Even we draw the line somewhere...

Our inner nerd is more than a bit intrigued by the Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1 with its fancy "military grade resistance to the elements." The gear guys at Gizmodo think it just might be perfect for us fly fishing bloggers.

It runs Vista (with XP downgrade option) from a removable 16GB or 32GB SSD, packs tons of wireless options, weighs 2.3 lbs. with two batteries, and runs for 9 hours. If you can get over the teensy 5.6" screen, you got yourself the perfect PC for spelunking, fly fishing or whatever it is you call "extreme."

In our opinion the idea of using the integrated 3g mobile broadband capability to live blog while standing waist deep in a flowing mountain stream could cause the blogosphere to die from shear boredom. Here is how it might go:

6:05 AM Uploading GPS coordinates to fishing reports site ...hotspot verified. Standing here in the river - no real hatch going on tying on attractor pattern.

6:08 AM Darn its hard to tie these knots in low light.

6:09 AM Preparing for first cast

6:10 AM

6:11 AM Hey, I just got a refusal on that cast. Must be something wrong with my drift. I wonder how you do one of those pile casts?

6:11AM Initializing streaming video - connect to FFF certified casting instructor. ....

and you thought cell phones on the river were bad...

Orvis Fly Rods: If we told you, we'd have to kill you...

When my Great Grandfather, Theodore Roosevelt Burleson handed me my first stone fly nymph and fly rod 3o+ years ago, I wonder if he would have ever thought that the rod I got for my 41st birthday would be made of the same military grade material used in Predator drones? I won't even go into what he would have thought about unmanned machines flying about on their own and shooting things. Techie tome Wired Magazine features a look at Orvis' Helios fly rod:

The "stuff" is unidirectional carbon fiber — not the ubiquitous carbon mesh found everywhere from dashboards to tennis racquets, but a new superlight variety that was, until recently, a highly classified concoction. I start to copy information from a label when Stone barks, "Don't write down the manufacturer's name," and slams the door shut.

It's not just trade secrets he's protecting — it's national security. The composite is used in Predator drones and spy satellites for the US military. Stone, along with colleagues at the outdoors supplier Orvis, use it to build a fly-fishing rod. Called Helios, its story began nearly three years ago when Stone, Jim Lepage, and another man — so entrenched in top-secret contracts that nobody would even tell me his name (we'll call him Deep Trout) — set out to build the ultimate rod: lighter than anything ever made but strong enough to land the big one.

Photo: The Orvis Company

Gear: Found in our mailbox today...

Survival Kit in a Sardine Can available from ThinkGeek.com for $12.99. We have to say that our inner Les Stroud got the better of us when we came across these on the web. We can't help but picture ourselves marooned on a river bank with only this kit and our video camera. While not at all designed for long term abandonment having one of these in your fishing vest might make a night lost in the woods a bit more palatable.

You could of course make your own custom version with an Altoids tin and a few items from around the house but then you wouldn't get the satisfaction of opening the sardine tin before stitching yourself up with the enclosed fishing line.

The kit includes one of each of the following items: non-aspirin pain reliever, adhesive bandage, alcohol prep pad, antibiotic ointment, book of matches, compass, chewing gum, sugar, salt, energy nugget, duct tape, fire starter cube, first aid instructions, fish hook & line, note paper, pencil, razor blade, safety pin, reflective signal surface, tea bag, waterproof bag, whistle, and wire clip.

My one disappointment is that it only comes with one tootsie roll-like "energy nugget." I can already see myself having to employ the razor blade or safety pin to fight off my fishing buddies should food rationing become necessary.