Update: United Cutlery M48 Walking Axe

I have some bad news, rugged and prepared readers. I took my UC M48 Walking Axe camping with me last weekend, along with my M48 Ranger Hawk tomahawk  and my Fiskars log splitter.

We were cooking and heating by firewood for six adults and four under 10's. This meant a bunch of chopping and we were lucky enough that recent storms had necessitated the Rangers chainsaw a couple of trunks. The Fiskars splitter broke the logs up and we used the three axes to break them up into workable pieces and kindling.

The Walking Axe performed really well, light and fast, and soon out performed the Fiskars when it came to the lighter pieces.


When I got the Walking Axe home to do some maintenance I was dismayed to find that the main spar of the head had developed a serious crack. On one side the steel had even spalled.

It seems the chopping and splitting was too harsh for this design. It's possible that this particular piece had a flaw in its metal, but given the placement, it looked like design flaw to me.

I was really disappointed by this, mostly because of how well the axe had performed in both firewood chopping, but also branch-clearing.

There is still a fair amount of metal holding the head in place, so it is still functional, but how long till a spectacular failure occurs, I just don't know. I will not be staking my life on it, that's for sure.

Still, it did good work, and I was glad to have given it a thorough workout. It will still sit by the door in the umbrella stand / home defense artillery shell, ready to fend off fallen branches.

Review: MuzzleShots

I've been unwell recently, mostly I think, due to a bout of bad water I had when I went camping last weekend. If only I had unpacked and used my LifeStraw ... As a result I've been slow on the content here. Remember folks, bad water and associated disease account for an estimated 4.1% of the total DALY global burden of disease, and cause about 1.8 million human deaths annually. The World Health Organization estimates that 88% of that burden is attributable to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene.


Which is why I thoroughly endorse  fermentation and distillation of alcohols for drinking and disinfection purposes! Contrary to popular uni-student-household myth, shot glasses are not indestructible,  so I asked myself, what was the most rugged way to drink my fortified beverages, and carry with me on my gear?

The grey, anodized aluminum MuzzleShot shot glass styled after the M16 A2 flash hider was the perfect addition to my collection of both shot glasses, AND tacti-cool kit. They are rugged, with smooth lines.

They even fit in my Platatac 40mm grenade pouches which gives me an extra tacticool-option for deploying them.

With a 44ml (1.5oz) capacity, these are bigger than the standard drink measure in Australia, but for recreational use, I don't think anyone will mind too much (drink responsibly). Flameproof
and slamproof we're talking serious drinking hardware here.

The anodizing is food-grade, but it is not recommended that these be run through a dishwasher.  I really like them, especially their design, texture and heft. This is a "glass" that will be with you a very long time!

If you need something bigger for your beverage, there is always the BattleMug ....

Click the picture to go to ThinkGeek's store

Wish Lust reminder: Ergonomic Shovel

Hey all, just a heads up, if you were thinking about pledging for one of Stephen's modular ergonomic shovels with the cool adjustable mini-gun grip, you've got only 12 hours to place a pledge on his Kickstarter.

Go here for more details. Stephen tells me that the Shovel will be 100% USA made, for all you Berry Compliance people out there.

Wish Lust: Bosse Tools - Ergonomic Shovel

I like me a good shovel, and I've had a few in the past (and have killed several) and when Stephen Walden of Bosse Tools got in touch with me to see if I were interested in his design which he is pitching on Kickstarter I was intrigued.

His design features a couple of interesting elements, which lend themselves to a disaster recovery and preparation mindset (As well as the everyday urban homesteader). 

Just looking at it you see the very obvious addition of a ringed handle in the middle of the shaft.  This plastic molded and fitted ring features a geared and locking system for rotating and adjusting the hand-hold, to maximize the ergonomics, customization and efficiency of your grip and use of the shovel, as Stephen puts it "you can do your job in one single motion - dig, scoop, and pitch - all in one".


The second aspect of the shovel which caught my eye was the u-shaped foothold, which lets you drive a boot down on the center line of the tool, rather than off to either side (as with a regular shovel). I've dented my shins often enough digging in my little veggie patch when digging to really have an interest in that feature, if nothing else. Admittedly, I cleared the turf for that patch with my e-tool , and I'd be weighing up its design andmaterials for melee combat much as I might for the Crovel on my Wish-Lust list but its a very innovative design, and if you are in the market for some fancy digging tools, I think this would be definitely worth a look. Get in quick, as the Kickstarter is ending soon.

Sneak Peak: terminatorised Nuko Tool ACDT

No fate but what Norman makes. 

Review: Hydrogen-3 Workshops - Tritium bead

I know I am late to the playground when it comes to the cutting edge of self-illuminating lights, but I finally laid my paws on some tritium radioluminescence,  in the form of this gorgeous bead from Hydrogen-3 workshops.

For those of you who don't know, tritium (H3) is the ever so slightly radioactive heavy-brother of regular hydrogen, which sheds electrons as it slowly decays, which in turn excite a phosphor coating on the inside of the glass phial is is trapped in, and, tada, a constant (if dim) glow. With a half-life of 12.5 years, this isn't a "forever" light, but it also doesn't irradiate the carrier either ...

Hydrogen-3 Workshops offer a variety of cool ways to carry their range of tritium phials, (which they have with phosphors glowing in Green, Blue, Ice Blue, Pink, Purple, Red, Orange, Yellow, White), and the bead I chose was a six-sided AISI 304 stainless steel, handcrafted from a metal bar stock and milled to accept six 6 x 1.5 mm tritium phials.

The phials themselves are glued into the bead with the rather cool UV-cured Norland 61 Optical Adhesive and are recessed below the lip of the bead, for added protection.

I chose two each of Red, Blue and Green, for a classic CRT effect. Spinning it, I get a nice off-white glow.

 Adding the bead to my keychain was as simple as slipping it over one of my nifty titanium split rings and onto my Gar-A-Biner to go along with all my other cool EDC keychain tools.

As far as how well it illuminates, I've been able to spot my keys in the dark of my room, the foot-well of my car at night, and at the bottom of my bag, when rummaging at the pool. I'd say the green was the clearest to spot, but the red was not too far behind.

This was a pretty small sized phail for each, so I didn't expect much, but I think they will prove valuable when it comes to finding my keys in the dark of a foreign bedroom, underground lair or ditch when dropped evading zombies.

Review: Hazard4 Labs: LaunchPad iPad sleeve

I've been keeping an eye on the upcoming products from Hazard4 Labs, who made the replacement to my old harness, the  RG harness that I keep the majority of my EDC in.  

They have finally released their Poncho (review coming soon!)
and I got one of these very cool cases thrown in for good measure, along with another item, which I have not yest started testing.

This is the LaunchPad iPad sleeve.

Made to fit the iPad 1 and iPad 2, with an internal capacity 28.5cm x 21 cm (11.1" x 8.2"), the sleeve is constructed from an Invista® 1000D Cordura, giving it a very rugged and scuff resistant exterior. The interior is lined with a faux-suede material which has been quilted over an internal padding material.

This gives a really nice body to the sleeve, and not only provided non-slip carriage for my iPad, but also proffered a not inconsiderable level of bump, drop and scratch protection to it. 

Two grometted (and screened) air-vents prevents that puffiness that padding can get from time to time.

 I'm not overly precious with my technology, as my collection of screen-guards and cases will attest. I've found that my iPad screen has taken several rough trips when I've over-packed my Bullock Echo daypack, with my iPad sitting loose in it's helmet carrier section. 

Exactly the kind of abuse the LaunchPad will protect it from.

The internal closure is from two patches of hook-and-loop, which features cleverly recessed hook-fields, really improving the sleek lines of the sleeve. The main closure is provided by a shock-cord loop, with a sewn-webbing pull tab, that is fed through an eyelet in the lid, and hooks around a plastic tri-glide buckle.
 
The back side of the sleeve brings its own set of goodies. Four rows of six channel PALS/MOLLE line the back, with the top three rows sporting loop-fields between them, for ID patches (or in this case my ITS Tactical membership tab). The idea being that you can attach accessory pouches to the sleeve (for chargers and cables, or whatnot) or mount the whole sleeve to something with PALS/MOLLE strips like the MOLLE Stix, Blackhawk S.T.R.K.E. speed clips or the like. I could see this on a pack, or the back of a plate carrier. 

At the bottom left of the back of the sleeve is the final feature, the steel "carbine type" triangular gear loop for attachment of a carabiner, keychain, or wristloop. I haven't yet hooked anything to it, still looking for the right combination, but it's a really thoughtful addition to an elegantly constructed and designed tablet storage sleeve. 

The sleeve isn't water or dust proof, but it does offer almost total coverage, and the Cordrura is water resistant, at least. Consider it a 3-season tent for your tech.