A place for me to review the various rugged, nifty and needful kit that I've accumulated, for every-day preparedness in the event of accident, disaster or world-shifting end-times Apocalypse, be it zombies, triffids or Mayan divide-by-zero errors.
Time for another pry bar! Having just covered the small titanium pry bar I wear in a belt pouch you might be asking why i have yet another one. (on top of the WTF prybar I wear around my neck as EDC). The short answer is Two is one, One is none, and I have two hands and hate being kept out of places.
This is the EDC Monster Pry-Bar, which was launched via a Kickstarter project. As their sixth successful project ( they make a lot of folding pen-knifes and the like). The thing that caught my eye about this tool however was its multi-function design. It's packed full of options whilst retaining rugged construction.
Milled from a block of corrosion resistant Gr5 Titanium, the tool features a number of useful features the designers workshopped from common EDC tools.
First and foremost the pry-bar end of the tool is dual-beveled on the top face and has a bevel on the under side too, finishing up as a 1-2mm flat edge 15mm long rather than a sharp chisel edge. Not sharp by any stretch but plenty pointy enough to cut taped boxes and packages open.
A good sized bottle opener sits at the belly of the pry end, in front of a finger notch. The double sided beveling allows the tool to be worked-into a gap easier than if it were flat on the underside, which is handy.
The back spine side of the tool features a swiveling, magnetised cover that turns to reveal two hex bits, a S2 Alloy Steel Phillip's head and a flat head driver, both held in place with magnets, but easily popped out. both drivers fit the ratcheting driver ring seated in the butt-end of the tool, it ratchets in one direction only, so you flip the tool to change direction of driving.
It's worth noting that the driver bits don't lock into the ratchet driver, and need to be held in place by the user, (placing a thumb on it seemed to work fine, but worth noting) . You could swap out the drivers with others as long as they fit in the recess.
Recessed on the underside of the tool is a magnetically affixed, titanium bodied "everlasting graphite" nibbed pencil. More than just a gimmick, these pencils are very useful for always to hand writing implements, though I have found the nibs to be fragile on occasion, they do write really well and are super handy. Astute readers may have noticed one lanyareded to my other EDC pry-bar
The pencil is short (1.65") but not unworkable so its a very useful addition and is securely held in its recess, protecting the sometimes brittle nib, when not in use.
The very butt-end of the tool features a tungsten carbide spike to allow glass breaking and inscribing into hard surfaces. It also features a lanyard hole for fitting you favourite beads or "don't-loose-me" cords.
As well as the well placed groves milled in for grip, there are four recessed slots (2 on front, and 2 on the back) for fitting tritium vials. But due to shipping restrictions, they were not able to provide the tritium vial, but they did will provide luminous rods as add-on options. I have yet to install these but should be a matter of applyng a dry-clear epoxy glue. The tool has a removable belt clip, but also comes with a snug kydex sheath with a belt clip. All told the tool including its bits and pencil weighs only 85g (3oz) and measures 14.2cm (5.6") x 2cm (0.82") broad. Its a nice compact tool packing a lot of utility into its small frame.
There is a lot to be said for having a go-bag, get-home-bag or bug-out bag ready and kitted out for those dire-circumstances where you need bare-necessities to make it to a secondary location. But sometimes, requirement for action is a little less dire, demanding light-weight gear in limited capacity, but needs to be ready to go.
One such method is to have a battle-belt. In my case I have set out to build a camping/hiking belt that has all the things I might find needful whilst out on the trail or if I needed to blaze one of my own.
I've been modifying its setup for some time adding things, moving things and testing it on every hike we go on. The current setup has been pretty stable, both physically but also dynamically.
I've included, hydration, first aid, navigation, fire-lighting and shelter options as well as storage space for other pieces of kit.
I started off with my Heavy Cover Titanium canteen and nesting cup in a GGG tactical pouch that I found in my collection. I put this central at the back of the belt for weight distribution. This gives me 37oz (1.1L) of water ready to go as well as a cook-pot and water sterilization (by boiling) method, on my person. Left of the canteen pouch is an older Platatac radio pouch that I use to house a ferrocerium rod and striker combo, a bic lighter, a set of medical sheers and a folding saw.
