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Have Fun With Nature: How To Play Conkers

by: Sharon Jacobsen

In an age where children spend a huge percentage of their free time playing with expensive computer games, it�s nice to know that some old-fashioned games are still being played outdoors and cost absolutely nothing.

During the fall, wherever you find horse chestnut trees you�ll find children playing conkers. It�s a game that was enjoyed by their parents, their grandparents, and even their great grandparents. Hopefully their own children will enjoy it one day, too.

What is A Conker?

A conker is a hard brown nut that�s encapsulated in a green, prickly case produced by the Horse Chestnut tree. The cases fall from trees when they�re ripe and can easily be collected from the ground.

In contrast to the nuts produced by the Sweet Chestnut tree, conkers are NOT fit for to be eaten by humans.

Choosing A Conker

If you�re serious about your game, choose your conkers carefully. The best ones are symmetrical in form, firm to the touch, and should be uncracked.

Use the water test. If a conker is damaged inside it will float in water so this is a good way of testing the density of your nut. Floaters should be discarded while those that sink to the bottom will be the hardest and the best.

Preparing A Conker for Play

Make a hole through the middle of your conker, going from the dull area at the top and down through the bottom. A thin skewer or hand-drill is useful for this.

Choose string that doesn�t break easily and thread a length about 12 inches long through the hole and tie a knot at one end to stop it from pulling through.

There are several ways to make your conkers harder, including:

Bake the conker in the oven on a low heat for 30 minutes

Soak the conker in vinegar overnight

Put conkers away to use the following year (they harden with age).

How To Play Conkers

Two players are needed, each with a conker of his own. Each player holds his conker from the string and attempts to hit the opposing conker.

If your conker is the one being hit, you should let it hang down with the string wrapped around two or three fingers to secure it�you don�t want your conker flying off when it�s hit! It�s up to your opponent to decide how high your conker should be held and it�s important it�s held still.

If you�re the striker, you should wrap the string around your hand in the same way as you would if your conker was being hit. You should then take the conker in your other hand and draw it back, ready to strike. As you release the conker, you should swing it down and try to hit your opponent�s conker. If you�re successful, this is called a strike. If you miss, you�re allowed two more goes before swapping positions.

If, when making a shot, the strings tangle together, the first player to call �strings� is awarded an extra shot.
If a player drops his conker or has it knocked out of his hand, the opposing player can call �stamps� and jump on it. End of one conker! However, if the owner calls �no stamps� first, the conker is safe (unless it smashed when it hit the ground, of course).

The game continues until one conker is completely destroyed; the one with the remaining conker is the winner.
Good luck!

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Sharon Jacobsen is a freelancer writer living in South Cheshire, England. She is happy to write about any subject and offers compelling, keyword rich articles at highly competitive rates.

To receive a copy of Sharon�s current rate card and an obligation free quote, please visit

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Latest Fishing Technology And Fishing Gears
by: Dylan Miles

Fish finder

Imagine you�re sitting out there on your fishing boat, you whip out a cool gadget you just bought from the Internet and after a couple of beeps, the device tells you that there is a school of fish some 3 meters or so away from you. Now, how cool can that be? It�s almost like an ultrasound scan of the sea or the lake that tells you exactly where the fish are.

But of course, this is not news because many different companies have developed their own ultrasound-like fish finding gadgets a long time ago. But Maptech�s new i3 module is the first of its kind. It�s the first ever touch screen, hi-resolution 3D Fishfinger. Yes, you can literally see the kind of fish that�s swimming around under your boat, in super clear images and in real time.

The i3 Touch Screen command on the fishing gadget can help you navigate the floor of the lake or sea with a radar, combine it with satellite communication and a weather report too.

This is an absolutely MUST for those who seriously looking into easy-fishing.

Monofilament fishing lines

There�s absolutely nothing worse than to have a fish on the hook and have the line snap! Well, no more snapping of fishing line with the latest development in monofilament fishing lines. Monofilament fishing lines come in a wide range of colors, sizes, thickness and strength. Although it�s stronger than some of the other more conventional fishing lines, they are cheaper. Monofilament fishing lines comes with special coating that keeps them from snapping easily. The only thing is that they don�t stretch as good as other types of fishing lines but they make up for it with their bulk and strength.

Monofilament fishing lines are also quite transparent over the water and hold knots pretty well.

Fashion is always cool too

Sometimes, cool has nothing to do with technology. It�s got more to do with the brain and �creativity�. If your husband, brother, or father is a fishing fanatic, you can always get them fashionable fishing gear with extra pockets to place their scissors and hooks. Perhaps the water-proof raincoat with fluorescent streak for night fishing, perhaps. And how about the water-proof watch? That�ll work perfectly. And how about an X-LOOP flash mirror polarized lens? Sunglasses for baking in the sun and raincoat for fishing in the rain are exceptionally cool gears we cannot ignore.

Let�s take the sunglasses as an example. The sunglasses not only remove the glare and improve the quality of what you see with your naked eye, you see the same scene in deep colors and contrasts. These sunglasses are developed specifically for fishing enthusiasts.

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