Thanks for understanding,

Eric Schwarz

For the most part I find the design to be exactly what I wanted. I only made on mistake, the tubing on my dives back in to soon, which will be changed for all future sliders. The powder-coating is superb, the lines are very clean, and the gaps are tight leaving me without much to say other than they look great.

All I need now is my first sale, and someone to bring an H3T Hummer over so I can make the modification to my sliders so they can bolt up to the H3T.

In 2009 on January 1st, the regulations set forth by CARB were adopted by the EPA set bunch of standards forth for all portable fuel carriers sold within the United States. First off these regulation stipulate that all gas cans must have an automatic shut off before the target fuel tank overflows. Second, it must automatically close shut when removed from the target gas tank and remain shut. Third, they must only have one opening for both filling and pouring. Fourth, does not allow more than 0.4 grams of gas per gallon permeate through the canister per day. And fifth and final of the regulations set forth, all fuel canisters must come with a manufacturer warranty covering defects in materials and workmanship that lasts at least for an entire year. Here’s a link to the excruciatingly detailed PDF of all the regulations.

Scepter does make and sell gas cans that meet those standards, but I am ignoring these because they just don’t have the features I’m looking for. The Jerry Cans I’m talking about are the same ones that the U.S. Marines, Army, and Air Force use. The Scepter Military Fuel Canister (MFC), which was designed to meet the requirements of the U.S. Army and Canadian forces for a leak-proof, rugged, safe, dependable and cost-effective plastic canister. While a few might squirm when you read the word “plastic” rest assured that they will make any metal Jerry Can look inferior.

What makes these fuel cans so great is for starters that they meets all the standardized dimensions of a military fuel canister. Will burn in fire, instead of the fuel reaching flash point and explode sending shrapnel into the air. Has three integrated handles allowing for one person to carry two cans in one hand, hand off with out setting down or moving your hand, and of course a convenient handle centered over the load for single carry. An air vent tube in the neck to keep pouring smooth. Threads inside the canister to accept adapters for stoves and also heating equipment. An air chamber design so even if dumped into water, it will float. Must completely transfer all fuel to target fuel tank in under one minute. And while not a feature, but more of to give an idea of the durability these things have, they mean business weighting in at 5.8 pounds.

Just make sure to know that these Jerry Cans Scepter make were primarily designed for storing diesel and not none-leaded fuels (Gasoline). Which is why Scepter mainly puts rubber gaskets on there Military Fuel Canisters and when rubber is soaked with gasoline it swells and can damage the sealing mechanism. Scepter is far from inept from this problem and has a seal that works fine with both gasoline and diesel, which is made out of Viton. While costing an bit extra, the Viton gasket is completely necessary for planned storage of prolong periods with gasoline.

Finally, Scepter also makes some really awesome Military Water Canisters, which is what is getting ran over in the featured image, that can be bought and shipped to anywhere in the United States. I do realize that the Scepter Military Fuel Canister cannot be legal sold to citizen in the United States but there are ways around it. For starters eBay is good option. So is hitting up your favorite 4×4 forum and putting up a post about them (they should be able to help get you pointed in the right direction). Military surplus stores are a good option too, but the guaranteed way to get a hold of these Jerry Cans is to just head up to Canada and legally purchase them there.

I had fears of the Desktop becoming useless, the control panels settings being no where to be found, and that my computer would run slower with all this new features that Microsoft is so proud of. Which is why I had to know if Microsoft was headed in what I believe to be the right direction with this new version of Windows. Well, now that I have installed Windows 8, the good news is that I was wrong with every assumption I had made. Desktop works exactly the same, they have the same control panels that are in windows 7, and I honestly think it might be running faster. It definitely starts up faster.  I now realize that the only thing that is really different from Windows 7 to Windows 8 is instead of this teeny tiny start menu we’ve gotten accustom to since Windows 98, we now have this entire screen with all those applications displayed in a nice metro style grid. This new metro start menu grid is amazingly fast, intuitive to use, and easy to navigate even without a touch screen. Also when all the software we have been using from windows XP through 7 is rewritten to use the new metro way of writing applications they too will enjoy the same benefit as the reason why we love apps like Flixster on our smartphones.

Be sure to take quick tour on how to use the new features Windows8 in the video above.

But, I have found one problem with Windows 8, which is completely not Microsoft’s fault. When I opened Mozilla Firefox 10 in Windows 8 I got a weird glitch that caused some interesting color options and odd behaviors in the Firefox browser that wasn’t very appealing to look at. It was an error that you could live with, but sure would be annoying. The good news is that there is an easy fix for the problem I had with Windows 8 and Firefox 10, by just disabling “Hardware Acceleration” in the programs options I was able to fix it. Start by clicking on the button labeled “Firefox” in the upper left corner of your screen and then “Options.” Once you click on the “Options” button a box should pop up with a bunch of tabs to choose from, click on the tab titled “Advance.”  Now make sure that the check box “Use hardware acceleration when available” is unchecked like in the image below. Finally click “OK” to apply the changes, completely close Firefox down including the Downloads box if it is open and wait a few seconds and then the glitch is fixed.

All in all, I’m quite happy where Microsoft is headed right now (I was scared for a bit) and really look forward to all the Metro Apps to come. I haven’t played with Adobe CS5 ton yet and I really haven’t noticed anything special from it yet, but the good news is that it works just fine in Windows 8. So if your broke and need an cheap legal operations system, or are just curious and want to try something new, I say “Why not run the Windows 8 Beta for right now?”

Which is why I have nearly finished my own Rock Sliders for the H3 Hummer. My Rock Sliders will be extremely affordable, with a target price range similar to what the aftermarket charges for Jeeps Rock Sliders. Only mine will be slightly higher in price due to the fact the H3 Hummer curb weight is heavier than your average Jeep Wrangler by about 1000 lb. I figure rightfully that these Hummer sliders should be slightly stronger, and that means a little extra in price.

Since I’m an Ex-Jeep guy, I will including the things that the Jeep Community expect when it comes to Rock Sliders. For example, every single Rock Slider should have 1.75″ DOM Tubing on the outer edge because it provides the most convenient place to use a Hi-Lift to lift a vehicle from. Also when off-road, your not trying to bash your way through or drag you vehicle over the obstacles, you navigate around and as a last resort “over. ” Which is why my Rock Sliders are designed to deflect and slide you off the object as easily as possible. Finally while mine are the biggest and strongest by a long shot, they are not how ever extremely heavier than the competition because of the over all straight forward design.

All I have left to do on my rock sliders is to bend the tubing. So I look forward to having built my first pair of Rock Slider’s for the H3 Hummer built with-in about two week of this post date. Upon which I can do a final calculation of price. I am also in the process of designing my own Under Body Shield/ Skid Plate for the H3 Hummer with a price range goal of $300 dollars, that will cover from the factory skid plate that all H3 Hummers have, all the way back to the Transfer-Case.

Now this is where the significant part of the story comes in, my Grandfather, is the sole survivor of that crew aboard that B17 Flying Fortress #44-6349, of the 483rd Bombardment Group, in the 840th Bomb Squadron. More particular to the reason of the phone call is because this guy is putting together a website on his Uncle, Staff Sargent Richard G “Dick” McNerney, which you can read at McNerney’s Journey. He also is considering putting together a book about his Uncle, and considering that my Grandfather is the sole survivor of that B17, he says that he would like to add a chapter, section, or something of some sort on my Grandfather.

But I have saved the best for in just a moment. I was about eight or nine when I asked my Grandfather about WWII. I found him to be particularly under detailed, very short, and generally refused to talk about it at all. In fact he never comes off to me as if he did serve in a war, but just one time, I got him to tell me about his experience. I never got any details about his training, deployment, or friends and family while he served. While on Christmas vacation at his retirement home in Florida, he just told me this one short story about the B17 he was on.

