The Zeiger Family Homestead Blog

We’ve noticed lately that we go through a lot of shoe and boot laces around here. It seems to be because mass manufactured eyes are more commonly made without attention to quality, leading to rough or sharp edges. Cheaper, softer metals used in eyes damage more easily, creating rough edges where none existed before. And, many laces are now braided, a woven sheath covering a tougher inner core. These cords are only as strong as the sheath; when the sheath breaks or chafes through, the lace becomes practically useless.

As the quality of shoe and boot laces decrease, the price seems to rise. We’ve found a simple way to stop this trend dead: we use mountaineering line for shoe laces. (more…)

The other day a package arrived at the Post Office containing high-end, quality, very expensive outdoor gear for the family. As if it were Christmas morning, we pulled out surprise after surprise: rainproof fleece tactical jackets, a microfiber rain anorak, toasty “camp booties,” a fishing knife, bags of high-tech socks, Meals-Ready-to-Eat, gun swabs, key chain flashlights, and more. All of it for us, and all free! The Zeiger family has a new “job” field testing Wild Things extreme outdoor and tactical gear! (more…)