2023 Q3 Carries
Well, summer in New England was a bust. From Memorial Day until the final weekend of September, we had two weekends with no rain. In fact, it rained so much that we had to go to Seattle for a week to get 6 consecutive days of no rain. A shed fix up was delayed (just finished), a roof for the wood pile was put off (still waiting), and the grass still needs weekly mowing. Only a garage reorganization took place on time. It rained a ton. We had zero days at or above 100 and we had only a handful of days over 90. As a result, the RC track outdoors remained a muddy mess and there wasn’t a ton of hiking or exploring other than on vacation. As sad as that is, we did get to visit a bunch of cool knife stores in person, including one of the finest custom purveyors in the Pacific Northwest. So as bad as the weather was, the gear was pretty delightful.
L to R: McGizmo Haiku with 4S drop in, Mont Blanc Meisterstuck 146, Terrain 365 Invictus ATC
About a year ago, a reader sent me an email that basically said: I made a drop in for the Haiku that brings its specs up to modern standards do you want it? The answer, of course, was yes. After unscrewing the old module I installed the new one and like that the Haiku, which was still a pretty good light with old LED and board, was now a state of the art flashlight again. Like dropping a new engine into a classic car, the drop in made the Haiku amazing. Its a bit bigger than what I carry most of the time, but its hard to beat a light that does everything perfectly. The 146 is, of course, amazing and now that my Lamy 2000 is dead, it is my daily writer. Mont Blancs just work better than every other fountain pen I have used in terms of being a daily writer. They just go. There is no start up, no skipping, just writing. And then there is the Invictus ATC. It is a great looking knife, but its a bit quirky. I have a bit of a drifting pivot that I have to fix and the thumb studs are brutal, but the knife is almost broken in and so I am hoping to have it squared away soon. I probably wouldn’t bother with a less beautiful knife, but the ATC is about as gorgeous as folders get in my opinion.
L to R: Big I Designs Ti Knife and Prometheus Lights Ti Beta
The Ti Knife is definitely quirky and simple. It is a good knife? I am still not sure. Bob Loveless once said that good knife design has what he called visual tension. What that is, is hard to define. It is easy, however, to conclude that the Ti Knife does not have it at all. This is an ugly knife. Its ugly closed. Its ugly open. Its just ugly. But there are quite a few good ugly knives out there. A lot of traditional knife guys think Spydercos are ugly. So ugly is not a fatal flaw when it comes to knives. But there is a lot of stuff about the Ti Knife that I am not sure out, like its blade shape. Time will tell. And you know the light, its one of my favorites.
L to R: Lamy 2000, PM2 Ultra, 47s Mini Mk. 3, and the Stainless Steel EverRachet
RIP my Lamy 2000. It died an ignominious death, falling from my breast pocket and rupturing in half. I am trying to figure out if I can salvage the nib. The PM2 Ultra is a great knife made virtually perfect. I love it quite a bit. The Mini Mk. 3 is also a pretty known quantity, making the EverRatchet the unusual item. I am not a huge fan of pry tools, but one that takes standard bits AND ratchets, now you have my attention. There is not a lot you can’t get done with a kit like this, from camping, to urban EDC, to just doing stuff around the yard. Okay so the pen is a bit of overkill. The EverRatchet is an effort to take a peek at the prytool world, largely prompted my buddy and official Gear Gremlin, Ethan who has really gotten into EDC stuff thanks to his love of SAKs. The EverRatchet isn’t just good. Its great. So often these tools are either so minimal as to be no better than a bottle opener or so larded with garbage that they feel like your EDCing a 75 foot tape measure. The EverRatchet is right down the middle and it works great. Unfortunately, like so many other things the Gear Gremlin likes, the EverRatchet has grown legs and walked away.
L to R: Quist Bladeworks InVert and the Zebralight SC5c II LE
This is a pretty nice set up for around $100. Its funny how bad the flashlight market has gotten—this UI which used to be one of my least favorite, is now actually pretty good. Its probably time for a huge market reset on the UI front. The knife, as I wrote in the review, is pretty much exactly how I would have spent my pennies in building an entry level knife these days. Great but flawed knife.
L to R: FourSevens Mini Turbo Mk. 3 Ti and Spyderco Stretch 2 in K390
I must admit the error of my ways. K390 is a great steel. It cuts and cuts and cuts. It sharpens comparatively easily. And while it is not stainless, I haven’t had a problem with it. Larrin sold me when his graphs made it look like ZDP-189 but better. Its good. Also good? The Stretch 2 with the traditional blade shape. This knife is 99% of the PM2 with a 40% cost difference. Sure, its not as universal a platform for bling and upgrades, but it is really good. And then there is the FRN handle. I already wrote an article about that, but man was this is a good handle. If it wasn’t so commonplace, we’d all rave about it.
L to R: Thys Meades Dino and Lau Lima Clicky
These two items are so astoundingly good, so clearly perfect in their design and execution, that they have really displaced a lot of other stuff. Why carry a merely great knife when an ethereal blade is in the same drawer? Why compromise on light that is pretty good, when perfection is nearby? The Lau Lima Clicky is so good, so amazing, that its review is going to be a little silly. I am going to sound like a boxing hype man. But don’t be fooled. Its that good.
L to R: Knafs Co Lander, Cloud Defensive Chicro, Spoke Designs Roady
This was when I was trying for a third time to do a good long run with the Chicro. It has so much potential, but in the end, it is just an okay light. Cheap decisions, weird marketing, and a tint that reminds of haunted house special effects lighting bury the good stuff—a USB-C charger, a nice form factor, and durability. I’d love to see a domestically made version with all the bells and whistles of a Cloud Defensive mainline torch. What could possibly go wrong? Oh wait, Surefire did that. It was a disaster.
L to R: S110V ZT0470, 47s Mini Turbo Mk. 3 Ti, and Spyderco Delica 4
There are a lot of great knife stores out there. I have a few on my bucket list: Arizona Custom Knives (which is not in Arizona), Blade HQ, and, of course, Smokey Mountain. One of them—Blade Gallery—got crossed off this summer and these were the two knives I bought while there. One is for me (my first blade with S110V) and the other is for my buddy Ethan (who has started joining me on Sweet Stuff Saturday videos…he found EDC videos on Youtube and has fallen down the rabbit hole). The location is Blade Gallery in Seattle, Washington. The place is absolutely spectacular. They have a nice selection of production knives and a staggering selection of kitchen knives, but the real treat was their inventory of custom folders and fixed blades. Easily topping 2,000 items, it was more custom stuff than I have seen anywhere in my life, noting, of course, that I have yet to go to a Blade Show because it is on my son’s birthday (the other son). Case after case after case of exquisite handmade items, each as breathtaking as the next. They have a large number of South African customs, a region that produces quite a few knives that rank among my favorites (see Thys Meade Dino above). The staff was knowledgeable and patient. The building, while a bit tricky to get to, was clean, bright, and fanatically organized. Home chefs in Seattle keep the lights on as they had probably a thousand sharpening orders behind the counter and half the floor space was dedicated to kitchen knives, but for those of us that are fascinated by craftspeople that produce edges, Blade Gallery was heaven. Its definitely worth a trip if you are anywhere in the PNW.
L to R: Bridgeport Knife Co 395 v2 and Maratac Mini LEP Cosmos
The 395 is definitely in the running for Gear of the Year. The Mini LEP Cosmos is as well. As of Fall, they are probably the two front runners, though a lot of stuff in this post is in the running too. The Cosmos is a flashlight fan’s dream. It produces a beam that is akin to Ahsoka’s brilliant white lightsabers with a range like the Death Star. On our nightly walks I can easily illuminate the side of a hide a half mile away. Its not terribly practical, but as the smallest LEP on the market, its like no other light you have. Every collection needs one.
L to R: Tactile Turn Small Side Clicky, Benchmade Immunity, Prometheus Lights Beta Ti
Well, Jason announced that the Beta is official OOP this week and it was a great run. For seven or eight years this was one of the best, most pocketable lights out there. The Ti version a favorite carry of mine because it is beam quality, runtimes, and easy carry. Only the Ti Burple version is more exclusive, so tip of the hat to those folks that got one. The Immunity is a curious knife. I am not sure what I think of it, so I stowed it for a while and I plan on coming back to it. One thing I really like is the handle texture. We need more of this.
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