by Matt Soberg |
Uncle Tom didn’t realize that a fireside joke told during my first North Dakota pheasant hunt was practical, sound advice bestowed upon an aspiring hunter, a lesson that has stuck in my mind to this day.
With a sideways grin, Uncle Tom said, “Matt . . . every time you get home from work, you MUST carry a gun case with you into the house. Do it. Every day. Don’t forget.”
I was confused and asked why.
Uncle Tom laughed, “Your future wife will get used to it. So each time you buy a shotgun, you can sneak it inside, and she’ll have no idea.”
Brilliant.
Although a tongue-in-cheek joke, I have religiously practiced this maneuver and believe me . . . it works. Using this, I’ve been able to amass a respectable gun collection, one that I know has value and is important to protect.
My sense of gun collection preservation has never been so evident than after I purchased my first collector through a colleague at a classic firearm show in Las Vegas this past year, a modest Fox Sterlingworth side-by-side beauty built somewhere in the 1910s. This gun is not adorned with fancy, shiny scroll or striped European wood, but it carries tradition and class, a practical firearm with years of upland history inherent in every scar and scratch.
Whether you hunt the pheasant fields, duck blinds or spend hours in a deer stand, Mother Nature exposes your firearms to rain, sleet or snow at some point. Weather conditions will not stop me from dodging alders in the grouse woods with that Fox this year. But, how many times have you taken a gun out of the case on a long trip to discover the beginnings of rust or other corrosion? It’s not a good feeling, and I don’t want my Fox to suffer the same fate.
Protecting my firearm investment from corrosion was a must, and I found security from the elements in the vast array of Flambeau products incorporating the patented and proven Zerust technology. Zerust for hunters is ground breaking – there is no other way to put it or more eloquent way to write it. Zerust is a must for any firearm owner.
The vapor corrosion inhibitor portion of Zerust products is made of proprietary chemical formulations that are invisible, odorless, non-toxic, non-reactive, non-flammable and non-allergenic. Basically, you don’t even know that Zerust is there except that it prevents corrosion and rust on your most prized firearms or fishing tackle.
The chemical formulations release a corrosion inhibiting vapor that diffuses throughout an enclosure, such as a gun case or tackle box, and settles on exposed metal surfaces to form a microscopic corrosion inhibiting layer. The protective layer will remain on the surface of the metal as long as there is no significant, continuous exchange of air within the case or box.
If you hunt, you travel. Flambeau provides multiple options available to protect firearms for the traveling hunter and doubles down to prevent corrosion with Zerust technology. When I travel, I use both hard and soft gun cases depending on various aspects of the hunt. Flambeau’s Safe Shot Gun Cases are perfect for long trips with a lot of gear – the hard cases, single or multiple gun, protect your firearms and optics from the inherent perils of travel, and they incorporate Zerust too. For shorter trips, Flambeau’s Soft and Floating Gun Bags with Zerust liners offer flexibility and easy access. For your gun cabinet or safe at home, Zerust Plaques come in various sizes, and all hunters should have Zerust Gun Plugs for every barrel you own.
And Zerust has long-lasting effects. Zerust provides effective corrosion protection for clean metals for up to five years when used correctly and utilized within three years from receipt. That old Fox Sterlingworth has been putting birds in the vest for over 100 years, and I plan to keep up the tradition this coming fall. With the help of Flambeau’s Zerust technology and products, I can rest assured this significant investment and the memories that it makes will continue for future generations.