Monday, May 28, 2012

Bright and Loud...

I received a couple of new REV 2 models of the Maratac AA LED flashlight and some ITW Nexus whistles, from the folks at County Comm

The single AA flashlights with CREE R3 emitters have a bright HIGH setting(125 lumens) and a 'Lunar LOW'(0.25 lumens), that's great for reading a book or map in the dark without blinding you, or providing navigation on those late night excursions to the facilities.  Lights shown with a couple 'star knot' wrist lanyards.

I took a few of the ITW Nexus whistles and added different Turk's head knots and variations to them with 0.9mm cord.

They have a built in clip, so aside from adding them to a lanyard or EDC key chain, they can be conveniently clipped to a pocket or the MOLLE webbing on a backpack or bag.

The whistles are quite loud, so I'd recommend covering your ears to protect your hearing during use.  Here's the whistle specs from ITW Nexus.

15 comments:

Travelling Ash said...

I always appreciate your commitment to continually post new things. Maintaining a great blog must take a bunch of time and effort. Thanks.

C said...

From the following, which- in your opinion, is the easiest to learn/tie?

~ Single Strand Star Knot
~ 3 Lead TH Knot
~ Spanish Ring Knot
~ Gaucho Knot
~ 3 Pass Gaucho Knot
~ Headhunter's Knot

Thanks!
-Chris

Stormdrane said...

@Chris, I'd say the 3 Lead Turk's Head knot is the easiest to learn from that list.

It's often used to make Sailor's Bracelets. You just add more bights by moving the cords and doing overs/unders with the working end until you reach the standing end and double/triple the knot...

smet337 said...

SD,Sorry if I'am beating you up with this, recently asked about terminating 550 cord on turks head. I made one of the gaucho knots with blind cord, measures about 1.7 on a bead. It was so tight that I just cut my standing end and working end with a razor blade. How do you finish them off if you do not want to damage your equipment underneath? A bead is not a big deal. Thanks again Scot

Stormdrane said...

@smet337, I use my 'clay stylus' to tuck the ends under the knot and out of sight. The small tip works great for this.

I also use it as an improvised marlinspike/fid to work the slack out and tighten up various knots.

smet337 said...

Stormdrane,Thank you for your quick response! Your site is great inspiration.I'am like you in that I love knives.Tying is relaxing and my family love the gifts.Thanks again for everything.Scot

smet337 said...

Hi Stormdrane, Well here is another question for you. I keep going threw all of your blogs and can not help that I love everything you do! I'am having trouble with the long 4 bight turks and have gone to Mr.Brewers tutorial several times. He suggests when you come back to the standing end, which is the long 2 to follow the lead on the left,or to follow left of the standing end? Tried both?can you please give me some insight as to what I may be doing wrong? Thanks agin. Scot P.S I was wanting to do something much smaller but in the same line as your lanyard in the Oct. 2010 blog.

Stormdrane said...

@smet337, You follow alongside the standing end, which will be to the left of your working end, like you would be doubling the knot.

Follow it just to the top where it stops following the standing end, goes up over the top bight, down over the next bight, then follow the over/under pattern in the tutorial from there.

smet337 said...

Thank you SD. You are great for getting back to me so quick.I will give it a go. Again thank you so much for everything. Just wanted to let you know I also love your photo shots! Very professional. You have a good day. Scot

smet337 said...

Hey Stormdrane, Had to share this with you , thought you might get a kick out of it. I had still been trying to tie that long 4 bight with no luck. So I was back on your sat. oct. 2008 blog with your really cool knife lanyard 2 bight turk, went to your comments and had noticed that a turk head knot will not work unless it is an odd number!! Ding Ding. Well I was able to figure it out after that. No pain no gain. I have done allot of tying and untying lately. The more I do of this stuff Iingfc have a greater appreciation for all of your work and I"am so thankful that we all have you. Again thanks. Scot

Anonymous said...

Can you tell me where I find the .9 mm cording?

Stormdrane said...

@Anonymous, Both of the spools of braided nylon 0.9mm cord that I bought, in white and black, came from different sellers on ebay, where you can also find cotton string and elastic beading cord in that size and various colors as well.

Mini blind supply stores, like fixmyblinds.com, sell it too.

smet337 said...

Howdy Stormdrane,When I did the Spanish ring knot mine did not come out laying side by side,any clues to what I might be doing wrong? I know it is hard without seeing. Also your advice on doing the lanyard knot around a pencil was great,it was actually ease after trying a few time's. As always your the best thank you Scot

Stormdrane said...

@Scot, The one I tied on the whistle is doubled, so it may look a little different than a single pass Spanish ring knot.

Here are a couple more examples, one diagram and the other a video, hope they help... ;)

Spanish ring knot diagram

Spanish ring knot video

And a three pass Spanish ring knot for after you get the hang of the first one. :)

smet337 said...

Thank you Stormdrane for the links!!They worked out great.Have a great day Scot