Multitool.org Forum
+-

Hello Lurker! Remove this ad and much more by logging in.


Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread

pomsbz · 495 · 16718

il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
on: December 31, 2017, 06:43:00 PM
Hi folk.

Thought I'd open my own little room on the forum.

I'm Ben.



English born and bred, Scottish parents, Irish blood but now living in Jerusalem where it's, um, hotter. :D

I'm a photographer by profession. I spent a decade doing this:



while doing this kind of thing as a hobby:



Since then my walking has become rather limited with feet that look like this:



So now I manage a reproduction studio for a museum and spent some time as the art director for a local college.

Oh and I dream, all the time, of being able to get outdoors and escape the prison of urbanity despite my physical limitations.

Once upon a time I used to fantasise about buying these kinds of things.



Now I look at this kind of thing and go 'wow'! :D



So I hope you will join me for a journey of EDC, tools, bags and hope!

"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


us Offline Nix

  • *
  • Absolute Zombie Club
  • *********
    • Posts: 24,263
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #1 on: December 31, 2017, 06:50:23 PM
Great photos, Ben. Glad you've found a new passion.

 :cheers:

Can you share the story behind that X-ray?


us Offline twiliter

  • *
  • Absolutely No Life Club
  • *******
    • Posts: 5,520
  • motionless wheel, nothing is real
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #2 on: December 31, 2017, 06:54:13 PM
Nice room Ben, I like the photos!  :cheers:


us Offline Butch

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,422
  • Douglas's papa
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #3 on: December 31, 2017, 06:55:41 PM
 :like:
Shoot low sheriff, they're riddin' shetlands
SAKMC unit number BR549
137% Redneck
I would like to apologise to anyone I have not offended. Please be patient, I will get to you shortly.
Just a small personal observation.  ...........I would not be at all surprised that when God created the Earth & the heavens, that the SwissChamp was the tool he used. .............. :hatsoff:


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #4 on: December 31, 2017, 07:01:15 PM
So there I was, a photographer who had never heard of the term EDC. My pocket carry consisted of the most ginormous ring of keys, so much so that I carried a pocket diary to shield my leg from them. My wallet was a massive tri-fold stuffed to the max with irrelevant nonsense and yeah, that was about it. Then there was an article on a photography blog called Strobist which referenced the Art of Manliness. Specifically how to make a mini roll of duct tape. Photographers don't carry duct tape. They carry gaffer tape. Everywhere. We use it for everything on the planet. I started reading AoM and then once they referenced a site called Everyday Carry. I started to realise that wallets did not have to weigh as much as the starship enterprise and that there might be a solution for my keys. Oh and there was this strange idea of carrying a knife. My wife had always carried a SAK but I'd never seen the need.

Fast forward a few months, I'd just closed down my wedding business and had some spare cash from selling off gear. It didn't take long before my carry started looking like this:



But my first ever blades were a LM Skeletool and Style CS combo that I bought myself for my birthday.



I was starting to realise just how useful this whole multitool shtick was.


"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


fi Offline AlephZero

  • *
  • *
  • Absolutely No Life Club
  • *******
    • Posts: 7,636
  • Smurf smash!
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #5 on: December 31, 2017, 07:01:26 PM
Love it, Ben!

 :cheers:
"Hoarder of weirdness,
Always posting random things,
I'm AlephZero" :ninja:


ie Offline Don Pablo

  • *
  • Zombie Apprentice
  • ********
    • Posts: 15,292
  • Yoo-hoo, big summer blowout!
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #6 on: December 31, 2017, 07:02:37 PM
Grant and I have a long way to go, in terms of metal in our bodies, to catch up with you.  :ahhh
« Last Edit: December 31, 2017, 07:03:45 PM by Pablo O'Brien »
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #7 on: December 31, 2017, 07:02:44 PM
Great photos, Ben. Glad you've found a new passion.

 :cheers:

Can you share the story behind that X-ray?

I have a muscle degenerative disease. The xray is what having both ankle and foot fused looks like. I'm literally walking on two peg legs. No movement below the knee period.
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


us Offline Poncho65

  • Global Moderator
  • *
  • Just Bananas
  • *
    • Posts: 85,893
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #8 on: December 31, 2017, 07:04:58 PM
Love the pics :tu: :like:

I really like to see these kinds of threads :tu:

It is always good to see what people do outside the MT world :like: and how you came to carry what you do :tu: :like:


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #9 on: December 31, 2017, 07:05:37 PM
The Skeletool! Well I rode an electric bike at the time, my main commuting transport and it kept breaking down. Plus all the equipment and computers in work. I've written a review here on the site but I'll just paraphrase the conclusion. The perfect urbanite EDC plier multitool.



