Lynn's 31 day OBMT Challenge and the Coghlan's 7-Function Army Knife

[Lynn LeFey]

Here it is, folks.

A year or two back, I purchased a Coghlan's 7-Function Army Knife from Rural King. It was on close-out for $2 plus tax.

I have since messed around with it off-and-on, and decided it's not complete garbage. It might even be good enough for me to make it through 31 days.



I started off by sharpening the blade to paper cutting sharp. That wasn't much of a task. To my pleasant surprise, this has been one of the sharper bargain tools I've ever purchased, so getting it into shape was easy work.

I also had to do some filing on the sides of the toothpick. As shipped, the toothpick was jammed hard into the tool, and was very difficult to remove. Some patient work with a file means it's now only difficult to remove, not impossible. As I actually use the toothpicks on my tools, this is important to me if I'm going to carry this thing for a month. A long... LONG... month.

Wish me luck, and just know that as I'm a pretty light-duty user, there probably won't be anything too spectacular in this challenge, but you never know. I might go all Les Stroud Engage on it.

[zoidberg]

It is nice to see you posting again Lynn. 

[Lynn LeFey]

Thank you. 

So, the first actual tasks for the month...

Opening the plastic packaging holding a Lansky sharpening stone...



The blade did a pretty reasonable job on this. I didn't check if it dulled any from it, but hey, if it did... lansky stone right there.

Second, I'm starting to put together another car emergency kit, and I got a little Adventure Medical first aid kit. The zipper was held shut by a little zip tie. The scissors... eh... managed the task, with some effort. It took about 4 strokes of the scissors and a lot of force.

[Lynn LeFey]

I used the Coghlan's Army Knife to open a bottle of New Belgium 1554 beer. The cap lifter worked perfectly.

Side Note: My friend's 250mm Racing Quadcopter is lurking behind my drink.

[HarleyXJGuy]

So what tools are on this thing?

Let me know if you need my help sorting this one too.

[Lynn LeFey]

Tools:
Frontside: Blade, Scissors, Can opener, Combo Bottle opener/flathead driver.
Backside: Philips driver, File, Corkscrew.
Scales: Toothpick and Tweezers

As for having it 'sorted out'... It's funny. I don't hate this thing, and ALMOST like it. I mean, it was $2. And FOR a $2 tool, I think it's actually pretty good. Blade came sharp. Scissors cut paper, if not much else, Can Opener will open cans, Bottle opener will open bottles. Screw drivers will do (very) light screw driving duties. I've opened 3 bottles of wine with the corkscrew. And the file... uhh... exists. It works for filing nails.

I honestly think that getting rid of the fish scaler and saw layer on these cheap chinese SAK knockoffs is about the best thing they can do for them. Once those two abominations are gone, the tool becomes less horrible.

I'm not saying this thing is a piece of art. At best, I'll be surprised that it succeeds at the tasks it's supposed to be able to do. It's not like a real SAK, where you can try things WAY beyond what you'd expect from a pocket knife, and it'll sometimes succeed.

I don't know what I'd pay for this tool, but I don't think $4 would feel like a rip-off. If you were making an emergency kit for someone, and budget was killer tight (and you understood this thing might need to do 3 days of light duty)... it's not a bad option. It would never be my daily carrier voluntarily. Not when a used SAK can be had for under $10 on ebay. And a beat-up SAK is a good deal better than a brand new Coghlan's.

[Lynn LeFey]

I had to open a can of diced tomatoes for lunch, so I drafted the Coghlan's Army Knife( Maybe I should call it the CAK from now on) into can opening duty.

It did a fine job. I wasn't trying to do it fast and didn't care about time. The initial puncture was as easy as most can openers. The hook never slipped off the rim of the can. The tool didn't gash up the rim, so no sharp slivers. The blade didn't gouge into the interior of the can. The tool didn't try to fold shut even though this side of the tool has a pretty weak backspring, and therefore fairly soft retention.

Flawless performance as a can opener.

[shecky]

I'd love to be able to sort out the lineage of this SAK-like knife so commonly found. This pattern, more or less a few added tools, can be found damn near everywhere under various brand names and varying levels of quality. As most of us know. I've wondered if the dies used to blank the tools are available from some central supplier and used by manufacturers ranging from highly automated factories to kitchen table operations in places like Shenzhen, cranking out pocket knives made from anything available at hand. We've all seen the youtube videos showing similar knives apparently made from what looks to be aluminum, I have a Rimei branded one that is cosmetically identical, but functions reasonably well.

[Lynn LeFey]

The toothpick continues to be a PITA to get out of the scale. I have to use the tweezers to pry them out and the tweezers seem to be made of tin foil


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[sawman]

For a $2 knife, I'm impressed

[Lynn LeFey]

At our weekly D&D game, I had to create a token for my 'Flaming Sphere' spell last night.

Coghlan's scissors and red marker to the rescue. It should be noted that these require sideways pressure on the blade to ensure that it actually will cut paper. I'd consider these scissors 'very bad' for left handed users. This is one place where a real SAK tremendously out-performs this tool.

Also... Yes, I play D&D. Yes, I have played it since 1983. Yes, I am a nerd.

[Lynn LeFey]

A repeat of yesterday's bad T&T performance today.

I want to stop using this thing because the toothpick sucks. Is that weird?

Okay, the scissors are also seriously sub par.

[AimlessWanderer]

Is this the same tool that Jothra used for a month and beat the crap out of?

