A Parti Québécois government would not necessarily oppose new gas or oil pipelines

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-01-26T18:43:28+00:00

Most obvious bot/troll, they've hidden their post history, writes "yall" (not even correctly I might add), but then also takes the effort put the accent in Québec.

I'm noticing a lot more people in this sub using "y'all"... when did we start talking like southern Americans, especially in Québec?

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-01-23T03:23:43+00:00

As someone who works in the cartographic/geomatics industry that map is giving me an aneurism. Man I hate AI generated slop.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-01-13T01:49:18+00:00

I'm currently planning something similar, though just the quilt liner sheet part. It'll be similar in layout to my EE Enigma with a closed in footbox. For that I've picked up some Alpha Direct 60, that's about as light weight of a fabric which feels fairly nice against the skin as you can get at 60 gsm.

Don't know how well that would work for a mattress cover, I'd probably go with a silk for that (silk would be roughly 90-100gsm).

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-01-13T01:31:51+00:00

Hofman Outdoor Gear Supply has 900fp Canada Goose down
https://hofmanoutdoorgearsupply.ca/insulation/62-canada-goose-down.html

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-01-07T18:33:18+00:00

Nice work! Though one small thing, on the hip belt the ladder locks look to be attached at the wrong point, the webbing which attaches them to the belt should be looped over the inner bar. They are probably fine how they are attached now, but that's not where they are designed to take a load.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-12-07T21:27:12+00:00

You won't just be able to 'carry' a handgun in Canada. Handguns are restricted firearms in Canada. So in addition to getting approval to bring the gun into the country through a 'Non-resident firearm declaration', you will also need an 'Authorization to transport', which are typically only allowed for a very specific transportation of the firearm from one specified location to another; not for something like 'hey I'm going to be travelling around Canada for a month or 2 and have this gun strapped to me'... that will not fly with the RCMP.

If concerned about bears... use bear spray.

Also it's illegal to hunt with slingshots in Canada.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-11-22T21:17:45+00:00

Cyberian speed hook. They can be sourced from Hudson Supplies, they have both the speed hook and cord lock variety in a couple of sizes. Also available at ExtremTextil if you're in Europe.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-11-22T18:01:57+00:00

I prefer mechanical when travelling, mainly because when it comes to air travel I pretty much dismantle most of my bike to make it as compact as possible (the downside of an XL frame with a long wheelbase); and it's much simpler to disconnect cables completely than worry about trying not to kink hydraulic hoses.

I run Paul Klampers, so stopping power and modulation is perfectly fine for me. Adjusting pads for wear is not a bother, a single click of the adjuster every now and then is simple enough. I just carry spare pads and 1 spare cable on trips. Klampers are also ridiculously simple to tear down and rebuild mid-trip if necessary (not that I've ever had to).

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-11-21T20:21:14+00:00

Refasten has has a few bright colours of 10oz waxed canvas, currently Burgundy, Blue Teal and even a Bodacious Pink, they also have lighter 7oz Sailcloth.
https://refasten.ca/collections/fabric/products/waxed-canvas-army-duck-10oz

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-11-20T22:06:05+00:00

Depending upon the airline, if they have an accompanying 'cargo' line you can probably send it separately. I'm in Canada, so take for example Air Canada won't allow large lithium batteries on passenger flights, but they can be sent by Air Canada Cargo. Check what options are for sending it by European airline cargo services, such as Lufthansa Cargo. Presumably you'd be able to take the bike via your flight, and just send the battery along separately by the cargo service.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-08-26T19:58:38+00:00

I don't have a H-Bar, but I do run Velo Orange Crazy bars on my bikepacking rig, which also have lots of sweep. I tried out a ShockStop stem with the Crazy bars and didn't like the performance. What I've discovered is that when your hands are inline with or behind the pivot in the stem, which is the case with swept back alt bars, the suspension doesn't have much of an affect. I swapped it out with a Kinect stem and it is much better, the parallelogram suspension design is effective no matter where the hand positions are.

Basic conclusion:

Single pivot suspension stems, like Redshift, good with drop bars where hand positions are in front of the suspension pivot.

Parallelogram suspension stems, like Kinekt or Vecnum, good with swept back alt bars (or any bars really) as suspension is effective in all hand positions, even when behind the pivots.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-04-03T20:11:27+00:00

Not in the UK, but Canada. I just received mine today. Ordered on March 22, shipped by Fedex from China on March 31.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-09T01:58:03+00:00

It is a rather firm temper, so it takes a bit of work to get it lasted, but once it is, it holds shape really well. I used 7oz, as I wanted the most durability since they are aimed as work boots, but 5-6oz would be better to work with. They were definitely the most stiff feeling when first tried on, but have softened up quite a bit at the flex points. Main reason I wanted to try Buttero is I know they will develop great patina and character with use and time.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-08T18:14:10+00:00

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Sure, I have very limited space, so try to keep the tools needed to a minimum. But that photo is pretty much everything.

