An unofficial chapter of the popular Dull Men's Club.
1. Relevant commentary on your own dull life. Posts should be about your own dull, lived experience. This is our most important rule. Direct questions, random thoughts, comment baiting, advice seeking, many uses of "discuss" rarely comply with this rule.
2. Original, Fresh, Meaningful Content.
3. Avoid repetitive topics.
4. This is not a search engine
Use a search engine, a tradesperson, Reddit, friends, a specialist Facebook group, apps, Wikipedia, an AI chat, a reverse image search etc. to answer simple questions or identify objects. Also see rule 1, “comment baiting”.
There are a number of content specific communities with subject matter experts who can help you.
Some other communities to consider before posting:
5. Keep it dull. If it puts us to sleep, it’s on the right track. Examples of likely not dull: jokes, gross stuff (including toes), politics, religion, royalty, illness or injury, killing things for fun, or promotional content. Feel free to post these elsewhere.
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7. Proofread before posting. Use good grammar and punctuation. Avoid useless phrases. Some examples: - starting a post with "So" - starting a post with pointless phrases, like "I hope this is allowed" or “this is my first post” Only share good quality, cropped images. Do not share screenshots of images; share the original image.
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If anyone wants to be a dull secret santa, hint hint ☝️
Any thoughts on the best battery charger? We have a Nitrcore pro charger. Curious if he’d like an upgrade, or if a few more packs of batteries would be enough. We do cycle through them quickly in this house.
I've got mostly EBL-brand batteries and 8-bay charger. They work well but the charger uses micro-USB which is kind of a bummer.
The other set I have are by PowerOwl. They also work great, and the charger (only a 4 bay) is USB-C.
Both brands are the low self-discharge Ni-MH style and can charge any combination of batteries (some chargers require them to be charged in pairs; neither of these have that limitation), so no complaints.
If you live near IKEA, they have a sleek ass 8 bay charger that closes shut and attaches to a wall. And they sell eneloops (in the name of ladas) but they’re from Japan and were (and still likely are) eneloops. And eneloops are the top tier of the rechargeable batteries.
Edit: forgot ikea ships now, usually with a minimum total, but they do ship now
Btw thanks for asking, I’ve got many dullsters to think about
Wool socks are awesome. I like the thin, toed ones to use when I'm dual socking.
Rechargeable 9v's are a thing I found when randomly searching on Amazon, the ones I found have a USB-C port on the side and are pretty good. Definitely handy for random 9v tools that always seem to be dead when I grab them.
These are amazing for guitars
I wouldn't put those in a fire alarm. Fire alarms are really low-power, long term devices. Perfect for non-rechargable batteries. A lot of rechargeable batteries have some self-draw, meaning, if you leave them out on a shelf for a year, they'll be noticeably emptier.
Yeah, definitely not something for a fire alarm lol, when I said random tools I was actually thinking about my tone test tool. No clue why it uses a 9v but that and my favorite multimeter both need them.
Yeah, I've seen those (though not with the built-in charging; that's cool). Even had some Ni-Cd ones back in the 90s. The only issue I have with using those in things like smoke detectors is having to deal with them more often. I can usually get about 18-20 months out of an alkaline but a Ni-MH one would probably be only like 8 months since the voltage and capacity are both lower.
Well, scratch that. I just found what I think you're talking about, and those are 1300 mAh lithium. Those should last longer than an alkaline. Will keep those in mind next time I replace the smoke alarm batteries.
Aeropress is interesting for coffee fans. It's a tiny and portable single serving french press.
Gifted myself a new pocketknife.
I am upvoting the only correct answer in this entire thread, short of someone suggesting gifting random motorcycle parts.
Seriously, don't buy me anything. I am at the point if my life if I want something I go and get it. There is very little I actually want anymore. In fact I want less stuff now.
Use the money to buy more gifts for kids/teens/young adults who have real needs and not enough funds.
"Darn Tough" brand socks
You can never beat socks.
Fuck I hate getting socks for Christmas. Or any clothes for that matter. I have specific ones I like and when I need new ones I buy them. Also other people's tastes aren't mine
My sock drawer was filled up, then they started getting holes, now I'm ready for socks again.
I like running across things where my reaction is either "oh wow that's a thing, that's interesting!" or "oh wow you can own one of those?!"
I've given some necklaces made out of 6,500 year old Irish bog oak. I gave some trinitite (the glassy residue from the Trinity nuclear bomb test) to a rock-hound friend. I've given small pieces of meteorites, some originating from outer space, some from the Moon, some from Mars. I've given fossils - a few from the Cambrian or Ordivician periods (about half a billion years ago), the rest more recent. Just weird things I run across and I'm like, "oh that's kinda cool!"
3-meter USB-C cable. Maybe a power brick. USB-PD-compatible if you want to go extra.
Or, you know, wool socks.
Sausage/cheese gift assortment
IMO, the greatest gifts are those that are mundane but regularly useful. Avoid selling anyone into digital slavery with stalkerware that cannot be owned!
Dull gifts are the best, important things are probably expensive and are for me to agonize over for ages and eventually acquire.
There should be as little burden on the giver as possible.
Some tool batteries make a great gift. I’d love receiving some Dewalt 20v max. Obviously, it depends what brand tools your recipient has.
Clothing: socks, underwear, or t-shirts.
I told my wife that this was my wishlist. She laughed at first, than got mad and told me that this will not be my wishlist. So this is not my wishlist now.
I will get new pyjamas this year from mine, with pockets! Can't wait
I never get socks. I love socks.
A Bic pen...maybe a 5-pack.
A high quality, metal spatula from Lee Valley
A double edged razor
A wood blank and a spoon knife
Merino wool socks and/or t-shirts
High quality coffee beans
I second a traditional razor. It's a wonderful rabbit hole to go down.
https://www.therazorcompany.com/products/rockwell-razors-travel-shaving-gift-set-gunmetal-razor
I was eyeing that chainmail bbq scrubber as a gift. Maybe a tea/hot drink assortment.
A tie. Nothing duller than that.
Flash lights (headlamp, floodlamp, wired hook) all are welcome
Solar oven for the prepper
Books of matches
Parachute cord
Knives (key chain knife that looks like a key, pocket knife with fold out locking blade that has interchangeable blades with box cutters)
Knives (key chain knife that looks like a key, pocket knife with fold out locking blade that has interchangeable blades with box cutters)
I have several of the former from various eras. They seem to be universally crap, which is disappointing. Some states (California leaps to mind) also have laws against knives that are disguised look like other things. This is objectively stupid, but it's how it is.
For the latter, might I suggest this or this? Just sayin', as they say.
I didn't know about those laws nor about those 3d blueprints. Thanks!
That one guy needs a bathroom scale.
What's your price range?
Happy to get a bunch of small stuff, in addition to one bigger gift. We’ll say $400 total.
ETA: open to any and all suggestions though! Maybe this can help someone else looking to dote on that special dullster in their life.
Something I bought myself was a laser level... not sure if that's dull enough for ya, along with some chisels and a hand plane for leveling a door.
Matter-enabled smart lights
Notebooks. I like Rite in Rain notebooks because I break everything In touch, but Field Notes are a popular brand and they have a dope af National Parks collection. I wish I would receive these as presents because I'm too broke to buy it for myself.
Direct deposit into their retirement account.
Beside reading lamp and a bedside fan