Review: Altama Tan Desert MilSpec boot

 

Pristine boot pic, lifted form Altama's website. Mine are LONG since wrecked :)

I thought I should give my trusty boots a fitting send off. I've worn Altama Desert Boots for a number of years, my current pair having been with me since at least 2005, when I was taken out bunny-hunting and have stains from that event that I never buffed-out.

I've worn these extensively during the hot half of the year here in Melbourne (I wear boots all day, every day, unless I am barefoot) and have never had a complaint with the fit or function.

From the ground up, the Panama pattern Mil Spec Vulcanized Rubber has been grippy on road and rough terrain, I really like the Panama patter, it sheds mud, gives purchase when clambering and wears well.

Over the sole, is a heat-barrier, to keep the burning-hot sand, rock and road from radiating up into delicate feet, and is topped by a removable cushioned polyurethane innersole. I had to replace mine a few times, just because of the amount of wear they got. Inside the boot is lined with Coolmax® aiding in wicking and keeping my feet dry and comfortable. The outers are a combination of tan suede and Cordura material, and the boots top off with a padded collar, maxing out at 9" high.

The boots have a nylon coated brass "Speedhook/Eyelet" lacing system, which really performs well, reducing snags and aiding in speedy lacing, even when I put these paratrooper/ ladder laces on them. These were the boots I wore whenever going camping, doing Stargate Lasertag LRP, training for and running the Tough Mudder, and recently, the Stampede. Even prior to the Tough Mudder, they developed a tear down one side, which I attempted to patch, but alas, the conditions of the events and the amount of pounding they got have finally spelled the end for this beloved set.

Compare the "as new" pictures with the tread pattern wear, and you'll get an idea of how much use these boots saw.

These were great boots, but now they are destined for the Happy Hunting Grounds, and I will be on the hunt for a new set of boots. Any suggestions for summer-boots? Or should I stick with tried and true?

Wish-lust: BioLite CampStove

In the lead up to the Hurricane Sandy landfall that hit the US East coast hard over Halloween 2012, I saw a great looking multi-function stove come past my friends feed, and it immediately took my interest. This is the BioLite Camp Stove and here's why I want one.

 The photo below shows a bunch of power-deprived NYC folks charging their phones at a  street-side kiosk running several of these stoves.

http://biolitestove.com/campstove/camp-stories/camp-stories-all/biolite-team-on-the-ground-after-hurricane-sandy.html

The stove itself is pretty simple.  With a packed height of 21cm (8.25") and 12cm (5") wide, weighing 935g  (2 lbs 1 oz) It is built to burn sticks, pine cones, pellets, wood chips, or other lightweight, small fuels and the frame will support a bot of up to 3.6kg  (8 lbs) or 3.6L (1 gallon) of liquid.
The real magic however, is that the orange module on the side is a thermoelectric generator.

As well as being fast to boil (a reported 4.5 minutes to boil 1 liter of water) the fire has a calculated 3.4 kw (lo) 5.5 kw (hi) peak output, which the thermoelectric generator can output via USB as Max continuous: 2W @5V, Peak: 4W @5V which apparently is sufficient power to charge and run most USB-chargeable devices including smartphones, GPS units, flashlights and the like.


Some reviewers have noted that these aren't especially efficient and I am looking forwards towards my first venture in this regard, with my tPOD1 Kickstarter on its way soon ... but the large scale BioLite, combining both power generation and cooking facility in one, sparks a distinct interest in my multifunction wish-lusting!

Review: Smith&Wesson - Tanto Neck Knife

This pretty piece of steel was un cadeau for one of my partners, given by the main organiser of an event she was helping to run last week. She was good enough to loan it to me to play with for the blog. This is the Smith&Wesson - Tanto Neck Knife

As far as "thanks for helping out" gifts go, I must say, this is one of the prettier I've seen.

The skeltonised knine is full-tang constructed, with zytel scale sidings and a kydex sheath . The blade locks into the sheath with a friction clasp, and is both light at 100g all up, and dainty in the hand, at 18cm (7") over all, with an 8cm (3 1/8") blade.

Light and lively it suited the  spirit of the gift well, as a neck-knife to affix to the ID lanyards worn at organisers and officials this particular event, for safety needs as they might arise. 

The kydex sheath has two lanyard holes, for cord or chain to loop through, to wear in its "neck knife" configuration, as well as a drainage hole at the knife tip end. It also features a built in whistle, which I can tell you is VERY  shrill. It is placed such that you can use the whistle, AND draw the knife if that fails to have the desired effect. 

The blade is 2.5mm thick, and according to the internet has a Rockwell Hardness of57Hrc. That's pretty good for a 440 steel.

The blade itself is also skeltonised, with two cutouts, further reducing wight around your neck.

The thumb and index finger notches are aggressively crenelated grips, but not so much as to chew up finger and thumb. Without any guard, these crenelations act to lock your hand in tight and off the edge.

The edge is interesting as well, with a "tanto" tip, the main line of the blade is in face concave, with a subtle but significant bowing. This is pretty, but makes me wonder about keeping the blade sharp. I use  DMT diamond sharpening stones and I am unsure if i could get a good mating of stone to steel.

The factory may have had the same problem, as the blade ships only "supermarket-sharp", so I'm a little disappointed by this, especially on a chisel-ground blade. Hopefully I can do some good work with this, maybe a stropping will fix it.

Review: Zulu Nylon Gear - MOLLE car visor

Ever find yourself rummaging in the glove-compartment or coin dish in your vehicle for that pen, tool or gizmo, but have been unable to do so? I certainly have. The solution I have had in my current vehicle (a 5-door 2002 Toyota RAV4) is to have some of the internal compartments dedicated to certain things. This usually worked out, but from time to time, they aren't just where I want, when I need them. The solution came to me when I saw this come up in my feed from they folks at Soldier Systems I was reminded of it when Hornest advertised on their FaceBook page. This is the Zulu Nylon Gear MOLLE Car Visor.

What it is, is a double sided mid-weight nylon cover for your car sun-visor which is designed to fit most vehicles. It is approximately 30cmx15cm (12"x6") and has two distinct sides.

On the "down" facing side, a 3 channel, 8 row set of MOLLE webbing, allows you to mount and carry all kinds of things. The top and bottom channels are made of elastic webbing, and each end of the elastic channels is a loop, which are perfect for cylume sticks, or even a small LED flashlight.

Between each of the channels is a band of loop-field, for attaching patches or name-tapes (which would display when the visor is folded down). The middle band webbing is regular MOLLE webbing, for stability and strength.



When "up" the contents of my MOLLE visor don't interfere with my vision, and even a small pouch could go up there without a worry. This is my next thing to check! You can see from this angle, the hook-and-loop straps that act to fix the open end of the panel to the visor. This also leave a few more regions of hook-filed for attaching patches. The whole piece opens like a taco, and folds over and around the visor, with the long hook-and-loop straps giving you the ability to adjust it to the size and shape of your visor.



The flip-side of the cover has two document pouches, and three more loops of elastic, and a nice big watermark for Zulu. I have been thinking that I might slot my Stiff K.I.S.S. car-knife into that, rather than having it under my seat, making it more accessible for emergency access, and also stuffing the pockets with some first aid items like sterile gauze packets.

All initial tests and trials have been really good. I haven't loaded it up very much, but it's given me no signs of slipping of drooping. One thing to note, the cover doesn't have a cut-out to slot into the car-visor return clip (on the roof), so you have to push it in a bit to "click". I like it a lot, and look forwards to messing with its configuration to see what I can, can't and want to carry on my visor.

Events: Stampede Run

I've talked quite a bit about my training and get-up for Tough Mudder that I ran in May 2012, and I think I got the bug. I also challenged myself to the Stampede.

The course was divided into a 5km run, and a 10km version (splitting off at the 5km mark, and rejoining for the final few obstacles.

The Melbourne 2012 run was held at the the Glenbrae Equestrian Centre in Wandin, and made good use of the site and facilities.


Under and Overs - log crawl and climb
Rope Tango - mud crawl whilst pinned down by a cargo net
Human Window - climb though odd shaped holes
Wrecking Yard - crawl through, over and on top of wrecked cars
Ice Bath - wade through and dunk in an ice filled pool
Bus Stop - climb over cargo netting up and over a bus
King King - big pile of tyres
Spiders Web - climb through a stand of trees wired with bungy-cord
Giant Slip and Slide - a long, long water slide into a pond
Trauma Tunnels - Crawl through piping and squirm through flat plastic sheeting
Sand Blast - do a circuit with a sandbag
Quick Step - run through flat tyres
Hay Stack - climb over giant rolled hay bales
Devils Cave - a darkened shed with falling water, and hay bales
Cable Chaos - climb over a series of stacked cable spools
Gladiators - run past a gauntlet of pugil-stick and boxing pad armed opponents
Tunnel Under - climb through tunnels
Dumpster Jump - climb in and out of a set of dumpsters (one with apples)
Half-Pipe - Scale a high sloped ramp
Sunday Roast - run over fire
Mud Buffet - crawl under barbed wire through mud
Bug Zapper - dangly cable filled hall some of which running with 10,000V!
As well as these, there were numerous stretches of thick, gluggy mud. and wading through murky ponds, and the occasional equestrian hurdle.

copyright to Supersport Images Pty Ltd  

This is my taking a leap over the bonnet of the last car of the Wrecking Yard. It was obstacles like this, and the crawling ones, that made me choose to wear my BlackHawk! Advanced Tactical Knee Pads v2.0 I've had these for a while, and they have done good service, although I have skinny legs, and found that they did slide a little being on bare skin, when I was crawling through mud-filled tunnels. I wouldn't have wanted to go without them though. Wearing suggestions anyone?

copyright to Supersport Images Pty Ltd   

This is me wading through the barrel filled dam, I wanted to give some of my other kit a good solid workout, and opted to go with my First Spear OAGRE vest, that I got from the folks at LEGear. As well as being well fitting, and totally as rugged as I have previously reported, I found that the belt-ties ensured that I didn't have to worry about my shorts coming off, and gave me some significant rash-protection when rolling over and crawling through obstacles. I also ran with some patches: A TAD logo Ranger-eye, I also wore my Stargate LRP nametape, to see how that held up and my ITS "Crew Leader" Tab. I pinned the Stampede ID number to the MOLLE, rather than using the sticky label, knowing the challenges it would be facing. On the back of the OAGRE I laced my "Zombie Control Officer" laminate, for a bit of fun, which got a lot of cheers as I passed folks, and the Tough Mudder patch on the back, under the drag handle. The 3L Source bladder that came with my Platatac Bravo pack fitted pretty well inside the OAGRE.

I also changed what I wore on my hips. Lesson learned from Tough Mudder earlier in the year. As awesome as my Survival Utilikilt is, it is not optimal attire for an endurance obstacle course like this, which is why I was so pleased with the new addition to my clothes-pile, in the TAD Gear Amphibious Cargo Shorts. As they were new, I didn't want to risk running-rash, and wore some boxers under them. Useless, they waterlogged and sagged. I would have been better off going my usual commando. Great shorts, fast drying and mud-shedding, comfortable and good for adventure!

copyright to Supersport Images Pty Ltd 

I opted for a hat over sunscreen, which gave me somewhere to mount my Contour GPS, in its waterproof casing, as well as keeping my hair out of the way. I wore my Platatac Tactical cap, which also somewhere to out my MSM "Zombie Hunter" patch. The Contour in its case assed quite a bit of asymmetric weight to one side of my head, I think mounting to a chin-strapped bump-helmet will be my next option. I also wore my Headsox scarf-tube, which helped keep the sun off my neck, keep the vest from chafing and also as a smoke filter.

I wore my Platatac Punisher-Skull logo CUS shirt which was a dramatic improvement in comfort over the Jackeroo safari shirt I wore for Tough Mudder. It dried, it breathed, it wicked, and was pretty bad-assed to boot!

I kept my delicate hands safe from harm with my trusty Ironclad Landscaper gloves.

So here I am at the end of the race, having crawled under barbed wire covered mud and been shocked by electricity over and over. I wore my much abused Altama Tan Desert Mil Spec boots, veterans of years of summertime wear, Stargate LRP and the Tough Mudder. This may have been their swan-song.

I did the 10km course in just under 2 hours, keeping a pretty constant pace. I'm not fond of running, it hurts, but I managed to jog pretty much the entire course, giving aid to people who needed it, and taking my time. I loved the obstacles, was happy with my effort, and the little preparation I did to be ready for it. Since May, I've gone for perhaps 4, 8km runs at lunchtimes at work. I feel that I am able to get from A to B in good time, regardless of the obstacles in my path.

Review: Triple Aught Design - Amphibious Cargo Shorts

As it heats up, I wanted to get some shorts that would both fit (yes, I have apparently grown as I have matured and done more running) and would be able to take with me whilst camping or adventuring. One such adventure was the Stampede Mud-Run, which I will discuss in a post soon. I had been in touch with Mr Tay Choon Mong of HorNest, and he put aside a pair of the Triple Aught Design Amphibious Cargo Shorts for me.

I'd been a fan of the TAD Gear for a while, and when I saw their line of Amphibian Cargo Pants get some screen-time in the blogosphere, I kept my eyes out for what else would come from these guys. I already have a couple of little things of theirs: patches and Ranger-eyes so I was looking forwards to more. There were no exception.

Made from an "Amphibious Cloth" which is to say 100% Nylon (3.4 oz) with a DWR Finish (Durable Water Repellent), the material is silky to the touch and light. You can see a 1" loop field poking over my right thigh, with a TAD logo Ranger Eye glow in the dark patch fitted to boot (Thanks Hornest!)

Made for movement with a gusseted crotch, and clean seams, they provide unrestricted movement running or clambering, whilst still being comfortable when I am chair-bound. More importantly, they are "Engineered for Abuse" with triple needle stitching on the in- and out-seams, and the pockets and seat are also reinforced to enhance ruggedness.

What about pockets? Well let me get you going here: These shorts are constructed with five sets of pockets! From the front you can see Two Front Welt Pockets, which each having a D-ring hanging from below the belt loop, these were both deep and broad enough to take my iPhone 4s in its Opt Silicone Armor iPhone case, and the carabiner on the bottom of it clips nicely onto those D-rings. They also make good attachment points for my paracord lanyard.



Two hand pockets, come in where you might normally expect them, and also feature a deep (two knuckle) coin pocket, which is probably sufficient to hold a pistol magazine, if that's your thing.

The thigh cargo flap pockets sitting mid-thigh passed my favourite test, they fit my iPad1, but more importantly, feature with hidden dual-button closure, with drain hole grommets. I put these to a good solid test at The Stampede and can report not only did I NOT scoop up pocketfuls of mud, but the water that I took on rapidly drained away. and Thru Slot. You can see the length of fabric ending with a D-loop poking over the top of the iPad here. This sits inside the cargo pocket, letting you secure items, but it doesn't stop there. On the seam-edge of the cargo lid flap, is a cutaway gap, allowing you to feed items into, or have them slung out of the pocket! Cables, cord and tubes, oh my! I thought I had torn the stitching, and was thrilled to see it was a feature. Awesome!


On the backside, the two rear flap pockets feature the same hidden dual button closures as the thigh Cargo pockets, which not only means your gear stays in, but the wilderness stays out! I don't often use my seat-pockets, having a bony ass, so being able to button-up and forget is a great option for me.

One really exciting feature that I only noticed after washing them inside out was the two hidden passport pockets on the rear inside, hanging off the back of the flap pockets, to hold your personal documents discretely: passports, tickets, visas, whatever. They aren't waterproof , so be advised you'd need to wrap whatever you stuff in there, but a great option to have when traveling in unpleasant places.

All the buttons are affixed with nylon webbing with bartack stitching for greater staying power and quick repair out and about, rather than being sewn directly to the pants. The fittings are all plastic, making these, when combined with a nylon belt buckle seen on the 5.11 TDU belt, make these an airport safe pair of pants! I "go commando" and they are very nice to wear, the gusseted crotch, and clean seams really coming to the fore there.

Probably the best thing I can say about these shorts are how well they fared in some pretty rough conditions. The Stampede mud-run may have only lasted two hours, but I was climbing over logs, crawling through mud and rocks, running through ponds and mud-pits, and they just shook it all off.

Have a look at the picture and tell me what you think. If I hadn't wanted to wear them to work, I think I could have just hit them with a stick a few times and knocked the dust off. They dried off SO quickly, that the only reason I was damp was what I was wearing under them.



Totally worth the investment!

Review: Platatac 5x12Ga shingle

Here is another accessory that I picked up for "the Great Tactical Corset Project" as I mentioned in a previous post, and as such, I have collected a few more pouches, specifically unusual ones, and in black, to help fit out my partners with kit, to see what fits, and how they would like to kit-up their rigs.

I wanted to give them a range of odd and unusual pouches and accessories, so they could see what was available, and tailor their loadout for hands-free goodness.

This is the Horizontal 5x 12Guage shotgun shell shingle, one such example, which I picked up at Platatac's miscellaneous pouch collection. (Do pop in to see the guys there, tell them your ideas, needs and what you are intending to be doing and they will sort you right out without giving you the hard-sell on things you don't want.)




 Made of the same 1000d Cordura that is synonymous with both MilSpec gear, and the Platatac range, this piece is no exception. The wide webbing that makes up the functional part of this shingle is no exception. It gave me no impression of being feebly stitched, nor stretching out of shape when stuffed with highlighters, markers or any other non-12Ga shell item that I have tried it with.

The back of the shingle features a single PALS strip, with a single MOLLE loop to feed it onto your gear. I thing a 2:1 loop with the built in PALS strip is totally a secure enough connection, especially given the relatively light load it would be expected to bear.








Here is a quick shot of the shingle with some things I had laying about loaded into it. Some markers, and a cylume stick. This should give you some idea of what kinds of used you can put it to, and an idea of scale. This is a really nice little piece, I've worn it on my belt to carry some light gear when out and about, and expect to will be put to good use on the Tactical Corsets.

Review: Platatac 3x 40mm Pouch

Here is a nice accessory pouch that I collected along the way, as part of a project to make my own DIY Tactical Corset. It appears that the original Maker is somewhat AWOL, so, I'm glad I decided to make some myself. Both my partners Omega and Anastasia love their corsets, so I didn't have to convince either of them much to assist (as long as I got my own materials, and didn't use THEIR nice corsets). What does this have to do with a 40mm grenade pouch you ask? Well, the girls needed pouches to fit their corsets, and I wanted to get them a range of sizes and shapes, but as you may have noticed, almost all my current suite of pouches are in khaki or Multicam. A trip to Platatac, and a rummage through their miscellaneous pouch drawers came up with some great finds. This triple pouch panel was one such piece. The corsets are still to come, but we've managed to put some of the pouches to good use already. 

Like Gunny Highways says:" Adapt, innovate, overcome". That's also our motto here at Apocalypse Equipped. Much like the twin 40mm pouches I covered a while back which I use to store gloves, surgical mask, antiseptic gel and spray, and a stuff-sack duffel-bag on my Young Guns battle-belt. Nothing goes to waste. Everything serves double duty. In this case, Two of the pouches are each filled with 8m fast-cord bundled paracord in safety-orange, one of my "always on hand" items when we go out clubbing...

One of the things you can see here is that as in the twin 40mm pouches, the flaps are adjustable to suite the length of the item stored (good for HEDP, ILLUM and most less than lethal rounds, pyrotechnics and Small Distraction Devices) as well as irregular sized alternate loads like I use them for. The higher you pull the flap, the hook-field becomes more or less apparent, to adjust to the size of the load being carried.

1000d Cordura and heavily stitched as with all the Platatac kit, these feature hook-and-loop only fixtures,and affix with the usual integral PALS/MOLLE strips I've come to expect from Platatac gear. The two channel/three loop horizontal rig gives a really sturdy attachment, and the MOLLE strips clearly show their reinforcing.

All in all, this was a great little accessory to add to my collection, I've put it to good use, and look forwards to being able to show off the Tactical Corsets I build for my partners, fitted out with pouches like these!

Review: Zulu Nylon Gear - CAOS Admin Pouch

A while back I saw a post by the inestimable MilSpecMonkey covering the ZuluNylonGear Mega Admin pouch and from that time I was really keen to see some Zulu products myself. Since then, several other bloggers, such as Soldier Systems with the Skeletonized Container Sling, the guys at Jerking the Trigger with the Indy Satchel and of course ZNG's design-partner ITS-Tactical with their EDC medical kit pouches. I just had to get my hands on some of this gear. As always, the biggest hold-up was shipping, Melbourne being very far away from Chicago. As luck would have it, I got in touch with the folks from HORNEST in Singapore who managed to "infest me with gear"!

Having read what MilSpecMonkey had to say about the size of the "Mega" pouch, I opted for this, the very funky Zulu Nylon Gear CAOS Admin pouch. The CAOS (Combat Application Organizer System) pouch is the result of collaboration between Zulu Nylon Gear and CDH-Tac in Finland. I love the fact that these guys do so much collaboration and can't help but wanting to be part of it in my own small way.


The pouch measures approximately 5cm (2") deep, 15.5cm (6.25") across and 15cm (6") tall. This is a MOLLE compatible pouch, but unlike most of the other pouches I have reviewed, does not come with it's own integral clips. but will attach to PALS/MOLLE with two long MALICE clips.

This pouch is made of two distinct regions; the front pocket and the main pocket. However, there are plenty of other great additions. Twin D-rings in the top of the back of the pouch offer additional attachment points, to sling more gear, dummy-cord items, clip carabiners or to use as a harness point to sling the whole pouch. You can see that I have fitted two Grimlock carabiners which is how I have been affixing the pouch to my pack. Additionally, webbing loops from the back also give dummy-cord attachment points from both top and bottom of the pouch. So many options!


A straight view of the back shows the full coverage of 5 rows and 4 channels available to run ITW MALICE clips, Maxpedition TacTies
or Blackhawk! Speed Clips
through to secure it to your pack, or the chest of your plate-carrier. Again, not having any of these to play with, I have affixed my Grimlocks. You can also see here the dummy-cord loop at the top middle, and also the two at the bottom corners.

Between the two edge channels of webbing at the bottom you can just make out the two additional loops of webbing, giving you yet another attachment option. Behind the top dummy-cord loop is a slip-pocket, for keeping a notepad, papers or other slim needfuls.

This kind of attention to detail and willingness to put extra material in, to ensure the user gets maximum configuration options rates really highly in my books. Being an unusual size and shape often leaves me out of scope for "one-size-fits-all".


The front pouch pocket, as well as featuring a wide and tall loop-field for attaching nameplates, ID patches or even a glowing logo patch like I have put on mine (thanks to Hornest).

Pulling up on the wide (but very flat and snag-free) webbing handle, reveals the inside of the pocket. A wide band of elastic is sectioned into two sides, the narrower being ideal for a mobile phone, the other, perhaps a GPS unit.

As well as these elasticized "pockets" this pouch features quite a spacious main cavity, allowing the user to stow quite a number of things, in what is essentially only the auxiliary pouch of this piece.

 Inside the main pocket, however, is where the magic really lies. There are literally dozens of different places to store and secure gear within this area, and the attention to modularity, and multiple functionality is again displayed in the design. The water-resistant material is well stitched, and has fully taped edges. This is built rugged, just the way I like, but is still light.


 The foremost interior feature is a drawstring system like that seen in the Mega Admin, which serves to keep contents from spilling out when the zipper pulls are opened. This essentially forms a drawer on your chest or pack, with cord-keeper allowing you to define how "open" the drawer can swing.

The front face has another slip pocket and a range of layered elastic and webbing "pockets" for organizing small tools, pens and the like. I really liked the layering of webbing under elastic tape. It allowed me to hold some things loosely, some firmly, and some locked right in.

The rear slip pocket is further divided with two larger, phone sized pockets, another slip pocket and elastic for securing more small items. This pouch just keeps on giving. Further dummy-cord points inside keep your needfuls from flopping into the dirt, or dropping into rivers of lava.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't have any MOLLE-clip type attachment accessories right now (soon, I hope), so I have used Grimlocks to affix this pouch to my pack, would probably to the same with my MAC plate carrier, when I go adventuring.

From this angle you can see that I have attached it to the daisy-chain webbing over the top of my Bullock Echo daypack (which just got an update, check it out! In this configuration, it acts as a "lid" over the top of the pack, the paracord zipper pulls are easily accessible and I can access all my tools,and accessories

You can see here the difference between "coyote" of the pack, and the Platatac "khaki". The colours are complementary, I think, and it certainly doesn't look out of place.

In summary this is a brilliant pouch, I can see a lot of applications, and look forwards to putting it to a lot more use in the future. the guys at Zulu Nylon Gear put in a lot of work, in design and manufacture, and it shows.

Review: United Cutlery - M48 Ranger Hawk axe

Here is my first totally "tacticool" post in a while. I have shown you some axe-love in the past, and even debunked a cancelled product post and flirted with some serious and lustful objects but haven't really gotten up close and personal with the smaller choppers, till now!

This piece of bad-assed pointy is the
M48 Kommando Ranger Hawk Axe from United Cutlery. I had seen this advertised on ThinkGeek, and loved the look of it, and for the price, was willing to grab one to mess with. ThinkGeek have changed their shipping conditions however and this as well as many other of their tool and cool items no longer ship to Australia. I don't know if this from their end or ours, but I was denied! I hate that. I managed to find alternate means of securing my item, via a well known ordering service named after a large South American river system. This too was not without issue, and following once cancellation, I managed to secure myself a chopper!

This head of this piece is "precision" cast 2Cr13 stainless steel, and features a wide bearded cutting edge, which sweeps downwards nicely, and has a very smooth geometry to its edge.The topside of the head has been beveled back and is not blackened like the rest of the head, which I thought was a little odd.. Three holes skeletonise the head, reducing the over all weight without making the piece flimsy feeling in the slightest. The back of the "beard" had a smooth finish and I felt I could grip it for precision whittling if it ever appealed to me. The whole piece weighs in at 1.088 kg (2.4lbs) and sitting at approximately 20cm (7 5/8") across the length of the head, and just under 40cm (15 1/2") "tall" This is a really light option for what it is.

There is apparently 90cm (36") a pole-axe version available as well, but it looks like it may be a different head too.



The flip side of the axe-head is this very impressive spiked beak, again with the edges being uncoated "false edges" in this case leading to a rather pointy, and well defined penetrating tip. the beak follows the same lines as the axe-beard, and sweeps downwards, aiding in transferring the energy of a swing. An interesting and well thought out feature seen clearly here is the notch cut into the underside of the beak, which fits the thumb-and-index finger top of your fist if you slide your hand right up the shaft to take a grip of just the head. This facilitates a really comfortable choked-up grip for fine chopping or perhaps cutting with the blade.
Traditionally,the back of a Tomahawk
seems to have primarily been a hammer type end, rather than a spike, which seems to have been more a common feature of the Warhammer. No less devastating when featured here though, I imagine.

The handle of this piece is nylon, reinforced with 30% fiberglass and features both a double sided "knuckle" for gripping and preventing you from accidentally sliding up the grip, as well as a series of deep groves running the circumference of the rounded handle.

A lanyard hole at the base fits paracord nicely, and in fact,  one of the options offered by United Cutlery is a cord-wrapped version (only on one colour of the handle as far as I can tell, the OD version). Speaking of which, there appear to be a number of colour options available for this, black, OD green, safety orange and rescue yellow. This is a really nice thought, allowing people to clearly indicate the tools function, or keep it subdued and inconspicuous for those people on two-way firing ranges who don't want to stand out.


The head of the axe is fitted to the haft with three TORX type screws, binding the tang to about 1/3 of the length of the haft. I was happy with the binding and security of this attachment, from the brief testing I gave this piece, but intend to do a whole lot more chopping with it shortly.

The sheath is probably the least satisfying piece of the package. Whilst the nylon and furniture was hefty and felt well put together, with rivets along the top and cutting edges, and press-studs to close the bottom of the sheath, for "pull-away" access, however, on the back of the sheath, the attachment options to mount the whole thing were pretty woeful on this model. A single narrow belt-loop was pretty limiting, and I think I will need to do some modifications before I can fit this into my current platforms and bug-out-bags. To be fair, the cord-wrapped / OD green option comes with a somewhat more accommodating sheath, with some PALS/MOLLE looking hook-and-loop tabs, but overall, this was a disappointing end to what was otherwise an outstanding looking and feeling little axe. . 

Perfect for that long trek in the bush, demounted search and rescue, breaching and increasingly for CQB if accounts are to be believed.   

VIDEO REVIEW HERE

Click to go to Think Geek store listing ....

You may wonder, in this era, why would people be interested in a hand-axe, well here are some Hollywood-produced suggestions....

Making a lasting first impression.... Colonial era style

Up close and personal, Revolutionary War style.

Home Front: Pot Belly Stove restoration

One of the small victories I had in my separation of assets proceedings was to gain custody of the dismantled, rusted and pieces-missing iron pot-belly stove. I lugged it back from the house in the hills where Triceratops Girl lives, and back to my place by the bay. When I first moved into the house in the hills I was delighted to find the stove in the midden-heap of a woodpile on the property, and dug around to find as many of its parts as I could in the leaf-litter, mulch and dirt. It turned out to be missing the top pot-lid cover, and the internal base, and possibly an ash catcher, as well as the chimney pipe.

The first problem with restoring it were the bolts that were to hold the "chest" the the "belly" parts. These had rusted solid, the nuts on either side all but fused to the metal of the bolts. I hit these with lots of silicone spray, and set at them with adjustable spanner and pliers, until i was able to shift them within the bolt-holes.

They wouldn't come free, hoverer, so I applied the NASA technique of percussive maintenance and hammered the bolts free of their heavily rusted nuts. This allowed the "belly" and "chest" to sit flush once again, for the first time in a long time I expect. The door moves freely and latches happily, giving a good seal, so I didn't feel the need to do any adjustments to it. The "lid" piece was missing its "pot-lid plate", which I will endeavor to replace with a close fitting disk of steel at some stage, if I can't find a more original piece of stove-lid iron. In the mean time, an old baking tray closed the hole for firing-up purposes. You can see there is a crack in the iron at the base of the stove-pipe, which leaks a little smoke. Perhaps brazing could patch that, we'll see. Using materials on hand, (baby-food tins and some coat-hanger wire) I fashioned a rude chimney,

A second round baking tray was sacrificed to close the bottom of the "belly" enabling a fire to be built within, and given the rough-fit, also acted to ventilate the stove, giving it good clean burning capability, without raining ash, embers or sparks onto the chopped wood stored below, between the "legs".

All in all I was very happy with the salvage, rebuilding and cobbled together spare parts that I used to turn a pile of rusted metal parts into a functional, cheerful and rugged wood-burning stove that can warm and cook for my family, if ever the electrical and/or natural gas grids should fail. It is also small enough (and nests) that it could conceivable be taken along for long-stay outdoors adventures.

DENIED: Wish-Lust: Gerber Kick Axe

One of my readers brought to my attention a folding axe, purported to be a Gerber product on another blog, and it seemed right up my alley so I went on over and looked it up. Fun blog, I seem some cool parallels in our coverage and interests (well done you Undead Gear guys!)

I wanted to get my hands on this cool piece of kit, but checking Gerber's website I hadn't been able to find it, and the link included in that article defaults to the Gerber Gear homepage. SO I contacted their sales reps:

I asked if they had any publicity or product information on the Kick Axe, telling them I would be delighted to hear more about this product, it looks ideal for me, my blog and my readers.

Here's the reply....

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Thank you for contacting Gerber Blades and your interest in the Kick Axe.  The Kick Axe was announced for release in 2009 and due to a number of concerns was not released.  Production of this product has been cancelled indefinitely.

We appreciate your interest in our products and invite you to view our website at www.gerbergear.com to see our current product offerings.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Donda Burnett

Consumer Services Supervisor | Gerber





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So, a sad outcome, but it goes to show, always good to get good up-to-date intel, and for the best, go to the source!

Sneak Preview: Wish Lust gratification

Oh yes. Arrived this morning to guffaws and evil chuckles.