>>17652
>To sharpen or polish

it's the same thing if you don't let a knife get dull but just touch it up after some use. ofc, if you wreck an edge you'll need a rough whetstone first. I don't really use knives but I keep them polished razor sharp and greased up to prevent oxidation which kinda tends to creep up on an edge in the dampy conditions of my 5.11 pants.

I just bought the large kit last night. I doubt I'm going to need to sharpen anything right away, though.

>>17650
>>17655

wat.

>>17647
99% of the time, all you need is to reset the edge. To do this, you hone it, like with one of those chef's steels. Other than that, just use waterstones. Be sure to let it soak for a min or two submerged in water before starting. Often, also, cheaper stones are not very flat, and need to be flattened before hand. You can rub two stones together to do this, as they will wear away at the high spots first. When sharpening, don't use heavy pressure, especially if you are using a finer stone. Let the grit do its work. Very little material needs to be removed generally anyway. Also don't get too autistic with it unless you are using this for culinary purposes (or so I hear, I am no chef) or shaving. A true razor's edge won't survive 10 seconds of real work.

If you don't know what to use or how to sharpen, I would strongly recommend against doing so and learning with free-hand. Yes, having an understanding and practical experience with doing it by hand is a good foundation to be able to revert to - but it also means a lot of trial and error and learning when and where you're fucking up. And many people aren't even aware of when they do.

The stones seem decent. Arkansas stones are good and will work and perform well on a myriad amount of steels. Stay the fuck away from aluminum-oxide (corundum) stones, however. Ceramic and diamond are king as far as I'm concerned.

As far as "systems" go, of the ones I've bought and used the two best are the Lanksy sharpener and the DMT Aligner. DMT Aligner, especially, is pretty fucking boss and well designed (DMT's diamond stones are also very, very good). Lansky has diamond hones as well and is more versatile and cheaper. Look into which works for you. Whatever you get, make sure you have angle control options.

Spyderco Sharpmaker is sub-optimal because of lack of angle control past the standard 15/20 DPS and the "medium"/gray stones that come standard are shit and useless for reprofiling - you're going to need CBN or diamond. That's about another ~$50 on top of the system to begin with. Then you'll want SF stones because they're fucking awesome to finish with - that's about $15 each (yes, you'll need two). I'd just as soon avoid. I barely use my Sharpmaker outside of specialty sharpening now.

Despite it's legion of fans (...why?), the Edge Pro and it's many clones are some of the shittiest available. I hate the living fuck out of using them. Not only does the original Edge Pro not have a clamp system (automatic disqualification due to movements therefore causing changes in your apex angle), but the clamp system clones are annoying because you have to remove the clamp and turn the blade over to do the other side. Fuck these systems. I'm baffled that people actually like them.

Next on my list is a KME system. Expensive (around $200) and there aren't a ton of options, but it seems like one of the best designed systems out there.

TL;DR version: That's okay, but it's just decent-looking stones in a wood box to make you pay more for it. I'd suggest a DMT Aligner or Lansky guided sharpener. YMMV.

>>17812
I had the Lansky sharpening system. Damn good, I miss it. But I had to leave it behind in Florida because it was too heavy for my check bags.

I need to pick up a whet stone and start doing it by hand again. I got too comfortable with a sharpening system that I feel I lost my competence doing it the old fashioned way. I need to get that back.

I remember seeing whet stones at Harbor Freight. It was a glance, so I don't know if they're any good or not. I'll go investigate and see if they're worth the $2.

>>17491
I don't really care to do the subload thing. Not that my fat dumb ass is going to be doing much running in the first place. But I guess that means that what running I can/will do should be as unimpaired as possible. Since it's only a israeli bandage and tq (and maybe some celox gauze) going on the belt, it won't need much real estate.

There's also no point in me standardizing to anyone else's standard, since there's no longer anyone in my local AO I trust to roll deep with.

No idea what class you mean. So I guess that's a no. A cursory google search brings up something in early August. There's really no way for me to know this far ahead of time if my work schedule will permit me to take a Monday-Tuesday class and by the time I know the class will probably be full. So I guess that's a double no.

Are there any good $10 trauma shears, or are the ones in the $20+ range the way to go? I only own 2 pairs and need to buy more

>>17757
what's wrong with the $3 chinese shears?

>>17767
Any specific one on Amazon or eBay that has a good reputation?

>>17757

EMT here.

If you're using em to cut clothes, the 10 dollar ones are fine. If you gotta cut through something thicker (the example that comes to mind for me is the harness firefighters put on you to pull you out of a car when they can't get the doors open) its probably gonna break em.

tl:dr unless you use em professionally, the cheap ones are fine

A custom, old-fashion stiletto with triple-hollow ground blade

A custom compact-SK3

The rifle has an M16A2 style handguard FYI, but has a very small trirail at the front.

A one piece light+mount is acceptable as long as it's AA or AAA since those are the batteries available and I use with my kit.

Grab a set of cheap Weaver or pic compatable scope rings. 1" would probably be fine. Maybe 20mm if your light is a thin AAA light. Can use a strip of cut up bicycle inner tube or some other bit of rubber to shim up the body of the light and add traction so the light doesn't slide in the ring.

Its ghetto but should do the job.

>>17733
Thanks bruh, I got one of these low profile QD mounts and it should fit the role perfectly.

The shoulder yoke is very well padded indeed. It rubs on my neck but without taking it on a march I don't know how much that would irritate me. It feels very stable and with the belt tightened down I don't feel as much weight on my shoulders as I thought I would.

First complaint is this buckle. I'm just not used to it, but I think I would prefer some sort of quick release clip. This holds very snug and doesn't back off that I've found. But it takes a few seconds to get tight, where as I feel like a buckle would be a lot quicker.

