All-Ett Wallet

The All-Ett is a very special wallet designed to be very light and very small, according to the company a normal wallet can be up to 16 times bigger than the All-Ett Wallet with the same content inside.

The "original" model has 4 pockets for cards, two pockets for bills and one extra deep pocket for things such as receipts, airline tickets and others. Among other versions we can highlight the european version with just 2 pockets for cards and the travelers version with space for your passport, ticket, and money.

The All-Ett is made of a very thin nylon material called "spinnaker cloth", it is thin as paper but very strong, and that explains why after loading the wallet with 10 credit cards the wallet is as big as the 10 cards are without almost any extra volume due to the wallet itself. The material is also washeable and water resistant and it doesn't get bad in the humid summer days.

The slim approach of the All-Ett wallet multiply the options to carry, you can use it in your front pocket or back pocket and is hard to notice it is there.

For those looking for a wallet with basic features but as thin as paper and very light the All-Ett is certainly a terrific product.

You can read more, see the different versions and order for about $20 from the official website.

Wagner Swisspen

The Swisspen combines a multi-tool and a pen, it can be seen as a Victorinox classic mounted on top of a pen with the addition of a LED flashlight.

The tools included are scissors, letter opener and the file, the section of the pen with the tools can be detached to help using the scissors. The cross logo can be pressed to activiate a small led flashlight that can run for about 10 hours using a coin cell battery.

The pen itself uses a twist mechanism to hide the writing tip and the ink cartridge is pressurized meaning the pen will write in difficult scenarios such as upside down or over greasy paper. We found the writing fine without smears the trace is thick and clear and the ink doesn't get dry if you don't use it for some weeks.

The weight is balanced to make writing pleasant even having some tools at the pen top, as a result the pen is quite heavy and might be used as a kubaton by trained hands. The tools work well as expected but the pen is sometimes a very strange grip so you are not as confortable using the file or the scissors as you would be with a SAK.

We found this a combo that priorizes the pen over the multitools so it is a good gift for people that want a pen and would like some extra tools handy in case of need.

You can read more and check different models from Wagner's website, or order for about $40 from knifecenter.

Surefire L1 Cree Version

This is a new version of the L1 flashlight by Surefire, the biggest change is that the LED is now a Cree LED replacing the Luxeon LED in the previous model, the body length is shorter making it even better for EDC. The inmediate result is a light brighter, with longer runtime and a more compact size.

The L1 uses a single C123 cell rechargeables can be used but the body may not be wide enough for protected cells, this probably means Surefire wants you to use primary cells and not rechargeables in this light. It claims 65 lumen in high mode and about 10 lumen in low mode. Those values are according to our tests underrated, we estimate around 85 lumens on high compared to other lights we have around.

Runtime is 1.5 hours in high and 16 hours in low mode. Since the Cree is a more efficient LED there is a marked improvement in runtime. When running on high the thermal protection might kick in dimming the light, this probably means that the L1 is designed to be used in low mode with a very long runtime with the high mode available when needed providing a good amount of light with great runtime and a burst mode available.

The beam is round and very smooth, with a long throw and usable sidespill, the lens is slightly frosted to eliminate beam artifacts and the light uses a TIROS optic to focus the beam so it is a light designed for throw with a lens that corrects imperfections diffusing the beam a little. The loss of light due to the lens frost is probably minimal.

The new Cree led is very bright so the new L1 will outperform many other LED lights, in terms of brightness the new L1 in high mode can compete with the L4 and it only uses a single battery.

The tactical two stage switch is easy to operate, tighten for low mode and keep tightening for high mode, the button can be pressed for momentary low/high when off or momentary high when you are in low mode. Unscrewing the tailcap will put you in lockout mode. You can also unscrew the tailcap to only allow momentary low avoiding a very bright light when not desired.

As in many other Surefire lights the construction is excellent in HAIII aluminium, strong as it can be, it won't get scratched or damaged by impacts. O-rings make the light waterproof.

The L1 is an excellent EDC light, very bright and with excellent performance in runtime, the two stages makes it very useful as an all-around light.

You can read more at Surefire's website retail price is $135, you can get it from OpticsHQ.

Kershaw Twocan

The twocan is an interesting combination of a knife and a pair of scissors by Kershaw.

When closed the twocan is just 2-3/4'' long (70 mm) and weights 0.9oz. The material is stainless steel, it has a nice solid carabiner that has good pressure and can be used to clip the tool to a backpack, belt loop, keychain, etc we don't think the carabiner can open by accident so the risk of losing the tool is very low.

After deploying the first blade you have a wharncliff style knife that is 1 1/2'' long, very sharp and pointy from the factory can be used to open boxes, make sharp cuts, remove splinters and many other tasks.

