weakly made with poor quality steels. I go to gun shows a lot and frequently see a table full of knifes advertised as “Any Knife $5 or $10″. The knifes’ look as if the vendor simply dumped them out of a cardboard box. They are scratched up and the parts do not go together well there are gaps between parts that should be a tight fit. There is a reason the knife is only $5 or $10.

Think about this….. the knife was made in some foreign country then shipped over to a warehouse in the U.S. where some distributor bought them and sold them to retail knife vendors. Factor in the cost of materials, construction costs, shipping costs, warehouse costs, distributor costs and finally the retail markup and your $10 or $15 dollar knife actually has about $2 in material and construction value in it. So……. When you buy the $5, $10 or $15 knife remember that when you get into trouble you are only willing to spend about $2 to safely get out if it. Just something to think about.

I know the temptation is great to not spend a lot of money, but you do not really have to spend a lot of money to get a quality knife. Cynscorion Products offers a large selection of basic black two to three inch blade tactical folding knifes that can be purchased from Cold Steel or CRKT for example for as little as $29 to $45. You do not have to spend $100 to $300 for the status symbol upper end semi custom designer folding knifes. Some of the best knife values can be found in the Cold Steel Voyager or Gunsite series and the CRKT M-16 series. These are very strong, high quality and popular folding knifes. I own several myself. My favorite carry knifes are the CRKT M-1 and M-16.

Sheaths are another area to be aware of. Some fixed blade manufacturers sell knifes with sheaths as a complete package. Some unscrupulous sellers may separate the knife from the sheath and then charge extra for the sheath. Check the manufacturer’s web site or call them and ask about the knife you are interested in. Does it come with any accessories? Cheap sheaths can also be dangerous. Look out for fabric sheaths without a protective lining. Think about this. Do you really want shoving a sharp knife into an unprotected fabric holder strapped to your waist or thigh? Try to get a good Kydex or similar material sheath.

The quality manufactures also warranty their knifes’ against defects and will usually replace their knifes very quickly when mailed in. Try returning your cheap Chinese made swap meet knife after it breaks.

Tests have been done on these cheap knifes to see how much lateral and downward force is necessary to break the blade or lock. These knifes always break with surprisingly little force. Remember, ……they were made to LOOK like the real thing, ……NOT WORK LIKE OR LAST LIKE the real name brand knife. Just like a knock off Rolex or Montblanc pen, the point is to LOOK like the original, and thats what you are only paying for ….. Looks. And some knock offs can’t even look that good.

You also need to be aware of some sellers trying to pass off cheap knock off knifes as the real thing. If you are shopping for a quality knife and come across a potentially great deal slow down and look at the details. Check the following:

1. If you can, go to the manufactures web site of the knife you are interested in and down load all of the information on the specific knife. Check the specifications for construction materials, length, width, weight, colors, and blade types and down load any pictures of the blade and the point where the blade meets the handle. Study the information and take it with you when you shop to compare them to the physical knife.

2. Look the knife itself very closely. How closely depends on good a deal the seller is offering. Read the writing on the blade. Look for mis-spellings, inconsistent type face, and quality of imprinting. Look for blade steel type and county of manufacture. Compare the knife to your downloaded pictures and information.

3. Next check the box and instruction/owners booklet that comes with the knife. All the name brand manufactures provide a booklet on their warranty maintenance and safety. If the seller says there is no box or instruction booklet start to wonder and look very closely at the knife. Also is the knife being sold as new or used? A used knife may not come with the box or instruction manual.

4. Internet sales of cheap knifes is to be avoided at all costs. You cannot physically hold the knife. The seller may provide out of focus pictures, or not completely describe the knife. Then there is the old, “I don’t know much about these. I am just selling it for a friend” excuse. Also look for the following phrases: “Cold Steel like” “CRKT like”, “CRKT style”, “SOG Style” or similar phrases. A knife is either a Cold Steel knife or not.

5. Lastly, listen to you inner voice. Do you feel uneasy or confident that the knife is genuine? And if you are in a store always get a written receipt that specifically identifies the knife name and model and find out the return policy.

