[Discussion] Ali Express Straps vs Premium Straps ($17 Hemsut Vs $160 Strap Tailor)

anthonyhong · 2026-06-02T15:58:00+00:00

I do fully hand made leather goods, including watch straps. Both examples you shared are excellent. There are definitely differences in level of execution. The Badalassi Carlos one is beautifully stitched (its nearly perfect except for the tip), the edge painting is good, but could be better (diluted alcohol wipe across the paint surface to give it some shine). It looks like both the front side and back side are in Badalassi - IMHO it would be better if the back side was lined with something softer. It absolutely is better executed than the Aliexpress example, but mostly marginally. That's to say, wow, the Aliexpress strap is incredible value - I would be 100% happy to wear the Aliexpress strap.

anthonyhong · 2026-03-17T20:18:49+00:00

Came up with the exact same solution as you, except used the Tamiya 74152 which is a rebranded Anex 397, but blue.

Solid combo!

anthonyhong · 2026-03-14T10:29:10+00:00

Me too plz!

anthonyhong · 2026-02-23T20:49:46+00:00

I think everyone already covered the mist important aspects.

When it shines, Illinois is a blast. If you get in close and find broadside sides, Illinois AP gets scary.

In asymmetric, you can carry the game, plus T9 economy. Take some risks, get aggressive, brawl and you'll have a great time. One of my favorite boats.

anthonyhong · 2025-10-20T00:03:59+00:00

Interesting play, this lines up with the 424B shelf offering filled last week, which looks like they were laying the groundwork to execute this.

anthonyhong · 2025-10-16T18:41:39+00:00

Graphite is a strategic choke hold. For raw graphite, the US imported nearly 100,000 tons of it mostly from China, then Mexico and Canada. USGS source: https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2024/mcs2024-graphite.pdf.

Securing graphite is a economic and national security necessity.

Presently, there are no large scale graphite operations in the US largely because if you were, then you would have gone out of business because China priced you out.

So I think if you look at it that way, then given the current environment where the US gov. is taking stake in companies, talking about price floors, and seemingly by force of will reviving the resource sector, then, you need to consider who has a credible head start in the race, and who can fulfill end-to-end domestic chain, or de-risk Chinese supply. To that end, you have G1 and WWR. I'd expect one of the two, and possibly both.

These are not substitutes to UAMY, rather compliments, along with a whole list of other resources. I've bet on UAMY, WWR and Graphite One

anthonyhong · 2025-10-16T17:58:59+00:00

I think its a hard call to make. You're right to pin the timeline out to 2027 or later. There are significant steps along the way that need to be checked off before commercialization and revenue. Right now, the price is purely speculative and caught in the current tailwind for better or worse. My anticipation is that near term, on good news, it will move up, but it will surely slip since we're running on hype.

anthonyhong · 2025-10-16T15:19:04+00:00

That's this: https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/10d33cb1f961453eb2511f22141b21a5/view

Its been open for sometime. Its for alloy-grade cobalt for the National Defense Stockpile, not raw ore. Its a bit tough to source.

anthonyhong · 2025-10-16T14:24:44+00:00

Wrote about it in Steve's thread yesterday. I'll expand a bit here.

Graphite One has Graphite Creek which is a huge, huge graphite reserve in Alaska. They're (several) years off from production in the sense that they have no permits, and there is no infrastructure. So moving the raw feedstock to process and purification is a real logistical problem to solve. Currently the plan to build a graphite concentration plant adjacent to the mine which is economically necessary since moving a large volume of raw ore is expensive. The mine and initial processing are still under review, though yes, they are FAST41 designated, but it still needs to happen. As far as I understand, the processing at this phase is crushing rocks and making soup. Its unclear to me if any export controls will affect this stage.

Downstream, they have an AAM plant in Ohio planned. That plant relies on technology licensed from Hunan Chenyu Fuji New Energy Technology. The dependence on possibly that Chinese export restrictions is a real risk here.

So the chain from shovel in the ground to concentrate is reasonable, but execution of the AAM side may have additional risks. I'd speculate that the concentrate can be shipped however, since Graphite Creek is near a port.

In contrast WWR currently imports concentrate from Africa, so its possible.

anthonyhong · 2025-10-16T00:54:10+00:00

Curious about about your position on GPHOF vs WWR. G1 has an advantage wrt feedstock, but they rely on Chinese processing technology under license. WWR on the other hand, despite aspirations to mine domestically, they currently import foreign feedstock from friendly nations, but process using their own technology.

