Goldilocks Just Right Knife?

Extrema Ratio BFK PIXEL Full Review

Extrema Ratio's BFK Pixel  is a small fixed blade knife (but the largest in the PIXEL range) offered in several variations. Here are the basic specifications of the model seen above:

Steel: Listed as "Nitrogen"

Handle scales: (Milled) Green Carbon Fibre

Fixing bolts and fittings: stainless steel- type not listed

Kydex scabbard (standard riveted construction)

Associated nylon type "Paracord" and small plastic cord lock.

2 Malice clip/straps. Material unlisted but looks like some sort of polyurethane?)

Other versions are with Magnacut and or Aluminium scales and or G10 and or micarta.

How does the BFK PIXEL compare to other "neck type" Knives from Extrema Ratio?

From bottom to top: SATRE, VERSA (Expeditions) and BFK PIXEL

Let's discuss the Steel "Nitrogen"

On the practical front, the undesignated "Nitrogen" steel performs really well. I have cut, bashed, sideways dragged, sliced and carved my way through countless natural materials whilst out in the bush. The blade has been hardened to HRC 58 according to the manufacturer and I have never witnessed any sort of indication of corrosion on the satin surface. It is true (as the manufacturer states regarding their "Nitrogen steel"*), a simple strop and the blade remains razor sharp after working on hardwoods, and potentially corrosive food and plant saps/resins. 

How often am I stropping such a blade? Not often at all. In fact the frequency would equate to a weekend camping trip (where cutting food and preparing a fire along with gathering mushrooms and herbs, gutting and cutting up fish (no skinning or butchering ie hunting game) easily up to 2 times per month. So for most, this equates to two weekends away every month. Well that's a lot if you are working a regular weekly job. I'm not going to talk about using this knife in a professional way, ie every day like a chef for example or someone in the fishing industry or hunting game for a living. This is my third knife featuring this undesignated "Nitrogen" steel. So it is certainly not necessary to enjoy the wilds if I do not know what exactly is this nitrogen steel alloy only to know that it performs with good corrosion resistance and does not need to be sharpened the moment I use it.

Blade Finish

Highly polished Satin finish, with the edge hand ground and polished. Just incase you don't know, a polished edge will always hold up against corrosion better than a roughly milled edge regardless of the steel.

If you are one who is concerned about food safe blades, then you can't really go past the satin finish. 

Now for a (brief) Technical discussion

The purposeful addition of nitrogen into modern steel alloys has been shown to increase many favourable properties of the steel especially in terms of fine grain structure. To date, there are several acknowledged nitrogen enhanced alloys used in cutlery manufacture. For example but not limited to: Nitro B; Nitro V; Nitro X7; Vanax (although more widely known for it being a high vanadium content alloy); Sandvik's 14C28N; BD1N; X50CrMoVN15; LC 200N (Cronidur 30); Nitrobe 77; Vancron 40 etc.

This steel, simply labelled "Nitrogen" could be any of the above plus something else. In fact, for 420HC it has been shown that small amounts of Nitrogen introduced into this steel has beneficial results in terms of performance (I am not referring to ion implantation, which merely implants Nitrogen into a nano layer on the exterior of the steel and in the case of 420HC has shown definitely improvements in hardness and wear resistance). As far as nitrogen enhancement is concerned it has long been know that even very small amounts of Nitrogen have had beneficial effects upon tool steel performance (for example see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26872202_Effect_of_increased_nitrogen_content_on_the_structure_and_properties_of_tool_steels

Whatever the Nitrogen steel alloy they are using is really irrelevant because one can not be biassed as to it's performance based upon the knowledge of what is already known for currently employed nitrogen enhanced tool steels. So from the point of view of such "testers" such as myself, my findings are simply based upon real world performance and not upon a name.

If any of the above worries you and you can simply not own or use a knife where you must know the actual alloy (or at least see some numbers or name engraved upon the blade) then such a knife is not for you. 

Back in the day, many a knife company existed (and still do) just fine with no name brand carbon steels, fact! Nowadays we have convinced ourselves that unless it has the label of "Magna Star" (this is a fictitious name I invented for the next series after MagnaCut) then we simply can not function on the trail let alone in the wilderness LOL! 