Nothing is for sure. But buying a knife that generally sells for $49 dollars for $25 dollars should be a warning sign that something is potentially fishy.

Now back to the title of our story. Guess what happens after your cheap knock off knife breaks? Hopefully not after you get back from the hospital after the lock fails and cuts your fingers. You buy another knife! If the knife was only cheaply made then you could buy a dozen and throw them away when they break, but then your spending the same or more money for a quality knife and you do not need to worry about your fingers not mention that there is also a manufacturer who will replace you knife if it breaks and you did not abuse it.

Oh yes, please do not use you knife as a pry bar; it is a cutting tool not a screwdriver, pry bar, or hammer. That’s how almost all knifes break and the manufacturers know it.

Buy a Multi-Tool if you need a knife/screwdriver/mini pry bar/pier tool.

So….. the moral of the story is you can’t buy a Ferrari for the price of a Chevy Cavalier or a Rolex or for $40. That isn’t reality. So do not expect to buy a good quality 2 or 3 inch folding knife for $16.

Introduction

Now that I have explained why you should not buy a cheap knock off knife it’s time to give you a little information on buying a quality knife.

Whether you are buying your first quality folding knife or your 20th knife, it is an exciting experience but one also not an easy one. With the number of knifes out there, its hard to know which one to select. I hope this brief discussion helps you.

Quality knifes whether Tactical Folders or Fixed Blade combat / hunting knifes can be expensive and you can quickly spend a lot of money. Whether you intend to just buy one or more knifes you need to think through your knife purchase. Some people buy an every day knifes, a dress knife, a go to the shooting range knife, a hunting knife and then just some more knifes because they looked cool. This is fine as long as you can afford it. You need to decide if you are just going to buy one or two general purpose knifes or start a collection and think about how you build that collection.

Before you decide to buy a knife or begin a collection think about what you will use the knife(s) for, and how any particular knife will fit into a larger collection. I am not telling you to not buy multiple knifes, just to buy wisely so that you minimize the number of knifes you will throw in a drawer to gather dust or give away.

When I initially became interested in knifes, I started down this road, but fortunately caught myself before I got too far and started to ask myself why do I need this knife? I usually answered myself with….because it’s better than the last knife or it does “whatever” better then the last one. I soon realized that the knifes I bought in the past were for the wrong reasons. I just bought them because they were in front of me and looked good. So…..Where is this going?

Before you decide to buy a knife or begin a collection think about what you will use the knife(s) for, and how any particular knife will fit into a larger collection. I am not telling you not to buy multiple knifes, just to buy wisely to minimize the number of knifes you will throw in a drawer to gather dust.

Key Knife Features to Consider

Quality:

Buy the best quality you can. (duh!) All of the knifes I sell are from high quality manufacturers. They are knifes I would buy and own myself. In fact, I do own a few from some of these brands and will probably buy some more. So if you select a knife I sell you will at least buy a quality knife and take care of point one.

Fixed or Folding blade:

First determine the intended use of the knife. A knife for hunting, survival or the wilderness will most likely be best served by a 6 or 7 inch fixed blade knife. The way I look at it, large fixed blades are for hunting, fishing, soldiering and Bear hunting. They are meant for outdoor use in the wilderness, or mountains or for fighting and survival situations. Anyway, they are also typically impractical to carry around the house or in the City or suburbs in your pocket or attached to your belt. At best, other people will think of you as a nut case playing Rambo, at worst they will call the police. Large mean looking knifes and a suburban setting do not mix. Moreover, these large bladed knifes are typically illegal to carry concealed or in the open.

Folding blade knifes are a much more practical knife to carry and use. Folding knifes can be carried in a typical pants pocket without sagging or clipped inside the pants waist band, inside a purse or personal calendar. They are light weight and most of the time under the maximum legal blade length limit of the local government.