So I have fire-making options and fire-crafting options. to the left of the radio/fire pouch is a three-pocket admin pouch where I keep a Sharpie, a pencil, sharpener, crayons a small note-book and space for my phone, as well as space for additional items. Right of the canteen is a Blackhawk Stealth Weapon Catch which holds a Go! outfitters Landing Pad mini-tarp for some single person shelter. To the right of that i have a tear-open GGG IFAK, that i've filled with a variety of bandages, gloves and the like, along with a CAT tourniquet for extreme bad-times recovery and a Gerber Crisis Hook to round out the rescue/aid pouch.
After its first big outing I realized that I needed to add shoulder straps to assist with its bulk and weight, so I rigged up some harness straps with some recycled kiddy car-seat straps. With a little adjustment, I've managed to distribute the weight of all the items and keep it stable for those long hikes, or short dashes.
The belt that forms the basis of this set up is a Propper 360 riggers belt that has a hook and loop and locking bar fixture as well placed attachment ring for attaching safety lines or other retention systems. This belt runs through an older Platatac 3s belt pad that has PALS/MOLLE loops throughout and suspender loops as well as a breathable mesh padding.
I think I might upgrade this ad-hoc system to something purpose made, like the Platatac bk harness perhaps, but for now, this whole rig lives in my room on the back of my desk chair, ready to throw on at a moments notice before rushing out to confront whatever adventure or misfortune may come my way.
Time to cover another piece of EDC that has slipped beneath my reporting radar for too long. Its no secret that i'm fond of titanium tools, they're strong, light and non-magnetic. I'm also very fond of pry-bars. Remember kids, your knife is not a pry-bar. Nor is your screw-driver.
I've always been "the knife guy" in my circle of friends, because I always have at least a pocket pen-knife on my person. More and more these days, environments are less and less permissive when it comes to knives, so I've looked to alternatives. A quick self-audit showed me that I open a lot more boxes than I do cutting food, and the leading edge of a pry-bar can do a number on most packing tape I've encountered. So I've added more pry-bars to my collection than knives of late. I also find myself making adjustments to equipment and storage units to make things fit more often that I am cutting things. In my search for a more perfect EDC pry-bar, I came across this listing right ebay link for this very functional tool.
Machined from a solid billet of TC4 titanium alloy it lays 11cm long by 1.6cm wide and 1cm tall. It has a stiffening channel milled down it length on both sides a set of two crenellations at the tip end and three at the butt end as well as a deep scalloping for ergonomic grip. A lanyard hole at the butt end adds a good retention and draw option. The working end of the pry bar comes down to a symmetrical edge with a 2cm slope ending at a flat 1cm wide, 2mm final bevel.
Its not a chisel, its a pry bar and that final edge is strong whilst being fine enough to slip in to most locations I've needed to pry up. That said, some jobs have required a little persuasion either lifting, wedging or just tapping the tool in to get that wedge started. Once started though, the tool performs nicely, lifting with the sturdy and ergonomic body. After a long period of it living in my pocket along with other elements of my EDC I whipped up a small leather belt pouch from some scraps, where it has been a handy tool for all my prying, tape cutting and even occasional flat-head screw driving need. All in a mere 45g item.
This is a lovely tool that I've enjoyed using and just nice in the hand as a fidget toy.
When it comes to keeping extra gear on my person, and I am not wearing one of my PALS equipped belts, like the subtle SICC belt or the more hooah Condor GEN1 battle belt there are times when you still want to have a well mounted piece of gear, with a more regular belt, even if its the dual-purpose PM Leather hobble Belt ...
When you want to mount carry something with any really weight on a belt, there are really two things that you need to take into account, the strength and stiffness of the belt, and the weight, and method of use of the item to be carried.
A stable platform, such as that produced by Bladetech in the TEK-LOK belt clamping unit. This is a high density polymer belt clip that allows the user to fasten virtually any kind of load to a regular belt.
