![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/wp-1590022920602.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
Just a little thought from several weeks ago. Finally got this one back to its proper place, as snack knife in the truck. Its been my favorite for summer saidage and cheese for a few years now! That blade is like a laser. Case Stainless and Yellow Delrin 4.125″ Slimline single blade Trapper.
“What?” you ask?
Why, Bob the 2nd blade on my new mini Muskrat into a wharnie/sheepsfoot/lambs foot profile, of course!
With the big muskrat I did.
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/wp-1592005601413.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
With the blade I’d want in it if I could build one(no, can’t, I’m not that good).
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/wp-1592005601404.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/wp-1592005601388.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/wp-1592005601367.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
So the issues are I’ll either end up with a long pointy wharnie, or sheepsfoot, because the nail knicks are so far forward on these blades…
Unless I crop it into the knick (not ideal) or behind the knick… better but then I’d have to cut a new knick… something I suck at. Been there fraked that up before. Several times…
But I’d really like the shorter stiffer profile blade.
Then again there is the argument tp leave it alone altogether since right now i carry and use the CRKT minimalist all the time anyway. Thats the blade I’d gain by the mod.
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/wp-1592005601457.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
But what do I need two long clip points for, too?
Soooo….
any input?
Ideas?
An older thought line that didn’t het posted here. From mid May 2020.
Thinking about getting a new knife but unsure… this is the closest I currently have to the form factor of the possible new one… this is 4″closed, slim, single blade, slipjoint.
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/20200521_230822.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
The other is 4.125″ closed, slim, single blade, lockback.
Carried this today to see how I might like the other. Not encouraging that this knife rung all the bells in design and concept a couple years ago, but didn’t in application, and I rarely use it.
And rarely do I get along with a lockback.
I find myself strangely drawn to a Case tribal lock.
Late May 2020;
Not really needing nor using a regular folder these days.
At work, and honestly most times not, I carry and use the CRKT Folts Minimalist wharnie. It does 95% of my cutting.
Otherwise I’m carying my Kobalt folding utility knife for really dirty stuff, the disposable blades get that duty. And its use is rare, I’ve actually stopped carrying it every work day.
Then, I have been carrying, (but applicable never using) a traditional folder. Sometimes I might carve up cheese and sausage with it. But I do carry a dedicated knife for that in the truck(Case single blade slim 6148 trapper).
But, like I say, I’m drawn to the tribal lock right now.
Or a bone scaled sodbuster(another pattern that seems perfect but has never really clicked for me).
If i cary just the CRKT, that gets me a durable work blade, a utility straight edge, and i can not carry the Kobalt.
Then I can have a second personal knife on me, for cleaner tasks, and for the option of a curved blade style.
Except the tribal is hardly a curved edge, being that spear drop pount thing case maked that I find useless. Not straight enough, and not curved enough. Get the feeling I wouldn’t have it long with out re-profiling, and raising the tip.
Meh.
Well, I’ll be damned!
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/20200709_102820.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
If youll remember my last pson thus topic, what i was really needing then was one of these that included an R2/S2 bit.
This one is as yoh can see 9 in 1, including an R2!
I honestly don’t count the socket sizes except maybe the 1/4″ so it 6 in 1 or 7 in 1 for me.
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/20200709_102928.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
Cool setup with short and long double bits.
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/20200709_103027.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
Same size as the Stanley, thankfully not any bigger. It is a touch heavier, but I had it on me, same pocket as the Stanley is usually in, all day yesterday and never knew the difference.
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/20200709_103113.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
The Stanley has been performing perfectly fine for over a month, almost two actually, so i really didn’t need this change. But on principal of being what id wanted before, I went ahead and snagged it.
Cant really lose, it was almost as cheap(low cost) @$10.
So…I did manage a new knife last month. Something I’ve wanted for a while. They’re pretty rare among the brands that make traditionals, even in vintage models, and extremely rare in contemporary brands.
A mini muskrat. 3-5/8″ or thereabouts stockman frame with twin opposed clip blades.
Case made one until a few years ago. They’re kinda like finding hens teeth and when you do they’re gold plated teeth.
Took a while(couple years actually!) to find a good deal on one I liked.