I swapped the blade out for the 154cm version. Neither 420hc or a combo blade did it for me.
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #10 on: December 31, 2017, 07:08:28 PM
In the meantime I was learning the concept of the blade. My first knife was a CRKT Swindle. Nice little knife but I learnt soon that a) locking blades were illegal to carry here (except a MT which is a weird loophole) and b) I really don't like cheap steel or hollow grind.



That said, my first EDC blade was a Case Sodbuster which was both of the above. Carried it daily for 6 months. Never fell in love with it I'm afraid.

"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #11 on: December 31, 2017, 07:10:48 PM
In the meantime more of the EDC bug had bitten. I had got a decent fountain pen (Lamy Studio), some nice inks and a whole pile of notebooks.



I soon realised that I loved the Clairefontaine notebooks. I fill about 6 a year currently.

"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


fi Offline AlephZero

  • *
  • *
  • Absolutely No Life Club
  • *******
    • Posts: 7,636
  • Smurf smash!
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #12 on: December 31, 2017, 07:10:56 PM
Skeletool is what I had when I joined MTO!
"Hoarder of weirdness,
Always posting random things,
I'm AlephZero" :ninja:


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #13 on: December 31, 2017, 07:12:02 PM
By the way folks, I'm busy writing stuff while waiting for a meeting so please forgive me not replying to you all individually as yet, trying to lay some foundations to the thread. :)
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #14 on: December 31, 2017, 07:19:01 PM
Wallets!

I started with the dreaded tri-fold. I would get to work, out it would come onto the desk. Get home, ditto. At some point I wondered why the heck I was carrying it if I didn't want to carry it! I discovered the concept of front pocket carry. What a crazy idea. Oh but what a good one!

This was my progression.



On top the ubiquitous chiropracter bank account friendly tri-fold. Next I tried the 'magic wallet'. They're pennies on ebay and actually work really really well. I would still recommend them. I bought the Verge from a kickstarter campaign (actually privately afterwards from the seller).  Still a beautiful wallet but coins are used a lot in this country. I had to find something new. Then I saw the Natsu Minimalist Wallet campaign on Kickstarter. A truly tiny wallet, does coins, notes and cards. I jumped on the bandwagon and then upgraded it for the Crazy Horse Leather version a year later. I've seen some great wallet designs. Heck the market is full of them right now. I would still never buy anything else.

"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #15 on: December 31, 2017, 07:21:19 PM
I was lucky early on to discover what is for me probably the best slicer in existence and most of my EDC knife usage is food based.

The awesome Opinel.



I'm on my second now, the first one had an accident, such a great knife.
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #16 on: December 31, 2017, 07:23:15 PM
I had bought a couple more knives. Heck, when you realise how much canon pro lenses cost, this was pocket change right? :D



Queen Copperhead in curly zebra.



Northwoods Willamette Whittler in blue camel bone.
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #17 on: December 31, 2017, 07:26:33 PM
Well actually the Queen was the second model I got, the first was so bad I returned it to the store. The second one was fine other than for a very thick blade behind the edge. It simply wouldn't cut anything. I made the grave mistake of taking it in to a 'pro' sharpening shop here in town. The resulting blade was so bad I can see it in my nightmares still. He'd taken a dremel to it to try and thin it down. I sent it back to the US to a sharpening guy in MI and this was the result.





A thin slicer far sharper than D2 ever had the right to be. A really incredible blade.
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #18 on: December 31, 2017, 07:28:49 PM
The Willamette Whittler? Well I discovered that I didn't like patina, 1095 steel gave a really nasty taste to my apples, 1095 didn't hold it's edge that long and the blade shape didn't suit me. My most beautiful knife but it sat in the display cabinet while the Queen was carried for a year straight.
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


nz Offline Syncop8r

  • Absolutely No Life Club
  • *******
    • Posts: 8,763
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #19 on: December 31, 2017, 07:29:52 PM
Cool thread Ben.  :tu:  :popcorn:


wales Offline Smashie

  • *
  • Absolutely No Life Club
  • *******
    • Posts: 5,321
  • Smurf it!
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #20 on: December 31, 2017, 07:33:24 PM
Awesome thread Ben  :like:
“Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.” - Socrates
"I'm not feeling very talky today, off you smurf". - Smashie
Complaining is mental preparation for failure.
Si vis pacem, para bellum


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #21 on: December 31, 2017, 07:38:16 PM
You will probably not be surprised that I enjoy a pipe, albeit relatively rarely, just don't find the time much these days.











"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #22 on: December 31, 2017, 07:40:59 PM
When I said above that I carried the Queen everyday for a year, not quite everyday. This is my suit knife.





Did I mention that I always carry a hank?

