Emblazoned with a ‘rampant’ lion, this patch is a banner of boldness to remind us to direct ourselves towards the unexpected challenges life can bring.
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packconfig.com/product/bold-patch
After well over half a year and many outings with my Prometheus Design Werx S.H.A.D.O. Pack in Summer, Autumn and Winter I decided to write a full review. (Our contributor Piotr Ma smashes it again!)
Whenever and wherever I go, I always make sure I’ve got work gloves with me. It’s always an essential part of my outdoor kit, especially when bushcrafting or exploring the wilderness with my kids.
Of course not every glove is the same, and most of them require some initial treatment before their first use. So let me point out the most important aspects to consider when choosing your new outdoor working gloves.
MATERIAL
I prefer my outdoor working gloves to be made of leather, which is soft and strong. In my experience deer leather is the best classic material for outdoor gloves. It gives enough protection and durability for most outdoor tasks, yet allows for detailed work, provides very positive grip and ensures a physical resistance that lasts a couple of seasons. It can also be easily repaired and waterproofed. Goat leather is an equally good choice. Just try to avoid all kind of "mesh top" or "canvas top" working gloves from your hardware store as it gives very little (if any) protection to the top side of a hand. It's maybe good as a tool-holding glove, but useless when you have to maneuver with your hands in a thorny bush. On the other hand thick and heavy pig skin gloves are fine for some heavy-duty work, but try precision cutting or whittling with your bushcraft knife when wearing such behemoths… no chance. Such gloves have their use so I keep them in the trunk of my car and in the garage, but I'd never call them a 'pack essential' – too big, too heavy, too specialized.
FIT
The best option would be to try before you buy, but if this is not possible just measure your hand carefully and follow maker's sizing chart. You don't want them too loose for sure. Deer leather stretches nicely which gives a fit perfect after just a couple of days in the field. So buy them quite snug, give them a day or two, and you should be happy camper! You want a good tactile fit. And again – avoid oversized cheap work gloves from a local hardware store – working comfort will be very low and detailed work would not be possible. It's good for… nothing. Just avoid them, seriously.
LOOP
This is really important! You don't want to lose your gloves in the outdoors. Make sure your gloves are equipped with proper loops so you can attach them to your backpack with an S-Binder, carabiner, or just piece of string. It's essential to have the option to strap them to your pack or belt – if they're wet or dirty, it'd never be a good idea to stuff them inside your backpack. If there is no loop at all (or the loop is just not big enough) take your time and make your own loops. Puncture the sleeve or stitch/tie a piece of paracord loop to your gloves. It's quick and easy, and saves you from a lot of problems later in the field.
WAX
Before you start using your new leather gloves be sure to wax them well with a quality leather wax. I use Hestra glove wax but there are many other wax names on the market. Wax gives waterproofness and durability. It also ensures a better fit-to-hand and make your gloves more elastic. The difference between waxed and unwaxed leather gloves usage is really dramatic! Well waxed gloves are just a joy to use. The tactile feedback is so much better, gloves stay dry even when working with wet wood, and of course cleaning is way easier (from resin, blood, soil etc.). Just wax your leather gloves and check for yourself.
Now quickly about daily care… keep them dry, well ventilated and waxed. Carry them relaxed outside your pack (only in good weather of course). A deep scratch on the surface is not a problem, just wax well and rub with your fingers until it's hot enough to absorb the wax. For small holes (from a puncture) I just use a drop of superglue, let it dry and wax the area well. For bigger cuts – just stitch it with a strong nylon thread and wax. Sail stitch is the best (just Google it) as it keeps the surface flat. You can reinforce the stitching with a bit of superglue, but it's not necessary. When stitched carefully – there is no change to durability, it's still watertight after waxing, and it looks great too! Battle scars are cool ;)
Take care of your gloves and your gloves will take care of you (well… your hands to be exact). Use them for work, and make them look better and better every time. My preferred lightweight working gloves are Hestra Work Gloves (available here: http://www.naturkompaniet.se/hestra-work-glove), which are made of deer leather, the quality is very good especially for the price. It's not a sophisticated model but they work just so well for me that I bought a handful and gave away to some of my friends as a small gift. The loop-hangers are quite small so I added my own thong loops.
