Budget Ghillie Suit

Talking about camo, I am sure everyone is familiar with ghillie suits. Those hot and bulky, full body sniper suits that make you look like a bush? They cost between $40-150 (depending on quality and construction) and take up a ton of space. I’ve made a smaller lightweight version that packs down to about a 1-liter volume, and thought I’d share the idea. I call it a “sniper smock”.

My reasoning for this "smock" is that if I am in a situation where I need to use this item, chances are that I will be behind cover, and I won't really need my legs to be camouflaged, only my upper torso and head.

Step 1
Purchase a sniper veil, the one with large square weave. I like the ones from VooDoo Tactical because you can get them in Woodland or Multi Cam instead of just a solid color. This will serve as the base. These are 48”x36” and cost $10-14.
Amazon: Sniper Veil

Step 2
Purchase a bundle of ghillie thread, woodland blend or whatever colors match the environment you are going to be in. You’ll use this to tie strands to the sniper veil to obscure your outline. This is about $10.
Amazon: Ghillie Threads

Step 3
Create the hood. Find the center of the 48” length, fold in half. Measure 12”-15” (depends on head size) from the fold and using the ghillie thread, tie the edges together. This makes the face opening for your hood. Make sure this knot is strong, as it takes teh most abuse during wearing this smock.

Step 4

Create the sleeves. Spread the veil out again, with the hood at the top, and take the edge that was tied for the hood and fold it down 6"-8" (depends on hand size). Tie the corner of the veil to the edge using the ghillie thread.  This knot should be strong as well as you'll be sticking your hands in and out of this opening.

Step 5
Add Camo. Here's where your patience comes into play.  Start grabbing 2-3 ghillie threads at a time, ensuring they are all different colors (dark, medium, light hues). Fold them in half to create a loop, and pass that multi-strand loop though the square openings of the ghillie veil and tie a knot. I found that a simple Lark's Head knot was the fastest and secure enough for my purposes. You can use any knot you like.

Step 6
Fill-in the Sniper Smock. Repeat Step 5 many, many times.  As you continue to add the ghillie threads, try to remember we are making a lightweight item here. You do not have to tie the threads to fill every available space. I found that spreading them out about 1.5"-2" both horizontally and vertically is sufficient. You should make the threads denser around the sides of the hood and shoulders. To do this, decrease the spacing to about every inch.

After about 15-20 hours you should have something that looks similar to this. This serves the purpose of breaking up the human silhouette. As you use this the threads will become tangled, let them do so.  As you crawl around the smock will also pick-up natural camo in the form of twigs and leafs. Let them stay to achieve even better camo.

Play around with different base colors of the veil and threads, and you can match pretty much any terrain and season you need to, and you can do it on a simple $20-35 budget!

Enough is Enough!

Enough is Enough!

Enough murder? We have established laws against that now. That doesn’t appear to stop people from killing others. Granted the death penalty is retributive and not preventative in nature, and that’s a wholly different debate. So then what is needed, a ban on all guns? Those are protected by the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution and I don’t think that is going away anytime soon. Any law enacted to ban guns will only affect the law abiding.  To paraphrase Cesare Beccaria, banning guns would encourage rather than prevent murder, as it requires less courage to attack an unarmed person than an armed person.

Then perhaps we need “smarter gun laws”? The laws are smart now. You can’t be a felon, illegal alien, have warrants, restraining orders, or have a misdemeanor conviction of domestic violence. You can’t use or abuse any controlled substances, have been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces, or renounced US citizenship. You must be 18 to purchase a rifle or shotgun, 21 for handguns. The argument advances to more gun laws then? More laws against your rights, laws that a criminal will ignore? “Smarter laws” against how a weapon, specifically rifles, look?

Maybe I could accept bi-annual background checks, but that would burden a system that is already under strain. But hey, more federal jobs! Maybe I could accept raising the purchase age to 21 for rifles and shotguns, but then I’d argue we’d have to do the same for other dangerous things, such as driver’s licenses, voting, filing a lawsuit, military service, getting a tattoo, buying a vehicle, and standing jury duty.

I don’t have the answer, but I have ideas.

Mass shootings, whether at a school, church, or outdoor venue have things in common beyond the weapons used. I hope we can agree that a person that wants to take innocent (or anonymous at least) lives of others have an emotional if not mental issue. So let’s increase mental health screenings for students and medical patients that may have experienced a sea-change event in their lives. A parent, spouse or sibling passing, the loss of a job, or divorce. These can be real triggers to certain people. Flag these events in the federal background check system, enact a 3-month purchasing ban for weapons.

Secondly, I think an architectural solution is in order. Any school that gets federal funding should have controlled access points onto secured school property.  Bye-bye open campuses. At those access points should be metal detectors or wands. Let’s also ensure that backpacks are limited in size and see-through, much like the requirement at professional stadiums.

Lastly, get rid of the “gun-free zones” since they are not working. I’m not sure I want Mrs. Higgins the history teacher or Mr. Hayes in chemistry trying to take down a shooter. There’s too many bystanders in the way which could result in more injured. But there should be well trained and armed persons available always. I could imagine there would be plenty of military veterans that would be more than willing to volunteer their time to roam school property looking for the bad guys. Make them go through a course certified by local law enforcement, give them extra vetting. I’m sure there would be plenty of applicants.

My Collective Thoughts

It's been a long while since I've posted anything to this blog.  I was surprised that it was still around, let alone being surprised that I remembered the log-in information.

I want to write something witty and thought provoking, something original and refreshing, but I can't. There are a lot of things going on in my world and The World. The two aren't mutually inclusive or isolated.

New Banner for a Forum.

Science

Lurking Ninja Baby Boy!

My fiancee and I are expecting a baby boy come August. It will be our 7th child between us if you count the previous kids we've had from prior marriages. I was a little hesitant to spread the word due to our ages. I didn't want to go around telling everyone we were having a baby, to only have something go wrong during the pregnancy. So she humored me and we kept the news mostly to ourselves. We started calling it a Ninja Baby due to the stealth surrounding the pregnancy. I can't remember who the first person is it that we told, and I can't even recall the details of exactly how it happened as well. My memory is very shady.

What's really interesting is we will both be 43 when the baby is born. We've been hearing the whole time about "high risk" this and that. We were told about this blood test, and those amniocentesis tests. We started to believe the hype to a degree. So we decided to wait to officially announce the baby till our 20-week ultrasound. We were told that at 20-weeks of pregnancy the ultrasound would be a clear indicator of the health of the baby, and we'd get to know it's sex. Since I already had two boys and a girl from my previous marriages, and my fiancee had two girls and boy from hers, we really didn't have a preference as to what we were having. We just wanted it to be as healthy as possible.

So we are now well into the tail-end of our 20th week. I've officially posted the above image on Facebook, so everyone in Creation knows now. I can really feel the Ninja Baby squirming around in the womb when I place my hand on her belly. She still has a few pounds to grow, but she is a healthy Mommy. I'll try to keep posting regularly, though I have no idea who reads this...

Doctors and Dentists... oh my!

This has been a busy month and a half for me. I've been in the process of seeing my doctor and dentist, and trying to get it all done a over with. What I thought was going to be a good thing turned out to be a very good thing. My doctor discovered that I was diabetic. Nothing too serious now, and with early detection, shouldn't become a serious matter to worry about in the future. I also had my vasectomy, so no more babies from me. Besides, 4 is plenty for anyone... and it means that each one now only has to deal with 25% of my affairs after I am gone.

I've also been to a cardiac specialist due to my father's side of the family having a history with poor tickers. As for the dentist, fare warning, don't neglect your teeth. Still no cavities, and I still have all my wisdom teeth, but my daily brushing and weekly flossing were not enough. I haven't been to a dentist in about 10yrs, and paid for it by having to have some deep cleaning and scaling. At least there were no new surprises, but you might not be that lucky.

Upgrading SolidWorks

Ok, so its that time of year again, where my fingers are crossed and my sphincter is taught, otherwise know as SolidWorks (SW) upgrade time! For those that might not be "in the know" SW is the software program that I use for all my "real job" mechanical design work. It is also a stressful time as sometimes the process doesn't go as smoothly as one would hope. I've taken all the precautions that I could, such as uninstalling the older version first, cleaning out the old registry files, and sprinkling chicken blood all over my cubicle and computer. Luckily I don't work around any vegans.

