Somewhere in between multi tools, Swiss army knives and more basic folding knives is what I consider the best of all worlds.
The blade itself is sharp and really easy to open. I preferred the serrated but there is an option for a straight blade. The blade lock is solid and won't fail, but it is easy to close and operate with one hand.
The carabiner is also an effective bottle opener and locks in position. To close it you simply press it down before folding.
Both screwdrivers are effective, and easy to open, although the Phillips head is easier to open than the flat head; I assume even that breaks in a bit. I especially like that the Phillips head is a full piece, not a thin attempt just to make it easier to fold. The handle is a tough, nylon-like plastic that bis easy to grip.
Best hydration pack I've ever used for Mountain Biking, Hard Enduro Rides, Hiking, Skiing, Hunting, Amusement parks with the kids, etc. Use this pack for its intended design and purpose and you'll be very happy; it was not designed for, or intended to be used as a laptop, camera bag, etc; its a hydration pack designed for outdoor extreme fun. Comfortable all day wear, does not shift around when aggressive on the trails. The 3L reservoir is easy to refill, the bite valve works flawlessly, and out in SW you will need all 3L during the summer months / long rides (or all day hikes through Disneyland :) )
The Helle Viking Knife is a reproduction of an actual Viking Age knife that was to be used on an ocean voyage on a replica Viking dragonship. It is essentially a piece of metal and a hunk of wood. It is not intended to be a "modern" knife. All of that being said the Helle knife is an excellent utility knife. It is extremely sharp. The curly birch handle is downright handsome and the leather sheath is very nicely made. For those with an interest in Viking Age tools and weapons this knife is virtually a "must have" item. For those who like nostalgic things plus like "utility" tools this will be something that you will use again and again. The lack of "modernity" is the only reason I do not give it 5 stars but then it is not intended to be a "modern" knife. It is a good quality knife with a very interesting look and feel.
I bought this for my wife, and we were surprised to find that it has a rigid, hip belt that is designed to hug the torso at all times. With most comparable packs (for example the Osprey Stratos 24, which I use), the hip belt falls out of the way when you don't have it clipped shut. But in this pack the hip belt is, so to speak, spring-loaded and is always around your sides.This feature, which isn't mentioned in the product description, makes sense only on larger packs designed for a heavier load. In any case, it makes this pack a real specialty item.
We're a gear weight conscious family and it's the reason we picked the Osprey. It's the lightest of the high-capacity packs. On my home scale it weighed in at 3 lbs 6 oz without the included rain guard (which weights another 5 oz).
A few complaints about this overall strong pack:
1. The storage compartment for the rain guard is in a bad spot (exterior zipper on the bottom of the pack). If you use the included straps to attach a pad under the pack, you can't get the rain guard out. They should have just left that off and saved the weight of the zipper and extra layer of fabric and suggested you put the rain guard in the upper compartment.
2. Most of the straps are too long. The hip belt is big enough for my 50" waist for pete's sake! I suspect they were going for lots of sizing flexibility, which it has, but it was overkill and adds unneeded weight and frankly on my son the tail of the hip belt hangs down so low it could be a safety issue if left to hang. (I'll be trimming about 8 straps to get it down a few ounces)
3. The attachment point for the sleeping bag barrier (the fabric the separates the sleeping back portion of the main compartment from the upper half) is too high on the front (the side up against your back) of the pack. The effect is that the hydration sleeve too compressed by the sleeping bag to slide a platypus bladder in after the sleeping bag is loaded. Not a huge deal except when you want to refill mid-day.
But overall, those are minor complaints and it is a good solid pack and better than either the REI or Gregory equivalent pack.
Zero Tolerance has done it again with this sweet little EDC pocket knife. Another RJ Martin collaboration except this full production and in a size that is practical for every day use. I want to carry this in my pocket because it’s not too big and it’s very good looking and not scary looking if I take it out and use it. It’s a flipper pocket knife so very easily deployed one-handed. KVT bearings make the action super smooth. The blade steel is COM-20CV which is top notch. The only down side to this knife is the proprietary pivot screw. You’ll want to purchase the special tools available from ZT in order to disassemble this knife. A small downside, but it enables the very unique see thru pivot that is a signature feature of RJ Martin knives.
I ordered this tent for my husband as he has had recent back surgery and unable to climb into the smaller tent we had. This tent filled the bill, the door is tall enough to walk right through, no ducking or crawling! There was enough floor space to put our queen sized air mattress and a camp chair to ease the transition from standing to laying. Also plenty of room to stand while getting dressed. Only down side is the lack of a large rain fly. The windows have to be zipped and the air flow is then limited. The design of the zipper cover is complex as well due to no coverage and got stuck a lot!
Very light for its size, opens fast for an assisted blade (I find well made manual flippers faster and make less noise when deployed). The dark olive green, sculpted aluminum scales are very nice indeed! The contrasting black frame lock with a stylized, elongated hole in it looks nice and I suppose saves weight. Of course the big feature style wise is the Damascus style knife. It certainly adds class.
My only nit-picks are that there is no jimping on the top of the scales or top of the blade where your thumb would naturally rest. I recently purchased a Brous knife that had jimping the follows from the top of the scales to the blade. I really like that feature. Finally and probably easily fixed is that the pocket clip has a good sized "Kershaw" printed on it. I'd prefer no advertising peering out of my pocket. There is a plenty big "Kershaw" on the blade. Though the "Made in USA" is a most welcome etching on the other side of the blade.
The price is right, in fact it is a bargain for this well made and good handling knife
This is an impressive Tomahawk. All of my Tops knives are of high quality and craftsmanship. This Tomahawk is of the same great quality. It feels great in the hand and looks awesome. You will not be disappointed.
Like a nessmuk knife on steroids. Jimping in all the right places and a nice ergonomic grip.
The Candiru is a nice little EDC knife that is compact enough to disappear when worn as a neck knife. After a while, you will forget that the Candiru is there. The Candiru can handle many minor cutting tasks with ease and is very sharp right out of the box. The 1095 steel is strong enough to stand up to bigger tasks in an emergency situation (if you don't have access to a bigger blade). Just have realistic expectations of what to expect with a small blade. The only downside is the 1095 steel can rust. It is important to remember to keep the Candiru wiped down with a Tuf-Cloth, mineral oil, or Frog Lube to avoid rust. The ESEE warranty is "no questions asked", so this is a knife that will last a lifetime. Finally, due to the small size, I would recommend picking up some scales for the knife to improve the grip and eliminate hot spots on the handle.
Not a fan of the way the thumb flipper works. Having to push the thumb in towards the blade at the same time as trying to flip it open is just not a good design in my opinion if for no other reason than it makes it a right hand only knife. Also, the flipper rattles since it needs to move around. I do like the knife itself so decided to modify it to better fit my needs. I disassembled the knife and filed off the little nub that acts as the lock.
You do have to learn safe carving techniques to use one of these hook knives, Morakniv makes one of the best of this type with a sharp durable edge & through handle tang. I tried mine out on some fairly tough live oak & swamp oak which it continued to cut well for a long time before losing some of it's edge. The Swedish Sandvik steel is impressive though some custom made high carbon steel models may cut a little longer before losing their edge. One of my favorite spoon carving tools.
This is a bull of a knife. Heavy as sin, but if you need some knifework done; whether it be wood processing or carving (yes the saw kinda works in a pinch), self defense, or misc needs, this thing has it covered. Holds an edge better than any other knife I own and stands up to a beating. Sheath leaves something to be desired, but it works.
Hunters or people looking for something light look elsewhere.
My husband loves this axe. He researched it out to make sure he gets an excellent quality axe that won't break easily. He likes the way it sits in his hands. He even watched youtube videos from the company how they are made. Each one is stamped with the forger's initials, so you know who made it. He only buys the best quality tools, and this one is a treasure in his eyes.
Already own a Roo and loving it I got the the Wallaby for my girlfriend. The color pops and the hammock is super super soft. There isn't as much room for me being 6'3" and 200lbs but I felt very comfortable and took a nice cat nap. It is very packable and lightweight. I highly recommend this hammock as well as the Python Straps.
This is a well-built cooler priced a little less than other high-end coolers in its class. More importantly, from my perspective, it is the only 20 Quart cooler I found with this type of construction that will comfortably accommodate wine and champagne bottles standing full upright. The outside footprint is larger than I expected. There was nothing in the photo for scale and, of course, I didn't bother to mock-up a footprint from measurements conveniently provided in the description. This is the first really upscale cooler I've owned and I underestimated the thickness of the walls. Kind of amazingly, the day after the cooler arrived my neighborhood experienced a 7 hour power outage. I tossed a few critical freezer items into the cooler with just two blue ice packs. Seven hours later there was no sign of thawing of either the ice packs or any other freezer item. I purchased this cooler specifically for camping in Death Valley. I'll report back after my next trip but, based on its construction and also my little power outage experiment, I have a lot of confidence that this cooler will keep my food and beverages cold for at least the three or four days I plan to be there.
Excellent chopping Ax. Felled trees in minutes compare to any other I have used. Continues to hole an edge time after time!
Best multi-tool I ever owned. Never leaves my side when I'm out working. Despite near daily use/abuse since purchase, still in excellent condition.
Do yourself a favor: If you're reading through multi-tool reviews, trying to decide whether this one is the one to get...just stop reading and click "buy." You'll thank me later.
If you need details, here you go:
The knife blades stay razor sharp for a long, LONG time and are accessible without having to open the entire tool.
The pliers grip really well and don't break easily like those made by names that remind you of baby food (snicker).
The files do the job and don't wear down like you were using sandpaper...like those baby food ones.
The saw blade is actually useful and will cut those stray thin branches like butter.
Great pair of scissors which are fairly sharp and even cut through cardboard.
Have opened more cans/bottles with the opener than I can count.
Screwdrivers are all very useful.
And, lastly...the leather sheath that comes with it. Why mention that as part of the tool review at all? Because it's just...great. Seriously! It's made of thick, durable leather and really holds up to abuse. We're not talking some flimsy nylon thing that will rip off your belt after a few tugs. This thing will probably outlast your belt, pants, and maybe even YOU. And it does a fine job of keeping the tool securely on YOUR person...because once you get it, you're not going to want to lose it.
This model (Rev) is nearly impossible to open the knife one-handed. I also have a Wingman(r) which is much easier to open and close one-handed. Often, I'm holding something in one hand and reach for my knife with the other. With this model, I have to set what I'm holding down and open the knife.. which is disappointing. overall, it's well made.
This is muy fantastico. I've never had a pad like this but it is super comfortable and compact.
Great product, keeps ice for a few days. Super Heavy Duty for sure, only draw back is that when closing you have to hold both latches up to completely close. And in my opinion that is a draw back, because if someone that is not aware of that slams the lid down it could break the latches.
I buy a lot of knives and this is the first really decent set of torx bits I have purchased. Funny that I have rounded off somewhere around 6 sets of cheap bits from Wally world. The great thing is that you get two of each of the most common sizes 6,8, and 10. Also the tips are magnetic which allows you to set the screw on the bit and put 'er in.
This is a great looking knife, and the ergos are great. It's very comfortable and quite attractive. The blade is decent, I touched it up with a strop when I got it. My major complaints are the thumb studs are uncomfortable. They're too small in diameter. Trying to flick the blade open actually just kinda hurts your thumb. and it won't open anyway, it has to be slowly opened. The lockback locks well but doesn't unlock so well. Most lockbacks you can just press the back and the blade falls, not this one. you have to actually press the back into the frame a bit to release the blade forcing you to use both hands.
The pivot is adjusted with a spanner bit, but did not come with one, I had no bladeplay though.
You could do better for 20 bucks, but you could do a lot worse too.
Wow! Osprey nailed it with the Scarab 18. Perfect size bag, quality hydration system, quality zippers and seam construction, super comfortable in its design. Exactly what you need and no extra superfluous crap.
