What I Watched: May 2019

I'm so excited that the summer is finally here since it means I don't have to deal with annoying schoolwork for about three months. May turned out to be a better month for movies than TV shows for me. I did finish one awesome show, but I got more entertainment from the movies I saw.

Starting with TV shows first, I finished season 1 of Dead to Me and absolutely loved it! It's about this woman who's hunting for the hit and run driver that killed her husband. It was a teensy bit predictable, though still hilarious and a different vibe than most shows. What's even better was the fact that the episodes were only 30 minutes. I've mentioned it before but that's my favorite length for shows, because it keeps the show from dragging on. I also finished season 1 of The Umbrella Academy and Elite. That first one is based on a superheroish graphic novel series, while the second one follows some high schoolers and a murder. I liked Elite more overall, just because it didn't feel to drag as much as The Umbrella Academy. They both do have second seasons coming at some point which I'll still probably watch despite not loving either show.

The two movies I was the most excited for were Netflix originals: Knock Down The House and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. When I heard Netflix was doing a documentary about a few of the women running for the House of Representatives, I was instantly intrigued. It's a change that politics has needed for quite some time, and it was nice to see these women highlighted in such a positive way. It was probably my favorite thing I've watched so far this year. It was a well-done documentary with a great message. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is a film about the serial killer Ted Bundy and how some of his crimes unfolded. I thought Zac Efron did a great job playing the part of Bundy. I'm a huge fan of true crime so naturally I expected that I'd like it. I'm a sucker for romance movies and managed to watch a decent few this month, like The Last Summer, The Perfect Date, Someone Great, A Star Is Born, and SPF-18. Of those, the only ones that stood out were The Last Summer and A Star Is Born. I didn't think either one was amazing, but they had a few actors I liked or good music. It was neat to see Lady Gaga act in A Star Is Born since I only know her from her music. I also watched a few random ones that don't deserve any long-winded thoughts, like Empire Records and Where's The Money.

All around, I enjoyed most of what I watch this month. I'm not sure if I'll watch much of anything in June or the rest of the summer for that matter. I just started working full-time for the next couple months and would rather spend whatever free time I have doing other things. We'll see if there's any new releases that catch my eye. Thanks for looking!

My Largest and Smallest Knives

I was going through my collection and noticed that the difference between my largest and smallest knives was quite drastic. My largest knife ended up being the Rat 1 with a 3.625" blade, while my smallest knife was the Rike Hummingbird with a 1.5" blade. I've since sold both of these, so I ought to see what the two extremes are now.

Neither of these sizes are all that practical in my carry. My sweet spot these days is 2 to 2.5 inch blades. The Spyderco Ladybug and Victorinox Classic are similar in closed length to the Hummingbird, yet both feel much more useful than the Hummingbird. I'd never need a knife with a blade over 3.5" unless I was doing something outdoors. Even then, I'd opt for a larger fixed blade over a folder for that purpose.

As far as the differences in overall length goes, the Rat 1 comes in at 8.625" long and the Hummingbird is a measly 3.75" long. They look kind of ridiculous next to each other.

Despite how much I love my small knives, I find the Hummingbird to be too tiny and impractical for EDC. I'd consider it to be pocket jewelry, while the Rat 1 was designed with utility in mind.

As you can see in the photos above and below, the Hummingbird is able to fit entirely on the Rat 1's handle. When opened, the Hummingbird was slightly bigger than the Rat 1's blade which kind of surprised me. I thought it'd be able to fit entirely on the blade and handle.

That's it for this quick post. I figured it'd be fun to show the differences between my largest and smallest knives. I'm glad these two are gone from my collection since they represent the types of blade I'd never realistically carry everyday. Thanks for looking!

CRKT Ritter Thoughts

I love small knives, so it was only natural that I try out this CRKT Ritter at some point. When I was first getting into EDC, I used to be really into the idea of Altoids survival tins. This knife was featured in quite a few of those kits. I question the idea of using a knife like this for more extreme bushcrafty type stuff, so this post is from an EDC perspective.

Like the name implies, this is designed by Doug Ritter. It's not anything fancy by any means, but the simplest designs always seem to be the best for EDC. I love the stonewash finish. It's a cheaper knife (no more than $15) which I thought would coincide with poorer quality. I haven't had a single problem with this knife.

