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For those that don't know, the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoors Tradeshow (SHOT) sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is the largest industry tradeshow in the world for the outdoors community, and it is an event on par with the Superbowl and World Cup rolled into one for the folks that like to get dirty and smell the fresh air.
This year we sent our correspondent Kampfer to poke around SHOT and report back to us on what was new and noteworthy. Here's a list of what he came up with:
In the off chance you have not yet seen it, CRKT has released a new plier based multitool, the Technician:
Ever have a secret that you want to tell but you can't? It gets a lot worse when it's a case of you can't tell yet. I have- in fact, I have been really resisting the urge to go public with something that we have been working on for a while, but it's finally time!
It is that time again- time to have your say and make your voice heard! I know many of the readers out there may be sick of voting by now, but trust me, this time it's something important! It's the Official 2016 Multitool.org Multitool Of The Year Award, and we want you to help us choose the winner!
It's that time of year, and if you are thinking of asking for a tool for Christmas, or getting one for someone else but aren't sure what to get, here are some ideas (in no particular order!) on what to look for!
Anyone familiar with CRKT knives and tools knows that CRKT has never been interested in making the “same old, same old” kind of product, and you have to respect both their ability to create new and exciting products and share the lime light with their designers. Elsewhere designers aren’t credited on a product unless they have a big name, and how are you supposed to get a big name without being able to put it on anything?
Since the dawn of the knife man has had to sharpen his knife from time to time as the need arises, sharpening is a skilled labor, you have to learn how to use a stone to hone your edge or take the cheating route and use any one of the numerous gimmicks that they have for sharpening. Well Columbia River has a production knife that sharpens itself, I had to see it to believe but it’s true. And best of all, this puppy’s affordable.
Recently Tom Stokes designed a knife around another designers revolutionary opening design, which resulted in the Fulcrum Flame, a knife I own and like very much. Inspiration struck Tom again when looking at the Ashworth Turtle knife, and this time the result is the Gekkota. The Gekkota however has more in common with the money clip or dog tag style tools usually found in promo catalogues or discount outlets- or rather it's function has more in common with them. The overall quality of the Gekkota is the usual CRKT standard.
Sometimes the simplest designs are the best, which explains the myriad of one piece tools on the market these days. The Spare Tool follows that example in spirit if not in form. Technically it has more than one piece in the design, and is somewhat larger than the average one piece tool like Atwood's Prybaby, Gerber's Shard or Raker's Ring Tool. However, it does fit the pattern of a basic prybar, bottle opener and a few other functions rolled into one basic piece of steel like the others.
Like many other folks, my first thoughts on the new CRKT Eat'n Tool were less than serious, and I wondered how any real multitool enthusiast or user would make use of this tool. After carrying and using this tool I realized I was looking at this tool all wrong- it's not an Every Day Carry (EDC) type tool, it's a specialized tool for a camper or hiker who wants a lightweight spork with some extra functionality for maintaining equipment. For the type of user who really cares about weight, the Eat'n Tool might just be the ticket.
What kind of people would write collect and review multitools? Quite simple really- we are designers and do-ers, outdoors types and indoor types, mechanics, doctors, problem solvers and problem makers. As such, we have, as a world spanning community, put every type, size and version of multitool, multifunction knife, pocket knife and all related products to every test we could manage in as many places and environments as there are.