The principle is simple. A clam shell hinged design allows the user to
quickly and easily slip the mounting over a belt in place, and closes at
the bottom, with first a pair of pinch-to-open horns and then a latch
that folds up and around, locking the horns from pinching open, both of
which are held against the body when worn, keeping them protected from
any conceivable accidental release. Inside the clip there are a run of holes cut into the back face, into which two rubberised spacers which can be placed at a variety of spots in order to give the best hold on the belt, as well as eliminating slippage or wobble.
The business side of the clip however is the the flat faced plate which is dotted with a 3 x 3 grid of holes, through which rivets, screws and bolts can be threaded and fitted to the eyelets fitted to many of the holsters, magazine carriers, phone
holsters, knife sheaths and many other types of accessories that you will want to fit to belts and carry around with you. The inside face is recessed so your boltheads don't interfere with the belt, and ensure a safe and secure connection.
With bolts, and rubber spacers you can affix in many different combinations to allow you to set up whatever you are carrying to suit your needs, space and usage you had in mind.
The inner face of the TEK-LOK is slightly curved to marry with the body contours, the width of the top edge of the clip means it offers a stable platform, which as the load increases, becomes more and more important. I set mine up with my HHA ASOT-01 knife as an example and it ran really nicely.
One thing you'll find though is that you are at the mercy of the holster, sheath and carrier manufacturers, as the holes in the item to be mounted will determine how and where you can use the TEK-LOK, so bear that in mind, and if possible, try before you buy to ensure you get a good fit!
I took a bunch of Grey Ghost Gear pouches out for a hike up the easy daytrip, but possibly haunted Hanging Rock State Park, with my family, I wore pouches which I fitted out with a variety of hiking goods, in order to carry whatever needfulls I might have needed on the trip.
The pouches were filled with a variety of hiking goods, whatever I might have needed on the trip. One pouch I used was the 6×8 Utility Pouch .
The 6x8 Utility Pouch is designed to hold a variety of items, from medical supplies, a 1 quart GI canteen, Nalgene bottle, or other miscellaneous items. I put a 1L Nalgene in mine, as I wanted to stay hydrated on my hike up and down, as well as any clambering I'd be doing. Up and down rockfaces, into ravines and meandering through the alpine bush.
The pouch held up pretty well on my trip, and since, although I found that the 1L Nalgene bottle was a snug fit, and made for a tight zippering, which meant that a couple of times if I didn't zip it up tight it came loose, but I caught it before I lost my bottle. A 1 quart canteen fit easily enough, but I wanted more capacity than that.
Thanks to Anthony for the photography! You'll be seeing more of his work in this series...
I had a package arrive from First Tactical with two items, their very fancy and vicious looking Medium Duty Light, and this very substantial folding blade, the Diamondback Knife in tanto tip.
One of my good friends let me know, ll beaming smiles and swagger, that he had landed a beauty of a knife, in the ZU Bladeworx Floro Fighting Systems Knife, and was kind enough to lend it, and its accompanying trainer, for me to put together a review. Now, I'm a firm believer in having the right tool for the job, and also in having a fine, rugged and dependable blade to hand when the need arises. As it turns out, I had already been eyeing off one of the other ZU Bladeworx knives, so this was an excellent opportunity.
The Floro Fighting Systems is a system of edged weapon combat and defence that is reported to be not only simple to learn, but one of the most effective systems of self defence available today. I've not had the pleasure to attend any of their training, but the friend of mine who lent me the blade suggests they are fully legitimate.
Billed as efficient, direct and immediate, FFS is one of the very few styles that is still based on the blade, and is used by civilians and members of the military, and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
Reported to have over 30 years of experience, Floro has instructed internationally: US Special Forces, Korean Special Forces, various SWAT teams, and the New Zealand Police and nationally members of the Australian Federal Police and Military have individually sought private instruction. So, it seems the FFSK comes from a pretty grounded fighting system, so you'd expect their blade to back that up.
