Viracnis

Garufa beat me to it.   I bought that pad for mine and absolutely love it.     I've never had more fun at the range than I had shooting clay pigeons off the berm with a Mosin AFTER I put the sissy pad on there.   Before the pad, I hated shooting that gun from my shoulder!

Finally talked Dad into getting his TN HCP by buying him the class for Father's day.  He took the class on the 6th, filled out the paperwork on the 7th and got his HCP yesterday (the 21st) in the mail!   Seemed like a pretty speedy turn-around time to me!  Thought I'd share.

Awesome start-to-finish video of a guy forging and grinding out a straight razor.   http://youtu.be/tvFO3TqhDj0   There's something hypnotizing about it.  I've watched it twice.    

Looks like Bodock.   We used to split it and make charcoal out of it for the forge.  Stuff's tough as nails!   Edit: A google search corrected me.  It is spelled bois d'arc.

I googled TN 2014 SB1438 and found this:   http://openstates.org/tn/bills/108/SB1438/documents/TND00030600/   I couldn't quickly find the text of the previous attempt at this - anyone got it that could compare to see what changes were made?

Looking at this FAQ thread about prohibited carry locations, it contains a link referencing a thread detailing which parks are closed.  The link doesn't work!   I tried searching for the list using the search tool and didn't have immediate results, though I'll admit to a week Google-fu day.   Thanks,    V.

Very cool tool.  The greatest difference between a specialty metal worker (bladesmith, ferrier, etc) and a true blacksmith is the ability to make their own tools.   There was a blacksmith in the boro that taught me a lot about modern smithing.  He had one of these hanging on his wall and I always wondered what it was used for.   Later, in Pigeon Forge the same scenario - there were a few of these in a back room that I always wanted to get up the nerve to ask about but did not want to waste my teacher's valuable time. Because of that, these have always had a certain mysticism about them to me - that magical blacksmithing tool that they "all" have but that sit in a back room unused in most cases.  Thank you for finally solving the mystery!   Do you mind my asking what it's made from?  New steel or something repurposed/reengineered?  The eye looks a bit like a car spring but the cross-section seems too thin.   Did you harden it at all?  I'm struggling to decide if you'd want to leave it soft (for whomping on it with said wooden whomper) or harden it to hold its edge better.  Does the profile do most of the work or is the edge important?

I've been thinking about putting a brass stacker with a scope on mine and picking up a cheap ATI sporter stock for it.   Then I could swap it into the sporter stock for hog hunting, and back for lookin' purdy in the safe.   But the Archangel stock and the extended mags seem over kill, I agree.  But then, I think a $1200 1911 is overkill.

Someone posted this on my Google +, thought I'd share it here.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=682JLrsUmEM#t=182   Old 20/20 on Gun Violence vs Gun Control   My favorite line - from the "Felony criminal":  I ain't worried about the government telling me I can't carry a gun, I'm gonna carry a gun anyway.

Earlier this year a friend in China sent me a package with some of the usual tourist junk in it - keychains, T-shirts, shot glasses (I've got quite a collection of shot glasses from this guy) and a tea set for my wife.   I got the notice on a Thursday that the package was delivered and waiting at the post office.  I went on Friday and they couldn't find it - there was no tracking number on the notice that I got on my door, so they couldn't look it up and they said there was nothing in the computer about a package.  They said they'd try delivery again on Monday, and would include a tracking number on the slip.  A week later, still no new slip on the door.   Finally called and talked to the post master - it had been sent back to china the day they tried to deliver it because the guy in the delivery truck had actually been holding onto it without even trying to deliver for over a week.  They admitted this over the phone and in person - he'd had it a week, so they sent it back.  They called this a "goof up" and tried to make it out like it was no big deal.  That was about 4 months ago.  Friend in China isn't anymore - he's back home in the US - and the last time anyone was able to tell me where the package was, it stuck in Customs getting back through.  They're saying it'll probably not make it through Customs because of the tea samples in the tea set, and since they can't "return to sender" since the sender is in China, they'll probably hold the package for a while then destroy it (per what the person on the phone told me).   I ship Fedex or UPS now exclusively.

It's not super tacti-cool - but I recently swapped my maxpedition to a Powerbag by Ful.  I carry the sling-style and it's got two big compartments.  When it's not on my belt, I carry my handgun in the front compartment and my laptop in the rear.  And it has the advantage of charging my phone/tablet on the go!   They have several full-size backpacks that I've been looking at possibly upgrading into.  I think I paid less than $30 for my sling style on Woot! and I see the full size bags on there regularly for about that same price.   - V

As much as I hate the idea of spinnoffs, I think I'd probably watch just about any zombie show that they put out - just because my wife so avidly adores the genre.  Yeah, the wife... that's it.     A daily zombie soap would be absolutely amazing.

