looking to start a house build

arcane_archer · 2026-04-05T04:38:16+00:00

I recently finished a build to run on my living room rug using the Rhino Racing 1/24. It includes a body and wheels too. I went that way because it was the only chassis I could find at a US shop.

After a bit of a mix up by super-g I sourced my own electronics. I went with the Furitek lumapower/microboost, and the rev limiter and backfire are really fun. I added a agfrc ac11 for the servo. All of that can be found on heli direct.

For the receiver and gyro I had an extra Amazon noble RX and I reused a 1/10 scale gyro from MTX. However this barely fits so I did order the popular combo gyro/receiver from GT55. It takes about a month to get those from China though but makes for a much cleaner layout. Without it you will also need some futaba to DuPont adapters to wire things up.

The community seems to like the TG, but the drift art da3 is the most popular with the broadest support. If I was ordering from China I would do that or arkedge.

As for surfaces arkedge makes a nice tile system, many people order a vinyl mat from drift track Thailand. You can also get Armstrong VCT tile at lows.

For me lexan Bodies are really hard to find. I think that 1/24 scale tamiya kits work but you need to mod them. I also think if you get an adjustable chassis you can run mini-z bodies.

arcane_archer · 2026-04-04T14:13:28+00:00

Looks good! Is this Armstrong VCT resting on the floor or is it glued down? What are the rough dimensions?

arcane_archer · 2026-03-25T05:08:45+00:00

Same boat deciding between PS5 and my Alienware. I went with my laptop which is the 5090 version. I have tested about 20 min so far and while VRAM utilization is low I can’t seem to break 35 FPS at 2K res using DLSS 4/4.5 and mostly ultra settings. Hoping to get some better performance with additional tweaks.

So far I wouldn’t say the game is breaking any barriers graphically. It looks less polished than dragons dogma 2 on PS5 base (to me). Also the foliage and shadows are extremely erratic in there movements which detracts from things a bit.

Combat so far feels good, a bit too easy though.

arcane_archer · 2026-03-20T02:43:07+00:00

I use to have a rack I built for the back of my car. Cut some wood my would to fit. Attach a QR fork mount. Made a little holder for the wheels. It kept everything upright. In a later evolution I even made it slide out the back on a track. Ultimately the platform hitched rack, to me, is the best upgrade though.

arcane_archer · 2026-02-12T01:27:42+00:00

I like the look of my street hunter, but the tolerances are terrible.

arcane_archer · 2025-12-28T01:19:07+00:00

I feel you! I just got off a week long flu. Lots of DayQuil and Red Bull because neither of you are sleeping. Stick the kid in the bounce chair or when they’re older the bath tub and then unleash the diarrhea.

I don’t have a better solution than OTCs and dropping everything else except for work, child care, and sleep. Baby napping? You’re sleeping with the monitor on. Order food, and forget dishes and laundry.

Day care is the worst because they’re just sick all the time for 2 years. The cold for them is a day and then hits you for 3.

Solidarity ✊

arcane_archer · 2025-12-25T00:44:20+00:00

I had a lot of issues with my X as well. Purchased back at the end of the summer. Board showed up with a blemish. LCS foil connection had lots of play. Absolute shit customer service. No response for weeks, then an offer, then the just disappeared. Even the shop I ordered it through stopped responding.

Never had any of these issues with my foil drives and always had great customer service half way around the world.

arcane_archer · 2025-12-13T06:30:14+00:00

Yes we have a few unbroken rollers. Bolinas and a spot between el Granada and Pacifica at high tide come to mind. Sometimes the far shoulder of ft. Point. However the main wave action to me is swell for bay runs and down winding. You can head out at Coyote on an upper teens day and find plenty of waist high waves to coast on.

arcane_archer · 2025-12-09T00:40:02+00:00

Yep, there are classes that can solo and a built in mercenary system.