The blade itself is a karambit style knife, blended with a far straighter blade shape than those of the 5.11 Tactical Tarani CUB or the HHA-LFK01 far more like the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife. The FFSK is 235mm (9.25") long, 100mm (4.5") of which is double edged, hollow ground blade. The blade comes to a very severe point. A deep fuller ground into the middle of the blade lends rigidity as well as dropping the weight. Be very aware of the legal ramifications of your knife ownership and carry ramifications.
The 10mm (0.4") thick blade is cut from a single billet of A2 steel which has been double tempered and cryo treated to a RC58 hardness. The blade itself has been ground down to be 6.5mm (0.25") thick and a couple of holes have been drilled in the handle both to reduce weight and to add lashing cords should they be desired. It weighs in at around 200g (7oz) which is (33% lighter than the other ZU knives, the Punisher and 14% lighter than the Ghost), so it's a lean, mean fighting machine, Cerakoted in sniper gray.
The large ring at the butt end of the knife, in keeping with traditional karambit design generally being for the index finger to fit through. This can be used not only to retain the knife, but also as an impact weapon, to add force to a punch or as a hammering attack.
I was told that the Floro fighting system has a lot of punching style strikes, which seems to fit nicely with the traditional butt-ring acting as a knuckle duster, and the forwards sweep of the blade presents the edges for slashing or stabbing strikes nicely.
The blade comes with a kydex sheath which includes a clipping belt loop, and offers a snug fit for the bade, and is adjustable for left or right hand draws, it is set up to wear horizontally.
This is the official knife of the Ray Floro Fighting Systems syllabus and ships frighteningly sharp, sharpened in-house by "Dirty Harry", with the blade being designed and built in Australia. Even though I am unfamiliar with this kind of knife style the blade is very nicely balanced in the hand, and certainly feels like something you don't want to mess with. I can't say I like the cant of the blade, personally, but I can certainly see the intent behind it.
One other thing that I was both surprised and concerned about was that the accompanying trainer is really quite sharp. The Benchmade SOCB CQB trainer was weighted exactly the way the live-edge blade was made, but was fully blunted for some pretty serious full-speed stabbing and slashing action. The ZU trainer only weighs 60g, made of anodised aluminium but is every bit as pointy as the live-edge blade. I wouldn't want to do any training with this any faster than I would with the live blade. I'll leave that to Grand Masters and Jedi alike.
That all said, this is a fine knife and it certainly appears to be very purposefully designed, bearing the ZU Bladeworx "sterile" appearance and no-frills rugged design. If you're likely to be using a Filipino inspired style of knife combat, you might well be interested in this blade.
Here's another item from my bulk load of pouches and packs like the S10 Haversack that I have been slowly rolling out. I had a windfall of a truckload of army surplus gear ages ago, which have been sitting in the bunker, being musty, but there are some real gems in there. These may not be the cutting edge of high-speed, low-drag gear, but have been mil-spec at some stage, so they're damn tough, if nothing else.
This particular pouch came from a box full of here, and I just reached in and grabbed one at random. You can see it's already had a rough life, but has held together.
This double, dual-magazine carrying set of pouches is made of a high Denier (800-1000 I'd guess, by the feel) and are built into a single backing. From the frayed stitching marks, I'd guess that they originally came with some sort of Fastex style clips to act as the primary closure points for the box-like pouches, but was probably removed to speed things up in the field.
A broad loop-field panel on the front of the outside of the pouch acts as the primary closure as a result, with a corresponding hook-field inside the box-top lid. A tongue of webbing with a hook-field can be pulled out from inside the pouch to mate with the loop-field on the front to neutralize the hook-and-loop closure entirely, which was probably useful when the original Fastex loops were still in place.
Internally, the pouches have been given a polyurethane coating for additional waterproofing, and are double stitched throughout. Drainage grommets with a wire mesh grit filter are found in the bottom of each, this would act to keep the grit and sand out of your magazines, and was a nice little feature.
The inside of the box-lid has a little pocked sewn in, big enough for a MRE packet of waterproof matches, a P-38 can opener or maybe a button compass, I found a couple of match-packets and even a couple of water purification tablets when I went through the pouches.
