This is some great news for fans of Bawidamann Blades. They’ve completely revamped their website. In addition to their fantastic line of knives (yes I own a GUNNR SP, purchased at Blade Show earlier this year) they also offer the PALS Universal Platform as well as new t-shirts and morale patches. The PUP is great for attaching gear such as holsters and knife sheaths to MOLLE gear.
They are great folks who build great products. Support them as much as they support the troops.
We first mentioned the Switch from Quirky a year-and-a-half ago. At the time, it was only available for pre-order. Time went on and we had forgotten about it, until the Think Geek catalog arrived in the mail and there it was nestled between a multi-color LED flashlight of no particular note and a pocket chainsaw.
Featuring 17 different tool attachments, you can configure the tool for your specific needs and this is great news for the TacHacker who wants to customize his gear.
Standard Knife, Pliers, Scissors, Nail File, Tweezers, Thin Flathead Screwdriver, Phillips-Head Screwdriver, Eyeglass Phillips-Head Screwdriver, Eyeglass Flathead Screwdriver, Wood Saw, Serrated Blade, Corkscrew, Combination Bottle Opener/Flathead Screwdriver, Combination Can Opener/Wire Stripper, Pen, Magnifying Glass, LED Flashlight
You can purchase it directly from Quirky but it’s actually quite a bit less expensive from Think Geek.
As we described yesterday, Darrel Ralph was wrapping up the prototype for a 4†Gunhammer and we showed some images of it “under constructionâ€. Well, here is the finished product. Darrel says the frame took about 40 hours of back and forth machining time plus a little over 150 hours of development. “The blade grinding was very intense,†Darrel said. “We have six process that had to be followed just to grind the blade.â€
As for the ‘unobtainium’ tungsten steel we mentioned before, Darrel said, “Chad had to build a vacuum chamber in a twenty-two hundred degree forging furnace to weld the materials in the blade and frame together so that the atmosphere is oxygen free. That’s why this steel is so hard to get hold of.â€
As for the cost of this one-off Stellite 6K core, 4†Gunhammer with 3D carved lightning strike carbon fiber and copper inlay frame? It was more than your average E6 makes in a month, for obvious reasons. As much as we like it, we’ll be waiting for the more mundane version to come out. Check out the knives made for us normal mortals on his website. They’re quality work and worth the investment, whether you’re carrying one or admiring it in a case.
-David Reeder
Darrel Ralph, a man who has been described as the “Wizard of Edge†is finishing up a new knife design. This is the prototype for a new HTM, a brand new style of 4†Gunhammer. Chad Nichols provided the blade steel and handle material which is a unique amalgam made by welding two different kinds of titanium together. Naturally, it’s almost impossible to work and has to be done just perfectly and consequently, Darrel refers to it as “unobtainium”. Anyway, this is titanium with a stainless steel Damascus carved frame with the Stellite 6K core. Here’s a series of pictures showing the progression of the knife (when you look at the first one, the wave at the edge is the Stellite peeking out). Later pictures show the knife as the grinding is completed. You’ll also see the lightning strike carbon fiber inlay, though it may be hard to see the copper rod running through it because the pictures were taken with his phone camera (just yesterday, actually).
The new knife style is a 3D carved frame with a bowie blade. It will probably be called the Gunhammer 4 3D Alpha, though that’s not for sure. The one you see here is one of a kind, but it’ll shortly be followed by a limited run of titanium frames and after that a more standard run of aluminum frames with hard coating.
Good stuff, eh?
We’ll follow up shortly with a picture or three of the finished product, or you can mosey over to his Facebook page and watch it progress yourself. If you do, make sure to tell him Soldier Systems sent ya.
-David Reeder
RMJ Tactical keeps striving to increase cutting power while minimizing weight and overall size. It’s a fine line to balance these requirements and these two new tomahawks are their latest models.
The Jenny Wren is a traditional name for the Wrens you see all over the South and it’s namesake is a no-nonsense tomahawk. Developed at the request of Recon Marines looking for a tomahawk with the same weight of a fixed blade knife. You can see its straight forward design and the intent here was to harken back to a simpler, more straight forward time (think WW II).
On the other hand, the Crow is a more aggressive design with an angled handle to force the brunt of blows to make contact at the top of the blade rather than the more traditional chopping style seen on many axes.
We’ve written several times about ABS Master Bladesmith Daniel Winkler. He started making knives because he was looking for authentically produced Early American edged tools. Eventually, his work caught the eye of a member of NSW and the rest is history. For a good history of his involvement with the military see our article on his Breaching Axes.
This video is an excellent overview of the capabilities of Winkler’s creations. Watching him throw down on that Civic with his Rescue Breaching Axe gives you a good idea of how it will perform in the field.
Over at KitUp!, the Mad Duo did a write up on the Up-Armored Knives Menace Fighter in their “Team Six” pattern. We first learned of Up-Armored from Tactical Fanboy and really like them. It’s definitely worth checking out.
It turns out that medics have been using the Gerber Strap Cutter for everyday use so Gerber took a look at the design to see if the could improve upon it. While it is a very functional design, it really only does one thing and that’s cut straps. So they created the new Emergency Rescue Hook. It is longer than the Strap Cutter which gives you more reach to get at more difficult straps that might be pinned. It also offers you more torque when cutting. This feature alone allows medics to cut right through rigger belts, pants and all to expose wounds for treatment. Additionally, Gerber added an oxygen bottle wrench. The molded plastic sheath is PALS compatible.
Made in USA! www.gerbergear.com
