Five O'Clock Friday: The AK-47 Multi-Tool

Sort of gives a whole new meaning to the term "charging handle,"

I plan to do something more exciting than auto mechanics with my guns this weekend!

Brew Cutlery Delivered

Back in February 2014, I posted about the Kickstarter campaign for Brew Cutlery. The project took longer than expected to come to fruition. However, the company did send regular email updates on the progress. This week the first sets of the finished product were sent out to supporters.

The finished knife, fork and spoon appear well made and quite sturdy. They are fairly hefty and seem be made to last. The first thing I thought was they'd be great for the outdoor table or for camping. Honestly, I can't see setting your entire dinner table with them, but if you are enjoying time with friends outdoors, there would always be a bottle opener handy.

Any they'll open a beer bottle just fine.

Open a Beer With a Banana

It's easier than you think.

Happy Friday.

Brew Cutlery

It's no surprise that we're fans of at-the-ready bottle openers. I keep a Blue & Gray bottle opener on my keychain at all times, and I'm often the only person with a handy opener. While others are digging through kitchen drawers, I'm enjoying my beer. I recently received an email promotion from Brew Cutlery announcing their Kickstarter project.

Brew Cutlery provides a stainless steel knife, fork and spoon with a built in bottle opener in the handle. Having three openers at your place setting might be overkill, but one can never be too prepared I suppose. I recall the wisdom of the late Justin Wilson, who always wore both suspenders and a belt; never leave anything to chance he said. 

I did make a contribution to the Brew Cutlery Kickstarter program. I'll look forward to adding the openers to my collection and posting a review later this Summer.

Five O'Clock Friday: Irish Watch

Perfect for a Friday night on the town.

Have an enjoyable, and safe weekend.

H/T The Lonely Libertarian.

Ill-Placed Bottle Opener

I remain intrigued by the often clever designs people come up with for keeping bottle openers handy. After all, who would want to be caught unprepared? However, I think I see a design flaw here.

That's right, the bottle opener is embedded in the bottom of a shoe. Quick, stop what you are doing and take a look at the bottom of your shoe. Go ahead, I'll wait....

Now think about this. After walking down the boardwalk to the beach, or across the street to the city park, you're going to stick a bottle you intend to drink from into whatever filth has been stuck to the bottom of your shoe?

I'll stick with the trusty Blue & Gray Brewery bottle opener on my keychain.

Seen on ThisIsWhyImBroke.com.

Real Bullet Bottle Openers

Face it, beer bottle openers made from ammunition are a natural fit for Musings Over a Pint. So when the folks at RealBullet.com offered to send along some samples of their product, I was happy to open a couple beers with Real Bullet bottle openers to try them out.

The 50 Caliber Bottle Opener is made with a .50 BMG casing and bullet. This large opener makes quick work of opening a bottle with its hand-sized leverage. The .308 Bottle Opener does double duty as a keychain. I always keep a bottle opener hooked to my keys — just in case. I like the conversation starter aspect of these bullet bottle openers, so I think I'll add the .308 to my keyring. I just need to remember to remove it if I have the misfortune to get on an airplane!

Real Bullet also make bullet necklaces in a number of calibers, if you're a jewelry wearer. (Sorry guys, I posted this a little late for Mother's Day shopping.) There's also a 50 caliber pen available that might be just the thing for your range bag.

Note: I received the two bottle openers as review samples. No compensation was received for this post.

Sunset and Sunrise App

With the lengthening days, and the time change, I often find myself wondering just how much daylight is left? Do I have time to get to the range, shoot, and still see to pick up my brass? Is there time for some yard work? Not to worry, "there's and app for that!"

Sunset and Sunrise for the iPhone provides the needed data in a easy to read, and interesting manner. The app uses iPhone's built-in GPS, or you can manually set a location. During the day, the main screen shows the time left until sunset, as well as how much daylight is remaining. The remaining light is based on "civil twilight," the limit at which terrestrial objects can be clearly distinguished. After dark, the app switches to determing first light and sunrise. Another screen provides information on upcoming solstices and equinoxes. You can also review future, and past, sunrise and sunset times.