The back panel of the pouches have several different ways to mount, and also shows the vintage of the pouches. ALICE style brass-wire belt hooks, and no PALS-MOLLE to be seen. A pair of steel rings allows extra strapping to be attached to sling the pouches, though the angle of the two ring mountings being different suggests there is a "right way" to do this. A question for the veterans out there. What gives?
The pouches have been stamped with a NSN, but they are all so aged that I couldn't make out the cage numbers. I'd say these pouches would work well doing double duty in much the same way as any of the Platatac FUP or bigger pouches I've grown to love, but with a far older look.
I wanted to go a little old-school for a bit, and cover some canvas era type pouches.
A while ago I covered an Australian issue butt-pack, that I had picked up a number of years ago, and this is along those lines. I managed to score a bulk load of retired stock in the way of pouches and bags, and these respirator haversacks were one of these.
These are British Respirator Haversacks which is NSN listed as 4240 99 800 9601. They are designed to carry the S10 respirator. I don't have a S10, but do have a full-face 3M 6000 series mask that fits nicely. Whilst I say canvas-era, these are actually a Codrura type nylon, for all the hard-wearing, non mildew and water-shedding goodness modern materials offer.
The bag measures 29 x 26 x11 cms (11" x 10" x 4.5" ) and weighs 475grams. Lacking more modern PALS/MOLLE fittings, the haversack has a couple of different attachment and carry options. A twin-stud openable belt-loop, which also features a wire hanger, from the old ALICE style fittings.
A long nylon strap with a Fastex style buckle allows for a quick waist or shoulder slung carry as well, and there is even a secondary shoestring type cold to further secure the pouch around the waist if shoulder-carried, or around the thigh id hip-carried. The cold can be secured out of the way if not in use, or removed entirely.
One side of the pouch features a hook-and-look pocket, a good size for a survival tin, a GPS unit or other small items you might need in a hurry.
The inside of the haversack is quite spacious, fitting one each of the 1L and 2L Pathopak containers with plenty of room to move. The internal dimension really give you a lot of carry capacity, and the haversack itself it very sturdily put together.
Inside the haversack, as well as the main spacious compartment are several other interesting features.
One hook-and-loop closing front pocket, and two webbing and hook-and-loop holders. These just took the 1L Pathopak's and I expect they are designed to fit additional filter canisters for the S10 respirator.
They would certainly work to fasten and store a number of smallish items, and when not in use, being made up a webbing, will simple squash out 0f the way.
The front pocket has a small hook-and-loop fixture, and features broad pockets sewn in, to fit NBC combo-pens, morphine syrettes, first aid kit, gloves and the like. They are made of the same material as the rest of the haversack, and whilst if they had been elasticized it would have been good, they probably work just fine in conjunction with the flap.
Even the top of the haversack's lid has some features, as well as the press-stud and hook-and-loop lined lip, there are twin bands of elasticized webbing, to allow you to affix a number of small items like more gloves, a first aid kit or the like.
These may not be flashy and new like a lot of other high-speed gear thats coming put, but they are rough, rugged, dependable and spacious.
If you have some bulky gear you want to have at hand, and in your ruck is just too far away, or perhaps you want to be able sling it to a buddy, stash it under a fuel depot or just need to fit your respirator ... the S10 haversack might well suit your needs.
It was primarily designed as a pistol magazine pouch, which I got to model with one of the Glock style iCombat CO2 training magazines the SUP mk II can carry a range of items including pistol magazines, multitools or knives, flashlights of up to 1” diameter bezel, flexicuffs and even OC spray if that's your thing.
The pouch has a hook-and-loop removable lid can be adjusted to securely fit items varying in length. There is an internal hard plastic plating within the flap, for one handed operation during the reload or access to your needfuls. Internal elastic retention on the sides allows the SUP mk II to act as a shingle for CQB application. Might not be as tacticool as a TACO pouch but they fully work. I have my second-hand Gerber multitool in one of mine, which lives in the small of my back on one of my rigger belts, everywhere I go.
These low profile pouches are great for storage of quick access items and are small enough to be placed anywhere on your rig without hindrance to your freedom of movement.
