As the festive season quickly approaches, I’d like to wish all our Nuts, families and extended family all the very best for the festive season.

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all. May Santa be good to you and the New Year bring better tidings and results than 2025 provided us, with heaps of good recoil therapy and straight aim to all.

Also let us not forget the reason for the season, the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Regardless of your chosen religion, let us celebrate His birth with goodwill and cheer to all peoples, regardless of religion.

God Bless all.

This is one of my favorite times of year (second of course to Hunting season). I very much echo the sentiment of Vince wishing you all a merry upbeat holiday time.

I feel its a bit muted however, its been a rough year for me and I know other wonderful members here who have experienced lows due to loss of family. My work laid me off a couple weeks ago... and its just been an ongoing kick to the crotch it feels like for the past year.

But, visiting and chatting with good folk here is such a relief and escape. I am very much thankful for those who choose to visit, interact and build friendships.

I've said in the past its not a hugely active website, but the members here are top knotch, great folk. I only wish we lived in the same neighborhood somewhere... of course we'd get nothing done other than visit and chat over the fence (so to speak). LOL

Thank you everyone.

-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

This is one of my favorite times of year (second of course to Hunting season). I very much echo the sentiment of Vince wishing you all a merry upbeat holiday time. I feel its a bit muted however, its been a rough year for me and I know other wonderful members here who have experienced lows due to loss of family. My work laid me off a couple weeks ago... and its just been an ongoing kick to the crotch it feels like for the past year. But, visiting and chatting with good folk here is such a relief and escape. I am very much thankful for those who choose to visit, interact and build friendships. I've said in the past its not a hugely active website, but the members here are top knotch, great folk. I only wish we lived in the same neighborhood somewhere... of course we'd get nothing done other than visit and chat over the fence (so to speak). LOL Thank you everyone. -DallanC

I’m really sorry to hear about your employer laying you off mate…that is pretty rough at this time of year. Are you and your family surviving OK mate? Are there any job prospects on the near horizon for you? I hate hearing of people laid off work approaching Christmas time…it’s gut wrenching.

I agree wholeheartedly with your comment on us all living locally. With all the gathering, talking and imbibing in the amber fluid, I seriously doubt that we’d get much else of anything done…but it would be magnificent. I’m only sorry that funds precluded me meeting up with more people than I did when I visited the US back in 2018.

Let me know if things are going bad for you mate. I don’t know if there is much I can do, but I’ll certainly try.

We don't say it very often, but I think we are all thankful for the spot you created (and keep on running) here on the net.

It seems it's been promoted to replace the old workers by young ones, but what I often see is that the companies are getting lots of problems once the old experienced employees are gone... and don't forget: economy is not blooming as 40-50 years ago + cutting costs doesn't always laid to growth and/or better results, often the contrary!
And I'm with Vince: when you think we are able to help you somehow or somewhere...
it's a pity we cannot vote you for president or governor. When you can keep "nuts" running OK it shouldn't be that hard to extrapolate that to a state or a country...

Dear Friends, Family, Random Strangers on the Internet, and That One Guy Who Still Owes Me Twenty Bucks from 2018,
Merry Christmas to every last one of you glorious chaos agents!
May your eggnog be perfectly spiked (and may nobody judge the ratio), may your presents arrive on time instead of doing that awkward “out for delivery” limbo until New Year’s, and may your fairy lights actually work this year without half the strand deciding to go on permanent strike.
May your in-laws be on their best behavior, your Wi-Fi stay strong through every Zoom call, and your Christmas dinner feature exactly zero political debates, unless they’re about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie (it is, fight me).
May your stockings overflow with things you actually want, not just another pair of socks that look suspiciously like the ones you got last year. May your gingerbread houses stand proud and uneaten by sneaky children (or sneaky adults we see you). And may Santa finally upgrade his navigation system so he stops mixing up your house with the neighbor who leaves out kale chips instead of cookies.
Here’s to awkward family photos, terrible holiday T-shirt worn with zero irony, carols belted off-key at maximum volume, and that one magical moment when everyone pauses, looks around, and realizes we’re all just winging this whole life thing together.
Wishing you laughter that hurts your stomach, warmth that has nothing to do with the hot and dry (or wet or cold) summer, and a new year that treats you kinder than 2025 ever dared.
Now go forth, eat too many mince pies, hug someone ridiculous, and have yourselves the merriest, messiest, most unforgettable Christmas yet.
With love, spiked soft drink, and a suspicious amount of glitter, Gelan