Important Point Here! Check with your local police either in person or check the local municipal codes online to find out what the maximum legal blade length is for your area. Almost always it’s less than 3.5 inches and could be as low as 2 inches. Get caught with a knife over the legal limit and it’s a concealed weapon.

Handles

Folding knifes have made incredible gains in construction and design over the last few years. Locking mechanisms reflect the biggest gains in my opinion. Blade styles, handle materials and shapes are nice but do they really improve the knife?? Does a G-10 plastic handle versus a Micarta or Kydex handle really improve the cutting of the Knife? I believe that knife handle material is a mainly a matter preference, but does not create a measurable benefit to the knife or its cutting abilities.

Two of the latest materials Titanium and Kevlar bring a smile to my face. Think about it. Titanium. It’s lighter and stronger than steel and was originally developed for aircraft engine parts to withstand the extreme stress and heat of a jet engine. This material on a folding knife handle makes the knife better,…… how????? For the extreme cost of titanium versus saving an once of weight, I can’t see the benefit over say Aluminum.

Kevlar is used for bullet resistant vests but now it is being used for knife handles. Why I am still trying figure out. Question? What do you plan on doing with a Kevlar knife handle? Do you plan on deflecting a barrage of 15 bullets with your handy dandy bullet resistant knife?

When I choose a knife handle material I look for a material that does not slip when wet, does not chip or crack easily and is durable. Aluminum and any of the current wonder plastics are light weight and strong enough for my knife handle material needs and far cheaper to buy then Titanium or Kevlar. Wood has been the historic knife handle material as well as bone or stag. In fact over the centuries just about every material has been used for knife handles. Anyway I am limiting my discussion to the most likely materials you are likely to find on the modern tactical folding knive.

Just pick the handle design and material that appeals to you. A knife is a very personal choice.

Blades

Folding knife blades come in various styles and shapes and every designer/manufacturer wants you to think that theirs is the best. Well, I think that they are all equally good just of different design. Some may have benefits over others for specialized situations, but for general use I do not think a Clip Point, Tanto Point, Drop Point or modified whatever really is going to significantly matter functionally. Pick the blade style that appeals to you.

I believe it’s all a matter of design preference and a need for manufacturers to come out with something new each year.

Steels

I think the two biggest points to consider (pun intended) are steel and edge type.

These two features directly affect the cutting ability, edge holding ability and sharpening of the knife. Think about it. The purpose of the knife is to stay sharp and cut. Everything else is secondary or aesthetics. Important sure, but secondary. So……

First pick a quality steel that is rust resistant, holds an edge well and is easy to sharpen. There are numerous steels out there being used on knifes right now, and some are junk. If you’re not sure of the knife’s steel type, ask.

Look for blade steel type and how prominently it’s mentioned in an advertisement. A knife from a quality manufacturer like Cold Steel, CRKT, or Benchmade will tell you the steel they use. The cheap knife makers or commerative knifes just say stainless steel. Also 440 A and B are very different and of very low quality then 440-C steel. Ask to be sure it’s at least 440-C.

Many people have their own opinions on which knife steel is the best. Just like which truck, beer, or whatever is the best. I like 440-C, AUS-6, AUS-8, 154CM, ATS 34 and S30V. There are other equally good steel alloys out there some which I list in my information pages. All have various pluses and minus on edge holding ability, ease of sharpening and cost. I am not a steel aficionado, I am just attempting to provide some basic information and keep it simple. For more information on knife steels go to www.Cynscorion.com/informationdirectory.htm .

Plain or Serrated

What type of knife edge do you get? Good question. You have a choice of plain edge (What most people think of as a knife edge), fully serrated or partially serrated.

What’s it gonna be? Decisions, decisions.

1. Plain edge knifes give nice smooth clean cuts, they are the easiest edge to sharpen and do not get caught on fibrous materials. However, they require a little more effort cut fibrous materials.