One evening I sat at my window and watched the sunset and the app click down. It was interesting, in a nerdy sort of way. After official sunset, the app clicked down until last light, which was pretty accurate, even in our wooded location. I've used the app during an evening at the range to get the most time shooting and know I'd still be able to get packed up and leave before the gate lock became hard to see. Of course, if I had mistimed, my iPhone flashlight would have come in hand in working the combination lock.

Sunset and Sunrise provides a simple means to keep track of remaining daylight. It's available for $1.99 in the iTunes app store. Sure, it's not that hard to judge the sunset and sunrise without it, but where's the fun in that?

Shopping For Scissors

The Department of Homeland Security let us know that if we encounter an active shooter, we can protect ourselves with scissors. Since then, I've been trying to find the right tool to add to my EDC (Every Day Carry) gear.

It's confusing, there are so many styles of scissors to choose from. And then there's also the problem of how to carry this weapon. Should I use a Strong Side or Inside the Waistband holster? I think Appendix Carry is probably not a good idea. What about "BUS" (Back Up Scissors)? Is one pair enough? Plastic or metal grip? How does one balance blade length and concealability? Of course, concealment brings up the legal questions. Can scissors be carried concealed or must they must be open carried? Virginia's Concealed Weapons law doesn't specifically mention scissors so it's unclear in this regard.

And I thought firearm selection was confusing. Decisions, decisions.

Utility Ring

Here's a high-end multi-purpose tool that's a fashion statement as well. The Titanium Utility Ring features a bottle opener, a straight blade, a serrated blade, a saw, and even a comb.

I wonder if the security theatre team at the airport would catch this. At $385 I'm afraid I won't be testing it out anytime soon. You can order your custom sized ring at Etsy.

Gifts For The Shooter Who Has Everything

Speaking of top shelf, here's a shaving brush that goes beyond a plain wooden handle. The Six Shooter Shaving Brush is brought to us by the same folks who gave us the 50 cal bottle opener.

Bullets2Bandages produces unique items from real bullets, casings, and firearms parts. A portion of the proceeds is donated to charities supporting veterans.

Today's Lesson

I always usually carry a folding knife with me. I use it for everything from opening packages to cutting up a lunchtime apple. Today I received the package shown below. The envelope was wrapped in multiple layers of reinforced strapping tape. I wasn't going to be tearing this one open by hand. After registering my amazement at the packaging method, I reached for the knife that should be in my pocket, and it was not there. I somehow forgot to load it up this morning when I left for work.

This wasn't an emergency, but it made me think. You can't predict when you'll need a tool, be it your knife, a flashlight, or even a gun. It's easy to be complacent and head out unprepared for an emergency. In my case I didn't check that I had everything I usually carry before I left the house. The knife is something I use frequently, and this time when I needed it, my carelessness caught up and it wasn't there. I didn't even realize I didn't have it until I needed it. It certainly wasn't a crises that I couldn't get into the package right then. But it was a reminder. Be prepared. Carry your tools.

Better Weather Prognostication

So, you're at the range, and see some clouds off in the distance. Do you keep shooting? How much time do you have? How long will the rain last? Here's an interesting app for your iPhone (iPad and Android too) which can help with your outdoor activity planning. Dark Sky shows the precipitation forecast for the next hour. And it does so with amazing accuracy.

How does it work? You can read about the science behind that app at "How Dark Sky Works", but the creators put it simply,

We’ve found that precipitation bands are even more coherent and behave approximately linearly over the course of minutes, and in many cases up to an hour or more. So how do we go about quantifying this linear motion? Math, that’s how!

