:: Klepto's Blog ::

Knot Work...

2009-09-20T14:49:00.004-05:00

well its been ages since i last updated this blog... honestly i really haven't bee doing much except going to work, eating, sleeping and repeat. been catching some movies here and there but nothing really ground breaking. But that is not what this entry is about, no sir. Today i made a couple of knots that i thought i would share with the world (or rather the 2 ppl that might stumble across my blog every now and again :P).

2Bight Turk's Head Knot

recently Stormdrane posted a video showing how to do a 2Bight Turk's Head Knot which i thought looked great. so after putting off getting some stuff for a while i ended up ordering a couple Jumbo Perma-Lok needles and another Hemostat. when they arrived this past week i click on his tutorial and got down to it :D

Ocean Plait Mat

On this last Friday after i got off from work, i had to pick up a couple of items at the store and a hank of 100Ft 1/4"in rope caught my eye as i walked through the aisles and out of the blue decided to pick it up too. i brought it hope and made my self an Ocean Plait Mat from page 274 in the book "Knots" by Gordon Perry. Here is the result.

Lets Get it on!

2009-02-19T11:33:00.005-06:00

Well its Thursday so the battle videos are in .. it was all just in good fun, but i should have probably practiced more instead of trying out my routine the day before the due date, damn im lazy :P

MattHartz

Abe(me)

C3rb3rus - FreeStyle Battle from C3rb3rus on Vimeo.

Battle??

2009-02-17T21:39:00.005-06:00

Well this weekend i was on stickam with several people from Decknique. there seemed to be alot of talk about battle videos from people on the board. Most are jokes or silly trash talk for the sake of getting a laugh. well i said to one of the guys on Stickam (Matt Hartz) if he wanted to battle, and to my suprise he said yes.. i was suprised because to my knowledge he hasnt made any videos... so we decided that it would be a 1 minute long, uncut, freestyle video, that's not including the intros and credits... the music will be up to the choice of each of us and at the beginning of the video we will show the Ace of Clubs (in honor of Dia Vernon) to show that the video was made for this battle specifically... We agreed that the videos would be due on Thursday, so stay tuned for an update on the battle.

-Abe

SNC 02.14.09

2009-02-15T00:06:00.005-06:00

SNC 02.14.09 from C3rb3rus on Vimeo.

So I made this video for a contest over on Theory11 .. kinda slapped it together last minute because i found out about the contest like an hour and a half before the deadline.. The prize was 6 first edition Smoke and Mirrors Decks... unfortunately (for me) i didnt win, but i did get an Honorable Mention in the video where they announced the winner HERE ... better luck next time i guess.. Enjoy :)

-Abe

More Knives

2009-01-29T16:25:00.000-06:00

I know I know... i havent updated in months, what can i say .. im lazy :P ... so yeah, since i last wrote a blog on here i have been buying up more knives and adding them to my small but ever growing collection of knives. In the future i hope to add more knives in the 50+ Dollar range and in time maybe even a couple Customs.. but for the moment its going to be small production knives which i WILL use on a daily basis. I just dont see a point in spending 70 bucks on a knife that your not going to use and only put it in a drawer (or binder in my case) to collect dust... So, yeah most of the knives that i buy i plan on using depending on the occation or location that i may be in.. I took a couple of pics of my recent collection out of boredom and decided to post them up.... so here you have em.

-Abe

UPDATE: 11.29.08

2008-11-29T12:18:00.000-06:00

Wow, its been a long time since i have updated this blog so here is a brief run down of what I've been up too. Well I finally got back online after a hiatus for several months. I ended up buying a small car and been having to rebuild my savings in the bank. I'm what i would consider stable now in that department and have been slowly getting back to buying knives. In the last couple of weeks i've picked up a few Swiss Army Knives, 2 Spyderco's, and a Cold Steel. The idea of doing some reviews for these has crossed my mind, and since i seem to have alot of free time on my hands lately i may just end up doing a video review on them. The question now is do i upload the reviews on to my youtube account or create a new account to keep these seperate from my current channel.

Cerberus - Gate Keeper

2008-06-06T16:13:00.000-05:00

Heres a little video i put together a couple of days ago .... I'd like to thank the ppl that allowed me to use their moves, Bone Ho, Daren Yeow and Jaspas Deck.