2. Serrated knifes have been around for a long time but most people are still unaccustomed to them. Serrations can best be described as knife teeth. They typically consist of alternating concave large and small teeth to provide a small smooth cutting surface and ripping points. Fully serrated are great for cutting through fibrous materials such as car seat belts and other hard materials like wood twigs. This is because they basically rip through the material they are cutting. But they have some trouble on cutting small rope or string like materials then a plain edge knife because the rope or string rolls in the serration rather then across it. It will cut, but you need to work it a little better then a plain edge knife.

Serrated knifes are also typically more difficult to sharpen without filing down the serrations. It takes practice and a special sharpening tool designed for serrations. There are lots of different serration styles out there so look at them all and decide what may be the best for you if you want a serrated knife.

3. Partially serrated knifes are the most popular style because they are a good compromise between the plain and serrated edges. The serrations are still harder to sharpen then the plain edge but there are less of them to sharpen.

None of the three styles above are the worst or best designs. They are different designs each intended for specialized tasks. Before you buy a knife you need to ask yourself what cutting tasks you will most likely face and buy accordingly. You can also buy two of the same knife in different blade styles if you like the knife and have the money.

Opening Device
Back in the days when people referred to tactical folding knifes as jack knifes, the opening system was both simple and reliable. It consisted of an indentation at the top of the blade (where most knifes now place a thumb stud) and your finger nail. To open the knife insert your finger nail into the indentation and pull the blade partially out. Then grab the blade with your thumb and index finger to fully open the knife. This system worked for many decades until the 1980’s. This system although reliable was slow.

When the jack knife became the Tactical Folder a new improved system was developed to quickly flick the knife open. The new device was the cut out and thumb stud. Both work on the same principle. The blade cut out style typical of Spyderco allowed the user to place the base or pad of his thumb in the opening and with a rotating pressure swing out the blade in one continuous motion. The other most common new style opening device is the thumb stud.

This is a small quarter inch metal protrusion at the top or spine of the blade that projects at a 90 degree angle from the blade. The user places thumb over the stud and with a single rotating pressure swing out the blade in one continuous motion. Cold Steel uses the thumb stud style of blade opener.

Two new styles of blade opening systems have recently come on the market by Kershaw and CRKT. Certain Kershaw knife models (Chive, Scallion, and Leek) come with a trademarked “Speed Assist” method of knife opening. It consists of a small metal protrusion on the top spine of the blade that serves two proposes. When closed it serves as the activation for the speed assist system which is a small metal spring that powers the blade open once you push on the metal protrusion. The spring will not open the knife without a good finger push.

Columbia River Knife and Tool Company placed on certain models (M Series) similar metal protrusion except there is no spring assist. It called the “Carson Flipper” It works in a similar fashion but requires a stronger finger action and a little wrist motion. The total movement is very minor. The Knife opens very smoothly and quickly. I have one myself and am completely satisfied and confident with it.

Look at all the different opening mechanisms and choose the one you like the best. Some people prefer the Spyderco system while other swear by the thumb stud or flipper style protrusions.

Conclusion

To stay in business knife manufacturers need to come out with new knife designs yearly (New and Improved).

The problem is that knifes have been around for thousands of years. So there is very little that is really new out there. A knife is a low tech tool. So when you review the various designs ask your self is this new handle design, material or blade style really going to improve what I want to do with the knife. Don’t get caught up in this year’s shiny new model.

Now after you think about and you decide there is nothing wrong with the two or three knifes you are thinking of considering, you then proceed to select one based which one looks and feels the best to you. Here is where the emotional connection comes in.

Knife collecting is fun but think before you buy. This way you do not end up having five or ten knifes in a drawer gathering dust or on ebay selling for half the price you paid for them.

Robert Corsair is the president of Cynscorion Products an online retailer of tactical knifes, Iluminators, laser handgun grips, spotting and rifle scopes and emergency kits. Robert publishes his own blog “Tactical Folding Knifes and lasers” and is member of the NRA and Colorado State Shooting Association. For further information on knifes go to www.cynscorion.com

PART 2

I attempted to establish the hard style of Aikido that was first introduced to the West in the 1950’s. I would like to emphasize the fact that I get no satisfaction from publicly criticizing Aikido and I get a great deal less satisfaction when I see Aikido being brought into ridicule.

