Sima PLE Lens Cleaner

This is a pen-shaped lens cleaning kit by Sima, there are similar products by other manufacturers as for example Nikon.

One of the tips of the pen features a cleaning compound that will not spill or dry out, it can be used to remove minor scratches, grease and dirt from lenses without damaging them. The product is applied making circular movements over the lens with the soft tip. It removes fingerprings, smudges and other marks. This end of the pen has a cap.

The other end features a retractable soft brush that can be used to remove dust and small particles from the lens before cleaning, dust can scratch the lens when cleaning if you don't remove it first. For clean lenses the brush is good enough, when the lens is not clean you have to use the brush then apply the cleaning tip and then brush again.

This kit can be used with camera lenses, sunglasses, reading glasses, camcorders, telescopes, binoculars, flashlights and anything that has a lens and needs some careful cleaning. It has been particularly useful to remove grease and fingerprints from sunglasses and flashlights to me and can also be used to clean your wristwatch.

It can be obtained in most optics or you can order for $8.50 from this site.

12 in 1 Pen Tool

This is a pen-sized multi-tool, it's basically a pen that carries inside several accesories. It includes a short blade and a long blade x-acto style. A hole punch, phillips screwdriver, a file, a flat screwdriver, scraper, tweezers, a small fork,a pen,a saw and a wire-stripper / staple-remover.

The tools are as expected not the best in each category but they can be used to do the job, the blades are very useful for precision cutting and small cutting jobs. The process to switch from one tool to another takes about 20 to 40 seconds, the biggest problem being the storage of all the small accessories that can get lost in the process.

It is a nice gift and as the size this tool is it will probably be an excellent addition to many EDC kits, think about all the pen holders in clothing or bags that you are not using. The tools work great for hobbyists, specially when you frequently deal with micro repair jobs and small things.

You can get it from Duluth Trading for $17.50

Buck X-tract

The buck x-tract is a multi tool featuring a knife as the main tool, it comes with pliers, two screwdrivers, can opener, bottle opener and a lanyard attachment.

The knife is a 3'' 420HC steel knife with a semi-serrated blade, very sharp from the box and useful for all the normal cutting jobs you can think for a knife. It can be opened and closed with one hand using thumbstuds and features a liner locking mechanism.

The pliers are small and have wire/cable cutters, they can also be opened with just one handed operation.

The can/bottle opener is smaller than many others but certainly suitable for the job. The last two accesories are a slidling philips and flat screwdrivers. The handle is textured thermoplastic offering a good grip that may be slightly slippery if the tool is used with greasy hands.

The X-tract offers a nice combination of accessory tools for the buck knife which is of very good quality, if you like buck knives you will love to have the X-tract.

You can read more information at the product webpage or order for $33 from this site.

Firesteel Fire Starter

The Firesteel firestarter is a small kit for fire starting that can be easily carried in a keychain since it is shaped as a key.

Essentially the firesteel is a high grade piece of flint that when scratched with metal will produce many sparks. The firesteel comes with a metal striking tool that you can use or not since any steel knife will work in the same way. In our tests small pocket saws worked great and you don't have to scratch your knife if you use one.

To use it just strike the metal striker or a metal tool against the flint to produce sparks that you can use to light up tinder, such as tinder quick, magnesium scraps, wax covered cotton balls or others the amount of sparks it produces should be good enough to get the fire going.

The tool will be good for thousands of uses and if it gets wet it can still be used without a problem. It may be a little too big for some keychains, in our opinion the plastic handle is too big without a good reason so sanding it with a dremel to a smaller size may be a practical option.

The firestell can be ordered for about $9 from Countycomm.

Peter Atwood's Wharncliffe Booger

The Booger is a very small knife with a pointy tip from Peter Atwood, it can be used for cutting, chopping and for any task where a fine pointy tip can be useful, including scraping, cleaning and fine cutting jobs.

Made of S30V steel the Booger is a very high quality knife that will resist normal use and not so normal abuse without breaking or scratching badly.

They are 1/8'' thick and about 2.5'' long and come with a kydex sheath that can be used for keychain or neck carry bead chain included.

This is no doubt a quality little knife that will be a handy companion to its user. We found it great for hobbies and other ocupations where you do some fine cutting, it is a very precise tool and it is a pleasure to carry it.

You can get it for $65 from Peter Atwood's website. Due to limited stock you may want to check other members of the Booger family and ask Peter about stock.

HighGear Traildrop Digital Compass

This is a digital compass with a thermometer and clock. by HighGear.

The compass can display the bearing and can be adjusted for magnetic declination. It has a leveling bubble for increased accuracy, you can take either a single reading or use it in continuous mode.

The digital thermometer has a 0.1 C or F resolution and works from -4F (-20C) to 131F (55C).

The watch measures time, day, date and month in 12 or 24 hour format and supports dual time zones. It has a daily alarm and a chronometer.

Clipped to your backpack or a keychain this device is very handy for outdoor activities where navigation is important, it is water resistant and has EL backlight for the night. You can read more in the product page or order for $35 from Cabelas.

PocketMods

The Pocketmod is a 8.5 x 11´´ sheet of paper split into 8 sections that once folded makes a little paper book and allows you to select from different inserts. You can have a calendar, day planner, notes, tables, story board, lists, contacts, games and many other options.

From the website you can design your own pocketmod selecting the 8 sections you will want to use, then print it, fold it following the instructions and you are ready to go. The final result is a 2x3 notepad with the 8 sections you selected. It is small and flat enough to go in a pocket, wallet or inside a book. For customization the website offers a tool to convert a PDF file to pocketmod format so you can add your own information, guides, and make topic specific pocket mods for you and your friends.

Pocketmods are free and you can try them at pocketmod.com, enjoy.

TAD Gear Ti Rescue Ring

This is a titanium rescue ring from TAD Gear, it has a removable spike that can be used to break glass windows in case of emergencies.

The spike comes with an attachment base that has a hole for a splitring so you can put it in your keychain and use it only when needed, in case of need just unscrew the spike and screw it to the ring.

The Ring is made of titanium and the spike is stainless steel. Optionally you can screw an SS button compass instead of the spike and use the ring for navigation (compass not included).

As a piece of titanium jewelry the ring is really nice and confortable to use and compared to other Ti rings it is very affordable, offering the option of the spike as an emergency device in case of need. The threads to attach the spike to your keyring are not very long so with some time it will eventually get loose and you are in a big risk of losing the spike. Besides this problem it is not very clear how quickly you can get the spike ready in case of need if you are rescuing somebody it may help, if you are the one in need of a quick exit it is probably too slow and too small to be correctly operated during an emergency.

You can get it in sizes 5 to 13 from TAD Gear.