(reposting in response to further Reddit nonsense)
Some years back, my boss asked me to design and print a whole bunch of spacer panels for a machine we were developing. I got to it, made a part that balanced size with material usage, printed them like he asked, and… we found out we didn’t actually need them. I didn’t want to toss them because they looked like they’d be useful for something… but what the flippin’ hell am I supposed to do with a few dozen spacer thingies?
I found an answer about a week ago. My Jangular-ish belt loadout is fun, but could use some better mounting to the belt (part of it was literally lashed together with macrame cord and chopsticks). I thought maybe a MOLLE panel would help, but I didn’t want to buy more war toys and they always come in threatening military colors.
“Is there anything I already have that I could use? It doesn’t need to be fancy, just a panel with holes I can tie stuff to… kinda like those old spacers!”
A handful of screws later, and here we are! Still lashing things together with macrame cord, but that’s because I’m a weirdo who’s opposed to buying anything I feel I don’t have to. A little janky, sure, but it’s good enough to hold some mags and even has room for the EMT pouch.
I often think back to a photo I saw of a SEAL with an M14 rifle. Specifically, the seemingly homemade foregrip screwed onto the wooden body. Like, the fancy modular gear is fancy, but… I dunno, there’s a weird swagger in jank.
Jank is customized. Jank requires at least some effort. Jank says “I made this, so of course I know how to use it.” Jank means that someone knows what they need, and knows that jank is enough.