Cold Steel has finally produced its list of upcoming products for 2012. I am TOTALLY disappointed. Instead of the drop or spear point Mini-Tac that I have been lusting for, we have the tanto and the skinner types coming in serrated... Woopdy fucking doo.
There are 5 swords(no kindjal meh), an axe, 2 spears, a naval dirk, 2 sword machetes, an expensive Kukri in sk5 carbon steel, a few stainless fixed blades, and a several new lockbacks including a mini and micro size for the Recon I series. At least all three sizes will have a spearpoint version now.
I am feeling depressingly underwhelmed. I was really looking forward to Cold Steel's new product list this year. Well, at least Benchmade looks like they're going to have a great year for new goods.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Light a Candle Against Violence
My candle lantern is lit against violence and my first lines of defense against violence in home and abroad, respectively, remain vigilant in both light and darkness.
From left to right: Ruger GP-100 .357 magnum 3", Boker Trench Dagger 5.5", Cold Steel Mini-Tac Tanto 3.5", Smith & Wesson 639 Bodyguard .38 Special 1 & 7/8"
For more of this head over to Weerd Beard's master post.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Finally! Fenix Tk50 & BokerPlus Rambler!
Thirty minutes after returning from a successful trip to the much improved shooting range, the brown truck of joy graced me with a package from BladeHQ. Inside was the Fenix Tk50 and the Boker Plus Rambler.
The TK50 is a powerful 2 D-Cell LED light and the Rambler is small EDC fixed blade made from 440C.
I'll have to wait until tonight to get some beamshots of the Fenix. They should be most illuminating. Har har.
A Neat Upcoming Benchmade/Harley Davidson Fixed Blade
2012 is already shaping up to be a good year for knives. Several nice looking blades have shown up on BladeForums in a thread for new Benchmade knives. One is part of Benchmade's line of blades made for Harley Davidson. One fixed blade has really caught my eye, the Madcap.
This blade is a modest 4.66 inch long, an excellent defensive blade size. It is on the higher end size for what I like to be made out of 440C stainless, but still within acceptable limits. The shape looks to be a modified drop point recurve. Very similar to a SOG Spec Elite I or II. The grips are g10, which is my favorite grip material. It also has a deep choil which is much like the sub hilts I rant and gibber on about like a Cthulhu cultist with a blasphemous idol. The pommel terminates at an near point that would enable breaking both auto glass and faces with equal aplomb.
This is a sexy blade that is going to be retailing for about $88.95 according to BladeHQ. I am always looking for knives of this size. A little bigger than the normal 3-4 inch range of small defensive knives, but under $100. Since it is 440c, I wish it were about 15 bucks cheaper at least. If the sheath is decent, it might be worth checking out. Oh hell, who am I kidding? I'm going to check it out anyway.
On another note, the package mentioned a week ago is finally out for delivery this morning. About time! Also, I'll be headed to the range this morning to test out my Sig 245 and also to get some much needed trigger time in with my primary carry, the S&W 638 j-frame.
Update: Its not Madcap as BladeHQ's site says, instead it is Mad Cat.
Update2: Benchmade lists it as Madcap. *sigh*
This blade is a modest 4.66 inch long, an excellent defensive blade size. It is on the higher end size for what I like to be made out of 440C stainless, but still within acceptable limits. The shape looks to be a modified drop point recurve. Very similar to a SOG Spec Elite I or II. The grips are g10, which is my favorite grip material. It also has a deep choil which is much like the sub hilts I rant and gibber on about like a Cthulhu cultist with a blasphemous idol. The pommel terminates at an near point that would enable breaking both auto glass and faces with equal aplomb.
This is a sexy blade that is going to be retailing for about $88.95 according to BladeHQ. I am always looking for knives of this size. A little bigger than the normal 3-4 inch range of small defensive knives, but under $100. Since it is 440c, I wish it were about 15 bucks cheaper at least. If the sheath is decent, it might be worth checking out. Oh hell, who am I kidding? I'm going to check it out anyway.
On another note, the package mentioned a week ago is finally out for delivery this morning. About time! Also, I'll be headed to the range this morning to test out my Sig 245 and also to get some much needed trigger time in with my primary carry, the S&W 638 j-frame.
Update: Its not Madcap as BladeHQ's site says, instead it is Mad Cat.
Update2: Benchmade lists it as Madcap. *sigh*
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Teenage Self-Defense in Florida
Daniels in the Gunblogger Conspiracy IRC channel, posted this link about the criminal charges brought against a teenager who used a pocket knife lethally in self-defense against another teen in Florida.
