JAB

I took last Friday off from work and decided to finish up a walking cane idea I have had for some time. A couple of years back, I designed a derby style handle and carved one from cherry, even going so far as to sand it smooth, etc. Saturday, I turned an oak shaft for it from a piece of a big, old board my grandfather in law had. The project took about ten or twelve hours, not counting the time I had previously spent making the handle. My right knee bothers me sometimes, often without warning. If I use a cane or walking stick during such times it will stave off the pain or weakness getting worse. I'm not exactly light so I like to make canes that I know will be sturdy enough to support my weight. Also, even though I have my HCP, I can't legally carry where I work (state law) so I am limited to other methods of SD should the need arise. I'd feel a lot better with my P3AT in my pocket but I figure that a can of Sabre defense spray and a heavy cane are better than nothing. I have a cane I have been carrying that is made of a twisted piece of dogwood with a hame for the handle but I think the new one looks a little less conspicuous for times when the horse hame one might raise eyebrows or even be restricted. Anyhow, pics - although the colors of both woods are a little darker, and the cherry handle a little more reddish, than they appear in these pics: This is it leaning against my desk at work: A close-up of the cherry handle: A little detail of some of the 'work' the worms had done to the wood - there are worm trails scattered all down one side of the cane where worms munched on the old board a little. They aren't deep enough to weaken the wood and I think they add character: And a pic of it leaning against the door at home - this one shows what the cane looked like before I rubbed it with linseed oil: And a picture I took some time back of my horse-hame cane leaning against the desk at work. Originally, the whole piece was pretty much as thick and heavy as the middle, twisted section. I put it on the lathe and turned both ends down to lighten it and allow me to use it as a cane. Other than sanding the bark down, I pretty much left the middle section alone. The shaft of this one has the clear spray on it: I have also been meaning to make a cane for my mom. I cut out a couple of blanks for the same derby style handle as mine from purple heart back when I carved mine from cherry. Saturday, I finally got around to doing something with one of those. I'll post more details about that along with some pics later.

I intended to imply that the driver was already dead when discovered. And I was only about half joking about the moon pies and RC. I was born in Georgia and have lived in TN since I was about 3. I don't underestimate the power of a good moon pie - especially the double deckers. As far as the raccoon goes, I have actually done just about that. One killed some of my chickens last year, I trapped it in a live trap in the coop the next night and figured that since there was no sign of disease and since it ate my chickens I'd return the favor. Cooked on the smoker and on a sandwich with homemade barbecue sauce, it tasted about like barbecue beef.

As if someone who has an HCP is any more likely to 'go postal'? As if someone who is intent on shooting the place up, committing or attempting murder, etc. is going to be dissuaded from doing so by the fact that they don't have an HCP and can't legally carry the firearm they plan to use to commit such murders to the location in question?

Roughly 99.99% of the time I carry it is concealed. That said, I can see benefits to open carry or not-quite-as-concealed carry while in a park. One being that I'd be carrying a bigger handgun than my normal EDC. Another factor is that, while I realize that four-legged assailants are still below two-legged on the list of threats, the four-legged type aren't necessarily going to give a lot of warning/time to draw from concealment. IIRC, at one time while the details of park carry were being worked out, wasn't there even the possibility on the table (briefly) of allowing folks without an HCP to open carry in state parks but requiring an HCP for concealed carry? Of course, that could have been yet more local media misinformation.

Consider, too, that while there may be several places in (for instance) Knoxville that are listed in the 'posted' thread, those are only a few - a handful, comparatively - of the thousands of businesses in the city. It would be annoying if one of those places were, say, your favorite restaurant, etc. but I honestly haven't noticed anywhere in Knoxville where I go with any regularity that is posted now and wasn't, before. Maybe that isn't the case in Nashville or Memphis, I don't know. In the small town where I live (Loudon) the only things I can think off right off that are posted are the courthouse and the building where the county offices (County Mayor, etc.) are located. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single private business in Loudon (or in Sweetwater, Madisonville or even Athens for that matter) that is posted. There may be some but nothing I have noticed.

I was going to say 'Star Wars'. Hey, it's a war movie. Even has 'war' in the title. 'Independence Day involved a war to save Earth from alien invaders so I'd have to mention that one, too. If a more earthbound movie is required, I'd have to go with 'Kelly's Heroes'. I really liked '300', as well. 'Saving Private Ryan' was a great movie, no doubt. Kind of like 'Schindler's List', it is one that everyone should see at least once. Also like 'Schindler's List', though, it was more 'moving' than 'enjoyable' as entertainment - as in I don't think I'd want to watch it over and over, again. Honestly, though, I feel that way about a lot of war movies. I saw part of a movie starring Steve McQueen entitled 'The Sand Pebbles' a few months back. It was on pretty late, though and I had to go to bed before it was over. Don't have TiVo so I will just have to try to rent it or catch it on cable some other time. That one looked pretty good.