To continue from part one…..

Hard training

The training in and exercises in those early days were very hard and physical, with karate style kicking and punching a very integral part of our warm up, followed by 200 press ups on the backs of the wrists, with fingers pointing both inwards and outwards, very often while you were in the raised position Abbe Sensei would instruct another student to sit on your back, as we were the only group of five Dan grades in the UK and all in the same dojo then this was the training in all the Aikido dojos in the UK and today we are the only organization in Aikido still doing these press ups.

The purists say “these press ups are bad for you” what they really mean is they can’t do them, this is all part of the watering down of traditional Aikido.

Choreography

Aikidoists are often accused of practicing ” Choreographed Aikido” and to be honest I must admit that these claims are very often justified, with Uke (attacker) preparing to break fall long before he makes his attack, and most of them attack off balance , therefore making any multiples of techniques possible with the minimum of effort and of course this makes Tori (defender) look “fantastic”. I saw one 6th dan just moving aside whilst several uke’s were breakfalling at him, it did not look like a group attack, more like a ukemi class.

What is really sad is that these people believe that this is good Aikido.

Kenshiro Abbe Sensei would always say to us that “two” students are training at the same time, one is Uke who is learning and improving his attacking techniques and his

opponent Tori is also learning and improving his defensive techniques, whilst we were training with Abbe Sensei if Uke’s foot or heel came off the mat as he attacked Abbe Sensei would give the offending leg a good whack with a shinai (bamboo sword) he would then say ” My English is very bad but my shinai speaks fluently!”.

If Uke attacks on balance then it is obvious that Tori’s technique must be good and strong to throw him, and as Abbe Sensei said so many times ” two students are training” .

Mark Eastman a strong young Dan grade with me went on a seminar recently where there was a 6th Dan. The 6th Dan refused to use him as Uke stating ” I can not use you as you do not harmonize with me”, he was not being awkward or difficult just attacking on balance.

Diluted training

Today all of these traditional exercises and training methods have now changed to a simple warm up routine with jumping up and down on the spot and lots of deep spiritual discussion.

Hard exercise is now considered to be aggressive and not in harmony with the true spirit of Aikido.

Abbe Sensei said that hard training developed the spirit, he also referred to Ki during those early days as he demonstrated the power of his technique, when asked to explain the meaning of Ki, he said not to worry about Ki as that would be a part of our training and development.

He then said “Only when you reach first Dan will you be able to understand the true concept of Ki as a further extension of your Aikido.”

I still believe that line of thought, and the instructors in our dojo’s very rarely speak of Ki although it is taught as a important and integral part of our training and study.

Ki Aikido

Although Ki is generally recognized as the spirit and breathing during the application of technique, every teacher and student will offer a very wide and varied and sometimes bizarre interpretation of the meaning of this much abused word.

The main problems arise and are created by the teachers themselves, who very often mislead their students to the extent that they almost believe that Ki is a form of magic. The following is one prime example from a very prominent Aikido magazines letters section.

Title: The Spirit of Protection

I am a carpenter and 2nd kyu in Aikido. I was working in a large new home doing repair work, I had finished my job and was heading for a long staircase when I noticed the owners two year old son was heading for the same stairs from the opposite direction.

As he approached the top of the stair he was watching me and not where he was going. I was too far away to grab him, so I shot to him (irimi) and stuck my arm straight out to him, my “Ki” went through the little boys’ face and out the back of his head, he fell backwards and started crying.

His mother heard the crying and came up the stairs, when I told her what had happened, she thanked me,

I said “Don’t thank me, Thank Aikido”.

That poor child may well now be as disturbed as the writer.

Harry Potter Ryu

There are many such misguided examples which I will refer to in future articles, it is this kind of nonsense that brings Aikidos credibility into doubt I am fully aware that every martial art has its own version of ” Harry Potter” in their ranks, what I fail to understand is that there are more of them in Aikido than all the other martial arts combined.