Actually, I believe there are many other, than the now infamous "Bark River", who are in fact using steels other than what is laser engraved upon them and simply are yet to be caught out! In most cases many manufacturers add a premium value to their products by way of the steel designation.

Most people (again another fact) would not be able to tell the difference outside of a laboratory environment using at the very least a XRF to analyse the steel constituents of what steel is in their knives.

The Carry System

Like all Extrema Ratio carry systems (I like to say "carry systems" rather than simply call it a scabbard) the BFK Pixel is one of modular in design. It comes with a kydex sheath, which via friction alone securely locks the knife in place. The knife can be thus carried upside down around one's neck via the included paracord loop,

or on a belt via the 2 included Malice straps. There are other optional carry methods such a belt clip (not shown here but you can check it out on their site here.

Shown below is the BFK Pixel set up for lefthand carry in the horizontal postion.

Seen below is the Extrema Ratio BFK Pixel setup for right hand belt carry in the horizontal manner.

At 3.5" or 89mm blade length, the Extrema Ratio BFK PIXEL is totally at home on day hikes where one might chance upon or deliberately look for mushrooms, or lighting a fire for lunch; 

Yes, you are seeing correctly, I have lit a small fire upon a fallen tree which is basically very damp but not as wet at the forest floor.

have the need to cut up one's food for the day, do a spot of fishing or even on a well trodden hiking and camping trail, collecting materials for a fire (Or to enable one to sit upon any damp objects as birch bark is waterproof) as seen below.

                    

The BFK Pixel pictured above sitting atop of the Yanagai Matsutake mushroom otherwise known as the Poplar Mushroom, a delicious mushroom which a certain times of the yer can be found growing upon the dead parts of certain poplar varieties. I cut mushrooms for most of the day and came home with a bag an extra 5Kgs heavier after cutting mushrooms against the dirty bark of trees and their roots for most of the day. The knife held an excellent edge after such work.

Geometry of the Blade

The main blade features a gradual curvature, that while subtle, does not go unnoticed, ending in a tanto-esque tip. The grind is that of a high sabre. The spine has a gradual thinning from 3.85mm at the butt end towards the tip at 3.4mm approx 20mm from the tip, so it's clearly not a super thin tip but also thin enough to make this blade function well at any penetrative tasks.


The handle scales are minimal yet provide a totally non slip grip in ungloved hands (this version in milled green carbon fibre).

There is a generous lanyard hole for either a cord or better still some flat "climber's accessory tape".

As with all "neck-type and or EDC fixed blades", some will find if their hands are bigger than size 8.5/9, this type of blade will be simply too small for their paws.

 

On this day hike I only took the BFK PIXEL with me and it wasn't a problem to prepare feather sticks and cut birch bark  for a fire, cut into some birch wood to make a divot to start a small fire, cut up some food and chop a few small branches which were getting in the way of me picking some rather delicious mushrooms. On top of all of this the knife on the day was carried covertly around my neck under my jacket.

From the manufacturer's literature regarding their "Nitrogen" steel.
*Nitrogen is the technical specification of Extrema Ratio: dedicated steel selection, machining and heat treatment cycle.

I don't know about any of this above but from what I do know, it is paramount for Nitrogen enhanced steels, (for example Nitro X7) not to allow the edge to heat up unnecessarily during sharpening processes, maybe that's why they mention "machining" in order to emphasise their attention to details for those in the know. My point is this knife cuts well and stays sharp. 



BCT

@BushCampingTools








 

Zorro Petrol Lighters Love them or hate them what is it going to be?

 

Zorro, a Chinese brand of petrol lighters, some say are copies of Zippo lighters. When you start to look at the Zorro line up you can of course find lighters which resemble Zippo lighters. This however, is no different to bicycle manufacturer "A" bringing out a bike made from the same material as bicycle manufacturer B's bike but in a different colour and or slightly different parts. For example: bicycle manufacturer B's bike has parts which are CNC manufactured and not cast as in Bicycle manufacturer A's products. Both are built around the "A" frame, both are made from Al alloy. No one in their right mind is going to say bike company A is ripping off bike company B, fact.