The pouch is fitted with PALS/MOLLE attachment system, with a single channel of two rows, one after another (no gape) so you can loop it a couple of ways. Instead of a press-stud closure it has a fiddly hook-field sewn into the bottom webbing loop, and the stiff plastic reinforced tongue has a corresponding field-loop, and a tab of webbing to use as a draw pull. I found this really difficult to set up right, as it was on the opposite side of the tab than I would have expected. This means that to fasten it it has to be doubled over, which made me pretty nervous about how well it attaches.
It's never come loose, even when I have had it rigged for a belt loop, rather than fed through other PALS/MOLLE but I'm just hesitant.
The drainage grommet in the bottom of the pouch nicely frames the needle-nose Gerber pliers, and seats them nicely, and having a good pouch for my multitool has been a crucial part of my EDC.
It was my birthday recently, and I was lucky enough to receive (from my mother, no less) this very nice piece from Hardcore Hardware Australia. This is a first because as far as I can recall, this is the first weapon gift I've received from her in all my 39 years. I guess she thinks I'm mature enough for cutting implements now...
I gifted Omega a HHA LFK01 knife for her birthday a couple of years ago, and it has featured as an accessory for numerous outings and adventures, be it wilderness or as a playtool for clubs that would give Mr Grey reason to pause. However, it took some time for me to get a HHA blade to call my very own, so I'm very leased to show off this, the newly released LFK-05. I did a Sneak Peek piece on the new series, and their badder brother, the ASOT-01. The LFK Series tools are designed primarily as overt carry, easy to reach back-up knives. These aren't thigh-sized jungle-slashers, these are close in and personal tools for when you need something small, shard and hardy.
Made from the same 6mm (0.23") D2 tool steel, as the original LFK-01, with full
tang construction
and a robust Teflon coating the blade isn't wrapped with paracord as previous HHA blades but is instead nonslip, ergonomically carved , G10 handle scales offering a positive and comfortable grip,
and are secured with Torx screw.
The neck of the blade features a grove for your leading (or little finger, if you are reverse gripping) and the spine features a broad sweep of jimping for secure
thumb pressure. The spear point design offers exceptional strength, yet
allows optimal maneuverability and edge-on geometry. You can see the pronounced glass-breaker point at the rear end, which also features a lanyard hole as well as full beveling to remove any sharp corners. Weighing in at 171g (0.37lb), this little knife only measures 172mm (6.77") in overall length, 70mm (2.75") of which is blade. The whole piece is only 45mm (1.77") at its widest. Due
to its size and weight, the LFK is an ideal choice where space on an
assault platform may be limited, on a belt where bigger blades might be "too much knife". These heavy-duty blades also bridge the
gap where full-sized, fixed blade knives may be unmanageable, and a
folder a poor compromise. I prefer fixed blades to folders in most situations, and having a small fixed blade is something I find desirable. I put up the LFK-05 against the LFK-01 here, as well as the comparably small but chunky MSM001 KA-BAR knife.
The blade is treated to a rather stiff 58 – 60 HRC which, thanks to the tool-tough D2 steel should put this in good stead for any task you care to throw at it. The LFK-05 is friction locked in a smartly moulded Kydex ambidextrous sheath. A set of eyelets around the edge of the sheath allows it to be fitted with a Tek-Lok™ mounting system for belt carry, which can be customised in vertical or horizontal positions.
Those eyelet holes along both sides of the sheath facilitates alternative attachment to the body or gear via paracord or cable ties, although I've found the friction lock too secure to work as a neck-knife, without wanting to give myself whip-lash. One thing I've found is that the fat-body G10 scale handle is not quite right for my bare hand, the gaps for finger grips and the finger grip at the neck don't quite mesh, just due tot the size of my hand. When gloved this is less noticeable, but something to note. I didn't have this issue with the cord-wrapped LFK-01, however, it is not a big enough problem for me not to love it. This is a rugged knife, nicely sized for belt wear, and fitting to any number of spaces on a harness, pack or where-ever you might find yourself in the need of a solid blade in a little package.