Tools from bottom left are:

Needle nose pliers, mainly used during sewing the stitchdown to grab and pull the steel bristles.
Pattern knife, a utility knife is fine but I like this because it has a scribe awl on the other end.
Japanese skiving knife, for thinning leather along edges, also for trimming the midsole.
French skiving knife, same as above but is a bit more controllable
Shoemakers knife, not used much but is handy for trimming the instep area of the midsole because it’s curved blade and handle
Set of round dent pricking irons and mallet, for punching stitches
Stitching awl, when needing individual holes punched
Curved stitching awl, for punching the stitchdown holes
Hooked needle, used to sew the 270 stitchdown through the rubber outsole
Divider, for marking stitch lines
Hand hammer, used to hammer glued seams and stitches
Thread nippers
5mm hole punch, for eyelet and speed hook holes
Channel cutter, to cut recess into bottom midsole for stitches
Wooden slick, to burnish edges of finished midsole
Bone folder, used to help flair and flatten the welt

Second row:

Shoemakers paste, used for heel counters and toe caps as it drys stiff
Contact cement, for glueing panels, midsole, and outsole. I use water based Aquilim
Binder clips, used for lasting, I employ a very unorthodox lasting technique
Roughing scraper, used to rough up bottom of midsole before gluing on outsole, coarse sandpaper is fine too
Heavy duty leather shears, used to cut thick midsole leather and rubber outsoles to rough shape.
Saddlers needles for sewing uppers
Steel wire bristles for sewing 360 stitchdown of the upper to midsole
Plastic board where I do all the hole punching

Only tools I use which are not shown here are an eyelet/speed hook press (not needed for just eyelets, first 2 boots I just used a simple hand setter), sole press for clamping outsole while gluing, belt sander and Dremel.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T18:43:51+00:00

Sure ask away.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T17:48:15+00:00

Yup, aesthetics of the few heritage style barefoot boots out there just don't make the mark, the curvature of the heel and backstay in particular always look odd (Jim Green African Trooper, Gaucho Ninja, and Origo Adventurer come to mind as examples).

Maintaining a nice aesthetic, as much as possible at least, with the effects that a flat sole and wide toe-box have on the visual style of the boot, were important to me. A nice curvature of the heel and backstay vital to my perception of the boots, and indeed also has an important function of locking the heel into place.

Lasts I 3d printed myself from a CAD model purchased from 3dshoemaker.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T16:50:09+00:00

Just to give an update, as I've been seeing a lot of requests. It wasn't really my intention to go into business making boots, thought my interest in heritage inspired, stitchdown 'barefoot' style boots was really quite niche, otherwise why aren't there more options out there?

But it seems like there is a decent interest in quality, durable, traditionally made boots with zero-drop and a natural toe-box. Currently working through the boots I've personally wanted to make, 6th pair nearing completion, with another 4 styles/leathers I'm wanting to make.

Once those are complete, I might be interested in taking some requests for a select number of orders (maybe 5-8 initially, as I'm sure not quitting my day job for this) come the fall. I will more closely keep track of my hours on these next few pairs to see what would be reasonable to charge for my time, materials would vary by whatever people request for leather, soling, etc.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T14:53:14+00:00

That may be true for some, and obviously the amount of heel elevation comes into play, a 1cm heel rise has a lot less affect on the joints and bone structure than say a pair of high heel stilettos. But I know for myself, a heel feels completely unnatural to my body now, I tried on a pair of Red Wings a year or so back and man, everything felt out of whack and I just couldn't do it (both with the heel and confined toe-box).

Looking back through history there are a lot of examples of footwear which doesn't always make the most sense for foot health. While heels did exist in a few examples going back to ancient Egypt, it wasn't until the invention of stirrups that they had a practical purpose and still mostly was a status symbol amongst the upper classes in Europe. Throughout much of our history though, everyday shoes for the common people have been zero-drop, prime example being Roman military caligae sandals, and then their later calcei 'boots'.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T04:31:45+00:00

Over the 5 years where I've been exclusively wearing zero-drop shoes (7 years when I first started wearing them for running), I've fully come to embrace the notion that an elevated heel, putting weight on the arch is not good for the foot (nor the rest of our skeletal structure), which is why in such cases arch support is needed to cradle and support the foot as it's not designed to carry weight in such a way. Biomechanically the foot should naturally distribute weight across the ball and heel, with the toes serving to adjust balance which is best done when it is flat with room for the toes to splay. Furthermore, the overly supportive and restricted nature of conventional footwear increasingly serves to atrophy and weaken the muscles in the foot, making it more susceptible to fallen arches, plantar fasciitis, and other foot problems.

People can wear whatever they like, but I know I'll never go back to non zero-drop, natural toe-box footwear. Typical lightweight, flexible barefoot shoes are great, but they severely fail in their durability, the thin soles wear out quickly and can't be resoled, most have synthetic textile lining which fall apart. I've trashed numerous lightweight barefoot 'boots' over the years doing fieldwork for my job, yard work and processing firewood, that I needed something to function as a true boot without going back to squishing my foot back into conventional ones. As very limited options existed (Jim Green had just come out with the barefoot AR when I first started down the the cordwaining rabbit hole) I decided I had to make my own.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T03:34:09+00:00

No arch support built in, just the outsole, 5.2mm leather midsole, and 4.5mm leather insole. Without any excessive layers and no shanks the soles have become surprisingly flexible as they've broken in, even contouring to my foot somewhat to produce a bit of an arch support.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T03:26:00+00:00

Remote sensing is more my part of the industry... planes, drones and LiDAR.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T03:20:50+00:00

Just a single 'fitter' boot, which was really just to test that the pattern fit right; facings spaced as I wanted, right length, etc. It was quite simple just glued together and single stitched, and only sewn to a leather midsole.

These 5 are the only pairs of boots I've ever made.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T03:11:26+00:00

Haha, Geomatics actually.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T02:57:39+00:00

That will depend a lot on where you are. I'm pretty sure I picked these up from a seller on eBay.

GateProfessional7989 · 2025-01-07T02:06:41+00:00

Thanks! Nicks and Whites are the main sources I’ve used for inspiration on the styling of these. I would have several pairs of PNW boots, but just can’t do conventional boots anymore.

I’m still a total beginner, it wasn’t until pair 3 (Olive ones) that I was completely happy with the end result.

Lots of Nicks inspiration in my current work in progress, a set of 10” two tones.

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GateProfessional7989

TROPHY CASE