- Under Armour learns the lesson most companies should have memorized long since. You do NOT dis hunters and gun owners and expect to go on making money off them.
- Oh, how times have changed. You can now buy weed — that is, WEED — on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (H/T MJR)
- Build your own lamp/electrical outlet/USB charger for fun. Extra points if you can make it a heck of a lot more attractive than the one shown. (Tip o’ hat to MSJ)
- I have a friend with a security-related job in D.C. (Really; strange world we live in.) That friend is freaking out, with cause, over some of the, shall we say less sound ways Trump is shaking up the world of international relations. But there are other agencies being shaken up that richly deserve to have their cages rattled. Enjoy, EPA!
- John Whitehead says, “Don’t blame Trump.” Rule by brute force has become the rule in DC. (H/T CB)
- People — that is prepper and survivalist types — often have a “thing” for clever ways of starting fires. Some go for the primitive, rubbing sticks together or striking sparks on dry moss. Others fancy the … well, fancy. Fine for them’s what like it, though in fact cigarette lighters and matches (perhaps the waterproof variety with handy strikers) tend to be more reliable. Still, there’s always a market for the “cool but flawed toy.” Here’s the latest, via the SHOT Show. Very innovative, really. Now tell me why this might not be the best firelighter in the universe, at least for emergencies. (Here’s more of that sort of thing courtesy of Amazon.)
- What dogs are really thinking.
“You can now buy weed — that is, WEED — on the Toronto Stock Exchange.”
Ha! 🙂 Headed to Colorado on Saturday and I will be imbibing legally while I’m there! 🙂
Oh, my god. Super fire-lighter needs no fuel! Og light fire with arcy-sparky thing!
(bottom of the article: Super fire-lighter battery guaranteed to be discharged when you need it most. Needs USB port to recharge. USB ports as rare as butane bottles in boonies. Og gonna die.)
I know I should respond with indulgent chuckles. I really do. But this “preppers light their [theoretical] fires in weird ways” thing has actually managed to get on my nerves.
I dunno… that TekFire thingy is several times the price of a more reliable blastmatch-type gadget, and needs recharging. My magnesium firestarter has gone years without a recharge.
I wonder if the real market is pocket stun guns for folks in areas that don’t allow stun guns. “No sir, that’s not a stun gun; that’s an emergency firestarter.”
FWIW, the iron-pipe lamp genre has been around for a while. Here’s one example. As an aesthetic, it doesn’t go well everywhere, I’d say, but it has a certain appeal. I think it’d be fun to build one, but I’d probably forgoe the fleur-de-whatever lampshade, and stick with something more industrial.
As a side note, the USB portion is unswitched. So I wonder what the idle current draw is. Probably trivial, but for those who worry about such things, it might be something to check. I already have lots of “vampire” electrical draw. 1st-world problem, I guess.
I’m not jazzed up about that fire gizmo. Even if it worked using 2 AAA cells, I wouldn’t be. Best firelighter for emergencies would be the one that works best for you, as long as it doesn’t need electricity. Speaking as a non-psychotic pyromaniac, I always have handy multiple ways to set things on fire. 🙂 If I’m feeling really lazy, and want it by-god-now to start burning, I’ll probably go with the MAPP gas Turbo-torch.
@rochester: How long you gonna be in CO? My Saturday is already booked solid.
No Under Armour or Levi’s, now I am down to me Fruit of the Loom!
OT: Bow-Wow, oh Wow. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/nyregion/marijuana-dogs-weed.html
I am a fan of making fire, and as such, I’m always willing to add things to my collection. No matter how absurd or impractical they may seem (as long as I can afford them). I sadly admit I still have no fire piston, though.
Shel — That’s something Furrydoc has encountered, too. In her case she’s said that the dogs have usually gotten into someone’s medical marijuana grow. Before legalization she had a case of a dog that ate an entire pan of pot brownies and another where nobody would admit the source but the household had teenagers in it who were probably the culprits.
I’m fan of what works. Simplicity and endurance (and usually crude ugly to artsy others). In next life when every need is done, I will get into the art part in a big way!
A battery is that.
It has a useful life and needs to be charged and maintained. I like ’em bunches, but they cannot be primary. A Bic and matches parked in all sort of cubbies will work in ten or more years when I want to use a small piece of the rubble of the republic to cook bacon.
I see that electric arc firestarter as more of a camping thing, don’t see why it can’t work as long as you top it off from time to time.
As for brute force in government? I’m presently reading Hamilton’s Curse by DiLorenzo. I realized that with all the things that have happened, especially since 1913, have made Hamilton the most successful Founding Father in the history of the U.S. Especially with the separation of State from the people(to make the politicians less answerable to the people), the establishment of Fiat Currency, and the Federal Reserve.
I also learned that Constitutional Laws actually have nothing to do with the Constitution itself. Two separate beasts.
Good book.
No caption needed for what this dog is thinking.
I carry Under Armour in our stores, and I can tell you that their fleece product has been a tougher sell over the past year, starting in the Fall of 2015. Prior to that, the Under Armour “performance fleece” hoodie was the in-demand item at $65. It seems that the hoodie craze has reached it’s peak as the whole catagory failed to do much this year.
I doubt the hunters are the ones who killed the UA business. More likely it was just changing consumer tastes. It happens, and it can happen very fast.
Remember parachute pants? That trend died on August 18th, 1984. How do I know? Because I had just taken over managing the Men’s Department and I was told that those 10 rounders of pants were the hottest thing on my sales floor. From that day forward, I don’t think I sold another piece at full price. It took 2 years to get them out of the clearance center.
Remember LA Gear? The brand was so hot that we only got half of our shipments. They’re still around, but the shoes that made them famous (lighted sneakers) are now a cheap staple of kids departments.
Remember Bugle Boy? They almost got to a billion dollars in sales….and then they evaporated. The name is still out there, but who cares?
I could go on.
t2a: My dog pulls the same trick, starting from the sitting position. She grabs my hand, then sways back and forth, leaning further with each move until she falls on her side. At that point her mouth falls open and her front leg jerks, somehow putting my hand in the same place every time. She also manages a picture perfect dumbfounded expression to show she has no idea how to get in the car without help. So most of the time I help.
Haven’t bought a pair of Levis in 30 years. My free market instincts deplore paying $30 for a $16 item with 6 belt loops where there should be 7.
Ron Johnson — Thanks for the observations from the retail floor. Absolutely true that brands and styles come and go so fast it could make a body’s head spin. And maybe that’s what happened with Under Armour and hoodies.
OTOH, Under Armour has experienced a couple of recent, sharp drops in its stock price. I wouldn’t completely discount the idea that offending gunfolk was at least part of the cause. Could be a case where a company already getting weak does something idiotic to harm itself even further.
In a SHTF scenario you want to be as low-tech as possible. An electric-arc fire starter doesn’t cut it. Might be OK for a weekend camping trip, though. But I do like Bear’s idea of a (disguised) pocket stun gun.
It seems to me that anyone who needs those instructions to build and wire a simple lamp and outlet probably shouldn’t be messing around with electricity. Just sayin’ . . . .
HTS 222B0 Magnesium Block Fire Starter With Flint & Striker:
https://www.amazon.com/HTS-222B0-Magnesium-Starter-Striker/dp/B00UXVFC72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486153767&sr=8-1&keywords=magnesium+block+striker
Or, something like it.
Easy to use, guaranteed to start a fire, waterproof, no battery needed, doesn’t go bad. Can’t beat it at $6. My spouse and I both carry one.