Here is my biggest concern. The material is nice, but it feels plasticy (Don't know how else to describe it). All the stitching is single stitching. No idea if this will be an issue at all, but I'll be keeping an eye on things to watch for bits coming undone.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this purchase!

Disciple is ok, I think Dragon Supplies or Jay Jay's of Brecon would be better quality.

The roll pin is a solid choice, if you add or remove layers then the belt will always be exactly the right tightness. Whereas with a traditional buckle you'd have to adjust it.

I also secure the roll pin belt using adhesive velcro (reinforced with superglue), but that's just me.

http://www.tacticaltailor.com/mavbody2piece.aspx and
http://www.tacticaltailor.com/xharness.aspx

I don't have experience with with Armasight stuff, although it looks good. I do have a pair of Pulsar nods. They are nowhere near as good as Gen III, which is what I'm used to, but they can be used for familiarization if you have an IR light mounted to your helmet. I like the pulsar pair because they mount to the standard rhino mount without too much fuss.

If you're planning to use these for anything other than just getting used to nods or some limited indoor use, I recommend you save your money. Pic related, my helmet and cheapo nods.

I had a gen 1 monocular as a kid.

Save your jewgold to get at least gen2 tube equipped. Gen1 works but is supershit.

>>17724
How did you mount the pulsar to your rhino arm? Did you build an adapter or is there one available commercially?

>>17727
The standard j-arm fits the pulsar. No modifications required.

I am going to go with the spark...it is basically Gen II without the microchannel plate (so it is technically Gen 1+).

I have a plain Western-style leather belt and holster rig for my Ruger Vaquero.

I'm currently using my Dickies web belt. It's pretty rigid, but I think it's eventually going to warp once I start carrying daily after I move.

Any good budget belts? I'm going to be using my Dickies belt without much regret because I don't care that it will eventually warp, but I do see the benefits of a more rigid belt and longevity.

I've been wearing the Carhartt leather and webbing belt

http://www.theworkingmanstore.com/browseproducts/A159-Leather-and-Web-Belt.HTML

I found it at a surplus store and it has been holding up really well, worked great with Comp-Tac's C-Clip for holsters. But from what I can gathered it's no longer in production :(

>>17714
I second this recommendation. Though I never tuck in my shirt, so I don't think anyone ever sees it. Frankly, it's mostly the COBRA buckle that makes it look mall ninja. At a glance it looks more like a cloth belt that teenagers wear.

I wear a $15 black factory second 5.11 "OPERATOR" belt erry day because my nice 214 gear cobra belt was getting a liiiiitle tight for the moment. It's pretty dumb but it's still less gay than the big fucking wannabe cowboy buckles most of these fudds and bubbas are wearing. Works quite well, wish it was less obvious but for the price I'm very happy.

Next belt will be something leather and smaller from safariland simply because I can get them quite cheap.

>>17701

>The only thing going for the woodmobile is that it runs (poorly) on firewood.

That's it entirely. If you've got nothing else you can still use wood. Until the wood is all gone.

>>17706
And then you end up like Haiti.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_in_Haiti

  This is now saw general thread

>>17697
>>17702
Many diesel engines can be made to run on straight vegetable oil, no need to convert the oil to biodiesel.

>>17709

Yeah, but my reading indicates that SVO comes with a few issues of its own, notably gelling and oxidative polymerization, the latter of which can apparently BTFO an ICE in fairly short order.

Besides, with biodiesel, I'll be able to just pump it straight into literally anything that takes diesel, from my second-echelon standby generators, to an old Muhsaydes TDI, to a fuckin' bush plane without having to fuck around with any of their gaskets and seals and whatever the hell else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL1n0BnWsME

http://www.glockstore.com/Advanced-Holster-Mini-Concealment-Holster

To be clear...I do not honestly advocate the use of Fobus holsters...They don't seem to conceal well, retain well, or not-break well. First hand experience.

>>17642
I know to avoid them, quality a shit and that design is pants on hand retarded.

There's a few I'm looking at and there's a local kydex holster maker whose prices aren't crazy. Might go that route.

>>17643
It's also not that hard or cost intensive to roll your own kydex. You seem handy enough and once you've put together a press and presuming you have access to an oven, you can make a holster for just a few bucks. Order some rivets and belt attachment hardware, and you're good to go.

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?64714-How-to-make-a-Kydex-holster-Picture-Tutorial

Ended up ordering this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TFECAT6/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I hear good things about Blade Tech and the clip looks like it has good retention. Now I just need to find some cheap mag pouches.

>>17645
Windows, bruh.

>>17645
crack a window or two about an inch and you're set.

Kerosene fumes are not noxious unlike gasoline.

My parents have a few kerosene lamps that they would use for power outages and such. They can be pretty neat.

>>17631

lel

I still haven't gotten around to replacing that goddamn $150 lamp.

>>17645

Only if it isn't burning properly. A wick lamp will gutter or smoke visibly, a mantle lamp... actually, I'm not entirely certain what a mantle lamp will do. The practical upshot is, however, that it isn't nearly as big a deal as people think -- not even with the big kerosene heaters I use as backup heating in winter.

By all means, do buy a CO detector or two, and keep abreast of batteries and testing.

Not to mention a goddamn smoke alarm...

Waifu and I use one of these LUCI lights all the time. Originally it was just for a tent, but it's kind of fun to use at home too. Ours can switch through a bunch of colors. They're only like 15 dollarbux online and at REI.


Lanterns are too bulky, delicate and heavy for any of my needs. This thing is like a itty bitty beech ball with a solar panel. Only weighs a couple ounces and puts out plenty of light for any need that doesn't require a headlamp.