Opinionhaver

God damnit, that was an expensive ride.

Now I’m trying to find one identical to this so I can use it for parts. I just hope this isn’t a common issue with this frame and that I just got unlucky with mine.

Would’ve been an easy fix if the frame were steel - but from what I understand, welding isn’t really an option with these alloy frames.

I mentioned that I’d never been in an electric vehicle before, so he just told me to hop in, and we went for a spin around the block - even tested the acceleration a bit.

This is one of the perks of being self-employed: I’m free to do things completely unrelated to my work if I feel like it. And honestly, it’s amazing to see how kind people are outside the internet. My faith in humanity is being restored one customer at a time.

Poor countries are catching up and getting richer faster than the rich countries are - and the accumulation of wealth by the global top 10% is actually decreasing, while the wealth of the bottom 50% is on the rise.

Source

Some of it will come in handy, and some I just wanted because of the traditional, respectable brands. For example, I think those two Billnäs pipe wrenches were hand-forged. A lot of it was well-used and rusty, but very few of them said “Made in China” either.

Pretty overwhelming to try and pick one from the hundreds and hundreds of options out there. What I’m looking for:

• Reliablility
• Not an EDC light per se, but I’d like it to fit in a pocket when needed
• USB-C charging and removable battery
• Good battery life
• 1000 - 1500 lumens is plenty for my use.
• A tool, not a toy
• The simpler the UI, the better - all I basically need is moonlight mode and around three brightness settings
• Adjustable beam would be nice
• Bonus: one-click turbo mode (for self-defense)

So basically, something that’s not too bulky to carry around, but something I’d be glad to have with me if I were stranded in a dark forest and kept hearing scary noises around me. ChatGPT recommended the Fenix PD35 V3.0, though it doesn’t have an adjustable beam.

Finnish Defence Forces don't have any so I assume it belonged to the Royal Air Force. First one I've ever seen in person. Neat!

There's probably a better community for asking this, but I haven't been able to find that one either.

What I'm looking for is a place to discuss ideas that encourages good-faith conversation, staying on topic, and being decent to one another - while actively discouraging mean-spirited, facetious, or bad-faith responses that focus on criticizing the person asking the question rather than engaging with the substance of it. And by “discouraging,” I mean active moderation with very low tolerance for that kind of commentary.

I can hear a bad bearing again, but in my infinite wisdom, I didn’t bother to write down what types of bearings this motor uses the last time I had it disassembled. So here I am again, trying to breathe some new life into these rusty mofos - hopefully, by the time I need to do this a third time, I’ll have clean, new replacements ready for all of them.

Also, I have no idea what I’m doing here, so here’s to hoping all the parts find their way back to the right spots and I don’t break anything else in the process.

Also, note to self: just buy them damn lockring pliers.

EDIT: I didn't fuck it up.

It’s not the correct answer I’m after - it’s the conversation. If that were the goal, I could’ve just googled it myself. I’d much rather spend a few minutes speculating with you about what bird it might’ve been than have you immediately look up the right answer.

In most cases, when you feel tempted to take out your phone during a face-to-face interaction, you probably shouldn’t.

As someone who's been dealing with a lot of low mood lately, it really brightens my day to hear someone express gratitude for my anonymous, unauthorized trail maintenance.

Text blurred for privacy reasons.

I'm still not quite happy with my current toolbox, so I’ve decided to design my own. I intend to follow the “first order retrievability” principle, meaning every tool should be accessible with one hand, without having to move anything else out of the way. I’ve made fixed tool holders from PVC pipe before - it’s a familiar, readily available material for me.

I haven’t settled on the final design yet - this sketch is just to get the idea across. My main issue is figuring out how to secure the pipes to the plywood frame. I can screw the first row into the sides and central divider, but the next row would either need to be attached to the surrounding pipes or mounted from the bottom. I’ve used screws thru the base before, and while it works, it tends to deform the pipe. I’m wondering if there’s an alternative I’m overlooking - ideally something that can also be disassembled later, since the design will probably go through several iterations.

I’m also open to any tips or ideas on what else to incorporate into the design. I’m a general handyman, so I’m carrying most of the common hand tools to jobs. For power tools, I have a separate bag.

I can try to find a picture of my current tool bag so you’ll have a better idea of the setup I’m aiming for.