On the reliability of simple tools
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Today, another disassembly discourse, in which I discuss the advantages of using a simpler tool over a more complicated one, and talk about some of the tensions this creates. Give your thoughts in the comments below!
Here's Jason Hui's video about in-light USB chargers: • Flashlight Basics: In-...
Here's my video about complexity cost:
• The Costs of Complexit...
Oh man...losing data. I once lost an entire wedding I was hired to take photos for. It was a freak accident where the night of, right after the wedding, we were dropping the files onto the pc for the morning. Huge storm came through, wiped out the power and took our hard drive with it.
Calling a bride to tell her she has no photos from her wedding was the worst experience of my life.
Brb I need a drink. PTSD coming in strong LOL
Damn that's horrible, I feel for you bro. That had to be a hard call to make
@@rctrue worst call ever! I was only 19 at the time too LOL
My heart aches for you. Oof.
@@NickShabazz my heart aches worse for the bride! I spent the next 3 days after collecting cellphone photos from the people who attended and trying my best to make them look "good"
might be a longshot if it was a long time ago, but those pictures (and data) can be recoverable. Even if it is broken internaly. you can swap the platters with a identical drive. dont attempt that yourself. contact Louis Rossmann or drivesavers if you are ritch. If you are in Norway we have IBAS.
"What's a backup, ain't that the reverse on my car?" Love it!
For what it's worth, I've had numerous hammers fail, I've had shovels fail, I've had lights fail, I've had harddrives fail, and I've even had a screw driver or two fail, and boy have I had power drills fail. None of these are super likely if you use only the intended tool for the intended job under the intended circumstances. But if you start using a light hammer to do medium hammer jobs or a screw driver to undo a lock tight'ed screw etc. shit happens.
That being said you also have to consider the opportunity cost and space cost of using the simple tool. Having spare handles for shovels or hammers is a cost. Sure it's great that you can "re-use" the broken thing and fix it at home. But if doing so costs as much as the replacement it might not be worth it. If when it fails you still have to go buy replacement parts to fix the simple tool you used just as much effort as the alternative. Or say with wrenches, sure the simple tool is ideal. There is no equivalent to a good set of wrenches which fit the part you need. But keeping an entire roll of 50 wrenches takes up much more space and is far less convenient than keeping one expandable wrench particularly if you live in an area with space constraints.
You mention power drills as well. I can tell you I've had way more power drills with batteries fail than ones with cables, and I've had more ones with cables fail than I've had hand operated screwdrivers fail. So yeah there's an element of risk taken. But doing the job by hand will cause me to throw out my wrist, and would take 10 times the amount of time and even more than that in effort.
I think you need to evaluate the risk reward for each individual item based on what it costs you and what it gains you. I don't think we can go so far as to say "simple tools are better".
Hey Nick, I liked this a lot! I’m a bench jeweler and work in my own independent jewelry store. We’re shut down right now so we took the opportunity to remodel in the store. After redoing the floor in my shop, I got to rearrange the whole thing. I never got the chance to build a shop from the ground up before, so I really changed things up, and above all else, I have taken things out. My rule has been if I haven’t touched the tool in years, it’s gone. Boy, my shop is now so de-cluttered, bright, and will be easier to clean as well as find what I’m looking for. I’ve even sold some of the larger items I wasn’t using to add to our otherwise nonexistent cash flow. Simplicity is the way to go.
Agree 100% and would add that simplicity in the amount of belongings one owns can make the difference between a stressful mind/life and a more peaceful mind/life. Less things you own, the less there is to think about and worry about.
Interesting thoughts! Sounds like you are about to become a fixed blade channel 😉.
good reply I thought .
To me, you are one of the few people I can listen to. That's why I subscribed in the first place.
Thanks Nick.
A Philosophy lesson. The Channel that keeps on giving......Like it.
I always enjoy your thought provoking discussions!
Was totally waiting for the Raid Shadow Legends plug.
“When a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair”
-Douglas Adams
My favorite author and also I think he used a Mac. Who new he was basically explaining there business model.
The root of all problems as the root of all evil is the mind that creates those complexities and problems. And I don't mean by this that we should be simplistically superficial, or stupid and ignorant but rather train in focusing and keep on developing our minds. That's just my experience and thoughts on this great vid of yours Nick! These are the vids I enjoy the most.
