Possibly the beginnings of a lead, a clue- fire, smoke, evolution, cooking
MGTOW – An Early Lesson in Gender Difference
My girl-cousin asked “Did they really live happily ever after?”.
I asked “How did that wand work?”.
The Wombat Sez… 001
We’re all here because…
Survival – I Carry Too Much Stuff
When I go out the door on a typical out-and-about day, I have my wallet (with some unusual items inside but no cash), a folding knife, a lighter, spare car key, money clip with bills, a Chawley Changer pocket coin dispenser (okay, that’s a little weird, but it’s fast, convenient, and I hate having loose change sloshing around in a pocket), a full-sized multi-tool, one of may folding knives (occasionally two), a lipstick-sized flashlight around my neck on a stainless dog-tag chain .. and of course my phone. That’s not counting the stuff on my key chain, miscellaneous keys, a tiny titanium peanut lighter, the tiniest ferrocerium rod I’ve ever seen (Boy Scouts of America, smaller than a house key), a photon lighter, a P38 can opener, and the car-door opener/alarm remote control.
Survival – Making fire without technology (or tools!) turns out to be easier than anyone thought
There’s a new, relatively easy way to make fire entirely with “primitive” (or found) materials, and it’s much, much easier than any other method I’ve seen over the decades.
Anyone who knows something about the subject of primitive fire-making will probably consider that incredibly unlikely, and possibly an outrageous statement. After hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of years of making fire with primitive materials new techniques simply don’t appear out of nowhere. Indeed, it’s very possible that this is a very, very old technique… even, just possibly, the first and oldest technique used by our ancestors to make fire at will, that it was very nearly lost in recent times, and is just now becoming known again.
Tech – Government-Imposed Slavery in the United States High-Tech Sector
It doesn’t matter even a tiny bit that you don’t want to be their employee, you never wanted to be their employee, that you wanted to be responsible for your own damned taxes. It doesn’t matter even a tiny bit that FooBarTec didn’t and doesn’t want you as an employee, that you may not even be qualified for employment by their standards. The IRS decides to “reclassify” you as an employee, no discussion… and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, because all of the work that they are “reclassifying” is in the past now.
Surprise, surprise… survival on Mars will require generalists and appropriate tech, not specialists and high tech.
None of these general thoughts should come as a surprise. Survival on Earth has almost always implied stepping down from whatever level of technology has failed to a level that still works. It’s one of the most fundamental principles, and a reason that the line between “survivalism” and interest in various forms of primitive technology is so blurred.
National Geographic “Origins”, “Spark of Civilization”, another swing, another miss
I stayed up the other night (despite being very tired) to watch the premier episode of National Geograpic’s new series “Origins”, entitled “Spark of Civilization”, which promised to enlighten us as to the importance and origins of our use of fire as a species, a subject I find fascinating.
The Adversary
Your adversary cannot be omnipotent without being able to defeat himself. You cannot be omnipotent without being able to defeat yourself.
Survival – Tip – DIY Ranger/Pace Counting Beads, My Current Configuration
I’ve set up a slightly unconventional configuration for my own ranger beads, and I’ll describe here what I’ve done and why.
Survival – PC Kills- on the water too
It seems that the same insane “PC” mindset that has decided, against all and ongoing evidence, that the best way to deal with terrorists and pirates is to render all of their potential victims as helpless as possible has invaded into life at sea. I’m very, very sorry to hear it.
Mini Life-Lessons: Remember the literal meaning of “hoodwinked”
“Tales from the hood”: A couple of weeks ago I was out on my regular walk/run (yet again), some through paths through the woods, mostly through suburban development. It was bitter cold, at least for here, somewhere in the 20’s
Mini Life-Lessons: Little things make big noises.
In the quiet woods on the way out, though, I kept detecting a “thump” coming from the pack with each stride, and over time it really got to bother me.
Hackaday on Stirling Engines
It’s really not that difficult to understand the working principle of a Stirling engine, it’s mostly just counter-intuitive that there’s enough energy there for it to really work… similar in that respect to the fire piston, or the Rüdiger roll. As described, they all seem barely plausible, you have to see it to really believe it.
Survival – Hazard 4 Evac Plan B Sling Pack (in black)
I’ve always lusted after what is probably their most classic and successful pack, the Plan B, or more properly Evac Plan B (I don’t think “Evac” was always in the name, I’m not sure when it was added or why). It’s somewhere in-between the two extremes, large for a “day pack” and small-to-mininalist for an overnighter. I’ve had one in the “to buy later” section of my cart on Amazon off and on for a couple of years…. but I’ve got a LOT of packs, some of them never saw much use, it’s hard to justify the expense, so there it sat.
Fake TV
What this is, is a small inexpensive box that plugs into the wall with a panel of multi-colored LEDs. It can be set on, off, or to come on for various periods after dark. When it’s on it uses the panel of LEDs to effectively simulate the light coming from a television set… and does a good, convincing job of it. From outside of the room the indirect light coming from the room looks very much as if there were a TV on, with the typical changing and flickering patterns that one would see from pans, jump cuts, commercial breaks, etc., with no repeating pattern that I’ve been able to detect, giving every appearance that the room must be occupied.
Red Rock Outdoor Sidekick – an open question (now closed)
In short, it seems fine for pretty much any reasonable expectation. I’m pleased with the purchase, no complaints, and I’m picky. I’d love to hear from anyone else that has tried the brand.
Knives in Space… 1
I don’t mind going into more detail about any or all of this, at least what I know and can find out about the subject, in fact I’d rather enjoy it, but my personal interest is even more about the future, and especially the key question of how useful and necessary knives are likely to be for those leaving the planet in the decades and generations to come… or not.
Sense and nonsense: Studio Monitors
I may be about to make an exception for “studio (reference) monitors”. I have, admittedly, pretty much zero experience with them, and I went into learning more about them with an open mind. Having done so, I can’t say that they are or are not worth the money that professionals pay for them (which is often extreme), but I can say for sure that many of the reasons that I’m being fed for that make no sense.
Inexpensive, durable, air-tight, waterproof storage – the enhanced plastic paint bucket.
So, what you get for for $11.26 is a five gallons of very durable, air-tight, waterproof, easy-to-open and easy-to-close storage, which, if you think about it, is one hell of a lot cheaper than ammo cans, or fake ammo cans, or Chinese fake ammo cans, or plastic fake ammo cans, or… just about any other option I can think of, if you really need durable and water-tight.