Its been a good long while since I did some Quick Hit reviews and I want to clear out a bit of the review backlog. Unlike usual, there is no theme here. Lots of different gear getting lots of different scores.

Just a reminder, gear that gets quick hits falls into three categories: variants or products similar to other products I have a previously reviewed, straightforward stuff, and stuff that isn’t quite as complex or new to me as other gear.

DLT Trading Exclusive Dragonfly II in 20CV (product page link)

There is a strong argument that 20CV is BETTER than ZDP-189. It is nearly as hard and significantly more corrosion resistant. It is indisputably easier to sharpen. I still prefer ZDP-189, but 20CV is a very, very good substitute. Unfortunately, the only DF2 with this steel is a store exclusive for DLT. It also has some seriously ugly handles—I know it is Zome or something like that but a reader called them zombie scab red. Zome is designed to look like hand brushed textiles from Japan, the product of a process called hiki-zome. So far as I can tell it is tacticool tye die. Now it is permanently lodged in my brain as zombie scab red. Those two drawbacks aren’t enough to dissuade me from recommending this knife to anyone and everyone. If you missed out on the DF2 in ZDP-189 don’t mess around with other versions—this is the one to get. It appears as though they have a bunch of stock as the knife came out about two months ago and still available. Probably the best Spyderco exclusive I have seen. And no the Slycz Bluwie isn’t it—performance>hype.

Score: 20 out of 20 (no Perfect Score due to the handle scale colors)

Thrunite T1 (product page link; affiliate link)

“It is never about lumens.”

Just use that as your mantra when looking for torches and you will be fine. I failed to heed that advice and as a result, I bought this light. It is longer, fatter, and has a significantly worse beam pattern than the 47s Mini Turbo Mk. III. Its not better than the oLight Baton. That’s not to say it is terrible. Its not bad at all. Its just that the market for lights in this price range is pretty crowded and with readily available superiors, the T1 has a hard time holding my attention. It really only stands out because of the lumens rating and lumens just don’t matter that much, once you reach a certain number of them. I am still not a fan of side switches as they are prone to come on in the pocket unless they are made by Zebralight.

Score: 17 out of 20 (1 off for Beam Type, Beam Quality, and UI for a neither fair nor fowl beam type, a squashy reflector, and an accident prone e-switch).

Tactile Turn Mechanical Pencil (product page link)

When I was shipped this I wasn’t expecting it. It came in a package with the Slim Bolt and I haven’t used a mechanical pencil in years, largely because everything I write out needs to be in pen. As such I have very limited use case for a pencil like this. But, as it turns out, drawing with my two boys is pretty fun and this pencil works great in that role. It runs either .5 or .7 mm lead, features the classic Tactile Turn machining, and an exposed eraser. The lead is advanced via a bolt and the lead pipe does not retract into the body. Mechanical pencils are just hard for me to use and I don’t have a scale for them, but I can say that I have not used another pencil since getting this one. It is, as with all Will’s stuff, exceptionally well made, durable, intuitive and pleasing to use.

Score: Highly Recommended

Tactile Turn Slim Bolt Action (product page link)

I reviewed the TT Slider and Glider pen here. This is like those pens but thinner. Those pens were very good pens and I didn’t think they were overly fat. This pen is like that but slimmer. I still think the best TT pen is the Side Click (go take a look at Will’s special edition versions of this pen, the Nautilus edition is pretty damn sexy, but this might be my second favorite. Any time you can take something good and slim it down, it is a good thing. This is a good thing made better. This is not that different from the traditional bolt, but if I had to choose between the two this is the easy winner.

Score: 19 out of 20 (1 for deployment, the bolt action is still a bit behind that found on the all time great MMC Bolt)

SOG Kiku XR LTE (product page link)

Kiku collabs have always been the high end stuff from SOG and this knife is no exception. Thanks to the structural carbon fiber skeleton, this knife clocks in at 4.1 ounces, lighter than it should be for a knife this tall (it is short at 3.01 inches, but it is very, very tall). With its weird dimensions, this broad muscular blade is not everyone’s cup of tea. It has a compound grind and a carved handle with PVD coating on the blade. It is pretty high speed low drag. But is fundamentally a good knife. It sports XHP steel and a good flipping action along with the sliding bar lock that is on all XR knives. Mine has a bit of blade play, but given that the Terminus XR LTE did not, I don’t think it is endemic to the design, but merely a production quirk on my review sample.