Yes Nick! Well and succinctly put, given the topic! As a former risk analyst I probably appreciate what you’re saying more than the average bear.
I remember when William Henry (notable knife manufacturer) lost Tom Brown’s (notable outdoor survival figure) endorsement of a knife when they switched from a liner lock to a button lock. Brown deemed the button lock to be less tested in Brown’s particular use/reliable/accessible/cleanable in a stream, than the liner lock.
The consequence of failure is, of course, just as important to consider as the chance of failure in trying to act sensibly in the world.
Lovely and left field video. Thanks for it!
Hey Nick! Just wanted to say that these rant/theory videos are great!
I feel that way about all sorts of things. Most things, actually. I think a big bugaboo for me is how it relates to cars. With everything being software driven these days, you have more cases of the car telling itself it's broken when it's not than you have of the car ACTUALLY being broken. The guys at the garage put a new code in and you drive away only to be told by your car later that it's broken again when just like before, it's not. Now whenever I see expensive cars, the first thing I say is, "Wow. That car has a lot to fail on it." Come to think of it now, I could say that about the less expensive ones too. Just makes me sad.
I absolutely agree, 100%. Simplicity is life. I work in the food industry and always try to keep things simple when prepping. Reason why, is because over complicating everything, from work to life (day to day stuff in general), just isn’t worth the trouble. Or the added stress. Life is too short to over complicate the beautiful bliss of simplicity that CAN exist in life and keep you happy and at peace.
Remember the show from the 90's, Junkyard Wars? One thing I got out of it was -- the simplest design usually won. Thanks for the Sage Advice Nick.
This kinda reminds me of the Unix philosophy, that it's better to have a piece of software that does one thing well than it is to have a piece of software that does many things.
Unix is deeply engrained in my soul.
Nick you are fast becoming a premier source of information on all things sharp. Thanks for all your uploads, they are all very useful.
Best wishes from Scotland
Every watched Conan The Barbarian? At the very start, Conans father holds up a single peice of forged steel and says "This you can trust." You've summed it up nicely Nick haha!
I wasn’t sure what you were talking about for a good portion of this video, but thank you for the suggestions knife daddy ❤️. I’ll have my more techy friends help me back up my digital data so that I don’t lose any of the original fan fiction I’ve written about us 😩💦
I’m a software developer and I can attest that simple is best. There are variations of a saying regarding no code being the most performant, bug free, etc. and it’s absolutely true. The more complex the logic the greater the likelihood of failure.
One of the tools we use measures the complexity of your code in order to help you keep an eye on these things.
So why does so much software suck?
Writing solid software takes considerable time and effort. That translates to cost. So the people running the business, in trying to maximize profits will often push developers to cut corners. But even “good” businesses struggle with this because the cost can be prohibitively expensive for the consumer. IE no one wants to pay $500 for a fundamental software tool. So compromises are made to hit price points.
Due to this pressure many bosses will push the developers to absorb that extra cost. In other words, they expect the developers to work long hours without additional compensation. Many devs are pushing back though, including myself, because it leads to burn out. And frankly, it’s not ok to take that cost out of the developers hide.
So what’s the solution? Reward companies who create tools that do its core job well without all the bells and whistles. Give businesses a reason not to constantly push the envelope. I don’t mean stop innovating, rather avoid companies that promise the sky for too low prices. Innovation is important, but it must be incremental.
That’s my two cents at least.
Love your stuff Nick!
Check my EDC and Unix video :D
So you've arrived to the Unix philosophy - do one thing and do it well. Congratulations, Nick, way to go!
Absolutely love G-Shocks!! My Seiko is great, I really like my Hamilton, but I LOVE my G-Shocks.
I really like outsourcing the recharge on my lights to the battery, either like the Streamlight 18650s that have USB recharge ports on them, or just dedicated minimalist chargers like Olight's. Not putting a port on the light itself makes it a lot more waterproof.
This!
I’m old. All computers are complex. They ALL suck. Thanks for cheering me up.
Great video.
Great vid Nick. I work for a race team in Northern California and a bit ago we shifted to digital and customizable smartphone style displays for lighting control on our Baja trucks. After about 6 months of using these and dealing with them failing/screens fading/connectors degrading, we just went back to old school rocker switches, to gel switches and basic fuse panels. Haven’t had an issue on any of them since. There is something to be said about things being needlessly flashy or complex to keep up with the Jones’s but every time, we go back to simple.
