The Loadout Room
Professional Gear Reviews
This is the annual cost concept of living and operating as a modern vagabond with moderate (world) travel and minimal luxuries. “Vagabonding is relatively like any way of life with deliberate budgeting and moderation. Furthermore, there tends to be less unnecessary bills and committed financial strains of a “normal” stationary lifestyle.” – JOHN V CAIN […]
Olamic Tactical’s motto is “never the same,” and that perfectly encapsulates their custom approach to production knife making. The overall design of every Wayfarer 247 knife that leaves their California shop is the same. But each has seen hand-finishing, and many arrive with their own touches like sculpted backspacers, finishes, and artful handle sculpting. “All the handwork allows […]
The Lil’ Nilakka is based on Spyderco’s now discontinued Nilakka folder. Both the original and the Lil’ Nilakka are Pekka Tuominen’s interpretation of a traditional Puukko knife. They also share the same ambitious blade geometry. The blades are full-flat ground straight from the spine to the edge without a secondary edge bevel. Also known as ‘zero-ground,’ this keen and […]
I pack ultralight living out of a backpack as a vagabond traveling the world but I’m also actively survival prepping and this is how… “Survival in any form for any environment is an act of prevention and or recovery, best enacted by preparation.” – JOHN V CAIN (Founder of VINJABOND) Standard “prepping” is the practice of stockpiling […]
Buck continues to grow its high-value made in the USA models with the introduction of the Rival series. According to the Post Falls, Idaho company, they are able to offer the knives at a low price by investing in a modern manufacturing process capable of producing a high volume of knives each day. The Rival series, […]
I like to think I live by the code ‘You only Stop Learning When Your Dead.” That means a lot of things, and one of those things is learning to improvise and adapt. You do this during situations, with people, and of course with gear. I mention all this because one of the reasons I […]
When TOPS Knives President Leo Espinoza was tasked with designing the ultimate chopping knife, El Chete sprung from his mind practically fully formed. “Leo knew as soon as he drew this thing up that people were going to love it,” TOPS Knives’ Craig Powell tells us. “As soon as they look at it, people just know that it’s going […]
Recently we talked about how to survive a violent attack. Often in these scenarios there will be people who have sustained significant injuries, left untreated these injuries could lead to death. As a member of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, our leaders made us practice treating casualties. Although I was an infantryman, I was expected to […]
Finding the right bag to carry all of your essentials in addition to CCW gear can be a daunting task. Fortunately, Vanquest has been doing just that with great success. I previously reviewed the Möbius 2.0 VPacker from Vanquest and have used it quite often. The Skitch 12 is more of a traditional messenger bag. […]
Often straddling the line between collectible and user, each Chaparral model has roughly the same overall design: a 2.8 inch, sliver-thin leaf shaped blade made from high-performance CTS-XHP steel, a 50/50 finger choil, a deep carry wire clip, a crisply-machined backlock, and a slender profile. Spyderco uses this gentlemanly EDC folder as a blank canvas to test […]
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