I was flying over Germany on a bombing run to disrupt some manufacturing plants. (My memory is hazy, but I think he told me something about ball bearings.) When we neared the target area, we came under attack from the Germans. Being the tail gunner of  B17 if anyone was to go, it was going to be me. The next thing I know an explosion went off and the airplane was split in half. I was knock unconscious and have no idea how I exited the plane or how my parachute opened. Maybe it was someone in the crew that saved me, but I think it was an Angel watching out for me that pulled me out of the plane and opened my chute. Once I regained consequence, I woke up, on the ground, with Germans pointing machine guns at me. I was taken prisoner, in Germany for an entire year (His burial flag lists the dates August 7, 1943 – November 5, 1945).  I was treated very well as a prisoner because the German’s were scared of the American’s coming. And these Germans worried that if the American’s had found fellow Americans being tortured or starving that they would have been literally beaten to death.

And that was the story I was told by my Grandpa Schwarz. Now this guy that called me, tells me that there is more to this story written in his own words. I’m told that in a letter my Grandfather wrote, he mentions being blasted into his guns from the explosion and that the next moment he remembers, he is clinging to the outside of his airplane. This man also has this letter that I’m afraid to read, but I look forward to it, it is the letter my Grandpa wrote explain his Uncle’s death. On the lighter side of things he claims to have a photo of my Grandfather, letters from my Grandmother (I think he meant Great Grandma) to his Grandmother about what may have happened to his uncle and my Grandfather, and more.

So all in all, I look forward to diving deeper into what this man offers and that my Aunt will have some amazing possessions of my Grandfather’s to show me.

Which is why I had to have 686‘s Destructed Denim. They have this punk arrogance right in line with doing battle with winter that I enjoy about them, and if you were to call them out on being arrogant as a fault, you’d  be wrong. While they are labeled “Jeans” and look extremely like distressed jeans, they are anything but. These Jeans are actually nylon snowboarding pants. Fully taped seams, 20g of polyfill insulation, the trademarked INFIDRY-15 meaning 15,000mm Waterproof / 10,000 Breathable rating, these pants are not only going to keep you warm and dry, but as long as the mercury is above 10°F  your in the comfort zone.

What was the final nail in the coffin for me was the cut of these Jeans. Unlike the other ghetto Jeans out there, which just aren’t my style, I prefer a regular fit, which is “Not too baggy, not too emo, but just right.”

Be sure to check out the Video 686 put together on these Jeans,

See ya on the slopes!

Now to give some back story as to why I got a phone call from Pat Muldoon, began with me getting upset over a post on the Facebook page of VWerks. I commented saying all I see are other manufacturer parts being bolted on and would like to see the modifications they did. When I woke up the next day and went to see if they commented back, I realized that my post was deleted. Which lead to me blogging about it on my website. Which in turn through a strange turn of events my website showed up in a search result where Laura who handles marketing, PR, and Media for VWerks, reached out to me and talked to me about this post.

In that post, it is this one just updated, I made the claim that VWerks is taking credit for Gen-Right‘s bumpers, fender flares, and Superlift‘s suspension as their own creation. And while my original accusations are justified, according to Pat Muldoon, he is good friends with Tony Pellegrino, the President / Founder of Gen-Right, and while Pat’s bumper is based off of Tony’s bumper supposedly everything is okay for Pat to produce it. I was wrong about the tube fenders to some degree, because no matter what you do, if you produce tube fenders for the JK your going to have parts that look the same out of necessity. Finally, VWerks did use Superlift’s 4″ suspension, just the thing is that they have a deal worked out with Superlift so they can sell the lift kits. So in a way it is their lift kit, but it will never count in my books.

Now for some things I didn’t know and learned. While you can buy the JK-8 Pickup Conversion Kit, you will be disappointed to find out that this very truck has had the frame rails stretched 6 additional inches in the rear crumple zone (the area behind the rear wheels). Now even though the Jeep is stretched 6 inches, it doesn’t change the factory wheel base at all. VWerk’s must have been hard pressed for time to make it to SEMA or something because as of right now the Jeep still has the factory 4.10 gear. But those gears are on their way out to be swapped out for 5.30 gears which will be much more appropriate for the massive BFG 40×14.50R17/C” Krawler T/A KX tires. While those are the factory Dana 44 axles under there, supposedly they have been beefed up with Dynatrac‘s help by replacing the axle shafts, bearings, other odds and ends which are equivalent parts Dana 60, or so Pat said. I thought Fox Shocks seemed weird on this build, so I asked about them and was told that they tried other shocks but the Fox’s seemed the most responsive.

