I like to get all up in my snuggie. Get a little weird.
Wheels are pretty cool
Rock.
Lathes. You spin a thing and cut it, which sounds unimpressive, but from there you can bootstrap to pretty much all modern technology.
Or, alternatively, you can bootstrap into a fine red mist as you get stuck to it and violently flung about
Lathes rule
Sleeping pad shnozzle bags (pump sacks).
S-trap / P-trap
(Eg in sinks and toilets)
And zip ties 👍
Pretty much anything with an interplay of water and air pressure fascinates me.
Perculator coffee!
The moka pot
G-Shocks 🤗
String/rope. With a couple of knots, loops and tension you can make a lot of things with it.
Sharpening stones.
you need an edge so many times in your life. When you’re using scissors, slicing veggies, pruning trees, harvesting mushrooms, posting online, mowing grass, carving wood, cutting roots, trimming nails, scraping stoves/ovens, shaving, digging, trimming, pealing whatever.
There are so many dumb fancy arse awful tools that butcher edges and work in one specific case. No! For millenia people have been grinding edges, it is not difficult to learn it just takes practice.
Modern manufacturing means we can enjoy extremely consistent stones in well characterised grades. Go use some, and enjoy how much less effort life requires when everything that cuts, cuts easily.
So what should I look for when buying a sharpening stone? I was planning to buy one to sharpen the knives we have at home, but not sure what I should get and where to get one for a decent price.
On that topic, if you are in a squeeze and don’t have a sharpening stone in the kitchen, you can use the bottom rim of a ceramic mug to sharpen a kitchen knife
Partially buried housing (ground cooling effect)
On this same note, insulation in general. We can only make something so strong, conductive, refractory, light or hard, so we’ve internalised the expectation that there’s always practical limits. But insulative? There just isn’t one. That means that with an arbitrarily small source of energy - body heat is not only possible but typical - you can overcome unlimited external coldness. We’ve being doing this since before we were human, by many definitions.
Do you have any good resource for beginner to learn about this?
YT Our Self Reliant Life.
A fountain pen is just a controlled leak
I use a Kaweco Sport as my daily driver.
Bonus: Nobody ever “borrows” it at work because it confuses and terrifies them.
Siphons
Axes, I have four and I will get another next year.
I have a hatchet for small tasks, a midsized axe for cutting small trees down and chopping, a Pulaski for landscaping/ digging tasks and I have a splitting axe/maul for splitting rounds.
There is something incredibly rewarding and fun about swinging an axe.
Brother!
Manual can openers are better than electric can openers
Especially the kind that uncrimps the can instead of cuts it.
Hand tool woodworking. It’s amazing what you can make without a single electron. Its also amazing to feel the tools, the resistance and subtle vibrations as you use them. Like an extension of your own body. I love chiseling, especially large mortises. Hearing that sharp, deep thud, and seeing it sink in as it bites into the wood is so satisfying. Especially when using metal hammers, they are so responsive.
I love sawing, especially when relaxed and working at a slow pace, seeing all the sawdust fly out with each stroke. Sawing isn’t fun when working on difficult pieces of wood, when working in a relaxed manner with softwood, the hoarse sounds of the saw starts to sound like purring and it begins to cut exceptionally well.
I love the finish of handplanes, so smooth it becomes water resistant.
Overall very spiritual and relaxing (as relaxing as you allow it to be at least)