Why do you like Gadgets?-When did it start

D

Dr sharp

Joined
Oct 20, 2003
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I was in cub scouts, and i remember having a bronze coin with the scout creed on it, that i used to carry with me at all times. Then it was my scout knife, and nercerchief with scout logo. Now 24 years later its my sebenza thats with me all the time. What is it that makes people like gear and gadgets. If i dont have something in my pocket i feel naked. Anyone else ever feel like this. P.S Before cub scouts like when i was 6 i remember having a "pocket pete" with me at all times. Its a flat piece of steel that goes on a key chain that has 4 sides to it , and is a flat blade screwdriver; i was 6 and i guess i wanted to be ready if a loose screw ever turned up:rolleyes: . But thats where it all started. Lets hear about how it all started for you.
 
I had a pen knife since kindergarten but I never saw it as more than a pencil sharpener. My appreciation of gadgets started the day I saw my first 007 movie.
 
I think my first true start of my obsession with gadgets started when I was in the military. Traveling light, I became obsessed with how small and/or light weight I could get something and still have it function at its job. What was the smallest flashlight? The smallest pocket knife I could get away with?

Being a backpacker in my younger day helped. A monocular was lighter than binoculars and so on. It's funny, Dr.sharp, I had one of those flat little pocket screw drivers too. Then I got into sak's with the tools in one lump. Today my keyring has more gadgets than keys. I still love miniture gadgets.

On my key ring is three keys- my truck, house, and truck cap. Also on is Photon 2, sak classic, Bison aluminum capsule with Ibuprophen for arthritus, small zippo canister with one dose of fuel for zippo lighter, Bison aluminum whistle for the dog, and a mini-sharpie.

I love gadgets. The smaller the better.
 
not sure about gadgets but for lights it had to be the blackout in the northeast some years back. it was summer, HOT, and we had to light candles which made it more hot! i couldn't sleep that night and immediately looked for good lights after that whole fiasco...
 
I have loved gadgets for ages im trying to think where it all started.....

It guess it was with a swiss army knife my mum used to keep in her drawer i used to sneak out a look at it and then i cut myself and stopped haha.
Then she gave me it and i have loved all gadgets! The photon microlight is one of my fav gadgets. Its so sweet, i also have the mini swiss champ which i got when i was like 10. Still got it, 17 now ;P
 
When I was VERY young, my first toys were little pieces of metal, like machine parts. I still remember them. Years later, my mother told me they were damaged machine gun parts that my grandfather brought home. That's what he made during WW II.

I guess I got hooked on little pieces of metal! :D
 
I've probably always been interested in gadgets. Even when i was in kindergarten I was playing with those small knives to sharpen your pencils. Even cut my hand purposely to show off.

Probably liked gadgets even earlier on but i don't remember much of my child hood.

My first serious gadget was probably a small swiss knife to put on your keychain. Then i upgraded to a full sized version when i was about 10 or so but then it got stolen by one of my 'friends'.

After that i was kind of SAK-less until about 15 when i saved up enough money to buy a nice sized one with all the gadgets i need. I still have it with me but the scales are beat up and that small metal thing on the scissors have broken off. I really want to send it in but am afraid they'd replace the whole thing.

I guess it was MacGuyver that made me like gadgets. Then there was also James Bond.

Nowadays i can't go around anywhere without at least a torch or a small knife. It just feels weird when sometimes i go to reach for my knife and it's not there.
 
Ever since I was a kid I was always brought up to be prepared by my father and grandfather. I remember in second grade when my uncle got me this little necklace thing that had a blade, screwdriver, can opener and bottle opener made out of a square peice of metal from his malboro catalog. From then on I carried it with me everywhere and then I aquired a small SAK and I was hooked on gadgets. As I got older I was able to afford more and more expensive gadgets making my obbssession grow more and more.
 
