Guys' Christmas Wish List

[rynosback]

On 11/20/2017 at 6:01 AM, mysticmd said:

Hello Escapee Friends,

I'm asking the men what RV items might be on your Christmas Wish List?  I'm trying to get ideas (under $500) that might appeal to the male RV (fifth wheel + F350 dually) owner.  One item I'm already considering is the Progressive Industries EMS PT50X - surge protector..... but how excited would you get over that ?!!!!     

Ladies:  If you have given an RV-related gift that was well received and would like to share, please do.    Thank you

You should have that one for sure as it will protect your electronics.

I think what you get home will depend on his interests. I just bought a nice 41 inch tool box on a GREAT price of $209.  So now I can put all my tools and parts in one place.  We also picked up 2 gravity chairs as my wife has always wanted them.  Only $39 a char.  We bought them at Northern Tool 2 days ago.

[mysticmd]

25 minutes ago, rynosback said:

You should have that one for sure as it will protect your electronics.

Yup, got delivered a couple days ago from Tweety's -- cheaper than other places including Amazon and Ebay - no shipping and no tax for me.  We've been enjoying our gravity chairs from Cabella's for many years now - it has a movable pillow that slides the length of the back - so husband uses it as pillow and I as a lumbar support.  Also has removable trays off one side for cup holder and room for small items like phones, snacks.  You'll enjoy yours.   Merry Christmas!

[masterdrago]

Everyone should be able to look at galaxies and nebulae outside of our solar system. A man should have a good telescope to do this. I recommend buying used but that sometime requires some experience to do well.

An 8" Dobsonian usually fills the bill. Some will get more use out of a refractor style (good for bird and wildlife watching also).

Or maybe a great pair of binoculars.

https://www.astromart.com/classifieds/list.asp?classified_category_id=12

https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Telescopes/Dobsonian-Telescopes/rc/2160/pc/1/12.uts

[masterdrago]

On 12/3/2017 at 5:34 AM, mysticmd said:

<snip>

Masterdrago - picked up your msgs from yesterday - thank you, I'll look.   I wish I could visually ID a 1/2" drive w/specific torque ---ahem; he has big roll-around tool boxes all over house, barn, tool boxes in every vehicle - and yes, he loves shiny, chromed items.   One year he bought me a big roll-around and has been filling it - !!!

It's very, very shiny

https://www.amazon.com/CDI-2503MFRMH-Micrometer-Adjustable-Torque/dp/B002LA1EDO

 

[Chalkie]

On 12/2/2017 at 9:24 PM, masterdrago said:

If you sometimes help the Hubby back into a spot then I might suggest the Eartec UL2S Ultralite wireless microphone system. It full duplex two way hands free communication with great sound quality and good service from the makers.

A good torque wrench is always nice. CDI 2503MFRMH 1/2" drive 30-250# range if you have a 5th wheel it makes checking the tightness of the lug nuts easy. If you have a MH, he'll need a bigger one - more than $500.

Holy smokes! We have a set of Midland walkie-talkies with earphone/voice activated mics that I got at Sam's Club for about $40. No, you can not talk over each other so you do need to exercise a bit of radio control.

And as for the torque wrench that was linked I got one from Amazon that goes up to 250 lb, micrometer style adjustment, 4.7 on the reviews and only cost about $75.

Personally I believe in spending money on things that will get the job done at the least amount of money so I can spend the extra on other fun things.

P.S. - on the linked torque wrench it says Imported in one line and Proudly Made in the USA in the next, so which is it?

[mysticmd]

2 hours ago, masterdrago said:

A man should have a good telescope

And a woman, too;  I have a beginner's Celestron with a Finderscope (motorized) packs well enough under the RV bed, runs on a battery pack so I bought an inverter, but depending upon our site, we usually carry a lot of extension cords which suffice from the 5-er.

[masterdrago]

19 hours ago, mysticmd said:

And a woman, too;  I have a beginner's Celestron with a Finderscope (motorized) packs well enough under the RV bed, runs on a battery pack so I bought an inverter, but depending upon our site, we usually carry a lot of extension cords which suffice from the 5-er.

Sorry. I did not intentionally exclude women. Many of the women in our local astro clubs (Houston area) are better observers than most of the men ;=+. The men are just more geeky. I don't know what you store in your front basement but an 8" Dob will fit easily. Some good beginner finder charts  http://www.robhawley.net/mm/SHG-MM-charts-v6.pdf

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/articles/observing-skills/free-mag-7-star-charts-r1021

[masterdrago]

22 hours ago, Chalkie said:

Holy smokes! We have a set of Midland walkie-talkies with earphone/voice activated mics that I got at Sam's Club for about $40. No, you can not talk over each other so you do need to exercise a bit of radio control.

