Haven't done an EDC post in... uhhh... I dunno, 7 years? Ten?

 Since I haven't done an EDC post in approximately forever... this is what I just carried out to dinner with me, and represents my normal pants (and wrist and neck) Every Day Carry.

I also usually carry a small cross body bag with my medications, a 25000mah slimline USB battery bank, some chargers and cables,a USB/bluetooth DAC and headphone amp, some USB drives and little security tools, additional spare ammo, a multi tool and a multi screwdriver, a notebook, some pens, and my kindle.

I also usually go out with a collapsible but 600lb rated aluminum cane... which is a formidable piece of kit by itself (and it has another flashlight in the handle).

So, from top center, clockwise:

1. Soon to be replaced Samsung Galaxy S8 plus, with Linsoul KZ-ZSX in earmonitors, on a waterproof APTX bt5 cord.
   
   
2. Case Edifice ECB-900 solar smart chronograph (it syncs with phones and atomic clocks etc...
   
   
3. Kershaw Ken Onion S30V Blur
   
   
4. SureFire Stiletto Pro flashlight
   
   
5. KenaKai RFID/NFC blocking wallet. The wallet itself has a metal mesh faraday cage as its lining, and is opaque to x-ray. Inside, in addition to normal wallet items, are a concealed set of lock picks, a concealed knife, and a concealed handcuff key
   
   
6. Custom Springfield EMP (I did a full action, reliability, and trigger on it... it was a gift from my girlfriend), with a simple belt slide holster, and a spare mag... a total of 19 rds of Federal HST 9mm +p. I'm thinking of putting the green laser CT laser grips on it.
   
   
7. A microfiber cloth... it's what I carry instead of a handkerchief
   
   
8. CRKT Get-A-Way driver on a QD clip, to a QD web strap key chain, which attaches to a real 1600lb rated 80mm D-ring carabiner (I wear a rescue belt, which can be used with the carabiner to lift me or secure me to something if necessary).

The StilettoPro by the way is brand new today. Prior to that, and for the last almost 20 years, on my keychain I have carried this single AAA all titanium type 3 hard anodized 25 lumen LED light made by a local aircraft aluminum/titanium fabricator, called the ARC-P (the "premium" version of the ARC-AAA).

Arc went out of business 16 years ago, but the light itself is tiny, light, and indestructible. I will probably keep it clipped to the d ring in my daily carry bag.

Honestly... I cant think of much of anything I could do to improve this setup... I'm pretty happy with it... except I would like my 340pd back as a backup pocket carry gun.

Friction

It seems the older I get, the less tolerance I have for what user experience (UX) professionals call "Friction".

Friction, is simply anything that reduces the efficiency, effectiveness, or pleasantness of the user experience, as compared to the optimal possible, or intended experience.

When I was in my teens and twenties, I had seemingly infinite tolerance for things that were inconvenient, or difficult, or fiddly, or unpleasant; if doing so got me some kind of performance gain, or even an extra "cool factor"... Or just because I wanted something interesting or different.

I would put up with machines and systems that broke down frequently, only worked if you played with them just right, or took MANY hours of work to set up properly... In fact not just put up with them, but enthusiastically extolled their virtues and recommended them to others... Sometimes even passionately defending them when others complained about the inconvenience and irritation. 

...Frankly, I just don't have the time, energy, and patience for that anymore, unless theres some HUGE advantage to doing so, that makes the pain in the ass worth it...

...Some examples...

I haven't bought a pre-built desktop for use as my personal primary machine in... Literally decades. The last time was while I was in college, and my computer broke, and I had a project I absolutely needed to finish that weekend, and it was my only option.... I could fail that critical project and have to repeat the class, or I could buy a system from Sears (a packaged hell no less... but I was smart and bought the extended warranty, so they fixed it for free for 3 years... in fact they actually replaced it completely... twice... upgrading it to a higher model each time). 

I always build my own PCs, because even if someone else can build something for me to the standard I want, they charge a lot more for it than if I built it myself... Because of course they do. Skilled labor costs money. Integration costs money. Support costs money. Testing costs money. Warranties cost money. 

...But right now... I'm looking at some of the very high end prebuilt systems from specialty vendors, and thinking "Damn... that's really good. It's exactly what I would do"... and some of them have specialized cooling systems and cases that I literally could not buy and build with myself. In terms of system integration and industrial design, they're actually just plain better than what I can build myself. They're a few hundred dollars more than what I could build myself with the same basic specs... and they may be worth it... For the first time ever. I'm seriously considering just buying off the shelf, and thinking it may actually be better, not just more convenient or easier (though I'd still put more RAM and a bigger SSD in the machine after the fact... Because NO-ONE ever includes as much ram or storage as I want). 

