Flashlights!

[Beirut]

Illumination is the measure of a man.

I've got a thing for flashlights. It's genetic. Give me candle powers and lumens. The brighter the better.

I've got the standard 4-cell Maglite, three or four 2xAA Mini-Mags, a 1xAAA mini-Mini Maglite, which is suprisingly bright and fits perfectly into a small, sleek black pouch that also holds a 2" Gerber folding knife. Good for formal occasions.

Also have a 1,000,000 candlepower Coleman rechargeable. The bloody thing practically has recoil when you hit the trigger. Super powerful. It last 20-30 minutes on a charge. It only costs $20!

Just got this last night. Not a flashlight but just as good. The Coleman Northstar propane lantern. It's as bright as the sun on full, but still very nice at its lowest setting and will last for about 12 hours on a 1lb tank of propane. Very handy storage case too.



Been looking at this one too. Surefire A2 Aviator. It's an LED flashlight made for pilots to light up their 747s at night for visual inspection. Also has a low power mode for reading in the cockpit. $185. These guys make serious flashlights. (Check out their special forces flashlights. Holy smacking! Surefire.com)

[English assassin]

Holy lightsabres, Batman.

You are going to have to stop recommending these things Beruit. Last time you linked to the Cold Steel website I ended up buying one of their locking knives for camping and sailing. And very pleased indeed I am with it. Now I just KNOW I'm going to end up buying a surefire of some sort...

No mention of a headtorch I notice. I use mine more than any other torch.

[Beirut]

You are going to have to stop recommending these things Beruit. Last time you linked to the Cold Steel website I ended up buying one of their locking knives for camping and sailing.

Which one?

[English assassin]

Something called "ultimate hunter". The name is a bit macho for my taste but it promised to be a folding knife that locked out as strongly as a fixed knife, and it is. (I didn't put that very well but you know what I mean). very robust. Takes an excellent edge too. Very pleased with it. Only been using it six months or so but so far its looking very good.

Previously used an Opinel, which are also nice knives, though obviously a lot lighter. That's been demoted to a gardening knife now.

[Papewaio]

I carry a led torch in my backpack... sturdy little thing and bright without the bright spot in the middle fading off and then a bright outer ring... the led makes it far more level across the lit zone.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Argh, my mini-maglite seems so puny in comparison to those surefire torchs...I think I may have to order the 6P, it just looks so damn sexy. Very reasonable price too.

EA, did you have any problem getting your knife past customs? I really wanted one of those locking folders from the coldsteel site, but I thought they were illegal in this country and that it would be seized.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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I shall not reply to this thread!
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[Kaiser of Arabia]

My biggest saber, gotta get pics of my dagger and knife up.

[Beirut]

TogakureOjonin,

Nice collection! I'm a wee bit jealous. I had a Recon Tanto years ago that I bought at a gun show. Apparently, I lost it.

I had a Gerber BMF which I used for years but I snapped the stupid thing clean in half splitting firewood with it.

Speaking of Gerbers... Got one of these as well yesterday.



It's my second one. I lost my first one on a job about two months ago. It's about 18" long and very handy. When I'm firing branches and small tree sections (less than 6") into the chipper and there's one with branches sticking out that's blocking the piece from going through, I just lob it off with the axe on my belt. Saves walking around and finding my saw just to cut off a 1" thick branch. I tape the bottom of the axe handle with multicoloured tape, makes it easier to find on the ground. {Didn't seem to work last time though.) The steel isn't the best, but it's only a $50 axe. The hollow plastic handle is tough as nails though. I wouldn't buy the larger models though, better to stay with a standard wood handled axe with better steel.

Flashlights? Bought several AAA Mini-Mags at the same store. They were practically giving them away. $6 each! Got a few for the kids as well.

[The Stranger]

off topic

[Togakure]

TogakureOjonin,

Nice collection! ...

Speaking of Gerbers... Got one of these as well yesterday.



...

Thanks . I love the look of the hatchet. Sleek and modern, without looking to "artsy." Sounds like it's quite functional too, and would make a great tool for backpacking. Is it very heavy?

The friend that I used to backpack with the most is an avid practioner of knife and axe throwing. When we'd go up into the mountains, he'd always bring throwing knives, and he had an old, wooden-handled hatchet (that was unusually well-balanced). We would entertain ourselves by having contests seeing who could stick the most, or stick consecutively, etc. (he almost always won). I really enjoyed tossing the hatchet; the big thunk it made when you stuck it and the subsequent strength needed to extract it (from dead trees, not living ones), tended to give me that proud, manly feeling (lol). As this hatchet is not too expensive, it might be fun to get one for utility and one for tossing practice. Thanks for sharing info about it.

[Beirut]

Thanks . I love the look of the hatchet. Sleek and modern, without looking to "artsy." Sounds like it's quite functional too, and would make a great tool for backpacking. Is it very heavy?

Not heavy at all. The plastic handle is hollow but still very tough. The blade is a thick utility shaped blade and even when well sharpened is not knife sharp, but sharp-axe sharp. (Unlike my Gransfor's axe which you could perform surgery with.) Also, like all plastic handled axes, once the handle-axe connection loosens, it's game over. For that reason I wouldn't use it as a throwing axe. But as a backpack axe it's very good.

This is the only size of axe I would use with a plastic handle. Anything bigger has to wood.