Review: Rhino Ropeworks - Hornet marlin spike

I do like a tool that has double duty. This is the Hornet from Rhino Ropework which I commissioned in both its olive green Cerakote, but also with a custom kydex scabbard.

This marlin spike is part rope working tool and part CQB weapon. Milled from marine grade 316 stainless steel right here in Australia, the Hornet is a smaller sibling of the Mad Stick, which I covered a while ago, and it's heft and no frills design is indicative of this.




With its grooved body, the Hornet is easy to grip, and the working end, which is separated from the body of the tool by a deep notch, tapers down to a working tip, which whilst not sharp, is a solid rope working end.

The 316 stainless steel makes for a good tool, for the kind of work it is designed for. Weighing in at 110g (3.9oz) and measuring
180mm (7") in length, and 12mm (just less than 0.5") in diameter the Hornet is a substantial tool.

I've used the tool for working knots, as fits its purpose, but I have also find it useful for a variety of other tasks, from flipping steaks on the BBQ to punching holes in cans.

The Cerakote coating adds further to the innate chemical and wear resistance of the steel the Hornet is made from, but I managed to wear it off the tip all the same in my testing and regular use. It's still smooth and fit for purpose, for all my abuse.

One of the nice additional features is the lanyard hole, which whilst a tight fit for even this lacing cord, would probably manage to feed paracord through it, with some careful melting if the end and some hard work.

As a marlin spike, I've found the Hornet is both robust and substantial. Its easier to work with than the clasp knife one I have. The angle of the spike allow you to really get some leverage into the splicing and loosening knots and other rope.

The tip is rounded so you don't have to worry about digging into the threads of cord you're working with. It works really nicely with paracord, as well as higher diameter cords and ropes. The tip isn't really suited to cords much finer than that, a 5mm dummy-cord is pretty much the finest I have managed to use it with.

It's a treat in the hand, the beveled tail-cap fits in the palm nicely, and the groves are slight enough to not grate on the fingers, but sufficient to grip the tool for even the toughest knotwork.

I received a tan Kydex scabbard in my package from Rhino Ropeworks, which was fitted by a third party, and I'm afraid to say that it isn't as well fitted as I might have liked.

It has a pinch-point around the mid-notch , but it just isn't -quite- tight enough. No fault to Rhino Ropeworks, it's just a very tight design, with very few features to "catch" on a friction lock.

I have used the eyelets to lash it to my American Kami Super Colubris and it has been a faithful accessory as my belt-carry when I am adventuring. It's proven itself useful in a variety of settings, and I'm glad that I have it.

Review: RhinoRopework - MAD Stick

Image from RhinoRopework

Here is a brilliant bit of kit that I've managed to scoop up just in time for OCONUS Week on BreachBangClear, in a world exclusive.

I've been buying a few things from the Rhino Ropeworks, like their tritium equipped fobs, and just recently one of their Saber ropeworking spikes. When I heard that this weeks topic was things done by foreigners, by foreigners, I dropped my mate Shane a line, and he sent me a prototype in the mail!

Shane is no stranger to making tools that are up for some hard yakka, and I was only too happy to get RR's newest tool in my hands. Check out their Facebook page for all the latest work-in-progress.
The MAD Stick is a 400mm (15.7") long, 12.7 mm (0.50" yeah, fifty cal!) length of 4140 high tensile tool steel, commonly used in pry bars. It weighs in at 340g (12oz). Very lightweight for what it is.

The steel is heat treated to have a Rockwell 45-46 in the body, 60 at the breaker tip. That gives you all the flex you need for doing heavy prying tasks you might have on hand, without deforming the working ends.

The two different ends give you two different functionalities. The double sided chisel point comes to a second, finer edge for the last 2mm or so, giving a nice robust wedge to use to work into gaps and crevices without the fear of chipping your tip. The primary grind is about 3.5cm (1.5").
The opposite end is rounded to about the same length, and also features a primary and secondary grind. Good for all kinds of probing and hole punching.

This tool, as my partner Omega said "is a metal stick of great evil. I like it" (and she knows a thing or two about evil ...). To top it off, the whole piece is covered in a black Cerakote finish although RhinoRopework can also get it coated in a variety of colours.

The middle 5cm (2") of the bar is left smooth, but the rest of the surface is covered in a really bitey knurling. So bitey, in fact it is possible to use as a striker for Ferrocerium. Bloody brilliant.
I generally prefer a ridged finish personally, which as it happens, RhinoRopeworks can put on one of these instead of the knurling, but I have to say, it's a pretty aggressive grip. I had no feeling of this coming loose in my hands, or in fact where I stowed it.

This is helped along by the ripper little pen clip that is fixed to the MAD Stick, about half way.
That little clip meant that I was able to slip the stick down the side of my PALS/MOLLE equipped pack, and even clip it to my Hazard4 RG Harness, and wander around the city with it slung under my vest, along my torso.
That same portability would mean that this could be worn on a plate carrier, on an assaulters pack, or secured pretty much anywhere with a loop or lip.
I'm no stranger to breaking things, and would stack the MAD Stick up against my Stanley FUBAR, the Dead-On Superhammer and the CountyComm Breacher Bar happily. They are all different tools, and this is no hammer, but it sure is a problem solver.

Shane tells me that the MAD Stick was "inspired by digging tool used by foragers and the splitter bar used in AMC's The Walking Dead to kill walkers through the fence". Now, this isn't a spear by a long shot, but it's not meant to be. More like a MILSPEC Kali stick. I haven't had a chance to put it in the hands of my escrima practicing friends yet, but I can imagine they could bring a metric fuckton of hurt down with this.

Besides being just small enough to secrete on your person (if that's your thing)  its compact size means another thing. If you are already wearing a fairly rigid set up, it's slim design will keep if from getting in the way, especially if you have 6 to 8 rows of PALS/MOLLE to slip it into. It virtually disappears down the side of a pack, and only pokes out a little on the front face of one.

Once I got it home, I set to bashing, jabbing, prying and generally looking for things to test it on. I stabbed it into logs, and hit them, found cracks in brickwork behind the house and old woodwork to prise apart. Not a mark on the tool, and everything I tried it on succumbed. As expected, when used as a striking tool, length-ways, it resonated a fair bit, but it was manageable. 
Without gloves on for my first round of tests, the knurling held fast, and I had great grip throughout my swathe of destruction. One thing I found was the pen-clip made for an uncomfortable place to hold the tool, and I needed to rotate it out of the way a couple of times, especially when I wanted to exert some more force.  Gloves sorted this right out however, and gave me the added padding to ignore this.

Given its ease of storage, light weight and high functionality, I can see these being quickly being found in the hands and cars of EMT's, and other first responders, as well as anyone who might need "Method of Entry" tools in their regular loadout, without having to call out the big-boys like a Halligan Bar.

For me, having a tool like the MAD Stick close to hand means that I can overcome a variety of problems in or around the house when I don't want to snap the tip off a knife or bend a screw-driver breaking up pallets to fortify the bunker.

The MAD Sticks are only just now going into small-batch production, and the heat-treating and Cerakote process is time consuming, but any day now the first production models will be in the hands of the early purchasers. I have a feeling we might be seeing a lot more of these in the hands of rough men, standing ready.