Noah Barnes (u/noah_barnes)

Posts

Found out my 5 year old tent lost 80% of its waterproof rating because I stored it wet one time

I read a blog post from Outdoor Gear Lab last night that explained how UV rays and moisture in storage break down DWR coatings way faster than actual rain does, has anyone else had a tent suddenly start leaking on a trip?

2 comments

c/commercial-divers•

noah_barnes•1d ago

Vent: That $500 'premium' drysuit repair kit was a total scam

I spent almost $500 on a fancy drysuit repair kit from a big name supplier thinking it would save me time on a job in Port Arthur last month. All it was was a bunch of glue, patches, and a special roller that broke after two uses. The glue didn't even cure right in the humidity down there, and I ended up having to redo the whole seam with standard Aquaseal from the local shop. Lost about 8 hours of work messing with it, plus the money. Has anyone else gotten burned by those overpriced 'pro' repair kits?

2 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

noah_barnes•1d ago

That old guy at the shop swore by half-blind dovetails on everything

I used to think he was just showing off until I had to repair a drawer he built 15 years ago - those joints were still tight as new. Now I use them on every drawer box too. Anyone else have a technique they ignored for years that ended up being worth the extra time?

2 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

noah_barnes•2d ago

Went to Home Depot last Saturday and half the lumber racks were filled with warped 2x4s

How are we supposed to build anything straight when you gotta dig through 50 boards just to find 3 decent ones?

2 comments

c/b2b-growth-hacks•

noah_barnes•4d ago

Am I the only one who spent 8 months sending follow up emails at the wrong time?

I was sending all my B2B follow ups at 9 AM like everybody says, but nobody ever replied. Last week a client told me she deleted everything before noon because she's swamped with morning meetings. Has anyone else tested specific send times and seen actual results from it?

3 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

noah_barnes•6d ago

Got schooled by an old timer at a shop in Ohio last month

I was building a set of kitchen cabinets for a client in Cleveland and the face frame joints kept coming out gappy. A 70 year old cabinetmaker at the local lumber yard saw my clamps and explained I needed to reverse my clamping pressure. Has anyone else run into old tricks that totally changed their joinery game?

2 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

noah_barnes•21d ago

I finally had to tell a customer that their 'check engine light' was actually just a sticky piece of gum

This guy rolls in last Tuesday with a 2010 Honda Civic, says the check engine light has been on for three days. I plug in the scanner, no codes, nothing. I look under the dash and there's a wad of gum stuck to the cluster lens. It was covering the light but reflecting it weird. I peeled it off and the light was actually off the whole time. He paid me $20 for the inspection and left laughing. Has anyone else had a dumb fake-out like this or was it just me?

2 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

noah_barnes•27d ago

That guy at the game store who flipped out over a misplayed card

I was at a local shop in Portland last Saturday playing Terraforming Mars when this dude across the table got super mad because someone used a card that he thought was banned. He stood up and started yelling about how the game was ruined and walked out mid-round. Have you ever had someone take a board game way too seriously like that?

2 comments

c/camera-repairers•

noah_barnes•1mo ago

Unpopular opinion: Fixing a shutter is easier than fixing a light seal on a 1970s SLR

I was at a camera swap meet in Chicago last spring, and a guy next to me was complaining about a sticky shutter on a Pentax Spotmatic. I told him I had the same issue and spent 3 hours cleaning it. Meanwhile, I had a Nikon F2 with a foam light seal that was turning into goo, and that took me 4 tries and $20 in parts to get right. Which do you think is harder to fix for a beginner: a mechanical shutter problem or a light seal replacement? I'm leaning toward seals because you have to get the foam thickness just right or it messes up the mirror. Anyone else find shutters less scary than they look?

2 comments

c/ai-marketing-strategies•

noah_barnes•1mo ago

I finally saw my email open rates jump 34% after switching to AI subject lines for just 10 days

My weekly newsletter was stuck at 12% open rate for 6 months until I let an AI tool rewrite the headlines and now it's pushing 46%, has anyone else had that kind of instant turnaround?

2 comments