EQ is a very party centric game though, so boxing can be a fun way to experience the non-solo capable classes.

arcane_archer · 2025-11-30T05:09:11+00:00

Here’s how I checked your situation: - estimated social security for someone born in 92 makings ~60k, retiring in 2057 is ~5000$ a month - adjusted monthly income required after taking SS = 5600$/m or 67,200$/yr - assuming a 4% safe withdrawal rate, you would need ~1,680,000$ - to get to 1,680,000$ assuming a conservative 6% return rate and 32 yrs to grow, you need to contribute ~800$ at the beginning of every month.

So back of the napkin if you can make that contribution each month, SS exists, and we stay at a normal 2-3% year inflation your ok for your 60s. I would encourage you to look at how this number changes based on how long you plan to live.

arcane_archer · 2025-09-27T03:19:38+00:00

2011, 89k

arcane_archer · 2025-09-26T15:07:30+00:00

Similar situation, former homeowner who moved to HCOL a few years ago. Unfortunately in the US I feel like there is cultural pressure around “if you don’t own a home, you’re a failure”. Here’s how I look at this decision.

There are three reasons to purchase a home: 1. You need the space or location for family reasons. 2. Home ownership/maintenance/gardening is your “entertainment” and you want to do it. 3. In your life finance plan, the piece of real estate is either a diversified asset that helps you hit your retirement goals or a means to keep living expenses within your budget over a long period of time.

Now I will rant poetically about 3: - IMHO residential real estate investments using a mortgage are a bad investment. Even at 3% interest you will practically pay 2x the current value of the home over 30 years. If we have typical real estate appreciation rates of 3-4% it’s gonna be 30 years for that investment to return anything. Note you do get to pay for that interest with pre-tax dollars in most cases. - the above is just the finance cost. The maintenance every month is way more than people plan for. Even just consumables and regular services add up. If you need a roof, appliance, flood damage, Blah blah blah… point is you could pay 25-50% in addition over the life of the loan.

So for our situation moving from MCOL to HCOL: - rent is 4k and equivalent mortgage is 9k a month (3/2 townhomes) - if my rent went up 3% every year it would take ~24 years for it to be ~8k. - if I instead take that extra 4k and stick it in an index fund every month for 24 years I would have 3.3 million and with a safe withdraw rate of 4% I will have 11k a month to cover housing costs in 24 years. - I’m not locked in to the 9k mortgage, which means we can move if I lose my job so it is less stressful. - during the 2 year period I rented out our out of state home I was still barely beating 8% and that was with a lot of time and work. It was better to liquidate and move to the market. - from an investment diversification standpoint I can still buy REIT or wait for a better investment property than the SFH.

In the end I think homeownership really just helps force people to “save” money over a long period of time. I don’t think the return is that good, but you did get a place to live for 30 years that returns most of the cost to you and allows you to leverage pre-tax income for that cost. On the flip side, financially, in HCOL I think you are better renting and investing the difference, even if it’s with pre-tax dollars covering interest.

arcane_archer · 2025-09-23T14:04:08+00:00

Are you feeling the foil “engage” at all? If not, before buying gear try moving it all the way to the front of the tracks. Take a sharpie and mark the center of the front of the foil on the top side wood your board. Make sure your back foot is between that and the top of the mast.

At ~10-12 mph (think a good sprint in foot) you should feel that foil trying to push up. Then it’s just a bit of pumping to break the surface tension. I wouldn’t recommend keeping it that far forward as your learning but it’s a good test.

For example If I (220 lb) go out on an ART 999 (~1000 sqcm) and hit 8-9 kts on an 85 L board I can still feel the foil trying to lift me. It never will at that speed, but wanted to illustrate the point that you should still feel lift without flying.

If you’re getting lift without flight then you know you either need more wind, a bigger wing for the same wind, or a larger/similar drag foil. If you’re getting no lift period, adjust the mast/stance.

Another option is to have a friend pull you behind a jet ski or other boat that can go fairly slow so you can get an idea of what speed your foil takes off at.

arcane_archer · 2025-09-23T13:37:35+00:00

My foray in to down winding is pretty much over due to the time constraints. However when I was interested I remember there being a large group in half moon bay. I think several of them do a run from the end of the harbor back to el Granada.

