Electric axe

This is my main electric guitar. It's a Yamaha Pacifica. The cat, of course, is none other than Flintlock himself, shooting his magic blue shit out of his claw. On the other hand, he's been de-clawed in the front, so where the blue shit comes from is beyond me...

Another Djembe

A modern, mass produced one, but with great tonality and depth.

22 pistol

Ahhh. My Ruger 22/45. Got the rail for a scope/red dot. Got the nice wood grips and the stainless steel. This baby is smooth like butter. Not as nice, mind you, as my old Smith and Wesson Model 41, which I sadly had to sell off a few years back when money was tight. But nice

Kalimba 2

Another Kalimba. This one is handmade in Africa, but is probably a tourist item, since it doesn't have the rich overtones of the real deals. That said, this one produces some interesting tone colors, and it sounds nice in my homemade kalimba orchestra. Note the "buzzies" are little bits of aluminum can wrapped around the butt end of the lamellae. These are all printed in some foriegn (i.e., non English) font.

Kershaw folder

A Ken Onion design, called (IIRC) the "Scallion". One handed opening via a thumb stud or a spring button thingy on the spine. It's not a switchblade due to the vagaries of the design, but it is still frowned upon in some jurisdictions. Not a weapon as far as I'm concerned, but a handy one-hander...the utility of which I've blogged about before. This is my everyday walkin' around knife.

Oh, and today is my kid's 5th birthday! Happy birthday, buddy. Remember, all this shit is yours someday!

22 rifle

A Winchester .22 rifle with a under barrel tube magazine. This is going to be the kids first gun when he gets a bit older. Probably start shooting with him this summer, but I need to get/make a good backstop for our yard.

Djembe 1

Here's a little hand drum of African origin. Known as a Djembe (pronounced "Jem-Bee"), this is an hourglass shaped drum similar to the Middle Eastern Doumbek, but can be tuned using the lacings. This is a modern version, with a small (8") diameter head for travel.

At some point, I'd love to host a drum circle with all of my friends and hand drums...

Scout Rifle

A New England Firearms "Handi-Rifle" single shot scout rifle chambered in .223.

Bull barrel, red dot scope, maple stocks, rolling block break action. Accurate as balls out to 200 yards (I've not tested it further).

Doumbek 1

Clay-shelled doumbek hand drum of recent make. I love hand drums, and have many of them in the Arsenal.

My bow

Kodiak Bear 45 lb draw recurve bow. Nicely green laminated wood in keeping with today's Irish ties. I often call today "amateur day", since beer swilling bucket heads tend to go out to the local mega-sports bar and chuck down nickel, dyed-green drafts of cheap American lager...

A real drinker wouldn't stoop to that level, and Guiness dyed green in heresy, as far as I'm concerned (and still black, don't you know)...

Kalimba 1

I love musical instruments, and I have made and played many. One of my favorite portable instruments is the m'bira, kalimba, or "thumb piano", a plucked idiophone most often associated with Africa. Virtuoso players such as Stella Chiweshe can make these sing in an ethereal, trance-inducing polyrhythm.

This one is a commercially available facsimile that only scratches the surface of this wonderful class of instruments. This one is nice becasue it fits in my breifcase or backpack, and can be played quietly on a train, hotel room, or park without disturbing anyone.

Smith and Wesson 625

A formidable beast, chambering .45 ACP ammo in what are known as "full moon clips" (lower left). These function as a speed loader, enabling a fast, 6-chamber reload. I used to be able to toss a moon clip of full metal jacket round nose into the chamber from a foot away. Reloads are FAST. I mean FAST.

Another little folder

This is a Schrade "Classics" folder, given to me as a 2008 Christmas present. Sadly, it is a newer model made in China, rather than in New York state. This is actually a nice little knife for those occasions on which a belt clip folder would be inappropriate (e.g., weddings, meetings, etc.), and a nice discreet pocket knife is the order of the day.

Happy Anniversary

Today is the missus' and my 6th wedding anniversary (I hope - I'm bad at math!). This is what we have to show for it...

It's a 1/2 scale, fully functional Smith miniature replica of a 1941 Boeing Stearman PT-17 Biplane at the Massey Air Museum near our home (it's not ours, but a fella can dream, right?)

By the way...we've never seen the kid in the foreground before ;-)

Happy Anniversary, Babe.

I see the moon

The moon guitar, that is. This is a yueqin - a Chinese lute. It's a modern version. Traditionally, it is strung with 4 strings. Right now, mine only has 3. I have it tuned to some weird tuning, and have used it on some of my recordings as "ambiance". Virtuosos on this instrument are tryly amazing...

Semi-auto delight!

Smith & Wesson 4506 (.45 ACP). Stainless steel with skateboard grip tape on the grips (my addition). Fast, accurate, comfortable to shoot, and hella easy to field strip. Get one while you still can.

Tiny little folder

This is a little Schrade folding knife in stainless steel. Its another minimalist design like the CRKT KISS in the Dark. This is a sharp, no-nonsense little blade, and a pack of two was only about $10.00. I got a few. This one resides on my key chain. Another lives on the zipper pull of my kayak PFD - always in ready reach in case of entanglement. Another in my tackle box. Another in my day planner pocket. You can read about my apparent fanaticism about knives in the field in this post.

BTW, I seldom fly, so TSA hang ups about knives do not concern me, and the one on my keychain has gone through several checkpoints at secured industrial facilities without notice.

Unconventional rifle

This short little rifle is a Marlin Camp Carbine in .45 ACP. Yup - it eats a steady diet of .45 ACP rounds, and even accepts the standard magazine from the Colt 1911. This is a great little camping gun, where permitted, and packs enough stopping power for just about all of the dangerous wildlife one might encounter. Yet, becasue it chambers a pistol cartridge, recoil is virtually non-existant (compared to large caliber rifle cartridges). This always gets looks at the range, because it's a short little rifle that leaves nice 1/2 inch holes (with semi-wadcutter ammo) in paper. It's pretty accurate out to 100 yards - after that, the terminal ballistics tend to curve downward due to air friction. This is my answer to the famous Thompson sub-machine gun, which also chambers the .45 ACP.

Sadly, Marlin does not make these anymore.

Kiss in the dark

This little folder is Columbia River Knife and Tool's KISS in the dark. "KISS", in this case, means "Keep it simple, stupid", which is why the blade folds up along the handle rather than in the handle. It uses a spring integral to the handle to lock the blade open, and has a lanyard hole at the base of the handle. This is a great kayaking/water sports knife. It also has a belt/money clip.