The short version is that one fourteen year old boy, who had a pocket knife, attempted to avoid a fight with another older boy by getting off the bus several stops before where the fight was supposed to take place. Unfortunately, the aggressor exited the bus with some friends at his back and assaulted the victim cravenly from behind and continued the attack. This caused the victim to draw a pocket knife and begin to fight back. Out of twelve knife strikes, two managed to be lethal for the still attacking older teen. The local authorities charged the fourteen year old with second degree murder and went to court. However, under Florida's "Stand your ground law", a judge threw out the charges.
The judge made it clear that the boy had attempted to avoid the fight, while armed, and was under assault from the first hit to the fatal blow with his blade in a place he had every single right to be in. He had reason to believe that his life was in danger and he acted in a legal fashion.
Of course plenty of people are calling the victim a murderer. People have some sort of weird idea that it was the boy's duty to accept his 'beat down'. That he was a girl to avoid the attack. Those people are so very wrong.
The boy acted exactly how a CCWer should act. He was armed for his own protection, and took steps to avoid conflict knowing that. That failed. He was chased down and assaulted, sucker punched from the onset.
The attacker also had friends with him. When things go south for the attacker, friends often step in. Then it would have degraded into a gang beating. To me that's a big motivator to fight back with everything. I've been in situations similar. Being at the total mercy of teenagers is nothing anyone wants.
Lastly, in the end the victim fought back with an utterly inadequate weapon. Then he only made two lethal hits out of twelve. His blade will have been in the range of 2.5 to 3.5 inches. Almost impossible to deliver an instant fight stopping hit. When knives come out there are often far more hits than that.
People just don't understand the world of a youth. It is not so much sunshine and smiles. Horrible things happen and never get reported. There is a weird code of honor and a lot of fear to back it up. Children are extorted, tortured, sexually assaulted, and robbed. Crimes that merit violent and lethal self-defense among adults are laughed off as kids being kids. Teenagers are not totally children, but not totally adults. They often have the physical power of adults, but not the brains in their skulls to keep them from misusing it.
One kid is dead, he might have made something of his life, I'd rather he have gotten some good wounds and learned. Yet, he reaped what he sowed. When cornered people fight. That kid that fought back will have to live with his actions. He is one of us. One of the CCWers out there. He's no murderer, but he's a killer. Any one of us could be him one day.
The short version is that one fourteen year old boy, who had a pocket knife, attempted to avoid a fight with another older boy by getting off the bus several stops before where the fight was supposed to take place. Unfortunately, the aggressor exited the bus with some friends at his back and assaulted the victim cravenly from behind and continued the attack. This caused the victim to draw a pocket knife and begin to fight back. Out of twelve knife strikes, two managed to be lethal for the still attacking older teen. The local authorities charged the fourteen year old with second degree murder and went to court. However, under Florida's "Stand your ground law", a judge threw out the charges.
The judge made it clear that the boy had attempted to avoid the fight, while armed, and was under assault from the first hit to the fatal blow with his blade in a place he had every single right to be in. He had reason to believe that his life was in danger and he acted in a legal fashion.
Of course plenty of people are calling the victim a murderer. People have some sort of weird idea that it was the boy's duty to accept his 'beat down'. That he was a girl to avoid the attack. Those people are so very wrong.
The boy acted exactly how a CCWer should act. He was armed for his own protection, and took steps to avoid conflict knowing that. That failed. He was chased down and assaulted, sucker punched from the onset.
The attacker also had friends with him. When things go south for the attacker, friends often step in. Then it would have degraded into a gang beating. To me that's a big motivator to fight back with everything. I've been in situations similar. Being at the total mercy of teenagers is nothing anyone wants.
Lastly, in the end the victim fought back with an utterly inadequate weapon. Then he only made two lethal hits out of twelve. His blade will have been in the range of 2.5 to 3.5 inches. Almost impossible to deliver an instant fight stopping hit. When knives come out there are often far more hits than that.
People just don't understand the world of a youth. It is not so much sunshine and smiles. Horrible things happen and never get reported. There is a weird code of honor and a lot of fear to back it up. Children are extorted, tortured, sexually assaulted, and robbed. Crimes that merit violent and lethal self-defense among adults are laughed off as kids being kids. Teenagers are not totally children, but not totally adults. They often have the physical power of adults, but not the brains in their skulls to keep them from misusing it.
One kid is dead, he might have made something of his life, I'd rather he have gotten some good wounds and learned. Yet, he reaped what he sowed. When cornered people fight. That kid that fought back will have to live with his actions. He is one of us. One of the CCWers out there. He's no murderer, but he's a killer. Any one of us could be him one day.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
New Gear Inbound.