Dr sharp said:
I was in cub scouts, and i remember having a bronze coin with the scout creed on it, that i used to carry with me at all times. Then it was my scout knife, and nercerchief with scout logo. Now 24 years later its my sebenza thats with me all the time. What is it that makes people like gear and gadgets. If i dont have something in my pocket i feel naked. Anyone else ever feel like this. P.S Before cub scouts like when i was 6 i remember having a "pocket pete" with me at all times. Its a flat piece of steel that goes on a key chain that has 4 sides to it , and is a flat blade screwdriver; i was 6 and i guess i wanted to be ready if a loose screw ever turned up:rolleyes: . But thats where it all started. Lets hear about how it all started for you.
Click to expand...


I feel naked without a pocketknife .First one I remember was in a pocket on a pair of hightop leather boots in the first grade. Knives then were very necessary on our small dairy farm/chicken- ranch/vineyard.
My first purchase was a 35 cent Barlow that was on a carded display. Remember paying 5 cents a week & when I'd paid all my money,the owner handed down the card & let me choose mine .
For my entire life,I'd carry in my right pocket, with keys & Zippo in the left . In the army I ran a large commo section & had the knife-wirecutter tool on my belt. Knife was XX Case & sorry steel by today's standards but the locking screwdriver blade was first rate. Still carry one & the brass rivets protrude becasuse the wooden handle is about worn off now .
We never threatened anyone.Today I really get pissed-off, having to leave the courthouse lobby to return my knife to my vehicle. Sick society !
Now ,at the stage of life that I could be easy mugger prey, the knife goes in my left pocket,replaced with a .22 Magnum.
Times are 'a'changing,eh ?

Uncle Alan
 
I think my first "gadget" was a SAK my Dad brought me back from a business trip to Germany (He was a rep/engineer for Singer sewing machines.) I must've been 6-7 (Im 36 now!:grumpy:) & there werent many SAKs around in the UK then. Since then I moved onto Ipaqs, personal DVD players, MP3 players etc, in fact ANYTHING bright & shiny, I sometimes think I must be part-Magpie. My weakness is DEFINITELY knives & flashlights!
 
The military started me off collecting gadgets. Issue binoculars weighed about 5 pounds, and a little el-cheapo pair of compacts weighed about 8 oz and did a similar job.
Same with flashlights, knives, multi tools, compasses and even space pens.

Now after the military service is over, it is just an obsession. :D
 
I think that I got into gadgets because of my grandfather. He was the body man at an automobile dealership, and he taught me all of the things that one could do with the right tools that couldn't be accomplished with our hands alone. I think that I've been addicted to gadgets and tools ever since.

The "pocket pete" that Dr sharp mentioned made me think of a tool that still has its place on my keychain, that my grandfather gave me:

PocketScrewdriverSmall.jpg

GeoThorn

--------------
Government Secrecy is inversely proportional to Government Accountability
 
uncle Alan said:
I feel naked without a pocketknife .First one I remember was in a pocket on a pair of hightop leather boots in the first grade. Knives then were very necessary on our small dairy farm/chicken- ranch/vineyard.
My first purchase was a 35 cent Barlow that was on a carded display. Remember paying 5 cents a week & when I'd paid all my money,the owner handed down the card & let me choose mine .
For my entire life,I'd carry in my right pocket, with keys & Zippo in the left . In the army I ran a large commo section & had the knife-wirecutter tool on my belt. Knife was XX Case & sorry steel by today's standards but the locking screwdriver blade was first rate. Still carry one & the brass rivets protrude becasuse the wooden handle is about worn off now .
We never threatened anyone.Today I really get pissed-off, having to leave the courthouse lobby to return my knife to my vehicle. Sick society !
Now ,at the stage of life that I could be easy mugger prey, the knife goes in my left pocket,replaced with a .22 Magnum.
Times are 'a'changing,eh ?

Uncle Alan
Click to expand...
Hey bro..
You send me your address and I'll send you a crusty, rusty, old Barlow.. It's been in my bathroom drawer for 40 years ! I am serious as a heart attack.
dward@netrox.net

BTW.. We are now in a Police State :mad: ...contrary to the Oregonian brain surgeons beliefs..:jerkit:
 
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