My google-fu is apparently weaker than I thought.   Some time back my wife fell in love with a Taurus PT111 in 9mm at Academy and brought it home to be her new carry gun.  She's been carrying it off and on in her purse in a cheap "$5 gun show" holster, but she isn't comfortable with it in her bag and wants it on her person.  I fully support this!   In my efforts to demonstrate how supportive I am of this, I've bought her two holsters based on Google searches - one a leather IWB and the other a plastic paddle-type OWB and neither of them came anywhere close to actually fitting the gun despite the packaging and listing saying they are for the PT111 Millennium Pro in 9mm.  She's getting discouraged and I can't really blame her.   So rather than wasting another $40 on a holster that won't work - I thought I'd ask you fine folks for some advice.  Anybody have experience carrying this gun OWB that can point me in the direction of a decent leather holster for it?   I had her try on my Old Faithful IWB holster and she absolutely hated the very concept of it being inside her jeans - so I'm leaning toward an OWB leather holster.  She really likes the way my cheap-o paddle holster is easy to take on and off but says she'd be more likely to carry it regularly if she had a leather holster with a matching belt - I got a little watery-eyed when she called the black plastic holster "tacticool".  Do they even make a leather paddle holster for this gun?    

One of the talking heads (am I using that term correctly?) on the morning news said she'd left something inside and had to go back for it.  Her keys, maybe?  Would certainly explain why she went back inside - and why she didn't just leave.

I really like that cap.  The wood/stag combo is one I've always really enjoyed - and that cap is a really good execution of it!

Are those holes for a pocket clip?!   I think Oh Shoot is right on the money.  That's a big knife - anything bigger is a short sword.

That looks like a great setup.  I'll bet even if you had a "proper" anvil you'd find yourself using that one for small stuff just for the easy size.  I know I would.  Layering that metal in the bucket was a great idea.     There was an SCA smith that I saw use a sledge hammer head set into an old wooden stump for his anvil.  He had to sit cross legged on the ground to work at the forge (a hole in the ground lined with rocks, usually) and anvil and produced BEAUTIFUL work on that old setup.   I wonder if you could set a piece of square channel in the concrete to hold hardy tools like hot-cuts and fullers?

  I thought so too - but my wife reminded me that I'll probably "lose" about 20lbs in fecal buildup the moment I realized I had to jump out of a 120 story window.  Just keep a change of pants and some baby wipes right next to the backpack for emergency situations.

  How would prison cut down on welfare?  Isn't prison the ultimate welfare state?  Three free meals, room and board, cable, a workout facility...   I'm not saying it's penthouse living, but THEY sure aren't paying for their prison stay.  We'd be paying for them in there just like we're paying for them out here.

1.) A pump shotgun with a medium-length barrel so I can hunt critters or creepers.  My Mossberg Maverick 88 fits my needs here. 2.) A .45 or .9mm with a steel frame and a goodly supply of magazines.  My 1911CS is juuuuuust right. 3.) A short-ish boar spear with a reasonable slashing edge.  Good for hunting, slashing, chopping and piercing. The double edge means you're deadly on the backswing while the long haft means you can "choke up" in a two handed grip if you need power.     #3 is my going theory right now.  My SHTF bag has an aluminum bat in it for this role right now, but I've got some good sketches for the boar spear for the next time I fire up the forge.  

  Publix in Spring Hill.   Manager apologized for the confusion, actually.  Said she called the non-emergency police number to find out it was legal for her to ask if I had my HCP and the dispatcher sent a cop to check things out.  Mrs. Viracnis was more bent out of shape over it than I was.  Sadly, it seems like it comes with the territory anymore.  Friend I was with that grew up there said that it used to be totally normal to see shotguns in truck windows and even his liberal dad kept one in the farm truck for snakes and the odd skunk.   - V

I've never seen that site, but reading through the article it seems to be satire of some type.. right?

Was "spotted" on Sunday in the grocery store and thought I'd put this here - not so much what *I* said, but what the cop said that I thought deserved being recorded for posterity:   Apparently one of my fellow shoppers noticed my 1911 (why were they looking at my butt in the first place?) and reported it to management who called the police.  Cop showed up, was SUPER professional and it really put me at ease how calm he was the whole time.  After he'd checked my HCP I asked if I needed to leave the store, since the owner/manager was obviously uncomfortable with my being there.  The cop said:   "Oh hell no.  If you're legal, you're legal.  If they don't like it, they can go pound sand."   He got what sounded like an urgent radio call before I got to talk to him much, or I'd have loved to get his name to report to his supervisor how well he handled the situation.    - V

Since the cops would be right there, could you get them to run the numbers to see if it's stolen before you buy it?   - V

I carry this same SOG model in my bag. It used to be my daily carry pocket knife, but as an IT Analyst I don't really find myself needing it enough to warrant the extra pocket space - so it goes in the sling bag that I carry with me everywhere instead. This was one of the first serious multi-tools that I got (wife gave it to me as a gift shortly after we got married) and I've purchased several multi-tools since - including Gerber and Leatherman - but I keep going back to the SOG. It's just a darn fine knife with the tools I need! I need to find another one to toss in my BoB.