Beam Test!

Here is a small beam test showing the beam profiles and brightness of a few of the lights in my collection (that sounds odd). Distance from tip of camera lens to the door is 6 feet and all images were captured in manual mode using f-3.5 aperture at a 1/20s shutter speed.

Lights tested it order;
Mini Maglite AA
Garity Incandescent
Surefire 6P LED
Techlite Lumen Master 200
Streamlight Microstream
Sipik SK68
Balder HD-1
Ultrafire C8
Maratac AA
Roche F-12
Jaccobs A-60
Four Sevens Quark Tactical AA2
Nebo HP190 Weapon Light
Inforce APL Gen 1

Bear in mind, I tested some of these lights using their different modes and using either 1.5v alkaline or 4.2v lithium ion (where compatible) cells and those are noted on the image below. So check it out and I will try to update this soon-ish as I have already picked up more lights since these images were taken!

Short Update (1 year Kydex improvements)

Well it has certainly been a while since my last post. I have been very busy with my Kydex crafting. In fact, you may remember the Multicam holster for a Glock 21 that I made for my father a while back. If not, reference the link in the sidebar! Well as time went by and I gained both skill and experience in the art of thermo forming, I felt that my original Glock 21 holster was grossly inadequate and not up to par with my current level of production.

So I made my Pops another one! (This post is just to show how far I had come in a year.)

Firstly, the old model is on the left and my current work is on the right (should go without saying!). At first glance it is obvious, my old holster is ugly. But.... you have to start somewhere! Comparing the two is a night and day difference, definition is much better in my newer holster. The overall design is much more aesthetically appealing as well. My rivet spacing has improved vastly as well as my selection of hardware for the finished product.

The overall profile is much smaller and more sleek. I also ditched the MALICE clips for actual injection molded belt loops that are angled to allow me to really reduce the width of the holster as well as allow for easier sliding of a belt through the loops. Also note the addition of adjustable retention.


Next up is where my the difference is really at; the edge finishing. On my older holster, I hand finished with a Dremel tool and boy does it show... My new style I hand sand from 80 grit to 400 grit and then polish on a bench buffer using 2 wheels.


OLD

NEW

I am happy with my improvements over the last year and I am grateful to all of you who have supported me in this hobby-turned-business and allowed me the opportunity to provide you with my custom Kydex work! I plan to continue to grow my skill set and to keep climbing the ladder of excellence!

Olight i3s EOS

This is the smallest usable flashlight I have ever held in my hands. Olights i3s EOS is their latest revision to the series and while it is the same size and weight as its predecessor (2.76 inches in length and 0.55 inches in diameter and a scant 0.39oz), the output is now up to 80 lumens on high thanks to the addition of CREE industries' latest emitter, the XPG-2.

When the light arrived to me, it came in an attractive display case which included the light itself, a Duracell AAA battery, a chain with a keychain clip, documentation, and a few extra o-rings should one go bad.

The brightness of this little light is very surprising considering its size. My only complaint is that the beam is very floody which makes sense as the reflector is both very narrow and shallow. The i3s has three modes of operation; tightening the head starts it out in medium mode at 20 lumens, with a quick loosening and retightening of the bezel it moves to high mode at 80 lumens and once again down to moonlight mode at 0.5 lumens. To further reitterate the small size of this guy, it is the same diameter as a AA battery and only 20mm longer...

Here it is next to the Lighthound Balder HD-1 and Streamlight Microstream;

The pocket clip on this light is okay at best. The clip does not want to go on to anything thicker than the pocket of a pair of khakis yet slips off very easily. I do think that it is cool that the pocket clip can be reversed, this allows for use on a ballcap as a headlight of sorts. This light has a flat tailcap so that you may tailstand the light if needed. The i3s EOS also comes in 5 colorations (blue as seen here, black, red, purple, and gold) so it will make a great gift to someone (including yourself). When I show people this light they are very impressed at its power to weight/size ratio.

They also dig the blue!

D.I.Y. Magnetic Morale Patches and more fun with Velcro

So you are a bit of a patchwhore are you? If not I am sure that you have at least a few patches and you might want someplace to display them. I was researching methods to display my Velcro backed morale patches and came up with two options (really one option); Obtain a picture frame in whatever size I wanted and build in a Velcro covered (loop side) insert and hang that on the wall or, buy a pre-made Velcro "patch panel" with a dedicated purpose of displaying morale patches.... The only issues with either of these methods are; A) they are a tad on the pricey side for what they are and B) It would look odd (read: ugly as hell) in my office to have an uber tacticool 16" X 20" section of Velcro loop hung up on the wall.

My solution to this dellima? Magnets, fool! I have a steel bulletin board in my office already (from Ikea) so this method works perfect for that. It should also be noted that these will also work on some gun cabinets/safes and even refrigerators for that awesome, inherently bachelor pad style look to your kitchen!

Materials needed;
Velcro backed morale patches (I am using ITS Tactical's Texas Flag patch)
Magnets that you do not mind cutting up
Scissors/EMT shears to cut said magnets
Adhesive backed Velcro loop material (strips or squares work best)

Really all that you need to do is cut some of the magnet into a square (but any shape will work) that will fit onto the back of the patch without protruding anywhere and affixing some of the adhesive backed Velcro loop onto the non metallic side as shown bellow;

After that, all you do is slap the magnet/Velcro combo onto the back side of your morale patches and throw them up onto something metallic!

This is a great way to organize and display your patches without sacrificing the overall aesthetics of whatever room you decide to put them in. If you are into the Velcro panel on the wall look, then more power to you. If not, then this is very cost effective and easy to do!

What is that? You have some spare adhesive backed Velcro loop left over? Slap some of that onto a pair of ear-pro so that you can put some patches up while you are shooting at the range next time!

Being in the EMS field, this helps me to identify myself as one who can render aid in the unfortunate case that there is an accident at the range.

Leatherman Juice S2

Multi tools are just cool. They offer a user the usefulness of many tools in one small, usually lightweight package. A while back I did a review of the Leatherman Squirt PS4 and I have had it on me everyday since then. Its feather weight and small size made it easy to just drop into my pocket and forget about until its services were needed. I have had a few situations since then that the tools contained on the Squirt were not adequate for the task at hand, a complication of having such a small profile. I decided to pick up the Juice S2 to add to the capabilities of the tools contained in my pocket.

It is a real looker to boot! I like the orange but it also comes in a grey coloration if you are boring. The length of the Juice is 3.25" as compared to the Squirt's 2.25" length. The weight of the Juice is 4.4oz so just over double of what the paltry Squirt weighs in at. With that increase in size and weight comes more functionality as you now have a larger knife blade, much heavier duty (but not heavy duty) pliers, larger scissors, an actual phillips head screwdriver, and two additional sizes of flat bladed drivers. You do however, lose the file.... which was a bummer for me as I used the file on the Squirt often. Here is a size reference of the OG original Leatherman tool (top), Juice S2 (middle), and Squirt PS4 (bottom);

The pliers size of the three are vastly different as well. The pliers on the Juice allow for much more force to be applied with still maintaining the ability to grip onto very small items (like bug stingers or splinters);

The knife blade on the Juice is much closer in size to the old school Leatherman than that on the Squirt;

And the scissors also show a generous size increase;

A mostly exploded view shows the bit drivers and such. The dedicated phillips driver is much preferred and I have yet to strip either a screw or the tool itself (as has been done on the Squirt);

The capabilities of the Juice outweigh the Squirt and I feel that for its small size and weight increase, the Juice offers much more capability and usefulness. You wont be sorry if you pick one up and throw it into your pocket everyday, you will find yourself using it more often than you think!