Merry Christmas my friends!

Happy New Year one and all!

Yep, we've made it... again!
And now up to the next one!

The stupid thing is that the grandsons grow faster and faster and I seem to get smaller and smaller lungs...
but I'm lucky I don't have to run around no more, even a turtle can finish a race.

And for all people who will retire this year, 1 advice (I got from a retired docter I know): "Don't buy an electric bicycle!"
In your head you still can think you're young, but your reactions might think differently...

Aloysius wrote:

Yep, we've made it... again! And now up to the next one! The stupid thing is that the grandsons grow faster and faster and I seem to get smaller and smaller lungs... but I'm lucky I don't have to run around no more, even a turtle can finish a race. And for all people you will retire this year, 1 advice (I got from a retired docter I know): "Don't buy an electric bicycle!" In your head you still can think you're young, but your reactions might think differently...

Not only don’t buy an electric bicycle, but don’t but and electric scooter, skateboard or any thing powered by a lithium battery designed to move you around by power. There have been far too many homes destroyed, burnt down, and people dying because of these insidious machines when charging.

Plus, the hospitals can’t keep up with the injuries from falling off at the speed some of these machines are capable. I’ve had electric scooters with 4 inch wheels, and electric bicycles overtake me on roads at 80 kph (50mph!!) by riders without helmets or any other safety gear as motorcycle riders wear.

As far as I’m concerned, they should all be made illegal and banned.

My normal lead acid batteries died for my rv trailer over the summer, learned that on my deer hunt when the furnace didnt come on in the early AM (batteries were dead).

I bought a 314AH lithium (LiFeP04) to replace it for the same price as lead acid deep cycle batteries and MAN what a difference! I'm a full blown believer in the tech.

Normal lead acid batteries were about 75AH each for a capacity of 150ah for the pair. This new one is double that. Lead gets about 400 discharges / recharges before they loose capacity, the lithium is rated at more than 15,000 discharges. Now the kicker, 12v Lead batteries are considered 50% discharged at about 12.2 volts but Lithium keeps its full voltage until the very end of discharge so you get the full amperage rating out of the battery, it maintains the voltage to the very end when circuitry turns it off..

I picked up a 2000watt 12v inverter years ago on a "black friday sale" and always intending on using it to power the AC circuit in the trailer off a battery if I ever upgraded. I hooked that up in a test in my garage to the new LifeP04 and started a 15amp discharge, I ran it for 20 hours straight and the battery was only down to 37% !!! Amazing performance.

I bought a automatic "transfer" switch on ebay so when the trailer comes out of winter storage I'm going to rewire everything. The main 30amp cord from trailer to shore power will go into the transfer switch as the primary source, the secondary supply will be input from the 2000watt inverter. That then hooks up to the battery with the appropriate 30Amp breakers etc etc.

Then when camping... hitting the remote switch to the inverter to turn it "on" will supply power to the transfer switch, kicking it on and supplying the 110v plugs / microwave ... whatever with juice, off of the 12v battery, no generator needed (but we still take ours to run the AC which the inverter and battery dont have the capacity to run).

Really excited about this, I also have 400watts of solar already installed which is wired in to recharge the battery, and my onboard distribution panel for 12v which has its own battery charger, has a setting for Lithium (I will have to put a switch on the 12v fuse to that, so I can turn that off when 110v from the inverter comes on... otherwise battery will power 110v line, which will turn on the battery charger redundantly to send power back to the battery (LOL).