List of moves in order of appearance:

Double Lepaul - Bone Ho and Paul lepaul
Smear Fan - Classic
Mockingbird - Daren Yeow
Pressure Fan - Classic
Double One Handed Fan - Unknown Creator
Armspread - Classic
Kryptonite Variation - Cerberus and D&D
F.O.T.F. - Cerberus (inspired by Jonas Haglund)
Deck Twirls - Jerry
Fan Twirl - Jerry
Upside Down Spring - Jerry
Deck Flip - T.G. Murphy
SSS Triangle - De'vo
Broken Triangle - Bone Ho
One Handed Cuts (L-cuts, Charlier, Thumb Cuts) - Jerry
Fan Display - Dan and Dave Buck
Jaspas Cut - Jaspas
Index Angel Spin - Cerberus
Carnahan Fan - Dan and Dave Buck
360 Fan - Naoki Ogi

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-05-27T08:05:00.001-05:00

well its May 27th today and it just so happens that 25 years ago today, i was born... i guess one year closer to death is something to be celebrated.... most ppl like to celebrate their birth by having some kind of party, but for me a nice quiet day of relaxation is all i ask for... maybe a chocolate cake just to make it a little better :p

-Abe

Andrei Jikh - Quad Backpack

2008-04-29T16:08:00.000-05:00

Impossible...no more.

(The formation of a square from the back of the hand, a technique that was long regarded as impossible is finally a reality.)

-Andrei Jikh, creator. (developed in 2006)

Credits: De'vo for the idea of the square (method is original and was released before De'vo's public release of the Viereck) Editor: Daren Yeow.

Yesterday Andrei posted a new video on his youtube account of his performance of a 4 sided Self Standing Sculpture. This guy is one of the most talented young manipulators in recent years as far as i am concerned and someone that will bring great things to the card community in the future.

Today I Became a Mod

2008-04-15T22:27:00.001-05:00

Well come to my surprise when i woke up today i was offered the position of Moderator at one of my all time favorite Forums Decknique .... so after accepting (and being congratulated by lots of ppl which i would like to thank for their kind words btw.) i got a chance to familiarize myself with the process that Richard and the other mods have have established and I can only hope to do a good job moderating the forums.... thanks to one of the members for putting me to work as soon as i was declared mod by double posting in a thread and letting me delete the post in my first action as official mod on the forum lol... in hopes to contribute to the community i have made 2 threads on saving videos from youtube/vimeo/etc... and a the second on how to create a podcast to keep yourself updated on all the new videos a person has uploaded on their Youtube account... which can be found on the links at the end... well just thought i would share that with anyone that cares .. but as far as i know i could be the only person that reads this dribble ... oh well :P

Peace.
-Abe

Saving videos:
http://decknique.net/forums/thread:4607

Creating Podcast:
http://decknique.net/forums/thread:4608

Double One Handed Fan Tutorial

2008-04-08T22:33:00.000-05:00

not really... you just got Kevroll'd

You just got Richroll'd

2008-04-06T23:17:00.000-05:00

Give it up for my boi KevinHo for making this awesome video.

Relaxation....

2008-03-28T18:29:00.000-05:00

Today i spent the most time outside i have done in a LONG time ... i got home from work around 8am (i work nights) and i crashed for a couple of hours cause i had only slept about 2 hours before i left... woke up around 1pm and thought "i haven't tried out my Heineken pot and alcohol stove in a while" .. so i gathered my things got some Ramen noodles and cooked my self some lunch in the backyard .. i should have prepared better cause i dropped my pot and spilled the water once and burned my finger on the pot stand lol... that aside i finished up .. ate a hot meal, drank some coke .. and then just chilled for the rest of the after noon on my Parachute Hammock... the sky was nice and cloudy just the way i like it...the breeze was perfect .. i could not have asked for a better day to go outside and chill for an afternoon ... today was a GOOD day :D