I did get some other off topic cool tidbits from Pat Muldoon during are short conversation. Hopefully this isn’t suppose to be a secret, but apparently another Jeep is in the work for Red Jacket Firearms and the request for the color “Flat Grey” and a real gun mount for weapons and grenades. I was told the mount for the turret is difficult and that there is some elaborate skim of hoops and mounts going on to ensure plenty of strength. I also found Pat has had some sort of hand with my favorite Mopar Jeeps, the Immortal, blue crush, Pork Chop, and many more. I shouldn’t be surpised though, he said he had been working for Mopar for 23 years.

So all in all I had one great conversation with Pat Muldoon and hope to see him in Moab so I can stick him to his work saying I can drive it.

Now these Jeans, the Shift Racing Torque Jeans, are worlds beyond anything I have ever owned. Thick high quality fabric, great fit (for me at least), Kevlar lining, and a style of it’s own that I admire. I wear these Jeans chasing women at bars/club, running my daily errands, on my bike, basically everywhere. The other day I was walking downtown (Chicago), when that wind kicked up and I flinched at the coming cold, but to my surprise these Jeans don’t let the wind just cut right through the denim and as it turned out, I was toasty.

Thing is, the street portion of Shift Racing seemingly went out of business or something in early September this year. I cannot figure out what happened to them, but I would like to raise alarm that this was a great product and I’m upset to see it just disappear because I want to buy more. What I do know is that Fox Head owns Shift Racing and that is about it. I have been searching the webs for some form of  a ray of sunshine, but to dismay I have yet to find one. Over all, when I wear these Jeans I can feel the quality of them and definitely know that they vastly superior than the crap I had been buying.

I like these Jeans so much that I decided can’t be caught buying jeans ever again unless they matches the three pairs I got in quality, form, and function. Which I might have found said “match” with this company I just learned about, Sartso. When I look at the photos they seems to be very similar in design as to the jeans I got, I wouldn’t be surprised if the two companies were linked some how, but I have never seen or held Sartso’s product yet.

Anyway here’s to holding my breath for Sartso jeans being up to my expectations and to Shift Racing making a come back with these jeans, hopefully one of those statements will become true.

I’m not sure why or how, but I had SirusXM Satellite Radio for about month free, and when it got turned off I had to have it again. I started by looking up the prices of SirusXM and was immediately disappointed because of the pricing and wasn’t going to purchase it. But after some internet research, I found out that the trick to getting SirusXM at a price I’ll pay for, is to jump from promotion to promotion. To do this, all some one has to do is call in and ask for what ever the promotion they are currently offering, I got six months for $25.00 which includes everything but the adult channels and NASCAR. Then when ever that promotions time is about up, just under six months for me, call in and sign up for what ever the next promotion is so that the payments don’t go to the normal rates.

I have read a lot about people saying that the H3 Hummer is under powered and slow, but I’m not sure what they are comparing it to. Maybe they are used to driving Mustang’s, Camaro’s, and SUV’s with huge v8′s because they are completely off base by my  judgement. To me the H3 Hummer moves plenty fast, and has plenty of torque. I constantly have to monitor the speedometer because the Hummer quietly keeps on pulling. I have no problem holding 80 miles / hour on the highway, and I have never seen the Hummer gear hunting when heading up hills. What I really think is going on, is that these people want something that cannot be done. They want this imaginary, heavy duty SUV, that drives and handles like a sports car, and all the while getting great gas mileage, which is just something that will never happen.