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I bought a box of Monarch brass-cased .380 at the Academy at Hamilton Place Mall a few weeks back. It seems like they were $16.XX per box and I haven't tested them out, yet, but iirc they are JHPs. Early last week, the Madisonville WalMart had one 100 round box of WWB and several 50 round boxes of Remington UMC. Maybe ammo companies are finally making more .380 ammo than the guys who buy all the Wally ammo then try to sell it for two or three times the price at gunshows can buy. I hope supplies return so quickly that those guys end up having to sell the ammo they have at a loss.

On the other hand, maybe what they have killed is both a sick/mangy animal and a Chupacabra. Often, legends seem to have at least some basis in something real that has been misconstrued. Could it not be that such creatures were the basis for the Chupacabra legends in the first place - in which case, they would be real Chupacabras? Wouldn't this mean that the folks in question have killed Chupacabras? Then, again, I'm not ruling out the possibility that Chupacabras exist and are something else, entirely.

Couldn't resist: "Well, I found a whole semi full of RC Cola. The driver was...well, let's just say he was in no shape to drive. Buddy o' mine got 'hold of a couple pallets of Moon Pies so I reckon if we do a little bit of trading then long-term supplies are taken care of. There's a 'coon been messin' around my chicken coop and he wandered into the trap I put out last night. We've got a few 'taters and onions from the garden to go with him so I reckon that's supper. I guess me and the other guys ought to go check around outside before dark and make sure everything's squared away for the night. Hmmm...which guns you reckon we ought to take?"

Of course there is the Taurus Judge that is made to shoot both. That is the revolver that is being discussed in the thread at the link you posted. The Judge is specifically designed/intended for such use. It has a longer cylinder (to allow .410 shells to be chambered) and from what I have heard (haven't shot one or even inspected one all that closely) they have very shallow rifling so as to not mess up the pattern of the shot that much. A couple of the big ammo companies have recently developed and put on the market .410 ammo that is supposed to be optimized for use in handguns. The Judge isn't the first handgun intended to be capable of chambering/firing both .410 and .45 ammo but it has seen a good bit of popularity and is likely the impetus behind such ammo development. There are now models of the Judge designed for 2 1/2 inch shells (I think that was all that was available in the earlier models) and some that can chamber 3 inch shells. I have also heard that the shallowness of the rifling negatively impacts the accuracy of .45 ammo fired from one but, again, I have no personal experience from which to speak. My understanding is that some rifling has to be present to legally prevent this from being a smooth-bore handgun which are, apparently, controlled under U.S. firearms laws. Personally, I see little use in a Judge handgun but some folks apparently really like them. My mom wants one of the new 'snubnosed' models just for fun but is waiting to find a used model ($500 - the average price I've seen on the new ones - is a bit more than she wants to spend on something that will mostly be a 'toy'.) Taurus also recently announced (not sure if they are in production, yet) a model called "The Circuit Judge" which, rather than a handgun, is a revolving rifle that is capable of chambering/firing both .410 and .45 ammo. I can see some usefulness in a Circuit Judge and if I were going to own a Judge that is probably the one I would want - as long as it turns out that the measures Taurus has taken to protect the user from the cylinder flash prove to be successful. Bond Arms and a couple of other companies make two shot 'Derringer' type pistols that are also capable of chambering either .45 or .410 ammo. I have no experience firing one of those, either but the Bond Arms 'Derringers' are also quite expensive (but are said to be very well made) as well as heavy and pretty bulky for a two-shooter. Also, Heritage firearms is supposed to be coming out with a single-action .45/.410 revolver. My understanding is that it was supposed to be out last month or this month but the release date has been pushed back until August or so. Finally, all my life I have heard that it is possible to chamber/fire a .44 round through a single shot .410 shotgun. I'd think one would need a really heavy barrelled shotgun to stand up to the pressures generated by a .44, though. Personally, I wouldn't try it and will just stick with .410 slugs if I need to send a solid projectile down a .410 barrel.