Using Macs for work is another example... They're just very well integrated, well tested, polished solutions that significantly reduce friction. They give me the power of a real UNIX, while giving me great UI/UX, and physically excellent hardware and industrial design.

I'm still not at the point where a Bose or Bang and Olufsen stereo appeals to me... Or any kind of "home theater in a box" for that matter.  The performance you can get assembling your own properly matched components, for MUCH less money, is so much higher, and the inconvenience and friction of doing so is so relatively low, that the minimalist hyperintegrated hyperdesigned systems hold little appeal to me... But I can understand why someone might feelthe other way.... they just don't want to bother with it, and they want good sound, and don't care shout getting great sound. 

...And... dirty little secret? Just for watching TV, I am actually a fan of the better soundbars, which have satelite speakers and subwoofers (some even have wireless connections tot he tv, subwoofer, and surround speakers). They're simple, they're cheaper than a full stereo, and they actually sound pretty good, for most movies and tv shows. I still prefer to have a full home theater for my main TV, and for the best music experience... but I recommend soundbars to other people all the time, and for a secondary tv, I TOTALLY go for the soundbar.

Even with guns... and I'm an experienced gunsmith who builds long range precision rifles for fun... Some of the out of the box solutions available today for long range precision rifles from Ruger, Sako/Tikka, Savage, AI, and others, have real appeal to me. Well integrated, well tested, well designed systems that give better than 90% of the performance of a full custom solution, often for a lot less money.

That doesn't mean I don't still want to build the full custom rifles, to get the most possible performance and have the features and configuration EXACTLY as I want... But I also want to buy one of the standard offerings, to get back into things faster, and for practice, and to help get others into the pursuit of long range precision shooting etc...

This applies to almost every area of my life... I love building and modifying cars, and motorcycles... but buying a well designed, well tested, well integrated car, now has as much appeal to me as building my own hyper customized optimized car. 

I really wish I could find good commercial desks and workbenches that would actually work for me. I still build my own desks and workbenches and beds, and toolstands, because I just can't find what I want commercially... I want specific sizes and specific strength, and rigidity and features... But I wish I COULD just buy them off the shelf. 

...I still want to do the custom builds... but I find great appeal in buying the well integrated commercial solutions  first, just to have something that is 80% or 90% as good, so I can take my time and so the rest absolutely perfectly the way I want.

Good People, Bad Situation, and BAD Gear

The last few days we've seen a lot of pictures of normal folks gearing up to defend their homes, their businesses, their neighborhoods...

I hate that it has been necessary, but I love that this has been the response to the necessity. The more people understand that the police are not here to protect them, have no duty to do so, and in extreme circumstances will not do so, the better.

The more that understand they must be prepared to effectively and responsibly defend themselves and others, the better off we will be as a nation.

...HOWEVER...

There are three major problems I've been seeing over and over again:

1. Plate carriers so low that they don't actually cover the areas they need to... some that might even make sitting difficult. You need to be able to do everything you normally do (and everything that you HAVE to do) without your gear, when your gear is on. For that to work, your gear has to fit properly, and be adjusted, worn, and used properly.
   
2. SERPA... lots and lots of SERPA holster... just... no. Never SERPA ever. Friends don't let friends SERPA... Do you want to negligently or accidentaly shoot yourself, your car, your floor... or worst of all, someone else? No? Then don't use a SERPA EVER.
   
   This link is an explanation of why never SERPA, and a list of dozens of SERPA related unintentional discharges and shootings, plus lists of ranges, schools and agencies that have banned SERPAs: https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-serpa-compendium
   
   
3. LOTS of folks wearing drop leg holster rigs (including a lot of drop leg SERPAs)...
   
   Which are often silly, but if you're wearing plate carriers and LBE can be justified (it can be hard to get a clean and secure draw from the waist when you've got a lot of gear on, even moreso if you're in a vehicle, or frequently getting in and out of vehicles)....
   
   But they're being worn so low that they're not just ineffective, they're silly, to maybe dangerous. I've seen some worn low enough to put the muzzle of their pistol at or below knee level.. In that position they cannot be used effectively, and they could position your weapon such that it would be easily snagged on the environment, or worst case, difficult to retain in a struggle... or even accidentally shoot yourself or others (see SERPA above).
   
   Drop leg holsters that you can't reach while standing aren't holsters... they're just insecure carrying cases.
   