After owning my H3 Hummer for a month or so I have decide on changing up what aftermarket parts and modification I want to do. I decided that the factory sliders are just to flimsy and that I will be building my own out of half-inch steel plate, 5×2-inch square tubing, and 1.75 inch DOM tubing to produce the strength, look, and price range I so desire because the aftermarket one’s are just to expensive. I already have the whole Hunner Skid Plates setup to protect my rear axle’s shock mounts and u-bolts getting powder-coated by my favorite guy for the job at Paradigm Coatings. I also plan to make and produce some longer shackles for the leaf spring in the rear to add some precious inches to the ground clearance that the H3 could use. I still plan on getting the winch mount by DeFelice Off-Raod and I have narrowed the winch down to the Warn VR8000 and like I said, I still plan to purchase the WARN Wireless Control System so that I don’t need to run in cab controls. I wasn’t lucky enough to get all the factory skid plates, which means I need to either purchase the factory one’s, or more likely, I want to make my own out of 3/8 inch thick steel. Finally, I plan to bring the front end of the Hummer up a bit by cranking the torsion-bars to about 1.5 inches higher than factory height, while factoring in the added weight of all these parts, so I can fit 35 inch General Grabber tires.

So all in all I’m like a kid at the night before Christmas all excited to get started building these Heavy Duty Rock Sliders, and I can wait to show you the build.

I have been looking at this harness for quite a while because I felt the harness I have was lacking compared to the ones my friends are using. There was nothing wrong with mine, just the new one’s are simply newer and by that I mean lighter, stronger, faster, sharper looking. Basically the same situation in car market year to year, something is always better in some way.

The Momentum SA Harness had one thing that did quickly push me over the edge and sort of impulse buy when I tried it on. The Harness has the new technology from black diamond called “trakFIT leg loop adjustment system,” which basically means you can adjust the leg loops in a matter of seconds. It is hard to explain with words, but I’ll try, trakFIT IS FAST! Hmm… that is close but you’ll just have to try one to see for yourself to really know.

I was disappointed to find that their sizing is completely off. To get the harness to align properly I had to buy the XL which is suppose to fit a 36-39″ waist. I am dead on a 33 in Jeans and buy 34s because I feel more comfortable in them. While the harness fits me great I feel sorry for anyone bigger than me because it just won’t fit properly on them, sorry big boned people.

Black Diamond has these features listed on the site for the harness

• Pre-threaded SpeedAdjust buckle on waistbelt
• Bullhorn-shaped OpenAir waistbelt built using Dual Core Construction
• Patent-pending trakFIT leg adjustment for easy, worry-free adjustability of OpenAir leg loops
• Adjustable releasable rear elastic riser
• 4 pressure-molded gear loops
• 12 kN-rated haul loop

And finally a link to the instructions located here.

I will be giving the harness a good work out next weekend when I return to Red River Gorge for Halloween weekend. So if I find any problems I’ll be sure to update this post.

Till the next Adventure, Later!

*Quick Upadate* Black Diamond put a video up on YouTube about the Harness

While the rest of the multi-tool was still good to use, I decided I should warranty it out. So I filled out a paper explaining the situation to Gerber and mail it to their place in Oregon. After not hearing from them in 2.5 weeks I made a phone call to them and find out that they had already fixed it and shipped it. They told me that they normally don’t call or email you, they just fix it and send it back. I got mine back with-in three weeks with shipping to and from Gerber, plus the time it took to repair it. I was amazed at how easy it was, no hassle at all, and it came back just as good as new. I was surprised to find out that they even put another Gerber sheath in the package, you can see in the featured image, and there was note too that made me feel good.

Dear Valued Customer

Your Gerber Legendary Blades product has been replaced. We hope you continue to use our products for many years to come.

Thank you for being part of the Legend!

Be sure to visit our website at www.gerbergear.com to see all of our current products.

Even though I have been praising them, I have one last bug to pick. I wish they would make some products that use the ultimate metals that is at our disposal, like the D2 Tool Steel that my 583 Warn Barrage Knife is made of. Either-way, I still love this multi-tool and plan to buy more products from Gerber in the future.