Review: NiteIze - CamJam

I love cordage and carabiners, and always keep an eye out for new systems. One such was coming up in my social media feeds were the CamJam Cord Tightener from NiteIze Innovation. The device is simple enough. a High-Density plastic hook, with a sping-wire gated closure, a cord feed hole, and a built-in toothed cam for binding and locking the cord under tension.  This particular version of the Cam-Jam is suited to 1/16th' (2mm) to 3/16th" (5mm) cordage and its feed hole is sized to accommodate this.  It weighs only a slight 1.69oz (16.00g) and measures 2.70" (68.57mm) x 1.35" (34.30mm ) x 0.58" (15.34mm).  The cam is a tear-drop shaped piece of the same material as the rest of the clip. It has a hollow on the underside which friction lock onto a knob on the body of the clip. A tensioning bar at the rear of the clip fits into a ridge on the back of the cam, presses the cam into the body.

 

On the "back-side" of the clip where the cord feed hole (the "eye") comes out has a channel to guide the cord "downwards" away from the clip. this ensures the standing end of the cord is held in parallel with the cam. This, in turn, maintains pressure on the cam, reducing lateral slippage on the working end.  This is important as the teeth of the cam are not especially aggressive nor is the tensioning bar especially tight.

The CamJam works by having anchored cord fed through the hole and passed beside the cam where the hole is, the clip end can the be clipped onto whatever it's being fixed to. The working end of the cord can be pulled taught through the eye and "set" with the cam. 

NiteIze recommends fitting some kind of stopper-knot on the working end. and I think some kind of hitch on the bright is the best way to go, to prevent total failure, should the cam-slip. Which it does, quite a bit.

One thing I found was that the Cam Jam did assist in belaying the line in order for me to set a more secure knot in place, such as a hitch on a bight or a truckers hitch. The "eye " and feed channel feature are useful regardless of the reliability of the cam and the spring wire clip of the carabiner might be light-duty but the whole unit is. It's not climbing rated, which means you don't want to put your life on the line with it.  

Have a bundle of firewood to haul? have a tarp or tent fly to secure? This should do the job. Need to lash the escape ship to a pier? Get a heftier tool. 

The CamJam Cord Tightener features the strong plastic body of a carabiner combined with a locking cam mechanism for a knot-free way to tighten, tension, and secure light loads. The CamJam can be clipped to fixed anchor points and the cam mechanism will lock cord in place with the desired amount of tension.   There is a smaller version of the Cam Jam, the CamJam Mini is meant to be used with cord 1.8mm - 3mm. Which is to say, dummy cord, hootchie cord  and guy lines and only weighs 0.18oz | 5.00gand measuring only  a slight 1.75" (44.60mm)x 0.90" (22.63mm) x 0.37"(9.50mm) but smaller and lighter doesn't really equate to stronger and chunkier, though the smaller cam does bite quite well on the paracord.

Review: Gearlex Ear Clip

I wanted to upgrade my accessory carrying capacity without adding my weight, or adding to my magnetic signature. (I rarely go through metal detectors, but whenever I do, it's a bigger and bigger pain each time). I use ITW Grimloc's on a bunch of my bags and harnesses, which are good, but have a "pop-open" thresh-hold that I have had come open at inopportune times.  

I saw that Hornest SG was stocking a bioplastic carabiner that looked to be suiting my needs. These are the Gearlex Ear Carabiners.  These weather and chemical resistant clips are made from 62% renewable materials and ends up being 15% lighter than nylon materials and are reported to retain that toughness down to  -60oC, in case you are intending to go yomping in Vladivostok or Mawson Station.

At the broad top of the "ear" shapes, the clips feature a 1" webbing loop, with a split notch for feeding it into the location of your choice. 

Unlike the webing notch of the of the Grimloc, the Gearlex webbing loop is on the outside of the carabiner, not the inside. This frees up the internal area of the carabiner to give more space for attached objects, and adds freedom of movement. 

However, it makes me worry about how much of a load the clip can take. The large Ear clips are rated to a max of 78kg and the small to 60kg, which is vastly more than the Grimloc's 36kg break-point. I rather empirically tested it manually by pulling it looped through my webbing , and it held in place to the point of hurting my hand and with the stitching straining.