30-minutes into the process and I am at 18% completion for installing the new version, SW 2011, SP4! The funny thing about upgrading on this particular date is that the beta version of SW 2012 was just released today. That's pretty confident of SW Corporation to do. Why you ask? Its because everyone knows that the world will end in 2012, or more specifically, there will be a major change in the world on or after December 21st, 2012. I'm not a betting man, but my vote goes towards the start of the Zombie Apocalypse on the 22nd.

Thoughts on Mistakes

I was lead to a blog post from 2009 that struck a cord in me. You can click above to read the entire thing, but I am going to paraphrase it here. Mark Love, the author, wrote about Risk and how there are two types of risk or mistakes one must endure: physical and mental. He wrote in the context of being an artist and craftsman, and I can't agree more. Some may use different words, perhaps emotional instead of mental for some.

Physical mistakes involve things that you have done yourself, such as bang your elbow on the door jam, broken a piece you are working on, or perhaps chipping a tool. We take these sorts of mistakes in stride. We know that is bound to happen sooner or later, and while maybe not totally prepared, we know what we have to do to over come it.

Mental mistakes are a little harder to pin down. It is that which we do to ourselves, that had we had the time to think about, we probably could have avoided. This would include such actions as cutting something too short, or reversing numbers in your head due to fatigue. These types of mistakes are harder for us to overcome, simple because we are the only ones at fault.

For me, it has always been the mistakes that I struggle with. Call it second guessing if you want, but I am sure I am not alone. When it comes to the types of art I create, it strikes even closer to home. A great piece and a mediocre piece are separated by a very thin line, with mental and physical mistakes precariously balanced on that line. It can teeter at any moment, towards any direction. When it does it always causes me to question myself because I know that at any moment "I’m only as good as the thing I’m about to do." The pieces that have come before only indicates how good I was, not how good I am, or where my potential might lead.

I've had a few good pieces wrought with my hands, some I am very proud of. When I start a new one, they are always on my mind, making me wonder if I'll surpass my previous achievements, or if I've already hit my stride and am now on the down slope? I don't ever know the answers until I complete a piece, and it is that personal challenge that keeps me going, full steam ahead, damn the mistakes.

Thoughts of Seneca

Because we are hurt most by what we do not expect, and because we must expect everything, we must hold the possibility of the most obscene events in mind at all times. No one should take a risk without an awareness of the darkest possibilities. ~Philosopher Seneca, paraphrased by me.

I have always held the belief that if I imagine the worst possible scenario, and it never comes to fruition, then I can handle any circumstance. Its good to know that I can channel dead philosophers.

Life is Amazing

I apologize now for the nature of this blog post. It is not like my other posts, but I feel like yelling from the top of a mountain! The only problem is I live in FL where there are no mountains, so all who follow me will have to put up with this.

I was minding my own business at the neighborhood bar last Friday, and my life made a dramatic change for the better. I was supposed to go watch a friend's band play around 9pm, and decided to pre-game first with some Seven & 7s. One thing led to another, and I didn't feel like driving, so I decided to skip the band and hang out longer. Good thing I stayed till Last Call.

As the lights came on, I saw an old flame sitting across the bar from me. I haven't seen, emailed, or carrier-pigeoned this person in over 25yrs! The circumstances of our original break-up have been clouded by time, with both of us thinking it was due to the other person. The amazing thing was the instant recognition we both shared. You read or hear about chemistry or electricity filling the air, heck, you might have even experienced it once or twice in your life. I can say that having all the life experiences that I've had in my short 42 years on this planet now, I thought I had experienced it once before too. If I did, that past electricity is equivalent to a hearing aid battery, and after this weekend, I can say I've been revived with an external defibrillator!

I am one happy Mango at the moment.

Return of the SolidWorks Haiku!

