What's the craziest thing you've ever used your gear for that had nothing to do with the outdoors?

[sjwfarms]

Wondering if any of you have ever been questioned by the wife, girlfriend, etc about why you've accumulated the closet full of gear you have? How do you justify the purchases?

For starters, my daughter just arrived home for the summer from college. I was quickly informed that her shower was clogged. For some reason, as the only male, non canine in the house I'm responsible for removing the crazy amount of nasty drain clogs they cause ( I always thought girls were pretty, sweet things...in real life they're actually far different creatures) After analyzing the drain situation, and gagging just a bit, I stumbled upon my fly fishing pack with multiple forceps attached.

Long story short, I have multiple calibers of hunting rifles, gauges of shotguns and clothing for any environment, but at that moment nothing has ever been more useful than a $10 set of clip on forceps. Highly recommended for pulling nasty S#!t out of drains.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I used a multi tool to file down a mangled boat trailer axle spindle on the side of the road so I could put new bearings on. The old hub and tire flew off while driving and ground the axle spindle flat and gouged it. I filed that puppy for 15 minutes or so solid until I could finally slide a fresh set of bearings and hub over it and had to file more specifically to get the spindle nut back on. Best multi tool use ever.

 

[axeforce6]

I changed an alternator one time with a hatchet. It was seized in there pretty good. I used the hatchet to pry it out.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

Full parka, winter gloves, ski goggles in July, to pull a hornets nest out of a bush

 

[Billy Goat]

Used a backpack to carry a work bench frame up a ladder 2 stories and up a standing seam roof to re-point a chimney.

It was really just a frame for a flat spot to work off of, like 6 foot long, 2 feet wide. Started to think this is pretty stupid when I got the 80#'s of it up there and was trying to figure out how to get it from off my back and properly set on the roof, without falling....


Also had an old water heater that was too full of calcium deposits to drain. Shot it, with my bow.....
Little beer involved in that decision.

 

[CorbLand]

I agree with the girl thing. Had all brothers growing up and got married. Totally different than I expected. Although, girls do come in handy at times. Like my aunts bobby pin on a hunting trip when you lose steering in the jeep. Sucker got us out a couple miles to a farm house for a cotter pin which got us about 10 miles to a shop for a nut

On topic with the thread. The only non hunting use a hunting item has seen that I can think of is my wife’s cats took a liking to my layout blind in the garage this winter and became their home for a couple months.

 

[ArrowForester]

Non-sporting use of a “hunting” pack frame. Broke the bead and rolled a front tire off the rim from the front of a JD 4066 tractor. Had just started to clear snow so vehicles were at the bottom of the driveway about eighth of a mile away downhill. Strapped tire and rim to a Kifaru bikini frame and post holed down to the truck. Got tire remounted in town and packed it back up the hill. Stout and bulky load but the bikini had no problems.

 

[MightyWhitey]

I use the spinning rod that I can’t catch any trout with to cast mouse toys out in the yard for the cat to pounce on. It’s big fun for both of us. She goes hard.

 

[5MilesBack]

For starters, my daughter just arrived home for the summer from college. I was quickly informed that her shower was clogged.

I have three daughters and all three have hair down to their lower backs. That hair seems to get everywhere including the shower drains. They need to vacuum at least once a week and that still doesn't seem to get all the hair off the carpet.

I can't think of anything crazy, but I do take my wall tent cot setup with me whenever we travel because it's a heck of a lot more comfortable than most beds, and when there's five of us it just makes things easier as well.

 

[Haggin]

Yeti cooler under the front center section of a side by side to fix a loosed track in the snow about a mile or so out on the ice. No way was I walking back for a jack at whatever AM time it was. Best part was owner removed the jack he had to put the cooler in the back.

 

[NEPkaspot]

Wife thinks a headlamp looks stupid, but it's the most handy tool for fixing the sink or that drain deal in the washing machine that always eats socks!

 

[BugleMeTimber]

Wife always thought it was outrageous that I have 5 ground blinds. Set a couple of those suckers up last winter in the family room for my daughter to play fort in and wife was quite pleased. They make great structures for NERF wars.

 

[Poser]

Definitely have used rock climbing gear to clean gutters and repair a steep pitched roof. Ran a static cord over the top of the house, hooked in with an ascender so I could safely lean forward to work with my weight on the rope.

Also once did a serious tree arborist job (quoted at over $10,000) using rock climbing gear and a train that ran through the backyard… yeah, it’s an epic story.

 

[WCB]

Used fishing line for hanging balloons and signs for our daughters birthdays this past weekend. Cut segments of arrows to use as dowels repairing some foam snow men my wife has for decorations. Backpacking tarp gets used as a fort a lot.

Fly tying material has made some earrings and hat decorations for my Sister in Law and 1 daughter. Used my climbing sticks to take down a few smaller limbs off some trees around the house. Disposable trap stakes used to stake a pine tree in the front yard that tipped over in a storm and also used disposable stakes to keep our bounce house from blowing away.

 

[ODB]

I used to use my recurve to shoot leading lines into trees so we could help direct the fall.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I had a couple barn cats that I had set up a feeder for inside the barn. It was getting hammered every night, way more than the cats could eat. I set up one of my trail cams and found out the culprit was a huge coon. Feeder was "suppose" to be coon proof. It was not.

 

[AKBC]

Using your range finder and some simple math you can calculate the height of a tree to determine if it will miss the house when you cut it.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Outdoors related but always fun. Tie a dry fly on your fishing line, no hook needed, and hang it in front of frogs, turns into frog legs for lunch.

 

[Szwampdonkey]

My climbing sticks and saddle to get 20 ft up the tree next to my yard to save my neighbors cat before work one morning. I got a gift card to a local restaurant out of it which was surprising seeing as it was just a cat?

 

[MNGrouser]

I was just recently married and my wife and I were renting a very run-down “starter house”. I was running a mouse trapline and catching quite a few. As we were on the couch watching TV one evening I heard a trap snap in the attic and the sound of the still alive mouse dragging the trap across the floor. He got to the edge and fell down next to the chimney inside the wall before he finally died. Wife didn’t want to keep a dead-mouse air freshener in the wall. I went out to the garage and got my AquaView underwater camera and a daredevil in a couple yards of line. Dropped the camera down to see where Mr. Mouse had finally expired. Was able to drop the treble hook and daredevil right on top and snag him first try. I’d probably still be there swiping if I had to snag him blind.