The gate of the carabiner is fitted with a dovetail locking mechanism which adds to the strength of the gate and is one of several locks now standard throughout the climbing world.  The inside, weight bearing rim of the carabiner is thicker, to distribute the load, but the back edges have a broad rib for stability and strength, without adding too much mass. 

The carabiners are clearly not climbing rated, and come with warnings not to be "load-bearing" but that said, for the strapping of accessories, like water bottles, dummy cords or even strapping on smaller packs to bigger packs, such as the Hill People Gear Runner's Bag, or the Zulu Nylon Gear CAOS admin pack or even perhaps a daypack, for those of us who pack like we're about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.  

Gearlex produce these in Black, Coyote and Ranger Green, and I got one of the clips in black, one in ranger green and a small one in Ranger Green as well, to give me some options when I am setting them up and using them, to match or contrast the gear they are attached to.


Not as hardy and load-bearing as an aluminium or steel climbing carabiner, bigger and more stable than a Grimloc, the Gearlex Ear Clips fill the niche between a light accessory clip and a heavy-duty carabiner.

Both have their places and uses, but for something in-between, you might find that the Gearlex clips, in big and small suits your needs.

Review: TrueUtility - FIXR

This is a fun little tool that was sent to me by the folks at True Utility, who stock all number of nifty gadgets and gizmos. I've been keeping it in my pocket along with my pocket EDC for the last few months, finding uses here and there, and I thought I might tell you a little about it here.

It's only a little tool, and only fit for small tasks, but there are times when only a small tool is required and having something that is "just so" is all you need.

This is the20 tools in 1 FIXR by True Utility.

Constructed of a black titanium coated, 422 grade stainless steel with a silver stainless steel disc, rotating on sprung stainless steel ball bearings - The FIXR is a flat, light, strong, and definitely useful tool.

Formed around a wire-gated carabiner, it will clips to a variety of narrow loops, hooks and straps and is always ready for use, with a considerable array of tools crammed within a very small small space. The brass rotating tool plate serves to protect and keep all the tools safe when the FIXR is not in use.

It simply twists with a push of the thumb on its sprung bearings to click definitively into set positions to use the driver bits, nail cleaner, extra sockets, razor sharp cutter and wire stripper.

A full breakdown of the tools is:

1. Wire-gated carabiner
2. Bottle Opener
3. Nail Cleaner
4. Large Flat Screwdriver
5. Medium Flat Screwdriver
6. Small Flat Eyeglass Screwdriver
7. Medium Phillips Screwdriver
8. Small Phillips Screwdriver
9. 14mm Spanner/Wrench
10. 12mm Spanner/Wrench
11. 10mm Spanner/Wrench
12. 8mm Spanner/Wrench
13. 6mm Spanner/Wrench
14. Bicycle Spoke Wrench
15. Cutting Blade
16. Wire Stripper (by combining the blade with the notch of the tool disk)
17. cm Ruler
18. Box Opener
19. Pry Bar
20. File

I would have put the file along one of the thin edges so you could use it as a metal-cutting tool, but it certainly works to round off any rough edges of things you might find bothering you. Wire, glass, ceramic, fingernails or teeth, it's surprisingly bitey.

The FIXR has proven itself worth the space it takes in my pocket, and I've mended a number of things, opened packages, and pried a few stuck items with it. Smaller than a multitool but still packing a fair number of useful items in one little package, if you want a "forget about it till you need it" tool this certainly fits the bill.

Review : Klecker KLAX Lumberjack axe

I finally received my KLAX Kickstarter axe-head in the mail, after languishing I development hell for a while, getting the engineering tweeked. The KLAX is a multi-tool built into the head of an ax.  It allows you to attach the ax head to a handle quickly in the field.  It uses the nested clamping system shown here.   The clamps rotate out from the handle for use. The multifunction options are what really drew to me to the KLAX, and I was very curious to see how the fold-away stow-away option worked.

