- You are here:
- Home
- Gear Reviews
- Sheaths and Gear Carry
Here is my fancy, shiny new blog. Isn’t it neat? Anyone who knows me or follows some of my posts on our forum here at Multitool.org knows that I can get a bit cheesy so I have decided to start it all off with some cheese. No, not the Adam West as Batman style cheese, but something just as odd- specifically Moon Cheese. And what better way to eat Moon Cheese than with a tactical spork?
I picked up this Moon Cheese on a whim yesterday while buying a couple of Opinel knives and a SOGZilla (more on those later!) at my local Mountain Equipment Co-Op- me being a lover of cheese made me figure I had to try it, and now that I am munching away on the little orange moon rocks I am quite glad I did. It tastes very much like cheddar, which, you know, is probably largely because it IS cheddar, albeit freeze dried.
In fact, it actually tastes an awful lot like Cheese Nips crackers, only more cheesy since there’s no cracker portion, despite the fact that it is crunchy like a cracker. What will science contort and pervert for us next?
Now that we have the discussion of cheese out of the way, what can you expect from this blog in the future- you know, since I wasted your time talking about Moon Cheese, why the heck should you continue reading? Well, quite honestly, I think it’s all downhill after Moon Cheese, but I do all kinds of odd things outdoors, from shooting to kayaking to occasionally blowing myself up a little bit. This blog will detail some of those adventures as well as discuss the equipment and gear that I take with me- how I decided what to take, how it performed, and whether I’d consider taking it again next time.
Maybe I’ll review some stuff, maybe I’ll just talk about something I bought to put away for when the zombies come calling, maybe I’ll build something…. Honestly I hate planning things out, so expect to see blog posts about whatever happens to cross my path (or my wallet!) that particular day.
Plus there’s always a good chance that we might have another Close Encounter of the Dairy Kind.
I got this bag a few weeks ago, but for one reason or another I was unable to post some initial thoughts until now.
I had wanted a bag a little smaller than my usual Maxpedition Tactical Operator bag that I usually carry- it gets a bit heavy what with a laptop (old, heavy Toshiba Satellite), a tablet, miscellaneous accessories, paperwork, pens, a few tools and so on, so I wanted something that was going to hold all the essential stuff but force me to minimize the clutter. I found what I hope will be the bag I'm looking for at http://directactiongear.com/ although they do have their work cut out for them. I am hard on bags and few last more than a year with me. But, on to some pictures so you know what I'm talking about!
While not necessarily a multitool, the new RESCOM from Boker has more in line with tools than it does knives.
In a world dominated by multitools and tactical knives, the demand is becoming greater for knives that could very well be called “super knives” and are being favored over the once popular pocket knives our dads and grandfathers carried. It used to be about simplicity, nothing warmed your heart like warm jigged bone handle with nickel silver bolsters and that ever popular carbon steel blade. Now we want knives that can go a week of hard use without sharpening, using more and more super steels as well as space age handle materials like g10, carbon fiber and titanium. Many manufacturers have been able to stand up to what the public wants and have flooded the market with tactical knives that are not only combat worthy but work great for those individuals that need a low maintenance EDC.
Since the dawn of the knife man has had to sharpen his knife from time to time as the need arises, sharpening is a skilled labor, you have to learn how to use a stone to hone your edge or take the cheating route and use any one of the numerous gimmicks that they have for sharpening. Well Columbia River has a production knife that sharpens itself, I had to see it to believe but it’s true. And best of all, this puppy’s affordable.
I've been eyeballing these in the catalogs since they first came out a year or two ago. I use scissors almost as much as I use a knife blade, and the Twocan has both. But it was not really clear to me how well the scissor mechanism would work, and I wasn't inclined to spend the money on an experiment. The price on them has been dropping steadily however, to the point where even a cheapskate like me can afford to buy one. At under $20 I figured there wasn't much to lose. The one I bought two weeks ago showed up yesterday.
Leatherman has been in the multitool franchise for so long that their name is synomous with the tool itself. Conquering the multitool market Leatherman wanted to expand their horizons. With the Juice series they had already created something to compete with the Swiss Army knife, Leatherman like everyone else is the business-needed something new.
In an age where there is a fierce competition between the knife and the multitool, many companies are producing hybrids. Tools that are more knife than tool, still offer functionality that we would otherwise not have with a traditional knife. Before this hybrid was becoming the new thing to do, Buck and Peter Whittaker produced a knife that was both a useful camp knife as well as having a few “extras”. Like with most of Whittaker’s designs, you can see his flair for the non-traditional mixed with what Buck knows will work for a real world design. The end result is something that is very useful, both in the woods and in the concrete jungle.
Following the latest trend of “Tool Knives” SOG has released the Kilowatt, which is basically a one handed opening tactical type knife with some wire stripping features. While I was curious, I have to say I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about this one, but then again, electricity has never been my strong suit.
My initial feelings and thoughts on the Delta knife were mixed, the knife as intended works wonderfully but I concluded that the add on features of the knife were more gimmick than something that was planned and well thought out. Some manufacturers make a product and rush it to market without fully testing the product or putting it in a real world situation to see how the tool/knife will hold up. Having carried the Delta now for six months I figure a follow-up should be in order, having since releasing the Delta model EW-O4 Sure Fire has released two new knives.
Anyone who reads my reviews or ramblings on the forums knows that I have a fascination with rescue oriented tools. With all the traveling and security work I do, and have done over the years, I have witnessed more accidents than tactical knife-y situations, and I like tools that are oriented to helping victims rather than slaughtering ninjas.
Tool Logic is one of those companies that everyone has heard about, but no one seems to really know much about. This is a bit of a crime as ToolLogic has some excellent and innovative products, including the SLPro, Law Enforcement Model. In case you are wondering what qualifies the SLPro as a multitool, or at least worthy of being reviewed on a multitool site like this one, remember that the SLPro is more than just a one handed opening, locking tactical type knife.
Leatherman knives are another way that they (Leatherman) have tried to secure their niche in the market today. Everyone has a pocket knife, but not everyone has one that is loaded with all kinds of Leatherman extras. My first Leatherman knife was the h502, it's a great knife that's constructed well and Leatherman was spot on with the features. The problems I have with the h502 are the size and the lack of a pocket clip. Now granted; this knife is way too big for a pocket knife and a clip would just get in the way. I still wanted all of those cool features in a package that would fit not only in my pocket but fit my needs as well.
Having done so many different things with their tool line, Leatherman decided a few years ago to get into pocket knives. However, being Leatherman, they had to do it their own way, and look at knives with tools added, rather than their more typical method of making tools with knife blades on them. The top dog in this particular line was the now discontinued h502.
What kind of people would write collect and review multitools? Quite simple really- we are designers and do-ers, outdoors types and indoor types, mechanics, doctors, problem solvers and problem makers. As such, we have, as a world spanning community, put every type, size and version of multitool, multifunction knife, pocket knife and all related products to every test we could manage in as many places and environments as there are.