Personally, I prefer some sort of complication, IF, and only if, that complication really really matters.
EDC multitool: I used to carry a Victorinox, simple, elegant, but I found myself regularly needing a pair of pliers, so i decided to upgrade to a Leatherman, one of the best decision ever. (i'm studying engineering btw)
Watches: once thought I would never need chronograph, now I can't live without one.
Wallet: this, however is different, I used to have a big o'l leather wallet with all of my cards that I think I might use, one day I decided to try front-carry a slimmer wallet, never looked back since.
I love the pliers on my Wenger Journeyman w/ serrated main blade. Best multitool I own.
100% agree. It's definitely a sentiment the older generation tend to have, with younger folks being less interested in. As I've grown older, I've come to prefer simplicity in design.
We should be writing odes to the 5 gallon bucket.
Totally agree with you. I use Backblaze for off site backups, but I don't fully trust anything that requires me to run a client on my PC.
God old Reliable Nick.
Guaranteed to be to be a high drag low speed random jackass. JK Nick... The Nick is a gem of a guy, making the world spin better for lubrication of it.
At age 57 my edc consists of a Eo5 olight, zippo lighter, zebra 701 all stainless steel pen, and a SAKtinker or climber, a Gerber EAB and a timex analog watch..all simple..as you get older simple gets better..now where's my apple sauce..
Add a cheap pad of paper to your light, knife multitool, and pen. You would be amazed when pen and paper are needed in this digital world. It can serve as tinder when needed also.
Regarding kitchens, Alton Brown once said I have only one uni-tasker in the kitchen: and then pulled out a fire extinguisher.
Great Analogy
This is how I feel about multitools. It’s often better to have many tools that each do one thing well, than one tool that does many things poorly.
Holy cow - we have used the same tools for backups, with similar results! I used CrashPlan, and dropped them when they went business-only. And now I’m experiencing issues with Arq Backup, after it was previously working fine. The one program that’s still working for me is Carbon Copy Cloner - it’s simple and reliable software that creates readable backups.
Yep, and CCC is a front end for rsync :)
I used to play guitar and in the '80s there was a tremolo bar revolution (the thin rod hanging from electric guitar bridges) with both the Floyd Rose locking system and the Kahler tremolo bridge. These allowed a player to warp & bend strings like never before, giving them a powerful new trick that guys like Hendrix and Eddie VanHalen had popularized. Trouble was they were so complex with so many delicate adjustments, sockets and gears, that it was more like flying a plane than playing a guitar.
Hey Nick! You are right! The way I see it is simplicity vs comfort/convenience. It would be like saying why drive when you can walk, or why learn how to light a fire when you can bring a lighter. I think that a car can break more often than my legs would, but I would rather drive than walk somewhere. Simplicity always comes with a tradeoff that every person must be willing to live with. I like to know what the simple solution is for my complicated things is, just in case I ever need to go back to the basics if my complicated things dont work. Some people carry toolboxes and leathermans, while others carry keychain-sized SAKs lol
Really good video. No more ultra complicated locking systems on my knives.
When I was working for they had us update tickets in 3 different places, one of them was a spreadsheet and the other two were two separate databases. One of those was client facing and the other was facing. I helped develop a simple web app that could read one database, aggregate the data into one page, and export it to a spreadsheet. It saved so much time that I was able to take on twice as much work.
Regarding backup, I just sit down every month and copy all important stuff to an external hard drive - doesn't get simpler than that. I very much agree with this concept of simplicity, perhaps due to being a programmer - finding a simple and elegant solution just feels right.
My OCD is getting the better of me, Nick. Why, oh why are you putting oil between the washer and liner on the right side of the knife but not the left? You did that with both knives. I'm sure there's either a pill I can take for this or a reasonable explanation. Good thoughts by the way. Thanks.
I just hope everyone remembers not to lean to heavily on advanced AI in the coming years. We don’t need the Men of Iron vs Imperium of Man to become a reality.
But seriously. I think the most important thing is to keep your life as a whole simple. Your tools and belongings are one thing, but just living simply and not getting into needless drama or trouble really makes things a lot easier.
