Having a Chillow Pillow can help relieve a lot of problems. For instance, have you ever woken up at night only to find your pillow is damp due to hot flashes or sweats? Do you often get relief from your headaches by placing a cool cloth on your head?

These are just a couple of things a Chillow Pillow can help you with. With the easy to use Chillow Pillow insert you can also get relief from tired feet, minor injuries, sunburn or itching. A Chillow Pillow can give you cool soothing relief without getting your pillow or bed sheets damp allowing you a comfortable nights sleep.

How A Chillow Pillow Works

A Chillow Pillow can be likened to the radiator on your car. Just like a radiator, the Chillow absorbs body heat from the areas it comes into contact with and then dissipates it into the surrounding area leaving you cool and relaxed. The great thing about this is that it’s all done without dampness, electricity or an irritating noise that disturbs your needed rest. You don’t even have to chill it in your refrigerator. (Although you can if you’d like a colder effect.) It’s ready to use when you need it.

What A Chillow Pillow Is Made Of

A Chillow is made from medical-grade materials. It’s thin and soft, with an extra soft core for support and comfort. The underside is a flock-type material to help grip your pillow so it doesn’t move around. The best features are that to use it you only need to activate it once by adding water to the inside and maintenance is nothing more than opening the filler cap once a month and sweeping out any air that has gathered inside the pillow. For those of you that have allergies you should know that the Chillow Pillow contains no latex whatsoever. In addition, it’s good to know that it’s also hypoallergenic and nontoxic.

You Will Sleep Better With A Chillow Pillow

So, when it’s time to go to bed after another active day and your metabolism is running higher and making you feel warm, grab for your Chillow Pillow for some extra comfort, relief and relaxation. Feeling too warm is like feeling too cold when you’re trying to get to sleep. It makes for nothing more than another night of tossing a turning. Having a Chillow Pillow is has been described to be “like the cool kiss of a gentle breeze on your cheek that will deliver a soothing and relaxing effect throughout the night.”

Last of all, while it’s a great sleeping aid, the Chillow Pillow is also made for those of you with active lifestyles. When you’ve bumped or bruised yourself or pulled a muscle during your workout, the very natural cooling effect of a Chillow can be the right prescription to help sooth that discomfort and provide you with total relaxation.

So, consider a Chillow Pillow to help you have a great nights sleep and if you’d like any further information about Chillow Pillows, you can find that here.

Reenacted sword fight with hand forged blades by Forged in Time

Here’s an example of Ben and Dan Rial testing two of Forged in Time’s handmade medieval swords. Forged in Time does medieval reenactments and here they are demonstrating a 15th century swordfight to fellow medieval reenactors at the White Oak Fur Post in Deer River MN.

This is live steel sword-fighting and should NOT be attempted by anyone unless they are extensively trained. By live steel, I mean that they are using REAL handmade swords, not blunted stage weapons, that they are swinging full speed, full force, and that they are sword fighting in-distance. Other than the fact that they are not actually trying to kill each other, (although it’s hard to tell), it’s as close to real as you can get. The fights are not rehearsed or choreographed. They are freestyle and typically last for about 15 minutes.

Forged in Time’s handmade swords will stand up to this type of use time and again.

“Frankly my brother and I have tried many different swords (and other weapons) by other makers and companies over the years and nothing has withstood the use we put them too. That’s me in the black and my bro in the red. He’s obviously in better shape than I am, but we do routinely practice for 3 or 4 hours straight. So the swords and other weapons (daggers, axes, maces, polearms, shields, etc.) are really put through their paces.” – Ben Rial (Bladesmith)

Many handmade medieval swords are often just show pieces or wall hangers, but Forged in Time’s swords and handmade knives are certain to stand up to actual use. Each blade is completely handmade in the traditional old world style of anvil, hammer, and coal fire. Although they sell swords and knives each based on a certain style, each blade is unique in that it is made to order. They’ll also be happy to do custom engraving to give your handmade sword a personal appeal. It’s in that sense that they also make terrific gifts.

Handmade Swords – The Medieval Longsword

The basic longsword certainly possess many attributes that make it an almost perfect weapon. Its over-all length is most commonly between 40 and 48 inches. This makes the longsword moderate in reach without being too tasking to carry for long periods of time. The average weight of the longsword is from 2.7 to 3.5 pounds. This again is a comfortable weight for most people. You can wield this type of sword with just a little practice and will find physics are on your side insofar as the design of the blade is weighted to serve you when swinging. The overall balance of most longswords is closer to the guard, usually within 3 inches. This too contributes to the general “handiness” of the weapon by providing a pleasing and fluid movement.

The grip is usually what can be termed as a hand-and-a-half or “bastard” length of between 5 and 8 inches. Bastard, meaning that the length is between that of a two-handed sword length and single hand sword length, thus it cannot be legitimately claimed to be either and is instead a “bastard” grip. This length of grip provides a solid balance for a single hand and yet has enough space to add a second hand for extra power or control.

