Current obsession: Cold Steel Trail Hawk

Just look at those clean lines. Brilliant form and function. And for around $20, it's hard not to buy one just to try it out.

First, I was hung up on hawk vs hatchet, but once I defined the differences, it was a lot easier. A hatchet is better at splitting, heavier, and well suited to hang out in camp. While a hawk should be lighter, and handier so you carry it more on the trail, and have an easier job bridging the gap between hatchet and your camp carry fixed blade. I made the decision to pick two tools best suited for two jobs, as opposed to one that was OK at both. If you'd prefer the single tool solution, you might consider the rifleman's hawk, which is one of their heavier hawks.

Once I defined my objective in bringing a hawk as portability, the other hawks cold steel offers didn't hold much appeal. There is also a significant modding community for these light, inexpensive tools, which makes them even more appealing, even if you only drop $20 for a piece you can put some elbow grease into, and hang on your wall.

The only reason I don't have one with me right now is because I have the cold steel kukri machete and the cold steel special forces shovel, which I still think needs a saw side. After I defined the objective for the hawk, it became clear the others were not perfectly suited for the position. Also, I was unem-fucking-ployed, and as much as I love getting a bug up my butt about some lovely piece of edged metal and buying it on the spot, we gotta eat.

I wasn't always a fan of cold steel products, but they've really stepped up their designs while maintaining a price point that makes complaining about them harder than buying them. I will stick with their simple designs (usually anything that relies on a roughly cut hunk of metal), but I haven't touched any of their folders or anything from their "premium" line. I might be able to talk about them more seriously when they stop prominently featuring fat dudes in suits throwing spears at car hoods, or demonstrating how anything that's made of metal will go through sheet metal with enough force. Seriously guys, dial back the sensationalism. (he said, as he bought more cold steel products)

Also, this is awesome;


I gotta get out to the desert.

Oh yeah, the edge will likely need touching up, and a hex screw keeping the head on the handle is bullshit. Reprofile the edge, and take the screw out. A hawk handle is larger on one end to keep the head on. (apply directly to the forehead)

Stop ignoring me.

Don't act like you're not thinking about me. Don't act like you don't remember the fun we had. Don't act like you don't remember the hours and hours we spent together. Don't act like we never had something. Don't act like we didn't have good times and bad. Don't act like I didn't take your breath away. Don't act like we didn't soar in victory together. Don't act like we didn't suffer crushing failure together. Don't act like you don't want to go back to those times.

Don't act like you don't want me.

Don't act like you don't want to play.

You'll only be fooling yourself.

Blame Josh.

I blame Josh for making me buy this.

I think the conversation went something like this:
ET: well... off to the eye doctor then b&n then range... must... not... go... to ... gun show...
J: Dude, just give in. Go to the gun show.
ET: ok
J: wow...that was easy
ET: yeah... did you really think it would be hard?

I take that as an admission of guilt.

I pulled out 100 bucks and my list of stuff I need from the gun show. I made a pretty good dent in the list.

2 canteens and canteen belt holders
1 high quality gun belt
1 shotgun 5 shell holding butt sleeve
1 shotgun shell bandoleer
1 belt double pistol mag pouch
1 belt single pistol mag pouch
1 metal rail to attach to AR plastic handguard
30 rifled shotgun slugs ($20!)
1 mid-grade rail-mountable bipod

I spent every last penny of the $100 (was actually 60 cents short on the belt, but the guy gave it to me :) and had a good sack of loot to show for it.

I didn't have to leave though first building, I could have gone around it...

But I didn't.

8 days to go.

Adventures in Blogger

Wow.

I was digging through some of my old notes and ran across something I suspected but never researched about how the the blogger publishing works. Basically, it was a cheap way to get seen and pick up a bit more traffic. I don't know if I tried this at some off-hours time last time, but I just tried it again, and all I can say is, Damn. That's a lot of traffic.

It would be pretty easy for me to toss together a script that would take advantage of this, but I realize that while I may have increased the quantity of visits, I doubt I've increased the quality...

It's tempting to play with... But I think I'm going to hold off on this for now...

Um... so... yeah... Maybe a little bit more... For testing...

glock *sigh*

Went with my sister and brother-in-law to the range on Sunday; they're interested in purchasing their first gun. I brought my XD-9 and my 1911 (which they both shot VERY well), and we rented a few guns to try out. I begrudgingly admitted that they should check out the .45 glock (g21) and even shot a partial mag out of it. First time shooting a glock in a long time, mushy rental trigger, and since it was a .45 it was big as a brick. I would have been happy to keep all the shots on the paper. 9 shots, all within a 3"x3" square over the X. Just like all the other times. I hate glocks, and I hate even more that I shoot them so well. I guess there's no way around it.

