Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread

[Its Hard To Know]

Ben,
Great pics, I like your write-ups on the various bits and how you got to this 'edc' type of world/mindset.

Im curious, based on the thread title - are you limited to a wheelchair?
You mentioned Muscular Degenerative, so I wasnt sure.
I ask because Id be interested in seeing how you modify your chair for your needs.

[Aloha]

   cant wait for whatever next.   

[pomsbz]

Firstly thank you to all!

Ben, I'm a fountain pen junkie myself. If you haven't tried Noodler's Ink, do so. Hands down my favorite ink for fountain pens--especially their 'Bulletproof' inks.

If it's tough to get a hold of for you, let me know. Maybe I can ship you a bottle.

Noodler's Ink

Noodlers Liberty Elysium was my go to ink for a year or more. A great ink. I wanted to go for a darker and less 'electric' shade. My favourite colour, hands down, is Diamine Majestic Blue. Unfortunately it takes forever to dry, washes away completely and clogs up my nibs. I ended up with the Pilot Blue Black which you can only buy from Japan. The colour is close to what I prefer and it just works, perfectly.

Ben,
Great pics, I like your write-ups on the various bits and how you got to this 'edc' type of world/mindset.

Im curious, based on the thread title - are you limited to a wheelchair?
You mentioned Muscular Degenerative, so I wasnt sure.
I ask because Id be interested in seeing how you modify your chair for your needs.

No thank Heaven. I walk with a stick but can walk. Of course if I was ever to be forced down that route, this is the chair I've been looking at.

[pomsbz]

Talking of fountain pens, there was another along my road to a pen that suited me. A Faber-Castell.



Looks great but the nib was terrible. Didn't matter what ink I had in there, if I didn't write for a day, it would take endless fiddling to get it running again. The pen unfortunately met a violent end after one such occurrence. 

[pomsbz]

So I mentioned the BLF A6 SE, not only am I addicted to this light, I've managed to persuade everyone at work to get one too! That does involve having to get a charger. The one I really like and of course have enabled my employees to get is this Skilhunt M1. Dirt cheap and can be used to charge up your phone or device. One thing I really like about it, you can charge AAA and AA lights with it. Most of these little chargers won't do NiMH batteries.



Talking of flashlights, I tried out the A6's bigger brother, the Astrolux S41. Same UI but 4 Nichia LED's. Didn't work for me, the S41 is all flood, practically no beam. I gave it away to a friend.



But what's this? Another SAK? I thought we established that I don't do SAK's!

[pomsbz]

OK the story of the SAK for me takes a while. I once swore that I'd never buy a SAK (the Rambler doesn't count) due to the soft steel. I really don't have patience for sharpening though I have a Sharpmaker and don't mind stropping. I'd learnt that I didn't like 'cut once sharpen once' steels via my Case Sodbuster and CRKT Swindle. The edge on the D2 of my Queen knife lasted forever, 440C on my GEC wasn't bad and the 154cm on my Leathermans was a joy. The idea of a steel even softer than 420hc just didn't compute for me.

There was another factor though which was about to clash with this. My perfect EDC knife is a single spring two bladed knife, one long and with belly for food (spear/clip) and the other a smaller blade for opening stuff. I thought I'd found it when they announced the Blade Forums 2015 knife. 440C - check, 3" main blade - check, single spring - check, sheepsfoot secondary - check, beautiful wood - check. When it arrived it was indeed beautiful.





But. When I started to look a bit closer, there were a whole bunch of problems. This was the last knife batch made by Canal Street Cutlers and boy did it show it.  Recurve in the main blade and shoddy grind in general, bad blade rub, horrific crinking of the main blade, razor sharp edges at the top of the blades, wavy liners forcing the scales away from being straight and the pins hadn't been polished and were not flush where it really stood out.







I don't like badly made or poorly designed or assembled tools. I sold it at a loss and mourned what could have been my perfect EDC knife.

I should note that from the beginning I've wanted that '10 year EDC knife'. A knife that is carried and used until it dies. I'm no collector.

What has this got to do with SAK's you might ask?

