2013/10/22

My keychain

This is the minimalistic keychain that is in my pocket almost all the time:


From left to right:

VARGO titanium whistle: My first and so far only item made out of titanium, and also the most recent addition to my keychain. I really like how slim and light it is, and it's also quite annoying when blown. With ca. 100 db it not nearly as loud as other survival whistles like a Fox 40 Micro, but one of those would be to bulky for my taste.

True Utility Keytool: I guess a lot of junk is produced by True Utility, but I have to say that I love this little tool. I've had it on my key for almost two years now, and I only stabbed myself right under the fingernail once! No seriously, I use this thing on a regular basis, for the most part to open bottles (works fine), sometimes to tighten the screws of my glasses, sometimes to use the nail file. Great piece of minimalistic gear. The small screwdriver can also be used to pop open the battery compartment of the Photon Freedom Micro.

Tiny capsule from a local pet store: You're supposed to put it on the collar of your dog or cat with your address and/or number in it on a little piece of paper. I think I've also seen it on the internet sold as a mini survival capsule for about five times the money... I've put a small piece of Coghlans Tinder in it, wrapped in a small piece of paper together with two replacement flints for the sparker (see below). The tinder is very similar to Tinder Quik, so it easily catches a spark and the little piece burns for almost a minute.



Victorinox Classic: Blade, nail file with screwdriver head, scissors, tweezers and toothpick, all of which get used on a more or less regular basis. This one was a present, and it has been on my keychain for four or five years. I really don't like a bigger knife or multitool there, and I carry one of those separately most of the time anyway. For a while I was annoyed that it has no bottle opener, but since I have the keytool that's not an issue anymore. I have to say that I also had my eye on both the Leatherman Style (quite similar to the Victorinox) and Style PS (easily accessable bottle opener), but after testing for about ten minutes, I sent them both right back (thank you Amazon). The tools were impossible to open without breaking off my finger nails, and the overall feel just wasn't right--a huge letdown considering how awesome my Leatherman Wave is. I have a Gerber Curve that I like a lot better, but since the Classic was a lovely present, I will stick with it until the end. Also, the screwdriver works great to put new flints into the Wheel Sparker, or to fasten its screw now and then.

Photon Freedom Micro: Hands down one of the best keychain flashlights in the whole wide world. Extremly lightweight, versatile, durable, and great accessories like the neck lanyard. The downside of the lamp is that in the many years I've had it on my keys, it was accidently switched on several times and the battery ran dry. The demo mode you can put it back into isn't really an option in my eyes, so I put the neck lanyard on it cover the button. I cut off the lanyard loop, since the lamp itself has a hole along with an excellent clip.

County Comm Brass Flint Wheel Sparker: Since I also wanted some sort of fire starter on my keychain, at first I tried to glue a regular piece of firesteel on the lanyard piece/button protector of the lamp, but both hot glue and superglue didn't work (it looked kind of cool though). Then I found a review of the Wheel Sparker somewhere, and I knew my search was over. The thing is attached with regular Scotch tape, because a test run with duct tape was no success: too thick to wrap it around multiple times, and thus to loose and wobbly for my taste. The regular tape works just fine, except for all the crumps and fuzz from my pocket that sticks to it. That's why I wrapped the actual lanyard from the lamp around, because it looks way cooler and I also have some cord there. The lamp/sparker combo can comfortably be used with one hand (both on and off the lamp), and the button protection/sparker can be popped off the lamp quite easily with your thumb.


That's really all I need in a keychain, and the whole thing ways just 72 g (2.54 oz).


 

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