The knife itself is 3.825" overall with a 1.75" blade. It's a cute size yet not one that I'd consider to be the most usable. The handle fits a two-finger grip which isn't that comfortable. On paper, the curves look like a good idea, though they don't allow me to get a solid grip on the knife. It wobbles a lot in my hand which could have been corrected if the handle was straighter/boxier. The steel isn't that impressive, 3Cr13MoV, but then again, what would you expect from a budget knife? From an actual usage perspective, this would not be my first choice.

The plastic sheath is well-done and has good retention. I could see this being a better neck knife due to how thin the knife and sheath are as a whole. It's also crazy lightweight coming in at 0.9 ounces.

An additional plus is that the knife comes with this sweet Altoids sized tin that you could build your own survival kit with. For a cheaper knife, it's nice to see this level of detail.

Overall, I wasn't blown away by this knife and wouldn't want to have it as one of my serious EDC options. It was fun to try and more of a novelty piece in my eyes. If you like the look of it, I say check it out since it's not going to break the bank. It's probably one of the few production fixed blades in this size range. Thanks for looking!

Beginning of the Summer Update!

Hey everyone! I just finished my second to last semester of college and am headed off for a summer internship tomorrow. I wanted to do a bit of an update on what you all can expect over the course of the summer on here and on YouTube. Also, I'd appreciate any input on the direction of my YouTube channel in particular.

I'll be away for 12 weeks in a different city but hope to stick to the same frequency of posts. I normally try to post one video a week on Saturday or Sunday and then blog posts on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I've already scheduled the majority of my blog posts for the summer, like collection updates, my top 5 favorite EDC knives/flashlights, thoughts on specific pieces of gear, my usual reading/watching updates, etc.

I've got a lot of videos in my backlog, but it's mostly reviews on gear that I don't really care about anymore. Going forward, I'm considering only making individual gear review videos when it's something I absolutely love. I might start doing three-in-one review videos where I do mini reviews of three pieces of gear that aren't necessarily worthy of their own video. That way I can still share my thoughts on the gear but not have to go over every detail if I don't want to. A lot of the gear I try now doesn't stand up to the high standards of my perfect gear, so my review videos tend to be too "negative" for some. I'm picky these days since I've found my perfect knives, which leads me to have harsher criticisms overall. I do have a few EDC updates of my on-person EDC and college backpack coming. Other than that, I don't have too many exciting videos in the works. Honestly, I'm less interested in doing videos these days compared to blogging. It's much easier for me to blog than have the perfect conditions (good lighting, no background noise, saying the right things in one take) for videos.

On a side note, you all might start to see the channel transition into more outdoorsy/hiking videos with EDC stuff on the side. I'm not 100% percent sure if that's what'll end up happening, though it is a thought I've had recently. The majority of the videos I watch these days are prepping, survival, or backpacking videos. I feel like there's way more variety and entertainment in those types of videos than the same old cycle of EDC update, knife review, etc. I'm not necessarily bored of knives or EDC but there's only so much to say about them.

I'll probably have one last sale at the end of the summer to thin out my collection and make some money to buy the last few things on my wishlist. I'd also like to get back into posting more regularly on Instagram as well, so maybe that'll fill in some of the gaps if videos are lacking. 

As always, if there's any specific posts or video you'd like to see, let me know! They might not get filmed until I get back in mid-August but maybe I'll have some unexpected free time. I'm very much looking to change up what I'm doing on the video front and would appreciate any input! Thanks for looking! Stay tuned for lots of blog posts this summer and some videos too!

Sanrenmu WA631 Multitool Thoughts

I've heard of Sanrenmu's knives yet I never knew they did multitools as well. This is the WA631 which is also the same as Ruike's S31 multitool. I believe Sanrenmu owns Ruike, so it's the same tool just with different branding. If you like the concept, it's easier to find the Ruike found on Amazon for about $20. It's nice to see companies other than Leatherman/Gerber/Victorinox making multitools. 

