Dapper Dave

Umbrella, good idea, could also use it in a stage as a prop... Yes, I'd love to have one of my PCRs back, but I have enough guns to keep me occupied for quite a while now, and that, as always, is a very good thing. Now, back to knives, the only knives I've really spent any serious money on is my Henckels kitchen knives, one at a time. I've seen some seriously nice custom knives I'd like to buy some day, but one that catches my eye is the "screwknife" from Mernickle - is it really that useful?

If I didn't have an ex-wife who loved to spend my money, I'd still have it and whole bunch of others like it still, too. I don't have any tools on my guncart, still getting things setup.

If I am hunting grizzly, I want a tank.

In almost 60 years in Southern AZ I have yet to see a bear in the wild, however, one of my staff did one night. See, he was doing a perimeter check on our lock down one night, and the next thing my Sgt and I heard was, "BEAR! BEARRR!!!" on the radio. We both jumped in the supervisor truck and sped up to where he was, and on the way i observed dryly to my Sgt, 'We may have been a little fast, since neither one of us is armed, not even with pepper spray. " Oops. When we got there the bear, most likely a small black bear, had given up stropping on one of our telephone poles and had apparently hightailed it back to the mountains north of us. My officer was a little freaked out, but fortunately he did not take a shot at it with sidearm or shotgun. We see javalina, deer, bobcat, way too many coyotes and the very rare mountain lion, but that was our first bear. I gave a courtesy call to our local LE, and for the next six hours there were cop cars and trucks all OVER the outside of our perimeter...that was more amusing than the bear sighting. So, that is as close as I have gotten, (so far), to seeing bear in the wild. They look cuddly... 🤪

I wear a pouch on my belt, ostensibly a phone holder while carrying an ersatz IFK, and in that is my Leatherman. Not a new one, not an updated one, nothing fancy, just a Leatherman from 20+ years ago, works great, does everything I ask it to do. I wear that pouch every single day of the year that I am not at work. Off duty I also carry a favorite, a Benchmade Resistor a guy gave me years ago, CZ marked. I no longer have this pistol, but I certainly have the knife! I have one fixed blade, I don't remember what it is or even WHERE it is right now, always have used lockbacks, but I think I would like to buy a custom fixed blade for every day carry someday.

There was a plan to further modernize the Iowa class even after the 80s refit which added some Tomahawk and Harpoon launchers, IIRC, the last update which was not put in, would have replaced them with cell launchers amidships which would have given the big battlewagons a long range punch like Tyson. I agree, the Alaska was a great compromise warship, the American battlecruiser without being called a battlecruiser. Something along those lines made to modern standards with modern materials and equipment...yes indeed. And, even with missiles ruling the roost nowadays, if you build something like this, you HAVE to have at least two turrets with big honking firepower...well, because. Heck even if it just two twin mounts with 12 inchers for shore bombardment, and fill the remaining space with missile cells, do it, but I am not a warship designer, nor do I play one on TV.

The Bismarck was rendered helpless from a single light torpedo from a Fairy Swordfish biplane damaging the rudder.

Write things down, and then terms like "premeditated" gets thrown around in the courtroom, and nobody needs that...

We HAD Comcast, until the internet turned off one day without warning, and when we called, they told us the copper cables were being salvaged and they were unable to provide internet or phone service anymore. Well, smell my...OK, we had a problem. I was able to use my phone as a hotspot to access the 'net for a few days until we got Starlink in, and I am very happy, much faster speeds, very few interruptions, up front cost was a little high, but we're good with it.

Tun Tavern? Yeah, that's the place. Happy birthday, Devil Dogs.

Well, a bit of looking across the 'net showed me how it is supposed to look, not my picture. Clever attachment system. The two examples I found were a bit expensive. This one is from a British bit of kit on Evil Bay, from Palestine, and shows some miles.

So, I continue on in my Aussie Smith journey, with a find from Amazon...of course. This was sold as "Revolver Holster, Australian WW2 Khaki Web 38 Victory Model 10 M&P - Original Unissued". It was very inexpensive. You know by now I can't do a post without pictures... This is not very stiff, quite floppy, but if it's 80+ years old, it holds it well! NOT a quick draw rig at all. The markings are quite faded, but that is the D^D marking on the inside of the flap. Interesting They roughly match up to this old "Belt, Individual Equipment, Nylon", which I think is from 1966...but the only way that would fit is to simply slide the vertical D rings down the belt - they have no bend to go inside the belt grommets. Yes, it's floppy, yes, it's kind of crude, but what it is, is nations attempt to meet a very sudden and immediate need to provide an expedient way to carry a sidearm into combat against the Empire of Japan, and enemy who had ALL DAY to prepare for war...even if their pistols really sucked. If this is original as claimed, I wonder if the Sheila's who stitched it together for their Diggers in 1942 or so would wonder about it ending up in Arizona 83 years later. Well, now I want a tunic and a slouch hat as well as a proper belt, even though I saw a picture of Diggers practicing with Webley revolvers, with the holsters jammed into unbelted shorts! Waitaminnit...did they make the tunics in size old and fat back then?

I did the Naval Fire Academy at Treasure Island in 1987, which gave me a HEALTHY respect for anyone who slays the dragon.

It is now 04:31 AM, and the current outside temp is 56 degrees Fahrenheit. We have started our "mildly cool" season.

"Hey, Cap'n, can we start that fire up again? Ya know, so we's can get home?"