Review: RhinoRopework - MAD Stick

Image from RhinoRopework

Here is a brilliant bit of kit that I've managed to scoop up just in time for OCONUS Week on BreachBangClear, in a world exclusive.

I've been buying a few things from the Rhino Ropeworks, like their tritium equipped fobs, and just recently one of their Saber ropeworking spikes. When I heard that this weeks topic was things done by foreigners, by foreigners, I dropped my mate Shane a line, and he sent me a prototype in the mail!

Shane is no stranger to making tools that are up for some hard yakka, and I was only too happy to get RR's newest tool in my hands. Check out their Facebook page for all the latest work-in-progress.
The MAD Stick is a 400mm (15.7") long, 12.7 mm (0.50" yeah, fifty cal!) length of 4140 high tensile tool steel, commonly used in pry bars. It weighs in at 340g (12oz). Very lightweight for what it is.

The steel is heat treated to have a Rockwell 45-46 in the body, 60 at the breaker tip. That gives you all the flex you need for doing heavy prying tasks you might have on hand, without deforming the working ends.

The two different ends give you two different functionalities. The double sided chisel point comes to a second, finer edge for the last 2mm or so, giving a nice robust wedge to use to work into gaps and crevices without the fear of chipping your tip. The primary grind is about 3.5cm (1.5").
The opposite end is rounded to about the same length, and also features a primary and secondary grind. Good for all kinds of probing and hole punching.

This tool, as my partner Omega said "is a metal stick of great evil. I like it" (and she knows a thing or two about evil ...). To top it off, the whole piece is covered in a black Cerakote finish although RhinoRopework can also get it coated in a variety of colours.

The middle 5cm (2") of the bar is left smooth, but the rest of the surface is covered in a really bitey knurling. So bitey, in fact it is possible to use as a striker for Ferrocerium. Bloody brilliant.
I generally prefer a ridged finish personally, which as it happens, RhinoRopeworks can put on one of these instead of the knurling, but I have to say, it's a pretty aggressive grip. I had no feeling of this coming loose in my hands, or in fact where I stowed it.

This is helped along by the ripper little pen clip that is fixed to the MAD Stick, about half way.
That little clip meant that I was able to slip the stick down the side of my PALS/MOLLE equipped pack, and even clip it to my Hazard4 RG Harness, and wander around the city with it slung under my vest, along my torso.
That same portability would mean that this could be worn on a plate carrier, on an assaulters pack, or secured pretty much anywhere with a loop or lip.
I'm no stranger to breaking things, and would stack the MAD Stick up against my Stanley FUBAR, the Dead-On Superhammer and the CountyComm Breacher Bar happily. They are all different tools, and this is no hammer, but it sure is a problem solver.

Shane tells me that the MAD Stick was "inspired by digging tool used by foragers and the splitter bar used in AMC's The Walking Dead to kill walkers through the fence". Now, this isn't a spear by a long shot, but it's not meant to be. More like a MILSPEC Kali stick. I haven't had a chance to put it in the hands of my escrima practicing friends yet, but I can imagine they could bring a metric fuckton of hurt down with this.

Besides being just small enough to secrete on your person (if that's your thing)  its compact size means another thing. If you are already wearing a fairly rigid set up, it's slim design will keep if from getting in the way, especially if you have 6 to 8 rows of PALS/MOLLE to slip it into. It virtually disappears down the side of a pack, and only pokes out a little on the front face of one.

Once I got it home, I set to bashing, jabbing, prying and generally looking for things to test it on. I stabbed it into logs, and hit them, found cracks in brickwork behind the house and old woodwork to prise apart. Not a mark on the tool, and everything I tried it on succumbed. As expected, when used as a striking tool, length-ways, it resonated a fair bit, but it was manageable. 
Without gloves on for my first round of tests, the knurling held fast, and I had great grip throughout my swathe of destruction. One thing I found was the pen-clip made for an uncomfortable place to hold the tool, and I needed to rotate it out of the way a couple of times, especially when I wanted to exert some more force.  Gloves sorted this right out however, and gave me the added padding to ignore this.

Given its ease of storage, light weight and high functionality, I can see these being quickly being found in the hands and cars of EMT's, and other first responders, as well as anyone who might need "Method of Entry" tools in their regular loadout, without having to call out the big-boys like a Halligan Bar.

For me, having a tool like the MAD Stick close to hand means that I can overcome a variety of problems in or around the house when I don't want to snap the tip off a knife or bend a screw-driver breaking up pallets to fortify the bunker.

The MAD Sticks are only just now going into small-batch production, and the heat-treating and Cerakote process is time consuming, but any day now the first production models will be in the hands of the early purchasers. I have a feeling we might be seeing a lot more of these in the hands of rough men, standing ready.

Rreview: PublicLabs - Infragram Plant Cam

I'm always excited to be able to work with extra-human wavelengths of light. I love my UV torches like the UV Jil Lite JenyxUV, and the SpiderFire x6v IR and the Phoenix Jr and the Manta strobe. Not to mention my Yukon NVMT 3x42 IR scope.I've wanted to get into thermal imaging, but it's way to expensive for a dilettante like me at this stage, so I jumped at the chance to get a near-IR option.

I backed a Kickstarter, the Publiclab Infragram the infrared photography project which developed a modified Mobius Action Cam with a 133 degree wide-angle lens, timelapse and still photography at a resolution of 2304 × 1536, and 1080p video. It is modified with a red filter and custom white balance.  The camera comes with an SD card and standard 1/4-20 tripod mount.I added some fishing line, just to keep the fiddly lens cap attached.

Near-IR photography takes advantage of the fact that digital cameras are sensitive to IR and by removing the infrared-blocking filter and adding a specific blue filter the modified Mobius Action Cam  filters out the red light, and measures infrared light in its place using that piece of carefully chosen "NGB" or "infrablue" filter.

The end result are these interesting blue-removed, IR-reflective and photosynthesis inferring photos. I've taken them from various angles in my front yard, with the Mobius and then with my iPhone5.

Facing NE, bunny enclosure

Facing NW, raised veggie patch

Facing W, tree, artichoke plant

Facing E, palm trees, bunny enclosure

Facing N, trees

For kicks, me in my Propper multicam vest. Note I don't photosynthesize 

Grey-fatsie filter

Infragram offer a selection of web-based filters which allow you to pick out and distinguish different aspects of the wavelengths captured, allowing you to not only pick out where plant life is thriving, or failing to thrive, but also pick out areas and items that might appear to fit, but are not.

This kind of photography will allow for assessment of crops, keeping track of invasive species, and possibly even be used to scan for roaming bands of government agents tracking you down ...

HSV filter

NDVI Red filter

Review: Ti2 TechLiner pen

From the makers of the Ti2-PB9 parabiner pulley  the Ti2 Sentinel S4S cache and the most excellent Ti2 Sentinel X cache, comes this fine implement. This was also Kickstarted, but I had missed out, and luckily for me when the good folks at Ti2 sent me replacement Sentinel X's, they also included one of their new item, the Ti2 TechLiner pen.

Here it is lined up against one of my other titanium pens, the Tactical Keychain TKMB. One of the key differences between the two, and in fact, most pens I've encountered, is that the TechLiner was designed to have cap retention without threads.

The Cybernetic Research Labs tool pen is threaded, as is the hefty EDC Pen is also threaded. In fact, all my tactical pens are threaded, except this one. So, how do they do it?

Magnets! (how do they work?)
Using 3 rare earth magnets, built into the cap, the tail end and around the pen with a toroid magnet. The cap is pulled on tip or tail with approximately 900g (2 lbs) of force.  The unique custom ring magnet that fits around the tip of the Signo 207 refill series.Apart from anything else, this is a very nice pen tip to write with, good for precision work as well as note writing.

The three piece body opens up at the tail end and at the tip to let you for replacement ink cartridge. 

Each end is fitted with a machined grip, designed for a tactile grip surface which is comfortable for extended periods of writing.  The machined "grid" pattern offers a non-slip, secure grip without adding any snag points.

I've had this kicking around in my pocket for weeks, and the magnet in the tail has kept it attached to the other tools in my EDC ring. It doesn't have the "hammer through a brick wall" feel of the EDCPen, but it is a serious piece of hardware nonetheless. Dropped, run over, kicked along concrete and it's barely scratched.

One of the things I love about this is it's sleek lines and snag free design. Also, magnets!

Review: how much knife is too much knife?

As you might have guessed, I'm rather keen on my edged tools. There is something very satisfying about a well honed blade cutting smoothly, and even more so when having a blade on hand means that a task or obstacle is swiftly completed or overcome. I've covered a variety of knives here previously, but something prompted me to ask myself "how much knife is too much knife?"

First lets address some local laws that I live subject to:

New Weapons Laws
"Release date: Thu 3 June 2010
Last updated: Fri 13 August 2010
The Victorian Government has introduced new laws to target knife crime.
From 22 August 2010 you can be searched for knives in a public place anywhere, anytime, with and without notice.
 
If you are 16 and over and get caught carrying a controlled weapon such as a knife, you face an on the spot fine of $1,000, or you may have to go to court and face a fine of over $14,000 or one year imprisonment.

This penalty is doubled if you are inside or within 20 metres of a pub, club or bar."

and some further clarification and explanation:


Controlled Weapons

Controlled weapons are weapons that can be used for legitimate purposes but require regulation because of the possible danger they pose to the community. This category of weapon includes knives that while not considered prohibited weapons, still are a potential danger to the community.
A person must not possess, carry or use a controlled weapon without lawful excuse. Lawful excuse includes:
a) the pursuit of any lawful employment, duty or activity
b) participation in any lawful sport, recreation or entertainment, and
c) the legitimate collection, display or exhibition of weapon.

Lawful excuse does not include for the purpose of self-defence. [Bold by author]

Now, as it happens, I hold an exemption to the Weapons Control Act, as a collector, and am also a member of several collector organizations, as well. I happen to carry a couple of knives on or around my person as part of my EDC, and I make damn sure that in doing so, I have good reasons quick to mind.

In making the choice to carry a knife on my person, I am aware of the risks, both legal and to health and safety. So, that being said, what do I carry, when, and why?

In the picture above is a small sample of my collection

1. Victorinox Swiss Army Knife - I keep this in the sun-visor of my car, good for opening things, picking teeth, fixing small tasks and personal grooming. I have had one these little guys since I was 5. About as inoffensive as a knife can get.
2. CRKT folding KISS - This is my every-day knife, I keep it in my Hazard 4 harness, and have used it for everything from cutting fruit and salami, to cables, opening boxes, cutting rope and picking splinters. Its my go-to utility knife for work cutting and first aid needs. Seeing as it sits well out of the public eye, and I have a variety of uses for it, I'm content with my ass-covering.
3. SAR Globaltool OddJob - Just as the name says, I use this little knife for odd-jobs. I usually wear it on my belt when I know I will be needing to do a lot of little cuts, unpacking furniture or parcels, or when I know I'll need to make one or two little cuts, quickly. Makes a great camping / hiking knife, and I also wear it when I know I'll be on First-Aid or safety Officer duties at events. Unobtrusive but getting a little "technical" for street-wear.
4. Schrade Army 10 - Totally a tactical knife. I've never actually used this other than during the review process, it falls out of my user-category. If I were an avid hunter or active duty Armed Forces, it might well fill I niche I would need, but as it stands, its too much knife for my little needs, and not enough for the bigger ones. There's nothing wrong with it at all, but it's "a soldier knife" and I have other needs and tools.
5. HHA LFK01 - Tactical all the way, this blade I gave to my partner as a gift a couple of years ago, as she has a thing for back-swept blades, but neither she nor I would wear it out in public, unless society had fallen. It's a very effective, rugged and sharp tool, but it wants to be in combat, so it lives in the collection only.
6. Hibben style throwers - I have several of these. They balance well, throw nicely and make for good box-openers, but don't believe what Under Siege teaches us, they don't actually make for good kitchen knives. Throwing knives are also listed as "prohibited items" in Victoria. Be advised.
7. American Kami Super Colubris - My beloved combat kitchen knife, this is my go-to outdoors knife, whether it is camping, BBQ'ing (though sometimes I fall back on my MSM KA-Bar knife for the same task) or just kitchen and household cutting needs. This is weighty, long and sharp enough to tackle bigger tasks, but fine handling enough for delicate fileting and slicing. Again, I wouldn't wear it on the street, but it doesn't leave my hip when out bush.
8. Boker 343 Scalpel folder - This interesting little blade lives in my bag, in a pen-slot, usually, or fitted in PLAS-MOLLE channels on my other gear, when I feel the need. It's long handle and thin, narrow and long blade make it an excellent precision slicer, and it is plenty pointy enough to make an excellent probing cut. It looks kind of scary, so it falls under my "first aid and technical precision tool" category, and rarely sees light of day. 
9. MichaelJ Fechner utility-blade - This beast is a serious industrial tool. I've worn it as a camp-knife, but really, its primary function is almost agricultural. Chopping woody branches and cutting through heavy canvas, breaking up pallets and prying up boards. This is a knife that wouldn't look out of place in a tradesmans toolbox or on a pipe-hitters belt. As with the Super Colubris, I wouldn't wear it to the shops, but when I'm gloves and goggles on, doing work, its perfectly suited.
10. KA-Bar Pestilence - Now, if I ever have to clear my way through some bad-assed bush I would be tempted to break out the Pestilence, there is a time and place for cane-knives and machetes. Any other time? You are showboating. It's a surprisingly spry blade in the hand, but unless I were needing to clear a field or lop some limbs, I wouldn't be going to this one.

So there you have it.  There certainly is occasion where the tool at hand may well me "too much knife" just as it might be "too little" but odds are, you can probably get away with less, in most settings, if you know what you are doing. This is why kitchen knife-blocks come with a variety, and all the knives have names and uses.

Be clever with your cutlery, be aware of any laws and legislation you are subject to, and always, always, be ready for anything!

Review: Great Outdoors - Silver Grande 9L

Having quite the expansive family these days (3-4 adults, 1-2 little kids, depending on who is around) when we go camping, (which really isn't often enough) we try to make the most of it, and be as comfortable as possible.

Once the little ones have grown up a bit, we might consider more hiking type trips, but until then, we camp where we can unload the SUV. That means we can afford to camp BIG. This means, in this case, we can take a big tent like the Great Outdoors - Silver Grande 9L.


Unfortunately it seems the "Great Outdoors" line has gone under, but similar tents like the Spinifex Franklin, or the Wild Country - Getaway II 9MR but none that I've found in my recent searches have the four-room option that the Silver Grande features.

 The Silver Grande is split into four distinct areas, each with a 360o zippered vestibule, and close-to-the-flood bulkheads. The whole of the base is bucketed to a good height, ensuring that the interior stays dry in inclement weather.

image swiped from eBay

This really is quite the palatial tent with measures 6.4m in overall length (2.1 x 2.2 x 2.1) and 3m wide in the middle, 2.15m at the end rooms. The front room adds another 2.1m to the width to a total of 4.3m. The side rooms are a little bit shorter than the main central room, which tops out at a very respectable 2m15m.

With all the internal doors open, and wrapped up in their self-storing toggle and loop attachments the interior is really very spacious. The walls are at a high angle, so you maximize the available space, so often lost in lower dome tents. The internal walls are all a very light, breathable material, and well fitted. Window and main exterior doors are all fitted with a translucent insect proof mesh, with clear PVC windows and a skylight in the flysheet.

two sets of colour coded poles make up the structural supports, and each is designed to slot into sleeves built into the inner shell, and mount on captive pegs attached to split rings, attached to the base.

image swiped from eBay

The fly itself is a silvered 3000mm rated waterproofed polyester. It has hook-and-loop tabs situated at key points to anchor it to the poles for added wind resistance. The inner shell also features clasps on elastic loops, ensuring both a taught but also stable attachment. Without the fly, the tent is very light and airy, with the large swathes of mesh siding and the very light material of the walls letting light stream in. The silvered fly adds a significant level of shade, without being gloomy, and dramatically cuts the wind. It also blocks out harmful UV radiation, and keeps the tent cool in the Australian sun.

With the doors open, or at least set up in the awning-up configuration, with each of the side rooms having the option to put one up, and the main room from the back side also can be set up as an awning. One set of poles are provided to do this.

The rooms all have sets of pockets built into the walls, either in the corners, or in the under-window areas.

image swiped from eBay

There are also loop attachment points on the ceiling, and the internal door toggle and loop fittings also provide attachment points, for lights, clothes and the like. The storage setup is quite thoughtful, ans also takes advantage of the high-angled walls effectively.

The tent's "front room" doesn't have the same bucketed floor as the main body of the tent, but does feature an attached floor that is mounted to the front wall of the main room. The flysheet covers this area and provides a sheltered, but not sealed enclosure. We typically use this area for gear storage, leaving our camp-kitchen, food stores and the like in here, and as a boot-changing area.

image swiped from eBay

Not being sealed, you still need to be aware of bugs and other creatures getting in and around your gear. This can be a real concern for those of us who live in Australia. Or perhaps in North America if you have racoons and bears to worry about.

This is billed as a 9 person tent, and there is plenty of room for that many, if you make good use of the floorspace and don't need to have too much walking around room. We generally have had one of the side rooms for Tactical Baby and Triceratops Girl, with their fancy collapsible camp bunk bed, the main room and the other side room for the adults. In doing so, we can open or close the internal walls for (visual) privacy, and also use them to keep any bugs in or out, as the case may be. The walls are translucent enough that lights can be shone through them, to give a nice ambient glow and a central lantern can illuminate the entire interior sufficiently for everyone to find their beds and boots.

Being a thin walled tent, you obviously don't get much in the way of sound dampening, so be sure to pick your company and camp site well!

The flexibility of having doors for each room was a great addition, especially as we use the central room as the main bedroom, but left me with the concern that the zipper-capable little ones might wake up, and wander off into the bush at night. This was easily solved by extending the exterior door zippers all the way to the top of its arc, well out of little-hands reach. We also left the internal door unzipped at little-people height, so they could come in to us if needed, but still providing some more of the bug-limiting compartmentalization.

One feature that we've never made use of are the floor-height zippered cable and hose ports, situated just above the bucket sidings in the rooms, allowing us to feed power or plumbing into the tent. Even at powered sites, we don't tend to bring mains-charged items with us, so this hasn't been needed.

Just remember, this all comes at a cost, weight. 28kg of weight. This is a big tent, and whilst the bag is easy enough to stow in the back of the RAV4, a bit unwieldy (it's dive-bag sized) and it has wheels on the bottom corners, but it is heavy. Way to heavy to hike with. This is a drop and build base-camp item, not a roving set. That said, with instructions sewn into the bag, and colour coded poles and sleeves, (which we augmented with permanent marker, to indicate which way around the fly needs to sit) the whole thing takes about 15 minutes to put up, and 20-25 minutes to pull down and pack up. All in all this is a great family tent, and if we ever needed to abandon home for any reason, and have no fixed plan of where we might stay, I would strongly consider this as a temporary retreat.

It certainly works for short to medium term camp-outs for us.

Review: Weed Forager's Handbook

I was very lucky that for my birthday, a most lovely lady friend of mine gifted me with a most marvelous book.

She knows of my proclivity for self-sufficiency and likewise has an eye for it herself. She had been on a series of Edible Weed walks and workshops, run here in urban Melbourne, and thought to buy me the accompanying book:
The Weed Forager's Handbook:
"A Guide to Edible and Medicinal Weeds in Australia"

Full of full colour photos and classically rendered botanical illustrations, this 166 page manual contains detailed edibility and medicinal notes on 20 common weeds, that can be found in my local area, and in most regards, Western urban environments. the book itself is small enough to fit easily in a cargo-pants pocket, and even a back-pocket. Great for those foraging trips around the neighborhood. 

I've made several meals containing greens I have sourced from on or around my home, in the laneway and up and down the nature strip of my quiet suburban street.

As well as the main 20, there are  another 14 short profiles of useful plants. Each of the listings comes with tales from history and folklore regarding the plants, as well as a good introduction to known poisonous plants hat should NOT be harvested.

I knew nettles were edible, but didn't know how to harvest and prepare them, and they are delightful!
Likewise, dandelions and wild lettuce grow around my house, and they have also made it onto the table, in soups and stews, and even as a boost to salads.

This book by Adam Grubb and Annie Raser-Rowland has added to my spread of knowledge with regards putting good food on the table, and even though I might have had to sneak it past the finicky teenager, I like to think that I am adding to the nutritional bounty of our otherwise distant farm and supermarket sourced food.

It also never hurts to know what will make a needful addition to the pot, should the shops be bare and the roads closed!

Review: Fenix - E99Ti light

I really enjoy flashlights (torches, they call them here), and if it's not a knife, a pouch or packs that arrives in the mail, its likely to be a torch of some kind. My first Fenix torch was the TK-51, which I got following meeting their CEO and VP at the SSAA SHOT Show. I was fairly devastated when a fortnight or so ago, my car got broken into, and one of the things I lost was the TK-51. I had the majority of my performance lights in the car that night, and was left somewhat in the dark as a result.

Thankfully, I had recently received this little beauty in the mail, having won a competition with Fenix Worldwide. This is their Limited Edition E99 Ti.


The E series is for EDC, where the TK is for Tactical. This light does the job perfectly. At just 6.6cm long, and 1.5cm in diameter, it is only marginally bigger than the AA battery it is powered by. It is machined from two pieces of alpha titanium4 alloy, this unit weighs just 18g (0.6oz) without the battery in it.

It comes with a flatish flanged base, and a lanyard hole drilled into one of the flanges. I quickly added it to my keychain of goodies and it's ridden in my pocket ever since.

4 lumen - low, 3m outdoors

4 lumen - low, 3m room

The Cree XP-E2 LED has a lifespan of 50,000 hours, and the digitally maintained brightness circuit ensures constant brightness. The cool thing with this light is that it has three settings, activated by the screw-to light top of the light. a 1/6th turn of the head is enough to trigger the light, and by selectively turning it on and off again, in a 2-second window, the light steps up from a subdued 4 lumen, to a mild 27 lumen, and up to its maximum 100 lumen output.

27 lumen - medium, 3m room

27 lumen - medium, 3m outdoors

100 lumen - high, 3m outdoors

Capable of standing up securely on a flat surface to serve as a candle, and able to cast to a maximum of 41m, which is not small feat for a single AA light, the E99 offers a 420candlepower maximum intensity. That's a whole lot of light. It comes at a cost though, at maximum brightness, you only get 50 minutes tops, at medium 4 1/4 hours, and somewhere between 28-30 hours at the lowest setting.  The twist-to use and change feature took a little getting used to, but it is stable, and robust.

100 lumen - high, 3m room

 Again, that's still a lot of light for such a small package. It dies get hot after not long on the 100 lumen setting, and a built in drop-down to medium after about 3 minutes is built in, for safety. Drop safe to1m (table height) and water resistant (IPX-8 rated) to 2 m this light will take the bumps and dunks that you might expect to just be able to shake off yourself too. I imagine it would take a fair bit more abuse, but given that it lives in my right front pocket, I will try to avoid testing that too heavily.