Posts Tagged ‘tools’

The flashlight that doubles as a weapon

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

defenderYou know those cool flashlights the cops and NCIS guys use all the time on TV? It’s true, gone are the days of the 8 D-cell monsters cops used to carry. They’ve been replaced by light, pocket sized, and high intensity models–such as the SureFire E2D Executive Defender. This light is a little over five inches long, weighs only five ounces, and easily fits in a pants pocket or the accompanying holster.

It works as a weapon in two ways: the light can be turned on instantaneously with the thumb switch and shone directly into an attacker’s eyes. It’s bright enough to temporarily destroy his night vision long enough for you to get away; and, if that doesn’t work, both ends of the light are notched striking surfaces. That surface will not only do substantial damage to skin, it will leave a distinctive mark on the attacker that the police will be able to recognize.

The case is made of super strong military spec aluminum and o-ring sealed for water resistence. The lens is thick tempered Pyrex glass, and designed to withstand the shock of hard use–or an intentional shot to an attacker’s forehead.

We carry one frequently, and always when we’re traveling. They make great gifts, too, for the women in your life who might need a little extra protection.

One set of batteries lasts about eleven hours. So, don’t forget to buy extras.

The ProCarpenter tape measure

Monday, December 29th, 2008

tape-measureUsing the right tool for the job is more than a cliché. Whatever the job is, having good tools makes it more pleasurable, and, we might add, easier. FastCap bills itself as “innovative tools for the professional woodworker,” and although we’re not professional woodworkers, we do like to putter occasionally and we like what FastCap has to offer. In particular, we’re liking its ProCarpenter line of tape measures.

These tapes come in your choice of six different blade styles, including metric, left-right, flat back and story pole. (A story pole is a stick with markings used in construction to easily repeat measurements. The story pole tapes come with an edge that are easily marked, and erased, by pencil.) The tapes also have an erasable surface on one side of the case for making quick notes, and — this is very handy– a built in pencil sharpener.

These tapes are available at most woodworking stores and at Amazon.

Blackberry: Function Over Flash

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

Blackberries

With all the recent iPhone 3G hype, it’s been easy to overlook the solid line of phones that BlackBerry has released this year.  The Pearl, Curve and 8800 World Edition models aren’t flashy, but they’re the best smartphones out there for people looking for function over flash.

Phone First. Sound quality and reception are excellent.  You still make phone calls on your phone, right?

Battery Life. Our BlackBerry 8800s only need to be charged about every 2-3 days, even with regular talking, internet browsing and email downloading.  Forget to charge your iPhone overnight and it’ll die on you before lunch.

Choice of Carrier. BlackBerries are available with almost every major mobile carrier.  If you want an iPhone, you’re stuck with AT&T.

Not Just Business. The BlackBerry web browser certainly isn’t as nifty as the iPhone’s, but it’s plenty good for browsing Wikipedia or ESPN.  With an extra 16GB memory card, the BlackBerry serves as a very capable portable media player.

Cost. Most BlackBerry models are cheaper than the iPhone, but the real savings is in the monthly service and data plans.

PS. The upcoming iPhone-like BlackBerry Storm is getting rave reviews.