Every Day Carry (EDC) Items

[teamnelson]

Had a little $ from Christmas so I decided to pick up some pocket items to improve my EDC.

I had read about a Peanut Lighter, so I picked up 3 of those, and its baby brother, the Split Pea lighter. The Peanut is smaller than a bic, uses flint and fluid like a zippo, but doesn't leak or dry out because its in a waterproof container. The Split Pea is the same, but smaller. They're made out of stainless steel, and have a flat bottom so you can stand it up like a candle. Like a zippo, once its lit, its on. The other benefit is that the flint striker works like any other striker so if its out of fluid, you can still produce a spark on dried kindling. And in a pinch, you can pull out the wadding and use it for fire starter. One place left it submerged in a cup of water for over a month, pulled it out, unscrewed the cap and lit it up. I'm sending one to my daughter in the coast guard, and my son and I will have them in our BOBs. I'm keeping the Split Pea on my keyring. Not a smoker, but I'll always have fire. And they're TSA approved. Some pics:


I also picked up a Maratac AAA flashlight; this thing is teenie - not much bigger than the AAA batter itself. I got the brushed stainless one, which is really nice - comes in aluminum, stainless, titanium and copper. The bulb is rated for 50,000 hours; its a CREE led. But the part I like, it has 3 modes: lo, med, hi. Hi is 80 lumens. For comparison, the med setting is brighter than a maglite AAA flashlight. The hi is brighter than the triple AAA led light I had been using; and is easily 1/4th the weight. The only one brighter and this size (single AAA) I've found goes up to 110lumens, but it requires a 10440 battery to deliver for 70 mins, half that for a nimh battery, and no adjustable settings. The Maratac will give you hours on low and mid in addition to hi when you need it, using regular batteries.



The Maratac AAA (bottom), plus the split pea lighter (right), plus my usual boker subcom folder (top), together weigh about the same as a zippo, and don't quite cover a business card. If you're interested, you can learn alot about these items on youtube or googling, but if you buy, I'd recommend you give Miles Stair over at Endtimesreport a look. He's not a GBO sponsor, but his prices are reasonable, and he ships USPS.

Mahalo, Rob

[Hit or Miss]

Thanks for the review!  I got an order of goodies in from CC last week, filling in some gaps in the GHB.  I like the looks of his site too, thanks for listing him.  I did resist the temptation of one of those lighters and the light also, gotta rebuild the war chest some first.

[Pat/Rick]

 I'll be takin' a look. Thanks!

[myronman3]

i was going to post about a micro flashlight that i had picked up recently.  it has the browning name on it, and it is either on or off.  the thing is tiny but puts out incredible light.  it looks to be of the same size as your light.  it cost $20 through bass pro shop (i had an old gift certificate to use).    anyhow, i will be looking at the micro lighters you posted.   quality micro sized items are always good to have.   lotsa function in a small package.  thanks for sharing. 

[powderman]

TN. Thanks for the info. I googled endtimesreport and they have some real neat things there. POWDERMAN. 

[Victor3]

 TN,

 Those are good little flashlights. I have a few from the same manufacturer sold under different names.

 One thing you might want to do to make it last longer is remove the head and polish the very end of the threaded area of the battery tube. This surface makes contact with the thin foil on the PCB in the head to turn the light on, which is fragile. It wears out quickly on the stainless models unless the rough surface is smoothed out.

 Be sure when turning it off that you back the head off far enough so you can't push on it to activate the light. If not, it will turn on in your pocket. One trick with these is to rotate the head to just before the light turns on, then push the head in repetedly to cycle through the modes. That way you don't have to twist it three times to get to the high level.

 Here's the same basic light in aluminum, but with a keychain lug on the end instead of the clip on your County Comm model. Electronics are exactly the same...

http://www.batteryjunction.com/itp-a3-eos-upgrade.html

 This is the most advanced of the bunch (I have a similar one on my keys)...

http://www.batteryjunction.com/titanium-innovations-ca1-ti-s2.html

[teamnelson]

Victor3, thanks - that's good info! I've been carrying it around in my pocket this whole week, and its not turned on by itself yet. I will however try the trick you outline there.
They also advise to not use the 10400 AAA batteries; I've been using an Eneloop rechargeable in it, and its working great.

On a sidenote, I never used to carry a lighter in my pocket, just a fire starter in my pack. Now I've got the split pea on my keys, and the peanut as a zipper pull on the inside of my pack, and darned if I haven't needed a lighter a half dozen times this week. Also got one of those mini-straight razors, and wound up needing it twice. I don't know what I'm going to put in my pocket next, but I'm gonna be real careful because it seems like as soon as I do, I'll need it.