I've been impressed with the quality of this tool. It's far better than all of the Gerber multitools I've tried. You can take it apart with torx screws which is nice to see. The size is perfect for EDC, coming in at 2.75" closed. It'd be nice to throw loose in a pocket or keep in a bag. The design is simple and very functional. The G10 scales are a nice change of pace from the typical plastic or metal scales. They have some good texture to them and feel good in the hand. I do wish they came in some sort of color. Some of the other Ruike multitools come in green G10 which I would've personally preferred. 

It's easy to access all of the tools with the nail nicks. It doesn't take that much pressure to close the knife, though I wouldn't be concerned about it accidentally closing on your fingers. I'd only use the knife for lighter tasks anyways. There's no half-stops on any of the tools, but again, I don't think it's necessary. The ergos are surprisingly good as well, and the tool melts into my hand.

As far as the toolset goes, you get a 2" knife, scissors, and a combo tool that has a screwdriver, bottle opener, and a belt/cord cutter. That's a solid toolset for such a small package. All of the tools work exactly as they should. The blade's steel is 12C27 which I've been impressed with. The scissors are not as good as Victorinox scissors, yet they're at least better than both Leatherman and Gerber scissors. They're a larger size, but due to their thickness, they don't cut as precisely as Victorinox scissors do. The spring looks much sturdier than the little wire spring most other multitools use. The combo tool is fine though I don't get much use out of it. Scissors and a knife are always my top two most used tools on any multitool. 

For about $20, this is a great, smaller tool. I'd probably still opt for my Victorinox Classic as a smaller multitool due to how much better the scissors are. I do recommend it if you want to try something different. Ruike is doing a lot of cool stuff at the moment, and this tool is no exception. Thanks for looking!

Knife Sale Preview!

Hey everybody! It's time for another knife sale, so I figured I'd do a brief preview before I post my video. I'll be posting the video later this afternoon if you're interested in anything! I've spent way too much on gear the past few months and need to make some money for the summer. More details will be given in the video, so stay tuned for that if anything catches your eye!

As far as what I'm selling, I've got the Rike Hummingbird, Spyderco Para3 LW, Kizer Mini Sheepdog, Microtech UTX-70, and Ontario Rat 1/Kershaw Leek bundle. Everything but the Rat 1/Leek will come with the original boxes. 

I have some more things I'd like to get rid of as well but will probably save that for the end of the summer when I have more time. That's going to be smaller odds and end like flashlights and multitools. This bunch is definitely the cream of the crop. Thanks for looking! I appreciate it!

Kershaw Fraxion Thoughts

I heard a lot of positive things about the Kershaw Fraxion last year, but I'm not getting the hype. It feels much cheaper than I was expecting. I've had other budget Kershaws in this price range that seem a lot more high quality. I wouldn't recommend it in the slightest.

It's a decent looking Anso design that lacks any sort of pizzazz. I hate the look and feel of the "carbon fiber" overlay. I'd rather it had been an inlay because I don't like the unevenness of the handle. The quality is what you'd expect from a budget Kershaw. It doesn't have any glaring issues but you can tell it's not the nicest knife in the world. I do like that Kershaw put these out in so many different colors, like tan, black, and green with blacked out blades too.

Moving onto the blade, the Fraxion has a 2.75" 8Cr13MoV blade. That's a perfect size for EDC, though the steel leaves a lot to be desired. For a budget Kershaw, the choice of steel is pretty standard. I don't mind 8Cr13MoV, but this one in particular is starting to get a few rust spots. The blade is a good enough performer despite the subpar steel. With the flipper being on the smaller side, I was worried that it might be a poor flipper. I was completely wrong about that. It runs on Kershaw's KVT ball-bearing pivot which I'm not that familiar with. It takes little to no pressure on the flipper and the blade just flies out. I'm not even kidding when I say I have not had a single bad flip with this knife. The combo of the strong action and sharp flipper tab ends up hurting my finger every time I flip it. This isn't one of those knives that you could sit and flip forever. 

Like I mentioned earlier, I hate the overlay. The whole handle, and knife itself for that matter, feels very cheap due to how light it is. It weighs 2 ounces but it feels so much lighter than that. The G10/CF overlay provide little to no grip. The slick feeling also contributes to the cheap feeling. I do like how slim the handles are because it makes it much easier to carry. The liner lock is solid with only a slight amount of side-to-side blade play. 