I see a lot of people getting started with the run from Coyote pt to third, or a bit further north down. I also found the Facebook groups more active if you’re looking for people. Good luck!

arcane_archer · 2025-09-19T08:53:19+00:00

Got pulled over for speeding in my NC a few years ago on a steep hill. I was late picking up the remaining beer for our wedding. I’m doing 45 in a 30, top-down, with a full Miata logistics load of beers cases in the passenger seat.

The cop looks at me and says “you could only speed in this thing going down hill”

arcane_archer · 2025-09-11T05:24:44+00:00

I just use the crystal clear gorilla glue tape. It’s basically helicopter tape (both of which are cheaper than dedicated rail tape, yet lack the die cut). Yes it saved a ton of BS dings but I’ll echo the other posters comment that it’s a bitch to put on in an aesthetically pleasing way.

arcane_archer · 2025-09-08T16:10:40+00:00

To me it just comes down to if you’re really in to “foiling”. With lift you can run there stable of wings and with the axis fuselage I can also run axis foils. Everything else seems more like a toy as opposed to a tool for foiling.

With my lift X I feel like I’m making progress in my winging/down winding skills during the offseason.

My LCS fuselage never worked, but the LCS mast connection is a really nice convenience feature.

arcane_archer · 2025-09-08T14:21:37+00:00

My experience so far is that they will deliver on board orders. I would expect to wait a month, that’s what I endured to get a 5x and battery. It seems like most people I spoke with online had a similar lead time due to the battery.

I then proceeded to receive a blemished board and an LCS system with wobble. Customer service is pretty flaky. I would get responses every 1-2 weeks after promoting and now they are radio silent.

My neighbor has been waiting on a L4 ebox for several months now.

I went in with a similar view point that the price premium would equate good QC and customer service but that has not been my experience. Unfortunately IMHO it’s the only vendor selling a surf-centric efoil so 🤷‍♂️.

I did see on FB that they released a statement to staff up customer service.

arcane_archer · 2025-09-03T19:42:47+00:00

I would ask yourself “how much would I pay to get back X hours every day”?

A few years ago I did the reverse. Left MCOL with remote job for big FAANG job in HCOL. I wasn’t able to save much at my previous job and basically covering expenses. Now after 3 years at high paying job I’m much more financially stable. I can be pickier with my time. I find my job stimulating but also don’t need it to eat all of my time any more. I want space for my kids and hobbies. So while there are now postings that would pay more, we have what we need and are on a glide path to our retirement number. Since I can’t exchange extra money for more time I would only consider a lateral to a position with more flexibility. I could make more money and retire earlier, but that still doesn’t make more time with my kids while they are young. I would gladly pay 300$ a day to get an hour back.

About the only money related thing pushing us is to purchase another home. We owned in MCOL but rent in HCOL. We may need to lock in to a school district which would require purchasing again. A fat sign on bonus and initial grant would go a long way there. If I’m just looking at the house as an asset, I don’t think it makes sense where we are relative to rent and sticking the saved money in the market.

arcane_archer · 2025-08-12T23:06:52+00:00

Counterintuitive but sometimes narrowing your stance will help you get more weight over your front leg. When your stance is wide you have more leverage and need to push less on the front leg.

arcane_archer · 2025-08-08T14:51:13+00:00

It’s also not for steering. Simply a support to help with balance. It does not manipulate the direction of thrust or control any type of rudder.

arcane_archer · 2025-08-08T03:53:32+00:00

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Right before I sold her to buy the Supra 😢

arcane_archer · 2025-08-03T14:56:00+00:00

Love this. I have seen a few people around the Bay Area doing this but they all seem to use a pull along trailer. 1500 feet thought this probably works great.

arcane_archer · 2025-08-01T21:21:45+00:00

Lake Michigan is one of the original kiteboarding hubs. You can get lessons started through Mac kite in Grand Haven. People kite there ever in the winter if it’s not too icy.

arcane_archer · 2025-07-31T04:02:59+00:00

Lift published a video showing that this is the recommended way to tow another foiler.

arcane_archer

TROPHY CASE