Just made an order to BladeHQ today with some Christmas money I was lucky to get. I have a new fixed blade knife and a new flashlight inbound. Looking forward to seeing what sort of service BladeHQ will give me. I'll give you a hint. The brand names begin with F & B.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Improvised Weapons: Millwall Brick
The anti-defense crowd of thugs and rapist wannabes often whine about innocuous knives being weapons. They attempt to ban them for being too big, too small, opening too fast, being too military looking, or just being sharp. However, the world is full of every day objects that can be rendered into something just as potentially dangerous if not far more than your ordinary EDC folding blade. Such an item is the Millwall Brick.
The Brick hails from the disarmed serf-nation of UK. It was used as a soccer hooligan's stealth weapon. It is a mean little improvised weapon, that can be brought anywhere and made on the spot within a few minutes. Such as that, it's not really a bad idea to know how to make one if push comes to shove. The materials to make one are found in your Sunday Edition newspaper. Or rather, the Millwall Brick IS your Sunday paper!
The Millwall Brick is a carefully folded large newspaper. It is folded/rolled long wise, and then folded in half to form a handle and the rounded fold becomes the head of this bludgeon. They are often wettened down to add weight or even feature nails.
To be honest, it would be a more effective weapon than your after Kershaw or Gerber folder. It has more size and reach. It is almost like a sap.
Paper is surprisingly strong in bundles. Folks have made .22lr back stops in their homes using phone books. That paper doesn't have the density of folded either. Each time you fold paper it comes harder to fold until you cannot fold it further with a human's strength.
This simple item could easily put someone into the hospital. Used effectively it could kill someone. But it is just a newspaper. I cannot think of a single place that bans newspapers. Schools, airplanes, courthouses, bars, post offices... It is just one of the countless items that can be used in place of knives or even guns everywhere if your criminal decides to obey the rules...
The Brick hails from the disarmed serf-nation of UK. It was used as a soccer hooligan's stealth weapon. It is a mean little improvised weapon, that can be brought anywhere and made on the spot within a few minutes. Such as that, it's not really a bad idea to know how to make one if push comes to shove. The materials to make one are found in your Sunday Edition newspaper. Or rather, the Millwall Brick IS your Sunday paper!
The Millwall Brick is a carefully folded large newspaper. It is folded/rolled long wise, and then folded in half to form a handle and the rounded fold becomes the head of this bludgeon. They are often wettened down to add weight or even feature nails.
To be honest, it would be a more effective weapon than your after Kershaw or Gerber folder. It has more size and reach. It is almost like a sap.
Paper is surprisingly strong in bundles. Folks have made .22lr back stops in their homes using phone books. That paper doesn't have the density of folded either. Each time you fold paper it comes harder to fold until you cannot fold it further with a human's strength.
This simple item could easily put someone into the hospital. Used effectively it could kill someone. But it is just a newspaper. I cannot think of a single place that bans newspapers. Schools, airplanes, courthouses, bars, post offices... It is just one of the countless items that can be used in place of knives or even guns everywhere if your criminal decides to obey the rules...
Thursday, December 22, 2011
2012 Kershaws at Blade HQ
Was browsing the 'Coming Soon' section of BladeHQ, when I noticed several different new Kershaws. Notable models include:
Funxion, an flipper style assisted opening knife/multitool in DIY, EMT, and Outdoor configurations.
Outdoor 10, a 10inch bladed carbon steel bolo/kukri hybrid.
Vapor III, a third model in the Vapor series.
Taskmaster, a 7inch folding saw.
Cyro, a very handsome 2.75inch bladed assisted-opening flipper.
There are several others, but please roll over to BladeHQ to see pictures and more information. Looks like Kershaw is going to have a good year. A few of these, especially the Outdoor and Cyro, look very attractive to me.
Funxion, an flipper style assisted opening knife/multitool in DIY, EMT, and Outdoor configurations.
Outdoor 10, a 10inch bladed carbon steel bolo/kukri hybrid.
Vapor III, a third model in the Vapor series.
Taskmaster, a 7inch folding saw.
Cyro, a very handsome 2.75inch bladed assisted-opening flipper.
There are several others, but please roll over to BladeHQ to see pictures and more information. Looks like Kershaw is going to have a good year. A few of these, especially the Outdoor and Cyro, look very attractive to me.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tired of Being Civil About Self Defense Rights
That is IT. I'm throwing down the gauntlet. After reading about Amanda Collins, a university student who was disarmed by campus laws and ended up raped at gun point after a night class, I cannot take being civil anymore. The same filth went on to kill and rape others. Thanks to the long standing left's war on self-defense, her firearm was left at home against the threat of expulsion when she needed it. Maybe she would have been killed, maybe she would have killed him. We cannot say, but she was helpless thanks to the work of anti-rights cultists.