I've had some solid one piece screwdrivers strip out on me (because i was a little kid and didn't understand that OVER TORQUING THE HELL OUT OF THE SCREWS WILL RUIN BOTH THE SCREW AND THE SCREWDRIVER!)... That was when i was building a treehouse with my dad. I've learned my mistake, and ever since then I've had the same 4 dollar made in the usa phillips head screwdriver. The thing just keeps on going and going. I've had that screwdriver for well over 20 years and I still use it all the time on the computers that i fix up.
Crash Plan is what we use for work. I can tell you that we have had many headaches for the new client.
As a computer tech who use to run a shop I'm super OCD about backups. I normally have a 4-5 step plan for my Macs and a bit more simple approach for my Linux machines. I combination of off site, automated, NAS and manual backups for me these days. Its the same reason I carry two knives and two guns.
But I do agree with trying to keep things as simple as possible.
The simplest way of accomplishing your goal is generally the best.
My father is an engineer. Most things in my life had to be overly complicated. I rebelled and have gone the other way. Fewer parts means fewer points of failure.
After being in the military, the KISS rule is still applies. Whether it's flashlights, watches or knives, the simpler it is the more reliable it is.
the only "complex" (by today's non-tech people) tool that has never broken for me is Fedora Linux. Ubuntu and it's derivatives, Debian and all OSs based on it and Manjaro (though Manjaro isn't one that shouldn't technically count as it's considered a rolling OS but I haven't had any luck with it). All RPM based distros have worked without issue for me
also, windows keeps breaking on me and I'm not going to spend $3000 for a laptop which specs are only worth $800-$1000 (although an exaggeration, I'm not a fan of Apple at all)
Thanks for making me make another backup too, have been dreading it but as I keep using my PC it reminds me of my old (for modern standards? ~5 years old) HDD which needs to have more backups much more frequently.
Not sure if I’ve replaced complexity, just removed it as much as I can. Fewer things I.e less clothes, a consistent EDC, less things in general. I would much rather have 1 really good tool or item that can do multiple jobs, rather than a bunch of unitaskers. There’s comfort in having stuff you can rely on working every time you use it. A good knife, a simple on/off flashlight, a simple ball point pen, good work boots, etc.
Thanks for all the great content!
My industry is rope access, the appeal of simplicity is high, I don't like overly complicated gear as something failing will potentially be extremely dangerous/lethal. Human error is huge, no one is immune, simplicity goes a long way to reduce the risk. Only vaguely analogous I suppose, but the term backup means my existence continuing, which is an interesting set of stakes to apply to equipment and it's reliability.
Also, on the complexity side of things, it’s not just the individual tools. In the EDC community, it always makes me cringe when people start believing they need to carry “more” items on a regular basis. Some of these things they didn’t even need until they saw someone on instagram rocking them.
In my opinion watches are on a totally different level. I mean all I own is a duro on a nato but I see a watch as one of the best complex things to own because if it fails its not really a tool. I dont know just though i would give my two cents. Great video
Light people own fenix, streamlight, or surefire. They are fairly expensive but when I need it it works. I personally carry the streamlight pro tac 10tap dual fuel. It takes cr123 or aa batteries and like I said it always works.
Nick, I agree that simplicity is a virtue, but find that the trade off is sacrificing skill or convenience. A chef can use a knife to slice and chop, but he/she can also use it to peel and skin. How many people know how to peel a potato with a knife vs using a peeler? In the EDC context, how many of us carry a multi tool vs just getting by with a knife? There’s a trade off to simplicity, and what works for you is where the balance amongst functionality, skill and convenience lies.
I get the underlying tone of the video but for a real answer to your issue, use Veeam. It's free for personal use and it's the Sebenza of data backup.
