Review: Tough Hooks

I've been remiss, and failed to give you all a review of some really great kit I've just taken for granted! (That's praise and an apology in one).

I backed the Tough Hook Kickstarter by Tarik Lazri after browsing across it looking for new cool things. Tarik has used his experiences "in the field" to find and fill a gap in the market, for people who wear a lot of gear.

This is a coathanger ... no, really, a coathanger, but one that can take over 65kg of load (150lbs) of hung gear without even sweating. Who in their right mind has that much gear?
 Well, actually a lot of people in a lot of roles might.

I have three of the Tough Hooks, and have swapped them into carry several sets of my own exciting collection, that have till now had makeshift hangers of lumps of wood, and pipe.

First up is my o-yoroi, the Japanese armour I made from 7mm belt leather, on a 16th century pattern. Its a full body set, (kabuto-helmet is off-screen) and without a great deal of floor space at my place, (so much gear) I've needed to hang it. This has been problematic! Until now! The broad shoulders of the Tough Hook both accommodated the shoulder straps, but the flying hooks at the edges of the Tough Hook captured the various extra parts, like the waist band, the thigh plates, wrist and shin guards. These were forever slipping and falling off, every time i picked it up to move it (or don it).

You can see that even under a load, the hanger just hangs! No buckling, swaying or listing. It is a rock solid hanger, even under this bulk (if not weight).

You can also see here that there are various accessories sling over the main hanger hook, and again, this has been a problem in past, but the wide and long neck simply carries it, without struggle or tangle.
The awesome folks at ITS Tactical did a great demonstration of just how much of a load you can put these through, which they posted here: I recommend you check it out for a better idea of how tough these things really are.

How does it manage to take all this load and battle on? Good design and materials.


Starting from a pretty basic 2D design (ignoring the awesome winged hooks at the edges for a moment) Tarik took a leaf from structural engineering books, included an I-beam philosophy. This massively increases the bending and shearing stresses, with the flanges adding a real buffer to what ever is being stowed on it, as an added side note.

This translates to less compression for those padded shoulders and spreads out the weight over stitches or seams that might be under it.

My second Tough Hook  bears up smashingly under my small collection of ring-mail for when I need to let off some steam but also carries my spurs, and other boot-type accessories. Again, this is a pretty heavy standing load, and again, makes for a great display.

You can see more clearly how the wings snag and retain gear, and are mirrored, such that no matter how the hook is oriented (hook up or handle up) your gear is held fast.

Handle side? oh yes!

As well as a traditional coat-hanger hook, the Tough Hook features
a built in handle grip for easily transporting your gear! This features ergonomic finger grips as well as plenty of clearance for even the meatiest of gloved hands.

Made of a GP22 high impact ABS plastic, the Tough Hook site suggests that whilst designed for a 55kg (120lbs) load, they have had (informal) tests of up to 90 kg (200lbs), that is a whole lot of gear.

So, Samurai and silly Medieval-esque armour aside .... Who else might use it?

There are loads of people who as part of work or play have heavy, bulky kit.

I've done S.CU.B.A. diving, and can tell you, BDC, regulators, wetsuit, goggles, and fins are big heavy and bulky.

Firefighters, with their heavy jackets, pants, gloves and other kit, including breathing gear, especially when wet.

Then there is the tactical gear for LEO or Military users (or like me, enthusiasts): plate carriers, load bearing vests, battle belts, drop legs, slings, all that kit. All fits perfectly on the Tough Hook, as you can see here on my black one.


The last thing I felt I needed to say, is that the hook and handle can be swapped from one to the other, rotating around to go from "hanging" to "carrying" without dropping your items, because of those winks on the edges of the Tough Hook.

If you have heavy loads to hang up, be they work or play related, I really suggest you look these up, they are fully worth the investment, all but indestructible and ready for anything!

Review: Jil Lite - Jenyx UV torch

My friend Tay from Hornest tipped me off that he was getting a new light from Jil Lite coming into his shop, and being the luxophile that I am I jumped at the opportunity to pick one up. The reason I was so keen on this particular one, was that it was a UV emitter.

I have a UV laser pointer (from LazerShirts.com) which is pretty damn cool, but there are times when having a wide spread of UV light can be very useful for identifying a variety of materials as well as spotting scorpions, hidden UV ink messages and giving a low-impact tracking tool if you have the right markers... More on that later.

The Jenyx UV light from Jil Lite features a 2-chip controlled LED emitter producing 80 Lumens at 400nm. The light is powered by a single AA battery, and has a reported burn-time of 3 hours, with a constant brightness control circuit built in to ensure a steady beam.

The light distribution is quite good, with a room filling "orange-peel" aluminium reflector, behind the B270 optical glass AR coated on both sides lens. The entire unit is housed ay 6061 aircraft aluminium, giving a very sturdy little package. Activation is by tail-cap clicky button, which is inset below the butt-end of the housing, with a lanyard hole built in. Water resistance is achieved with o-rings, but the model is not dive-rated.I like the removable steel pocket clip as well, always good to have that as option.

 I was able to take some pictures with my iPhone  and was very happy with the intensity and reach of the light, illuminating my rather staggering NERF collection, as well as the "Toxic Green" handles of my KA-BAR Zombie Killer knives . UV lights are also very powerful chargers of glow-in-the-dark items such as Ranger Eyes and my SAR Moon Glow disk. It also picked out the green paracord that shipped with my Fishbones and Piranhas  as well as the orange paracord I use as well.

UV ink such as found in highlighters, or in anti-counterfeiting can act as a tracking or messaging system. UV reactive paracord or even NERF darts can act as inexpensive "breadcrumbs" to mark a trail, an alternative to IR or other "your-eyes-only" methods.

This is a cool little torch, and I'm enjoying having it on hand to charge my glowies, and to spot new UV reactive materials I come across in my adventures.

Update: WTF mini wrench and pry bar

A little while ago I reported on my pre-release WTF Ti mini-pry bar that I managed to sweet talk Brad of TacticalKeyChains into sending me, as it was a second. Just recently my full order from the Kickstarter campaign arrived, and thought I should show off the pre-production version against the production models.

 I ordered both titanium and the chromium/molybdenum  chromoly 4130 steel "stealth" version which has been Parkerized for shine and corrosion resistance. The main physical difference between the Ti and chromoly is the machining, in that the face of the pry-edge of the Ti versions is textured from the machining, where as the chromoly  version is smooth finished, due to the requirements for working the different metals. I like them both, and have had no discernible difference in performance when prying, they both bite nicely.

I had the production WTF anodized to a rose-gold colour, as it was going to be a gift for Omega (which she put straight onto her key chain, along with her NuKo Tool TiGBi Skully ). The only real difference between the the production version of the Ti WTF, and my "seconds" version is the lanyard hole is not quite centered in the second. In theory this might weaken that end, but I can't imagine putting enough force on the lanyard hole to make that an issue.

The Ti WTF's (made of Ti-6Al-4V) weigh 7.8g and the Stealth WTF (made of AISI 4130) weighs more at 11.5 grams, which is a small price to pay considering the benefits.

Brad has kindly provided some metallurgical stats on the materials he uses for the WTF's. The Ti-6Al-4V - has an Ultimate Tensile Strength of 138,000 psi and an elasticity modulus of 16,500 ksi, which means it is very very resilient, and springy. It will flex under stress.
TheChromoly 4130 has a Ultimate Tensile Strength - 97,200 psi but has an elasticity modulus of 29,700 ksi meaning it is not quite as resilient but VERY stiff.
Compare that against the aluminium 6061-T6 used for the basic WTF's which has an Ultimate Tensile Strength of only 45,000 psi and an elasticity modulus of 10,000 ksi  which is to say, relatively soft.

The cromoly WTF has the advantage of being ferromagnetic, and the wrench bits will not "give" when working stubborn nuts.  I really like my WTF's, i wear the golden "second" around my neck as a part of my EDC, and the chromoly version has found a place in my ZuluNylonGear CAOS admin pouch. These are brilliant little tools, and I'm glad I made the investment. 

Review: United Cutlery - M48 Walking Axe

Here's something I've been sitting on for a little while, and wanted to bring into the light, now that we are on the cusp of spring.

Much like Gimli The Dwarf I do enjoy the heft of a good axe in the hand. I've been chopping wood since I was 8 or 9 I think, off and on (our current house doesn't even have a fireplace), but I do have a brazier and the Pot Belly Stove project. I've previously reported on my other axes, including my outstanding FISKARS log splitter and my little United Cutlery M48 Ranger Hawk. In addition, I have at least one other traditional wood-hafted chopping axe, and two hatchets. Lots of axe-action. So when I saw that Global Gear was stocking the big sister of the Ranger Hawk, the "Tactical Axe" I thought I just had to get my hands on it.

The toxic green "zombie apocalypse" version of the axe is called a walking axe, referring to it being walking stick height. You can see here that this is pretty much the case, and for people shorter than me this would probably even be a comfortable option. It's just not quite long enough for me in this role. More on that later. (Check out my new 5.11 Tactical Kilt, too)


Here I've lain the two M48 axes side by side so you can get an idea of the differences between the heads.

They both share the "bearded axe" design that I am very find of, and you can see that the Walking Axe has a more pronounced curve to the head, as well as being longer edged.at around 12cm (5") of blade, and being 20cm (8") long. Wielding it brings out my Viking heritage more than I care to say ...

The other features of the head differ between the tomahawk and the walking axe, which was interesting. It wasn't simply a matter of putting the same head on a different shaft. Instead of three circular holes running backwards from the head, three triangular holed run down the length of it. These sit well past the secondary grind, and add to the liveliness of the blade considerably.

This is probably a good thing, because instead of the sharpened pick at the back of the axe, the Walking Axe features a curved hammer/handle end. With these considerable differences this really is a stand-alone piece. You can also see the differences in the shaft, which I'll cover in a moment.

The 91cm ( 36") super strong, black handle is made of a 30% fiberglass composite and is both light and quite rigid, whilst still having some flex to absorb the shock of impact.

There are two sets of ringed groves set into the haft, one down at the butt, the other about midway, which is a slightly larger set having two sets of 8 groves, the lower set just a single set of eight. As well as these there is the "knuckle" bump at about three quarters of the way up the haft, a features shared by the Ranger Hawk, as well as a set of finger grip lumps behind the beard that the Ranger Hawk does not have.

The cast 7Cr17 stainless steel blade is quite sharp and has considerable bite, good for chopping as well as whittling, if you can manage the long haft. As with the Ranger Hawk, the axe head is attached to the haft with three separate metal hex bolts.

The fittings are exactly the same between the two, and I suspect I could swap them out without any trouble at all.

You can see here the hammer/handle end is actually quite curved, and lacks a flattened striking face, more like a ball-peen hammer.

The fact that the hammer/handle end has a downwards curve lends itself to the idea of using it as a "break and rake" tool for clearing window frames, in the event you need emergency entrance (or exit). It, like the head of the blade, is quite thick, surprisingly so given the over all weight of the axe, which is only 1.4kg (3lbs) or so.

It also gives a nice, ergonomic place to rest your palm whilst hiking with the axe, in its walking-stick aspect.

The slight skeletonisation of the head drops the weight again, and adds a double line of gripping points to add to your ability to retain the tool when holding it.


The axe comes with a synthetic rubber "guard" which in theory pegs itself closed through the top of the cut-aways in the head. In my one, this didn't quite work, and I had to run a twist tie through the loop in order to snag it shut. With drain holes a-plenty, and covering the bitey tops and bottoms the of the beard, this does a good job in protecting the user, the environment and random passer-s by from feeling the bite of the axe.

This is a fun piece, and very lively in the hands. The play from gripping it, swinging it, and the slide of hands along its haft makes it a very quick and light tool, a far cry in feel from my FISKARS log splitter, and felt much more like a sword than a hammer, so to speak.

The lightness of the head will play a part in its usefulness when it comes to chopping and splitting, but for brush clearing, and the lopping of limbs, I suspect it will do just fine.

The fiberglass reinforced handle, as I say, is a tad too short for me to use as a walking stick, personally, but I have a big household, and I'm sure someone will find it useful in our upcoming camping and adventuring summer!

Til Valhall!

Review: Mudlarks - All-In-One

I took the family up to the snow recently (yes, there is snow in Australia, not very much, and not very long, but it we do get it) at Mount Baw Baw, and in my planning to do so, I wanted to ensure they would be adequately protected from the environment. I posted about what I wore, here)

Triceratops Girl (in pink) has previously been a model for the Muddlarks "Bib'n'Braces"  so I was prepared to make an investment in a set of their all-in-one coveralls for her and Tactical baby. Cold, wet and miserable children are NEVER a good thing, especially in hazardous and adverse conditions.

The whole Muddlarks range is constructed from waterproofed  breathable polyurethane coated, 150gsm nylon rated to 6000mm+. (See this guide to understand what this rating means)  . The fabric has also been Teflon® proofed on the outer facing of the material which helps resist staining and acts as a Durable Water Repellent (DWR). Water, snow and slush just beads and rolls off.

One of the important aspects of staying warm and dry in the snow is not to become wet in the first place, so this is a great material, especially as it retains its breathability. This ensures that the wearer doesn't steam too much on the -inside- which could lead to dampness and chilling.  The all-in-one Muddlarks provide a single piece coverall that ensures no "puddles and snow down the back" moments, with its ankles to crown coverage.

 Moving from outside to in , just unzipping improved their comfort considerably, especially with the polar-fleece lined larger version. This was child-sized hardshell wear at its best, i think.

The attached hood has an elasticised bill, to keep it snugly fitted in high winds, with a press-stud closure at the neck to keep the wide plastic zipper from sliding open. In the "Size 2" option, there are some press-studs at the nape of the neck to adjust the fit for smaller heads.

The hood, and shoulder/back have reflective piping, to assist in locating and safety in low-light situations. 

The back of the suits also feature elastic gathers, to ensure a better fit, with all the seams being taped for additional waterproofing. This was so effective that when Triceratops Girl fell backwards into a calf deep puddle (for her) that she was still bone dry inside even after sitting in it till i could haul her out.

With elasticised ankle and wrist cuffs, the biggest concern I had was that the girls would get snow and slush into their gumboots, but the Muddlarks design had catered for that as well. The fleece lining in the larger size ensured a warm Triceratops Girl, whilst we bundled Tactical Baby with a insulating mid-layer, and she fared just as well.

 Tapered and fitted cuffs, along with the elastic produced a snug fit, without constricting. but it is the button-closed adjustable elastic loop that really makes these a winner. Able to stretch around the ankle of a gumboot then affix, gater-style under them. This combination really ensures a good seal against incidental soaking, especially for little people. Again, cold, wet, miserable little people are not just a burden in an outdoors adventure,but in a survival situation, it becomes an even more serious risk.

I was really pleased with how these performed in the snow, but I've also seen how well the other items in the range (the bib'n'braces, specifically) perform in the mud, sand and forest floor. I really liked these for my kids.

Review: Propper - Adventure Tech, Level V APCU softshell pants

I took the family up to the snow recently (yes, it DOES snow here in Australia, just not very much, or in very many places) and I got to try out a few pieces of kit that I have been waiting for an opportunity to pull out in public.

My last trip to the snow, some three years ago was a very unfortunate event; sleet and hail fairly ruined out outing, and I had passed on most of my snow gear to the others in my party, and as a result ended up cold, wet and miserable. Not to mention a touch hypothermic. Having lived in the snow several times (Denver, USA / Surrey, UK / Calgary, Canada) I was kicking myself for my lapse of judgement, but as I say, the others in my party were ok, and looked after me.

However, THIS time, there would be no repeats! I payed attention to my ever growing collection, and selected not only a range of layers, but also spares, in the event that I needed them. 

The key piece that I tried out, however, were my new pants from Propper. I picked these up from an eBay sale, and as it turns out they appear to be a discontinued range from Propper. However, the Propper Adventure Tech, Level V APCU softshell pants were a welcome addition to my wardrobe, and certainly proved their worth on my trip to Mount Baw Baw for the weekend. 

I wore a Tough Mudder/ Under Armor shirt and my Platatac Half-zip fleece top  on top, with my HeadSox on my noggin.

I have very long legs, which usually means that I go for a size larger waist to ensure the right length, for pants which don't have a W/L sizing, but in this case that played in my advantage, as I chose to wear these as over-pants, over the top of a base layer of my Platatac sniper pants fleece layer in the first instance, with my Urban Dax as a mid layer, in the event of unpleasant weather.

I found that the mid layer was unnecessary for the beautiful crisp and dry conditions we faced on the mountain, so I felt I could really throw myself about in the snow. 


The material of the pants is a very light, 4-way stretch fabric which is extremely comfortable, both on the skin, but also from a breathability and wicking perspective. This is due in no small part to the Schoeller Nanosphere Treatment that Propper applied to the fabric. This treatment apparently mimics the natural self-cleaning effect of some plants whose leaves always remain clean, because particles cannot adhere to the finely structured surface, and is easily washed off when rinsed, without allowing water to penetrate. It combines with the weave of the fabric to offer a high level of protection from wind, rain as well. It certainly shed snow and slush well, as well as the mustard and BBQ sauce I exposed it to at the chalet. It also seems to resist washing out, so should retain its abilities when I do need to give them a wash.

Also, they were in Multicam! I haven't had many opportunities to wear Multicam. I tend not to wear camouflage "for fashion", (although I got a MC Tactical Kilt from 5.11 .... review to follow! ) so having an outdoorsy activity to test it out in was great too.

The pants have a wide padded waistband, as well as pretty standard belt loops. I actually felt that the softness and lightness of the fabric would have warranted thicker belt loops, just to make them a bit more substantial. but really, I didn't have any problems with them.

The main front pockets were almost horizontally cut into the front of the pants. This was an unusual feature, and it did mean that when using these pockets, I needed to dive my hand straight down in front of me, but certainly did ensure that my pocket goodies remained safely stowed.
 

The pockets are lined with mesh, rather than the same material as the rest of the pants, or some other full-weave liner, which was an interesting addition, but certainly didn't hinder me in any way. The overlap between the front and back lips of the pocket were constructed such that they overlapped nicely, and I didn't experience any wind-bite or water logging as a result of the pocket placement.

The just-above-the-knee cargo pockets were small for this kind of pant, but certainly functional. (they fail the "will it take my iPad test", but I certainly didn't want to be lugging that through the snow), but they were billowed at the back, for extra capacity, and the left set included a zippered side pocket as well. 

 

Whilst tromping about in these on the mountain, I found that I could easily stow my phone in its SLXtreme case as well as my Contour cam, in ITS waterproof case, as well as two to three sets of gloves and or mittens, without a spill or lost technology all day. I did find that the knee-pads I wore sat very close to the cargo pockets, and this impinged on their ability to be filled fully. This was a little annoying, but the knee-pads were -very- large.

The cargo pocket have hook-and-loops closures, and the top of the lid-flap had an opening for pen, light or knife clips, or could also trail a cable.

One thing that I found with these pants is that they stopped the wind dead. Whether I was standing on the top of a ridge, or zipping down a slope on a toboggan with the little ones, they simply cut the wind right out. They did so without the "zitch-zitch-zitch" that Gore-tex "hard-shell" pants might. 
 

This leads me to post this little guide to assist anyone else who occasionally gets mystified by ll the "hard-shell/soft-shell" jargon ... 

I've tried to find an explanation or scale to describe the "Level V" portion of the Propper scale (which goes to at least VII) but this might go some way to describe what different levels and ratings of waterproofedness and breathability mean.

One thing I found interesting about these pants are that not only do they totally lack any pockets at the back, but are also fitted with a wide elastic section, the full width of the waistband, for the entirety of the back of the pants.This meant that they did sit fairly snugly, even with the "slightly too large" size I got, and stayed snug when i was crouched, squatting on a toboggan, or kneeling to pick up and carry my small people. 

I really liked wearing these pants. I stayed snug, warm and dry. I tromped through snow and slush, picked up squealing kicking offspring and sat them on my legs , sat in the snow, built snow-dinosaurs and generally had a good time, all without a single sad, soggy moment.

It's a real shame these are no longer being made, but can still be picked up by searching for Propper Adventure Tech, Level V with the product code F7220, online. Good luck, stay warm and dry!

Review: Manta Strobe helmet light (replica)

I've been meaning to post about this for a while. As my regular readers may know, I simply can't get enough lights. I love lights, and illumination. As one of my favourite designers states "Dark Sucks" 

I saw one of these little guys in my feeds and instantly felt the need to add one to my collection. However, there were two problems. First and foremost was one of the banes of my existence. 

"This Item is ITAR controlled and cannot be shipped or carried outside the United States without express written permission from the United States Department of State. We do not export outside the United States. PERIOD!"   

IR products are just so hard to get from American producers because if this. The second reason was almost irrelevant as a result, its a pricey gadget. I was super lucky when I was sent the
CJ Engineering - Phoenix jr IR strobe .

However, the original Manta Helmet Strobe from S And S Precision looks to be an excellent addition to many real-world users kits, so I wanted to see what I could find.

I managed to find a replica-for-paintball version by Canis Latrans Trading, out of China. These are the same folks that supplied me my "Ops-Core like" bump helmet . Now, before I go into the item, let me reiterate, this is how I could get one of these, legally. It is a replica, so is unlikely to have gone through rigorous QC and testing that an original from S&S would have. I wish I could have a real one, but I can't. This will have to do. 

However, that said, it works a treat!

The manta-ray shaped device is 7.5 cm (3") long, 5cm (2") wide and 3cm (1.4") high. It is curved on its underside to mate with the curve of a helmet and is covered in hook-field for attaching to loop-fields.
 
The underside of the unit (the tail) features a textured button which when depressed, triggers the IR strobe. Because of the risk of switching it on unknowingly, or to confirm that it is in fact on, the strobe has a vibrate function, which gives three pulses when it is activated. This is an awesome feature, and can be easily felt with the helmet strapped on, but is essentially silent.

There are two buttons on the side of the tail, recessed, which trigger the "overt" green strobe. This can only occur when the strobe has already been put into IR mode, and then only by a three second squeeze of both side button simultaneously. This is a great feature, especially for those users who may need to be very aware of not breaking light discipline.

The strobe takes one of the CR123a batteries so prolific in high end electronics and lights these days.
The IR strobes uses three IR LED's, which when activated are barely perceptible within 2 meters to the naked eye, as three faint, pale pink blinks. I have pretty good night-vision, and beyond 2 meters in a blacked out room I couldn't see them. 

The overt, green strobe however, was almost painful to look at, with its twin lime green LED's that all but lit up the room I was testing them in. 

I had a go capturing the IR and overt green strobes both directly with my iPhone, and also down the barrel of my Yukon IR scope  and that really demonstrated the efficacy of this light.  The IR LED's cast so much light that the reflection made the blacked out room.

So, for my use as an emergency beacon  when I am out adventuring (like when I was out testing the Aquayak Snapper Pro, or running about through the mountains) I think it will work out just fine. I want to be able to be spotted by Search and Rescue, if the need arises, or just stay out of oncoming traffic's way. It is a rugged little toy, waterproof and bump-capable. I'm going to pack it whenever I go adventuring, and see who is watching ...

Visual light test of Manta

IR test of Manta, through Yukon IR scope