Maybe a new way to rattle?

Submitted by Jim Schlender, Publisher/Community Leader Knives & Firearms - F+W Media. Honestly, how do you come up with a new way to rattle? More than 25 years ago when rattling a set of antlers together to call deer caught on, we used the real thing. Then we graduated to synthetic “rattling horns.” Then came the still-popular rattle boxes and rattling bags. Done, right? Well, not so fast. On a recent hunt in Alabama, Knight & Hale Game Calls’ engineering manager Greg Burcham told me he wanted to show me a new rattling system he’d patented. I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but after playing around with the company’s new-for-2009 Pack Rack for couple minutes, all I could say was this: Cool! The Rack Pack comprises two pieces of a super-tough polymer. With the halves nested together, the Rack Pack is completely silent and takes up no more space in your pack than a softball. Pull the two halves apart, grab the handles and you’re ready to rattle. Look at the pictures and you’ll get the idea. What’s really neat about the Rack Pack is how easy it is to change the tone and volume. Grip the halves tightly with cupped hands and crack them together to produce the sounds of large, heavy antlers. Loosen your grip and gently clink the ridged half against the rounded half and you can imitate the sounds of light sparring. Burcham said it took a lot of trial and error to come up with the consistency of polymer that would make the most realistic sounds, but finally he was satisfied. I think it’s safe to say that if you like to rattle, you too will be pleased with his effort.