The Lumberjack is the Klecker high-end stainless steel model with the most features. The first three models are all made from heat treated SUS420J2 stainless steel which is perfectly balanced for keeping an edge and maintaining strength. Klecker do offer a Gucci, titanium version of the Lumberjack model as well, but I wanted to stick to steel for a hatchet head.

The Lumberjack features, as well as a fairly broad axe head, an Ulu knife blade, a hammer head,
cutting/gut hook, a set of skeletonized hex wrench set (19mm, 15mm, 13mm, 12mm, 10mm, 8mm), as well as a 1/4” hex bit driver socket, an inch ruler along the hammer-head, a lanyard hole and an inset wire-gate carabiner (which can be used to clip the sheathed axe-head to the outside of a pack) and a bottle-opener (mate!), all coupled with their Patent Pending clamping system.

The hardness of the axe is around 48-52 HRc. The purpose of this hardness level is to give it the strength it needs to work as an axe but keep it from being too hard. Too hard, and you risk chipping and shattering. 

The clamps are centered on a 1/4"-28 threaded bolt shaft which requires over 450kg (1000lbs) of load to shear it, so you're talking a fair amount of chopping to risk that.

The "front" clamp is threaded and rides along the threaded section of the bolt shaft. It is activated from its stowed position by rotating the nut at the back. When the head is inserted into the handle, it is screwed down and clamped in place by turning the knob the other way.

The "rear" clamp rotates out of the handle and is spring loaded to drop into a notch specially shaped to hold it in place. Once the clamp is tightened, it cannot be turned, bent, or otherwise moved until you loosen the system with the nut.

The KLAX is cut from a 5/16" thick SUS420J2 piece of steel plate with a water jet and then machined to add the side bevels, the caribiner pocket and the cutting edges on axe blade.

The clamps themselves are also 5/16" thick and are extremely rugged as well. Like the head, the clamps are heat treated in order to increase their strength considerably.

The clamps are working correctly when they are seated in the handle notches and have been fully "seated".

To seat the clamps into the handle,   its just a matter of tightening the nut, hitting the axe a few times (blade or hammer, it doesn't matter,) the first few times you use it, and tighten the clamps as tight as you can by hand.

Repeating the process, until the head is secure and then it is ready to go. Given the transitory nature of the attachment, it makes good sense to  to check the head periodically and re-tighten as needed.

Kleker suggest that typically it will no longer loosen after about five minutes of use, but make sure to check it anyway.

I've had some fun chopping wood and things with it thus far, and it certainly seems like a great back-up axe to stow in the outside pockets of a hiking pack, and even without the custom fitted hardwood handle, taking the Lumberjack into the field allows you to use a locally sourced piece of wood,trimmed and split with the ulu blade, and then slid over the head. The clamps just need the roughest of notches for the clamps to seat into, and the self-compressing nature of the clamps will pinch down a split log to give an extra tight grip.

I haven't had a chance to try this out yet, and Klecker recommend only using filed-expedient handles when needed, as they can't be readily depended on, but it sounds like a fun activity.

So, all in all, the KLAX succeeds in providing a very useful tool to use in a pinch. It will do a good job at a lot of small tasks, but won't replace a full sized dedicated tool but packs a lot into a small package. Just my kind of multi-function tool.Check them out at this years NSSF SHOT show, on right now.

Find one on Amazon here:

Review: Eagles Nest Outfitters - DoubleNest hammock

 Summertime brings hot winds and hot houses here in Melbourne, and having some options to escape the heat are always welcome.

Several years ago, in the lead up to a camping expedition, my partner Anstia gave me a hammock, which I have subsequently set up in my back yard for when the weather is good.

I've enjoyed hammocks whenever I've had the chance to make use of one, but until now, had never owned a production one myself.

This particular model is the charmingly named Double Nest by Eagles Nest Outfitters.

Made of a breathable, quick drying nylon and constructed with heavy duty triple stitched seams, this is a sturdy piece, even for all its light weight material.


This model has a carrying capacity of 180kg (400lbs) and is designed to accommodate two people.

