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To: 300winmag; Corin Stormhands; HairOfTheDog; 2Jedismom; All
Here is a rough draft of the new thread. Please offer any comments, rewording suggestions, etc. here before we 'go live'.

[Ongoing **Live thread**] TROOP SUPPORT: Beyond Candy - Practical gear for the long haul

I am posting this thread as just one small part of the Hobbit Hole group, led by 300winmag, 2jedismom, and Wneighbor who have coordinated funds, sought out products and sent many packages overseas first to Afghanistan and now to Iraq.

As a bit of history, we have sent scads of packages of goodies and treats to the troops and hopefully will continue to do so as long as there are troops at war.

A diary of sorts, with contents of some of the packages sent is here:

The Hobbit Hole :: The Renegade Chaplain Project

The Hobbit Hole :: The Iraq Project

While sending those kind of packages is neat.... our chief gadget geek wanted to send something more ~practical~, and, he found what he was looking for:

The Hobbit Hole Pocketknife Project.

300winmag writes: While I enthusiastically support the other Hobbit Hole projects, I had a vague sense of dissatisfaction with "care packages" of food, snacks, sunscreen, reading material, etc. As welcome as these are to troops away from home, many times the cost of postage exceeded the value of the item. Of course, there was a million dollars of love and prayers in each shipment, but that didn't show up on the bottom line.

< snip >

A pocketknife would be perfect, if the right one could be found. If we had unlimited funds, this would be easy. If we had unlimited funds, we'd be buying body armor, radios, fighting tomahawks, and anything else a GI could want that we could legally ship. But the Hobbit Hole has to run on a budget, so we can get the most in gifts out to the troops. But how would I ever find the "perfect" knife?

More about FR Hobbit hole knives: The Hobbit Hole :: The Pocketknife Project

To make a long story short, winmag found a supply of these pocketknives for a very good price, and the project has been terrifically successful. We have now shipped 301 of these knives to date to soldiers overseas and at home.

The Hobbit Hole :: Testimonials from the Troops

I buried the lead!

The purpose of this thread is to:

  • Broaden our base: come up with more product ideas beyond the Hobbit Hole Knife, and more people who would like to be involved. We understand that the Hobbit Hole seems like a cliquish little subgroup, and we would like to work with the Foxhole group, the Canteen, the Guild, and any other group that can have a larger impact than we can alone.
  • Increase awareness what we do so that more troops who want them. (We've sent them to everyone we know already ;~D)
  • And 300winmag, our product and gadget guy, loves to share the neat stuff he finds, and get feedback from others on which things will be useful.
We hope this will be an ongoing forum where many people will share ideas. If you have ideas or comments to share, please just jump in and post them here. If you want to get involved financially by donating to the cause, please contact 300winmag or myself, or my husband (ecurbh), who is webmaster at the freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net site. We'll put you in touch.

2,323 posted on 11/17/2004 3:39:02 PM PST by ecurbh () | () | ()
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To: ecurbh

BTW... that empty white space at the start of the knife section will have a pic of the knife.


2,324 posted on 11/17/2004 3:40:37 PM PST by HairOfTheDog (<<<loves her hubbit and the horse he rode in on :~D)
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To: ecurbh

That's a good layout to use as an introduction to the series. I'm working on a meat-and-potatoes review, but folks need some background first.


2,325 posted on 11/17/2004 3:59:38 PM PST by 300winmag (FR's Hobbit Hole supports America's troops)
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To: ecurbh
We understand that the Hobbit Hole seems like a cliquish little subgroup

That is because we ARE a ' cliquish little subgroup', and damned proud of it!!!

2,327 posted on 11/17/2004 4:30:43 PM PST by Lucius Cornelius Sulla
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To: ecurbh

Hey... I finally noticed this post. Great idea!


2,369 posted on 11/17/2004 6:50:08 PM PST by Ramius (Time? What time do you think we have?)
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To: ecurbh
While sending those kind of packages is neat.... our chief gadget geek wanted to send something more ~practical~,

Speaking of which.... a while back someone mentioned that the troops in Iraq were in need of brushes to clean sand out of gear. I bought a bunch and they're sitting in a box. I'm wondering who I should send them to so they can be part of the next shipment.

2,435 posted on 11/18/2004 4:03:46 AM PST by Lil'freeper (Error 404. The page you requested was not found.)
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