Aside from knives, one of my main hobbies is exotic animal keeping. Tropical reptiles need humidity, so I have spray bottles laying around for that. Used to buy these pressurized, pump-style bottles. Sure they save my wrist from minimal exercise by preventing me from having to keep pumping for water to come out, but they also had a tiny rubber gaskets and valves and didn't tend to last very long, and when they broke I wouldn't have any extras because I'm cheap and they aren't. So now I have dollar store style sprayers, and the oldest I've had for four or five years now and it only now just broke, and since they're cheap and simple I can afford to keep two or ten around
Jonathan Mackay but did Carole Baskins kill her husband with her exotic animals? Now that KISS
I tend to analyze things as odds. How vital is something? The more vital it is the more simple I go and the less I play the odds. Do complications add enough benefit to outweigh the odds of that complication failing. Does it even matter if that complication fails? I think we all do this without realizing. You talked about this in an old video on decision making with EDC gear...for example certain knives come with a glass breaker, but the odds of me needing a glass breaker are so incredibly low I choose to use a knife without one altogether.
I wish I could elaborate better and have better examples, but I am exhausted and can't think right now!
Vivofit 2 tracker.. replace a watch battery once a year never needs charging. My expensive watches collect dust. I'm 6 generations behind the curve on fitness watches. The slim design and comfortable band make the thing just work. I also prefer knives with old school washers. The bearings gum up and dry out over time. Thank you for the video. : )
So I'm guessing your next review is going to be one of those survival tools that I keep seeing on facebook? It's a shovel, an axe, a knife, a fire starter, a fishing rod, a spear and 37 other tools all in one!
Interesting topic ... on the flashlight topic ... all of my EDC flashlights are Olight because they use the same magnetic charger .... but my backup is a simple AAA flashlight.
In my job there is a saying there two groups of people, those that have backups and those that wish they did.
You got it!
I lost some non-essential data just this past autumn. I can only presume I had accidentally deleted it myself. Luckily for things I can't replace so easily, namely my collection of scans & photos, I keep multiple backups, one of which is an encrypted 128Gb thumb drive that lives on a split ring that travels with me.
Edit: and on the subject of simplification, I recently replaced my coffee maker with a cafetière. (pinky extended)
Rsync is what I use. If the target device has a filesystem like btrfs or zfs even better.
Yep, that's what I'm doing now. rsync to apfs locally, rsync to zfs remotely.
When are you going to review the Cold Steel Recon 1?
I usually throw a spare 18650 in the pocket if I'm worried one charged batt. isn't enough. I'm surprised you aren't bothered by the rubber flaps on the charge ports , they're pretty annoying and unsightly IMO.
Hey I was just wondering; do you think loctite is necessary under the scales? Or would the scales prevent them from backing out? Love the channel!
*for the hardware under the scales* pardon me
Knife sharpening systems. After trying what seemed like every kind of knife sharpening system, I ended with a simple whet stone. After ruining a lot of knives, I discovered a simple stone (and a leather strop) works best.
I hate being one of those subscribers but, when you going to review the Olamic whippersnapper? Lol love what you're doing with your content Nick. Thank you sir!
I'll always prefer a light that takes rechargeable AA or AAA batteries over USB recharging or lights with more advanced (and harder to find) batteries. If my AAA rechargeable batteries die, and I'm in a pinch, I can find some AAAs. Anyone who owns at least 1 remote control has AAA batteries laying around the house. If my rechargeables won't hold a charge anymore, I can buy new ones at Meijer relatively straightforwardly. If a USB port stops working, you're just screwed.
You have just made a compelling argument for full tang fixed blade knives.
Kevola you mean for sharpened pieces of flint, bone, shell and literally just your teeth lol
I just bought a hamilton kahki mechanical. I just wanted to try some thing simple compared to all the hight tech suff i got flying around
This is exactly why I love my spydiechef so much. I just simply don’t have to worry about it. humid summer? It’s rust proof! Harder use? Lc200n is reasonably tough! Dirty situations? It’s literally 3 pieces of metal, I’ll just run water through it!
I'm still burning my backups on CDs and DVDs. Yeah, I'm old.
RAID 5 all the things!
RAID isn’t backup, but it sure can’t hurt.
@@NickShabazz, that's very true. Truth be told, I don't RAID anything, but I do have an external drive and a cloud backup.
Also, rclone and rented cloud storage?
Firearms manufacturers pride themselves for having weapons that have fewer moving parts than their competitors. Lesser things to potentially break.
