Titanium Gate Snap

The titanium gate snap from Berkeley Point is a cross bewteen a clip and a carabiner. The gaye snap is large enough to be clipped to a belt loop, a backpack or a pouch, so it can be used as the end attachment point for your keychain.

The hole at the bottom can be used to thread paracord or chain, it can also be used for a large splitring, a smaller one might be hard to install since the width of the titanium borders can be problematic, we all know how painful tight splitrings can be sometimes.

Constructed from Titanium the gate snap will resist wear, corrosion, impacts and daily abuse. I found them practical for keychains and lanyards made with paracord as the end attachment for belt loops but there are a zillion possible usages.

There are two sizes: 1-15/16'' and 2-7/8'' that cost $22 and $36 respectively. You can find more information or order from Berkely Point.

Surefire L4 LumaMax

The L4 is the brightest led flashlight from Surefire's E-Series. The body, tailcap and bezel are compatible with parts from the E1L, E2L, E1E and E2E flashlights.

The bezel is a KL4 a 5watt Luxeon led capable of producing up to 100 lumen which puts the L4 as one of the brightest led flashlights you can get.

The beam of the L4 is a typical pure flood beam, that means the L4 produces a "wall of light" instead of a focused beam. This kind of beam is great for illuminating rooms or nearby objects but doesn't have the "throw" to light up distant objects. Small as it looks this flashlight can produce a lot of light.

The light is powered by 2 C123 lithium batteries, 3.7v rechargeables must not be used since that can damage the led, if you want to use rechargeables you should get a 17670 protected rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The runtime on regular 123 batteries is about 1 hour.

In some forums you might also be able to get a 2 stage tailcap switch that will make the L4 a two stage light with a extremely long runtime in low and extremely high brightness on high. The two stage tailcap with the 17670 rechargeable battery make the L4 one of the nicest EDC lights you can have.

You can read specs for the L4 in Surefire's website. And you can order ir for $165 from this site.

Personal Keychain Alarm With Flashlight

This small keychain device has two functions, on one end it has a small incadescent flashlight in the other end there is a speaker for a 120db alarm which is the interesting thing.

The alarm is activated using a red button on the side of the device, you can press lightly for momentary alarm/whistle or press a little harder and the switch will click and the alarm will sound constantly, to deactivate simply click the red button again.

The sount of the alarm is loud and pitchy and certainly attracts attention, you can use it as an electronic whistle or as a safety device in case of danger. The small flashlight is useful when using your keys or to find something in the dark. It is a useful little device that goes unnoticed and might help in case of an emergency or dangerous situation.

The device is powered by an A23 battery, not very popular but easy to find, the same kind of battery that powers gloo-toobs. The model in the picture costs $15 and can be ordered from this site.

Boker Subcom

The Subcom is a very small folder designed by Chad Los Banos. It is only 1 7/8'' long and 1/16'' thick, weighting just 2.5 oz.

This makes the Subcom a non threatening knife that you can carry in most cities without breaking the law and that you can use in plain sight without getting worried looks. The subcom looks "cool" and is certainly more a tool than a weapon for most people.

The beauty of the design is that in a very small folder you get a lot of cutting surface, the blade is a bead-blasted AUS-8 stainless steel with a framelock lock and ambidextrous thumb studs to open it. You can get it in a plain or serrated edge. The pocket clip can be used to clip the knife to a pocket or to use it as money clip. The handle is fiberglass reinforced nylon offering a very good grip and can be either black or silver.

You can read more in Boker's website. Or order it for $25 from Knivesplus.

Spec Ops T.H.E. Wallet Jr

This Wallet from Spec Ops has no particular fancy features but offers a lot of functionality in a high quality product.

The wallet is a tri-folder with a shark-bite closure system (no velcro!) I've found this closure both soundless and secure. The main compartment offers a zipper that can be used as a hidden pocket.

Then you have an internal id window, a small zippered compartment for change or some small items, four credit card slots and two unzippered small compartments for loose small items, etc.

Outside you have another id window/pocket useful for Ids if you carry the wallet from a lanyard. There are 2 eyelets that can be used for a lanyard if you want to carry it from your neck or for a wallet chain if you want to secure your wallet to a belt loop.

The wallet is made from Cordura Nylon, double stitched and has several reinforcement points after several months of use there are no visible marks or problems in mine even when its next to some sharp objects, keys and coins in my pocket.

The Wallet is available Acu, Black, Coyote Tan, Woodland Camo, Tan, Olive and Desert Camon for $30, you can order or read more about it in Spec Ops' website.

Sony's Micro Vault Tiny Pendrive

The Micro Vault Tiny from Sony is one of the smallest cutest pendrives you can get. The picture offers no size reference so I will give you a visual reference: the micro vault is about the same size as a fingenail.

Amazingly this is directly plugged to any USB port and you have your storage space, there are 256MB, 512MB, 1GB and 2GB versions.

The drive comes in different colors: orange, purple, yellow and blue and you get a soft carrying case that is quite cute too.

The drive includes the Micro Vault Virtual Expander software that offers transparent compression when you store files in the drive, this is no better than any other compression utility but being something built-in is a nice thing.

The 2Gb version retails for about $80, prices of pendrives fluctuate a lot so check your favourite dealers. More information in Sony's website.

Tool Logic's T1 Business Card

The T1 is a credit card sized multi-tool from Tool Logic primary intended for the every day business man.

The tool offers a small blade slash letter opener, ballpoint pen, nail file with cuticle tool, scissors, tweezers, toothpick, small phillips and flat screwdrivers, a sewing needle,a ruler and a pocket clip that can be used as a money clip as well.

The combination of tools is fine, a small pin would have been more practical than the sewing needle, the tools in general are ok, not spectacular but do their job. The plastic tweezers are the weakest link.

The T1 is quite complete, maybe more oriented to personal care rather than "business". The best is probably the clip, since you can use this as a money clip and have a useful set of tools at the same time and if you don't want the clip it can be removed so you can store the tool in your wallet.

The T1 costs about $15 and you can read more information in Tool Logic's website.

Fenix L0P Special Edition

The Fenix L0P is the AAA keychain flashlight in the Fenix series, in some way a direct competitor of the venerable ArcAAA. Instead of a Nichia 5mm led as in the Arc the L0P uses a 1 watt Luxeon lead and therefore it is much brighter.

The biggest problem of the original L0P was its short runtime, the light was bright but the runtime around 30 minutes or less required the use of rechargeable AAA batteries and a lot of maintenance and that might be a problem in a keychain light.

The special edition of the L0P has 3 brightness levels, you can change levels turning the light off and then quickly on, if you leave the light off for 1.5 seconds the next time you turn it off you return to the primary level. This interface is not fantastic but in a flashlight with just a twisty switch there are no better alternatives.

The 3 brightness levesl solve the runtime problem allowing long runtimes in a lower level keeping the brightest level in case of need.

The flashlight is well built in solid aircraft grade anodized aluminium with an UCL lens. It comes in a box with a splitring and a claw-style clip. It's a close call between this light and the ARC AAA-p it depends on your taste, needs and judgement.

The price is $39 and you can get it from Fenix Store.