[pomsbz]

Someone posted a picture of a SAK Harvester on a forum somewhere. I found the pruner blade interesting and did a Google search for 'SAK + Pruner'. What appeared was a revelation. The SAK Pruner. I couldn't believe it. Here was the perfect knife! It answered every one of my needs. Well, almost every single one. The steel. I checked the price of the Pruner and was amazed to see that I could buy it for 25 GBP. For that price, why not try? By then I may have slightly stumbled onto a certain Canadian site and realised that there were some rather exciting colours that could be enjoyed and the price was still a fraction of any of the usual slipjoints I would see. I decided to take a gamble. I would buy the cheap silver alox and the more beautiful blue one. I arranged with a friend that whatever happened with the test, the silver alox was his for half price. The expensive one I would keep or hold onto and sell when supplies ran out and the price went up. Practically zero loss either way.

So here was the test. I would carry and use the silver alox for all my edc needs for a month. I would not sharpen it once during that month. If it was still sharp by the end of the month, that was good enough for me.



First task, trim a large brisket of fat in preparation for becoming pastrami. Except there were two briskets and the other would be trimmed by an Opinel! Eeek! I still find it hard to believe now but the SAK won that competition. Not only for cutting but also the hand grip with very greasy hands. It then cut open the bag of coal, cut and feather sticked the fat wood and was still cutting receipt paper cleanly. It was then I realised that there was something very different about this blade. Of course the SAK was rewarded with the first slices of the pastrami!





So it continued through the month. It just wouldn't stop cutting! I had learnt the incredible important lesson the blade geometry trumps sharpness and that Victorinox know how to design a blade!

[pomsbz]

Off the silver pruner went to my friend and out came the beautiful blue one. There was a problem though. For some reason this one had a keyring nub on which the other one hadn't. I found it incredibly annoying. Well, not for long.





I also discovered just how powerful the file on my rambler was. Never expected that it would grind metal so easily!

[pomsbz]

So the Pruner went into the pouch. A wonderful main blade and the pruner blade is superlative for the task of opening stuff. It's impossibly thin, you have a great grip on it and I love being able to rinse off under the tap and stick into the sheath after a shake or two. Simply not scared of water! That Victorinox symbol is internationally recognised as friendly. What isn't to like?

It joined my Rambler as a pair of SAK carry goodness.



It is simply a perfect urban EDC.



and you would have to take it from my cold dead fingers....



Simply a beautiful and functional knife.

[pomsbz]

By then of course I'd persuaded my boss to buy a Pioneer X.....

[Ron Who]

Cool thread! 

[Billy Ruffian]

Great thread, best thing I've read on here in a while.

What can you tell us about the two W's - whisky and watches?

[pomsbz]

Great thread, best thing I've read on here in a while.

What can you tell us about the two W's - whisky and watches?

Watches, um I'm afraid there's not much to tell. My dad bought me a Citizen chronograph when I was 14. It was worn daily throughout my teenage years, the army and then finally died due to an excess of washing dishes after getting married.  My dad bought me another, his comment was that I'd proved to be a worthwhile investment for his gifts. I went through that one rather fast, it only lasted 4 years and finally settled on this titanium Seiko.



It lasted 4 years more till I fell flat on my face in the snow one day and I smashed the watch face. The 'repair shop' did the rest. Suddenly the chronograph stopped working after I'd taken it there. Lesson learnt, don't trust cheap watch shops to replace glass, they might well mess up the rest of your watch.

I switched to a pocket watch and haven't really looked back. I bought the Gotham already shown, after two years it died of death. To give you an idea it already looked rather worn.



I sent it back to the US, they replaced it immediately but sent out two by mistake. I emailed them to ask for a return address, they told me to keep it. Lifetime warranty and that kind of CS? They have me as a customer for life!

I have at times dreamed of other pocket watches. This one was announced for two years, by the time they released it I wasn't sure I wanted it any more.



My current dream is this one (which I've just noticed is no longer being made):



Just a dream though....

[pomsbz]

I understand we like cable ties here?



Just the ticket for when your bikes front light dies and you need to tie on your flashlight.

[ReamerPunch]

Enjoying this thraed very much so far. 

[styx]

Enjoying this thraed very much so far. 

+1

[jcs0001]

Just read through this thread - great photos and commentary.  Much enjoyed.

