(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.
Very nice!
It’s amazing what clever people can make out of whatever’s handy. The best tactical gear is often the gear that you make for yourself as you can fully customize it. HvZ players have made great holsters out of duck tape and literal garbage, for example.
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.