The blade profile itself is usually tapered strongly to a fine point but still has enough width for decent cutting ability. Often it is forged with a flattened diamond or lenticular cross-section and a moderate distal taper with enough thickness to make a stiff blade for thrusting. If it is fullered, then it is usually only fullered for the top 1/3 to 1/2 of the length. Blade lengths seem to average between 30 and 38 inches with 34 to 36 inches being quite common. This makes this type of handmade sword versatile in its application. Cutting, chopping, thrusting, it will perform all very well.

The hilt design itself is usually fairly simplistic and straight forward. This is not to say that more complex hilts did not exist, for they most certainly did, especially in the later 15th century, but by and large longsword hilts lacked side rings and such. A simple guard rests flatter against the body when walking, sitting, riding a horse, etc. Pommels for longswords are often wheels, disks, scent-stoppers, or various truncated wedges and fish-tail designs. Moderate weight, flat and stream-lined design, excellent balance, bastard-length grip, and a flexible blade design make for a sword with wide appeal.

Tinkerbell was in fact just a minor character when J.M. Barrie created his original play. He described her in his book as little more than a common fairy. Once Walt Disney produced his legendary animated adaption, she rose to fame and has since become a very popular Disney character. Since the initial Peter Pan film was made, Tinkerbell has moved on to do 3 more motion pictures of her own. (Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue is anticipated to be out September 21, 2010)

In the original story by J.M. Barrie, Tinkerbell’s name came about since her job was to patch up cauldrons and pots. That all changed after she learned how to utilize her fairy dust to her benefit. Tinkerbell is correctly spelled as one word or Tinker Bell as two. But, in the film, Captain Hook is heard to address her as Miss Bell. That provides the feeling that she has a first and last name.

When the play first came out the playbill listed Tinkerbell as being played by Jane Wren even though Tinkerbell was just a beam of light. The hoax went over so well that it fooled the HM Inspector of Taxes who proceeded to send Miss Wren a tax claim. This further helped market the magic that surrounded Tinkerbell.

Tinkerbell was always played as a revengeful, sassy, precocious character during those times but in point of fact she was just ahead of her time. In that time period female characters were usually submissive, undemonstrative and would never just do as they pleased like Tinkerbell did. When her character was being created there was a considerable amount of concern on exactly how Tinkerbell should be portrayed. It was felt that “being independent was not a very good model for little girls”. It was then decided that the character would be kind of a half-girl, half-woman so she would be perceived as a female character in transition who would be emotional and consequently more acceptable.

Every night at Disneyland, Tinkerbell still flies across the skies above. When Disneyland decided to do this in 1961, they hired a very diminutive lady named Tiny Kline. She was four feet ten inches tall and weighed only ninety-eight pounds. She was sixty one years old at the time and a past aerialist from the circus. When she got to the end, the only way to stop her was by running into a mattress. In authentic Tinkerbell fashion, Tiny was very volatile and in 1964 at the age of 74 years old, she retired due to ill health.

Our grand daughter is captivated with everything about Tinkerbell. So much so that she has a hostof Tinkerbell toys, the Tinkerbell movies and even a little Tinkerbell fancy dress. Maybe we’ve gone overboard but we’ve even set up a Tinkerbell bedroom for her. Check out what I’ve seen at: TinkerbellBedroom.com

Forging handmade knives tends to be reserved for manufacturers’ costlier product lines, and can often be distinguished from the stock removal product lines through the existence of an integral bolster. Don’t be fooled though, integral bolsters may be crafted for either shaping technique and is not always an indication that a handmade knife was forged.

The first handmade knives were probably made of rock such as flint or obsidian. As the art of handmade knives progressed so did the materials involved with handmade knives being made from bronze, copper, iron, steel, ceramics, and now even titanium.

Today, handmade knives are frequently designed by stock removal or actual hammer forging. Stock removal blades are shaped by means of grinding and removing metal. Handmade knives are created by heating an individual portion of steel, and then by shaping the steel while is is still very hot using a hammer or mechanical hammer press.

By means of both techniques, after shaping, the handmade knife has to be heat treated. This involves heating the steel beyond its critical point, then quenching the blade to harden it. Following hardening, the blade is tempered to get rid of stresses and make the blade more durable . Mass manufactured kitchen cutlery uses mutually forging along with stock removal techniques.

While most modern-day handmade knives are either of the folding or fixed-blade construction with countless variations of style, anything with a cutting edge can technically be considered a knife. Our ancestors were using knives and creating handmade knives more than two-and-a-half million years ago..

