Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread

[pomsbz]

A tub of Potassium Permanganate finally arrived from Thailand of all places, I've no idea where to find it here. I've never done this kind of thing before.

Before (ok but rather bland):



After some careful treatment with PP, sanding for effect and then a gentle polish with green buffing compound (cause that's all I had). Please excuse different lighting:



I did some work on the other side too, they now match nicely.



and showing the sheen from buffing, was a boring matte finish before.



Once I sort out the super lazy non snap of the main blade this could well find its way back into my pouch often despite my love affair with my homemade SAK.

[microbe]

If I may suggest a smaller French Laguiole as a subject of your quest.

[pomsbz]

If I may suggest a smaller French Laguiole as a subject of your quest.

Too thin in the hand for my disabled fingers I'm afraid. I need a certain bulk to grip onto. I've thought about one many many times but that's always been the problem. Especially as they are particularly thin.

[microbe]

Too thin in the hand for my disabled fingers I'm afraid. I need a certain bulk to grip onto. I've thought about one many many times but that's always been the problem. Especially as they are particularly thin.

Some say the hunt is better then the catch.... 

[pomsbz]

New bag!

Retiring my Crumpler Pretty Boy XXXL shoulder bag after 12 years of daily carry. From 46C heat to 1 metre high snow and every single type of weather in between. It has done 10,000km worth of bike travel and way too many flights to count. Fallen countless time, driven over by a taxi, etc, etc. Designed as a camera bag it's done so very much more:





I've wanted to replace it for a while, it's gotten rather frayed at the edges but now I finally pulled the trigger.

Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L.
https://www.peakdesign.com/products/everyday-sling-5
(this is their pic, I haven't changed that much since the picture above  )



I'm a fan of Peak Design. They have a lot of hipster about their marketing and they start off each new product on kickstarter (which I don't approve of) but when it comes down to it, they make very good camera accessories. I have the 'Capture' which allows attaching a camera to a strap or belt and it's an excellent piece of kit. Their sling is a good design and their camera hand strap is pretty much the best design on the market. I've been in two minds about their bag offerings but the Everyday Sling bags are a good design. Very good indeed. Just seeing a video of them was enough to persuade me and now that I have one I'm even more sure.

I decided on the smaller bag, it's considerably smaller than my current bag but that was on purpose. I'm trying to cut down my on body carry to a minimum while still having a good minimalist camera bag. I was carrying around a bunch of stuff that could easily have lived in the car. Stuff that didn't need to come with me whenever I went to the store, etc. As such my LM Charge and bits cards, pipe pouch, 18650 flash light, alcohol rub, half the pills, books and the 'tin with stuff in' has all been relagated to the centre console of the car instead.

This bag is carrying:

Sony A7r camera with lens,
Tefillin or 2 extra lenses,
Pills, tissues, baby wipes, bandaids and chapstick,
Anker (Powercore + Mini), charging cable and headphones,
Zippo (in Pyrovault), spare Eneloop AA, spare phone battery, spare camera battery, spare SD card, compass, Compact Survival Cord, mini roll of Gorilla Tape,
Kobo ebook, Clairefontaine notebook and fountain pen.

The carry weight has dropped from 8.8lbs to 5.4lbs. That is a very significant difference! The new bag is also considerably more comfortable as a carry, the rotating attachment points for the strap is a particular improvement. I've got everything I want and nothing I don't need on me.

[pomsbz]

Current EDC. Rather SAK-centric. I have a Farmer in the car also 

[styx]

wait, you had a bag last 12 years? that is amazing

[pomsbz]

wait, you had a bag last 12 years? that is amazing

Yup! It's still got a year or so left in it to be honest.

[pomsbz]

Just got this SAK Floral, I had it in mind for a hobby knife and boy does it fit the bill!



Nice long handle, small thin blade with super sharp chisel grind (really quick to sharpen incidentally) which is great for hobby work where smaller = more controllable. Really going to enjoy using this knife!

[cody6268]

I have never seen a floral knife with the lanyard ring before. Is there a model number for it? I would really find that feature handy. For fine tasks, you can't go wrong with a chisel ground blade. I was helping with some carpentry work we were doing around the house, and I found my Clauss floral knife (made by Camillus in the 1990s, but looks exactly like the Vic) quite handy. It's also really easy to make a razor out of the things--a sheepsfoot, chisel-ground blade is incredibly idiot-proof to sharpen. 

[pomsbz]

I have never seen a floral knife with the lanyard ring before. Is there a model number for it? I would really find that feature handy. For fine tasks, you can't go wrong with a chisel ground blade. I was helping with some carpentry work we were doing around the house, and I found my Clauss floral knife (made by Camillus in the 1990s, but looks exactly like the Vic) quite handy. It's also really easy to make a razor out of the things--a sheepsfoot, chisel-ground blade is incredibly idiot-proof to sharpen.

Yikes I hope I didn't get a copy. I bought it from ebay and it was unboxed. I was worried until it came but the F&F is Victorinox perfect, the snap is perfect, the nylon seems to have identical grain/structure to my other nylon SAK's and even the little keyring seems to be the usual Victorinox one. The blade is chisel ground and came with the usual Victorinox factory edge of being a strop away from hair popping. I don't think it's a copy and to be frank if it is, if the Chinese have got that good, Victorinox should start worrying!

