I do a lot of text keying at a computer keyboard. After many hours of keying, day after day, my hands and fingers tell me (as in pain) that they're pushing too hard, too many times. After going from store to store looking for a keyboard with easy to press keys, I realized that I needed something to measure force needed to press keys on a particular keyboard. Trying to judge force by typing a little with each keyboard wasn't separating Tylenol endorsed keyboards from more finger friendly keyboards. So I rigged up a plastic tube taped to a vertical wire a few inches long. Pennies could be put in tube. The lower end of wire is rested on a key. The number of pennies needed to push a key down is a measure of key's required press force.

Then there was see through, wall hung beehive that I put on my bedroom wall. My father used to keep bees to harvest honey. One cold day in March, I discovered an abandoned hive that had fallen over exposing bees to elements. There was only several hundred bees left out of what was once thousands. I put a sheet of glass, about 2-foot by 2-foot, onto a wooden frame that I attached to my bedroom wall. Then I carefully transported faltering bee colony to their new home. A tunnel made of metal window screening provided a path for bees to come and go under a slightly raised window. The colony's queen had not survived being exposed to weather, so I knew no new bees would be reared. This colony would only last as long as lifespans of its current members. But it was interesting to watch bees doing what bees do throughout next several months. And bragging rights for having a bee colony on ones bedroom wall was something to envy.

Both keyboard force-o-meter and wall-mounted beehive were inspired by circumstances. I just saw possibility of what could be done and wanted to do it. I try to be open to possibilites for other gadgets and gizmos that would be of value. It is well worth effort: It is fun to make improvised gizmos, and you get a valued item. The item may suit your needs better than a purchased item because you make it way you want it. And it feels good to prove that your ingenuity and imagination can produce things of value.

Below is a description of a couple of items you may like to make.

Bootjack:

Want Safer, More Comfortable Backpacking?

Contrary to what many think, ultralight backpacking is not just about freedom to hike more miles or to take your whole pack up mountain with you. It is also about comfort and safety. Backpackers with heavy loads work too hard and threaten their joints too much. Challenges may add to experience, but why suffer more than is necessary?

The Disadvantages Of Traditional Backpacking

Lack Of Freedom

You can't easily take a side trip up that hill, just to see what is there. If you do it without your pack, you have to go back same way to get your pack.

It's A Hassle

Putting on and taking off your heavy pack quickly becomes a chore. You start leaving it on even during rest stops, just so you don't have to deal with it.

It's Tiring

Backpacking is clearly more tiring with a heavy pack, and you probably won't enjoy yourself as much when you are tired.

More Injuries

Sprained ankles, blistered feet, sore muscles, and back and knee problems are just some of common consequences of too much weight on your back.

Slowness

More weight equals slower progress, which means less access to wild places (you can't go as far on your four-day trip), or it means less time to for enjoyable activities, like a swim in a mountain lake, or a relaxing evening in camp.

More Dangerous

More injuries, and inability to move quickly when a storm is coming or an emergency requires you to get to a road, means that backpacking can actually be more dangerous with a heavy load. Add to that possibility of bad decisions due to tiredness.

The Ultralight Backpacking Alternative

Done right way, ultralight backpacking gives you more freedom, more comfort, more safety, more enjoyment and less suffering than traditional backpacking. It allows you to move faster, but notice that I say "allows." It doesn't require it. It just gives you option. That's more freedom.