In early 2021 I took an Offensive Security course to earn my Offensive Security Exploit Developer certification. This course taught me a lot about exploiting memory corruption vulnerabilities in Windows 32-bit programs. It was also a lot of fun. Aside from security things, I also dabble in ham radio. Most of my experience with ham radio has been through the use of packet radio and other digital modes. Rather than talking to people over the air using voice, I’m sending and receiving data through a computer over the airwaves.

My friend Sierra has gone through two Fitbit Charge’s now. Each time the strap game unglued from the FitBit itself. There’s really nothing you can do to fix it at that point except for try to glue it back together. She asked me if I could try making a leather strap for her old one and I gladly accepted the challenge. I didn’t take any progress photos since this was a pretty small project.

I got my ham radio license eight years ago so I could use it for a high altitude balloon project with some friends from college. We had a lot of fun, but I haven’t used the license much since then. I get into it for a few weeks every couple of years and then get bored. I just don’t have much interest in talking to strangers over the air. I’ve always been much more fascinated by the idea of packet radio.

The last phone and wallet holster I made was designed to be super simple and inexpensive to make. I did modify it a little bit by adding some extra holes for adjustments as well as adding a Chicago screw on the back to hold the two straps together. That helped keep the whole thing from shifting around too much. Two days ago I suddenly was inspired to make a more decorative back piece for the holster and was heavily inspired by Uncharted 2.

I build a holster for my everyday carry items last year. I love the thing, but it’s a bit bulky, heavy, and flashy. I’ve been wanting to make a much more simple holster for some time now, but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to design it. Then last week, a redditor contacted me asking if I could build them a simple phone and wallet holster. Also, Uncharted 4 was finally released!