Review: Zombie Tools - The Deuce

 "It's beginning to look a lot like fishmen"and what with the world not having ended with a Julian/Gregorian leap-day miscalculation on the 7th of December and with the 21st rapidly approaching, I wanted to get this message out there before the Mayan calendar starts blinking 12:00.

On December 31 1999 I took my Ontario BlackWind sword along to the "end of millennium / Y2K party. I wanted to have some trusty steel on-hand in case infrastructure went to poop.

I gave you a sneak peek at this a little while ago, and did a Wish-Lust write-up of it ages ago, and when I did some freelance work and had some spare cash, I placed an order for my very own ZombieTools DEUCE.

This arrival filled me with more joy than almost any arrival that wasn't my own blood, for some time. This is 1.36kg (3lbs) and 89cm (35") of singing steel.

No bones about it, this is a serious blade.

Here is me taking a few of my favourite kendo stances with it:

chudan no kamai

hasso no kamai

jodan no kamai

jodan no kamai

The back of the sword is a substantial 5.2mm (0.204") with a beveled edge to keep it snag and resistance free. The full tang of the blade fits neatly and tidily beneath a set of aircraft grade aluminium scales that have been machined to match the tang smoothly. There is great craftsmanship in this piece, and this is just one example of it.

The entire blade has been given a "distressed look" but don't let this fool you. The only distressing thing about this blade is the lack of legitimate targets that it hungers for.

The top of the handle shows off both the aluminium scales, and the very fine leather wrapping. There is a "bump" under the wrap, giving a very positive grip between index and middle finger. The fore-handguard and blade catcher give good geometrical cover for your grip.

The narrowness of the neck might have worried me, had I not seen Zombie Tools own "Destroying the Deuce" video  No fear of this being the cause of failure, for me.



The tail end of the Deuce features the ZombieTools logo nicely laser-cut through the pommel, which again shows off the blackened aircraft grade aluminium scales under the tough leather wrap. It would be simple enough to fit a retention lanyard through here, if desired.

The geometry of the whole of the hilt is really good, and allows both single and double handed grips with confidence and comfort. In my test cuts on some overhanging vines and shrubbery, I felt little or none of the shock that the BlackWind often offers with its single-piece cord-wrapped handle, far more akin to my "really-real" Japanese sword.

Speaking of "really-real" the Deuce has a full-tang blade made of 5160 spring steel, hardened and tempered. I wanted to measure it up against my other two go-to swords, the BlackWind, and my Hanwei Shinto. Going to basics, I put them side-by side with the Deuce and measured the balance points against both. Is clearly shows the differences in both the blade and handle geometry, as well as the fabled "balance point" which a swordsman will tell you governs how the blade feels in the hand, it's responsiveness, control ability, and cutting power.

Not wanting to go into the esoteric points of bladesmithing of which I am only a fan, and no expert, I can tell you as a swordsman, with 15 years of kendo and growing up with real swords that the balance of e Deuce is beautiful, both single and dual handed. Shorter than the Shinto, but with a similar handle, the kukhri-like forward swept head of the Deuce offers a chopping and hacking potential that the slicing Shinto does not. These are different swords, and act and feel different.

Both are vastly better crafted than the BlackWind, as the handling and use clearly tells.

The kydex scabbard the Deuce comes with is fitted with eyelets all the way down its length, at at it's tip, but I found that the throat of it was quite loose over the guard of the Deuce, and when running, or if inverted, the sword slips out easily. This was problematic, as having flailing razor-sharp steel slipping about when you are albeit ally maneuvering is a bad, bad thing. I plan to wear the Deuce on my hip, as I would a katana, or lashed to my back for over-the-shoulder storage, so in order to keep the blade secured, I opted to add some shock-cord to the eyelets, crossing it over the hand-guard which keeps the sword snug, but not so restrictive as to make it impossible to draw. Simple Iaido-style sword control with the left thumb is all that is needed to keep the Deuce snug, or free it, to do what it was made for.


I am thrilled to have the Deuce in my armory, and repertoire of steel. I look forwards to having it on hand for all my adventures, working out the best ways to wear and carry it, and putting its keenness, and it's ruggedness to whatever tests the world throws at me.

Riddle of Steel

The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, little Conan. You must learn its discipline. For no one, no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts. [Points to sword] This you can trust.

Conan's father

Review: Platatac - HeadOver

As summer approaches, we get some very changable weather in Melbourne, even more so than the rest of the year. Some days blistering hot, some days chilly and wet. Still days, windy days, wet, dry. But mostly windy. I like to keep a hat in my bag as a part of my EDC, as sun-exposure and skin cancer are no-ones friends,bu t there are times when a hat just wont suit the conditions.


It's time like these that I opt for a bandana, wrapping my head and hair out of the sun and wind, and giving my neck some needed cover, however, even the ubiquitous bandana won't suit all the time. they shift around, come undone and generally fail when most needed. That's where head-socks come in. More adaptable than a beanie, more structured than a scarf or sehmagh, I really like them. I have reviewed the HeadSox brand offering previously.
This however is the Platatac PolyPro Headover .

This lightweight tube of stretchy polypropylene fabric runs at 50cm long by 40cm in circumference, putting it longer but a little bit more narrow than the HeadSox version.

A single seam along the middle makes the tube, but both ends are hemmed neatly, making this a tidy little addition to my collection, especially when I don't want any snagging options. As you probably know, I fall into the longhair Viking side the "grooming standards", with "high and tight" but I've always seen this as part of my warrior heritage (and I'm sticking to that!).

It does leave me with complications on occasion.
Getting my hair hung up in packs, vests and slings is really annoying, and truth be told, probably a safety risk. However, I've managed to go this far without getting into too much strife with it, mostly because I pony-tail it or braid it.

The other option, like I've mentioned, is bandana's, hats and headsocks. Here's how I like to wear my Platatac HeadOver:

As a neck-warmer, note how it drapes low, all the way to my collarbones. Very good for adding chafe resistance to vests and slings!

Doubled over, it acts as a cap, wrapping and shading my head, and keeping my hair out of the way, and secured. In this fashion, it acts as a turban, a very effective and simple form of hot-weather headgear that has been worn for millennia.

With my hair pulled through, it acts like a bandana, as well as a hair-channel. To get it on like this, I pull it all the way over my head to my neck, then drag one end up and over, catching all my hair, and ears, giving a slick and tight cover. I wear this when I have to wear a hat or helmet, but want my neck uncovered (or just want my hair managed). This gives the most breeze flow and wicking contact.




When I want to go "full tacticool", nothing beats the open faced balaclava, with one end pulled up over the ears and nose, with a hat over the top, you have maximum sun/grit/wind and identity protection,  the same neck abrasion protection of the neck-warmer "mode" and look like a bad-ass khaki ninja to boot.

For all my silliness with this, the HeadOver is a great piece. Maintaining protection from the environment and avoiding exposure is a critical element of any survival plan, and a simple, lightweight and versatile piece like this really adds to your options, at very little wight, bulk or fiscal costs.

Review: ITS Tactical - MOLLE Stix

Another item that came in my package from the folks at Hornest was a set of the MOLLE Stix produced by National Molding.I had seen these previously whilst browsing around ITS Tactical's pages and "how to" tutorials, and thought they were a great invention. Since acquiring one of Zulu Nylon Gear's CAOS Admin Pouch I've been hanging out for a way to attach it securely to my rig.

I have a single short MALICE clip, which came with me Gerber stap-cutter, and currently affixes my EOD Breacher Bar to my plate carrier rig. They are sturdy, secure but hard to swap in and out.


The idea of the MOLLE Stix are that they are fast-access, easy to install and easy to remove, giving you "tear-away" access to a pouch, whilst far more secure and reliably attached than hook-and-loop (even in a sandwich setting). Each stick is a polymer bar, 13cm (5) long, and weighs only 42g (1.5 oz) for a pair.

The main tongue of the stick has a reinforcing ridge that keeps it rigid, but the magic of the clip, is the locking clasp at the top. This grips the top MOLLE channel that it fed through, and keeps the entire assembly secure and locked in.

Once the pouch is locked on with the clasps, the MOLLE Stix, having fed through two and three channels apiece, give a rock-solid attachment, but that's not where the story ends. the "type 1" cord that loops through the tops of the clasps, which give a "pull and yank" rapid release, pulling the lock open, the sticks out of the channels and letting the pouch drop free, to be tossed to a buddy, or propped in place, as required. Looping the "type 1" cord between the two Stix in a pair means that a single pull releases both, and the pouch comes free.

For me, I like the idea of being able to mount and dismount my modular collection of pouches, especially when the pouch in question lacks its own mechanism for doing so, like the Platatac PLMRS or the Blue Force Gear - Helium Whisper attachment systems.

I look forwards trying these out with a variety of pouches and on a variety of packs, rigs and configurations, as well as how I can best make use of the quick-release functionality.

Sneak Preview: Apocalypse Equipped Morale Patch

I have engaged the Platatac embroidery team to design a merch patch for the blog, looking at about $5 a pop.

Tell me what you think.... first five comments wins a free patch once they have been made!

Review: Strikemark - Contour cam Picatinny rail mount

Here's a cool piece of camera-gear that I picked up, after seeing a post by the guys at SoldierSystems back in March, and then again after looking for mounts for my Contour GPS following the Stampede mud-run I did recently. One of the guys I do Stargate Lasertag LRP with told me I need to tagger-mount my Contour, for extra bad-ass footage, so I was looking for Picatinny rail mounts, both for a helmet-mount, and to mount to my tagger. Reading some reviews, the official Contour Picatinny mount seemed to draw some serious criticism, so I looked around and re-discovered the Strikemark Picatinny Contour mount.
This is a rugged little nugget of a mount. At only 30g (1 oz) this CNC machined 6061-T6 aluminium mount is tightly engineered and sculpted. The slide onto my rails was smooth, but be aware, by nature of the "one piece" construction, they don't bolt on, like other rail mounts might. To secure the mount to the rail, a surface-saving, blue-nylon-tipped set screw tightens down with the included hex hey, Ikea-style. You can see it sitting down-rail of my Sstrike Industries Vertical Sling loop

The mount is hard-coat anodized with a matte black finish and is conservatively laser etched with the Strikemark logo.

The rails to mate to the Contour are extremely tight. I needed to add some lubricant to slip mine on, which I did gingerly, for fear of breaking the Contour's plastic siding. Whilst Strikemark offer a "Lifetime warranty on the mount. If it breaks, we replace." I wasn't so sure about Contour. The connection however is rock solid. No shakes, rattles, wobbles or warping, all the concerns raised about the official Contour mount.

Now, you can see my mount here, riding on top of my current tagger (which is a M16A2/M203 analog), as it currently lacks side-rails and it wasn't really in the way for what I do with it. I have plans to mount rails on my Pro Tec Classic helmet to give me a solid mounting point, to avoid the slide and jiggle worries I had with a cap, shoulder and bag-mountings I have tried.


Props to GeardoShit for beating me to the punch, I think we must have both been reminded of this thing at the same time, ordered, received, tested and decided to post at the same time. I literally had put pics up into a draft when his post published! Great minds!

Home Front: Mayan Long Count disaster!

I've been writing this blog for a year now, its been a good run: 195 posts, 59,456 views, a bunch of good kit and comments, and now, well, this may be the end .....


The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard released this message today.....



Apparently there were suggestions that the usual predictions of the "End of the World" as indicated by the end of the Mayan Long Count on December 21, 2012, was incorrect, due to Julian/Gregorian calendar miscalculations, and it was in fact, due on the 7th of December, 2012.

Woops, that's what you get for leaving your prep till the last minute, folks!




























I for one, got home and consulted MY Mayan calendar, and came to the conclusion that either way, I agree with Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson in that I don't think that a culture that didn't predict the arrival of the Spanish, can predict the end of the entire world, either.

I may, or may not take my Aannihilator Superhammer to work tomorrow, just in case ....

and i was so hoping to hit 200 posts and 60k views before the end ....

Review: Snow Lizard - SLXtreme iPhone case

I backed a rugged, heavyset and multifunction iPhone case on Kickstarter, before but when the design of the iPhone 4 and 5 was still in question, I chickened out of one waterproof case, but later backed another. More rugged, more functional, and more feature packed, I was relieved to see another project offered, and I had the gumption to back it, and then I had to wait.

This was the case that I backed. Billed as the Aqua Tek S on Kickstarter, and produced by Snowlizard. When it was ready for release it was renamed by popular backer vote, to the SLXtreme. Offered in a variety of colour options, I opted for the coyote-tan, surprise, surprise.

The basis of the case is that it fully encloses the iPhone 4/4s in a water, dust and shockproof polycarbonate shell, whilst still leaving the majority of functionality available to the user. During the design and manufacture process, the forward and back facing cameras, and flash, volume up and down buttons, and the main home and power buttons are all accessible whilst in the case.

 It turned out that the mute/orientation slider and earphone ports were too difficult or impractical to accommodate.


The multitouch screen, mic and speakers are faced by a thin polymer membrane which alternately allows the electrostatic use of the iPhone screen and transmission of sound from the speakers, and to the mic. I was skeptical to start with, but was pleasantly surprised both by the crispness of the control surface (no real difference than any other screen protector) and of the sound, (slightly muffled, but perfectly acceptable sacrifice for the protection offered when adventuring).

The base of the case has an access port for charging and synching the device by micro USB, with the 32pin iDevice plug being built into the insides of the case, the port being protected by a sealed flap, which is secured shut with a thumb screw. Also held in the front base of the case are a set of blue LED battery charge indicators.

The top of the case latches open and closed to accept the phone, which sits very snugly, as it is built with low tolerances, and even complying with IP68 & Mil Spec 810, but not so snug as to be impossible to take the phone in and out, even with the screen protector I have on it.

The latch has a slide lock, to help resist those "unexpected underwater openings"

The two camera ports are equally well designed, and don't significantly degrade the picture quality,

All the buttons could be described as "stiff" and the inlay to get to the edge of the multitouch display is pretty tight, but I'd rather a little awkwardness over a busted screen or waterlogged phone any day. The stiffness of the buttons only goes to reassure me that they won't break, or be a source of failure and ingress.

The case is large, it's bulky. It is very reminiscent of the old brick phones around when mobiles broke into wide circulation. This however, is not a big concern for me, given the nature of the protection offered and the additional features built in.

As well as being rated to 2m submersion, mud, dust, sand and rain proof, shock resistant and generally ruggedized, this case also packs a built in lithium ion polymer battery, providing DC 5V - 1A with 2000mAh capacity, giving an impressive boost to the standby (380-hrs), talk time (7hrs 3G, 17 on 2G), internet usage (7hrs 3G, 10hrs on WiFi) and 46 hrs audio, or 11 hrs video play.

However, the SLXtreme goes one step further in that it's back face has a built in solar panel, capable of generating 10 minutes of talk time for an hour of sunlight. This may not sound like a lot, but in a survival situation, it is plenty of power to send text messages, power up the GPS features of the iPhone, read up instruction manuals and yes, make calls as needed.

I have a lot of navigation, mapping, surveying and "guide" apps on my phone, and for the times when I am off-grid, but still want access to my data, and the stored knowledge, knowing that I have a near infinite supply of charging power, is very reassuring.


The Snow Lizard team took a lot of flak over the delays in production, from the initial Kickstarter which was successful in March 2012, till when I received mine in November 2012, and the iPhone 5 coming out in the interim. I really feel for them, but had no such concerns. Kickstarting isn't an exact science, and I'm just glad I got a product.


I am happy with my "less than newest" model of phone, and the accessories I have for it.

The case is rugged, light (at 317g including the 4s, making it a tad under 200g of battery, solar charger, water, crud and shock proofing that I can take into the field with me, do the Stampede or Tough Mudder wearing, or whatever.

Not being able to plug my headphones into it is a drawback I am willing to live with, for what I get, and I look forwards to Snow Lizard to come up wit hthe PALS/MOLLE attachment they posted mock-ups of. Till them, its off to Platatac to ask the lads what they can do with me to include this case in my loadout.