Review: SparrowsLockPicks - HALO points

As well as all manner of other pointy things that I like, I also enjoy archery, though I have not done much for some time. My first bow was a bushman bow we picked up living in Gabon, west Africa, with gut string, bamboo arrows and iron arrow tips. Much later on I bought my first proper bow, after many sticks and twine attempts, in a 30-35lb pull composite recurve, which I got primarily for LARP purposes, but also some target shooting at home.

I also have a Japanese yumi longbow, which to my shame I have never put to proper use (I need to get myself some of the correct sized arrows, it takes much longer lengths than Western arrows tend to come in).

Read the rest here on Breach, Bang & Clear.



The HALO points



I especially enjoyed working with these pieces, and whilst small in the hand, they have a sincerity to them that comes from good design.

Available in Singles or as a Full Set from Sparrows Lock Picks, the HALO points are well worth adding to a bug-out bag, SERE kit or just have handy when you need a little blade.

Review: First Tatical - Medium Duty Light

I did a "quickie-review" of the First Tactical - Medium Duty Light, which arrived in the mail a few moths ago, and was seen on Breach-Bang-Clear then, but I wanted to give it a bit more thorough a review, because it's come to be a reliable go-to light here in the bunker.

This is the aptly-named Medium Duty Light by First Tactical.

I usually use flashlights that are rechargeable directly, like my now defunct  HEXBright.

Sometime though, you just want some stock-standard batteries pulled out of old TV remotes, drumming bunnies or personal upper-thigh massagers. AA's are everywhere, and the MDL takes them.


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https://youtu.be/3dYNRNNjcgY

Review: SpifyLab - Sparky

FIRE FIRE FIRE. I do so like fire starters and other goodies, and I was intrigued when an electric firestarter came past my way. This was the next in the line from SpiffyLab, who were the minds behind the Tactical Sharpie Marker I covered a while back. This is certainly a design from the same lineage, and the two tools could certainly sit side by side and look like a set.

The Sparky by SpiffyLab is an electric firestarter, designed to ignite steel wool, and nothing else. The principle has been known for some time, with a small battery, anything from a AAA up to a D cell, or a 9V, and fine grade steel-wool, you can ignite the steel wool by running the charge through it, and the resistance to power ratio heats the wire up.

The Sparky uses two (2) AAA batteries to ignite steel wool. The 'Sparky' produces about 3.0-3.5 volts which is more than enough voltage to ignite steel wool or even a foil gum wrapper. It is designed with a twist cap, clip, knurled grips, and O-Rings to resist dirt and moisture in several spots. It is built with a tough, lightweight aluminium body, and a copper conductor tip.
It features a solid copper conductor tip, for optimal conductivity as next to silver, copper, is the most conductive metal. The aluminium body Sparky weighs in at just under 90g (3.1oz), with battery and the overall length is about 16cm (6.5") long and is 1.6cm (0.625") in diameter.

Interestingly, the Sparky is safe to touch and is vented. Even when exposed, the conductor tip and body can be touched without any harm coming to the user, due to the low power of the batteries, and the nature of skin conductivity. Just replace the cap when not in use to reduce accidental discharge.

So you might be continuing to ask "How can Sparky ignite steel?"

By touching the positive and negative "terminals" on the Sparky (the copper conductive tip, and the threaded aluminium body) to steel wool sends a current through the wool, and it heats up the fine "wires" because of resistance. The heated temperature causes the iron to react with the oxygen (O2) in the air and creates iron oxide (FeO2).


This reaction releases heat, heating up the next bit of iron and so on, causing a cascading reaction through the steel wool. It runs visibly through
the bundle of steel wool like a fuse, and as it burns through, you have your chance to use it to ignite your kindling, as you would with other firestarting methods.

As the makers point out, the science of this is pretty cool, even if a bit gimmicky. I managed to get the Sparkey to work easily enough, but getting it to catch on tinder was a little trickier, due to the nesting way the steel wool burns, keeping the burning steel away from tinder. However, it did work, after some fiddling. I expect it would work to ignite iron filings too, and probably work well to set thermite off as well (I didn't have any one hand to test ...).

Needing a very specific fuel to initiate the ignition, this is a pretty niche product, but, if you happened to want a low physical-effort firestarter, and have the capacity to store appropriately fine steel wool, this is an effective tool, especially if you had a surplus of AAA batteries not useful for anything else.

Re-bloging: on double sided daggers, axes and the art of utility.

DJ Urbanovsky, the knife and axe-maker extraordinaire behind American Kami has had some great successes recently, two more of his knives have been put into production by Boker (check them out here) . I have had  the pleasure of fooling around with a couple of the American Kami blades, in my tactical kitchen knife, the Super Colubris, and the Boker Mid-Tech Colubris which was part of a pass-around review.  He is a maker of fine, dangerous and finely crafted blades, and recently, he's been making daggers. Pondering these as he grinds, fits and finishes these, he had some thoughts, which he was good enough to share:


Since I am in the middle of assembling a ton of them as I type this, one of my thoughts on daggers: So, obviously most people tend to look at a dagger and think "That right there is some man-killing-as-shit," or that it is a single purpose design and good for nothing other than making holes in bad guys.


Read the rest of his thoughts here on Breach-Bang-Clear

Because there is always some window-licker that tells me I'm going to go to jail or some such:

Where I live, double bladed knives are listed as Prohibited Weapons.

In order to possess a dagger, a person would need to obtain either a:

• a Chief Commissioner’s Approval (CCP), or
  
• be covered by a Governor in Council exemption (GIC).
  To be eligible for a GIC a person must be able to demonstrate at the time of purchase, that they are a member of a club, group, organisations, or a class of person which has been granted a Governor in Council Exemption Order.

So, know your local laws, and collect, train with and use the tools that best meet your needs and applications. Thanks again to Mr Urbanovsky,and be sure to check out his work!

Review: SAR GlobalTools - kiridashi

The traditional kiridashi knife is small and very portable blade from Japan, with a chisel grind and a sharp point, used as a general-purpose utility knife. These knives are carving/utility knives have their roots in woodworking. The name, kiridashi literally translates to “carve out” which would seem to support this origin. Regardless, they are found in many facets of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture being used in a variety of activities from everyday tasks like sharpening pencils to gardening.


They are often made with a handle wrap and sometimes scales and a scabbard, but are just as likely to be a single piece of steel.

This take on the classic is from my mate Spencer Alan Reiter of SAR Global Tools who works his metalworking magic from a shed in Louisiana and has brought forth such wonderful items as the Moonglow necklace signaling tool I wear 24/7, the SESS signalling dogtag I keep lashed to all my packs, and my favourite neck-knife, the OddJob.

The SAR kiridashi's are all one-offs, that Spencer builds from reclaimed stock left over from his other projects. Waste not, want not, and perfect philosophy for the creation of a kiridashi. The riddle of steel  rings in his ears.

Crafted from an offcut of CPM3V and is heat treated to a hardness of "dead nuts" 60HRC according to Spencer.

It's also sharpened to a razor blade edge along both its main cutting edge and to a very sturdy and substantial point. The geometry of the SAR kiridashi is is very similar to a scalpel and being one piece CPM3V its 165mm length it weighs only 30g, very dense and very good in the hand. With two holes drilled in the head of the blade for a mass reducing effect and three grip-enhancing drilled notched behind the head, and another in the tail end as a lanyard hole.


Worked over in the SAR workshop, you can easily use it knowing that you are using a high quality product.  You'd never know it was a one off recovered from workshop scrap. In keeping with the kiridashi's main purpose originally to be used as a craft knife, I wanted to show off it's practical application and the single, flat ground chisel edge which just works a treat as a wood whittling tool.

The blade can put it to many different uses. Here are some practical examples: general cutting, gardening, cutting zip ties, deburring and drilling holes, self defense, survival tool, the uses are almost innumerable. Anything you could want from a heavily over-engineered craft-knife. 

The SAR kiridashi's are set with a cord-wrap on the handle for enhanced grip on the thin metal spine, and come with a kydex scabbard along with a bead-chain necklace for neck-knife wear. 

Bear in mind that these are all hand-crafted, heat treated and sharpened in what is essentially a one-man shop, along with Spencer's philanthropic work in conjunction with the Run Rangers Run charity, in creating his Inglorious Bastards knives, re-purposed from antique files, so his time is hard to come by and the runs are small. Keep an eye out and be on the lookout for new knives such as the Kingfisher's that are coming out...

Review: Platatac - Tactical Crate

This just in from Platatac in a recent press release via their FaceBook page ...:
 

"After the recent unveiling by 2nd Commando Regiment during a training activity, we can proudly announce the release of our NSN'd Assaulters Milk Crate (patent pending).



Build from carbon fibre bonded with inconel this bad boy can withstand over 16kn of force, 2000 Degrees Celsius, 10 sticks of TNT and pretty much anything a triple figure digger can throw at it.

The recently declassified Assaulters Milk Crate is a team essential item. With multiple lashing points for the Tuff Tactical Quick Release


Tactical Tie Off Point (TTQRTTOP) and light weight modularity the Assaulters Milk Crate is a must for all DA's.



Supplied with Two pieces of core flute and 4 black zip ties.



Available in 3 colours. (Blackout 1000x, Tactical Tan, Killer Wolf Grey)

Weighs just 6 grams.

RRP $499.00

Available for preorder 1st April 2016"









I've noted on the forums there may well also be a Blue Force Gear force-on-force trainer in the works as well, but reports also suggest that Multicam just wont stick to the frame. It's too high-speed.

Presumably you can add other modular features, but that may well come with package inserts

 

 

 

 

I was fortunate enough to have a couple come my way as well, and can tell you though mine were pre-release (note the unreleased Blaze Orange range-officer option peeking out underneath) and a possible SF/ SASR aquatic version in Blackout there.

These are some serious pieces of kit, with numerous uses around the bunker, in the field, and for all kinds of bug-out or bug-in use. They're so tough you could even transport perishable items like milk in them!

I'm hanging out for a possible titanium version, but I'm always a sucker for over-engineering.

Review: Para TPS Pulley systems

I love paracord. I love titanium, I love pulleys, I love Kickstarter so when a titanium paracord pulley came up on Kickstarter, I knew I had to get on board. I've covered a titanium paracord pulley system before, in the Ti2 PB-9 Parabener systems which live on my daypack, just in case. However, they are pretty chunky, being loaded with other features, and might be overkill when all you need is some lifting and shifting.

That's where there the TPS system comes in. A bare bones pulley system, it's a Universal Pulley System made from grade 5 titanium and ready to be used for making work easier and putting no matter what you're doing. Designed for paracord, or any other 4mm line of your choosing.

The TPS pulley systems are available in four formats, the TPS-2, TPS-3, TPS-4 and TPS-5. the number value corresponds to the number of "sheaves" which are the wheels inside the pulleys, designed and produced by Andrew of Root Designs R&D .

Root Designs spent a lot of time determining the design and materials they wanted to use in these pulleys. The side plates and pins are made of Grade 5 titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) because of its strength and corrosion resistance. The sheaves are made of a homopolymer acetal (which is a very strong plastic that is used for bearings because of its low friction coefficient, perfect as sheaves). The clip-in retaining rings are made of stainless (304SS made by Smalley).

Some serious design and research went into the development of these. Based on using paracord with a minimum breaking strength between 250-340 kg (650-750lbs) for Type III to IV paracords, a FOS of 3 puts the maximum breaking strength (MBS) of the pulleys around 2250lbs. These values were tested on a computer using failure-and-finite-element-analysis software. Bearing in mind that most civilian paracord is type II to III, with minimum breaking strengths of 180-250kg, (550-650lbs). Doing these studies are part of why Root Designs needed support from crowdfunding.

Having gone through rounds of testing and prototyping, they have pulley systems now rated for a Working Load Limit (WLL) of 68kg (150lbs) and a Tested Breaking Strength of over 900kg (2,000lbs). What does that mean? it means the TPS is recommended for loads of around 68kg, and is known to catastrophically fail at 900kg. Given type III paracord will take at least 250kg, my money is on the TPS working long after the paracord snaps, if you're looking at points of failure.

What's the big deal with pulley's in the first place? Mechanical advantage! Anything you need to move or lift, these pulleys can offer up to a 5:1 mechanical advantage with paired TPS-5's. By setting them up in sequence, and threading paracord through the sheaves correctly, the power of simple machines can reduce the effort needed by up to 1/5th of the force needed by a single loop alone. A single pair of pulleys halves the effort, three, a third and so on.

I backed for and received a twin set of TPS-5's and also got a TPS-2 as well. They can be used in a variety of combinations, or singly depending on your situation and need. One thing to remember that with all pulley systems, your ability to lift is only as good as your weakest component. Any attachment accessories (I've used two steel S-hooks from Ikea, so useful) as well as Type 3 paracord. However you also need to take into account the features of the load, and it's ability to haul itself, as well as whatever you are mounting your load too.

The other aspect to be aware of is the length of cord used. For every sheave used, the length of "fall" between the sheaves increases. This needs to be taken into account when reeving (lacing) the pulleys.

Pulley systems mean that someone with little hands and arms, like Tactical baby, can lift this 2.5L kettle full of water, and hold it, in her non-dominant hand, and nonchalantly pose for photos before bedtime.

Here's a tidbit of information from the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets Seamanship manual,
Parts of the Tackle:
a. Standing Block: The block that is anchored and is not moving. This block changes the direction of the running part.
b. Moving Block: The moving block is attached to the moving end of the rope (the end the cargo is on).
c. Fall: The fall is the rope that is rove through the block.
d. Standing Part: The standing part does not move. It needs to be secured to either the standing block or some other fixed position.
e. Hauling Part: The hauling part is the part that is pulled.

But acting as mechanical advantage gaining simple machines aren't all the TPS can be used for, you can combine these little workhorses to get other tasks done too. If you need to send some gear across a ravine, creek or river, or between abandoned buildings in a desolate wasteland, each pulley was designed so it could be used as a zip line shuttle. Setting up a static line and fitting one of the TPS's on it, with either one, two or three sheaves to spread the load over the line means you have a very stable and secure system for shuttling loads back and forth.


You could even use the spare sheaves to run pilot lines to haul back and forth, as well as for suspending your load. In other applications, you could even make a dog run, or other off-ground tethering system for pets or small people whilst out and about.

I even found that by setting the TPS-5 up in a cross-woven pattern, I could make a friction belaying zip-line, in the style of the mechanical decent RACK devices offered by Petzl


Being made from titanium, acetal polymer and stainless steel, they work great in harsh environments such as the ocean, or gritty, hot environments. They could just as easily be used on a fishing boat as in the bush. The limits to their application is really up to your imagination, and material strengths you have to work around.


One of the really nice design features is their small profiles. By using clipping retaining rings, the side profile of the pulleys stay small. The TPS-2 is5/8" x 1-1/2" x 9/16". The TPS-5 is 2-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 9/16".

Basically pocket sized, no matter how you put it. The pins do not stick out from the side plate as much as a nut or the head of a bolt would, which means they are far less likely to snag or catch, as well as reducing weight The TPS-5 weighs 45g (1.6oz) and the TPS-2 a mere 18g (0.6oz). Each pulley can be user-serviced if needed using common tools, and spare parts are available from Root Designs on their website. They also offer a snap-bolt which can be fitted in place of the machined pin, around the existing sheave, to offer a built-in attachment point in the place of any of the existing pins. This is an awesome addition to have designed in, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't put in for some with my pledge. However, there's nothing magic in the bolts, and it is just a matter of finding a bolt which fits, and somewhere to shackle your pulley!

 This is the kind of gadget that you probably wouldn't think to pack in your bug-out-bag on first pass, but to kit out a minimalistic problem solving swag, you could do a lot worse than including a set of TPS's to give you an advantage over your environment!

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: Gerber - GDC hook knife

I love keychain tools, I have quite a bundle in my pocket, so much so that I don't even keep my KEYS on my keychain. One thing I like is to carry a blade to add to my utility, so having a safe, secure and stealthy cutter like the Gerber Daily Carry Hook Knife really adds to my lifesaving potential, in the form of a reliable, easily stowed in my pocket. I added this to my keychain of mini tools, and it's been a very useful addition.

Gerber's idea behind the stainless steel hook blade is simple; it's an ultra-stealthy cutting tool that lives stealthily on a keychain and can be quickly deployed to quickly cut yourself out of a piece of clothing, seatbelt or other safety strap, or do the same for a loved one, or a battle buddy, if you should you ever find yourself in a rough spot. I've also found a number of day to day uses for the little knife. There are plenty of other ways to use a safety knife on a ring.

Using the ring at home, I put it to use opening boxes of goodies and dreaded utility bills. I cut ribbon, opened snack-packs and trimmed tags out of clothes. Out bush I've used it for cutting costs and fishing line, and opened up vacuum sealed food. I even used it to cut long grass for some little weaving craft jobs I was showing off to Tactical Baby and Triceratops Girl with.

At just over 2" long, it's innocuous and barely stands out on my keychain, the cutting edge is secured neatly in the hook, which in turn is stowed away in a small hard nylon friction lock scabbard, with a keychain loop to secure it. I gave one to each of my partners for Giftmas, and they went directly into handbags. One reported that they often found the blade loose in the bag, having come unstuck from its scabbard. A little alarming, but more from a loss perspective rather than risk of accidentally cutting things.

The ring is copper lined, which is a nice accent, and go feels good around the finger, and there are rounded crenellations on the back to give a good thumb lock on it when you are getting ready to do the cutting. The angles all work nicely to allow you to put some real power into the cut. My favourite test materials of paracord and cable-ties, neither of which offered much trouble, singly but due to the small size of the ring and its hook, you wouldn't want to load it up as heavily as you might with a full size rescue hook like the Gerber Crisis Hook. It's easily comparable in cutting power with the Benchmade Figure 5 Cutter

Since it's a pocket sized tool, I don't expect it to be for heavy use, rather for "I just need to cut this little thing, but right now" moments, especially if they are in delicate situations.

Review: First Tactical - Diamondback Tanto Knife

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.


I have a few folders in my collection, though I must say I prefer fixed blades, I keep a CRKT Folding K.I.S.S. in my EDC, and the very snappy Boker folding scalpel which lives secreted away in my every-day pack. I also have a bunch of the hefty and brutally built Boker Plus AK assisted folders, for the bug-out-jars I've been putting together for Tactical Coyote. So I was quite impressed when I got the Diamondback in hand.

Read the full review on Breach Bang & Clear ....