"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


us Offline Butch

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,422
  • Douglas's papa
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #23 on: December 31, 2017, 07:41:32 PM
Doin' good, keep going............ :climber:
Shoot low sheriff, they're riddin' shetlands
SAKMC unit number BR549
137% Redneck
I would like to apologise to anyone I have not offended. Please be patient, I will get to you shortly.
Just a small personal observation.  ...........I would not be at all surprised that when God created the Earth & the heavens, that the SwissChamp was the tool he used. .............. :hatsoff:


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #24 on: December 31, 2017, 07:47:31 PM
At that time I was having problems with my LM Style CS, Specifically the scissors which kept opening at the pivot. I sent them back, they came back the same. It's a two month business to send a Leatherman for repair here and you have to pay $5 shipping. I contacted LM and then had a prolonged fight to get it sent back again. I decided to investigate a different idea.

My first ever SAK. The wonderful Rambler!



It was missing something however. I'm not really into plastic. Under whatever pseudonym. I was lurking around MTforums back then and found out there was someone here who could help.

This was the result via some Grenadil wood scales.



The LM Style CS has not seen my keychain since.
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #25 on: December 31, 2017, 07:48:21 PM
The Rambler on another hank.

"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #26 on: December 31, 2017, 08:00:18 PM
Not sure I've mentioned flashlights yet.

When I was in the army I had a Maglite Mini. My pride and joy. Some years later I put in a 3 LED insert and wow, it got even better. But then I started the EDC game and suddenly my (beautiful) Prometheus Beta QR keychain light was about 4 times as powerful. Hmmm. What to do? I'd been used to an AA solution, in some ways I still believe it's one of the most sensible. I skipped the Eagletac I should have bought and got a Nitecore M21A. A really nice flashlight though on reflection the UI is annoying. But what power and what throw! But by then it wasn't enough. A Thrunite TN-12 2014 quickly followed (it's still my bedside light). My excellent and bombproof Eagletac D25AAA keyring light was replaced, I wanted a clicky rather than a twisty for one handed operation. The Prometheus had sadly been lost a year before that. My wife inhereted the Eagletac and I bought the L3 illuminations L11C in Nichia. As a photographer I really appreciated Nichia!



But the L11c broke and then it's replacement broke too. I liked it but it just wasn't reliable. I bought an Eagletac D25A Clicky in Nichia and haven't looked back since.

My updated keychain by this point:



You can see that the keysmart had slightly become the Titanium version somewhere along the line. :D

I'd discovered a new full size flashlight though. The BLF A6 SE. Shown here with the Thrunite.



Dirt cheap, best UI I've ever encountered, small, well made, um, I now slightly own 3 of them, including one modded with a Nichia emitter and a spring bypass. :D

"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


no Offline Grathr

  • *
  • Absolutely No Life Club
  • *******
    • Posts: 7,681
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #27 on: December 31, 2017, 08:01:02 PM
Great thread and pictures! :tu:
-Knívleysur maður er lívleysur maður.
 "A Knifeless man is a lifeless man" old Faroese proverb.


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #28 on: December 31, 2017, 08:06:57 PM
By this time I had been carrying the Skeletool for 3 years and the Queen for a year.



But there were some changes to come. I was given the opportunity to buy any LM for half price through a group buy and this happened.



I still loved the Skeletool but I couldn't afford both and my MT carry ended up looking like this, as indeed it still is.



I did mod my Charge AL though. I missed the ability to carry a spare bit like in my skeletool so I swapped the scissors for another bit tool. I have a pair of 93mm SAK scissors waiting to finish the mod by replacing the serrated blade. When I recover from this last surgery enough to get to a metal shop for the required drilling.

« Last Edit: December 31, 2017, 08:08:21 PM by pomsbz »
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


il Offline pomsbz

  • *
  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,594
Re: Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread
Reply #29 on: December 31, 2017, 08:16:11 PM
A new EDC knife arrived on the scene. The D2 steel of the Queen was annoying me, I was spending too much time cleaning out patina caused by salty food and I had to be careful drying it after said salt otherwise I was getting slight pitting. I decided to try something different.



A beautiful and different knife, oh and totally people friendly at a time where people were getting stabbed a lot around here.



Problem was the 'Old Barn Chestnut' handles were totally non stabilised. After 4-5 months of carry they looked like this.



I sanded it down and stabilised it myself with a mixture of Linseed and Tung oil until it looked like this



But the magic had gone. The knife should not have needed me to finish it. I kinda lost interest.
"It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser." - Robert Louis Stevenson


 

Donations

Operational Funds

Help us keep the Unworkable working!
Donate with PayPal!
March Goal: $300.00
Due Date: Mar 31
Total Receipts: $379.86
PayPal Fees: $19.62
Net Balance: $360.24
Above Goal: $60.24
Site Currency: USD
120% 
March Donations

Community Links


Powered by EzPortal