EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – You don’t have to be Captain Ahab searching for your white whale to know that life is full of quests, both big and small.
It is one of the things that can keep life fresh and interesting while dealing with the mundane hubbub of bills, errands and other daily tasks.
That’s one of the great things about the EDC hobby. You can go on quests to find a new piece of gear or find that last piece that can round out a collection of items perfectly.
This week’s column is about such a journey to make the most out of one of my favorite pieces of gear.
Last summer, my friend Ed Wittneber at Red Beard Knife and Tool sent me a wonderful gift – a handmade knife slip – as a gesture of support for my EDC endeavors and this column.
Frequent readers of this space know that Ed makes custom-made fixed blade knives and axes. He combines old-school artistry and craftsmanship with functionality.
My RB3 knife from Red Beard is a prized possession but is also a workhorse of a tool.
Ed kind of pooh-poohs his skills as a leathersmith, though. His knives and axes are works of art, but his leatherwork also taps into something primal, the type of work that humankind has been doing for thousands of years.
Since I got that slip, it has been the home to an older Colonial Barlow knife that has a cool story behind it, too.
John, over at J.O. Ventures Outdoors, one of my mentors in this EDC hobby, originally got this knife from a co-worker who was cleaning out the family house.
John passed it over to Tom at Knife Delights. Tom is an avid Buck collector, so he speaks my language right there. He also makes great YouTube content detailing the history of knives and how he cleans up older knives.
Anyway, Tom at Knife Delights restored this particular knife and then used it in a giveaway on his channel.
I was fortunate enough to have won this knife and it is now a prized part of my EDC collection.
But there was something missing when it came to that knife slip that Ed made.
As part of it, he made a smaller loop that I thought would be great for a pen. Unfortunately, it was too tight to fit even my smallest EDC pens.
So at Ed’s suggestion, I bought a Mighty Bar from Gear Spool to put in that loop and round out this carry option.
I’ll be honest: I have a conflicted view of pry bars. For about 350 days a year, I most decidedly do not need one.
The other times, they can be useful to open up a can of paint, pry apart a couple of frozen hamburger patties while grilling or provide some needed leverage while working on some camera equipment.
Really the only reason to have a pry bar is to avoid using your knife in a manner where you could snap off the tip.
At $15, the Mighty Bar seemed like the perfect price point to give it a try.
The Mighty Bar is made out of milled stainless steel and seems super strong for how light it is.
Gear Spool, the company that makes the Mighty Bar, says it can be used to peel off a label or sticker, pry a staple loose or turn a screw. Those are common daily tasks that you don’t necessarily want to use your knife to accomplish.
The Mighty Bar does have a hole where you can attach a lanyard. Instead of doing that, I am using a Ni Glo key ring that can be charged up in the sun or under artificial light. It is then supposed to glow all night long.
Anyway, this glow-in-the-dark gizmo gives me a little bit more leverage to pull the Mighty Bar out of its resting spot in my Red Beard leather slip.
So the quest is complete or mostly complete on the knife slip. Maybe at some point, I will upgrade and add a lanyard with a cool bead for the pry bar.
Here are some links to the gear mentioned in this column and to YouTube channels mentioned in passing too.
You can find out more about Red Beard Knife and Tool on Facebook. Here is a link.
You can also email Ed Wittneber at redbeardknt@yahoo.com.
Ed also has a YouTube channel. He is currently in the midst of a project in which he documents how he restores a different axe blade and handle each week.
Here is a link to the Mighty Bar, made by Gear Spool.
Here is a link to the Ni Glo glow-in-the-dark keychain attachment made by Gear Aid.
Here is a link to Knife Delights. There is a great playlist on Buck Knives and lots of content on how to refurbish old knives.
Here is a link to J.O. Ventures Outdoors. He makes thoughtful content on traditional pocket knives while going on a quest – there is that word again – to find bargains.
Also of note: I made an order and have gotten some new EDC hanks from Junkin Genius. I will be using these as a backdrop to show off some of my gear in the weeks ahead. You can learn more about this husband-and-wife team by going to their Instagram page.
Here are some other YouTube channels on knives and EDC gear that I find to be fun and informative.
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