PIP-BOY

I have worn a wrist computer through enough hard days to appreciate a sturdy one. Rad Rux apparently decided sturdy was not enough, so he built a Pip-Boy in the Savage Divide that makes an ordinary model look like a pocket watch. Its bright screen, round controls and heavy casing are all assembled from salvaged camp parts.

He set a blue tool chest behind it and scattered cards, tools and small pieces across the rug. That is the part I like best. The whole arrangement looks like a repair job laid out on somebody's workbench, except you could walk between the things that usually fit in a drawer.

Rux did not try to hide how he made it. The seams, fittings and reused pieces are right there to see, and they give the oversized gadget its character. I have met plenty of men who can fix a machine, but fewer who can look at a pile of scrap and see one at this scale.