I first became aware of Tilley by realizing, somehow, that my favorite brimmed fabric hat, one that I think I found in a surplus store, was indeed an imitation of something else… something famous. I eventually tracked down the “original” back when there was pretty much just one model, in canvas, in one color. I ordered direct from Canada, lucked out in that the fit was pretty good (more on that later), and over time became impressed with just how much better made it was than my previous favorite.
Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools
I subscribed to the mailing list as soon as it started, and while the quality has varied somewhat and there have been times when I felt that it wandered too far into non-utilitarian (non-useful) selections, I’ve never been tempted to un-subscribe, and I’ve learned of a great many useful things from it that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
Blue Apron
Far later in life than I should have I decided to try to LIBERATE myself from having to have other people feed me, prepare my food for me, whether personally or through the pay-as-you-go food infrastructure of our society, which tends to be expensive and/or notoriously not healthy.
The move was prompted by some changes in my life corresponding to the debut of Blue Apron, and it became the keystone of my strategy in learning how to cook decently. I figured it would reduce the barriers-to-entry, make cooking entire meals with good ingredients more accessible, and hopefully, eventually, be a stepping stone away from dependence on their service as well.
It’s worked… I’ve gone from not being able to cook much at all to being pretty decent at it, and I don’t plan to stop there.
Equipped to Survive
Equipped to Survive (http://www.equipped.org) When I posted about Doug Ritter’s Knife Rights organization I should have mentioned his OTHER site, Equipped to Survive, and especially the forum there. To be honest, I don’t even have any idea how involved Doug
Knife Rights
Knife Rights (http://www.kniferights.org) The knife laws in the United States, whatever you think they should be, are a horrible mess. They are a crazy-quilt of federal, state, local and jurisdictional regulations that overlap and contradict each other, most of which
CountyComm
CountyComm (http://countycomm.com) I’ve been ordering from these folks, not very often but consistently over time, since long before they were well-known… now I see their stuff on Amazon and Ebay, it’s getting pretty mainstream. I check them every so often
Hackaday
Hackaday (http://hackaday.com/) I have to say, and regret to say, that so far I haven’t bought any of their stuff, so can’t comment on that- but they are one of a few sites that all of my browsers are set
Adafruit
Adafruit.com (https://www.adafruit.com/) Hard to know where to start with these folks. Their site is a mainstay of the Maker/DIY culture now, and is one of my favorites, but it’s just the visible tip of what is a remarkable litany of
Ragweed Forge
Ragweed Forge (https://ragweedforge.com/) Ragweed Forge has been a favorite of mine for decades. “Ragnar” imports “user” knives from Northern Europe, where the knife culture is about good steel and practicality, not about tactical looks… or cosmetics in general.
Slashdot
Slashdot.org (https://slashdot.org/) Slashdot has been my “start” page/site in innumerable browsers on innumerable machines for a very long time now.