I think simplicity vs complexity isn't that helpful a way to look at this problem tbh. For me, it's always about redundancy and repairability. Things break no matter their complexity, and if complexity is sometimes necessary, that doesn't mean that tool needs to be complex to its very core. If the tool is designed in a way that allows repair and keeps one part's failure from affecting other parts, it means that it's a temporary issue instead of a "chuck it in a landfill" issue. For example, my laptop is an old ThinkPad and every part is socketed rather than soldered, so I can upgrade my ram or cpu (to a point obviously) without replacing the entire system. It doesn't add much complexity except in having to know what parts will be compatible, but it means that failure is much less dramatic. Even in simple tools I think complexity is sometimes worth it for more robustness or convenience. Technically a bit driver is more complex than a basic screwdriver because the bit driver has two parts and a magnet/friction fit while the screwdriver is one piece of metal and resin. But being able to replace bits means less waste and just having to buy one bit instead of a whole new screwdriver. If more tools, both hardware and software, were built like legos, they'd be a lot more robust, adaptable, and infinitely less wasteful. But that means making those tools is less profitable because breaks don't immediately entail replacement so you can't sell one person an entirely new gadget every 2-3 years and force them to toss the old one in a landfill, so it's nowhere near as common as it should be :p
A book bag with a lot of pockets in it. Its nice to have everything separate but when you have to unzip 7 things to find that one tool instead of searching for 3 seconds it can become a hassle.
Hey nick Make a review of ifixit kits!
rsync works on Macs too, Mac OS X is BSD based.
MacOS is a Unix compatible operating system. I'm running it.
Nick Shabazz it’s built on FreeBSD at a base level, BSD being a Unix variant.
I just do backups manually. Takes longer but it's reliable and simple. I use a fixed blade though instead of a folding knife, fixed blade can't go wrong. Electric drills are pretty complicated and people go through them all the time, isntead why not use an egg beater drill. Those hardly ever break.
I work on home appliances for a living meaning I see tons of failure points and use tons of tools. Simple things done well are always preferable to me.
What brand of thread lock is Nick using?
nickshabazz.com/tools
A quick look at the site you spoke of for your new backup solution informed me they use zfs. I would not describe zfs as a simple solution. Don't get me wrong, I use it extensively but simple is not a word I would associate with zfs.
Yes, but it's just two pieces of software: rsync, and zfs. Both are enterprise grade and well maintained.
@@NickShabazz Because it is a "copy on write" technology the only time that your data could be in danger of loss is the brief milliseconds it exists in the ZIL (zfs intention log). A disk failure there coud lose data but any enterprise solution would use multiple disks for ZIL giving it redundancy.
ZFS is a neat technology and very useful where virtualization is concerned. Rsync is tried and true technology like you say and there are many variants out there (lsync for instance). Ceph is another technology that I look forward to becoming more common outside the datacenter.
It's almost like the Sebenza exists as a staple in cutlery for a reason. You will get more conservative as you get older. Take your time.
These are complex knives!
Now you got me thinking. Software is a wonderful thing, like you said someone always futzes with it. Oh now it does this or that and we are going to add great new features, next they go out of business and you’re stuck with proprietary files. Computers are wonderful.except when they fail. I’ve seen a billion dollar business stoped in its tracks because of some technology failure. We are never going back to the old ways but sheesh!
So the lights that are bound to fail at the worst opportunity, make the best gifts for your friends and family? Wow, Nick.. just wow.
Ace biblio in micarta, please nick
Speaking of backups, do you have any backup knives?
I'm a mountain biker...or at least I was before we had our little girl two years ago..anyways....after YEARS and thousands and thousands and thousands of miles my favorite MTB - a rigid single speed. Almost no maintenance, and dang near nothing to fail. It's also a lot less expensive and a lot lighter.
Less really is more!
What's that blue stuff he's using on the end of the screws?
nickshabazz.com/tools (it's threadlocker!)
Blue Loctite
blue Loctite
Simple one for flashlights without USB recharge is use the rechargeable batteries with USB ports then if the port breaks it a new battery not a new flashlight. Obviously doesn't work with flashlights that only take unprotected cells but I don't trust them anyway.
KISS.. Keep It Simple Stupid! I’ve run a NAS with two parallel hard drives for over a decade. All other systems have come snd gone, but the NAS with its double redundancy just sits there working away.
An anchor has two parts. The chain and the anchor. They fail, foul, bind, knot and generally can't get along together. That's two friggin parts. Yeah, simple usually is better. Data storage is temporary. Right?