WTF is Ophiucus?

Sounds like a creeping vine or some kinda shit. Who the hell cares about the zodiac anymore, seriously? If you're seriously going to plan your life based on some idiots interpretation of the stars, and then that same idiot is proven to be unable to even understand where the stars are... see where I'm going with this?

Dear Craigslist Users - An Open Letter

I thank you for showing interest in my item. I really thought that you would be the one who could take it off my hands, and take care of a small portion of my credit card payment. Instead you decided to do a complete 180 and show your true colors. You sir/ma'am, are a COCKBAG. I'm not sure when I first realized it, but it was most likely when you asked if you could pay me in freaking installments!

Seriously, I am not a freaking car dealership. I am not a credit card company, and I most certainly am not the Sears layaway department! I understand the economy is not the best right now, but did you really think that I would let you, a complete stranger, hand me a hundred dollars and an IOU and walk out the door with my $600 item? FXXX YOU!!!

Black Ops Rant. Bear with me...

 I will freely admit that I am not the most amazing gamer on the planet. I don't play more than maybe an hour a day (if that), but it seems that there are people out there even worse off than me. I refer, of course, to the freaking campers I have been encountering, and they seem to be increasing at an alarming rate! I agree that Treyarch made a good move by taking steps to impede quick scoping (I  appreciate it more than I can express, I really do), but I hope they can find a way to limit the amount of campers that inhabit certain maps.

It doesn't seem to be so much of an issue on the smaller maps (least of all Nuketown; lord knows camping on that one almost universally earns a volley of frag grenades, and a sticky demise) but some of the larger maps almost scream for some kind of limitation. I don't mind playing Jungle with a good group of players who will go toe to toe in a stand up fight, but when you start adding the little tool-bags who go prone in the weeds and just sit there the whole game... Just not fun anymore.

I don't think it has to be a dramatic or complicated change, either. In fact, I would say that the most recent Medal of Honor game had the right idea by not allowing players to go prone in multiplayer. I don't think it's necessary to go that extreme, but if Treyarch limited the amount of time a player could go prone, and then institute a cool down period before the player could go prone again (think the same concept as sprinting, only Jenna Jameson style) it would go a long way toward revving up the pace of some of these slow, camper infested monstrosities.

Anyway, just my $.02. Honestly, I'll be surprised if anyone even reads this, but if you do feel free to drop a comment one way or the other.

Kestrel 4500 Weather Meter - Hands on Review

The best hand held weather meter I have ever used, bar none. The versatility is awesome; I've used these both in my professional life as a weather observer and forecaster, as well in my off time at the shooting range. The potential of this meter is best realized alongside a good GPS (for approximate elevations above sea level, location, etc.) combining to make a trained weather observer even more effective.

The interface takes some getting used to, but is fairly intuitive. It took me less than an hour to master navigating and updating the settings, at which point I was able to complete an hourly observation in under a minute. The meter itself is fairly tough (I wouldn't drag it behind the ole 4 wheeler or anything, but I wouldn't worry about the occasional drop into a puddle or some rough treatment by TSA); the only weakness I see is the little piece of plastic that flips down to cover the anemometer. I have broken a few in the past, just being clumsy, but I don't seem to be the only one; you can buy a spare cover online for about 5 bucks.

Overall, plenty of bang for your buck (~$300). I don't know of another weather meter out there that will give you this much information with this degree of accuracy for this amount of money.

Surefire G2 Flashlight - Hands on Review

The G2 is the lowest price Surefire I have been able to get my hands on, but at the rate I break little gadgets $40 sounds about right to me. It is a sturdy, no frills light so don't go expecting it to light up the back 40 or anything. It has a push-on button on the back that you can also screw down for a constant-on light.

I bought my first G2 in time to deploy to Afghanistan, where it served me very well for my time there. Maintenance was minimal, mainly just involved swapping out batteries. I was impressed how sturdy it was for a budget surefire, although I will freely admit that it is by no means indestructible. Because there was no laundry machines, we had a laundry service run by a foreign company (Kuwaiti company i think? i dunno). Anyway, I forgot to take my G2 out of my pants pocket on two separate occasions, and it inevitably went through the bulk laundry machines before being returned to me. Initially, I expected it to be in little pieces but I was pleasantly surprised when all I had to do was change out the batteries and it worked just like new! Unfortunately, that light would go on to be accidentally smashed under a concrete blast barrier. Oh well, whatcha gonna do? Long story short, I am now on my third G2 (through no fault of the light itself, I just break stuff a lot) and it continues to faithfully do its job.

Overall very good product for the price. Does what it was meant to do.

Benchmade Auto Stryker 9100 - Hands on Review

I managed to get my hands on a Benchmade Auto Stryker, and have been pleasantly surprised by its performance. Most button activated auto knives I have encountered in the past have been somewhat wanting in the durability department. The Auto Stryker has not shown any signs of that at this point, but time will tell.

As we have all come to expect from Benchmade, this knife is razor sharp and can be kept that way with a decent sharpener (I prefer to stick with Benchmade sharpeners for Benchmade knives, but that's just me). The blade and handle are solid, and feel solidly attached. The activation button is easy to use, and the knife has an integrated safety along the back spine of the handle to prevent the thing popping open in your pocket. Granted, the safety only works if you ACTIVATE it (as a friend of mine found out to his embarrassment, although no serious harm was done in the end; lucky bastard, lol).

The Spring loaded blade snaps out with a good amount of force. This is both a good thing, as well as a potential point of concern for me. While this is a good feature in what seems to be mainly a military and police knife, I would worry about it in the long run. Because the blade opens and slams into the frame with such force, I would be a bit concerned that after a year or two of use it could start too loosen up the way the knife locks open. Not the end of the world, I know, but having a knife with a wiggly blade is a bit of a pet peeve for me.

Overall, a very good knife. Sturdy, sharp and reliable. I don't recommend carrying one of these around in public unless you know for sure that your local laws allow you to carry an auto knife.

Benchmade Nimravus Fixed Blade Knife - Hands on Review

The moment I got this knife out of the box, I fell in love with it. Benchmade has made a reputation over the years for creating very good knives, and the Nimravus is no exception. A cursory test of the factory edge was sufficient to shave the hairs off the back of my hand with very little effort. The knife as a whole feels very sturdy, and the grips where solidly attached. I tried to mar the finish with a straightened paper clip on hand, and failed miserably. I even tried to put a scratch in it with my pocket knife (a Benchmade Rukus folder), but only managed to leave a dent; didn't even go all the way through.

The sheath is well made, and holds the Nimravus tight. It also gives the option of hanging it from a belt either  vertically or horizontally (dunno that I would be comfortable doing the latter, but who knows; I'm sure someone out there has done it) as well as attached to MOLLE load bearing equipment. I have not had a chance to try out the molded plastic sheath Benchmade offers on their website, but the one that was provided has so far been sufficient for my needs. Why fix whats not broke, right?

Overall, this is a great knife. I'm a bit of a picky person when it comes to knives, but other than being a bit expensive (hey, its Benchmade, you get what you pay for!) I honestly cant find anything wrong with this one.