Davy Crockett, D-76, And Digital

I wasn't born on a mountain top in Tennessee, but I have done my share of shooting with the old-fashioned muzzle loading rifles. Mostly range targets, some little hunting, the occasional tin can - mighty tasty them tin cans, if you stew 'em...

I learned early on that the car-load of rifles, pistols, shotguns, cannon, and associated accessories necessary for a day at the range - or a weekend at the state championships - was an absolute assurance of one thing. Dirty firearms to clean. No trophies, no medals, no ribbons - just barrel after barrel of black sooty goo to boil out and oil up. I loved it, of course, but I did realise that there was never going to be any sporting success.

Different on the hunting field. One firearm ( generally a flintlock ), one small bag containing a powder flask, a bit of oiled rag, and six lead balls. If you have to walk all day in the heat, if you are dumb enough to walk all day in the heat, it is better to walk light than heavy. No hunting trip needed a variety of arms because the wise hunter went out for one thing only and if he got it, came home.

Note: I also learned 50 years ago not to shoot anything big in a bog. It is hard enough hauling your own carcase uphill let alone something else's...

In the film era ( D-76, remember) I had to relearn my lesson. I hauled a heavy leather box full of heavy brass and glass German cameras and lenses on a vague weekly hunt for photographic subjects. As I did not know what I was looking for, I took something in case I found it, and as I never found it, I just hauled the equipment home. Uphill, as often as not.

Digital. I carry one camera, with one lens, in one bag. I pick my subject field before I set out, clip on the lens that I need, and away I go. The percentage of success over failure has increased and the reward of comfort is inestimable. This colours my sales behaviour in the shop when people come in looking for bags, cases, or steamer trunks to carry their gear. It also means I am selling smaller camera systems to people who can benefit from their focussed capabilities.

That's not just a pun, folks. Focus. If you are going to Europe for a tour, take a zoom lens by all means but take a small one on a small camera. Your shoulders at the end of a hot day traipsing about Magnetogorsk in January or through the snow drifts of Madrid will thank you.

And never shoot a moose in Madrid. You'll be skinning it for hours and where are you going to put 1000Kg of meat on a Kon Tiki tour bus?