Furoshiki

2008-02-01T17:16:00.000-06:00

wow... it has been a loooong time since I posted on my blog, but now that I am here let me tell you about the new tool that i have recently come across. I'm talking about Furoshiki the custom of using fabric for wrapping in Japan. I've had several ideas on applications for this art, since I carry a Bandana every were I go this form of folding comes in handy to create an extra bag to carry small items. Now a bandana is only about 21-24 inches in length and width which is by furoshiki standards a small bag. So one of the bigger cloths (6-7 feet) should make for a big messenger type bag or a Sling bag for carrying clothes or other items in a spur of the moment situation. i want to go down to my local Walmart and see if I can pick up a 6 ft. piece of black cloth that is not too rigid but strong enough that it wont rip if something inside or out side pokes it, and maybe even make it water resistant by adding some gore-tex or something. These are just some ideas as well as adding some modular bags by adding bandanas and carabiners into the mix and putting them on the "straps" of the bag which is an idea that i got from an instructable. the following are some links on the history, construction and use of this art. We all learn something new every day, hope this makes it into your knowledge bases.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furoshiki
http://furoshiki.com/techniques.php#two_books_wrap
http://www.instructables.com/id/Have-Bed-Sheet-Will-Travel/?ALLSTEPS
http://www.instructables.com/id/Furoshiki-2-Have-Earth-Want-to-Keep-It/?ALLSTEPS
http://www.instructables.com/id/Furoshiki-1-Have-Cokes-Will-Travel/?ALLSTEPS

Video on Youtube:

My New Toy

2007-12-14T10:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was sitting at my desk around 2pm and I hear the door bell ring. So I go open the door and the mail man is standing there with a box that has amazon on the side. Instantly a smile came to my face because i knew what was there. I ripped through that box like it was holding the last supply of oxygen in the world. There it was, my new Victorinox One-Hand Trekker. This little knife has one crazy sharp blade with 2/3 of the blade being serrated and 1/3 is a straight edge. The second blade is a small saw that that can take small wood cutting jobs. both of these blades are roughly about 3 and 1/2 in. long. It has 2 can openers, one is to open cans of food or coffee with a small flat head screw driver and the other is for opening bottles with a larger flat head screw driver as well as a wire stripper. On the back of the knife there is a philips screw driver and a reamer. It also comes with a plastic tooth pick and small tweezers on opposite sides of the lanyard ring . The small lanyard I made today with 2 small pieces of black paracord and tied them in a cross weave knot. I want to make a review for this knife in video form, but I will see if i have the time to do so later. Over all .. this looks like my new favorite EDC.

Update: Coke Can Stove

2007-12-11T21:23:00.000-06:00

Update: well in my last post here i talked about the alcohol stove i made out of a couple of coke cans. well yesterday i stopped by my local hardware store and picked up some Denatured Alcohol and tested this bad boy out. so here is a small video of the stove at work. the Heineken can is boiling a little more than 2 and a half cups of water, which is enough to make some coffee and some Romen noodles or something like that. later on i'm planning on taking some notes on the time frame it takes to boil 1 cup of water, 2 cups, etc...how long the stove will burn with the stove full of fuel, and then make a small chart with this information so that people can get a rough idea of the capabilities of the stove. well thats it for now .. later.

Coke Can Stove

2007-12-07T08:29:00.000-06:00

Well boredom struck me yet again 2 nights ago and in my never ending search for random stuff i came across instructions on making a small stove out of a coke/beer can. I found several written instructions as well as video tutorials on the net and decided to give it a try .. I was surprised at how easy it was to make one of these puppies and ended up making 2 lol ... now im just going to go to the hardware store to pick up some fuel and a couple of other things to tweak these and make them just right .. who knows maybe this is the first step for me to get into more outdoor activities.

here are a couple of links to more information these stoves and im also adding some video from youtube that I found helpful.

Vidoe Tutorials:
This is the one that i decided to make ... if you dont have fiberglass like the video says you can use cotton balls

Field Dressing your Catch

2007-12-01T07:34:00.000-06:00

I have always loved hunting and Fishing. It's been a while since i have gone hunting but the last time i went i was taking several Rabbits left and right, at the end of the night my buddies and I cleaned our catch of the day and had a little barbecue. the first time I ever when rabbit hunting i had no idea how to dress the rabbit so my friends cousin gave me a quick explanation and said "ok now do it" .. kind of made me feel like they were expecting me to fail so that they could rub it in my face and tell me to move out of the way. Unfortunately for them im pretty good at following the instructions they gave me and with a little logical thinking made it just fine. So i thought how many people out there would like to know HOW to field dress their catches so i got online and found some useful videos here and there. hope this helps anyone that is interested or at the very least its informative.