Score: 17 out of 20 (2 off Grind for the exceptionally complex grind that will be hard to sharpen without serious round over and 1 off fit and finish for the wiggle in the blade).

Kershaw Random Leek (product page link; affiliate link)

It is still REALLY thin, really, really thin. The original Leek is a very popular, very flawed knife. It is thin and slicey, it has decent steel, and it is a good price, but each positive attribute is in counterpoise with a serious drawback. The assisted open is a terrible design and yet another part that could break. The thin handles are wet-bar-of-soap slick. The blade safety is both annoying AND unnecessary. So far the Leek would be a break even proposition. But the blade shape creates such a thin tip that it is virtually impossible to keep it fully intact. The Random Leek changes the blade shape a bit but it is still pretty thin, not enough to improve the knife significantly. A high end Leek with a manual flipper, better steel, and a nicer handle material (like G10 or micarta) would be a great seller and a welcomed improvement. But Kershaw sells these like ice in the desert so they could care less. We will be forced to deal with the Leek for all eternity as the process of cost amortization (reducing production costs year over year) all but guarantees that the Leek, in its current form, will be forever profitable.

Score: 15 out of 20 (2 off for Grip due to slick handles, 1 off for blade shape for an overly thin tip, 2 off Deployment for an annoying safety).

CJRB Small Feldspar (product page link; affiliate link)

A practically perfect folder that HAPPENS to be a budget design. With superior handle scales, thoughtful attention to detail, a snappy pivot, and a classic blade shape, it is hard to find flaw with this $36 knife. This is a perfect example of my evolution in thinking regarding pocket knives. I am much more concerned with handles than I am with blade steel, which is good for the Feldspar because the handles are superb while the blade steel is meh. D2 can be great, but more often it is the dead average of steels, as it is here. My particular knife has weird blade play when the blade is in the opening path, but nothing when closed or locked open. It is kind of nutty. It has no impact on performance and everything else is stellar. The King of the Budget blades, the CRKT Drifter in G10 has been replaced, this is the best knife in the world on a penny for penny basis. Like the Alox Cadet, this is a piece of kit pretty much everyone should own. It is a great beater, a great lender, and just a great knife. CJRB makes some weird knives and some great knives. This is the latter camp.

Score: 19 out of 20 (1 off for steel due to some pretty bland D2).

Prometheus Lights Beta Mag (product page link)

KILOLUMENS! 431 OUTPUT MODES! RGB SECONDARY EMITTERS! SWITCHES AND PADDLES! Modern flashlight design seems to be pushed forward by a pitchman’s version of what we want as opposed to what we actually want. What we want and what we actually need are pretty simple—we want a light that turns on every time, runs for days, provides accurate illumination, and is easy to use. Gizmo lights don’t do any of these things particularly well. Meet the antithesis of the Gizmo light—the Beta Mag. While you might be tempted to think of this as the Jitterbug of modern torches (apparently even Jitterbug didn’t like the branding of its own phones, they are now called “Lively Phones” which I think is a bit of an ironic in-joke of a name; its better than “asleep on the couch watching My TV at 1:42 in the afternoon” I guess). The Beta Mag is actually a successor in design philosophy to one of the greatest lights ever, the Arc AAA-P. Both are dead simple, always work, and have good beam quality. Only Jason Hui would be bold enough and confident enough to release a light this off trend, but we all are better for it. This is an amazing light and in the role of a keychain light you won’t find better.

Score: 19 out of 20 (1 off for output—30 lumens is enough, but if we wanted enough I wouldn’t be writing and you wouldn’t be reading this website).