When set up, it measures 2.85m x 1.85m (9' 4" x 6' 2") which gives plenty of space to stretch out, even for a long body like me, and the width has made it possible for me to swing happily, even with one or two of the offspring in with me. I can well imagine being able to squeeze another adult sized person in with me, or if I were fully kitted out, give myself a place to get some rest.

When folded up, the hammock stows in its own sewn-in stuff sack, with a built-in compression strap,
and packs down to a 10cm diameter, 12 cm high bundle (4" x 5")and weighs only 565g (20 oz). This is small enough that it can sit in almost any bag, and even a few larger pouches (like the Tactical Tailor Joey hydration pouch) with ease.

The hammock comes with sturdy rope loops at each end, and a carabiner attached on to those. Eagles Nest Outfitters offers a range of lashing straps, and attachment kits, but I simply use regular poly rope.

At home I have it secured it to my verandah's steel superstructure, mounted very low so Tactical baby and Triceratops Girl can clamber into it unassisted. Out in the field, I would use reclaimed seat-belt webbing (as it would give good surface connection to trees, rocks and the like, without the rough treatment rope might give tree bark). You can see here that being a double sized hammock, there was plenty of material to wrap myself with, when in it myself.

The trick is to be sure that the attachment method is safe and secure, and fit to bear the load you are intending to suspend. Given a second line, and a poncho, it would be possible to easily make a rain shelter, as well as a bug-screen, with some mesh, which would also ball up into a tiny space. Perfect for catching some rack time, especially in inclement conditions, post disaster when regular accommodation becomes unavailable.

I've often though that being able to sleep safe, dry and secure is a luxury that everyone should work towards, and if you are able to do so, sleeping up off the ground is always my preference.

Review: Hazard4 Labs: LaunchPad iPad sleeve

I've been keeping an eye on the upcoming products from Hazard4 Labs, who made the replacement to my old harness, the  RG harness that I keep the majority of my EDC in.  

They have finally released their Poncho (review coming soon!)
and I got one of these very cool cases thrown in for good measure, along with another item, which I have not yest started testing.

This is the LaunchPad iPad sleeve.

Made to fit the iPad 1 and iPad 2, with an internal capacity 28.5cm x 21 cm (11.1" x 8.2"), the sleeve is constructed from an Invista® 1000D Cordura, giving it a very rugged and scuff resistant exterior. The interior is lined with a faux-suede material which has been quilted over an internal padding material.

This gives a really nice body to the sleeve, and not only provided non-slip carriage for my iPad, but also proffered a not inconsiderable level of bump, drop and scratch protection to it. 

Two grometted (and screened) air-vents prevents that puffiness that padding can get from time to time.

 I'm not overly precious with my technology, as my collection of screen-guards and cases will attest. I've found that my iPad screen has taken several rough trips when I've over-packed my Bullock Echo daypack, with my iPad sitting loose in it's helmet carrier section. 

Exactly the kind of abuse the LaunchPad will protect it from.

The internal closure is from two patches of hook-and-loop, which features cleverly recessed hook-fields, really improving the sleek lines of the sleeve. The main closure is provided by a shock-cord loop, with a sewn-webbing pull tab, that is fed through an eyelet in the lid, and hooks around a plastic tri-glide buckle.
 
The back side of the sleeve brings its own set of goodies. Four rows of six channel PALS/MOLLE line the back, with the top three rows sporting loop-fields between them, for ID patches (or in this case my ITS Tactical membership tab). The idea being that you can attach accessory pouches to the sleeve (for chargers and cables, or whatnot) or mount the whole sleeve to something with PALS/MOLLE strips like the MOLLE Stix, Blackhawk S.T.R.K.E. speed clips or the like. I could see this on a pack, or the back of a plate carrier. 

At the bottom left of the back of the sleeve is the final feature, the steel "carbine type" triangular gear loop for attachment of a carabiner, keychain, or wristloop. I haven't yet hooked anything to it, still looking for the right combination, but it's a really thoughtful addition to an elegantly constructed and designed tablet storage sleeve. 

The sleeve isn't water or dust proof, but it does offer almost total coverage, and the Cordrura is water resistant, at least. Consider it a 3-season tent for your tech.