I have written some haikus related to SolidWorks in the past, you can read them at: http://mysticmango.blogspot.com/2007/03/solidworks-haikus.html

Now it is 2010, and time for some new ones. I have a co-worker that is having emense trouble with his upgrade of SW2010, and this inspired the following:

Warm days of Winter
My new CAD burns me daily
Damn computer crash

The excitement builds
Install SolidWorks upgrade
Now I cannot work

Excitement of fall
upgrade is without peril
CAD offers no joy

CAD vixes me so
Chasing solutions in vain
Oh the joys of work

WaG! 2

Well, will you look at that? It's already time for another WaG! (What a Gem!) installment. I'll keep this vague and generic, and again place it in the context of the food industry. Suppose your chef is looking through the fridge and he sees a container full of Morel mushrooms, and then proclaims "I'm going to make a new entree using these Morels and add it to the menu!" Some would think that would be a good idea. Some would argue that it would be a good idea to make it a special for the day (to use up that extra stock), but not adding it permanently to the menu.

I would be one to argue against adding it to the daily menu. The problem with creating new products (new entree) with the sole purpose of consuming excess inventory (the Morels) is two fold. 1) You are only concerned about using the inventory, and are not giving any thought to continued sources of supply or quality specifications. 2) If you build and sell something, a customer is going to want more of them sooner or later, see Point 1. Let's suppose our chef creates an entree based off a similar entree, and only replaces Truffles with the Morels. The taste is different, and customers like it a lot. Suppose the inventory of the Morels lasts the chef several days, enough for buzz of the new entree to spread far and wide. The chef is now happy that the Morels are out of the fridge and he has more room for other ingredients, and is unaware of the popularity of his new entree.

The following week, huge parties (new customers) make reservations with the hopes of trying the new entree they have heard so much about. The orders begin to make their way into the kitchen, and now the chef is screwed because he no longer has the Morels on hand. He could try to substitute Truffles, but the customers might not like that. He could jump on the phone and call someone to get more Morels in the kitchen, but he'd only put himself in a bigger bind because he has no idea of the quality that will be delivered, or how soon they could arrive.

What a Gem!

I'm starting a new blog feature called What a Gem! What a Gem! (WaG! ?) will document all the great quotes and quips I hear throughout the day. These may be by people I work with or people that I hear out on the town. I'm sure if you keep your ears open, you'll hear a few gems of your own. So here's the first one:

I was speaking with a manufacturing engineer about a purchased part that needs to be reworked to add holes, he said, "I don't think it needs a new part number. It's not like we're going to buy it under one number then rework and stock as another. We know what we have."

The WaG! aspect of this conversation is, Yes, one should purchase something under one part number, then stock it as a new number if it is reworked and stocked. Suppose you buy a zucchini, and the whole zucchini has a part number of ZCH0123, then you slice it and put it in a container. Now if you need some zucchini and ask someone to get it, they'll grab that container of the sliced zucchini, and you might get lucky in that you wanted the sliced version, but it was only luck.

Now let's expand on this analogy. Suppose you have sliced and diced zucchini in the fridge, in addition to the whole zucchini. Now you ask for "some zucchini" and get the wrong ingredients that you needed. You correct and indicate that you need the diced zucchini. Your assistant has to open all the containers to find the right one. If the whole zucchini was ZCH0123, the sliced ones were stored as ZCH0124, and the diced were ZCH0125, you wouldn't have any troubles getting exactly what you need.

A Working Stiff Again

I finally made my return to the ranks of the employed. I started a job on the 26th of October, working for an LED company called Lighting Science Group. I landed this 3-6 month contract through Aerotek, a temp agency. I have never used them before as a client, but have used them to acquire new talent in previous positions. I never had a problem with the candidates they sent us. Now I only hope that when my contract is over, LSG will decide to take me on permanently.

It's great to be working again, but I am already missing the free time I had for my carving and painting. I hope I can find the time again. I have two bone pieces that need my attention, as well as my first landscape painting. I am just so mentally drained after work now, I don't feel like doing anything. I suppose that I don't need that creative outlet at the moment.

In Florida

Well, it have been about 3 months since I arrived, or close enough. I am still unemployed, and still actively searching. This down time has been good in some respects, as it have allowed me to do some art that I have been wanting to do for a long, long time. I have carved 5 tikis out of palm logs, and have carved about 10 pendants from bone. I attempted a painting, but my soul just wasn't into it.

