Aw. So cute. You can throw out aspersions about my qualifications, but if I supply qualifications, all of a sudden it is “bragging.” And if I question your qualifications based on your silly statements, its suddenly an illegitimate discussion topic.

Having actually owned drybags, I’m not exaggerating with respect to the care they require. This is all leading me to believe you really don’t actually know what waterproof means or why it is undesirable for things like daypacks (especially if you don’t know the significance of the zipper on Arcteryx gear). Having used…

You apparently googled the wrong shit on drybags. They are made for boating and wet activities. I’ve used them for decades for caving, and can personally attest that it require much more care than I’d ever want to apply to a daypack to keep them from smelling like someone vomited it them. But have at it.

“Waterproof” daypack = drybag. Drybags are usually used for very specific things, like whitewater rafting/canoeing/kayaking. Using one as an EDC seems silly, because any moisture you introduce into it accidentally is going to cause mildew because they don’t dry out inside under normal use. To the extent you find a…

Arcteryx’s zippers are first class. Coupled with a DWR, why do you need more? Frankly, most daypacks I see aren’t intended to be weather resistant, much less waterproof...

Feeling like I ought to be experimenting with ssamjang. Anyone got a perverted ketchup-with-ssamjang recipe? Or should I just use it instead of ketchup?

It is a saw designed to quickly cut miter joints. Your confusion seems strained.

My rule on HF is not to buy anything from them that has the potential to cut me if it malfunctions... Not knowing what mrblerg’s definition of “break the bank” is, I know the Hitachi SCMS gets good reviews.

Any possibility of finding a coop shop in your area? My TechShop has a fairly complete woodshop. And before I had my own shop, I also used to use some county Vo-Tech facilities that were opened to people as a result of Adult Ed kind of programs.

I’d say define “general woodworking.” If you want to build cabinets out of sheet goods, I’d say start with a table saw or a really accurate track saw. There isn’t anything that you can do with a SCMS that you can’t do on a table saw, but the reverse isn’t true. If your definition of “general woodworking” is framing up…

I have both an SCMS for wood and a TCT saw for cutting metal. One thing about the carbide blades for metal is that they have to be spun at a much lower speed than the carbide blades for wood. Even if that wasn’t the case, I like to keep my woodworking as far away from my metalworking as possible—aside from the fact…

A miter can be cut by rotating the fence or tilting the blade. I’m going to say what you are calling a miter saw is actually a compound miter saw—where you can do either. Hell, even my cheapass TCT saw (and the abrasive cut-off saws I’ve used) for cutting metal will cut miters, even though they won’t do compound…

Seems like a silly debate. Probably one of those regional things. I would understand if someone used “miter saw” or “chop saw” or even “SCMS” (which seems to be the term of choice on a woodworking forum I frequent). Personally, I use “Kapex.”

When you make corresponding angled cuts in two boards—say two 45* cuts for a right angle—it is referred to as a “mitered” joint. Used often in making frames and putting up crown mouldings.

The pickling process tends to make things soft—compare a dill spear with a similar spear of cucumber. That said, vacuum sealers don’t crush things typically unless they have virtually no structure at all—like watermelon insides.

Don’t think that works—it isn’t the taste of the lactic acid you are after, it is the process of fermentation, and that just takes time. Then again, once you pack the stuff into your crock, it isn’t like you have to do much. Just let it sit there.

Yes, as long as you have one of the chambers/tube evacuators so it doesn’t just suck the liquid out. Takes a couple minutes max. (Oddly, you can also do this the other way around, I believe. Put your brine in a iSi whipper with the veg to be pickled, hit it with a CO2 cylinder, then depressurize it.)

Nah. I’ve got a chamber vacuum sealer (minipack MVS-20) and while I can do infused pickles in it, you quickly learn that infused pickles aren’t the same thing as real pickles, at least not when you are eating a full sized pickle. Do yourself a favor, get a large crock, and learn about lactic acid fermentation...

I still think the way the article is phrased that the overall tenor is “free clouds your judgment and makes you take junk, so free is bad.” Again, if the message is “think about what you get for free,” that isn’t much of a thesis, is it? There is a bias towards minimalism on this site—perhaps driven by writers all…

I’m going with the Black Diamond Icon:

I’m going with the Black Diamond Icon: