October Phoenix Pictures

Spectre

Spectre

Joined
Nov 3, 1998
Messages
4,331
Hey, all!

It's been a while, so I thought I'd post another thread.

I had a notion- what some Christians might call a "conviction"- last week to give my Buck/Strider to SPC Rector. He knows how to take care of a knife, but only had a small, much-used and old Gerber- and I've been so blessed and taken care of by forum members. I had to do it.

I found out later in the day, that his 22nd birthday was two days later.

Here he is:
RecStry1.jpg


Here's what he was doing a few minutes later...(I have my own stone now, but I don't even try to put on the edge Rector does!)

Brickmaking. (Rector was excited about this; he said he "kind of wanted to go make some bricks with them". He also said they were using masonry- coarser- sand.)

From Tower 6;

A little closer...if you look closely, you can see the hole in the wire, and the path just on the other side of the Hesco Barrier...

Top of the Hesco Barrier, showing stones that have been thrown at us, and bounced off the tower.

Coke in Dari: some of the drinks we get here.

The lushest area in the vicinity.
 
Good on ya Spec. I've been prompted by the Spirit on many occasions to give away blades. It is often bittersweet, but you'd never take it back.
 
Thats great John. Its good that he sharpened it right away IMO. I always do. You haven't really claimed a knife till you put your own edge on it.
 
I keep a thicker edge on my knives, but Rector puts a thin razor-edge on his.

Speaking of knives and such...I got a great little sheath today for my R7!
 
Really??? Some little piece of Afghan craftsmanship???? How's the fit?

Dang that was quick.
 
Great pics, John. Glad to see you checking in:) I thought I had enough little HI's, but i'm lusting for an R-7 now.

Good Karma all the way around:)

Jake
 
It appears to be clover! They gather it up every couple of weeks.

...Rector evidently saw three of them using it to, um, entice and occupy a ewe at night a month ago! :eek:
 
Darn.
Three great lies of Wyoming:
I won the belt buckle in a rodeo
The Ford truck is paid for
I was only trying to help the sheep over the fence


munk
 
Spectre said:
It appears to be clover! They gather it up every couple of weeks.

...Rector evidently saw three of them using it to, um, entice and occupy a ewe at night a month ago! :eek:
Click to expand...


Wow. I guess in a country where human labor is abundant hand harvesting of clover could be economical?

So what is your level of interaction with the local folks? Do many speak English? Can you pretty much go into the populated areas safely? My wife had a friend who was over there early on and he was saying that the folks were mostly friendly.
 
hollow,

The women pick it, and pile it on sheets.

We're confined to base unless we're a mission. There are local nationals that work here, and vendors come on base every Friday for a bazaar.

Patrols have to interact, and there are missions whose sole objective is to go give supplies to the locals. If what I've heard is accurate, another unit will take over tower duty in about a month, and I'll probably be going on some of these missions.

It seems a lot of the young locals know at least some English. Rector speculated last week that perhaps they're being taught English as a second language in school.
 
Do you all get mostly US food there or can you get any Afghani food? What are the staples of their diet? Do you know?

If you can find out I'd be really interested in knowing what they are doing with the clover, or if it isn't clover what it is? It looks really dry. Are they irrigating it? Are there bodies of water around?
 
We eat at the DFAC (contracted by KBR, which I believe is a Haliburton subsidiary), so it's American food. Mostly- don't know where they get their dessert ideas, though! :eek:

Rector told me they eat it! No bodies of water around, but that windmill is close by, so I'm guessing it pumps water...
 
Time for my one dumb factoid: The State of Montana plants clover by the highway sides, so the tourists will see green green green.
EVery year a bunch of people are hurt running over deer near roadways with clover.
duh.

Does Animal Planet know what clover is being used for in Afganistan?



munk
 
I dont' think humans eat clover- it is a high nutrition source for sheep and goats and deer... in a land of dirt, clover would be king.


I noticed from Spectre's photos the local's clothing is almost the same color as the land. I thought that was interesting. Everything begins to look like dirt.


munk
 
I was looking at it again today. I don't think it's clover after all, but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I can find out this week.

Tower reading material.

R7 Glove. The HI sheath worked, but this is thicker, stronger, and...well...purty. :)

Sheath.jpg
 
Its an honor for you to have that sheath. I'm just glad it fits. It'd been a shame to ship it half way around the world only to find it didn't fit. Actually though, that pattern fits dozens of common knives I've made sheaths for. I'd say 8/10 of the sheaths I make are that size.

As an aside. It was easy and fast to ship a package to John. You don't have to pay international shipping. You ship it to the APO address in the US and they take care of the rest. It wasn't really expensive at all. So, if you've been hesitating sending a package to a soldier... don't. Its easy as pie.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top