And as for the torque wrench that was linked I got one from Amazon that goes up to 250 lb, micrometer style adjustment, 4.7 on the reviews and only cost about $75.

Personally I believe in spending money on things that will get the job done at the least amount of money so I can spend the extra on other fun things.

P.S. - on the linked torque wrench it says Imported in one line and Proudly Made in the USA in the next, so which is it?

Chalkie, most of the time, I'm with you. Save $$$. I could have gone the cell way and gotten headphones for our Verizon mobiles. It's just that service does not exist where amateur astronomers hang out. I delayed getting the 24G set a couple of years ago because of the proprietary battery and the transmitter battery pack was on a belt clip. The boating community turned me onto them. When Eartec came out with the all in one lightweight headset, I overcame my repulsion at the batteries and price. The sound quality is excellent and I would not settle for half duplex. The 1/4 mile range and 6 hour operation was not an issue.

I've looked at and handled a number of torque wrenches in this # range since I began the RV hunt. The CDI I recommended and have is a very finely made unit, made in the USA. It's a Snap-on specialty tool brand. It came with all the calibration at better than 2% clockwise and better than 3% counterclockwise.

[mysticmd]

3 hours ago, masterdrago said:

Sorry. I did not intentionally exclude women.

Nah, I didn't think you did.  Our 5-er gets divvied up in an unspoken manner.   He has the entire basement to control, I get the inside - living room, kitchen, under bed and rest of bedroom is divided equally; he runs the garage but I give him items to put in and ratchet as he sees fit.... seems to work out fine for us.

Finally found out he has a 1/2" drive torque .... has had it for decades, Craftsmen    $25!.   He's going to wind up with plenty for Christmas and I'll have reserve ideas for the following year for Valentine's Day , birthday, etc.   Everybody has been great pitching in with ideas,  and it's been fun shopping with all the suggestions, and chatting on the forum.  Hope others have found this thread useful.

[Kirk W]

Lots of fun helping you to shop too! Thanks for sharing with us. 

[mysticmd]

On 12/4/2017 at 12:10 PM, Pat & Pete said:

. I'll talk to them and see if they ever found a solution or not

Hi Pat and Pete:   Wondering if you had an opportunity to ask your neighbor about the jammed Xtend ladder - - perhaps they power washed it?  I'm still shopping!  From the past couple of years, seems the ladders were the cheapest around February.  I use CamelCamelCamel.com for price history and alerts.   Thank You!   - Mary

[mysticmd]

Hi - since we have talked about 1/2" drive torque wrenches, this Craftsman price doesn't look bad at $56:

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-1-2-in-dr-digi-click-torque-wrench/p-00913919000P?sid=IAx20050830x000545&aff=Y&PID=4485850&AID=13166739&utm_medium=1122587_4485850_13166739

[masterdrago]

I'm not sure how important torque is on RV lug nuts but I get anal and a little squeamish about tools that have no accuracy indicated, ISO or ASME standards being met, and no certificate of calibration being traceable back to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Most likely, I'm being over caring here. They are, after all just tire lug nuts. Most likely accuracy and precision just does not matter like on a fine Swiss watch. I have a much older and cheaper torque wrench that just uses a beam to move along a fixed scale. It was only good to about 100#, so would not work on the 5r lug nuts.

[masterdrago]

I'll bet with all the tool boxes your Hubby has, he already has the necessary wrench.

I just added to my wish list a d/c amp probe. Fluke 365 Detachable Jaw True-RMS A/C-D/C Clamp Meter

[Pat & Pete]

2 hours ago, mysticmd said:

Hi Pat and Pete:   Wondering if you had an opportunity to ask your neighbor about the jammed Xtend ladder - - perhaps they power washed it?  I'm still shopping!  From the past couple of years, seems the ladders were the cheapest around February.  I use CamelCamelCamel.com for price history and alerts.   Thank You!   - Mary

Yes , I did ask ... 

He said he hadn't had a chance to figure it out . I'm guessing it's on a back burner of a cold stove . 

The ladder design is a neat idea , but , if it takes that much care to function , I'm not sure I'd trust it for actual use . I'm too old to wager mending time to find out .

[noteven]

1 master set of Butler Motorcycle Maps. 

Anaglog GPS from Aerostitch: http://www.aerostich.com/analog-gps.html

[mysticmd]

4 hours ago, noteven said:

1 master set of Butler Motorcycle Maps. 

Anaglog GPS from Aerostitch: http://www.aerostich.com/analog-gps.html

Well, the analog gift raised my eyebrows and interest.   Yea, we all have that high-tech flummery, and life got easier, and life got more complicated.

[Pat & Pete]

2 minutes ago, mysticmd said:

Well, the analog gift raised my eyebrows and interest.   Yea, we all have that high-tech flummery, and life got easier, and life got more complicated.

Isn't that a perfect example of an oxymoron ? LOL