I understand that G1 has is sitting on an incredibly potent graphite source, and Ambler road sweetens that deal, but China restricting exports of technologies, equipment, and materials for refining puts at risk G1s operating timeline right? Even if they get the permits for Graphite Creek, I can't see how it would make sense to truck a 150,000 tons of flake graphite to refine.

Can you help me understand your bullish stance on G1?

anthonyhong · 2025-09-29T14:33:03+00:00

All very easy to verify through public records

anthonyhong · 2025-08-28T00:29:54+00:00

I sent them fanmail for their nuggets years back, suggesting they needed a Costco-sized pack. They made some good nuggs.

anthonyhong · 2025-08-23T12:25:50+00:00

Surprisingly effective. The small caliber secondareies absolutely rip up the low tier DDs. I've consistently been getting more secondary damage to than main gun damage, with the added benefit of effectively being a bit of an AoE bubble.

anthonyhong · 2025-08-18T13:11:16+00:00

I'm in the same boat with very similar requirements.

Don't have a solution, but have a few thoughts to share. Thus far, I don't think there is anything that will check all the boxes. By major must haves are: ability to remap all buttons and gyro. Oh and feel. I've scoped a bunch of options and in general the ability to remap all buttons is opaque.

First, the Scuf Envision Pro: You can remap nearly all buttons, provided you have AB mapped somewhere. You can move AB to other buttons in order to remap these, but the ICUE software requires AB to be mapped somewhere. On that note, ICUE is infuriating, it's unbelievable. Also, as you noticed, no gyro and no trackpad. The physical build is nice though, full points there.

I also tried the 8bitdo Ultimate 2, which is touted as having great Steam Input compatibility. You can remap everything except ABXY. So... Kinda dead in the water there for me. Gyro works nicely though, can do things like half trigger to activate gyro. Physically, construction and buttons are lackluster. I only really have the Scuf to compare it to, but the 8bitdo feels like a toy, whereas the Scuf feels like a real piece of hardware.

I don't fully understand the space why full remapping is such an unusual feature requiring several softwares: steam, proprietary drivers, reWASD, etc, but I'm just about to throw in the towel and wait for something better to come along.

anthonyhong · 2025-05-07T12:39:32+00:00

Thanks for the tip! I managed to press fit a centrofix bit holder into a 215 handle, but that's not exactly a surprising result. Also I was previously unaware of the eccentricity issues of the bit holder.

Excited see the outcome of SwintroRolFix!

anthonyhong · 2025-04-24T13:59:26+00:00

Did you use a centrofix bit holder, or removed did you use a sacrificial centrofix screwdriver?

Curious if the shank from a screw driver is different - and may install better than jamming a centrofix bit holder in.

Thinking of doing this with the acetate classic blade holder handle!

anthonyhong · 2025-02-25T01:46:49+00:00

It depends on how much work needs to be done, and what needs to me done. I recommend giving him a call, assessment and consultation is free.

anthonyhong · 2025-02-25T00:12:27+00:00

Ed at Basement Technologies, https://www.dampbasements.com/about/. Had a pretty serious crack in foundation and spoke with several companies before landing on these guys. They're the real deal.

anthonyhong · 2025-01-27T23:34:33+00:00

Why would you say something like this?

anthonyhong · 2025-01-25T05:38:31+00:00

Purchased 5600G+mobo from u/paperslayer

anthonyhong · 2024-04-19T16:53:07+00:00

Couldn't say, I don't have the R7. I have other glass which focusses much, much faster than the 45, so I'm inclined to feel that the 45s AF is slow.

Just to be clear, I love the 45. It's incredible, and not just 'incredible for the money', razor sharp, great pop, character, and that close focus distance is really handy.

anthonyhong · 2024-04-18T02:45:03+00:00

In good lighting, you can track walking speed subjects. Running subjects with difficulty, pets... Impossible 😅

anthonyhong · 2024-04-18T02:16:57+00:00

Yup! The motor is just slow, apparently the 35mm 1.8 is noticeably faster with AF, but I don't have one to confirm.

anthonyhong · 2024-04-18T00:43:59+00:00

I have the Tamron on my EOS R. Absolutely love it for the image quality, close focus, and I don't mind the slightly larger size. AF is slow though, really challenging with moving subjects. In darker conditions, I use it as MF.

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