I'll write more when the mood hits me.

Out of Texas!

Whew! I finally made it out of Texas. Day 3 finds me stopping near Baton Rouge, LA in a place called Hammond. I probably could have continued to drive into Mississippi, but decided to try to get a room early tonight. It seems that the last two nights I have been stuck with expensive rooms at Best Western. I guess it is only normal that the cheap rooms would fill-up first.

I just finished eating at a place called The Iron Skillet. I am glad that I have an iron gut, the "Southern" cooking shouldn't bother my system at all. I had the obligatory fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, jumbo, sweet tea, etc, etc. It has been my first real sit-down meal all trip, so I might have gorged myself a tad. I'll soak in the tub and get to bed early for sure.

Nothing really to report today beyond the monotony of Texas. I saw a lot of "moo cows" and "neigh horses", and a few "baa sheep" or goats. That is what I say as I drive by, "Hello moo cows!" or "Hello Mr. neigh horse!" Talking to animals while I am driving... that is probably a good sign that my sanity is slipping just a bit. This cannot be compared to my trip going to CA from FL however, as I was accusing road-side rocks of following me. I won't mention the white plastic bags I saw hiding in bushes and trees along the highway today. They don't think I see them, but I do...

EDIT: Remember to check Monday's post for the link to the photos.

Texas, Texas, and more Texas

Day two finds me leaving New Mexico early in the morning, only to enter the largest State in the Union (not counting Alaska), Texas. Who's idea was it to make Texas so dang wide? Can't we cut it in half, or maybe even quater it? After a couple of hours it all looks the same. After 8 hours? It still looks the same.

I will say that my trusty Garmin GPS is doing a fine job. It decided to take me off the I-10 to take-in all the sites the US-290 has to offer. Did I mention the reduced speed to 45mph in some zones? Did I mention the time-warp feeling back to 1950? Did I mention missing the annual Mud Dauber Festival and Ball in Fredericksburg, TX? Did I mention having to stay at a Best Western (and paying $140 for a room) due to said Festival and Ball? I didn't? hm, maybe I will next time I see you.

EDIT: I also got stopped my US Border Patrol. To be fair, they were stopping everyone. When I finally got to the front of the line, Wolf/Bare Johnson almost came out, but I suppressed him. I wasn't too worried, as I knew where my passport was.

Also, remember to check the prior post to see newly added photos from today.

On the Road Again...

Well, I'm heading to FL once again, but this time I think it is going to for an extended duration. I'm going home to look after my dad, and in the process I hope I find a decent job. I managed only 10hrs of driving today, had a slow start. I'm hoping I can fit 12hrs of driving tomorrow. I pulled over once it started getting dark, which put me in Lordsburg, NM. I was afraid that having my vehicle so weighted-down with my junk the headlights would blind other drivers. Not that I'm carrying that much (stuffed to the brim), but rather my lights are a bit high with nothing loaded.

Driving through Phoenix was an interesting journey. Talk about speed traps! The speed dropped from 65 to 55, then jumped up to 75 in a short span. I witnessed one car immediately pulled over as soon as the 55mph zone started. Those AZ troopers waste no time. There were also many speed cameras set-up on the I-10.

I did learn something though, my car gets much better gas mileage going 65mph than 75mph. On average I was squeezing out 175 miles on a half tank @ 75mph instead of 210 miles going 65mph. Now I have the dilemma of of driving slower and getting decent mileage or getting to FL sooner with a smaller bank account. Pictures of day one below, with others being added when I stop, so check back often.

2009 CA to FL

Corporate Branding

There is something to be said for easily recognizable product branding. Consumers love their brands. It doesn't matter if it is junk food, real food, automobiles, or electronics gadgets. Corporate Branding makes your products stand out on the shelf and help your customers find your products. Sadly, many companies, small and large, and have to learn how important branding is. Some companies need a lesson costing $35 million!
Yes, $35 million to turn great packaging into generic packaging. Case in point, Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice. Which would you rather spend $4 on? I'd rather by the tried and true packaging, an impaled orange with a red and white straw sticking out of it.