The reason that I am so critical and vociferous about Aikido is that every day I see these people watering down this great martial art that I have spent most of my life studying, teaching and promoting for the past 46 years. I am often asked “Sensei, which do you think is the best and worst martial art”.

I always make the same reply ” All the martial arts are good, if there is a problem with any martial art, then it can only be the people who represent that particular art who misrepresent their art

Continued in Part 3.

Kind regards

Henry Ellis

Co-author of Positive Aikido book

www.EllisAikido.org

www.geocities.com/BritishAikido

About The Author

Henry Ellis Co-Author of the new book Positive Aikido.

Ellis is a direct student of the legendary master Kenshiro Abbe Sensei from 1957.

BritishAikido@ntlworld.com

Built in the middle of the 19th Century by the Victorian mill owner and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt
Saltaire
is a fine example of a “model” industrial workers’ village and has as a result been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Being situated in
City of Bradford
in Northern England, Saltaire is easy to get to, and well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Attractions the village itself include Salt’s Mill (once the “raison d’etre” of the village but now a collection of smart shops, art gallery and cafes,
the United Reform Church
(a textbok example of classical Italianite architechture and the final resting place of Sir Titus Salt),
the Reed Organ and Harmonica Museum, Victoria Hall, and Robert’s Park.

Just outside the village and within walking distance is the local beauty spot of Shipley Glen
(where a Victorian cable railway takes visitors up through the woods to vantage points on the moors along Prod Lane).
Also just outside the village and within walking distance are Hirst Woods
(which run along the River Aire and the Leeds Liverpool canal)
and Shipley with numerous restaurants, shops and bars.

Other places to visit in the area include the Pennine village of
Haworth,
which is internationally famous for its association with the Bronte Sisters,
Bradford, the spa town of Ilkley, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park which begins to the north.

Usually held in September, the ever popular Saltaire Festival continues to attract additional visitors with a multitude of events taking place in and around the village
and culminating in the festival finale weekend.

Hordes of gambling lovers may recently have spotted the slogan “offshore sports betting”, but a few maybe aren’t totally savvy what it means. A foreign betting web site primarily runs external to the legal power of a single nation on the other hand it can be an on-line gambling internet site that has its host computer inside a state where networked sports gambling is not currently unlawful. Briefly then, it’s best described as a sports gambling business doing business outside the state of the clientele. World wide web based gaming web sites are all governed with the assistance of three agencies. These organisations are the OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and finally the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA.

The Offshore Gaming Association are an independent watchdog federation that keeps tabs on the thriving overseas sports betting trade, they endeavor to also give gambling fanatics the ability to swiftly choose trust-worthy internet businesses to play betting games on, without stress. It seeks to watch over consumer’s rights, also they don’t impose any membership expenses.

The agency are a well-qualified not to mention neutral third party agency who give objective conclusions, based around customer feedback, objective investigation, phone calls, inside prompts and additionally supplies inside news.

The IGC are a not-for-profit agency. The council has been created to supply a platform for involved parties to discuss controversies and also to move forward communal matters in the international web-based gaming trade, to ensure equitable and also duty bound business standard procedures and forms that raise buyer certainty in web based wagering products and utilities, and also to function as the industry’s universal procedure representative and it also provides an info clearinghouse.

The IGC have built up a reputation for encouraging safety, stability and in addition plausibility by virtue of the principles it stands for, also its allure for trustworthy business organizations. The Interactive Gaming Council monitors offshore gambling by utilising a characteristic ten-point basic policy instructions and in addition bills betting websites a license fee to exhibit their logo. Discontented gamers can furthermore recount any of their challenges to the IGC.

The Fidelity Trust Gaming Association was founded in a venture to present a standard which will raise the standards of computer accessible sports gaming web sites. The council hope that through associating with credible businesses, they can make a membership of the fairest and most professional offshore gaming businesses worldwide.