And below you can see my gloves after a season, just keep in mind I used them a lot for everything – from chopping wood, through forest and bushcraft work, to fire building and maintenance and even for a barbeque! I used them in full summer and also in real winter conditions, deer skin is flexible and doesn't crack even at -12°C… yeah, I checked that. In my opinion the gloves look great, much better, than when they were new, LOL.
BUY HERE
Other working gloves which I can recommend:
1. HESTRA Skullman (slightly heavier than Work Gloves, designed by Johan Skullman, one of the best outdoor expert from Sweden. Awesome, model released Fall '15. Not cheap but for me they're a 'must have' for the new season):
2. HESTRA Fält Guide Glove (great for winter, with removable wool liner, super solid!)
3. OUTDOOR RESEARCH Supressor Gloves (flame resistant, with Nomex, awesome but expensive):
4. STIHL Leather Work Gloves (not as fine as Hestra but still well made and working good, they're also considerably cheaper… got couple of these around house and car, they're good value!)
A year ago I was honestly not even aware of the gem that is the Javran ‘Maui’ camera bag series.
I actually came across this bag by accident when browsing through his other tactical tailoring projects… and ordered mine the same day. Just take a look at this bag! PALS, a huge velcro panel, Premium Cordura in Foliage Green. What's not to like? By the way, the choice of color and details is up to you – it will be built to your specs, just like mine was.
Above: All Terrain & Recon Patches, which 100% define this bag.
THE BAG
The construction is pretty much bulletproof. Tough Cordura outside, high density protective closed-cell foam as a mid-layer and reinforced nylon inside. There is no compromise in the construction. The material has been cut with the bags integrity in mind, not cutting corners or saving on material as it usually is on large scale production bags. The sides and bottom of the pack are one solid piece of Cordura. If that’s not enough for you there is additional 1” webbing going around and under the bag, to which a shoulder strap is attached via oversized carabiners. ‘Super heavy duty’ instantly comes to mind… and yes, it is! Of course that beefy 2” shoulder strap can be easily detached from the Maui bag and the bag itself can be used as “backpack insert” as well. There is also a flat webbing handle on top for in-hand carry, which is also super handy when the bag is used as a pack insert. The heavy duty zippers have been all equipped with custom foliage green paracord pulls, that not only look great but are totally silent as well. The standard metal zipper pulls’ jingle is the LAST thing you want on a wildlife photography trip. Nice touch! And last but not least – the outside dimensions of the bag: W 8.5” x H 9” x D 5”.
Proper Foliage Green, PALS, mil-spec Cordura... me likes!
COLORS
Foliage Green for me please! It blends nicely with most of my outdoor gear – packs, jackets etc., it doesn’t stand out too much, doesn’t scream ‘expensive gear inside!’ and it just looks good, both in an urban environment and in the great outdoors. Contrary to the outside, I've chosen a blaze orange inside so that I can always find the smallest parts of my gear in the bag. The visibility inside the bag is perfect, it almost looks like it’s illuminated. Of course you can choose your own color scheme, so there’s no need to follow mine (but you’re welcome to of course, it works great for me). My interior fabric of choice is the X-Pac super abrasion resistant laminated fabric made by Sailclotch Technology, so long life is guaranteed on the inside of Maui Minimalist too.
Almost like it’s illuminated!
INSIDE ARRANGEMENT
There are couple of ways you can arrange the inside of the Javran's bag (velcro, PALS, dividers, pockets etc.) but I've chosen simply one movable divider (on velcro) of about 2/3 of the bag’s height, with a small half-flap on top. Additionally there is a split-open flat compartment on the inside of the main flap, which is just perfect for 2 or 3 filters (depending on size and thickness).
Ingenious flap filter pocket.
OUTSIDE PARADISE
Let’s be honest, the coolest thing about this bag is the possibility to choose ANY outside configuration you want. Nothing is impossible. Here’s what I’ve chosen: Huuuuge velcro panel on the front… yeah, I’m patch junkie! PALS panel on the back including 4 attachment straps to give me modularity, especially when combined with a bigger PALS equipped pack.
Javran supplied my bag with 4 Secure Straps, which are soft PALS attachment straps with an easy and super secure metal loop closure. It's a cool improvement over the classic plastic PALS straps. It allows for some flexibility but still bonds the pack and pouch closer… it's like the pouch is actually sewn onto the pack. Just a really good design.
PALS on the right hand side, which I usually use to strap down my small travel tripod with 550 paracord. Of course I can attach any pouch there including a canteen pouch, dump bag, iPhone pocket etc., just whatever I need on a specific mission, even a knife in a sheath or a tactical folder.
Side PALS – perfect for adding on small pouches.
On the left side I asked for an organizer pocket, which is spacious enough for 2 spare batteries, a charger, my Victorinox Farmer pocket knife, LensPen cleaning tool and a couple of SD cards. Two translucent card pockets and an elastic mesh pocket help to organize it all in a proper order.
Also an ingenious side accessory pouch.
BAG IN USE
I usually use this bag as a standalone unit on my shoulder. But if needed it can be easily worn together with a pack or actually on a pack, attached directly to shoulder straps via [DIY] strap-lifters. I realized that when I was in the mountains last summer, in quite a wild area, so in the end I had to make my own improvised lifters with paracord. I tied them to the metal D- rings on the sides of Maui bag and attached it to my backpack (baby carrier actually) with a pair of ITW Grimlocks. It worked great! I was able to carry my son on my back and at the same time I had full access to my photo stuff.
Standard shoulder carry, works also with pack.
Paracord strap-lifters – the most convenient way to carry it on a big pack!
Overall the functionality of the Maui Minimalist is top notch. I designed the inside/outside to accommodate exactly my minimalist travel Fuji-X set, which is usually just a body, two lenses, spare batteries and cards. But it is still possible to load the inside with an extended outdoor / travel set, which consists of:
Fuji X-T1 body (also fits with the L-plate attached)
Fujinon 35/1.4 standard lens (a must)
Fujinon 55-200/2.8-3.5 telezoom lens (love this lens!)
Fujinon 16/1.4 wide angle lens for landscapes (or 56/1.2 when I plan a portrait session)
2 filters
2 spare batteries
Charger and cable (for more than 1-day trips)
Spare SD cards
Slik Travel tripod
All of that stuff still fits in and on the Maui Minimalist.
The quality of Javran’s craftsmanship is second to none. Maui Minimalist just oozes perfection, every single corner, every single stitch. But that’s what should be expected from a top notch custom maker, right? Yeah, it's my dream bag. Slightly tactical in overall appearance? Yes, just a bit, but that’s exactly why I wanted it so much. And last but not least... what other bag can you order in proper mil-spec Foliage Green with a huge velcro front panel for morale patches? All in all - it’s highly recommended!
That’s my bag!
To sum up: it’s my first ever review of a product where I can’t think how it could be improved. No downsides. It’s just perfect! Maybe because it’s a bespoke bag and was made exactly to my preferences. That’s a beauty of a custom made product... perfection! Sure, it comes at a price, but it’s still quite reasonable for what you get and starts at just below $200.
I’ve had a chance to play with a full custom version of this knife (before production release) and my first thought was, “Man, Spyderco should make it a production knife immediately”. Guess what? Yeah, they did!
The Techno is a perfect example of “big little knife”. It’s much stronger and can do much bigger work than the size suggests. Actually when inspecting a Spyderco Techno next to the full custom version by Marcin Slysz you hardly notice any differences. Maybe the grind lines are more refined on custom model, and also the pocket clip is different (full clip vs wire clip), but all in all Spyderco nailed it!
Spyderco Techno (right) vs. full custom version (left).
The Techno’s 2.55 inch blade (65mm) has been ground from almost .177 stock (4.5mm), which makes it one tough knife. Thanks to the full-height grind, the knife cuts surprisingly well. I’ve used it for almost any EDC task, both in urban and outdoor environments. It was also my backup knife last summer when sailing through the Great Lakes area, North of Poland. I did a lot of rope cutting with it, both polypropylene and old-school sizal rope (coconut fibre), which really kills most mid-range stainless steels on a long run.
But… the Carpenter’s CTS-XHP was hardly affected. It makes an awesomely long lasting and aggressive cutting edge, which is crucial for rope cutting. What’s interesting is that there was a short run in CPM-S30V steel produced (probably due to Carpenter’s steel shortage), which instantly became a collector’s item (marked S30V on the blade, of course). I’ve actually had 2 Techno’s, but both in CTS-XHP, so I can’t comment on Spyderco’s S30V performance.