The ergos itself are alright but again, the feel in the hand is ruined by the overlays. I can fit a full four-finger grip on the knife. There's some jimping on the spine that helps add some extra grip. I'm not a fan of this knife in the hand at all.

The clip is basic and works as it should. Again, the weight and slimness makes this knife a dream to carry. It carries exactly as well as you'd expect.

Price wise, these go for around $20-$25 which is on the lower end of the budget range. I'd rather pay more for better materials/design. As a budget knife, the Ontario Rat 2 is still my top pick.

All in all, this knife feels exactly as cheap as the price would suggest. The action is impressive, yet the feel in the hand sucks. I think Kershaw did a good job for the price, though it could be drastically improved if they did a more premium version. I still think the Dividend is one of Kershaw's better budget knives. I don't recommend the Fraxion personally. Thanks for looking!

Gerber Dime Thoughts

The Dime is one of Gerber's many smaller multitool offerings. For the most part, I've had poor experiences with Gerber tools in the past, and the Dime is unfortunately no exception. The decent toolset in a compact package was ultimately ruined by terrible quality. It doesn't beat the Leatherman Squirt P4 as my go-to smaller plier-based multitool. I'll probably avoid Gerber like the plague now as their poor quality tools aren't worth the money.

The Dime is a budget multitool that you can normally find for $15 to $20. Any gear in that price range is always hit or miss in terms of quality so I knew there was a chance this would turn out to be a crappy tool. The fit and finish is bad, with tools not closing straight into the handles and the tweezers being completely bent shut making them unusable. This tool, or any of the Gerbers I've ever tried for that matter, have never stood up to Leatherman and Victorinox's high quality standard. The quality alone is enough for me to never want to carry the Dime. I like all the color options Gerber does these in, as it's very hard to find purple multitools. These come in at 2.75" closed which is a great size for EDC. It's not as heavy as I expected an essentially solid chunk of metal to be at 2.2 ounces. I personally think it'd be too big on a keychain, so I'd always carry it in my EDC pouch or bag. I do like that the tool is put together with torx screws instead of pins in order to take it apart easier. The nail nicks work as they should to get the tools out but thanks to some stiffness, they're hard to get out. I'm sure if I used it more over time they'd become easier to open and close.

In terms of the toolset, there are 10 tools: spring loaded pliers/wire cutter, knife, plastic clamshell opener, scissors, flat head screwdriver, Phillips head screwdriver/file, bottle opener, and tweezers. I like that all of the tools besides the pliers can be accessed from the outside. Most of the tools work as they should, but I think the scissors could be a lot better. The blades on the scissors are way to thick, so they always get stuck on whatever you're cutting. Plus they don't do detailed cuts well at all. As someone who uses scissors quite frequently, these are a nightmare to use. I don't like how the bottle opener sticks out so much either. I'd rather Gerber have removed it completely or made it an internal tool. The inclusion of the plastic clamshell opener (or what Gerber calls the retail package opener) is a neat tool that I wish more multitools would include. I liked using it more than the knife on clamshells. The knife is alright but nothing to write home about. I'm not sure what the steel is but I'm sure it's something along the lines of 3Cr13MoV. 

The tool is comfortable in the hand during use with no hotspots along the handles. I can realistically fit like a two-finger grip on here. It doesn't take much pressure to get the knife closed, but I wouldn't consider it unsafe unless you're being careless. This isn't the type of tool you'd want to use for harder tasks anyways. 

If you're looking for a smaller multitool, you might as well pay more for a higher quality or even go on eBay for a Squirt P4 which is about the same price anyways. Heck, I hated the newer Squirt PS4 from Leatherman but anything is better than this crappy Dime. You definitely are getting what you paid for. The quality is the biggest flaw of the whole tool. The toolset itself is good enough for basic EDC usage. I don't recommend it and suggest you look at companies other than Gerber for multitools. Thanks for looking!

What I Read: April 2019

This month I managed to read a lot of books that I've wanted to check out for a while and went on a mini success/self-help book kick. I feel like all books of that nature parrot the same advice that is kind of self-explanatory. Without further ado, let's get into it.