The developers are programmers and mathematicians, not meteorologists. Weather data from NOAA is cleaned up and the short term precipitation forecast is extracted and then displayed in a clean and concise manner as shown in the screenshot at the right. The yellow band at the top shows expected precipitation amounts and it will move to indicate the confidence given to the predictions. There's also a simple radar display that allows you to scroll forward to see the expected short term movement.

This isn't a full-fledged weather app. It has one purpose; to forecast short term precipitation. After a few days of testing Dark Sky, I found it quite accurate. One evening I even spent some time outside watching the clouds roll in and waiting for the rain to start. Dark Sky seemed to be accurate for my location to within minutes.

Dark Sky for the iPhone is available in the iTunes Store for $3.99.

50 Cal Bottle Opener

I came across Bullet2Bandages a couple of weeks ago via Facebook. In perusing their web site I learned that this company was founded by two Navy veterans whose goal is to create unique objects from fired brass and use a portion of the profit to support various non-profit organizations which support veterans and their families.

Necklaces and bracelets make up the majority of the products they offer, but I decided the bottle opener made from fired 50 caliber brass would be more useful to me. Besides, one can never have too many bottle openers. And this one is sure to be a conversation starter.

Does it work? Quite well in fact. I admit I had some apprehension that this would be more eye-candy than function, however the cut made to the brass grips the bottle top, and the weight of the brass and reloaded bullet, provides good leverage. Oh, the eye-candy factor is cool too.

I purchased this product myself and no compensation was received for this review.

A Bottle Opener At The Ready

I've kept a bottle opener on my keychain for years. There was one time many years ago when I was stuck in a hotel room with no opener, and vowed that would never happen again. And have you ever noticed there always seems to be a line at the party beer cooler waiting to use the lone opener? (In all honesty, I've never figured out the belt buckle trick.)

There are options to keep an opener handy of course. We've previously looked at this iPhone case with the built-in bottle opener. Now a creative iPod owner has realized that Apple actually provides a bottle opener with its portable products.

Credit for this goes to @EvaZebra on Twitter. And thanks to Al over at Hop Talk for bringing it to our attention.

AK-47 USB Drive

Last month we looked at a razor blade shaped bottle opener. Now here's something that is sure to get the hoplophobes worked up. The folks at Brando.com have a USB flash drive shaped like a AK-47 "assault rifle!"

Of course, to anyone with a modicum of common sense would realize this is not a weapon. In other words kids, don't take it to school with you.

SOS Mobile iPhone App

For the past week or so I've been looking through the iTunes App Store, searching for an emergency notification app. My goal for such an app would be to instantly alert predetermined persons that I am in an emergency situation. Obviously, calling 911 is the best and first course of action in an emergency. However, 911 may be of limited use from a cell phone.

In general I was disappointed in most of the apps I looked at, and even bought. I looked at a number of these tools before finding one that seems to meet my functional requirements, is easy to use, and highly configurable. I chose SOS Mobile by Sylvain Deguire. This app costs 99¢ in the iTunes store.

The initial set up requires you to set up an account on the application server. After entering your contact information, you will receive a confirmation email to validate your account. After validation, you then configure the many options. I entered three contacts to receive both email and SMS alerts. I set a 5 second delay before starting, and have the alert repeat every 5 minutes until cancelled. There are a number of other options that you may set depending upon your intended use of the app. There is also an option to send tracking alerts at a selected intervals.

Once the application is set up, it is easy to use. To activate the emergency alert you simply launch the app and hit the SOS button. Your contacts will receive an SMS with your personalized message, along with a Google Maps link to your location. The emails sent out contain links to a location map and a link to a web page with the personal information you choose to supply in the setup. When the emergency is over, you cancel the alert from within the application.

The validation process did not work for me the first time so I initially struggled with the set up. I contacted the developer and received a response almost immediately. Upon reinstalling and trying again the process worked. When one of my contacts installed the app, he also had an issue with the validation process and had to repeat the install. The developer theorized, based on an invalid URL error, that Apple was serving up an old version intermittently, and he contacted Apple about the issue. I've since installed the app on two more iPhones with no issues whatsoever. The developer was very quick to respond to my emails until the issue was resolved.

Once aspect of this app, and others that I tried, of which the user should be aware, is the possible privacy issue. To provide the desired functionality the emergency alert goes out through the provider's server. The SOS Mobile developer places a privacy statement within the app to make sure the user is aware of this. He notes that the contact information will not be used for marketing. I previously used another alert app and that developer actually spammed my emergency contacts to promote his other products. Given the responsive service I've received from the SOS Mobile developer I am confident he won't commit such an abuse.

I hope I never need to activate this application, beyond these tests that I did. However, I am comforted to know that with SOS Mobile I can easily get a distress call out to trusted friends and family, with the information they need to respond, or to contact others who can.

A Razor! Or Not.

Over at Gadgets and Gear they're offering a uniquely shaped bottle opener. The 4 1/2" x 2 1/4" brushed stainless steel tool is designed to look like a double-edge safety razor blade. It's cool looking but what popped into my head was this; how do you think the TSA would react to this in a traveler's bag? The agency's list of prohibited items specifically indicates such a blade as forbidden in carry-on luggage.

But it's not a real razor blade you say. Surely the men and women in the police costumes can recognize that. Don't be so sure. These are the same people who detained a teenager because she had a gun-shaped pattern sewn on her purse.

When traveling I'll stick with my trusty, and obvious, Blue & Gray keychain bottle opener.

Tool or Weapon?

XS Flashlight For iPhone

I admit it, I'm a bit of a nerd geek, especially when it comes to new "apps" to add to my iPhone. I posted about a flashlight app for the iPhone last year. That utility has been on my phone since, and used fairly frequently. Recently I was introduced to another iPhone flashlight utility — XS Flashlight.

Unlike Flashlight reviewed previously, XS Flashlight does one thing, and one thing only. It turns on the iPhone LED. Period. The app is designed to come on instantly when you tap the application icon. The developers claim to have minimized the code and removed all unnecessary graphics. In fact the only interface is a button to turn off the light without leaving the app, and a screen for developer contact and social media sharing. The accompanying screenshot is admittedly pointless. There's no brightness setting (the LED is turned on full blast) or color blinking options. The social media tie-in is a bit superfluous, but the developer can be forgiven for building in a little promotion. The app checks in at a mere 0.3 MB.

Granted, it could be said that one should always carry a tactical flashlight. But there are times that's not convenient, or when I'm negligent. For those times, taking advantage of the iPhone's bright LED is a handy option to have. I think I'll be keeping the XS Flashlight on my phone.

XF Flashlight is available in the App Store for 99¢

Note: I received a free copy of the XS Flashlight from the developer for possible review.

CCW iPhone Reference

Legislation to make concealed carry permits nationally recognized between the states as been in the news of late. One push behind the proposals is to lessen the confusion and untangle the myriad of gun laws that states enact in ignorance of the U.S. Constitution. Gun owners have a responsibility to know the laws of their states, and of the states to which they travel. Even among non-travelers, having a handy reference can be a useful tool.

I've used a number of iPhone apps that provide references to these laws. CCW – Concealed Carry 50 State Guide is one of the newer such apps available for the iPhone. The main screen for each state provides a quick summary of the state's regulations. Links are provided for detailed information on reciprocity, transportation, restricted areas, and the duty to inform. Links to official state websites are provided where applicable.

The app also uses the phone's built-in GPS functionality to find nearby gun-related places such as shooting ranges and gun stores. Another feature allows the user to input the state or states where he (or she) holds conceal carry permits and the app will show a map and list the states that honor the user's permits.

Someday perhaps we will have elected representatives who actually follow the Constitution they swore to uphold and we will no longer need references like this.

Note: This app and others like it are for informational (or entertainment) purposes only. Be sure to check current laws, from official sources, before travelling. Be a responsible gun owner.