Warning: the following videos may be a bit graphic for some viewers. If you are easily grossed out then please look away. You've been warned.

-Field Dressing a Deer-

-Field Dressing a Rabbit-

-Field Dressing a Squirrel-

-Field Dressing a Snake-
This is a Written Description because i couldn't find a proper video. CLICK HERE

How to Wrap a Shemagh

2007-11-23T20:20:00.000-06:00

Well in my constant quest to find different things that most people don't look for or are not aware of, I have found another subject that has peaked my interest. Today it was the "Shemagh" the arab head wrap that is used to keep the sun off of your head and sand or dust out of your mouth and eyes. I'm in South Texas so the heat down here during the summer can get pretty bad so having something that will allow me to keep my head out of the sun while working outside or even a day at the beach would be helpful. Here are 2 links that will hopefully help you learn how to do this wrap. First is a link to a tutorial from Actiongear.com HERE which is a series of pictures and text. The second is a video from what appears to be a soldier which was posted on youtube.

Monkey Fist

2007-11-21T16:13:00.000-06:00

A couple of days ago i finally made my first Monkey Fist knot thanx to the tutorial by Stormdrane. for the inside core of the knot i used the ball from an old computer mouse. The weight of the ball makes me think that if i were to get 3 of these and make monkey fists could make "bolas". I'll have to look around to see where i can find some old computer mouse or the balls them selfs. After learning this knot I'm planning on making a bookmark like I've seen on another site (cant remember which though).

Knife and Flashlight Fob

2007-11-20T17:06:00.000-06:00

I've had my Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn Mini Covert and Inova X5 for a couple of years now and a couple of months back after coming across Stormdrane's Blog i decided to make a couple of fobs. I got my black 550 Paracord from Supplycaptain and decided to go with a Round Sinnet Knot for the Knife and a Solomon Knot (or Cobra knot) for the flashlight. I added Lanyard Knots on both fobs as well.. the keyring and beads were picked up at Walmart. I have found that the key ring on the Knife fob fits nicely on my pinky which allows me to let go of my Knife and not misplace it, this becomes helpful when you need to cut something and still be able to handle an object (box, letter, plastic package, etc.) without having to put down your knife and then have to look for it at a later time. Just thought i would share this with the world.

Tactical Hand Signals

2007-11-19T22:53:00.000-06:00

I love learning new things when ever i can ... and i have to say that military and tactical information has always peaked my interest. For a long time now I've wanted to learn the hand signals that are used by the military/police/swat and short of joining one of these organizations I've scoured the net to try and find some info on this subject. after looking around for a while I came across a bunch of images that had humorous captions but could find the proper meanings for the signs.... but that didn't give me what i wanted. After taking a little more time i finally came across the proper image which I'm sharing here with you all now :D.

Hybrid Mx - Pen Mod

2007-11-19T20:10:00.000-06:00

so i made this video a while back for the Pen Spinning community and thought what the hell i'll put it up on the blog.... you can find additional pictures on the original forum post as well as the Wiki Page on UPSB.

Video length: 16 min.

Facts:

Length: 19.6cm
Weight: Heavy
Width: HGG Barrel
COG: COP

Materials:

1 Pentel RSVP
1 Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip
1 Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip (ink tube only)
1 Anyball Grip (or assorted for your color preference)

Additional Images:
Click on Thumbnail to Enlarge

Amazon Order Arrived

2007-11-19T18:51:00.000-06:00

well i placed an order last week for 2 books from Amazon.com (SAS Survival Handbook and The SAS Guide to Tracking) ... i wasn't expecting them to arrive until Wed. and to my surprise they arrived today, 2 days in advance :D ... im really happy and am really looking forward to reading these to book from cover to cover, because as we all know .. Knowledge is Power ;)

Hello People in Blog Land

2007-11-19T18:47:00.001-06:00

well this is my very first post on a blog site. I do have a Myspace page but thats really just to keep in contact with friends. I mentioned on the About me section that i get bored easily and well to be honest this is another one of those moments. i have nothing to do so i decided to make a blog ... this is kind of new to me so it'll more then likely be filled with randomness (is that even a word) ...