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/20200604_011021.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
Supposedly a 2016 model, haven’t run the tang myself yet. Handle is butterscotch corelon. I’ve read that no pins in the scales on composite handles generally means a rehandle job, or a contract knife handled outside Case. For Corelon that tends to mean they were handled by Frost. It’s almost a flawless job, extremely good fit and finish, I’d never know Case didn’t do it.
I managed to score it brand new, unused, no box, for $35. 
Used Mini Muskrats not in corelon(an expensive material, why I don’t know) tend to be a $70 to $100 proposal.
YES, It was a gift from God! No other way I’d ever get that it that price!
My Justin safety toe work boots got to be too hot and heavy for summer, especially with the heavier socks to pad the safety toe(why on earth the safetty toe edge can be felt as a hard 1/8″ step inside the boot is beyond me!! )
So I sprung for a pair of the 5″ Warthogs from Duluth Trading.
I have to be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed at first.
Felt cheap. Like, felt like $10 walmart shoes type cheap. Super light and stiff materials.
But I reminded myself that lighter build, and thinner material’s don’t automatically mean junk. The stitching itself looked good, and the leather does feel good, like real, nice leather.
Remembering that i wanted light and cool, I ignored first impression and wore them.
(Also reminded myself that my $10 Walmart shoes actually hold up really well to hard work wear, regardless of how cheap they feel!)
The insoles sucked. Super hard, less than 1/4″ thick, like stiff styrofoam, no cushion at all… not sure what is up in their thinking there. So I stuck in a set of aftermarket SoftSole(I think) thin memory foam instead.
Anyway, after 2 days in the boots, I loved them! They are light and easy to wear. There was like 1 day of break in on the leather, and 3 days to loosen the outsoles a little..
Super comfortable, they wear like an old favorite sneaker, but are durable like a boot.
Good traction. Only a little mud so far, but they grip it. Its a softer rubber not like concrete so I have high hopes for wet concrete/rocks/light ice this fall.
They are waterproof like advertised. In the rain, wet grass, puddles etc. Haven’t stood in more than 2″ of water for more than a couple minutes yet, but I’m sure they’d take it ok.
Going on about a month and a half now of all day every day wear. I spend a lot of time on my knees sitting on my feet, they’re flexible and don’t gouge me. They haven’t got a frey or tear, no noticeable wear from it.
Underfoot support is good. Could be better but they make up for it in flexibility. Lots of time crouching/squatting is hard on your feet, and these leave me with very little aching. The same as or better than the $250 Justins!
Side to side ankle support is almost nill at 5″ and soft leather… but I prefer the range of motion anyway.
At first I thought $60 was too much. Now I’m sure I’d pay the full $130 regular price for another pair. If they come back in stock, I will!
Like I said, they were on clearance. I took a couple weeks to make sure they’d work out, and missed getting a pair for when these wear out; the way I wear boots into the ground, and as durable as these are so far, a spare pair could mean a decade covered for summer boots…
Thinking about getting a pair of their slip on boots… styled like the popular Aussie boot, with the elastic only at the sides/top.
But I have a hard time laceing and tieing boots comfortably every day… The perfect tension is hard to get, and important to keep my feet from hurting a lot from the start… No control with elastic so I’m not sure about that yet.
New for the work carry this summer.
![[IMG]](https://akadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/wp-1589351349452.jpg?w=930 "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
I LOVE my slim compact Kobalt screwdrivers. Takes 1 bit, holds 3 in the handle. Slim and light.
But also deathly slow, and a bit fiddly with gloves on, to change bits.
Broke down and got a cheap 6 in 1. (4 drivers, 2 nut drivers… the later of which I will rarely if ever use) Cheapest, lightest one they had. Its bulky, but actually not too heavy. Stanley, like $3.
Dont like the special double ended bits, cant just use any old 1.5″ 1/4″ drive bit. And No R2 bit.
Will see how long it lasts. If I can do ok on the bits, I might take the handle to the bandsaw and slim it down.
Anyone know where I can get the fancy double ended 5/16″ hex bit it takes, or the 1/4″, in a R2/P2, or R2/1/4″ flat even, let me know.
The cutters were the cheapest also, but are good and solid. Didn’t feel like paying $22 for Chanellock. This was $10.
The ones I have are great for my auto wiring/electronic projects, and are pretty heavy duty, even good for average home wiring. But for construction site use where you cut romex, and things other than wire, I needed a set with the shorter jaw/high torque pivot location. Thankfully not much bigger than the others, and about the same weight
The old and new
I got gloves again too. Been wearing deerskin learher of the same brand last season, and so far this one… But we’re doing vapor barrier now, and black death is impossible to remove from leather gloves, worse than it is from your hands. And those leather suckers are $22 a pair. (Yes, I won’t buy side cutters that’ll last a decade for $22, but I will pay that for gloves that last about 7 months. Yes, I know I’m odd. ) these are almost as comfortable after a day or two, and probably almost as durable. I just cry less when theyre ruined.
(for those that don’t know, black death is the slang term for a non hardening, non setting, forever sticky acoustical and vapor barier sealant and adheasive. It never dries or sets, and is tacky like tar. Its impossible to get off you once you get it on you. Gasoline or paint thinner will eat it. In my experience even then its hard to get off. )
Also grabbed one of these little guys. Figured why not, @ $0.97
So, its interesting. The big yellow Stanley takes a 1/4″ bit on one end only, on the other it is 5/16″.
In this little Stanley, the bits are Smaller than 1/4″. BUT it looks like the tool is molded at the ends to take 1/4″ bits. Except it doesnt quote fit a [img] g4″ bit. The smaller bits are gripped further into the handle though. Strange.
Got a new watch a couple months ago. Another Citizen Eco-drive. (Thats 3 in the stable so far!)
I had been wanting to splurge after my first check @ the new job. And get a new knife. I hadn’t done that for ages, and there was something I’d been looking at for a few months.
Buf I just couldn’t do it. I gave a lot of knives and another is hard to justify (not just in $ cost) unless im 100% sure of it. I couldn’t get past a 60% “yeah… but…” on that one. More on that in a future post though.
So anyway, I then went through bookmarks, and my Ebay watch list from the then previous few weeks, for anything else I Really wanted. Settled on a watch I’d seen.
I refuse to have batteries in watches, or at least ones that need changing, so I tend to browse through the current Citizen Eco-Drive solar models from time to time. I have two, my Chrony, and a Divers model that a friend gave me before he passed away. They’re solid, reliable and bombproof (literally. That Dive watch survived an incident with some poorly fused C4 once!)
I Hadn’t actually bought a wrist watch since 2012 or 13(a fancy Timex expedition with compass, that I could never make work right). And hadn’t gotten one at all since the the Seiko 5 another good friend gave me, around the same time…
What I’d found was a dealer offering factory refurbished watches. Not necessarily used, but ones that had needed going over. Figure New Old Stock (NOS) thay hadnr sold in a retail setying. Damn good prices!
Unfortunately what I’d liked was now sold out. So I then spent 2 days going through models and re-picking… Man, that was hard! I’ve got a short list of about 6 that I want now! Lol
I ended up really wanting to get the first one I saw, so shopping around other dealers, I found one not refurbished, but actually new, for a decent price.
Here’s the thing. They do this watch in two models, same watch, on different bands. The one I’d picked was on brown leather. The other is on a metal link/deployant style.
I’d liked the one on metal, but wrote it off initally as a bit too spendy. But the best price I could find on the New leather model, was now $5 from the refurbished metal banded one.
So yeah, I went for the metal banded one, since leather is cheaper/easier to fit aftermarket if if turns out I don’t want the metal. And the metal band model was still well below retail, or other going prices online.
I hate to brag on cost, but I’d just bought a $300 retail watch that goes for around $150 average new online, for $85 shipped. The first leather band model was $56, when the refurbished one was available… So I did spend more than initially planned, but it was still a fantastic deal, and a better option on bands in the long run.
Anyway, yes I know, shut up AK and show us the damn watch. 😉
And in case you wonder where one wears a watch this shiny and fancy… I wear it everywhere and anywhere!
Thus shown by the spray expanding foam residue i got on it at work a couple weeks ago (couple months it might wear off). 😀