Those guys showing up was actually when I got annoyed that the colonists had no firearms. Up until that point, I had sort of considered the whole California thing and thought that maybe where they lived firearms were uncommon and a little more difficult to come by so that the non-firearm enthusiasts might consider getting one before the disaster to be too much trouble and that there weren't many firearms in their area that they could pick up after the disaster. Sure, maybe the idea was that the traders were 'survivalist types', whatever that means, and that they had stockpiled weaponry beforehand but if they could get a vehicle mounted 50 cal, AKs, etc. then I'd think that at least one of them (maybe the handyman or the contractor - they seemed a bit less 'peace, love, hippie' than the others) could/would have at least scavenged a shotgun or hunting rifle somewhere along the way. Oh, well, as you said, it's just a television show. I think the reason I got annoyed is that they tried to present the show as, "This is a very likely scenario," and I don't believe it was. The more likely scenario would be that they would either get ahold of some firearms or become victims or, perhaps more likely, slaves to those who did have firearms.

I had mine done at the UPS store in Lenoir City. That was good because they don't use an ink pad, etc. Instead, they electronically scan your fingerprints in and send them that way. By doing so, they get electronically sent immediately, as soon as they have a clear example of each of your prints and you don't get ink stains on your fingers. Of course, for all I know the 'Goin' Postal' place to which you refer may do it the same way.

I think what bugs me the most is the fact that the DMV office where I went to take care of that portion of getting my permit (and where I took my mom to take care of that part of getting hers) was posted. I mean, the very place where you go to get your HCP run by the very state agency that is responsible for issuing those permits posts to prevent you from legally carrying there? I find that to be ironic at the very least. The DMV office I usually go to has moved since I was last there so I don't know if the new location is posted or not. Just makes no sense to me that an HCP holder who is legally carrying should have to leave his/her carry weapon in their vehicle when they go in to renew their HCP.

Cool. Thanks for the info.

Hmmm...that's a good idea. I bought a tool that is somewhat pointed on one end, blunt on the other (for boning) and has a few notches of various widths cut into one face of it (for burnishing.) It's wider than it is thick and fits in the hand pretty well. I like how it works. I've done a little work with wood, too, and probably could have easily made one but it wasn't very expensive so I decided just to save the time and get one already made. Maybe I'll use it as a pattern/example and make some more one day.

Tats, piercings, etc. generally don't bother me. I figure folks do/have such modifications done for one two reasons: 1. They like them. In which case, it's their body and their freedom to do so if they wish. That's liberty, baby! 2. They just do it to shock others. In which case, the best way for me to not oblige is to not be shocked. I may react differently to that philosophy depending on my mood, though. Of course, unlike some guys I don't necessarily think that having a tat or two automatically makes a woman look trashy, unattractive or anything else. Hell, I think that Kat von D is a gorgeous woman, in spite of (or maybe partly because of) all of her ink.

That looks like some really nice work. How do you shape the Kydex - heat it in the oven? Do you heat it with the mags, etc. in or do you heat it then insert the mags and mold to fit them? Is it difficult to mold? Also, did you order the belt clips seperately or did they come on a holster you had ordered? I have yet to find a way to carry IWB that works for me. I have been wanting to experiment with making a hybrid holster to see if it will work better.

Never mind

Yeah, see - that's what I'm saying. Having Grylls demonstrate survival to folks like me would be like having a contortionist demonstrate different positions for tying your shoes - interesting to watch, perhaps, but not much I can really use, myself. The guys on Dual Survival are no doubt a lot more 'hard core' than me, as well but - at least in the Pathfinder videos he has done and that I have seen on YouTube - Dave Canterbury seems to have the same ability that Les Stroud has to explain survival concepts in a manner that is approachable and understandable by those of us who don't have nearly the knowledge and experience he has.

I anticipated the start of the first one and liked it, at first. Honestly, though, it became pretty annoying as time went on. Maybe the most annoying thing, to me, is the idea that this whole gang of people fled/survived some kind of disaster and they don't have one, single damned gun among them - not even a single-shot, break action shotgun. Nor did any of them try to obtain one once the disaster started. Heck, they made kind of a big deal in one or two episodes about a freakin' lock blade pocket knife. Yeah, I know they couldn't have them shooting each other or the 'marauders' with live ammo but I think use of even something like paintball guns (or simunitions) by both the 'colonists' and the 'marauders' would make things a lot more realistic. It would also demonstrate that folks who aren't willing to use firearms in such a situation aren't going to last long against those who are regardless of how much they know about martial arts or building solar panels.