   I have ridiculous gorilla arms... literally four inches longer for my height than average...and I wouldn't be able to get a secure draw from a holster in that position on me without bending down. Never mind someone with average reach.

Good gear used improperly, is as bad or worse than bad gear (because it gives you a false sense of security).

Ten years in a life, through the lenses of five different cameras

Writing the camera post yesterday, I realized I had come full circle on digital cameras.

Ten years ago in late 2001 (I don't remember what month), I bought my first "useful" digital camera; meaning it could take a picture large enough, and at high enough quality, that I didn't need to scan developed film or prints to post online anymore. 

A few years ago I wrote a post called "Camera lust" where I talked about my history with film cameras; but I didn't really touch on my digital history, except for the D80. 

I'd had digital cameras before late 2001, but they weren't particularly useful. There was no circumstance, including basic shots for web sites, where their output could be used without questioning the sanity and good taste of the person posting that picture. 

The very first digital camera I owned, was some ridiculous Sony Mavica that saved pictures to a floppy disk. Looking at google, I think it was an FD90... Which would line up, since I probably bought it in late 1999 or early 2000, when I was a dot.com boom imaginary millionaire. 

Frankly, I don't remember anything about it except it was expensive, never worked properly, and the photos were utter crap. I don't have any of the pics from that time period saved; and as I said, I don't really count it, as it wasn't a useful camera, it was a novelty item. 

That same year I got as a "techie stocking stuffer" a tiny little digicam the size of a zippo lighter, mounted on a key chain, that could take 8 really awful 640x480 photos. I remember it was something like $150, and they were sold at high end "gift" and novelty stores, techy stores and novelty web sites. 

Basically, these were toys, not really cameras. 

The camera I bought in 2001 replaced a Minolta Maxxum 3xi I'd had since I think '93 or so; and that honestly had never been that great (particular compared to the manual focus Nikon it replaced). But, combined with a decent scanner, I was able to take, and use, a lot of great photos with it (if not very quickly or conveniently).  It's what I started my first web design side business with all the way back in 1994 or '95... 

I actually kept the Minolta all the way up to 2004, when I sold it, and all my lenses filters and gear, with the plan of buying a DSLR (but I had a major financial hit and ended up waiting til late 2006); but I almost never used it from late 2001 on. 

As it happens, the camera that I bought in 2001 (after I'd been in Ireland for a few months), was, like the camera I just bought in 2011, a Fuji: The first of the FinePix big zoom cameras, the FinePix 2800 zoom; which, at the time, was $400 (I had the euro version which looked slightly different).

Honestly... it was a piece of crap. Almost all digital cameras were crap at the time, and this was among the best of them (as witnessed by the many 4 and 5 star reviews)... but it was still crap. 

I mean, it took pretty good photos, but the autofocus was awful ( and there was no manual focus), the flash was just as bad, if anything the autoexposure was worse, and the camera had the worst shutter lag... it would be about 2-3 seconds from button press to actual image capture. It used a proprietary image card scheme (with DRM that didn't work either) that had horrible performance and capacity and cost a fortune to boot; and it had a battery life of about 80 shots (on 4x AA batteries) without flash. 

It was a 2 megapixel camera, which had a theoretical zoom range of 38-228m at f2.8-4.8... but I just don't believe it, because the low light performance was utterly horrible. IT had a theoretical max shutter speed of 1/1500sec, but again I don't believe it because anything moving whatsoever was nothing but a blur. 

Oh and it had a "continuous drive"... of 1 shot per second, for two shots, at 320x240.

It was also the first digital camera with both zoom, and video (though you couldn't use the zoom with the video. When you went into video mode the lens would pull in to minimum zoom); with the ability to take a 320x240 videos with sound, up to 60 seconds long, none of which were ever in focus. 

All that said, I took a lot of good pictures with it for the less than a year I had it.

These pics were taken at my house in Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland; one night in January 2002, after too many bottles of wine... Wolf blass cab shiraz blend I believe... a '98 maybe?  Very good year that  (date and camera verified with EXIF data. All pics are unedited from the camera, click to enlarge):

My friend Imogene, in a pic I later used as the basis for some artistic photo editing work 

My friend Ronan, playing with his sword.

Imogene again, in what is probably my favorite pic of her ever; having just fallen asleep.

Me, "surrendering" to Imogene behind the camera

Funny enough, I still have that knife (or rather Mel does. I gave it to her as a gift), AND that shirt, and those stuffed animals in the background. And yes, I do look exactly the same today only fatter and with a shaved head. My family reach a certain appearance, and then seem to stop aging for about 30 years. 

