We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:03:16 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Oh, sure, I could be mean. I could ask you to identify this. But I don't even want to *think* about the whining that would ensue. And yeah, I could ask you whatziss? But you'd probably whine some more. So, how 'bout this? C'mon, put yer fevered imaginations to work and destroy corporate productivity the world over. If you're a real, true, grognard - you'll get this. If you're a capital-G Grognard, one before whom other grognards grovel, you'll get it's true essence. And if you're that Grognard, you'll know what that means.... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html Wed, 16 May 2007 07:51:06 -0600 click here.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60134 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60134 Fri, 18 May 2007 08:33:20 -0600 COME ONNNN JOHN COUGH IT UP ALREADY...... Maybe they mounted this on the cannon, with punks stickin into the flange so to be ready to light the sucker off after the c-ball was shoved in... now will you please..... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60127 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60127 Fri, 18 May 2007 00:06:37 -0600 It was intended to be part of a plasma display, but someone confused 'millimetre' with 'micrometre'. Cheers http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60119 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60119 Thu, 17 May 2007 17:00:59 -0600 OK, how long does this wait go on? I don't usually pay attention to these. I'm not a patient woman........patience is a virtue, and....well....you know. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60118 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60118 Thu, 17 May 2007 16:50:07 -0600 Since my wife found me asleep in front of this picture at O-dark-30 this morning, i'm gonna expand on jim B's take from May 16. From the top of the device, notice the copper grid and the openings in the two vertical elements which would seem to for air induction. The device when flipped over, stuffed with hot coals,mounted not TOOO near the powder on a horse drawn cassion(?) kept the fire ready for the way...way older artey pieces as the charged around the battle field. Now I'm really..REALLY done with this. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60100 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60100 Thu, 17 May 2007 11:25:10 -0600 Well, essence of the thing, seems like a hint. I know you do medieval, and that liquids are often called 'essences'. So, something along the lines of the Guttentag variant that sprayed Holy water maybe? Or maybe even just a medieval 'canteen'? There's nothing there for scale---you violated the JMH rule! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60089 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60089 Thu, 17 May 2007 04:46:47 -0600 The kind of flyswatter we had to use up in Alaska against those horrific mosquitoes. You know it's bad when they are listed as the state bird. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60087 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60087 Thu, 17 May 2007 01:21:02 -0600 The flange would indicate attachment to a tubular heat source.. a jeep tailpipe will do. Now to heat the C-Rats or dry the boots without meltin the soles hence the copper grid spacer, at the very least. a device ment to create heat when it was very,very cold. Richard http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60085 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60085 Thu, 17 May 2007 00:41:20 -0600 A ravioli mold. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60084 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60084 Thu, 17 May 2007 00:35:56 -0600 The taper on the vertical features seems to imply some kind of casting. I can't see any cat hairs, dammit. That would give us some idea of the size of the thing, at least. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60082 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60082 Wed, 16 May 2007 22:28:29 -0600 block of lead with seperation lines to assist with how much to melt? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60080 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60080 Wed, 16 May 2007 21:44:05 -0600 Field expedient tic-tac-toe board (made by the lowest bidder, hence the 'disproportion')? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60079 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60079 Wed, 16 May 2007 21:18:21 -0600 innards of a claymore...? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60076 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60076 Wed, 16 May 2007 19:51:16 -0600 The last one.. A field expedient grid square mold, you just melt down unused contour lines over a Zippo™ and viola'! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60075 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60075 Wed, 16 May 2007 17:27:19 -0600 A thingie they carried smoltering ...burning coals from camp to camp with. Or not http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60074 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60074 Wed, 16 May 2007 16:42:11 -0600 coming late to the party - due to corporate harrassment training (which caused me to remove pictures of Marines in various states of ... undress.... strike that.... UNSAT uniform - from my cubby walls). I certainly would be leery of using it around food due to the solder. I was thinking either some type of portioning or positioning device. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60073 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60073 Wed, 16 May 2007 16:17:17 -0600 A prototype heavy-duty bug swatter with TEMPEST shielding? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60072 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60072 Wed, 16 May 2007 16:07:27 -0600 Looks like something I found in my Happy Meal... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60071 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60071 Wed, 16 May 2007 16:05:49 -0600 I'm with Tim. I figured it was an 18th Century Jiffy Pop, with iron instead of tinfoil. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60070 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60070 Wed, 16 May 2007 15:56:32 -0600 John, I'm thinking that it's a field-expediant device you'd use over a fire or sterno stove to place your canteen cup on. The hole is probably where you could stick a cleaning rod in to move it while hot... Anyway, that's what I'D use it for. Respects, http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60069 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60069 Wed, 16 May 2007 15:28:31 -0600 It looks hastily and roughly made which suggests it was made during a war and possibly quite some time ago. The bumps are not groves for fragmentation but rather lend strength to the structure. Why I am not so sure of. Perhaps some kind of pressure inside. This unit doesn't appear to be sealed. ATM my stab in the dark is a smoke bomb. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60068 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60068 Wed, 16 May 2007 13:58:09 -0600 Ok, here goes, it is either a really, really small waffle iron or some sort of fragmentation device that I, as a life-long civilian, am totally ignorant of. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60066 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60066 Wed, 16 May 2007 13:14:57 -0600 Some sort of cooling or heating unit. I see a hole at the bottom edge, like you'd put a liquid in. Perhaps the grid is actually for heating or cooling the liquid. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60063 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60063 Wed, 16 May 2007 12:28:06 -0600 Grognard - Napoleon Bonaparte's name for old veteran soldiers; specifically the Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard (Grenadiers à Pied de la Garde Impériale). Stop talking about hibachis, I'm getting hungry.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60062 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60062 Wed, 16 May 2007 12:25:40 -0600 oh. now that ya mention it, those ARE grooves going "in", and aren't stamped metal coming "out" of the screen. so it ain't a Hibachi. must be a grease trap, UNDER a Hibachi. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60061 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60061 Wed, 16 May 2007 12:21:26 -0600 stupid echo. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60060 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60060 Wed, 16 May 2007 12:06:28 -0600 I was sick the week they covered grognards in class :-( Hmm. I see some very nicely and accurately machined groves in metal, with some thin metal crimped and possibly soldered around the edges in a much more slapdash way. Something like a ring or a flange is tacked on over the bottom edging, unclear if there is a hole involved. The crappy edging is crimped to match the grooves, hard to say if that was done deliberately as part of the edging process or the dents developed while the whatsis was being used. Some signs of rust in the groves but not the flat ungroved surface. No sign of dissimilar metal corrosion between the edging and the main body. The edging must serve some purpose, since they went to the bother of adding it under less than ideal conditions (did the original, more professional job come off?) It almost looks like a crude heat sink, but more likely some kind of positioning guide. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60058 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60058 Wed, 16 May 2007 11:28:10 -0600 1. A plug nickle 2. The stick from Nancy Pelosi's arse 3. The soapbox that Hillary keeps all her faux accents in when she's touring the country. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60056 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60056 Wed, 16 May 2007 09:56:04 -0600 1- Looks like a gage- posssibly the gas piston gage for the M1 Garand? 2- Breech bore erosion gage for .50 BMG? 3- Grenade/booby trap of some sort? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60055 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60055 Wed, 16 May 2007 09:25:45 -0600 The bottom of a Hungarian ammo can for 7.62x54R? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60054 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60054 Wed, 16 May 2007 09:08:25 -0600 in sequence: 1. a breech block roller 2. a gnurled pokey stick 3. a field expedient Hibachi http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60053 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60053 Wed, 16 May 2007 08:47:09 -0600 The tinman's loofah shower scrubby? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60051 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60051 Wed, 16 May 2007 08:41:21 -0600 A Hershey bar mold? LOL http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60050 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60050 Wed, 16 May 2007 08:29:11 -0600 Dang, that was fast... wrong, but fast! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60047 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60047 Wed, 16 May 2007 08:14:43 -0600 I'm not a grog-anything, but the first linked pic is a peppermint lifesaver from the bottom of my mother's handbag.......'78 I think. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60046 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/05/lets_have_a_wha.html#comment-60046 Wed, 16 May 2007 08:10:37 -0600