Handmade knives that are serrated have a wavy, saw-like blade, or otherwise scalloped appearance. Serrated blades are more compatible for tasks that require aggressive sawing type motions, while handmade knives with plain edge blades are far better suited to jobs that require push-through cutting.Handmade knives are sharpened in various ways. Hollow ground blades allow for concave, beveled edges. The resulting blade has a thinner edge, subsequently it might have superior cutting capacity for shallow cuts, nevertheless it is lighter and less resilient than flat ground blades and can will usually bind in deep cuts.

A handmade knife that is flat ground possesses a profile that tapers from the thick spine towards the sharp edge in a very straight or otherwise convex line. Seen in cross section, the blade would form an extended, narrow triangle, or where the taper doesn’t extend to the rear of the blade, a long fine rectangle would be seen with one peaked side.

Irregardless of modern manufacturing methods there will always be a call for quality handmade knives that are forged to be durable and to hold an edge longer than many mass produced knives you typically see under the counter at department stores and sporting goods shops. It seems that even in the modern age we are still looking back to the techniques of out ancestors, people who depended on handmade knives every day, to prescribe the best methods of creating a truly high quality knife.

Handmade Medieval Swords

The renowned amateur historian and sword collector Ewart Oakeshott is responsible for the most authoritative reference on medieval swords ever compiled. This book entitled: The Archeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of the Chivalry is considered to be the foremost classification system for middle age swords in existence today.

Oakeshott is not only remembered for his lasting contribution to the study of the history of the sword but also for his many books, illustrations, and lectures that have given lucidity to a complex subject.

His outstanding legacy was developed upon the previous works of Dr. R.E.M. Wheeler’s simplified seven category typography which in turn was wrought from Dr. Jan Peterson’s exacting study of viking swords.  In the end, thanks to his marvelous work we now have twenty-two types that effectively laid to rest many myths and misunderstandings that had developed around Western swords in general.

Prior to Oakeshott’s exhaustive research into the evolution of the sword beginning in the late Iron Age that comprise his type X sword and culminating with his type XXII type of the 16th century, most sword classification was done purely on the basis of the hilt design. It was Oakeshott who took into serious consideration the actual function of a sword blade’s design that has become the foundation for further research in terms of the standardized classification system.

In 2000 Christopher Poor, president of Arms and Armor in Minneapolis MN, founded the Oakeshott Institute at the bequest of Ewart Oakeshott and his wife Sybil. It’s mission is to carry forward Oakeshott’s interest and fascination with the medieval sword to future generations of scholars.

Oakshott died in 2002 at the age of 86. His life and passion will always be with us in the form of an outstanding legacy that is his invaluable research into medieval history through the study of it’s most import tool.  We owe much to our current understanding of the medieval sword to this independent researcher and scholar.

Before the wheel was invented, arguably the most important invention may have been the oil lamp. Early oil lamps were little more than a bowl filled with and oil-based fluid and any absorbant matter that could be partially submerged in the oil to act as a wick. Archaeological finds confirm that prehistoric man used a type of oil lamp approximately 20,000 years ago.

Available materials such as clay or shells were used and the wick was nothing more than an absorbent material to submerge in the oil, like the Diya. Oil lamps were uncomplicated and made from whatever material that was obtainable. Wicks could well have been fibers of flax, hemp or cotton that was twisted. The Diya is an exceptional example. Native to India, Diyas are and have been used in Sikh, Jain and Hindu religious events like Diwali. Over time, decorative metal and terra cotta oil lamps were created.

Simple oil lamps have evolved over time. The largest advancements were a protruding spout to retain the wick and keep the flame away from the oil and a hole added to load the lamp. Handles were added for transporting the lamp and other openings were made to suspend it.  These small changes made the oil lamp safer to make use of and allowed it to burn more efficiently.

Leonardo Da Vinci was the earliest to enclose the flame of an oil lamp in a glass pipe back in the 15th century. He found this helped to protect the flame from the wind and get rid of the flicker. In 1780 Aime Argand invented an oil lamp that had a tubular wick mounted between a pair of concentric cylindrical metal tubes so that air is channeled through the middle of the wick, as well as outside of it. In addition to improving the brightness of the flame and less smoke, the cylindrical wick burned on both the inner and outer surfaces. The wick, when lit, burned a great deal better and did not need to be snuffed as frequently. Argand’s type of lamp along with many variations of it were used well into the 20th century. The invention of the light bulb by Thomas Edison took over but the basic fashion of this lamp, even though it used electric, remained the same. These types of lamps are commonly referred to as hurricane lamps.

Today’s hurricane lamps still have a chimney to make them look more authentic. One extremely well-liked lamp style is named the “Gone With The Wind Lamp” named after the Academy Award winning movie. A Gone With The Wind lamp is most frequently seen as possessing a larger base and shade that may be a clear or colored ornate glass or more often a hand painted base and flared glass lampshade adorned with a floral pattern.

Antique hurricane lamps and Gone With The Lamps are still very popular, sought after and very collectible and bring prices in the hundreds of dollars on up.