CRKT Bona Fide Standard and Limited Edition (Standard product page link/Limited Edition product page link)

Part of CRKT’s partnership with Ken Onion, the Bona Fide is a big heavy knife. The basic version sports some pretty low grade 1.4116 steel, but the high end version runs some very decent S35VN. The high end version, however, weighs a ton (almost literally). I was sent both for review and if you can, you should switch the blades on the two knives because the cheap one with S35VN blade steel is a hell of a knife, even if a bit too big for my tastes. The second generation of Field Strip is pretty dialed in and I can’t think of anything I would do to make it better. I am glad they dropped that silly thumb wheel in the back. It so rarely worked correctly and it was difficult to thread on occasion. One particularly notable point for both versions is the blade shape. This weird, banana shaped blade is truly excellent in a wide range of tasks. The taxonomy of blade shapes is one of the more silly lexicographical dead ends in the knife world and this knife proves why. Who cares if it is a modified Nessmuk or a upswept drop point or a rounded off Persian. This knife shape works great.

Score for high end version: 18 out of 20 (2 off for carry as this is an insanely heavy knife).

Score for low end version: 18 out of 20 (2 off for the pretty dreadful steel given the price).

Folomov EDC C1 (product page link; affiliate link)

400 lumens in a light the size of a AA battery. Decent tint and beam pattern. No PWM or flickering. Easy to use UI. And a $36 price tag. Yep, this is a winner. And when paired with the CJRB Feldspar, this is easily the best budget EDC set up on the market. Yeah, there are some shortcomings, like a backwards clip and a strong tendency to hot pocket you, but for the money, you won’t find better.

Score: 17 out of 20 (1 off for Design for the backwards clip, both tip and bezel need to be down; 2 off UI for the hot pocket-y switch)

Schon Design Classic Machined Pen (product page link)

Ian Schon has moved far beyond this design in his more recent stuff, but this is still the foundation of his work and still an excellent pocket pen. The overall design is primitive, but solid. Pocket pens are among my favorite size of pens (insert second reference to the Nautilus Edition TT Side Click here), and this one is very nice if not a bit simplistic. The cap can work its way loose thanks to some steep threads and swapping refills requires a screwdriver for some reason. But aside from those two noticeable design flaws, this pen does exactly what it promises—works well at half the size.

Score: 18 out of 20 (1 off Design for the tool-required refill swapping method and 1 off for Fit and Finish for the self-loosening cap).

Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen (product page link; affiliate link)

If we were rounding out the best budget EDC, this pen would go with the Small Feldspar and the Folomov C1. It is an astoundingly good value, a brass pen coated in thick black texture with amazing knurling and a spartan Rotring aesthetic. The 600 series has been around forever, but this pen is pretty new, less than 3 years old. Its clicky is dead simple and utterly solid—exactly what you’d expect from good German design. Its hard to imagine something this good and this durable being around $20, but it is. If you want a pen that will never fail you, this is it.

Score: 19 out of 20 (1 off for Grip for a bit thinner than I like body)

Spyderco Ladybug 3 (product page/affiliate link)

Let me be clear—this knife is just inferior to the Spyderco Jester. But the Jester is out of production and so it is the Ladybug that lands at the very bottom of the Spyderco size chart for locking knives. Knives of this size represent a fundamental compromise—they are too small to be used in some common EDC tasks (like food prep) and their handles are not great. But if you accept these compromises or you don’t do EDC tasks that need a slightly bigger knife, then you get a pretty decent blade for virtually no size and weight. I tend to pair the Ladybug with a flashlight via the lanyard hole (as Spydiecollector does) as a way of giving the knife a bit more handle and some extra functionality. In this configuration, the Ladybug is actually pretty darn good. I wouldn’t opt for it as my sole EDC, but in an environment like an office where even small knives frighten people or when you don’t need much, like on vacation, the Ladybug is quite good. The Spydiehole overcomes ultra small knives third major weakness—opening method. Its not a knife that is large enough and useful enough to be an everyday carry, but if you just need a package opener this is a fine little blade.

Score: 17 out of 20 (2 off for Grip for obvious reasons, 1 off for Steel because VG10 still stinks)

If you were keeping track there is a Super Compact EDC here (the Ladybug, the Beta Mag, and the Schon Designs Pen) and a Budget EDC (the CJRB Small Feldspar, the Folomov C1, and the Rotring 600). I think you’d be happy with either kit.