I'm tired of being called a murderer-in-waiting. Sick and tired of them trying to prove that I'm sub-human for wanting to see that I and my fellow humans have the tools and rights to protect our lives, families, and properties against the greed and wickedness of others. Guess what? Two can play at that game, motherfuckers!
Anyone actively working and campaigning against our rights to carry weapons and fight back in self-defense is of the worst sort of vermin. They are pro-rape, pro-murder, pro-crime scum. I could care less if they are that was from a sick sexual satisfaction to see others hurt, they're following their programming, or whatever the reason. They are enemies of freedom and liberty. They are less than the worms that fill the diseased feces of a feral dog. I will call you what you are. Accomplices of murder, sexual violence, torture, thievery, and every other crime that innocents have suffered from being they were not permitted to have the necessary tools to defend.
Who are part of this group? Every member of the boards of colleges that vote against self-defense. Every politician everywhere that votes against self-defense. Everyone working for, donating to, or advocating the Brady Campaign, VPC, Million Mom March, and the others. Every cop that gives CCW people a hard time just because. The list goes on. You're not human to me anymore. I wouldn't piss on you to save your lives for 20 bucks.
If I hear someone that wants to tell me to my face, that I'm a coward for carrying, that guns are evil, that carrying guns is awful... I'm going to sneer at them and ask them, "Yeah, watching people get raped and murdered gets you hard/wet right? What do you like about it the most? The fear in their eyes? The blood on the ground? Fucking sick wannabe. Get away from me. I don't associate with vermin."
I'm tired of being called a murderer-in-waiting. Sick and tired of them trying to prove that I'm sub-human for wanting to see that I and my fellow humans have the tools and rights to protect our lives, families, and properties against the greed and wickedness of others. Guess what? Two can play at that game, motherfuckers!
Anyone actively working and campaigning against our rights to carry weapons and fight back in self-defense is of the worst sort of vermin. They are pro-rape, pro-murder, pro-crime scum. I could care less if they are that was from a sick sexual satisfaction to see others hurt, they're following their programming, or whatever the reason. They are enemies of freedom and liberty. They are less than the worms that fill the diseased feces of a feral dog. I will call you what you are. Accomplices of murder, sexual violence, torture, thievery, and every other crime that innocents have suffered from being they were not permitted to have the necessary tools to defend.
Who are part of this group? Every member of the boards of colleges that vote against self-defense. Every politician everywhere that votes against self-defense. Everyone working for, donating to, or advocating the Brady Campaign, VPC, Million Mom March, and the others. Every cop that gives CCW people a hard time just because. The list goes on. You're not human to me anymore. I wouldn't piss on you to save your lives for 20 bucks.
If I hear someone that wants to tell me to my face, that I'm a coward for carrying, that guns are evil, that carrying guns is awful... I'm going to sneer at them and ask them, "Yeah, watching people get raped and murdered gets you hard/wet right? What do you like about it the most? The fear in their eyes? The blood on the ground? Fucking sick wannabe. Get away from me. I don't associate with vermin."
Friday, December 16, 2011
Update & Final Thoughts on the SOG Spec Elite II
One of my most often read posts is one about my experiences in carrying a truly large folder, specifically the SOG Spec Elite II. It is a 'combat' folder with a monstrous 5inch recurve blade in the excellent VG-10 steel. I have carried it on and off for several years and I have decided to retire this knife from carry permanently.
One of the main reasons for carrying a big folder is for possible self defense use and honestly the only other reason is for woods craft like batoning or chopping. Otherwise a small blade is generally going to be less expensive, less legally problematic, easier to carry, and less likely to scare other folks. But the Spec Elite is simply not strong enough to deal with those things.
From day one, I've have problems with the screws holding the pivot point together. They want to work loose during the operation. The weight of the blade only aggravates the situation. Tightening them enough to stop it, would only keep the blade from smoothly opening via thumbstud, lock manipulation, or just a hard flick of the wrist. Loctite I think will only cause more of the same. The blade has a good amount of wobble when untightened enough to open normally. As already said tightening it doesn't work either. As it stands I do believe under heavy duty use, in an emergency, I do not have faith in the screws not to work out and for the blade to come free. The frame is not strong enough to maintain integrity alone.
In fact, I discovered that two of the small screws had indeed worked out and been lost a few weeks ago when I went to carry it IWB. On the upside, I emailed SOG, and they had two replacement screws in my mailbox within two weeks.
The blade sharpness and sturdiness is excellent, the pocketclip is good enough for IWB, the lock system is secure, and the grip is at least passable. I can only rate this one for medium use on the condition that you are very careful on keeping an eye on the screws. Therefore, the 5inch blade is practically decorative. This one is going into the old knife box. It is retired.
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