He knows, just ask him.

I still rely on the wise advice of “Sarge” — a law-enforcement type I followed around for a story in the San Diego Reader a few years ago.  (It’s about a very busy bomb and arson squad near San Diego.)

Recently I emailed Sarge and asked how I could make my new tool-belt look older. No one wants to look like a rookie, right?

A girl's gotta accessorize, right?

His response:

“As for how to age a tool belt, just leave it out on your back porch in the rain and sun for a couple of weeks and it will look pretty salty. That’s what fourteen months in and out of the jungles of Southeast Asia did to me and my Battalion of Marines. When we got back to Camp Pendleton we scared every one just from our salty “don’t give a shit” attitudes and appearance.”

Sarge is now “retired”–working for the feds. He knows a little something about everything.