Techno at work.
The titanium handle is thick, hefty, slightly curved, with beveled edges – a really substantial piece of cold metal! It was simply amazing how much power it was able to transfer from my hand to the blade when whittling or push-cutting through rope. As I said, it’s a big little knife. Like a bulldog: quite short from tip of it’s nose to end of tail, but with a POWERFUL bite! The handle is also beefy enough to be used in working gloves.
Grip is great!
Like a glove actually!
The blade locks securely via RIL lock, which stands for Reeve Integral Lock. I’ve always been a Chris Reeve Sebenza believer, a knife which introduced frame lock to the world of knives, so for me it’s the #1 of all locks. Sure, it’s personal thing if you like it or not, but it just works. The all-screw construction is really easy to disassembly for cleaning or pimping. The blade runs on a bronze washers, just like in the custom one. The Techno is really a smooooooth operator!
Easy to clean, easy to pimp.
The blue G10 backspacer has thick jimpings on it, which is a grip enhancing feature of course. It’s secured with torx screws and easy to change – no wonder there are many aftermarket spacers and studs available. I customized my Techno with a glow-in-the-dark G10 spacer from Cuscadi Scales, and I love the look of it now!
The wire clip can be placed for right or left hand carry. It positions the Techno quite deep in the pocket, so combined with the wire clip’s stealthy nature it’s not an obviously spottable folder. And last but not least – there is a lanyard hole, easily big enough for 550 paracord – it was a key feature for me this Summer, to secure the Techno for on-board use. I also put a small lanyard on it for EDC carry, which helps me to draw it from my pocket, especially when I’m seated.
During the last two years I’ve cut and whittled with it a lot! I’ve sharpened a countless number of sticks, cut canvas, leather, all kinds of strings, webbing tapes and ropes. I even used it as an improvised office kitchen knife, but of course it’s too short for any regular food processing. Peeling fruits, opening boxed milk or coffee beans bag, halving sandwiches etc. is what I used it for in the kitchen. What else? Sure it shines as a box cutter – a short stout blade and aggressive edge are key elements for such an application. The Techno is also my handy tool when I work with paracord (when bushcrafting or just for making lanyards) and thanks to the steel’s aggressive nature it works great on all kind of cords and ropes, here it is shredding 7mm polypropylene line.
Pocket cord shredder.
I’ve also used it in frosty winter and the CTS-XHP steel delivers performance in sub-zero conditions. The lowest temperature I worked at with my Techno was -14°C, of course in gloves. Even in these kind of weather conditions I was able to open it easily with a gloved hands, and also close it again (thanks to generous cut-out in Ti frame, originally for opening hole access). This is actually quite unique – most of the folders I have can be opened with gloves on, but closing is usually impossible. The Techno is one or the very few folders which can be operated without any issue.
Mr. Frosty.
All in all the Spyderco Techno checks all the boxes of a perfect tool-like EDC folder. Tough as nails, but still small enough to be carried everywhere, everytime (where legal, of course). It’s not a tactical looking knife, and thanks to bright blue backspacer it won’t scare anyone… it’s simply a cute, stout folder. It’s hard not to like it, even for non-knife people. And with a blade just a hair over 2.5 inch, it’s legal in most places around the globe (but again, be sure to check local law before carring it as EDC as it has a locking blade). The overall performance of the Techno is considerably bigger than the size suggests.
Techno next to a Sebenza, my reference working folder.
Any downsides? Sure, there is no perfect folder. First of all – there is a technical possibility to move the clip to the other side for southpaw carry, albeit the opening with left hand is not as easy as with right hand. It’s possible, just not easy (forget about gloves). Second – at 100 grams (3.6 oz) it’s not the lightest folder for it’s size. It doesn’t matter for jeans carry, but if you think it’d be cool folder for shirt pocket… well, not really. And last but not least… MSRP or $319.95 is not easy to swallow! However it can be found as a street price below $200 and for this money it’s really good choice and good value! It’s premium knife with premium materials. So if your budget allows – just go and grab it! It’s easily one of my most carried small EDC folders. And for sure the toughest!
