August 2015 Carries
I am going to run down what I carried in August, but this month, my first month doing this, I am going to also include late July carries because I went on a hiking vacation in Maine.
So there are few things that I was basing my carry decisions on. First, it was all shorts all the time. It was exceedingly hot in New England (except Maine, where we had a fire going 4 days of the week). So there was a lot of light carry. In particular I liked this set up:
This is the Graham GMT Stubby Razel and the MBI HF-R. Both pack a ton of performance into a tiny package and I pair these together a lot. Its a true drop em in and forget em set up. By keeping things light and out of the way I didn't have to worry when running after a five year old or when getting hot. Some gear feels like your carrying a trade paperback in your pocket and you get that sweaty leg thing going on, which is awful. It makes you not want to carry stuff or not want to go outside, both of which aren't fun. I also did a lot of kayaking so the Graham tail clip was great, ensuring I lost nothing. Note that the TAD quick dry shorts were excellent both on the trail and in the boat.
In Maine I took the Stubby Razel, for the reasons listed above, but I also took my new Jarosz JSF, which is Jesse's small EDC fixed blade. I am having a sheath made for it, but in the meantime I used a Knives Ship Free pocket slip, intended for slipjoints, but it worked fine for my purposes. Here is that carry:
I wore the Sinn 556i almost exclusively this past month as I wanted to get familiar with it and try out the mechanical watch features. The Peak Eiger is one of the best EDC lights on the planet, and decked out here with the Oveready Tuxedo set up (silver head and blade body and Nichia 219 emitter), the Prometheus clip, and the Momentary On, it is very very hard to beat. It can take any battery chemistry, has infinite variable brightness, has a high around 200 lumens, and runs a common cell. The JFS was marvelous and I can't wait to get it back. The finish, Jesse's acid camo, looks disgusting, but feels and works well. Imagine a knife left in a puddle over the winter...that is what it looks like. But its smooth to the touch. There will be no sign of wear, pretty much ever. And I don't mind the dirty blade look at all. Here it is up close:
Like I said--dirty blade. The tan handles and dirty blade meant that I HAD to add the blue lanyard cord. If not this thing vanishes into the leaf litter if dropped. As it is, this is a very good EDC blade and my first with AEB-L steel, so I am excited about trying that out. Jesse's grinds are, as usual, pure amazeballs.
As August wore on and got hotter, I decided I wanted to go even slimmer. Here is a typical set up for work, where I wanted light, clean, and easy carry:
The VP is just amazing, as always. If you want a good out of the gate awesome fountain pen, this is it. The Valet is very nice, a slim and again, out of the way carry. I am still not 100% sold on the Dymondwood handle scales. I want to see how they will hold up. Note the HF-R again. It is too good. I am looking forward to Fall so I can diversify my carry, but for summer this is a good representative sample.
Also, if you are going to a party or a place where its not so awesome to have a "scary knife" or if you just need something that is PURE utility with low fidget factor, you can't beat something like this set up:
Note the old padded croc strap on the 556i. That was TERRIBLE and I replaced it with a Crown and Buckle strap, found here. The SAKModder Pioneer is a staple of my gear collection and I will have it long after the Internet has given way to the Holo-Internet and this site is gone (taken down, in all likelihood by spammers). It is awesome, discreet, and super high functioning. Again, the Peak...
That's a round up of what I carried this past month and why. If this style of post stinks, tell me and this will be the last one.
So there are few things that I was basing my carry decisions on. First, it was all shorts all the time. It was exceedingly hot in New England (except Maine, where we had a fire going 4 days of the week). So there was a lot of light carry. In particular I liked this set up:
This is the Graham GMT Stubby Razel and the MBI HF-R. Both pack a ton of performance into a tiny package and I pair these together a lot. Its a true drop em in and forget em set up. By keeping things light and out of the way I didn't have to worry when running after a five year old or when getting hot. Some gear feels like your carrying a trade paperback in your pocket and you get that sweaty leg thing going on, which is awful. It makes you not want to carry stuff or not want to go outside, both of which aren't fun. I also did a lot of kayaking so the Graham tail clip was great, ensuring I lost nothing. Note that the TAD quick dry shorts were excellent both on the trail and in the boat.
In Maine I took the Stubby Razel, for the reasons listed above, but I also took my new Jarosz JSF, which is Jesse's small EDC fixed blade. I am having a sheath made for it, but in the meantime I used a Knives Ship Free pocket slip, intended for slipjoints, but it worked fine for my purposes. Here is that carry:
I wore the Sinn 556i almost exclusively this past month as I wanted to get familiar with it and try out the mechanical watch features. The Peak Eiger is one of the best EDC lights on the planet, and decked out here with the Oveready Tuxedo set up (silver head and blade body and Nichia 219 emitter), the Prometheus clip, and the Momentary On, it is very very hard to beat. It can take any battery chemistry, has infinite variable brightness, has a high around 200 lumens, and runs a common cell. The JFS was marvelous and I can't wait to get it back. The finish, Jesse's acid camo, looks disgusting, but feels and works well. Imagine a knife left in a puddle over the winter...that is what it looks like. But its smooth to the touch. There will be no sign of wear, pretty much ever. And I don't mind the dirty blade look at all. Here it is up close:
Like I said--dirty blade. The tan handles and dirty blade meant that I HAD to add the blue lanyard cord. If not this thing vanishes into the leaf litter if dropped. As it is, this is a very good EDC blade and my first with AEB-L steel, so I am excited about trying that out. Jesse's grinds are, as usual, pure amazeballs.
As August wore on and got hotter, I decided I wanted to go even slimmer. Here is a typical set up for work, where I wanted light, clean, and easy carry:
The VP is just amazing, as always. If you want a good out of the gate awesome fountain pen, this is it. The Valet is very nice, a slim and again, out of the way carry. I am still not 100% sold on the Dymondwood handle scales. I want to see how they will hold up. Note the HF-R again. It is too good. I am looking forward to Fall so I can diversify my carry, but for summer this is a good representative sample.
Also, if you are going to a party or a place where its not so awesome to have a "scary knife" or if you just need something that is PURE utility with low fidget factor, you can't beat something like this set up:
Note the old padded croc strap on the 556i. That was TERRIBLE and I replaced it with a Crown and Buckle strap, found here. The SAKModder Pioneer is a staple of my gear collection and I will have it long after the Internet has given way to the Holo-Internet and this site is gone (taken down, in all likelihood by spammers). It is awesome, discreet, and super high functioning. Again, the Peak...
That's a round up of what I carried this past month and why. If this style of post stinks, tell me and this will be the last one.