Review: ITW GrimLOC

 When you start to collect a lot of gear, gadgets and kit, the question of "how do i get this to stay on, when I stow it, but come off when I want to use it?" comes up. I've used carabiners for years and years, to attach my keys, wallet and the like to me, mostly using the lightweight accessory carabiners you find hanging by cash-registers. Occasionally I have purchased proper climbing-rated ones, for when I've either been climbing, or wanted to carry some serious gear.

The natural progression for me is to see what others are using, which lead me to these: Apparently originally designed to allow Marines to add hydration systems to their webbing, this is the ITW Grimloc, and they offer a lightweight alternative to metal carabiners for gear storage and utility.

The high strength polymer provides a corrosion resistant, solar heating thermally resistant and lightweight alternative to steel or even aluminium carabiners, for non-load rated tasks. I've read that the breaking rating on the GrimLOC is 80lbs (36kg) and this is actually a design feature.  It prevents the wearer becoming caught up in slings and gear and trapped in potentially a threatening situation. It is also strong enough to take a fair amount of rough treatment, as a sling connection point to a plate carrier, for instance, without compromising utility.

 The way it works is that the curve of the D is hinged, with a locking end which operates by a push button. This mechanism is spring loaded, and incorporates a very clever Self Purging "SP" ports along the sides of the D to eliminate sand from blocking the mechanism.

These ports, along with the deeply fluted sides of curve of the D also add to the positive grip needed for   wet or gloved hands. This also reduces mass and adds strength.



 The locking mechanism will pop open given sufficient force, but will also open with a simple one handed press on the button, and opens partially, or with a little more force locks into an open position.

I've used this to hook my phone case to, run hydration tubes and comms cables over and round my shoulder straps and even offer a quick spot to dangle a bag.

The real magic of the design however, is the built in PALS/MOLLE loop feature.

That angled slit 1/4 along the length of the bar of the D allows enough of a standard 1" webbing strap to be fed into the gap that it will be able to be slotted in, secured into position, without compromising the strength of the clip, and eliminated the dreaded "carabiner roll" where the gate can migrate away from where you want or need it, usually pinching you in the process.

Here are a couple holding my ZuluNylonGear CAOS Admin Pouch to my Platatac Bullock Echo

When fitted properly, the GrimLOC will sit in place, where you need it, for as long as you need it, and come out without any fuss or tools.

I usually fit mine such that when they open, the gate forms a hook, rather than dropping my gear down to the ground. I suppose if I really wanted to go for the "high-speed/low-drag" alternative, I could flip them around, but really, I'd prefer to keep my gear snagged to me at this stage. I know, such a Geardo ...

These are great clips, come in a variety of colours to math your kit, and fill the gap that el-cheepo accessory carabiners simply can't be trusted  to fill.

Review: Platatac - Bush Dax pants

I was very sorry to hear that some of my favorite pants, the Platatac Urban Dax (wearing them right now, in fact) didn't make it out of prototyping, and certainly not to market.

There are all kinds of business reasons for this kind of thing to happen, but in the end, I am just grateful that I got to grab a pair whilst they were available.  I saw some advertised on the Platatac eBay shop but not in my size,and I was worried that I might never get another pair like them.

I'd seen some of the Platatac TacDax in the "news" and when I pestered the guys about bringing back the Urban Dax, or if they had any laying about in the warehouse, they hooked me up with a set of their in-between line, the Bush Dax.

"Dax" (or dacks), for those of you who aren't aware are an Aussie colloquialism for pants, especially track suit pants. Rhyming slang ... I've never really gotten it, but, there you go.

The Bush Dax follow the same generous lines as the Urban Dax, with some interesting variations and different features.

First up, the material is slightly different, perhaps a combination of treatment and weight of fabric, but felt more like cotton duck than the Urban Dax. With the same generous crotch, with both reinforced seat and crotch, I have been perfectly confident squatting, throwing my leg over walls and generally scrambling about in them. I've torn the crotch out of so many lesser pants I cant begin to state how important that is to me.

Next up are the array of pockets available.