My brother-in-law summed it up nicely for someone still new to shooting, "It feels like shit, but it shoots great!" Quite so... I hate glocks so much that I'm going to have to buy one.

Urge to shop rising...

I just noticed that the Wii shopping channel has the most PERFECT shopping music!

Must... buy... Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past... GAH!

Cigar Smokery Part 2! Revenge of Castro's Ghost!

I've been sniffing for long enough. Yesterday I pulled my larger-than-expected partially smoked Cuban cigar out of the brushed aluminum (looking?) cigar tube my girlfriend got me for Christmas, and fired it up.

I only puffed on it for a short while before putting it out and returning it to it's tube.

I suspect I got more enjoyment from the after-smell and after-taste than from the actual puffing. Perhaps I should have just limited myself to only enough to get the taste in my mouth and smell on my fingers.

The smell faded from my clothing rather quickly (much to my girlfriend's pleasure), but the memory and the taste would linger much longer.

Even now I remember fondly the spicy flavor, and smell.

I knew that I had an addictive personality, so I wanted to make sure that even if I longed for one, I'd be able to resist. No problems there. A few months without a cigar, while wanting the flavor a few times a week is pretty good for me. Good enough that I felt no guilt as I struck the match yesterday.

Last night I told my girlfriend that I had heard that cigars were not as bad for you as cigarettes. She said that she'd heard the opposite. So I hopped on the net today and looked around.

A quick Google search revealed that cigars were not only as deadly as cigarettes, but they also were MORE deadly. Additionally, one could expect a 10% shorter life span if one were to smoke a cigar, hold a cigar in ones' mouth, or be within 20 feet of a lit cigar. Further troubling news was discovered when I found report after report noting that cigars cause erectile dysfunction, minor blindness, male pattern baldness, ugliness, getting kicked in the shin, and makes your nipples fall off! Even minor cigar smoking causes paralysis, uncontrollable bowels, impotence, your fingernails to fall off, your retinas to detach, your limbs to fall off and attack you under their own power, and an assortment of voodoo curses to be placed on your children, spouse, extended family, coworkers, mailman, doctor, and people who owe you money. Also, you have to fight Metal Gear.

It seemed that I couldn't get a single straight answer. My research results were flooded with biased "studies" and interestingly-worded "findings". Then I remembered this. Guess it applies to cigars too.

While it may be that cigars have much of the same bad stuff cigarettes do, I don't think there's much risk in my incredibly infrequent smoking of a quarter of a cigar.

As for those idiots and their agenda; they can all go blow a goat. I'll smoke just to piss them off.

Uh-ohs...

When you publish a post on blogger.com it puts your blog at the head of a queue that seems to be used in a number of locations. One of which seems to be the "Next Blog" button in the top right corner of every blogger.com blog.

After I published my previous post, I hit the sitemeter to see if people were sick of me not posting enough to stop showing up (not quite yet, I'll have to try harder!). I saw that the most recent view was referred from the following URL: http://onlinehelptoquitsmoking.blogspot.com/. Since there are no links to my blog on the site, the only way I could get a referrer from there would be for that person to hit the "Next Blog" button.

Sadly, this poor soul was researching how to quit smoking, and chose to view a random blog which happened to be one with a recent post on how I'm enjoying smoking cigars.

I'm doing the devil's work.

But hey; it's a free country, and it's your body. Should you wish to treat it badly you should be able to ruin it as you see fit! I'm merely a messenger.

Cigar Smokery

While in Mexico I picked up some Cuban cigars (how could I not?). I was never one for smoking, but couldn't resist partaking in what is explicitly verboten in the US.

I puffed and coughed and choked and generally had a miserable time. But I did it. When then time came to return, I can neither confirm or deny having returned with some.

Since then I've been slowly smoking them whenever I felt the compulsion, but never felt driven to do so. Only recently have I started craving the tobacco taste infrequently. Now that I've developed a taste for the cigars I find myself at the last few inches of my last one, and reluctant to finish. I'm even more reluctant to go to a cigar shop and buy more.

It's a bit of a vice, and I could easily give it up, but if I'm not doing it in excess, why should I worry?

I dunno. Lately I've been content sniffing the bit of cigar I have left, but am finding it increasingly difficult to be satisfied with just that.

Blast!

Today's the last day of a sale at Turners that knocks $20 of a Yugo SKS, AND it happens to be payday. Bad combination.

I'd rather spend the money on an AK parts kit, and some flats. Actually, I'd rather just get both!

Bah! I need to get some sleep. I'll update later to let you guys know if I was strong enough to resist...