Review: Nuko Tool - ACDT (in GitD)

Following up from the sneak-peak:

When I saw that Norman of Nuko Tools was dallying in glow-in-the-dark materials, I was quick to drop him a line expressing my desires. Whilst the GitD platic is too fragile to be used to mill one of his signature Single NukoTool punchrings or the classic Nuko Heads which he has been milling out of G10.  (and you may remember I got the titanium version for my lovely partner Omega)

He thought it was a great idea too, and suggested he could sandwich a slab of GitD plastic between two titanium slabs of his 2nd Gen Atomic Cranial Divot Tool, which he did, and this beauty is the result.

Seen here looped through my belt-loop, with my paracord ID lanyard hitched.


The simplicity of this deign is evident, it almost passes as a piece of modern art.

Sandwiching these three layers makes the tool considerably thicker than its design originally intended, but this isn't really a drawback, except for those looking for a slimline pocket fob. I like my metal to make its presence known, and this certainly does.

Three hex-screw rivets lay flush with the front surface, and a keyring hole drilled through the piece gives the option of attaching a split ring.

The leading edge of the ACDT features a bottle (or perhaps threat) opening scallop, the flanking edges of which protect the soft GitD middle nicely, and are not so sharp as to catch or dig into clothes or the hand whilst wearing the ACDT.

When gripped through the finger hole, the curves fit the hand nicely, even with an index finger and middle finger ring on. This leaves the "bottle opener" corner as your leading edge, with the squared faces outwards and upwards. Essentially a pistol grip, with any keys or the like, trailing from the bottom of your palm. I found that when striking a target, the slot bit into my index finger a little, but as I'm not planning to make a habit of taking to the bags (or heads) regularly with it, that's no big deal. This is primarily a fob, with a -tertiary- impact tool application for me. That said, I put some nasty dings in a HDD, timber facing, and concrete wall!

I also tried a reversed grip, presenting a much more flat face, which covered more knuckle, but left me with less to grip, and put the bottle opener in my thumb/index webbing.

This wasn't quite as easy to grip, but offers the other advantages of more titanium (and glow) frontwards ..

I found that the extra-thick ACDT has been difficult to feed a split-ring through, and whilst I am still looking, I've so far been happy just to do a loop through the finger hole, the placement of the slot has been just fine for this.

Then there is the glow in the dark side of things. The running-board strip of GitD plastic catches light quite nicely, I have noticed my belt-looped ACDT picks up enough ambient light to be noticeable when I go into a darkened room, and quite positively flares up after exposure to the Australian daytime. For the purposes of this shot, I did hit it with my Jil Lite - JenyX UV torch .

I really love my UV and GitD items, as well as my titanium goodies, and even more so, my wearable impact tools ....

If you have a hankering for some cool pocket bling, be sure to check out NukoTools ...

Sneak Peak: terminatorised Nuko Tool ACDT

No fate but what Norman makes. 

Review: Nukotool TiGBi Skull keyring

I take my accessorizing very seriously, and like to think that I do so in my gift-giving too. Whilst reading my RSS feed, I came across a review by Matt of JTT and saw these little guys, and when I did, I was taken aback, and knew that they would make someone very happy (and potentially, someone else very unhappy). Being in a wonderful committed relationship with someone(s) who understand my predilections is a tremendous thing, especially when it comes to romantic gift-giving. That and a clear policy on threat-countering appropriate levels of force. That's where this cheery Jack Skellington looking fellow comes in. It really spoke to my Gothic background, and being machined from a slab of titanium didn't hurt either. This is the Nukotool TiGBi and it's pretty.

Canadian tool-smith Norman Lee produces these (and a variety of other prototype and production pieces in Ti and G10) in his garage workshop, and keeps a blog of his toolings. I was so taken by it, that I happened to lean over one eve and point it out to my partner Omega, who's eyes lit up and was giggling as maniacally as I was. I filed that response away, and placed an order. These keychain impact-tools are cut and tumble finished from titanium , and have the option of a heat-treatment bluing, but I opted for natural, as omega is more of a red, than blue, gal. The cuts around the outer surface of the disk, and finger-holes are smooth and feel very nice in the hand. The lanyard/split-ring/bead-chain hole is nicely placed to attach this tool to make a very effective key-fob. Being titanium the weight is very manageable. The teeth notches are a little jagged and slightly irregular, which adds to their charm, without affecting the sleek outer finish overly.All the cuts are angles "inwards" to give a plug-like effect that is visible, but not overly noticeable in-hand.


When this one arrived this week , I was overjoyed that it had made it though customs, and I could give it as a birthday present (almost) on time! As you can see, it fits the hand very nicely, and the eye/finger holes means you never need to worry about losing your grip on your keys in the event you are startled by an aggressive space-alien, Mad Max marauder or creepy sparkling vampire stalker. The idea you could "leave an impression" of that gleaming titanium smile with your surprise visitor, allowing you to strike them senseless with your keen Gothic aesthetic appreciation of both skulls and space-age materials, whilst not interfering with your nails, jewellery or knuckles appealed to me.

Be sure of the legality of such an item in your area before carrying and utilizing in moments of surprise!  Otherwise, what a lovely and cute skull-face keychain fob!