Like the Urban Dax, these have a variety of ambidextrous pockets, ten in total: Regular "jeans-style" pockets right where you expect them , and are nicely placed, and a good depth. I'm so glad I have pants with pockets and am allowed to use them ... The jeans-pockets don't have any internal pockets.

 Same goes for the backside pockets, hook-and-loop secured flaps cover up essentially a standard jeans-seat pocket.

The front and sides are where the magic starts. There are two small pockets on the front of each quad. These are billowed, and also feature hook-and-loop closures, and easily fit my iPhone in its Strike Industries BattleCase with quick-pull ring.

The sides of the ubiquitous cargo-pocket feature a mesh-lined side pocket, with a zipper closure, which in turn are deep enough to easily store my hefty HexBright Flex flashlight and keep it in place for when i need it, especially if I'm sitting.

You can also see that I have connected my lanyard to one of the integral accessory loops that are found at each of the 60mm belt loops, offering a solid place to anchor your gear without clogging up your belt and belt loops.

As with all the Platatac gear, and clothes, these are seriously well put together, double stitched on all the major load-bearing seams, and bartacked at the joints.



 Here is the most important feature, to my mind, and my principle test. The main cargo-pocket, with its twin spot hook-and-loop closures, and billowed sides, for high capacity storage, with happily fit my iPad.

Silly you might think, or at the best, totally POG of me, but given my day-to-day activity, having somewhere I can stash my iPad is quite a benefit.  It also gives a nice standard measure. So, with my excuses aside, I can run, climb, crawl around under things and then whip out my iPad to access whatever data or app i need ... great pocket. Again, it lacks any of the internal compartments that the Urban Dax had, but that simplicity probably saved the design from the cutting-room floor.

I have a lot of EDC gear, and the spacious pockets of the Bush Dax meant that I didn't have to worry about jamming it all into ta couple of pockets, but distribute it into workable zones.

The position and placement of the pockets was really comfortable, something is is occasionally missed (or perhaps, given my preying mantis proportions, I just don't fit where makes expect pockets to sit), but with the Bush Dax, I had nothing to complain about.

One thing I didn't may much attention to was the elastic drawstring blousing available in the ankles. (which are the saem as found in the ADF DPCU uniform, apparently). Good for keeping crap out of your legs, but for my needs, a bit too much, so i left them slack, and able to drape over my boots, to keep me looking a little bit civilized ..

Lastly, a really cool feature that I haven't had a lot of success with, are the knees.





Each knee has a hook-and-loop closing pouch at the base of the knee, which opens up to allow a knee-pad to be inserted, with a little effort, and placed one of my smaller pads in the pouch (I left one out to give an idea of scale, these are Team Wendy KEPS Sleak elbow pads.

I found that the opening was very narrow, even for a narrow pad like an elbow pad.
Perhaps there is a better way of doing it?

Anyone?

So, that aside, these are some great pants, not heavy, or stiff, but neither are they lightweight, and offered me versatility in my wardrobe, without sacrificing utility or hardiness.

Review: CRKT - Eat'N Tool

I really love my pocket tools, and I really love it when they are multifunction. I also love eating, and am really quite fond of proportional violence. I have several pieces of eat-wear in my collection already, the Alpha Set from Sea to Summit being one example, and my Snowgum BattleSpork (same article) being another. So when I felt the need to splurge on a bit of eating tech, I picked some of these up. This is the CRKT Eat'N Tool. I like CRKT, they have elegant and functional tools, like my STIFF KISS camping/car knife and Folding KISS EDC knife

Once again, CKRT have come up with the goods.


The Eat'N Tool is primarily a spork, with a nice dish (although probably not what you'd always want to eat your soup with) and four little tines, very elegantly worked into the tip. Made of
3CR13 steel and available in a bead-blast finish (9100C), or with a food grade black non-stick coating (9100KC) like the once I have here. 

The tool's scalloped sides and center hole give a good comfortable grip, and enough purchase to be used as an improvised mood-adjustment tool (like the Nukotool Skully)

A bottle opener is always a welcome addition! 
 On the back side, three metric wrench reliefs (10 mm, 8 mm, 6 mm) give you some on hand adjustment options of another kind, again aiding to reduce the overall weight down to a mere 43g (1.5 oz). A flathead screw driver adds another on-the-spot fix-it tool to the package, as well as

There is also a lanyard hole, for even more dummy-cording goodness. 




