Review: EDC Monster Titanium Multi-function Pry Bar

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.

Review: titanium pry bar

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.

Review: Tactica Talon

Here's a thing. How often do you find yourself in need of a tool for a quick fix? A loose screw, a non-twist bottle, a package to open. Often, the tool you need is buried in a drawer or lost in the tool shed, turning a 20 second job into 5-10 minutes. Or worse, you find yourself in a tricky tool situation away from home. Even the most efficient bug out bag or EDC can be a pain to rummage through. There's only so much you can load your cargo kilt up with before you get the jingle-shakes or worse, slippage. One solution to this is to combine multiple tools in to one lightweight system.

One such system is the Tactica M100 Talon. It certainly qualifies a "the tool you keep with you". It's lightweight, compact, versatile and might just be your new best prepping lifestyle friend. Whether it's mountain biking, snowboarding or just around the house, the Tactica Talon has got your back. Right there in your back pocket.

The Talon is designed and made in Melbourne. My home town so it was especially exciting or me to back and support the Kickstarter for it. So, here's what it is. Primarily a Hex bit driver, with a climbing carbiner form factor. At its core a hardened stainless steel frame wrapped in a pocket tech friendly lightweight composite material that won't scratch your valuable iDevices as well as being 40% lighter than titanium.

Inside the body of the composite component is a space for two 1/4" hex drivers retained by a removable silicone rubber slot-plug (Phillips + flat head included). The narrow-eye of the tool is cut to act as a multi-wrench with two versions being Imperial - 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 9/16in or the Metric - 5, 6.25, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14mm versions. Both versions have a 1/4" Hex socket built into the body as a heavy duty driver. The "mouth" of the storage slot is the primary hex driver, and is fitted with magnetic tool retainer in its side to assist with that.

The big end of the "wide-eye" of the carabiner is also fitted with a bottle opener. A raised notch on the "back" of the tool acts as a snag free, TSA safe Package Opener. ( ha, so they say. )

Inside the lip of the wrench holes are rulers, on either side, metric on one and imperial on the other. They are only small so you wont be checking fish-size or the like but perfect for sizing hardware like drill bits and bolts up. Beside the bottle opener in the "eye" is a hole drilled for a key chain split-ring. keeping it out of the way for using the wrench.
I don't think I'd use this at all as this isn't a tool I would put on a keychain, but it certainly could work for that. One thing I did like about its design is the view-port cut through the side which shows you if a hex- bit is inside. not quite big enough to see what kind of head, but certainly a sanity check to see if its one or two tools stored with a quick back and forth rattle check.

The slot-plug has two friction lugs to hold it in place but is fully removable, which makes the whole assembly easier to put together and reduces the chance of it tearing after repeated use but the fat that it could become detached and lost and the stored hexbits along with it is a small worry. The slot-plug is tight fitting and I have no such worry of it coming loose by accident.

My biggest gripe was the out-of-the-box realization that it shared the "form factor" of a Carabiner, it was in fact NOT set up to clip open. Few moving parts means simpler manufacturing and a stronger overall design.it would be convenient if it would auto-clip to bags, packs and pants, but it is narrow enough that it can be clipped to an existing carabiner and hung ready for use. Measuring in at 80mm x 40mm x 12mm (3.154"x1.57"x0.47") and weighing in at a slight 45g (1.6 oz).

Given its composite encapsulation and lack of any sharp or rough edges, it makes an excellent pocket carry. Ready when you need it and not wearing holes or scratching screens.

The angle of the primary hex driver lends itself to the Talon siting nicely in the palm of the hand though the short hex-bits can leave the access to whatever is being driven to be quite tight. It's certainly not a tool for hard and everyday use, get full sized driver for that. This is a tool for small jobs and "I just need to fix this one thing" jobs. It will however, put together an Ikea Billy bookshelf up like no-ones business.

Go further and do more than single flat or a Phillips head will do but the great minds at Tactica came up with this; a12 Bit Toolpack giving you a great selection of hex bits to use. They have chosen a solid cross selection of bits that would cover most circumstances whether it's at home, work or on your next adventure. The Toolpack contains the following hex bits: Phillips #0, #1, #2 Flathead #3, #4, #5 Allen key sizes 3mm, 4mm, 5mm and most excitedly Torx T10, T15, T25. The full set weighs only 80g (2.8 oz) a small price to pay for the added utility of having the right head to hand.

The collection of bits are titanium coated (for longer wear protection) and ruggedly ground, for greater fortitude. Comparing the included bits with those of the MiniInch tool pen systems and they are stubbier and more ruggedly produced than the grey MiniInch bits but otherwise fully compatible, other than being unable to store two in the Talon's internal storage due to length.

There have been reports that the box opener tool blunts after limited use, but given it is a spire of plastic, I'm neither surprised nor concerned. My only other gripe with it is the lack of an integral clipping mechanism as previously mentioned. And the wide turning circle of the main hex driver which is a bit tricky in tight spots.

Review: sKey

It's no secret that I am a big fan of keychain tools. I've covered dozens over the years, and there are a number secreted away within my EDC, much to the chagrin of airport security and delight of random "I broke my widget" people of the workplace and dinner party alike.
I keep an eye on the Kickstarter "tools" posts and cool-tool sites alike. The SKey is neat little tool that is jam packed with features. This is the new and improved version, in titanium. Yay Titanium. From top to bottom: a Key ring hole.

A very fine hole, just wide enough to feed a split-ring through. Wrench holes. I got the Metric system version which was 4mm, 8mm and 10mm sized holes, the Imperial system version has 14/4" and 5/16" openings. Bottle Opener. what pocket tool would be complete with out the generally supplanted bottle-cap opener. I usually drink screw-caped drinks, but its always good to be the hero and pop a budddies beer-bottle when they've a need. Saw-blade. A set of 13 straight-cut teeth with no fleam this make for a limited rip-saw action, but it'll do in a pinch where you need to saw rather than cut or chop.

Two-head screw bit: secured in the center of the tool in a gap cut into through the center is 1/4" tool bit, with a flat head driver at one end and a chunky Phillips head at the other. The supplied bit is 32mm long, so swapping it out with your own bits of comparable length should be possible. New silicone band: From heir last campaign's version feedback, they learned that it was very hard to keep the bit in place by manufacturing precision alone. The bit is either too tight or too loose. So they developed the new silicone band to keep the bit secure, the band doesn't get in the way while opening bottle or other functions.

Its easy to slip off to make full use of the saw as needed and the bit pops right out. Screw driver hole: Paired with our two-head screw bit, Skey can be used as screw driver with this 1/4" socket. The bit has a ball-bearing detente to keep it in positive fitting and the sKey body adds quite a bit of torque. Box opener: They "pointy end" of the sKey can be used as box opener and works like a charm. The broad chisel end not only acts as a scraper, and a flathead screw-driver, as well as turning the entire tool into a functional, if small, pry-bar. Wire peeler: in the middle of the Skey box-opener end is a notch designed to work as a wire stripper is quite handy for simple electrical device repairing. The deep, sharp sided notch is perfect for stripping quite fine wires.

It's a handy tool and is cutting edge free, keeping it out of the grabby hands of most Eagle-eyed airport security guards.









https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/35126180/skey-key-shaped-titanium-multi-tool-now-in-black

Review: MetalDreamer - PINCH multitool

Always on the lookout for new and exciting titanium pocket tools, when the Pinch tool came up on Kickstarter, I could hardly restrain myself. Given the very affordable pledge levels I didn't feel bad about chipping in, and was pleased to see an envelope arrive in the mail not too long after. Created and designed by Jeff Morin the Pinch is the smallest tool in the MetalDreamer lineup it is billed as the go-to tool when you're in a Pinch! Cute.

Packing 11 functions into its 1.5" x .5" design, the Pinch has a surprising amount of home-fixit application in mind in one little package.

With a mini pry bar, bottle cap opener, 6-mm hex wrench, wire stripper, nail puller, keychain eyelet, 1” mini scraper, hex driver bit holder, and two flathead screwdrivers. I ordered mine in metric, so it also features a 3cm ruler etched into the scraper side as well.

I opened a few bottles, pried open some tightly sealed tins, and scraped some stickers with it, and it seems to live up to its intent, but the small size makes it quite difficult to apply much torque, but you'd expect that from a tiny keychain tool like this. If you wanted a big prybar, you'd go the County Comm Breacher Bar, or the like. This is a keychain fixit tool, not a dedicated tool-box replacement.

The Pinch was on Kickstarter, and is still only available to backers it seems, but keep an eye out, and look over the other offerings from Metal Dreamer, they have some very pretty, and functional looking designs.

Review: Mininch - Mini tool Pen and Tool Pen

Seen first on Breach Bang & Clear, here:

I am all for small, modular and resilient tools, and there comes a time when you just need to have a handy stealthy tool ready to go.

This is the Mininch - Mini tool Pen and Tool Pen set which I picked up via Kickstarter.

I opted for the full bells and whistles set, which included all the extra hex bits and both the new mini-tool pen, and the original tool pen.

They are for sale, live, here:

The mini-tool pen is milled from 6061 aluminum, sand-blasted finish. The tool itself measures 133.5 mm  / and is 12.8 mm in diameter  and weighs 46 g (with 5 bits inside).

•  The bits are S2 tool steel and measure  35.6mm  long and 7.1mm in diameter. They weigh a mere 4.5 g apiece. The tool Pen mini comes with 18 bits: 
• Slotted Bits (Flat): SL1.5, SL2, SL2.5, SL3
• Phillips Bits: PH00, PH0, PH1
• Hexagon Bits (Hex): H0.9, H1.3, H1.5, H2 
• Torx Bits (Star): T5, T6, T7
• Torx Security Bits: TR8, TR9, TR10
• Square Bits: S1
• SIM Eject Tool: 0.8
• Pentalobe Bits: P2, P5, P6

The classic Tool Pen is made of the same 6061 aluminum, sand-blasted finish as the Tool Pen mini. It does however weigh 93g (with 6 bits inside) and measure up a hefty 150mm in length and 17.5mm in diameter.
 
Both tools are offered in Snow Silver, Gunmetal and Champagne Gold anodization finishes. I chose gunmetal because of reasons, ha!

The bits for the classic tool pen are 36mm long and 9mm in diameter   and weigh 7g each. The bits are not cross compatible between the tools, but given the ranges of the two, thats not really a problem.
 The classic tool comes with:

• Slotted Bits (Flat): SL3, SL4, SL4.5
• Phillips Bits: PH1, PH2
• Hexagon Bits (Hex): H2, H2.5, H3, H4 
• Star Bits: T10, T15, T20, T25
• Imperial Hex Bits: H5/64, H3/32, H1/8, H5/32
  
• Robertson / Square Bits: S1, S2, S3
  
• Pozidrive Bits (Pozi): PZ1, PZ2
  

Both the Tool Pen classic and the Tool Pen Mini feature magnetically closing caps, and a really interesting tool seating and shifting system.

Inspired by “Pop-A-Point” rainbow pen & mechanical pencil,  the bits all sit within the tool, in hex-shaped lanes, each nesting into the base of the one above it, and held in place, top and bottom, but a steel ring, much like a press-stud is. You shift the bits by feeding another bit up from the back end, and along they go.  Each bit has the sheer support of the hex-shaped tool to support it internally, so they are really effective. You do need a full pen's worth of bits to make them effective, however.

Cut-out windows in one face of the tool allow you to see the contents and order of the bits stored within, using a very clear icon engraved on the side of the bit. The magnets in the caps don't interfere with the bits, although they don't really effectively allow you to store the caps when using the tools.

Between the range of bits offered, and the ease in which they all store, either internally for your most-often used sets, or in the solid, flip-top bit cassettes you can get a pretty wide range of tools in a very dense package with either of these tools, doubly so with both.

This is super useful when traveling, especially overseas, when you might find yourself needing to get into something, fix, repair or open some technology that you can't reliably ask someone else to do so, and having a fully decked out specialty screw-driver set is simply brilliant.

Review: Pry/Open pocket tool

Shaped like a Battlestar and just as tough.

I backed this via Kickstarter back in May 2013, and it's been sitting in my pocket since August 2013. I've never once thought about stripping it from my collection of pocket tools, and most days, I don't even think about it being there. Unobtrusive is high on my list of desirable features in a pocket widget, and this certainly lives up to that expectation.

Matt Hall of Obstructures is a designer with a vision I can appreciate. This tool is evidence of that.

This sand-blasted stainless steel tool is only 9.5cm (3 3/4”) long and a touch under 5mm (3/16") thick and yet offers some serious prying action. The front end is split with a nail-puller, and each prong is slightly different, offering two different screw-driving options.

The tool features jimping on both sides, promoting solid thumb-grip when using either end of the tool, which is very forwards thinking.

The back end features a single, broad pry edge, as well as small hole to attach a lanyard or split ring, as well a bottle opener.

A slit with a narrow neck facilitates looping through a belt loop, or looping over a pocket edge, which is where I wear mine almost exclusively. It was designed to fit into and sit snugly into MOLLE webbing too, which is an awesome thing for a designer to come out and say.

The middle of the tool is skeletonised to enable the provided cable ring which you might think is a strange place to fit a keychain, but there is method to the madness.
By placing the cable ring in that central gap, you can flip the bundled goodies from one end to the other of the tool, freeing up the working end from the carrying end.

Not clanking my bottled beverage with a collection of keychain tools is all good and well, but anyone with a keychain screw-driver can attest to how annoying trying to loosen a stuck screw is with a collection of keys in the way. This is a tool that I don't worry about snapping when prying open cans or the occasional locked drawer.

Some very forward thinking design has gone into this, as well as some bomb-proof, no-nonsense ergonomic choices. All set to frak up some toasters!

Review: Tiletto - The Titanium Letter Opener

I'm a firm believer in not only getting behind small business makers, but also adding more shinies to my collection. This was no exception.

This is the Tiletto and is the creation of Steve Sure, who along with his trusty collaborators in the form of Mike Bond (of Ti2 Sentinel and Parabiner fame), Brad (of TiPik, WTF and TKMB pen  Tactical Keychains) and Philip Kaufman (of the ScrewGrabber project) designed a piece I knew right away that, with those peers,  would be a great project to get behind.

Pay no mind to the CQB dagger beside it. It's a complete coincidence that their forms are remotely similar.


Milled from sheets of Ti-6Al-4V, otherwise known as "Grade 5"titanium, these pieces are approximately 178 mm (7") long, 25mm (1") at its widest, and 1.6mm (1/16") thick.

The Tiletto features chamfered sides that can act as straight edges for assisting in lines drawing or scoring, to cleanly tear pieces of paper, and to open letters, packages and parcels. I've not encountered a taped box the Tiletto can't safely get into in our regular deliveries.

Either end of the Tiletto,  has different shapes / characteristics to use as a flad-head driver, or an improvised phillips head, and can also be used as a pry bar to take on small jobs such as car and can opening.

Further adding to its functionality, the Tiletto features a set of wrench openings in its belly, with the inch-calibrated version offering: 9/16", 1/2", 7/16", 5/16", and a 1/4 inch hex-bit driver in the center.

The millimeter-calibrated version offers: 13mm, 12mm, 10mm, 8mm, and a 1/4 inch hex-bit driver in the center. I got one of each, adding to Omega's keychain collection as well


I've found quiet utility in having this too sitting in the PALS/MOLLE webbing of my  Hazard4 LaunchPad iPad sleeve.

Following Steve's suggestion, I've even used it as  a fid on larger-diameter poly-rope, and have stirred my tea with it. It is an elegant piece, slimline and innocuous for  what it offers. As with many of my pieces, it is multifunctional and hardy. Although, best to be aware that whilst it is half as dense, and offers twice the tensile strength of 316 stainless steel, it isn't a miracle metal like adamantium. 

Still, its a gorgeous tool that I am glad to have added to my collection and hope to give it a lot of use as the days roll on.

Review: ScrewGrabber Kickstarter

I was contacted by Phillip Kaufman, LA based designer and innovator, who was kind enough to send me a couple of his prototypes to test and review. They finally arrived today, and I wanted to get them out there and have a test and a play, before the Kickstarter for them expires. These ingenious little silicone rubber tubes are the Screw Grabbers.

The principle is amazingly simple: a silicone tube, flanged and sliced at one end, that fits over your screwdriver head, and lightly grips the head of the screws you are wanting to put into place.

The tool-end of the tube has a X shaped internal structure to enable it to fit around different thicknesses of drivers, and there are two different sized of Screw Grabber, to accommodate both larger and smaller tools, of 2.5mm-4mm (3/32"-5/32") and 4mm-7mm (5/32"-1/4") sized drivers, regardless of head-type; Phillips, flathead, Torx or hex.


The screw-end of the Grabber features three cuts, and internal ridges to grip the head of the screw, and due to the slide-on nature of the Grabber, you can adjust the depth of field by slipping it higher or shallower on the driver.


Both sizes worked admirably on most of the drivers I tested on, although my smallest of screwdrivers was too skinny to be gripped by the thinner of the two. The larger Grabber worked nicely on my larger drivers, even the flatheads.

Of the prototypes, the clear samples were durometer rated as a Shore 37A, and the blue samples at a Shore of 50. The ScrewGrabber team tell me the finished product will have a higher rating, so it will be interesting to see.
That hardness rating comes into play when both grabbing, holding and driving screws, and I found that the extra stiffness offered by the blue versions did improve the application of these, but made for less impressive photos that the translucent versions.

You can see that the slits open up as you drive the screws, making it relatively easy to finish the job without needed to swap over, remove the Grabber or any other additional manipulation.  I also tried to use the Grabber to remove screws I had undone, but with less success. No big deal really. I was able to collect a screw from a tub of screws though, that was a bonus.

Not having to fumble with screws whilst doing a rapid assembly; shoring up a doorframe, adding additional locks, barricades or the like, saves time and effort.

Not dropping valuable components whilst doing constructions, repairs or the like is another excellent reason to not be loosing your screws. Remember, not all screws are ferromagnetic, so simply having a magnetic tool-tip is not the perfect solution. Especially pertinent for maritime builders, or non-sparking requirements.

These were a simple little addition, and I think I'll be leaving them on my favorite drivers, slipped out of the way, ready to use, no matter what comes.