I’ve got a box full of Dorcys and Maglites and 5 or so various lanterns.
So if I were to get one and only one good flashlight for me alone (and the kids can keep their grubby hands off) what would you recommend?
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Oh my lord, can we please not go down the rabbit hole of flashlights too? The sheer amount of money I’ve spent on Surefire over the years could easily equal the GDP of a small island nation.
Also @OhBollox that thing looks like a beast!
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A Skilhunt H series, H04 for instance, which runs on rechargeable 18650 batteries. It’s light, it’s small, it comes with a headband, pocket clip, lanyard, and tail magnet so you can stick it anywhere and carry it however you like. Single-button UI which is very simple, you can program your own if you want but I never bothered, the basic click-through-modes is quite sufficient. Full charge lasts you ages. It’s not a thrower, you won’t be able to pick out passing aeroplanes with it and pretend you’re running a searchlight in WWII, but it’s got a very floody optic for creating a lot of light close by, which is excellent for most practical purposes aside from hunting for ET.
Bit of a PSA here: thanks to the ludicrous amounts of humidity lately, I have found rust spots on my knife twice this year, as opposed to in previous years where this number was zero. Climate change is insidious. Oil your blades carefully. Thank you.
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I must consult our knife people! Visited a renaissance faire with the family yesterday, and throwing axes seemed a lot more fun than throwing darts (or even knives). So, what should I know before I go to Amazon to buy a throwing axe for silly backyard use?
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Don’t buy from Amazon if you can help it. Make sure you have a softish target and a good backstop and most importantly, you want a base that will absorb all misthrows and drops. Nice soft soil is best (if very dry just turn it over with a spade). You want a double-bitted axe to make things easier. You should be able to find a cheap double-bitted axe, or a tomahawk if you want more of a challenge. Weight should be quite light, I have no idea what’s available to you but given the American propensity to make your own, you should be available to find a good one. I only know the ones that make it to the UK, SOG, Estwing, Cold Steel.
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I have the SOG Fasthawk. I needed to sharpen it in order for it to stick reliably, and it has a tendency to bounce off targets, so be sure to leave plenty of room (I mean, that’s probably just common sense, right?).
Axe throwing is a high-impact activity for your gear, so as @OhBollox said I would look at established brands rather than any old cheap thing you find on Amazon. My camping hatchet is Estwing and I’d trust them. I own nothing Cold Steel, but I want to. I don’t know if Gerber makes them but I tend to avoid Gerber things, for what it is worth.
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As much as I sort of dislike to give Cold Steel any kudos, their stuff is very robust.
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I have throwing knives, and I’ve found that some big sporting goods stores (depending upon where you live) sell targets. The key for me is to soak the target a while before you use it. They tend to be pretty compact and hard right from the store; giving them a soak loosens up the target so your blades will a) stick more often and b) get dull less easily. Keeping any throwing blade sharp is key to enjoying it.
@Mirefox Why do you avoid Gerber? I don’t buy them anymore either, TBH, but I carried one of their small folding knives for years and it seemed reliable for what it was.
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I have had a number of Gerber blades chip or break. They have some good products, but in general I think their line are of dubious quality. Their flippers (Evo line, I think) absolutely pale in comparison to CRKT’s offerings, which are not much more expensive.
I do love my Gerber LFM II knife, which I attached to the outside of my bugout bag. Generally, though, Ferber is the brand where I’m going to have to be convinced of an item’s quality.
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So I am not a knife guy, and don’t usually click into this discussion, but did just now…and I do own several Gerber multi-tools from when I was in the Army, and they all have chipped knife blades.
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Gerber in my experience are merely Okay for the price. You don’t need to buy Okay even if you don’t have that much money. Their multitools are underrated though.
A personal anecdote:
I am on a family vacation. The rental property doesn’t have central air so we left the windows open. When we returned from a day out we discovered that the latch on the front door was broken and we were unable to get in to the rental. We called the property owner and she was looking for a locksmith but that, if possible, we could break into a window. Enter my trusty Spyderco Tenacious, which made quick work of the screen in the open window. So to answer a previous question over why carry a knife, there is always a reason.
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I want one.
And a vest to put it on.
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“Karen” seems to have taken rather a strange journey. I understood it to be an unkind term for demanding ladies.
I work with a person literally named Karen, and she owns it. She had to hassle the tax man about her rates or something, she said she was gonna go get her Karen on when she had to phone them up. She got what she wanted btw