[Victor3]

 TN,

 Thing is, you may not notice it turning on in your pocket because it does so intermittently (turns on and shuts off as you move, sit down, etc.) when the head is screwed in close to the contact point. Do a test; turn it on, then just barely twist it enough to turn it off. Then push on the head slightly without turning it and you'll see that it lights until you release it. I found out it was happening when I noticed my pocket getting warm for no obvious reason.

 I generally use rechargeables for most everything, but for my keychain and disaster/emergency lights I bite the $ bullet and use lithiums for their light weight, low self-discharge and energy density (much higher than any other type). Perfect for something you want to be sure is going to work when you need it. Also, lithium batts never leak like alkalines are prone to.

 As another useful EDC item, I've been considering one of these...

http://www.countycomm.com/picopen.htm

[bilmac]

You see what's happening, Guys are starting to put together a collection of pocket stuff that are actually useful. I never seriously considered a swiss army knife because the blade was about worthless, and who really needs a corkscrew and tiny sissors. I have tried leatherman tools a few times and quit carrying them, again the blade is pretty worthless, it is off center and flimsy and the tool still has a lot if heavy useless junk.

Now if a manufacturer could come up with the kind of stuff that a man actually uses like mentioned on this thread all combined with a good knife that doesn't weigh much, and they LEFT OFF THE STINKING CORKSCREW, then they would have something I would be really interested in.

[Dee]

I carry a PHOTON LED (for about 5 years) on my Medical Alert necklace, a Zippo (for 50+ years), and a Benchmade 710 McHenry-Williams knife (for many years). Better, and yet in some ways worse, to your new rig, and yet for the most part, much the same. These I carry 24-7. Even to Church, and no one notices. Fire, light, and a good knife, big enough for working, or fighting, yet not so very obvious. The Model 60 Smith is a comfort also, if I'm not totin the 686 snub.

[teamnelson]

Dee, I used to carry photon LEDs with me for years before this MARATAC. They're sure handy finding stuff in the dark, like a bigger flashlight. With the new Cree LEDs you get some amazing light in a very small package. I am jealous of those who can carry a firearm everyday; when the day comes I can, I will.

Bilmac, amen on the Swiss/multitools. All the Nelson ladies have the Swiss card, in fact my wife bought out the supply at Hickam because they had marked them ridiculously cheap. She gave them as graduation gifts to young ladies. But not really a hefty tool. So the Nelson men all carry quality folders; my son likes the fast openers, I like short stubbie blades. But a knife you might like is the Cub Scout Knife by camillus - no corkscrew, just a good folder, can opener with flat tip, saw. Mine is really old, might've been my Dads when he was a boy. If I ever find some new I'm going to stock up as gifts for boys.

[Victor3]

You see what's happening, Guys are starting to put together a collection of pocket stuff that are actually useful. I never seriously considered a swiss army knife because the blade was about worthless, and who really needs a corkscrew and tiny sissors. I have tried leatherman tools a few times and quit carrying them, again the blade is pretty worthless, it is off center and flimsy and the tool still has a lot if heavy useless junk.

Now if a manufacturer could come up with the kind of stuff that a man actually uses like mentioned on this thread all combined with a good knife that doesn't weigh much, and they LEFT OFF THE STINKING CORKSCREW, then they would have something I would be really interested in.

 I like the Swiss Army knives. You can get them in many configurations without the corkscrew. I recently bought an Alox Farmer because it has the saw but not a lot of other blades I'd never use.

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Farmer-Pocket-Silver-Ribbed/dp/B0007QCOO2

 For one with a locking, more useful one hand opening main blade, these are pretty good...

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Trekker-Classic-Knife/dp/B000VY4OJS/ref=pd_sim_sg_4

 At $30, these are outstanding values IMO. Even my ultra-liberal Sister carried a small Victorinox until the TSA took it away at the airport. Gotta get her a new one.

[teamnelson]

My daughter came home on leave and wound up going back to the Academy with my Maratac AAA. This after "taking" a peanut lighter. They did issue her an okay pocket knife, so she's covered.

So I picked up 3 of the ITP A3 EOS R5 CREE XP-G LED Upgraded lights from GoingGear. These are aluminum vs the steel Maratac, so they are a bit lighter. They also come with a keyring nub on the tail, so they can't tailstand ... but I never used it that way anyway. I also like that they turn low, med, hi vs. med, low, hi on the Maratac. So now me, the boy and Mrs. Chaps all have new flashlights. And the new R5 puts out 96 lumens on high vs 85 on the Maratac, with the same battery usage.

Now if they'd gotten here before the Tsunami, I would've been happier.

[Victor3]

If you like the A3, might try the A1 (123 batt). Best $25 flashlight I've ever had. 190 lm for 1.6 hrs on high, 150 hrs on low. It's our all-purpose light for the house, hung on a hook in the kitchen.

Some of these little LED lights are amazing. They keep getting brighter and higher quaity but are still relatively inexpensive.