To sum up, there are councils who regulate the behavior exercised by world wide web based sports gambling and which should hopefully aid to mitigate a lot of the insecurities experienced by doubters. World wide web based sports gambling web sites are absolutely dependable, beacuse personal details shouldn’t be demanded also the remuneration and the gambling odds should be just as uniform and honest as in a regular Vegas-type wager. They lessen travel expenditure, but preserve the original character, however today you are enabled to gamble in the comfort of your own home.

bet casino sports

What’s the minimum weekly time investment you can slide by with and still make gains? I would say six cumulative hours. Six times sixty is 360 minutes and this amount of time would allow for three 60-minute weight training sessions and six 30-minute cardio sessions per week. Assuming you had a serious dietary effort in place, assuming the training was smart, primitive and intense, assuming you were a relatively untrained individual (experienced athletes would find six cumulative hours weekly a plausible maintenance regimen) I could about guarantee that you would make gains with a six hour weekly time investment.

At some point, as with every training program, the gains would cease and you would have to reshuffle the deck BUT the answer to fixing the stagnation might not lie in extending or increasing the amount of time devoted to fitness. Just because gains cease using a six hour regimen does not automatically mean the solution is to train more – the remedy could be to train smarter (change the routine) or harder (generate more intensity) within the allotted six hour timeframe. Folks who train real hard and real intense and don’t mess around don’t need a lot of gym time. In my opinion, when it comes to triggering progressive resistance gains, intensity trumps everything! By training super hard we don’t have to spend hours in the gym.

Home training can reduce the amount of time needed to mount a serious effort even further by eliminating travel time. The commute to and from the commercial fitness establishment takes time and gas. Even when I belonged to clubs and gyms, I always had a flat bench, a set of weights and some adjustable dumbbells lying around at home. Those pressed for time who train at home can slip in sets of curls or overhead presses, shrugs or bent over rows, calf raises or lateral raises, all while discharging household duties. You would be amazed how many sets of presses or curls or tricep presses a person can get in between yard work, dishes, vacuuming, straightening up or watching the news. I used to make myself do a set to failure in a particular exercise while watching football on TV. I might pick the standing overhead press with a set of 70’s.

Every time I got up for any reason during the football game I would walk to the laundry room and rep to failure using the solid dumbbells. Walk into the room, clean them to my shoulders and ram them overhead as many times as possible. Then continue on with whatever it was I was doing; it took less than a minute to do the actual set itself. I figured since I was being a couch potato, the least I could do is every time I got up to get something to eat, use the bathroom or stretch my legs, I might as well do something constructive, so I’d walk to the laundry room clean and press the dumbbells to failure, maybe 12-15 reps. Then I’d forget all about it and go right back to what I was doing.

One afternoon I “slipped in” something like 22 sets to failure. Kinda cool. Kinda felt right. I would rotate exercises and it became sort of famous and I’d have a lot of guys drop over to watch the games and they’d all wanna get in on the action at whatever level they were at. It got humorous late in the second game after everyone had been drinking beer. I moved away and that ended this bizarre practice but was a time when at every commercial the boys would stampede to the laundry room and everyone would grab a set from the dumbbell racks adjacent to the giant screen TV in the knotty-pine rec room. Beer and barbells. No one ever got hurt but a lot of guys got so sore that they had to call into work on Monday sick.

If you’ve got six hours a week to spare you can establish a fitness toehold. From a toehold comes a foothold and soon a leg up. Do I suggest drinking booze and doing countless sets of weight training exercises? No, that would be imprudent and inappropriate: three weight training sessions, six cardio sessions, tight diet and BAM! Within 21-days you’re looking significantly better: at the end of six weeks people are commenting on how totally transformed you are. Hard work pays off. Better one hour intense than six hours lackadaisical. If you have the time we have various training and dietary templates to sort through. If you can find the time we can provide the game plan.

About the Author

Marty Gallagher is a former fitness columnist for washingtonpost.com. Marty’s work has been featured in magazines such as Muscle & Fitness, Muscle Media, and Powerlifting USA. His website, http://www.martygallagher.com, assimilates years of accumulated knowledge from the athletic elite and makes them available to the common person.