These were taken in Wexford a few days later:

A beautiful young lady named Carmel, just before her 18th birthday (literally. It was the next day). In this shot she reminds me of Liv Tyler. 

Carmel again, looking far younger than 18... though the picture was just a minute after the previous.

My friend "Hec" (actually his name is Dave, but everyone calls him Hec) later that night.

And Aiden, whose parents house down the seaside we were all crashing in that stormy weekend. For those of you who know my stories about Ireland, yes, this is little gay Aiden (and yes, this was THAT night... and those are my stuffed animals too).

Here are some pics from Glendalough a few months later... including some of the what I think are the best photographs I've ever taken... I'll let them speak for themselves:

I had the 2800z less than a year, because it broke three times in 9 months, and eventually the factory replaced it for me under warranty with the replacement model, the FinePix 3800/S304 (I had the european version, the S304), which at the time would have cost me $400:

The 3800 was a better camera in every way; but still, not so great. It had all the problems of the 2800z, just less so. It definitely got in the way less of getting good photos.

It was a 3 megapixel camera, with the same lens range but worse aperture, same 1/2.7" sensor size (tiny),  same awful battery life... though it could at least do 2 frames per second for 2 seconds. 

Again though, you could take good photos with it. 

These are pictures I took in New Yorks Central Park at the end of 2003.

The Beresford, central park west; from the turtle pond near Belvedere castle: 

The wooden bridges in the ramble

I also had the 3800 for about a year before it broke for good; though it was my best friend Jim who ended up breaking it (he dropped it on the floor),  not a manufacturing defect. 

I replaced it with this HP Photosmart 935 right at the beginning of 2004; which, at the time cost (once again) $400:

At the time it was the best camera HP was selling... Yeah I know, buying a camera from HP? I needed a digital camera that day,  I was going on a trip to the Utah canyonlands and my other camera was broken; and it was the best thing they had at Best Buy that I could afford.

As it happens, these cameras were made for HP by Pentax, and they were pretty decent. A hell of a lot of web designers at the time were populating their sites with photos from these cameras. 

The 935 was a 5 megapixel camera,  with a 1/1.8" sensor (pretty good for the time, and for these days for that matter, especially since it's 1/3 the pixels they squeeze into such a small area today), auto ISO up to 400, a zoom range of 37-111 ad f2.6-4.8; and it shutter priority, and aperture priority. Like the Fuji before it, it could record short film clips, but at least at 640x480. Still had the short battery life, with AA batteries though (maybe 250 shots with lithiums).

For compact cameras at the time, this was really good; and again, it was a five star reviewed item. I was certainly able to get a lot of good shots with it for several years:

The Utah Canyonlands, March 2004:

I climbed those rocks by the way. As late as 2005, I was still pretty fit on the days my knees were cooperating. I actually did the river trail up Zion canyon in water up to my waist on that trip. 

Me, visting my aunt Helen and family in New Hampshire in 2004.

Two of my three youngest cousins, Madison and Bailey (the daughters of my aunt Maureen).

Madison (who is now 14... good lord...)

And Bailey (who is now 11, and still has a goofy grin by the way)

And Hunter, who was I think 13 months old then?

The aunt on the swing with me is Maureen, the aunt at my feet is Helen, and the one looking too cool for school there is my cousin Caitlin (who is 6 years younger than me).

Me, actually in the same shirt as above) with my Mother and Grandmother,  in late 2004 after moving my mother into her new house (you can see here, the weight gain seems to have started). 

Some pics of the family from early 2006

Again, these are all original, from the camera shots; so some would benefit from some cropping and some exposure and white balance correction. 

I had the HP up til late 2006, when I got my DSLR, the now dead Nikon D80:

Basically, other than cellphone pics, until yesterday every pic I've taken and posted on the blog since October of 2006 was taken with the D80; most of them with the 18-135mm kit lens. 

And that brings us up to yesterday, when I bought a new Fuji HS20; which I'm looking forward to taking some great photos with.

It's amazing how far digital cameras have come in the last 10 years... from 1 megapixel to 16, with 710mm zoom lenses, and full high definition video... It's a different world.

You can click here to see a feature comparison of all the digital cameras I've shot with over the past ten years... the changes are just amazing (once again, provided by http://dpreview.com from whom I also got some of the review pics above).

Since there are so many shots from the D80 here; and since I haven't had a chance to take many interesting shots with the HS20 yet... I think I'll just close up with these couple shots of my family...

...by far the biggest and most important thing to happen to me in the last 10 years: