Leatherman By The Numbers Pocket Tool

As a follow up to my previous article about pocket tools, I’ve continued my search for a great keychain/pocket tool. I came across Leatherman By the Number Pocket Tools and decided to try them out. These were exactly what I was searching for in terms of function, cost, quality, and production location. I purchased the Leatherman 2 and the Leatherman 8 , with the difference between them being a standard box wrench versus a metric box wrench. Both tools also have a bottle opener, a large screwdriver, and a box opener. Since I’m around metric nuts more, I’ve been carrying the Leatherman 8. All I can say about the tool is that it is outstanding.

The Leatherman By the Numbers tool cost is about $11 online (and that included the shipping). The previous price of tools was in the range of $6-$7, but spending $4 more for a tool that is Made In The USA (Portland, Oregon) and it better quality is well worth it.

The Leatherman 2 and Leatherman 8 are made from 420 stainless steel and they are corrosion resistant. The Leatherman 2 has a box wrench for Hex 3/16”, 3/8”, 7/16”, and 5/8”. The Leatherman 8 has a box wrench for Hex 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 13mm, and 15mm. I’ve used the wrenches on both tools and was impressed. While this is a tool intended for when you don’t have the proper tool available, it does work and is solid. The screwdriver works well and the box opener is perfect for any taped box. I regularly use the box opener and the bottle opener.

Leatherman By The Numbers 8

While I’d like to do a give-away again, I’m too impressed with these pocket tools to give them up. I’ve used the tool every day since I’ve gotten it and, unless someone would like to donate a pocket tool for me to try out, my search for a pocket tool is over. There is a whole line of the tools from Leatherman to try out, and while I found the tool I needed, there are other tools with small screwdrivers, pry bars, and scrapers. I recommend you check them out.

-Matt

Key Ring Multi-tool

This month I wanted to look at different options for one piece pocket tools to put on my key ring. I already carry a bottle opener on it, but if I could find a tool that had a bottle opener along with other tools, I could reduce the number of items I carried. As I started researching tools to carry I discovered there is a wide range on quality and prices. I decided to start by looking at tools below $10. The two that I picked based on pictures and other reviews were the Gerber Shard and the Nite Ize doohicKey. I decided to carry each tool for a week, attempt to use all the features of each, and compare them. We’re also going to give away one of the tools to our readers (the rules for the give-away will be at the end of the article). This give-away also is going to start a series of giveaways. We’re hoping to do a giveaway every month or two for at least two years. What we give away will depend on what we are either able to purchase or what we’re able to have donated to us.

The first tool carried was the Nite Ize doohicKey.

It was purchased on Amazon for $6.80. It listed tools are ruler, wrench, carabiner clip, bottle opener, box cutter, and flat head screw driver. The box opener work really well for taped packages and isn’t sharp. I used it open a couple of different packages and it was nice not fouling up my knife with tape. The bottle opener works, but it isn’t the best keychain bottle opener I’ve had. Generally it took 3 tries to get a lid off the bottle. I tried the wrench out on a couple of nuts and it seemed to work well. All the nuts were 5/16”. The screwdriver worked, but not as well as the wrench.
 The screwdriver needed to either be thicker or made for smaller screws. While I was able to use it to remove screws from a license plate on a car, it rounded off the screwdriver. The screwdriver was a bit large to use for removing screws from a computer. The other thing to consider in this review is that this tool really is an emergency tool for when you do not have the proper tool. Based on performance and the fit of the tool in my pocket, I would continue to carry and use this tool while I search for a better performing one-piece multi tool. The biggest negative that I had for this tool is that it was made in China. I would prefer a tool made in the USA. There are similar tools made in the USA, but they all seem to start out in the range of $60. One other improvement I would like to see is having the corners of the tool rounded off. While some corners are rounded, there are more corners that should be rounded.

The second tool I carried was the Gerber Shard.

It was purchased on Amazon for $5.99. The tools listed for it were bottle opener, pry bar, and Phillips head screwdriver. The pry bar can be used as a flat head screwdriver. The Gerber felt more solid than the Nite Ize doohicKey, and the black coating was well liked by the people to whom I showed the tool. I was pretty excited about trying the tool out, especially the pry tool. I went to put the Shard on my key ring and found it did not go one easily. This was due to the carry hole of the tool being place more towards the center of the tool and the thickness of the tool. I ended up carrying the tool in my pocket. The shape and contours of the tool made the tool wear on my pockets and was generally uncomfortable. The Phillips head screwdriver did not work on any screws that I tried. Gerber tried keeping a flat profile at the screwdriver and this made the screwdriver much thicker on one side than the other, which made it not fit screws well. The Phillips head screwdriver did succeed in stabbing me through my pocket. The bottle opener worked better than the Nite Ize, but why carry a tool for a single feature? There are better single feature bottle openers available. This tool was also made in China – just another negative for this tool. While I was able to dismiss some of the short comings of the Nite Ize by classifying it as an emergency tool for when the proper tool isn’t available, the Gerber Shard features do not even work in an emergency. If one can be obtained for free, it isn’t a bad thing to throw in a glove box in a car in order to have a pry tool or bottle opener available, but the screwdriver is worthless. The tool is not worth $5.99 and I wouldn’t carry in an EDC pack as it would just take up space and rarely be put to use.

It looks like I’ll keep searching for an inexpensive one-piece multi tool for my key ring. The Nite Ize isn’t bad, but I prefer to get something made in the US. I’ll expand my search and look at tools up to $20.

As promised we’re giving away the tools used for this review. In order to enter our drawing, you must subscribe to our blog (Which means you’ll probably have to get a Google+ account) and leave a comment on this article. Leave only one comment and the order that comments are received will represent your entry number. We’ll use a random number generator to determine which number wins (In this case both the Nite Ize and the Gerber will be given away and so two random numbers will be generated). The first number generated will get the Nite Ize and second will get the Gerber Shard. Any comments left without subscribing to the blog will be thrown out. Anyone leaving multiple comments will have all entries thrown out. You can enter this drawing through Monday August 11, 2014 at 11:59:59 pm CST. We won’t ship out the US for this drawing.

The Tactical Knife for EDC

When looking for an Every Day Carry (EDC) knife, there are a number of items to consider. The most important items for me are usefulness and durability. Usefulness will depend on the projects or adventures you expect to encounter. For me, with my focus on DIY/shop projects or outdoor living/adventures, I was looking for something a bit larger than a traditional pocket knife and very durable.  Durability is also affected by the blade steel and I have a couple of favorites based on testing: M390, CTS-XHP, CPM 3V are just a few that I like. Another important feature is the ability to open the knife with one hand – my projects and adventures often have me keeping one hand tied up. One other very important item for me is if the product is made in the USA or not. While there are some very skilled knife makers outside of the US, I prefer to support the US economy as much as I can.

Calavera Cutlery is an incredible custom knife making company. It is operated by Jeremy Robertson out of San Diego, CA. Jeremy currently offers three different models of folders: 1. The manual El Patron, 2. The El Patron Flipper, and 3. The Model 4. All these knives are very well built and very durable. The typical steel for the El Patron flipper is 3V, although Jeremy offers a few different types of steels for his knives. The Model  4 uses CTS-XHP, which is a steel I’ve been very impressed with. CPM 3V steel holds an edge. While Jeremy’s knives do not fall into the traditional folder category (See Canal Street Cutlery for traditional patterns) - they are a framelock design, they are a great knife for every day carry, at least here in Arkansas. If you live in a state with a length law, these might fall just over the typical length for legal carrying.

Calavera Cutlery El Patron Flipper in CPM 3V Steel

Here are the specifications of the El Patron flipper: The El Patron flipper has a handle made of 2 slabs of 5/32 inches thick 6AL-4v titanium, which can be either smooth or milled. As mentioned, the blade is CPM 3V with a hardness on the Rockwell scale of 60 and 3.75 inches long. The blade has a convex grind. The knife is 8-1/2 inches OAL when open and 4-3/4 inches closed. This knife uses a framelock design and falls in the tactical knife category. The clip is set up for tip up carry. (Note: The Lanyard is by Will).

 Jeremy’s craftsmanship is outstanding and he stands behind his products. There are repeated stories on knife forums about Jeremy fixing used knives for people. If there is production problem with the knife, Jeremy will make it right.

My El Patron is an incredible slicer. I’ve used my knife for cutting food, including meats, fruits, and vegetables; for opening a few letters and boxes just to check the sharpness; and for cutting paracord. As I'm an active person, I carry my knife so that I’m prepared for whatever adventure or project I face. The El Patron flipper has always been up to the challenge. These adventures include hunting, fishing, canoeing, sailing, rock climbing, a day at the range, and day-to-day hiking and urban use. Projects include installing laminate floor, electrical work, working in the wood shop building furniture, etc. So far I haven’t needed to sharpen my El Patron and I can still easily shave with it. This is the one knife I always want with me. With the mechanism for being able to open this with one hand (it is not automatic, assisted, or a gravity knife), this would be great tool for any first responder or soldier to have. Certainly I can see this being a great tool for cutting a seat belt after an accident.

The El Patron is also a solidly built knife. I have no blade play and when the blade locks into position you can feel that the blade will not move until you unlock it. The lockup is early (the lock bar moves into place on the blade at about 25% - see picture below) when the knife is new. This shows that the knife can take a lot of wear before that mechanism fails.

The negative side on the El Patron is price. The only way I was able to afford this was selling a number of knives ($50/knife average and about 12 knives) I wasn’t using to fund this once in a lifetime purchase. As I have 200+ knives this wasn’t a huge deal, but took some time to find buyers. I have to admit, I found the perfect knife though and I’m hooked on them. Once this one wears out (maybe in 25 years) I’ll be looking for another one to take its place.

-Matt

Pens for Every Day

Pens are an important part of every day carry. Whether having one available for the checkbook or if you carry a Leuchtturm or Moleskine (see Best EDC Notebook ) with you, pens are always useful. Outside of tactical pens, the most popular EDC Pen is probably the Pilot G-2. Another pen that I've found I enjoy carrying is the TUL Needle Point Retractable pen. I prefer the extra fine point in the G-2 and the fine point in the TUL. As I'm trying to decide which I prefer, I thought a comparison of the two pens make for a good topic of discussion.

Pictured are the Pilot G-2 of the left and the TUL retractable needle point on the right.

 Both pens are gel. Both are retractable points. Both have clips. The TUL pen has a metal clip and metal tip of pen, while the G-2 has a plastic clip and plastic tip of pen. Both pens have a rubber grip for holding the pen while writing, however the G-2's grip is contoured. This contour makes the G-2 much more comfortable to hold. The spring for the G-2 is a bit stronger than the spring the TUL.The TUL is a bit longer than the G-2...a shorter pen is generally easier to carry in a pocket. If carrying in a backpack or briefcase, the difference in length is probably inconsequential. The Pilot G-2 seems to be a bit stronger overall than the TUL, which the plastic shaft of the pen being more durable than the TUL. The Pilot G-2 Both pens write well and the G-2 Extra Fine Point is comparable to the TUL Fine Needle Point. The Pilot G-2 seems write a bit smoother than the TUL.

The pens have a similar per unit cost. A four pack of the TUL is about $4.69 ($1.1725 per pen) and a box of 12 of the Pilot G-2 (Extra Fine Point) are currently $12.99 ($1.0825 per pen) on Amazon. With a little searching, the Pilot G-2 can be found for less that $1 per pen.

If the Pilot G-2 had a metal clip and tip, I would strongly prefer the Pilot G-2. As it is, I'll probably continue to use the Pilot due to cost and comfort for writing, however at this point I can't the Pilot G-2 is much better than the TUL. The TUL is fancier than the Pilot G-2 and is probably suited more for business environments.

-Matt

What do you carry?

We were discussing items that we had in our EDC kits and the similarities and differences in them. While we have our own preferences on what we carry with us every day, I'm curious as to what are the top 3-4 items other people carry with them every day. Why do you carry those items? What is the one item that you currently don't own, but you would carry every day if you owned? What makes you want to carry it and why don't you own it yet? If you were to design your own perfect EDC kit, what all would it contain?

-Matt

The Traditional Pocket Knife

Pocket knives are in general a useful item to carry. From a very high level we can divide pocket knives into two types; the traditional pocket knife and the modern or tactical pocket knife (although we can also quickly break pocket knives into slip joint, lock back, liner lock, frame lock, etc. too). This review will focus on the traditional slip joint pocket knife.

Our favorite traditional pocket knife is made by Canal Street Cutlery. While I'm partial to the Half Moon Trapper (shown in the pictures), Canal Street Cutlery makes a few models that are good for Every Day Carry.

 

The pocket knife shown in the picture is about 3-3/4 inches closed and about 7 inches open. The blade 3-1/4 inches long and made of  14-4 CrMo Stainless Steel. This model has a handle made of  Panama White Linen and Resin and has silver nickel bolsters. Each knife has a serial number. Canal Street Cutlery generally uses a nail nick on the blade for opening. This is a traditional slip joint pocket knife.

 

 

These knives are extremely well made and are also Made in the USA. They are hand polished and and finished. The models I have carried fit well in the pockets of shorts, jeans, and dress pants without wearing holes in the pants. There are no sharp corners for catching on pocket material either. The knife is light weight, which is important when considering that this is carried every day.

 

The cost of these knives fit into most budgets (this model is less than $100), and considering the quality and craftsmanship, is an excellent deal. by doing a little research, these knives can generally be found with discounts available.

 

I highly recommend Canal Street Cutlery's knives for Every Day Carry. I'm looking forward to seeing the new model by Canal Street Cutlery: Lil' Pete. It is a two blade trapper with a wharncliffe built on the Half Moon Trapper profile.

 

If you plan on carrying a pocket knife, I recommend that you learn to sharpen it. This Canal Street knife has remained sharp for almost a year and has been used for opening letters; cutting fruit, vegetables, and meat; whittling; and cutting tape. Without going into detail at this point, there are a number of sharpening systems available for assisting a beginner with sharpening.

 

 

-Matt

 



EDC Hack #1 Notebook Calendar

I like to hack my EDC stuff to better fit my lifestyle, and one thing that I do is create small calendars for my notebooks.

Until recently, I've been using the 'cal' command from Terminal on my MacBook to make them. I have to cut and paste them into another document, however, because the cal command wants to print a full year's calendar in a three by four format, but I need them in a single column so I can get three to a page. Then I print, cut, tape into the back of my notebook (but before the perforated pages, of course) and I am left with something practical but, well, aesthetically lacking.

Recently I saw this: over at timeadedate.com. Wow, what a cool tool for DIY and EDC hacks. Within a minute I had created a single column, page broken pdf that I can save and print at will.

Looks so much better. It is easy to use, customizable to a nice degree, and free. Definitely something to bookmark.

Will

Best EDC Notebook

Pocket notebooks strike me as falling into one of two fields, EDC and Project-based. I like to use the hard back ones for EDC and the soft covered ones for projects, mainly due to the number of pages and the length of cover life as the soft covered ones don't travel as well.

I've tried Field Notes, Scout Books, Eco System, Moleskine, and Leuchtturm. The Leuchtturm wins hands down when considered for EDC.

I've been carrying a pocket sized notebook with me for about three years now. Each one has lasted me about six months being carried and used daily. I use them for everything from grocery lists to to-do lists for my work. When I'm done with one, the small pocket size allows for easy archiving. In no uncertain terms, the addition of a notebook to my daily carry has been an unrivaled success; I probably use it more than my EDC knife, honestly. I've been through a Moleskine, two EcoNotes, and I am on my third Leuchtturm.

It has a pocket, a hard cover, placeholder ribbon and an elastic strap like the much heralded Moleskine and the American made Eco System, but it isn't made in China like the Moleskine and it has much better paper and a nicer cover than the Eco System and has some very nice additional features not found on either of the others:

1. Numbered pages
2. Table of contents
3. Archiving stickers
4. 8 perforated pages at the end for tearing out.

When you consider that the Leuchtturm costs roughly the same as the Moleskine, the Leuchtturm is the clear winner. Oh, and the paper is very nice.

Here's a couple pics,

Will