Thursday, July 29, 2010

Vanity

An address is supposed to make it so people can find you.  When you get your driveway named as a street you need to realize that "One Acme Widgets Place" might make it easy to send mail to Acme Widgets, but is going to be minimally useful to someone who needs to visit in person.   This also applies to extremely short public streets--but these are at least slightly more likely to show up on a map or GPS. 


A few days ago, Wife had an appointment in Dayton at one of these addresses.  Google had the address, my GPS did not.  Unfortunately a printout of Google Directions is not able to re-route around construction, and I didn't think to figure out a nearby address to put in the GPS before she left.   


If you must have a vanity address, at least leave a clue--"1 Acme Widgets Place, off the 6000 block of Coyote Ave"


I am willing to make an exception for 4 of the schools in my hometown, but only because the alternative for them would be an address on Loony Road

Friday, July 23, 2010

Halt in producton

I have had a couple of people in real life ask why I haven't done a holster post in a while.   I live quite a distance from the nearest Tandy shop, and generally don't go just for leather.  I did not select my own leather last time, a significant mistake.  The leather I got was on sale, and a good price--but awful in quality.  The rough side was almost fuzzy with a ton of loose fibers, and the thickness was extremely variable--a lot of it is either far too thin or far too thick for the holsters I am making.

I've got a decent chunk of leather now, so I should start back up soon.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Rick K and the Allnighters

Rick K and the Allnighters have recently become the subject of this viral video, based on the antics of their "Drummer at the Wrong Gig", Steve Moore:



Apparently the video was taken at an amusement park in Pennsylvania a few years ago, and basically ignored until sometime in June, when it went from a few thousand views to millions.

Even better is their version of Wipeout:





We went to Cool Creek Park in Carmel Indiana to see The Allnighters Friday night. That concert was just as over the top, and just as fun. They did two sets, changing outfits between--although the change was basically from blue sequined jackets to white sequined jackets...Lots of audience participation.  Click to embiggen.

I took video.  Warning--the sound is loud, and I didn't have a tripod. 





There were a couple of vendor booths, and the park department was giving out these doggie poop bag holders:









In a couple of places, I've seen comments expressing sympathy for Steve Moore for having to play in a cover band. How many people would like to play music for a living? How many get to quit their day job without a girlfriend to support them? I'm guessing that a band like this with a heavy tour schedule is more successful than 98% of "professional" musicians.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Celebrating the 2nd of July

We went with my parents to see Red White and Boom in Columbus--their fireworks display on the 2nd.  (If you want good fireworks, see the displays in July that are not on the fourth)  Unfortunately, I forgot both my tripod and a memory card for my camera, so I was only able to take 6 pictures...
These were the most impressive and most sky-filing fireworks I have seen.  We were sitting downwind, and getting sprinkled with the cardboard flakes from the fireworks.   The picture I am most disapointed in missing was the condo high rise behind us--we were at a perfect position to get the reflection of fireworks in the glass of the condo. 

Friday, July 02, 2010

Oops

There was recently a thread on the Ohioans for Concealed Carry discussion board had a post asking "what if your gun falls out in public".  

A surprising number of people admitted to having their guns fall out in public.

The overwhelming majority were carrying in an Uncle Mike's or DeSantis cloth holster.  I had a gun fall when getting out of the car to get gas--in one of those nylon DeSantis holsters.  Last time I ever used a nylon belt holster.   In my case the entire holster came unhooked from my belt and skittered under my car.

There are two problems with these particular holsters.  The first is the relatively narrow clips used--Most narrow clips can easily twist off the belt when used alone, even if straight tugging feels secure.  The same clips used in pairs can be very secure, since they can't twist without one of the clips coming undone first.

The second is retention.  A soft nylon holster can't hold a gun securely without some sort of assistance, generally a thumb break strap.  (A thumb break is a strap with a snap  and a stiff section that can be pushed with the thumb while drawing to break the snap open)

A cloth holster with a thumb break and belt slots instead of clips is OK--probably not as comfortable or concealable as a good leather holster, but not likely to dump the gun.   Nylon is also fine as a pocket holster, where lack of retention is a feature rather than a bug.

Although there is a bit of snobbery in recommending against nylon holsters, there are also a lot of practical reasons--Although it is possible to make a bad holster out of leather (I know, I've done it myself...)  it is much more difficult to make a good holster out of nylon.

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Bad holster design

I have been using basic pancake holsters for my J frame to try new techniques--these are relatively simple, take less leather than for a bigger gun, and are fairly quick to make.   In this case, I was molding by clamping the holster and gun between dense foam rubber.  That part of the experiment worked reasonably well.  (as a side note--the foam rubber I was using for the backside had a pattern that transfered as almost a basketweave pattern.  Unfortunately the leather still needs to be touched up after molding, so I can't use this process as a decorative element)

I am not at all happy about the cut of the top of the pocket.  I did not leave enough leather along the top, so I wound up having to cut a ragged-looking line, and still did not get enough trigger coverage.  The trigger should be completely covered.  The small gap is probably not going to be a problem on a revolver, but probably isn't quite good enough for long-term use.  I am not sure exactly what happened, but I think I changed the cant between cutting the pattern and sewing the holster.  

I was also trying to make the holster ride higher to be less likely to peak out from under my shirt.   I managed that, but in doing there isn't enough below the belt to keep the upper part tight against the body.  The J frame is small enough that it isn't a major problem, but it is not as comfortable as it should be. I had meant to angle the belt slots so the tops are closer together than the bottoms--this tends to pull the top inward.  However, like the top of the pocket, I did not leave myself enough leather.
With some of these "not quite what I meant" I've been able to sell them cheaply while pointing out their problems, and at least recover the materials cost.  The uncovered trigger means I can't let anyone else use this holster.  Once I make what I really intended, I will destroy this one.