*EDIT* according to SAKWIKI what I have is a 'Twine' model which is the Floral with a keychain. Cool!

[styx]

i suppose you use it more as a carver

[pomsbz]

i suppose you use it more as a carver

It would be a great whittling knife.

[pomsbz]

I've been wanting to do a new horizontal sheath for a while, specifically top opening with a hole at the bottom to push the knife into your hand. I was specifically inspired by this sheath below.



It is rather ugly though and I knew I could do a lot better including the full length belt loop that I prefer. Below is my prototype. It's far from a polished and perfect sheath, the hole at the bottom is ragged, the stitching is sloppily finished and there was a glaring mistake. I put the press stud on the lid too high up. As such it will take a single layer 91mm SAK or a two layer Alox. It should also work nicely with any single layer traditional folder of a similar length. It should have taken a 3 layer SAK. That said it's a nice concept overall.









I wore it for three days but nice as it is, I've gone back to my previous sheath (below). The top opening concept doesn't work with with a mushroom top, especially when sprawled on the floor working on something. It's also wider due to the need for stitching on both sides and that is less comfortable on my 3 o'clock with my current trousers. If I ever go back to the concept I now know I can make a fully polished and working version.

[styx]

might not be the prettiest but it is a nice solution

[pomsbz]

might not be the prettiest but it is a nice solution

It's prettier than the Schrade. 

[styx]

that's true

[pomsbz]

New SAK Explorer. Was a good price at 30 GBP.



Hmmm.

I bought this specifically with modding in mind but my thoughts on it as a tool pre-chop are as follows:

1) 4 layers is too much for my tastes. Especially with the blades and openers so far to each side. Not a fan.
2) I expected the inline screwdriver to be better to be honest. The tip has been ground flat limiting its versatility and it's thicker than I'd imagined. I'm not sure it will do smaller screws at all - limiting its usefulness.
3) I thought the hook had a nail file on the back? Oh well. Made it easier to decide to lose it.

So the idea for the mod is as follows.

3 layer tool. Move the blades to centre line. Move the bottle opener opposite the screwdriver on one side and then the scissors on the other side. On the back will be the corkscrew with a mini screwdriver on board, that's it. I think it will answer for a perfect urban/office carry solution. I've also got some aftermarket scales on the way to finish it off. 

[pomsbz]

I take it back about the screwdriver, it works perfectly with the smallest size screws in my computer. I don't need any more than that.

[pomsbz]

My EDC has a new dress!





Not a perfect fit but good enough that it doesn't catch on the hand or in pouch. Nice wood. Doesn't have T+T slots unfortunately. In any case I think it's a great way to dress up my EDC as it continues to be a true 'every day' carry.

[pomsbz]

Not been updating this thread for a while, nothing really new to report! Well other than leaving my job 3 months ago and being busy trying to open a couple of businesses.

That said, I just ordered my 4th Spartan. Man these are like pringles, you can't just stop! The other 3 were for modding and got chopped up. This one is just going to be a Spartan. I've found that more and more I need a prybar for stuff going through day to day tasks and I really like the bottle opener for that task. They're so cheap, you don't even have to justify it to yourself.

[Aloha]

Good luck with your business ventures. As for the Spartans  there are some SAKs that you just cannot have enough of. 

[styx]

as Aloha said, good luck with the business. and yea Spartans tend to be a tad addicting

[pomsbz]

Thanks all!

Going back and re-processing old images. I wish I had the drive to go out and do more photography these days. I just don't have the spare head for it.

[styx]

you might not have the spear head, but this one does look great

[Aloha]

What a spectacular shot.  I'd imagine similar to any passion/artistic expression there comes a time when it takes more to continue than one is driven to do so. 

[pomsbz]

Thanks all.

My new Spartan arrived, I've learnt that if you want to grind off the keyring nub, open the bottle opener half way, this exposes the spring and you can happily grind flush without hitting the liners.

Of course I only realised this once I'd finished! Oh well. Next time. 

I also got some nice black scales for my regular modified Spartan via etsy. Looks really good though doesn't quite feel as good in hand as the red nylon which are still king.

[pomsbz]

Hmmm, one day into carrying a non modded spartan and I might perhaps be finding a use for the can opener. I don't like it as a can opener, vastly prefer the one on my LM Charge to be honest. But although I've not yet had a chance to use it on a phillips screw which seems to be the popular 2nd option, so far in the past 24 hours I've used the blade of the can opener to slip into into a couple of keyrings holding them open and to pop open a can of coke just after cutting my fingernails. Sort of like a sharp pry bar or a metal finger nail. To complement the tougher pry bar which the bottle opener makes. 

[Aloha]

Nice scales.  The can opener is a really good Philips driver.  I've also used it for scraping.  I mostly use mine for can without pull tabs. 

[pomsbz]

Nice scales.  The can opener is a really good Philips driver.  I've also used it for scraping.  I mostly use mine for can without pull tabs.

I don't ever open cans without pull tabs (rare here and usually only extra large cans) unless in the kitchen, I certainly wouldn't take them into the field. For me a MT can opener is very much a backup tool. I've got far better/faster openers in the kitchen.