The most difficult part, IMO, is staying awake and paying attention during the videos. As for the wait, times definitely seem to be getting shorter. I got mine two years ago and it took nearly two months to come to me in the mail. Apparently, wait times got even longer shortly after I got mine. My mom got hers earlier this year and it took about a month to five weeks from the time she was fingerprinted to arrive in the mail. My wife applied for hers back in May and it arrived in the mail one day short of three weeks (two weeks and six days) after she was fingerprinted.

Yep! Thanks! I still buy holsters, too, sometimes but generally only the less expensive ones like FOBUS. Buying ammo, etc. and the occasional firearm eats up my rather meager 'gun budget' so I don't have a lot left over to spend on nice, leather holsters. I can generally make a holster (or two - and maybe a couple of other things, depending on type, size of gun, etc.) for $10-$20 worth of leather (leather prices vary depending on a few factors that I still don't completely understand.) Another advantage is being able to make things I can't find commercially available. For instance, I went ahead last night and made a single speedloader carrier out of the same brown leather I used in the Rossi holster. I can only find double carriers to buy and they are too bulky and, since I usually carry a BUG, probably more than I really need in a daily carry situation. I'll post pics of the carrier, soon.

Thanks. These aren't my first holsters but the one for the Rossi is my first of that type. To mold the leather to the gun, you want to use vegetable tanned leather. Then, once the holster is sewn together, etc. you thoroughly wet the holster with warm water then let it drain just a little. Once the leather is no longer completely saturated, it becomes almost like modelling clay. You then put the gun in the holster and use your fingers (and/or a boning tool, which is made for the purpose) to mold the leather as tightly to the gun as you want. Don't mold too tightly or you will have a hard time getting the gun out, later. Also, depending on how the sights, top of the barrel, etc. are made you may need to insert a small pencil, etc. along the top of the barrel to maintain a sight channel in the holster. I then leave the gun in the holster until it dries enough to hold the molding, take it out and let the holster completely dry. This time, I just let it air dry because I didn't want/need to harden the leather any more than it naturally is. With some other holsters, I have removed the grips from the guns and placed the whole thing in the oven to dry on its lowest setting. I take the holster out every few minutes and rub paraffin onto it (the wax melts into the leather) until it is completely dry. This really sets the molding and hardens the leather. You have to be careful, though, because if you leave it in for too long or let the oven get too hot you can scorch the leather or cause it to dry until it becomes completely non-pliable and brittle. There are masks and other sculptures at the leather store where I get my supplies that are made of leather but if you didn't know, just looking at them, you would think they were made of porcelain. Apparently there is some method by which the artists boiled the leather (not sure if that is before or after they form it) to make it really hold the shape. The folks at the store have said that, if dropped, some of them would shatter just like they were made of porcelain. Obviously, we don't want the leather that hard/non-pliable/brittle for holster making. I don't know if the heat could hurt the grips, etc. on polymer guns or not. I wouldn't imagine that the lowest setting of the oven would but I'd still be careful with the plastic pistols. I have used the oven method to set the leather on a belt slide holster that I was re-forming for a Ruger P95 that has some 'plastic' on it with no ill effects (I bought the holster for another handgun, didn't like it with that one so I wetted and reformed it to fit the Ruger.) The low-heat oven and paraffin wax process also changes the color/tone of the leather. I think it gives it a nice look. This is a holster I made last year for my Colt Police Positive (rarely carry it, just thought that style holster looked good with it.) This one was only loosely and lightly molded and I didn't put any color on it. The color was natural leather and looked like the color of the NAA holster above looked before I put the shoe polish on it - the color of the Colt holster is 100% from heating it and rubbing it with paraffin wax: Some folks put the firearm in a plastic (ziploc type) bag and get the bag tight to the gun before putting it in the holster. Others recommend covering the gun in plastic wrap. Both of these measures are intended to protect the firearm from the moisture from the wet leather. For me, I simply rub a good coating of gun grease on the surface of the firearm before putting it in the wet holster then wipe the grease off and make sure the gun is good and clean/dry when I finish. You also have to wet the surface of the leather just a little before stamping it (for the basketweave pattern, for instance) to get the pattern to really 'take'. For that reason, you can only lightly mold the holster to the firearm (if at all) because pressing it too much/molding it too tightly can cause you to lose the pattern in places. That's why I didn't mold the NAA holster as tightly to it as I molded the Rossi holster.

What kind of job can he get? Well, if The Enigma (who is no half-asser like the guy in the pic from the original post) is any indication, he could be a sideshow performer, musician and actor, appear on an episode of pretty popular television show (The X Files) and probably make a pretty good living. The Enigma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A picture of The Enigma: and here he is with his wife: