We went to the one about an hour away across the state line. I hadn’t been to one since before The Dark Times.
The shooting gallery was broken.
The place where they made many different types of fudge on site was closed and in its place was pre-packaged stuff from across the country (Florida).
The cafe was gone, now it is a kayak lot.
The freeze dried food selection was sorry.
The restroom was dirty and stunk.
The isles were full of shit Chinese clothing.
They will probably blame The Coof, but MBA’s driving costs out of the organization after the merger with (B)ass Pro Shop is more likely. I won’t going back.
I say this as I am about to head down to OH to shop at Bass Pro, but you're 100% right.
Today they'll sell you an Elk hunting trip via their "club experiences" or whatever it's called, but good luck actually getting outfitted for that trip in store. It used to be that you could actually get outfitted at a Cabela's, now all they sell is cheap junk. Their private label stuff was of excellent quality. Aside from a few pieces of their camping gear and the Guidewear jackets, that's pretty much all gone.
Our local store is filled with imported flannel shirts, kahkis, and crappy camo clothing for bow hunters. The gun library has been closed since 2020, when people either took their consignment items back or the store put them on the regular shelves to fill in stock. Both the food court and bakery/fudge shop have been closed as well. The store is kind of like what Gander Mountain was in its last days, only with more displays.
Bass Pro has always had a few decent items mixed in with the cheap junk. That's always what made it fun. It was not a serious place.
If it were me, I would've let Cabela's do their thing and cater to people who wanted quality items or at least aspired to. The idea of "destination" stores is still brilliant. I don't understand how they flushed all of that down the commode.
The other major complaint is with their credit card. Back in the day, if you hit a certain tier you'd get everything from free swag to a leather-bound master catalogue annually. Somewhere along the line, this got sold off to Capital One and you get a hat when you sign up. The funny thing is if you call the customer service line, they ALWAYS say that they're located in Sydney, NE.
Goddamnit Jack, I was just going to replace my white, made in Italy Svenssons with another pair of the same and you have to go and show me American versions... for twice the price.
A lot of people do, but I try to be conscious of the "big tent" aspects here. A significant percentage of my readers aren't in need of so much as a Crescent wrench.
I have no place to work on a car and no carpentry skills, and I still enjoy the tool posts. There's an alternate reality (mainly, one in which I didn't marry a woman who is even more urban than I am) in which I would have room for a big garage and shop and it's fun to read about what happens in Jack's.
You need not be a shade tree mechanic to find that a good tool saves the day. Something like one of these Chapman kits is valuable if you ever find yourself using a screwdriver. Good tools aren't for professionals. Professionals buy good tools because they save time, effort, and frustration. They'll do the same for everybody.
I do a lot of work on firearms, especially as it relates to mounting optics and working on revolvers. Getting bits that actually properly fit fasteners and screws used to hold a red dot optic on the slide of a handgun is crucially important since most of the fasteners that come with these optics are the cheapest Chinese shit the manufacturer could source and the heads strip out if you look at them funny. On revolvers you need hollow ground bits to prevent ruining the screw heads and marring the revolver. Chapman's set has been an absolute godsend in that regard. I have been using the Mity-Master #1000 set for a few years. It is compact, portable, and I've been able to do everything from mount an optic on top of a Shield + to work on my dearly departed F150 with the set. It's exceedingly rare that I run into a fastener I don't have a bit for.
They do an excellent job of preventing damage to the heads of fasteners and on the more delicate types of fasteners you are often dealing with in mounting optics to firearms, they'll flex just a little bit to let you know you've hit the limit of the torque you should be applying to that fastener.
I'll always have a Chapman kit in my toolbox going forward. If you work on things regularly you'll wish you had bought one sooner.
Do you have a recommendation for a good punch and hammer set for this kind of work? Right now I’m mostly running in pins with a Knipex pliers wrench, but this isn’t going to work for any sort of disassembly.
I’ve been going back and forth between Wheeler, Real Avid, and Tekton. The Tekton punches are USA-made, but I’m unsure about the quality.
When I was in the H&K Armorer's classes, I think they had Geodre punches that were really nice. Starret punches are kind of the gold standard. I have a set of Grace punches that are performing well in most work for me. But generally speaking I've used all sorts of brands over the years.
The really important thing with firearms is getting the correct size as few pins require real force to get out. Just make sure you use actual roll-pin punches for roll pins. I use a derlin-tipped Grace hammer (available at Brownells) to prevent marring. The head is heavy so it generates a lot of force with minimal swing and the derlin strike face is safe to use directly on the metal of the firearm without damage. Just be sure that the face doesn't get hacked up and embedded with crud. If it does, replace it.
As an all-in-one kit, the Weaver gunsmith's kit includes most of what you need and works fine. The box is a little bulky and the bits/punches aren't the highest quality, but it comes with almost everything you'd actually use and they work well enough for most purposes. (Save for roll pins)
He’s 4. He was enraptured watching a few do flips and jumps around a piddling dirt park near our house.
The trick is getting something he won’t be insta-bored with, is reasonably tough, and isn’t some chintzy toy. As a rule I try to avoid items like that. I don’t know what’s reasonable, a $200 price cap?
Is the HK armorer’s class worthwhile? I’ve been kicking around the idea of attending one for a while now. I don’t want to bother if it’s just a bit of play acting though. Thanks.
If you want to learn to work on one of their weapons from folks who know the tips and tricks to making them work, it's a good option. There are several little details for assessing and working on, say, a semi-automatic clone of an MP5 that are a pain in the ass if you don't know the right way to go about them. Almost everybody who has tried to work on the parts inside the fire control group of the SP5/HK94/MP5 has messed a couple of things up through just not knowing the right techniques. It's not going to make you a gunsmith, but it will give you the information you need to check a weapon out, make sure it operates properly, and replace serviceable parts.
Thanks, I have a Wheeler engineering kit I’ve been using, but it’s about to be replaced with a Chapman. When I was a young fellow, I never dreamed tools or jeans wouldn’t always be made in America.
A neighbor of mine, the widow of a prominent rabbinical scholar, has operated a kosher food bank for years. Because of their many children (and big parochial school tuition bills), many orthodox families are officially below the poverty level and free food is free food. The private food bank supplements the Detroit Jewish Federation's food charity Yad Ezra. It has some private funding, and food from some local kosher businesses, but most of the food comes from Forgotten Harvest, the Detroit area's non-profit food recycler and distributor and it almost all meets the definition of distressed merchandise. Stuff that's close to or past its best used by date, odd flavors that didn't sell.
One thing that apparently doesn't sell well are canned peaches from China. I understand importing fresh produce from Central and South America, but why on earth is anyone importing canned peaches from China? While it's not quite carrying coals to Newcastle, Michigan is a major producer of peaches and other stone fruit.
Michigan's state government has been encouraging the production of corn ethanol for decades, which also doesn't make sense in light of the state's role as a leading producer of sugar from sugar beets. Making ethanol from corn is pretty much a wash in terms of energy in to energy out. Using the begasse, the waste from sugar cane or sugar beet processing, to make ethanol, is actually energy positive.
Most Klein Tools are no longer made in the USA. I've bought Klein stuff only to find out it was Mexico, India, or Taiwan. I believe that many of the core electrician hand tools ("dykes") are still USA made however.
I can just imagine the confusion if you asked for 'a pair of diagonal cutters please' .
Before I retired I was buying tools for the C.O.L.A. and many were U.S.A. made Klein tools .
Any time I replaced a Chinesium tool with an American made one (except for hose bibs) the usage dropped by nearly 50% saving serious $ .
I never did find a decently made U.S.A. hose bib, the two I had supplied for evaluation were crap right out of the box, they didn't even bother sending me ringers .
Both leaked profusely when supposedly shut off ~ a non starter .
According to their website they’ve been investing in more USA facilities and some tools are made overseas. I use their driver set when doing electrical as they’re insulated.
ChannelLock side cutters are still USA made. I have chipped my larger ChannelLock side cutter but I was trying to cut something that I shouldn't have. It still cut it, for what it's worth.
BTW, if we're going to quibble about wreaking, wrecking, and wroughting the pedant in me must point out that the proper spelling is probably dikes, as it comes from diagonal cutter.
I just checked, my Klein bottle opener, part number 98002BT, is Made in the USA. Comes complete with the engraving of a Lineman on a pole. A power lineman, mind you, not telephone.
You have to read the Klein packaging carefully. I've found an item on the rack that some were made in USA and some were made in Mexico. Same part number and packaging.
I'm thinking an engraved box set would make a really nice gift for the groom of a young, soon-to-be-wedded couple I know...but that wedding is in three hours, so I'll have to file that idea away for another time. Or maybe a graduation gift for enterprising young people who you'd expect to use such things.
They're a solid gift for anyone who is going out on their own. If you go live away from home, odds are you'll need a decent screwdriver multiple times. Well, one of these kits will handle almost any fastener you're likely to encounter out in the world.
I got a toolbox with my name engraved on it for a graduation present. It's great, I use it all the time and when I use it I think of the guy who gave it to me
Jack - totally off-topic here but I don’t know how to make the request otherwise. I saw your IG story a day or two ago about the Hagerty layoffs and then went and read some articles about it. Will there be a time when you might be able to share who all got let go from the journalist side of things?
A few months after I was terminated, I signed an agreement as part of my negotiated severance that prohibits me from maliciously disparaging Hagerty, and GM President Mark Reuss, by name. So it's hard for me to speak about these layoffs any further, since I know a lot of good people who were harmed by them.
For now, however, I think I can share that the majority of my old team is still in place. They are doing their best to do good work and keep moving forward. Were I still part of the company, I would have fought for some of the people who were let go, because in my opinion they were an important part of the group.
If I could go back in time to January of 2019, I would never have taken that job. At the time, I had a great position with McGrawHill, administering their online learning platform. Had I stayed there, I could have done a lot of good for the kids who were forced into online learning by Covid, I could have made real money in the process, and I'd be firmly embedded with a company that practices more ethical behavior than it preaches.
I took the gig because of vanity and ego. I believed that I could show the autowriting business what I could do if I had a real budget and access to real resources. I could not have predicted what my hidden constraints would be, what my management would do, or how good people would be treated along the way. Since this is a public post, now is a good time to personally apologize to everyone whom I convinced to accompany me on that quest. My life would be infinitely better had I stayed where I was and just kept freelancing.
In particular, I'd like to apologize to Travis Okulski, whom I abandoned just as he was taking over Road&Track. I don't know if my help could have made the difference there -- Travis and his team were and are first-rate people -- but we won't know, because I was off playing Insurance Director and wasting time.
You're being too hard on yourself about this. You thought you could change something about the world that you hate, and you gave it your best shot. You were fighting forces that are bigger than any one person, and so you didn't succeed. But there's no shame in that and you didn't wrong anyone by going there and trying.
I know the story, but it’s still whacked that a third party is named in your NDA. But a good severance check is a good severance check. I view my severance payment as pay back for all of the BS I had to constantly put up with, for the mere crime of just trying to do the right thing all the time.
From Shakespeare’s Othello:
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition: oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.
You made a big decision to pursue your dreams and something you are passionate about, and we came along for the ride and have thoroughly enjoyed your writing throughout. We appreciate that you didn't fold under pressure. Now thanks to cancel culture a new medium emerged for independent writing and you are helping to build it up. Cup half full. No need to look back and regret anything. Rock on and know awesome things are yet to come.
If I'm not mistaken Maruchan noodle packs are still Made in USA even though the parent company is located in Japan.
Helping my fellow Americans $.50 at a time.
I will add here that I just about had a conniption a few years ago when I inspected some ramen my wife brought home and found it stamped "Made in China." From Whole Foods, no less (back before kids when I could afford things and also put money away).
If you're really trying to be frugal, it's actually cheaper to buy a bag of egg noodles and some powdered consomme. Greenfield's egg noodles are hand rolled in Detroit and are just $2.50 for a 10 oz bag. Available in a variety of thicknesses. It's rather remarkable how much different noodles can taste in something, depending on the size and shape. I guess that's why the Italians make so many different kinds of pasta. https://www.greenfieldnoodle.com/products
I need that set with the wood case in my life. Looks absolutely gorgeous.
On another note, does anyone know why every public restroom uses either a T27 or T30 security screw on all the urinal and stall dividers? There must be some reason that this has become the standard? Is urinal divider theft that much of a problem. I carry a Snap On SDDDM1AR pocket screwdriver on me at all times and I’ve never contemplated taking the reversible bit out and putting a Torx in to steal urinal divers, but I may try now.
The Venn overlap of people who want to modify public restrooms for easier gay sex, people who can use hand tools without shrieking, and people who don't feel they can proclaim their desires on social media is very small, and it primarily contains long-haul truckers.
At the large bank I used to work for, we were disgusted at the number of workers who would not wash their hands before leaving the bathroom, so we bought WORKERS MUST WASH HANDS BEFORE RETURNING TO WORK signs and stuck them on the bathroom mirrors. It was absolutely fantastic to listen to all the bankers bitch and moan that THE BANK was now treating them like mere fast food employees! But everyone was afraid to take the signs down or even question why the signs were there. This was before the woke age, but no white collar worker was willing to question authority. Now that was effective vandalism!
If hospitals and restaurants were actually serious about sanitation, they'd put RFID tags on employee name tags, and sensors on the autoflush toilets and sinks to make sure people wash their hands.
I once read that only about half of doctors and nurses wash their hands between patients when doing hospital rounds.
I know workers will say that it's an invasion of privacy but you can't improve something if you aren't able to measure it.
I stripped a cheap torx driver yesterday trying to extract a screw from wood so I went and looked through my DeWalt indexes. They're made in Asia like everything else but I believe their bits are hardened.
Speaking of Chinesium, after designing and building a chassis lift for my new laser, which is impressively well made for something Chinese, and an enclosure for it all, I found that the laser was down on power due to a burned and cracked final lens (which is really protective, not optical). Apparently it's enough of a consumable that the manufacturer of my laser has replacement lenses on the accessory page, but they're out of stock. Fortunately, there are replacements available on Etsy. I also ordered some mineral glass and saphire 13mm x 1mm watch glasses from the MIddle Kingdom just to have on hand.
I've used most of the bits in my Mity-Master #1000 set and they're properly hardened so that the bit itself doesn't take damage unless you really work at it. If anything you're most likely to snap the bit entirely rather than bend or mar it, in which case you can call them up and they will likely replace it.
Every gun range or bug out bag needs the small set. It has bailed my ass out on more than one occasion. Probably best bang for the buck. They really make far east made tools look like third world trash.
Oh good, you wrote a piece on Chapman tools, I thought you might get around to it! American made and quite good, they can be invaluable at times when nothing else will seem to do. For me it was replacing the front lower grill on a C6, with its zillion little no-clearance fasteners. Been a fan ever since.
Cabelas. They’ve sure gone into the crapper over the last two years.
More like the last twenty years. I haven’t been to one in a couple of years, though; so you may be right. That’s kind of frightening.
We went to the one about an hour away across the state line. I hadn’t been to one since before The Dark Times.
The shooting gallery was broken.
The place where they made many different types of fudge on site was closed and in its place was pre-packaged stuff from across the country (Florida).
The cafe was gone, now it is a kayak lot.
The freeze dried food selection was sorry.
The restroom was dirty and stunk.
The isles were full of shit Chinese clothing.
They will probably blame The Coof, but MBA’s driving costs out of the organization after the merger with (B)ass Pro Shop is more likely. I won’t going back.
I spent some time in Sidney, NE 2 years ago. They are 100% convinced it was the merger.
I say this as I am about to head down to OH to shop at Bass Pro, but you're 100% right.
Today they'll sell you an Elk hunting trip via their "club experiences" or whatever it's called, but good luck actually getting outfitted for that trip in store. It used to be that you could actually get outfitted at a Cabela's, now all they sell is cheap junk. Their private label stuff was of excellent quality. Aside from a few pieces of their camping gear and the Guidewear jackets, that's pretty much all gone.
Our local store is filled with imported flannel shirts, kahkis, and crappy camo clothing for bow hunters. The gun library has been closed since 2020, when people either took their consignment items back or the store put them on the regular shelves to fill in stock. Both the food court and bakery/fudge shop have been closed as well. The store is kind of like what Gander Mountain was in its last days, only with more displays.
Bass Pro has always had a few decent items mixed in with the cheap junk. That's always what made it fun. It was not a serious place.
If it were me, I would've let Cabela's do their thing and cater to people who wanted quality items or at least aspired to. The idea of "destination" stores is still brilliant. I don't understand how they flushed all of that down the commode.
The other major complaint is with their credit card. Back in the day, if you hit a certain tier you'd get everything from free swag to a leather-bound master catalogue annually. Somewhere along the line, this got sold off to Capital One and you get a hat when you sign up. The funny thing is if you call the customer service line, they ALWAYS say that they're located in Sydney, NE.
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/cabelas-ultimate-alaknak-13x27-outfitter-tent
The recent reviews say it all.
None of this surprises me. IIRC, Montana Canvas was the OEM for the old Cabela’s canvas wall tents. You can buy from them directly.
Those Opie Way high tops are calling my name....as if I needed to drop more money on things with brown leather from North Carolina!
Goddamnit Jack, I was just going to replace my white, made in Italy Svenssons with another pair of the same and you have to go and show me American versions... for twice the price.
Personally I -like- the tool posts.
But then I'm still something of a gear head and will be buying a set of these shortly.
A lot of people do, but I try to be conscious of the "big tent" aspects here. A significant percentage of my readers aren't in need of so much as a Crescent wrench.
I have no place to work on a car and no carpentry skills, and I still enjoy the tool posts. There's an alternate reality (mainly, one in which I didn't marry a woman who is even more urban than I am) in which I would have room for a big garage and shop and it's fun to read about what happens in Jack's.
You need not be a shade tree mechanic to find that a good tool saves the day. Something like one of these Chapman kits is valuable if you ever find yourself using a screwdriver. Good tools aren't for professionals. Professionals buy good tools because they save time, effort, and frustration. They'll do the same for everybody.
Perhaps, but should the need arise, to protect their knuckles they should know to pull against the jaw.
I do a lot of work on firearms, especially as it relates to mounting optics and working on revolvers. Getting bits that actually properly fit fasteners and screws used to hold a red dot optic on the slide of a handgun is crucially important since most of the fasteners that come with these optics are the cheapest Chinese shit the manufacturer could source and the heads strip out if you look at them funny. On revolvers you need hollow ground bits to prevent ruining the screw heads and marring the revolver. Chapman's set has been an absolute godsend in that regard. I have been using the Mity-Master #1000 set for a few years. It is compact, portable, and I've been able to do everything from mount an optic on top of a Shield + to work on my dearly departed F150 with the set. It's exceedingly rare that I run into a fastener I don't have a bit for.
They do an excellent job of preventing damage to the heads of fasteners and on the more delicate types of fasteners you are often dealing with in mounting optics to firearms, they'll flex just a little bit to let you know you've hit the limit of the torque you should be applying to that fastener.
I'll always have a Chapman kit in my toolbox going forward. If you work on things regularly you'll wish you had bought one sooner.
I have one of the AMG holographics to put on a Kriss Vector (airsoft gun!) this week so I'll keep all of that in mind...
Do you have a recommendation for a good punch and hammer set for this kind of work? Right now I’m mostly running in pins with a Knipex pliers wrench, but this isn’t going to work for any sort of disassembly.
I’ve been going back and forth between Wheeler, Real Avid, and Tekton. The Tekton punches are USA-made, but I’m unsure about the quality.
When I was in the H&K Armorer's classes, I think they had Geodre punches that were really nice. Starret punches are kind of the gold standard. I have a set of Grace punches that are performing well in most work for me. But generally speaking I've used all sorts of brands over the years.
The really important thing with firearms is getting the correct size as few pins require real force to get out. Just make sure you use actual roll-pin punches for roll pins. I use a derlin-tipped Grace hammer (available at Brownells) to prevent marring. The head is heavy so it generates a lot of force with minimal swing and the derlin strike face is safe to use directly on the metal of the firearm without damage. Just be sure that the face doesn't get hacked up and embedded with crud. If it does, replace it.
As an all-in-one kit, the Weaver gunsmith's kit includes most of what you need and works fine. The box is a little bulky and the bits/punches aren't the highest quality, but it comes with almost everything you'd actually use and they work well enough for most purposes. (Save for roll pins)
Roll pins have been the bane of my existence since I started racing RC cars at 8. Thank you for the suggestion, I didn’t know Gedore made punches.
I still have to follow up on my promise to get my boy an RC car after he saw some Traxxas or other at the park.
In which this dad assigns himself yet another responsibility for maintenance and repair and is completely lost as to where to start.
Traxxas’ dominance and the proliferation kind of ruined the hobby, IMO. Part of the fun was always building the kit.
How old is he? Depending upon what he was looking at, you could likely find the equivalent in an Associated, Kyosho, Losi, or Tamiya.
Proliferation of RTR cars*. Can’t go back and edit, sorry.
He’s 4. He was enraptured watching a few do flips and jumps around a piddling dirt park near our house.
The trick is getting something he won’t be insta-bored with, is reasonably tough, and isn’t some chintzy toy. As a rule I try to avoid items like that. I don’t know what’s reasonable, a $200 price cap?
Is the HK armorer’s class worthwhile? I’ve been kicking around the idea of attending one for a while now. I don’t want to bother if it’s just a bit of play acting though. Thanks.
If you want to learn to work on one of their weapons from folks who know the tips and tricks to making them work, it's a good option. There are several little details for assessing and working on, say, a semi-automatic clone of an MP5 that are a pain in the ass if you don't know the right way to go about them. Almost everybody who has tried to work on the parts inside the fire control group of the SP5/HK94/MP5 has messed a couple of things up through just not knowing the right techniques. It's not going to make you a gunsmith, but it will give you the information you need to check a weapon out, make sure it operates properly, and replace serviceable parts.
I'm a Certified Glock Armorer, because a dead monkey could be a Certified Glock Armorer. It's simpler than a bicycle V-brake.
Thanks, I have a Wheeler engineering kit I’ve been using, but it’s about to be replaced with a Chapman. When I was a young fellow, I never dreamed tools or jeans wouldn’t always be made in America.
I figured they would at least keep making FOOD here, you know?
A neighbor of mine, the widow of a prominent rabbinical scholar, has operated a kosher food bank for years. Because of their many children (and big parochial school tuition bills), many orthodox families are officially below the poverty level and free food is free food. The private food bank supplements the Detroit Jewish Federation's food charity Yad Ezra. It has some private funding, and food from some local kosher businesses, but most of the food comes from Forgotten Harvest, the Detroit area's non-profit food recycler and distributor and it almost all meets the definition of distressed merchandise. Stuff that's close to or past its best used by date, odd flavors that didn't sell.
One thing that apparently doesn't sell well are canned peaches from China. I understand importing fresh produce from Central and South America, but why on earth is anyone importing canned peaches from China? While it's not quite carrying coals to Newcastle, Michigan is a major producer of peaches and other stone fruit.
I had the same thought reading the label of a can constisting mostly of corn. Why we would import corn from China still has me scratching my head.
Because we’re making ours into ethanol so we can have crappy motor fuel. And make Archer Daniels Midland even wealthier.
Michigan's state government has been encouraging the production of corn ethanol for decades, which also doesn't make sense in light of the state's role as a leading producer of sugar from sugar beets. Making ethanol from corn is pretty much a wash in terms of energy in to energy out. Using the begasse, the waste from sugar cane or sugar beet processing, to make ethanol, is actually energy positive.
That's almost literally
"coals to Newcastle"
The only reason to import corn from China is if you literally despise the USA and everyone in it.
Have you looked at Klein Tools? I'm pretty sure they're made in the USA and I went to high school with the son who was a pretty good kid.
Most Klein Tools are no longer made in the USA. I've bought Klein stuff only to find out it was Mexico, India, or Taiwan. I believe that many of the core electrician hand tools ("dykes") are still USA made however.
A long time ago, I worked with a guy who got yelled at by a female Sears clerk when he asked her where the dykes were.
I can just imagine the confusion if you asked for 'a pair of diagonal cutters please' .
Before I retired I was buying tools for the C.O.L.A. and many were U.S.A. made Klein tools .
Any time I replaced a Chinesium tool with an American made one (except for hose bibs) the usage dropped by nearly 50% saving serious $ .
I never did find a decently made U.S.A. hose bib, the two I had supplied for evaluation were crap right out of the box, they didn't even bother sending me ringers .
Both leaked profusely when supposedly shut off ~ a non starter .
-Nate
According to their website they’ve been investing in more USA facilities and some tools are made overseas. I use their driver set when doing electrical as they’re insulated.
ChannelLock side cutters are still USA made. I have chipped my larger ChannelLock side cutter but I was trying to cut something that I shouldn't have. It still cut it, for what it's worth.
BTW, if we're going to quibble about wreaking, wrecking, and wroughting the pedant in me must point out that the proper spelling is probably dikes, as it comes from diagonal cutter.
I just checked, my Klein bottle opener, part number 98002BT, is Made in the USA. Comes complete with the engraving of a Lineman on a pole. A power lineman, mind you, not telephone.
You have to read the Klein packaging carefully. I've found an item on the rack that some were made in USA and some were made in Mexico. Same part number and packaging.
Bought their magnetic mount extension cord last month and can confirm it is unfortunately chinesium.
"If you've ever wanted to steal parts of a public restroom..."
Funny you should mention it. Right now, I'm build a 35-foot-tall Fat Elvis out of old toilets. Apropos, eh?
I'm thinking an engraved box set would make a really nice gift for the groom of a young, soon-to-be-wedded couple I know...but that wedding is in three hours, so I'll have to file that idea away for another time. Or maybe a graduation gift for enterprising young people who you'd expect to use such things.
They're a solid gift for anyone who is going out on their own. If you go live away from home, odds are you'll need a decent screwdriver multiple times. Well, one of these kits will handle almost any fastener you're likely to encounter out in the world.
Write them an IOU, "it's just as good as the real thing!"
“That’s as good as money, sir. Those are I.O.U’s.”
I got a toolbox with my name engraved on it for a graduation present. It's great, I use it all the time and when I use it I think of the guy who gave it to me
Well, they appear to have JIS1 and JIS2 bits. Have to look into that! My Honda will thank me.
That was my first question. I'm gonna order a set now
Jack - totally off-topic here but I don’t know how to make the request otherwise. I saw your IG story a day or two ago about the Hagerty layoffs and then went and read some articles about it. Will there be a time when you might be able to share who all got let go from the journalist side of things?
A few months after I was terminated, I signed an agreement as part of my negotiated severance that prohibits me from maliciously disparaging Hagerty, and GM President Mark Reuss, by name. So it's hard for me to speak about these layoffs any further, since I know a lot of good people who were harmed by them.
For now, however, I think I can share that the majority of my old team is still in place. They are doing their best to do good work and keep moving forward. Were I still part of the company, I would have fought for some of the people who were let go, because in my opinion they were an important part of the group.
If I could go back in time to January of 2019, I would never have taken that job. At the time, I had a great position with McGrawHill, administering their online learning platform. Had I stayed there, I could have done a lot of good for the kids who were forced into online learning by Covid, I could have made real money in the process, and I'd be firmly embedded with a company that practices more ethical behavior than it preaches.
I took the gig because of vanity and ego. I believed that I could show the autowriting business what I could do if I had a real budget and access to real resources. I could not have predicted what my hidden constraints would be, what my management would do, or how good people would be treated along the way. Since this is a public post, now is a good time to personally apologize to everyone whom I convinced to accompany me on that quest. My life would be infinitely better had I stayed where I was and just kept freelancing.
In particular, I'd like to apologize to Travis Okulski, whom I abandoned just as he was taking over Road&Track. I don't know if my help could have made the difference there -- Travis and his team were and are first-rate people -- but we won't know, because I was off playing Insurance Director and wasting time.
I’m planning to give Hagerty the boot at the next renewal. Not thrilled by the changes brought on as a result of going public.
You're being too hard on yourself about this. You thought you could change something about the world that you hate, and you gave it your best shot. You were fighting forces that are bigger than any one person, and so you didn't succeed. But there's no shame in that and you didn't wrong anyone by going there and trying.
Thanks for your thoughts, Jack. I figured you couldn’t say much. Good insight, as always.
I know the story, but it’s still whacked that a third party is named in your NDA. But a good severance check is a good severance check. I view my severance payment as pay back for all of the BS I had to constantly put up with, for the mere crime of just trying to do the right thing all the time.
From Shakespeare’s Othello:
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition: oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.
You made a big decision to pursue your dreams and something you are passionate about, and we came along for the ride and have thoroughly enjoyed your writing throughout. We appreciate that you didn't fold under pressure. Now thanks to cancel culture a new medium emerged for independent writing and you are helping to build it up. Cup half full. No need to look back and regret anything. Rock on and know awesome things are yet to come.
First the college fund now they have to eat Maruchan in perpetuity.
Builds character, dontcha know.
If I'm not mistaken Maruchan noodle packs are still Made in USA even though the parent company is located in Japan.
Helping my fellow Americans $.50 at a time.
I will add here that I just about had a conniption a few years ago when I inspected some ramen my wife brought home and found it stamped "Made in China." From Whole Foods, no less (back before kids when I could afford things and also put money away).
The frozen yakisoba at Costco is made in China.
Many such cases
If you're really trying to be frugal, it's actually cheaper to buy a bag of egg noodles and some powdered consomme. Greenfield's egg noodles are hand rolled in Detroit and are just $2.50 for a 10 oz bag. Available in a variety of thicknesses. It's rather remarkable how much different noodles can taste in something, depending on the size and shape. I guess that's why the Italians make so many different kinds of pasta. https://www.greenfieldnoodle.com/products
"And sodium doesn't count, as long as you don't read how much is in it."
- Dom Mazetti, Bro Science Life
"How To Eat Chicken Without Wanting To Kill Yourself."
"Exercises To Make You Better At Sex" was the best one.
I need that set with the wood case in my life. Looks absolutely gorgeous.
On another note, does anyone know why every public restroom uses either a T27 or T30 security screw on all the urinal and stall dividers? There must be some reason that this has become the standard? Is urinal divider theft that much of a problem. I carry a Snap On SDDDM1AR pocket screwdriver on me at all times and I’ve never contemplated taking the reversible bit out and putting a Torx in to steal urinal divers, but I may try now.
The Venn overlap of people who want to modify public restrooms for easier gay sex, people who can use hand tools without shrieking, and people who don't feel they can proclaim their desires on social media is very small, and it primarily contains long-haul truckers.
Oh, listen to Mister High-and-Mighty here! Never been tempted to steal urinal dividers!
Walks on water too, I'll bet.
Tempted to steal? No. Take them down and stack them on the floor just to screw with the next people? Occasionally tempted.
Oh yeah, I can see that.
At the large bank I used to work for, we were disgusted at the number of workers who would not wash their hands before leaving the bathroom, so we bought WORKERS MUST WASH HANDS BEFORE RETURNING TO WORK signs and stuck them on the bathroom mirrors. It was absolutely fantastic to listen to all the bankers bitch and moan that THE BANK was now treating them like mere fast food employees! But everyone was afraid to take the signs down or even question why the signs were there. This was before the woke age, but no white collar worker was willing to question authority. Now that was effective vandalism!
Markoff Chaney would be proud!
http://the-mgt.wikidot.com/
If hospitals and restaurants were actually serious about sanitation, they'd put RFID tags on employee name tags, and sensors on the autoflush toilets and sinks to make sure people wash their hands.
I once read that only about half of doctors and nurses wash their hands between patients when doing hospital rounds.
I know workers will say that it's an invasion of privacy but you can't improve something if you aren't able to measure it.
Have you used the Phillips #2 bit enough to determine if it's more durable than brands I might find at Lowe's?
No but it couldn't be any WORSE than most of that stuff.
I stripped a cheap torx driver yesterday trying to extract a screw from wood so I went and looked through my DeWalt indexes. They're made in Asia like everything else but I believe their bits are hardened.
Speaking of Chinesium, after designing and building a chassis lift for my new laser, which is impressively well made for something Chinese, and an enclosure for it all, I found that the laser was down on power due to a burned and cracked final lens (which is really protective, not optical). Apparently it's enough of a consumable that the manufacturer of my laser has replacement lenses on the accessory page, but they're out of stock. Fortunately, there are replacements available on Etsy. I also ordered some mineral glass and saphire 13mm x 1mm watch glasses from the MIddle Kingdom just to have on hand.
I've used most of the bits in my Mity-Master #1000 set and they're properly hardened so that the bit itself doesn't take damage unless you really work at it. If anything you're most likely to snap the bit entirely rather than bend or mar it, in which case you can call them up and they will likely replace it.
Appreciate the feedback, mostly need it for general household tasks and don't want to have to keep throwing bits out.
Then one of their larger kits would have you set. It'll handle most any fastener you come across and won't get fouled up doing it.
Every gun range or bug out bag needs the small set. It has bailed my ass out on more than one occasion. Probably best bang for the buck. They really make far east made tools look like third world trash.
Oh good, you wrote a piece on Chapman tools, I thought you might get around to it! American made and quite good, they can be invaluable at times when nothing else will seem to do. For me it was replacing the front lower grill on a C6, with its zillion little no-clearance fasteners. Been a fan ever since.
They way they call out 'inch-pounds' in the Torque Chart is a new one by me, if that's in fact what I'm reading.
FWIW a Milwaukee M18 driver is rated at 1500" lbs. I had to check because I break the Chinese crap bits left and right in mine.