[Lynn LeFey]

His had the fish scaler and saw. Mine is two layers slimmer.

Otherwise, I do think they're the same tool.

[shark_za]

These sell for the equivalent of $6.35 in all our major outdoor stores.
I'll still recommend a SAK it seems

[Lynn LeFey]

I've seen them from $4 (admittedly a few years ago) to as high as $13 at gun and knife shows.

As I said earlier, I would always recommend a used SAK off of ebay at under $10 instead of one of these.

Over a few years, I've gotten multiple climbers, a super tinker, a hiker, and a huntsman, all individually under $10 (delivered) from ebay. And all of them have been in good condition.

But, as this is an Off Brand challenge...

[Lynn LeFey]

I did another burn of a wood gas stove I made, and used the CAK to cut up some jute twine to get it going.

Sorry, no pics. It was dark, and I was trying to do a bunch of things at once already.

[Lynn LeFey]

First task today for the CAK was to see if it would cut aluminum foil. I was playing around with aluminum foil + battery to start fire, which was a fail.

As for the CAK cutting Aluminum foil... Success. Kind of. I still have to apply a lot of sideways pressure to the blades to get them to cut anything more than paper.

And then I made a LOT of cuts with them in aluminum foil, after hearing that doing so sharpens scissor blades. I can only say that I noticed no difference.



The next task today was opening three cans of food I needed to make chili for dinner. I opened the first #300 can, then timed the second one, with a result of 22 seconds. I'd call that quite acceptable. And the third can (mushrooms), I cut the lid completely off, a task which was no big thing for it.



if the scissors didn't suck so much on these, I think this challenge would be a breeze, but they DO suck, and big time.

I'm not sure i want to keep playing the 'use crappy tools for no real reason' game for a whole month.

[Kampfer]

You can switch to another OBMT at any time.

[Lynn LeFey]

Sure, but the single tool I use most are the scissors, and the single tool that no off-brand has a good version of are scissors.

So... 

Actually, I might have to check on that, as some of my off-brand's scissors aren't terrible. Hmmm...

[Lynn LeFey]

Today, I burned a bunch of branches we had in the yard. It was about 1/8 of the total I have to get rid of, and our city doesn't have a yard waste pickup or dropoff location, and there's a burn ordinance saying it has to be in a container. The only container I have for fire is a Smoky Joe grill.

So I spent 2 hours today burning wood, then had a pile of coals built up in my grill. Well... no sense letting hot coals go to waste. I cooked a pork steak, and an ash cake.

In all this, the Coghlan's was absolutely worthless. Until it came time to eat. As a knife for cutting meat, it was excellent. AND I used the pokey bit of the can opener as a fork to get food in mouth.

[Grathr]

The buck xtrackt has decent scissors, I think.


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[Lynn LeFey]

Hubby had the day off, and we went for a hike at a park along the shores of the Mississippi.



It has a 5 mile long walking trail. I took a bottle of water, like I usually do. But... no hook on the back of the tool. What to do?



It turns out, the gap between the little bump for the nail nick on the scissors and the can opener makes a good place to keep a string from sliding. The tool worked fine as a carrying handle.

Later on, I used the scissors to cut the tag out of one of my hubby's hats. It worked marginally well, but after having JUST cut a bunch of clothes tags with Leatherman Scissors (PST II, Wingman, and Wave), I can REALLY tell the difference in function. These scissors worked, but were what I'd describe as 'barely adequate' in my testing.

[Grathr]

When I first saw the pic with the bottle, I thougt you planned to throw the tool in the missisippi with the bottle as boyancy and let it drift away with the current.


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[Etherealicer]

When I first saw the pic with the bottle, I thougt you planned to throw the tool in the missisippi with the bottle as boyancy and let it drift away with the current.


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My thoughts too... I also wondered about rust-resitance

[Lynn LeFey]

 

"I was unable to complete the 31-day challenge, because I threw that piece of smurf in the mighty Mississip"

I admit to impulse control problems, but... come on.

I HONESTLY like this tool too much to throw in a river. I mean... I don't like it a LOT, but enough to keep it form a rusty, watery death.

[Etherealicer]

"I was unable to complete the 31-day challenge, because I threw that piece of smurf in the mighty Mississip"

I admit to impulse control problems, but... come on.

I HONESTLY like this tool too much to throw in a river. I mean... I don't like it a LOT, but enough to keep it form a rusty, watery death.

Its only still here because you have no access to high explosives

[Lynn LeFey]

>I< am only still here because I have no access to high explosives. 

I have way too much "Here, hold my beer and watch this" in my family heritage.

[Lynn LeFey]

So, the Toothpick thing continues to be an issue, and I thought I'd try to explain it.

The handle nib of the toothpick is not as thick as the scales. It is very slightly recessed. When i got it, it also ended perfectly flush with the scale at the location where you'd normally catch it with your thumbnail. Third, it was wider than the opening, meaning it'd get jammed in to the slot. I filed the sides down, so it's now just snug. I also filed the bit where your thumbnail is supposed to catch it so that there's a slight gap between it and the scale. The third problem, that it's slightly recessed, remains. I can only extract it by using the tweezers to push at the gap with some force.

Annoying.

[Lynn LeFey]

Used the CAK to open a can of black olives, then used the blade to cut the olives up. Worked great.

THEN I used the cork screw to open a bottle of 'Winking Owl', a very exclusive wine sold only (as far as I know) at ALDI, for $3. SUPER high end. Then I drank the wine in a pint glass, because I'm CLASSY!