Things get interesting when you deploy a second blade that opposes the first one and has a spring mechanism converting the knife in a pair of scissors. There is no handle so you use the scissors pushing the spring blade with your thumb. The scissors cut excellent because the blades are very sharp and the fit is perfect, they will get a little difficult to use for long cuts because your hand will get in the middle of what you are cutting but for small precision cuts they are great, small rope, fishing line, paper, cardboard are cut without any problems.

The twocan is a great combination of a pocket knife and scissors in a small size and with superb quality construction.

You can get it from Knife Center for $20.

Maxpedition's Micro Wallet

The Micro Wallet is a minimalistic wallet for people that don't like or can't carry big bulky wallets with millions of items.

The Micro is 4.5'' x 3''. When opened it offers an ID window and two card slots. There is a single division running along for bills.

When closed the Micro has a small pocket in one side, there is no closure mechanism, no velcro or anything similar, just fold it and put it in your pocket.

The construction is very strong in cordura nylon with double stitching along the borders. It will not get destroyed by metallic objects such as keys in your pocket.

Maxpedition claims you can fit one ID, two credit cards, some bills, two quarter coins and a spare key in the Micro, this is as far as we could test true, being small if you load it with too many items it will be hard to fold and inpractical.

As an interesting point the strong cordura nylon used for this wallet makes it a little heavier and bulkier than what you would expect for a Micro wallet, we believe a lighter and thiner material would have been a better choice.

You can read more and order for $11 from Maxpedition's Website.

Moleskine Pocket Notebooks

Moleskine notebooks are famous by the quality of its construction and its paper, they have been used for years in Europe by Journalists, travelers and writers to take notes on the go.

The pocket moleskine is 3.5 x 5.5 inches (9x14 cm) and weights 5oz, each one is 1/2 inch thick (1.3cm) and has 192 pages. There are several versions including ruled, squared, plain, music paper, sketching paper, storyboard, travel info, address book and japanese book. The ruled, squared and plain versions are the most popular because they can be used for all kinds of notes.

The notebooks open completely and the sheets will not fall, the paper offers excellent writing quality, fountain pens or alcohol based markers may leave some traces. The journalist version flips at the top instead than on the sides and also comes with many different paper types, can also be good for detectives. The last 24 pages are deattacheable.

With 192 pages per notebook a single Moleskine notebook can be used to organize your activities and your on-the-go notes. In the modern world of cellphones and PDAs it is still a good idea to have a notepad that can be quickly used for notes without needing batteries and the moleskines resurrect the pleasure of writing, it is up to each individual to create their system of notes and symbols and there are plenty of ideas on the web to research.

An excellent quality notebook for those that still love to write.

You can read more and order for about $10 from moleskin-us.

Maxpedition Janus Extension Pocket

The Janus is a utility pocket to be added to the strap of Maxpedition versipacks such as the Fatboy, Colossus, Jumbo and some backpacks. There are several ways to use the Janus.

The first one is by splicing an existing shoulder strap with the Janus using the buckles in the Janus, the strap will then be longer and feature the Janus in the middle. You can also attach it using Malice clips via the modular straps in one of the sides. You can also use it on your belt or as a waistpack. The strap with the buckles can be totally removed.

One side of the Janus has loop fields and the other PALS webbing you can decide which side will be the front side. There is a tube running on one of the sides that can be used as a flashligh cave.

The Janus is 8” x 4” x 1.5” with dual zippers and one internal division, it is good for PDAs,cellphones, wallets and other accesories. The external straps can be used to clip a knife or a money clip.

As with other Maxpedition products the construction is excellent, the zippers are strong and run very well and the pocket is very useful maybe a little bulky for its capacity due to the strong construction and multiplicity of attachment options outside the pocket. It is a very good adition for a versipack and can also be very good for a medium to big size backpack strap. As a standalone waistpack it is too big to be unnoticed and too small to carry many items so in our evaluation we choose to use it with a Fatboy versipack and was a great adition.

Available in green, kakhi and black. You can read more and order for $35 from Maxpedition's website.

Bruton Firestorm

The firestorm is a weatherproof lighter by Brunton. The lighter measures 3.3'' x 1.8'' and weights 1.6 ounces.

The ignition is piezoelectric and should be good for over 30.000 ignitions, the fuel is butane refillable as expected. The flame should be able to resist winds up to 80 mph.

The lighter has a threaded cap with an o-ring to make it waterproof, the cap has a hole for a splitring or lanyard, there is also a metal clip in the lighter body to attach it to a pocket or inside a backpack.

We found this lighter to be rugged and serviceable the construction is solid and the design looks very nice, the clip and lanyard hole are very good details for different carrying options.

You can read more in Brunton's website and order for $48 from Tad Gear.