Starting out with the success/self-help books, I read Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker (3/5), The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha (2/5), The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking (3/5) and Make Time by Jake Knapp (3/5). Nothing major stood out about the ones that I gave 3 star ratings, but I will say The Happiness Equation barely talked about happiness, and the author had such a pretentious, know-it-all tone. The Little Book of Hygge had a lot of cool illustrations and was a short and sweet read. I think Make Time was the most useful of the bunch.

Speaking of quick reads, I always read some graphic novels to take a break from regular novels. My two favorites this month were Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pilkey (4/5) and Crowded Vol. 1 (4/5). Lord of the Fleas was the fourth book in the Dog-Man series. Just like all the others, this was cute and fun to read. Crowded Vol. 1 was about an app that is used to crowdfund hits on people where the bounty grows as more people contribute. The main character hires one of the worst rated bodyguards on a separate app to protect her for a month until the hit expires. It was an interesting plot and was full of all sorts of action and drama. I hope volume two is in the works. Two of the average (3/5) ones I read were Lazaretto and Keep Going by Austin Kleon. Keep Going isn't really a graphic novel but more so a book about creativity that has a lot of art throughout. This one fell flat compared to the two other books he's written. Lazaretto is about a quarantine that happens at a college where the seniors take over the dorm and crazy stuff goes down. I thought the ending was lackluster though the art was very well-done. I was excited to read Spider-Verse since Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. Unfortunately, I ended up rating it 2/5 stars due to it being all over the place. It was a mishmash of various issues that didn't flow well together. It ended up being over 600 pages long which was too drawn out for me. I liked certain aspects of it, like hearing about Punk Spider-Man briefly. The last one I'll mention here is The Walking Dead Vol. 31 (2/5). I quit watching the TV show a long time ago yet still read the newest volumes when they come out. The author, Robert Kirkman, just needs to end the series. Nothing interesting has happened in these latest volumes. You can tell he's just dragging it out for the money.

Moving along to novels, my two favorites in April were Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (4/5) and Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4/5). The first one is a YA novel about teens that visit fairyland type worlds but then are forced to come back to the real world. It's all about them adjusting back to their surroundings and desperately hoping the doors to these worlds will open for them again. I normally love shorter books (this one was about 150 pages), yet it really would have benefited from additional information about the plot, world, and characters. I managed to finish the rest of the series, Down Among the Sticks and Bones (3/5), Beneath the Sugar Sky (3/5), and In An Absent Dream (2/5), this month as well and thought the first one was the best. The others don't continue the same plot but instead are basically prequels for some of the side characters. Daisy Jones & the Six is about a fictional rock band that's told in the form of interviews with the band members and others associated with them. The format wasn't something I liked much at first, but it definitely grew on me as I read it more. Each character was different, so it was cool to see how they all meshed together.

I believe I've mentioned I enjoy celebrity memoirs, and my latest one was Sorry Not Sorry by Naya Rivera (3/5), who's an actress that was on the TV show Glee. She gave a somewhat interesting story of her life as an actress. I did find her writing to be annoying at times. I read You last month and finished the sequel, Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes (2/5). This one follows the main character as he heads to LA to start over his life. I think I liked it slightly better than You; however, the ending was a huge letdown to me. I saw the movie adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan within the past few months and finally found the book available from my library. It didn't come anywhere close to how good the movie was, with my rating being 2/5 stars. It was a lot longer than it should've been, plus all it seemed to do was go into all this detail/name drop all the material things the rich people enjoyed. It switched perspectives every chapter or so to some of the side characters that weren't relevant to the plot at all. The ending turned out to be the most interesting part of the whole book and sort of redeemed the book for me. There's at least two other books in the series that I may try to read if I have absolutely nothing else to read.

Lastly, I heard so many great things about John Dies At The End by David Wong and The Seven and a Half Deaths of Everlyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton but both got 1/5 stars from me. They were absolutely unbearable to read. The first one sounded like it was written by some immature teenage boy, and the other was one of the least intriguing murder mysteries I've ever read. The whole gimmick was that the main character kept switching bodies to try to investigate this murder from different perspectives, with each perspective being more and more boring than the last.

All in all, I'm still enjoying all the reading I'm doing and am up to 132 for the year with 35 read this month. My priority for May is to read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series and finish more of my physical books before I leave school for the summer. Thanks for looking!