Time For Some Quick Updates!

Hey everyone! I know it's been a little while since I've uploaded any videos and blog posts. As I'm sure you all guessed, school and life in general has been very busy. I'm almost at the end of a pretty crappy semester, yet that isn't necessarily going to mean more activity from me. I'm not exactly in a YouTube mindset right now for some reason. I will be working on blog posts for loaner gear, but videos will still probably be on hold. I do actually think I have videos in my queue I could upload, though I'd rather post an update video first since it's been a while.

Speaking of loaner gear, I've got quite a bit I still need to review. My plan is to finish with all that before the end of the year. I honestly got way too much gear in at once which has been a bit overwhelming to review. A lot of it hasn't fit my preferences either, but there are a few gems I've enjoyed. After I'm done with this batch of loaner gear, I don't see myself accepting anymore for a while. To be honest, YouTube and this knife stuff isn't my top priority or interest at the moment. I know I've said this before, but I'm kind of done with buying gear for the foreseeable future. Unless I see any decent Black Friday deals, there's not anything I desperately need. I have more than enough gear in my rotation and need to start saving up for post-graduation. Once I finish up reviewing all my current collection, expect to see a somewhat big sale. That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll be posting some stuff on here at the very least. Thanks for looking!

Arizona Bushman Mini ULU Thoughts

I never would have had the chance to try out this crazy looking knife if it wasn't for someone that watches my videos on YouTube. Big thank you to him! This Arizona Bushman Mini ULU has been interesting to try, but I'm honestly not the intended audience for it. I thought it was called the Julu, though he has the other name on his Esty store so we'll go with that. For EDC stuff, I have not enjoyed using it all. Take that with a grain of salt, since it's meant for more bushcraft/outdoorsy usage anyways. It's pretty reasonably priced, around $25, so if you like the look of it, I say give it a try. I've certainly tried worse blades at that price point. I don't have too much to say, so this will probably be a relatively short post. Since I only used this as an EDC option, I can't speak on how well it does for those food prep/bushcraft tasks. I'll mostly just focus on the design and my experiences overall.

The blade shape alone is what got me interested in this knife. You get a lot of belly and curvature that most EDC knives won't give you. It looks cool, yet it hasn't been practical in my usage. For EDC stuff, it's kind of sucked. It was very weird to try to open a box with it for instance. It didn't perform that well in my other typical EDC tasks. Again, I was expecting that this would be the case. I bet it would do well for food prep or bushcraft stuff. The quality of the knife itself has been pretty good. I've got a few issues with the sheath I'll get to at the end. I don't believe Arizona Bushman actually makes these himself. From the description on his Etsy store, I'm under the impression he just adds the edge and fixes up edges/fit of the sheaths.

The knife is made of 1095 high carbon steel with the blade coming in at 2 3/8" in diameter. That's a great size for a small neck knife like this. It's sharp enough for my needs, but I do wondering how sharpening it would go. It seems like it'd be a pain to me. I honestly did not use this knife that heavily once I figured out it was a pain to cut with. If you only need to cut stuff, you might as well get any other normal knife out there.

The ergos are weird but weren't as bad as I expected. It's pretty much a two-finger knife in the above position with the rest of your fist closing around it. You can also pinch it flat between your pointer and thumb kind of like how you'd throw a frisbee if that makes any sense. I'll be posting my video on it soon if you'd like to get a closer look at the egos. You just have to mess around and see what the most comfortable position is for your usage. You could also lash it to a stick or something if you wanted. There's a lot of versatility in how you actually use it which is nice to see.

The kydex sheath isn't the most snug in the world. I'd worry about the knife falling out over time. I haven't had any problems with it falling out so far, but it is something to be mindful of. Thanks to the lightness and slimness of the knife, it does carry relatively well. I personally hate wearing neck knives though, so it hasn't been something I've enjoyed carrying. It does come with the ballchain lanyard.

I personally don't recommend this knife, yet it is nice to see something different out there. If you can figure out a use for the weird blade shape, it's not a horrible option. I'm not aware of many other knives that have this sort of design. For me, the practicality just isn't there for me personally. I'm definitely not going to miss it when I send it back to the owner. Here's a link to the Etsy listing. Thanks for looking!

Smith & Sons Shrew Thoughts

I've never been a fan of fixed blades/neck knives in my EDC. I've tried various ones over the years, but nothing beats the compactness of a folder for day to day stuff. For outdoorsy tasks, a fixed blade is the obvious choice though. I've had this Smith & Sons Shrew on loan from someone that watches my videos. Huge thanks to him for letting me try out some of his gear! While it's a very nice knife, it honestly never stood a chance in my carry. I hate wearing anything bulky around my neck. The Shrew seems better size wise than some of the other ones I've tried. If you want a nicer fixed blade, you can't go wrong with this one. I don't believe I have any many complaints about it. I can see it working out well in an EDC.

I absolutely love the look of this knife! I'm normally against knives with weird blade-to-handle ratios, but this one looks fine in my eyes. The stonewashed finish looks awesome in combination with the green and black G10. At one point, there were a few different color options available on Blade HQ. I think now there's only one or two to pick between. Smith & Sons makes their blades here in the US too which is always nice to support. I'd never heard of them as a company before, so it was neat to try one of their knives out. The quality has been great as well. You're definitely getting what you paid for.

Getting onto the blade, the Shrew has a 2" 1095 blade. I haven't had any problems with its performance. It's cut everything I've needed to and seems as sharp as any other knife I own. A 2" blade is probably my ideal size for any EDC knife at this point in my life. I don't do many intensive cutting tasks these days, so 2" generally gets it done for me. As a neck knife, 2" is also probably the biggest I'd want to go. 

The ergos are great. This is a smaller knife (3.75" handle), but I still can fit a full four-finger grip. I like how there's the one finger groove for your pointer finger and that's it. The rest of your hand rests very naturally along the rest of the handle. The G10 handles are comfortable in the hand as well. There's no jimping anywhere on the knife, though the G10 has some nice texturing to it. I've never once felt like it'd slip out of my hand during use. It's probably not the most compact neck knife out there. Honestly, I'd rather have the extra handle length than put out something that has cramped ergos.

Here's a photo to show the thickness overall. It's about what I'd expect in a neck knife.

I do like how the handles are slightly contoured.

The kydex sheath is very well done. It has great retention, no rattle, and the carbon fiber pattern looks very classy. I've go no complaints about it at all. When I've carried it with a paracord lanyard, it's been fine, but again, I hate having things around my neck. 

Price wise, the Shrew goes for about $95 on Blade HQ. That seems like a fair price for the quality and materials you're getting. 

Though I wouldn't want to add this knife to my own EDC, I do like it a lot more than the few CRKT and Boker fixed blades I've tried, like the Folts Minimalist, SPEW, and Lil' Friend. It looks great, cuts well, has fantastic ergos, and is such an improvement over those cheaper options I just mentioned. If you want a nicer, less mainstream blade to add to your collection, I think this is a good option. I'm not going to miss it once I send it back to its owner, yet it was at least nice to try. Check it out if it interests you. Thanks for looking!