Thanks,

John.

[pomsbz]

Thanks to all! plenty still to come.

[ThePeacent]

this thread has become an instant classic!
Excellent pics, it shows you're into photography 

and very interesting progression of your gear and wise choices, I like your style   
Keep it up!!

[pomsbz]

I'd mentioned some other knives picked up along the way. Here is an example. A Remington Canoe. Cost around $15, looks great, mystery steel and somewhat of a recurve in the main blade. Only carried it once regularly. But. A cheap friendly looking knife is often very useful. This one spent two weeks in hospital with me a month ago, used every day. I wouldn't have cried if it had been disappeared. Always useful to have a knife like this around.

[pomsbz]

Woops I forgot to mention a watch.

My current suit watch. I like a real watch with a suit, I'm relaxed and not using my hands so much so having one on my wrist doesn't bother me.





To be honest there are quite a few watches I'd love to own but current finances don't begin to allow consideration of them.

The Victorinox INOX (titanium) is still a grail for me for weekday wear albeit with a much nicer strap

[pomsbz]

When I taught photography in a local college I used to dedicate a lesson at the beginning of the year to showing just how much fun you could have with photography. I used to do this by having water thrown over students. Hey I was having fun right? 







For some reason my class was quite popular.

[pomsbz]

Other projects would often tend towards the macabre. If only cause teaching teenage New Yorkers is enough to do that to any sane individual. 







To make it topical, the first two were lit only by my Thrunite TN12 flashlight. The last one was rather more complex involving 6 expensive studio flashguns, a balloon filled with soda, colour gels and a home made smoke machine but it does feature a Scottish Sgian Dhu borrowed from my uncle so I hereby deem it appropriate.

[pomsbz]

Suppose at this point I should show my EDC camera.

A Sony A7r mirrorless camera. If anyone is interested I can talk about it. If not suffice it to say that this camera gives me the simplicity and ease of use of a 1980's film camera such as I learnt on but with some of the most modern picture quality on the market. The hand strap is a 'thingy'. Honestly I can't begin to remember the make. Camdapter or something? Peak Design make the worlds best hand strap right now but this one is leather so yeah, leather. 



The lens is a 60 year old Pentax 50mm. Only slightly radioactive. My kids all have three heads as a result but it's honestly my favourite lens bar none, is almost permanently bolted onto the camera and costing only about $80, I can afford two of them.

The camera goes everywhere with me.

[pomsbz]

An older EDC picture (just over a year ago) featuring the camera on a trip to a forest.



We camped out overnight, the next morning the camera was doing this kind of thing. Not me, honest, the camera makes the pictures right?







The eagle eyed among you might have noticed that I was using a wide angle lens as well.

[pomsbz]

Did I mention that I like my SAK?



 

[pomsbz]

Bought this for my daughters 12th birthday. Sorry it's just a stock photo but the reality is just as nice! My wife carries a Classic also, in giraffe spots.

[twiliter]

Of course if I was ever to be forced down that route, this is the chair I've been looking at.

(Image removed from quote.)

Ben, I am learning a lot here! Thanks. 

Also, I have a few years on you (I'm 55), and I am only getting older and grumpier every year, so let me know when you decide to get that weaponized chair, maybe we can get a group buy discount! 

[pomsbz]

Talking of cameras, here's my EDC bag. Originally designed as a camera bag this Crumpler Pretty Boy XXXL is a great bag. I've carried it as EDC for over 8 years. From scorching Middle East heat to torrential downpours and everything in between,  it's always been on my shoulder. Either as an EDC bag or quickly returning to its original design purpose depending on requirements. I've looked around, honestly I have, there's not another bag on the market which could tempt me as a replacement. The highest praise I can give.





Here is the usual loadout with pouches emptied to show contents. There have been a few changes since the picture but not many.

[pomsbz]

I should show that tin and its contents more clearly. I know altoids tins are the usual custom but you can't get altoids here and an old tobacco tin is more manly right?





Contents include currently: 18650 battery, AA battery, phone battery (all wrapped in ranger bands for safety), mini Gorilla tape roll, USB stick, compass, matches, mini Bic, band aids, sachet of salt/pepper, elastic band, SD card and some fatwood slivers.