Jim in Idaho

Ya know, Clark, they're probably all a little skinny this time of year, after getting through the winter with no feeding. But they're probably also crabby.....LOL. I sure would be. PS...hope to finish the wheel kit today, or soon enough tomorrow to get it in the mail Jim

Nasty! That was a young one. The older ones are almost a solid tan, or tannish green, with very hard to see markings. Their venom is very similar to the Mojave Green's. JIm

I read, a couple of years ago, that they're now finding Diamondbacks with a nerve toxin in their venom. The biologists said they assume there's some cross-breeding going on with Mojaves. They also said that they were really surprised how fast mutations in venom, and the rodents resistance to it, were taking place. Jim

Congrats on the Nickel, OG. That's one of my favorites, too. Treat your clothes with Permethrin, and your skin with Picaridin, and go where you want. Never had a tick on me when using both, and I spend a lot of time in tick country. I haven't been using either this spring, until now...LOL I even treat my sleeping bag with Permethrin, so if Heidi brings them into the camper, they die. Jim

Woke up at 2:00AM with an itchy spot on my belly....sure enough...an attached tick. Found another this morning in the shower. I assume I picked them up from Heidi, but could have got them from moving pipe in the pasture. We have sheep in there all summer, and sheep have ticks, unfortunately I'll be treating my clothing with Permethrin before heading for the Cutoff tomorrow. Heads up! Jim

Yes...they're actually Midgets I guess, but people also call them Pygmy Faded Rattlesnakes. Same snake. As they mature, they lose their markings, thus "faded". Very bad venom, similar to Mojave Green. Both have a nerve component as well as the blood cell component. The good thing about the faded rattlers, they tend to rattle early, and don't get riled up easily. Mostly, they're found around Green River, and down into NW Utah. I've run into them in the Green River Basin, but never seen one above 6,200'. I had a cop tell me that 2 or 3 people, in Green River, are bitten by them every year. Jim

Ha!...we quit letting the stupid pay for the consequences of their actions a long time ago, as much as I agree with you. Jim

Ya know, Steve, I'm guessing the reason is not the failure rate on the SL's....it's that uninformed people would surely stick that pack in their DFX, MXT, GMT, etc., thinking it would help their performance, and disaster would result, damaging Whites reputation. jim

I had a Rokon for several years back 30 years ago. Great rig, but hard on your back, though I see the new ones have some suspension. The old ones didn't. Mine had the Chrysler 10hp two-stroke industrial engine. Only weighed 185 lbs. I sold it because the laws got so you couldn't take motorized vehicles anywhere there weren't already two tracks, so the advantage of the two-wheel drive was sort of wasted. plus the ATV hauls more gear, and more safely. My back was happy I sold it, too...LOL Jim

Tried that, then it dawned on me that what that does is make it worse. There's a litle "kink" in the contact at the back of the battery enclosure. That kink is what actually contacts the battery contact. If you push the pack in too far, the plastic of the battery pack pushes against the leg of the contact, lifting that kink off the pack contact. The position of that RNB pack is somewhat critical....primarily because the pack contact is recessed too far into the end of the case. You can see the problem by comparing a factory case to the RNB case. I can solve it by soldering a contact onto the RNB pack contact to raise it up a little. They should have just used a White's pack as the case for their Li-ion battery. Jim

Yup, best thing is to build your own 4-cell li-ion pack. It's not that hard to do. Also get a charger that can control the max voltage. Best life of the pack is attained by only charging to about 80% capacity, or 16.0v. That also gives a bit of safety margin for your TDI SL. I use a $30 buck converter to charge mine. I can set the charge current, and the max charge voltage, and forget about it. Go to bed, and in the morning the pack is at whatever voltage I set as the max....ready to go. I can power the buck converter from a wall wart, too, or plug it into a 12v socket in the pickup, or camper. It will handle DC input voltages from 8-60, and recharge both 3 and 4-cell li-ion packs. Just have to make the appropriate adjustments. The only bone I have to pick with the RNB 3-cell pack is the connection points are recessed too deep. It only works intermittently with my DFX. in fact, it quit working completely on the desert the other day. It had quit before, but always turned back on. This time, I couldn't get to restart, but it restarted fine with the NIMH pack. I'll have to modify those contact points to keep using it. Jim

Good idea. Up here they tend from brown to pink. I don't worry that much about them, except for my dog. Our aren't near as nasty as the ones down south, excepting the pygmy rattlers in n. Utah & S. Wyoming

Yup...even up here it's getting close. I won't be taking Heidi out to the desert now. I would imagine they've been out down there for several weeks. Nice job on then gold, by the way...LOL, and it's good you were paying at least some attention, Clark Jim

Old Crow was founded in 1839. The problem is there are hundreds of towns with an 8th St that crosses, or intersects, with Main St...LOL I did a bit of research last night, and got the feeling it's going to be a big job to locate the right city. I had told Dave yesterday that token was probably worth some serious bucks. Jim

Many thanks! it was found on Goodale's Cutoff of the Oregon Train about 25 miles NW of Blackfoot. I found the medallion from a civil war era cartridge box about 1 1/2 miles west of where Dave found the heel plate. It had one brass nail still attached. Jim

I passed that on, Jeff...thanks! Don't know what he'll do. That's a very good price IMHO. JIm

looks like the brass medallion is actually a heel plate off a boot. Jim

We were out on another section of the Cutoff today, and Dave had all the luck. First he found an interesting medallion about 2" x 1 3/4", of brass, with a large star in the center, with 4 smaller stars in a circular pattern beneath. Later he found a token for 2 1/2c from Miller's Famous Resort at the N.E. corner of 8th & Main (no city). Pics below. My luck was only a few blackpowder cartridges, and old shotgun shells. I won't boor you with any more pics of those...LOL. We'd appreciate any help on these two items. Jim

Let me know when you decide to sell, Jeff. My buddy, Dave, is casually looking for a TDI SL. Jim

I really like it, Reese. Good info for nugget hunters. Jim

Pretty good condition! I found a year later version this week. Kind like those 'v' nickels. Nice Find! JIm

We're done with that portion, but there's about 60 miles left to do in our local area, and if we want to travel a bit, the cutoff goes all the way to Boise, though some of it is covered by existing hiways. There's enough Oregon Trail, and stagecoach routes to keep me busy the rest of my life...LOL Jim

Nice finds, Clark! Love that nugget! Jim

Thanks, Steve. I'll be looking forward to that, and Jim's testing. Jim

How about a nugget test , Steve? Inquiring minds want to know...Ha! Jim