The Eat'N Tool is friendly in the pocket, I haven't gouged myself on it yet, nor did it gouge my hip pocket (proverbially, as I don't carry my wallet back there).


I'm thinking of giving them away to friends for Giftmas...

Click here to go to Think Geek to get one ...

Review: CountyComm Dropline carabiner spool

A shipment of goodies arrived that some friends and I all got together for, and I picked up a few cool things. This is something I'd had my eye on for a while, and wanted to add to my EDC pile. I have carried lengths of cord both on my person, and in my bag for a long time now, there is something very comforting about having a bunch of paracord on hand.

The problem however, is how to stow it, and have it ready. Previously I have bundled up my lengths in hojojuitsu style, in neither hayanawa or “fast rope”, or torinawa ("capture-rope") type bundles. These are self-contained and feeding bundles, but are only practical for kind of short lengths, 8m being the typical length I use, but for longer, more utilitarian lengths, some other method is needed. Paracord often comes in 100' lengths and even that is a lot of cord to hump around.

However, my fellow blogger, and knot-maker of high repute, Stormdrane worked with CountyComm to come up with this, a highly functional spool, on a carabiner, in the form of their Drop-Line RLD. This is purported to hold 50' of paracord, or 100' of of 3/32 Tether cord (which is a thinner, "dummy-cord", not unlike the Australian "hootchie cord" for doing tie-downs of gear and as guy-ropes.)

The spool consists of a Omega-Pacific Standard Locking D carabiner which incidentally has a 31kN rating along its major axis, (and is the same brand as the Rappel Rings, I reviewed a while back) and the internal Delrin® wheel which is a rigid, low-friction polymer which in this case has a split down one side to fit it to the carabiner, and two notches, one on the inside, to attach the internal end of the cord, and one on the outer rim to lock down the loose end.

You can see I started off with the best of intentions in looping my 50' of cord, feeding smoothly and tightly from side to side until I reached the rim of the spool, with about 6' or cord left to go. I could have trimmed this off, but i wanted to see just how much I could fit whilst still being able to open and fit the carabiner. In the end, with a messy attempt at the zig-zag spooling, I managed to get all 50' onto the spool, AND was just able to open the gate wide enough to feed it onto PALS/MOLLE webbing, as seen here, nestled between my Half Med Kit and the FUP I use as a bottle holder on my pack.

I've wanted to get one of these for a while, mostly because of their simple utility, and elegant solution to a common problem, and now that I have one, I want more... Perhaps I can give that zig-zag another go ...

Review: Omega Pacific Rappel Rings

Here is a quick one today, of another piece of climbing kit that I recently added to my collection. After reading a thorough review by ITS's Jeff More I was inspired to seek some out for myself. There are the Omega Pacific Rappel Rings. These solid forged aluminium rings are really elegant, and fit in the hand very nicely. Apart from having great aesthetics (and a Particular name emblazoned on their sides), the functionality of these is belied by their subtle design. The rings are rated as having a 20kN minimum breaking strength (around 2000kg or 4400lbs).

The manufacturer goes to lengths to state they are not intended for repeated lowering, not to be used as a rappel or belay device (e.g. ATC, SBGII, Figure-8 or any other friction device). They state that it is intended solely as a hardware alternative to bail-out slings, webbing and cord, and that advice should be headed. That said, I see the utility of the device as a means to reducing rope-on-rope friction, as an ad-hoc pulley or cinching point. I have yet to use mine as Jeff from ITS has, but I'll be keeping a set in my bug-out-bag as well as a set with my regular climbing kit. Having a set of rings to feed rope through for hoisting and binding, through to use as a rappelling station appeals greatly to me. Now to acquire some tubular webbing and fashion a set of slings!

I also have a set I have been keeping in my pocket, if for no other reason that they chime nicely, and have served as a chew-toy for Tactical-Baby up untill this week, when she cut her first tooth. Still, I hope to find a number more uses for these simple, expendable tools.