-DallanC

That sounds like a magnificent setup for camping mate.

I doubt anyone would say LiPo batteries aren’t better than the old lead acid batteries, and in fact, my hunting buddy had a second deep cycle battery (I’m thinking it was Li, possibly LiPo) wired to charge off the vehicle alternator when driving, plus he had a couple of solar panels to keep it charged during the day. He used it to run his fridge/freezer as well as lights when we were in the bush. Plus, he had a range of tools that he could run off the Inverter, including a small arc welder, should he ever need to do repairs etc.

Having said that, we have had a spate of house fires here in Brisbane, directly attributed to, and caused by, charging e-bikes, e-scooters and skateboards etc. My Grandson did a electric car maintenance/mechanics course with Hyundai, and one of the things they told him was should an electric car catch fire it would take between one and two fire engine loads of water to even control it, but not put it out, because of the Li batteries in the vehicle. I’ve also seen several videos where one electric car catches fire during charging and it very quickly spreads to the other vehicles in the charging facility. Also, one of the big shipping companies in the US has banned the carriage of electric cars on/in their Car Carrying Ships due to losses directly attributed to cars spontaneously combusting, causing other cars to ignite and subsequently destroying the ship and sending it to the bottom of the ocean. I played with RC Model Planes for a little while, and they use LiPo batteries. One of the things that was always told to me was leave the model where it lies, if you crash it, for some time to see if the battery catches fire because you won’t be able to extinguish the fire. I always charged these batteries outside in case they caught fire.

As a consequence of the above I am very careful and not fully trusting of LiPo batteries…even though they are infinitely better than the old lead/acid technology.

Yup thats all true. Its a chemical fire hence the need to douse the heck out of it to try and remove the heat. But when used cautiously with quality electronics controlling it (ie: not cheap china crap) its ok.

I think the problem with alot of these e-bikes and scooters... skateboards etc is they are used by kids who beat the hell out of them, get some loose contacts and the next time it gets plugged in something overcharges and it all goes to crap.

-DallanC

Talking about electric scooter, I have recently converted one to pull a wheelchair for a mate of mine that is a double amputee.
I still have to lift the wheelchair a bit more to make it work better.
Truly a lot of fun using it.

I guess this would be pretty much what they are good for.
youtube.com/shorts/lR3...ture=share

[video width=250 height=200]https://youtube.com/shorts/lR3JMVxofD4?feature=share[/video]
How to add Youtube video here?

Now that is really cool! Excellent use of technology and helpful.

We have guy about a 30 minute drive away who has a paraplegic wife, he's always making things for her... good enough he also has side businesses to sell said things. He modified electric off road bikes into a quad cycle thing she rides around. He had had a recent video of an incredible wheelchair machine that is more around town rig but also climbs stairs.

The offroad bike thing:

www.youtube.com/shorts/ei_v2hUnEzc

Stair climber wheelchair

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxf-fIubkMs

Cool stuff.

-DallanC

gelandangan wrote:

Talking about electric scooter, I have recently converted one to pull a wheelchair for a mate of mine that is a double amputee. I still have to lift the wheelchair a bit more to make it work better. Truly a lot of fun using it. I guess this would be pretty much what they are good for. youtube.com/shorts/lR3...ture=share [video width=250 height=200]https://youtube.com/shorts/lR3JMVxofD4?feature=share[/video] How to add Youtube video here?

That’s a very cool idea mate. You could make a fortune selling those. You level of ingenuity never ceases to amaze me mate. I can see you adapting a motorcycle engine to a mobility scooter one day mate. Gelan at 60mph on the freeway.

Dallan, I like the idea of the quad, more so than the stair climber. I think there is a definite market out there amongst the handicapped outdoors community for something like that.