The Zorro lighter you see above is nothing like the Zippo. The case in machined from a solid block of brass and the hinge is also machined into the case. The only part not made from brass is the hinge pin. (see below). Such a hinge does not display the hysteresis (sideways play) seen in every Zippo (even brand new ones!).

The outer case feels solid (because it is), the lines are smooth and it feels great in the hand. I can't rip the pocket either financially or physically because of it's smooth lines and reasonable price point.

How about the business end of things? The actual ignition and combustion chamber is of course similar to that of the Zippo. It comprises of the folded piece of metal, either titanium, brass or steel with a striker wheel, also made of steel, a flint made from ferro cerium alloy and a wick. 

The thickness of the material in the Zippo is approximately 0.49mm whereas the thickness of the Chinese made insert is closer to 0.45mm. Yes, it could be argued that there really is no difference in sheet thickness between the two, but there is and this is the way the Chinese manufacturer can cut costs. Is it less functional the Chinese insert. Absolutely no. What are the other differences? Well the Zippo wick is definitely superior in construction to that of the Zorro lighter. 

One can clearly see the woven nature of a genuine Zippo wick

The Zippo wick is of a woven construction and this helps to maintain the integrity of the wick over time. In order for the gasoline lighter to work efficiently, a wick must not unravel. 

The Zorro wick before I had a chance to cut it back and try and fix it up. The only real fix here is to replace it with a Zippo wick!

Oh by the way, before we get too far away from stuff made in China, the Zippo's butane gas insert is made in CHINA! Yes, of course it is, because of all places China is ranking number one in such manufacturing. 

Here we see the Zorro insert, and yes, it has the same number of holes (8) as a Zippo does, in this case the insert is much narrower than that of the "standard Zippo". The dimensions of the Zorro 538 HK No. 3063 are:

Height: 2.32"

Width:  1.35"

Thickness: 0.55"

The Zippo Slim dimensions

Height: 2.38"

Width: 1.13"

Thickness: 0.38"

I provide these specifications only for interest as the two lighters really can not be compared as they are manufactured with different techniques.

This Zorro model actually incorporates an O-ring seal to prevent unnecessary evaporation of the  Zippo fuel (refined petrol- white gas). There is no such feature on the Zippo lighter.  Ok, I made a custom made silicone seal for this lighter, as I felt the O-rings supplied were just not exactly right.

WURKKOS HD02 MINI EDC Flashlight. Why this is not only a cool looking EDC flashlight but why it's actually a good one.

 WURKKOS HD02 MINI

Main features:

1300LM

204m Beam

90+CRI

Plus a really useful

"Wing Light" (Flood light) for reading etc.

WURKKOS.com flashlights are made by WOKESIDA Technology Co.Ltd. (you guessed it!) in Shenzhen City. 

Wurkkos has been around since 2019. Specialising in the R and D and manufacturing of Flashlights for: EDC, Tactical,  Diving and Camping activities. Most of their flashlights are manufactured using aero space grade 6061 Aluminium alloy and engineered with durability in mind. 

The Wurkkos HD O2 Mini is simply a smaller EDC version of their very cool Wurkkos HD 02 PRO which won the prestigious IF Design award in 2026! The Wurkkos HD 02 Mini is the cut down version but not cut down in functions. To be able to fit comfortably into the pants pocket, one wing flood light is present, we have lost the UV and LASER features of the HD 02 PRO but have retained the magnetic tail cap sporting the 1/4" 20 tripod mount, a super sturdy pocket clip with an all rounded, zero acute pocket damaging design. 

Packed full of features with dimmable lighting solutions, such as red LED to preserve night vision, long run time "Moon light mode", flood and spotlight modes, USB C rechargeable removable 3.7V 900 mAh AA Lithium ion battery. The unit can also be powered via a regular AA and a NiMh AA. (Note the NiMh battery if used can not be charged via the USB C port!). The unit is made from machined 6061 aero space Aluminium alloy. 

Functionally, the HD 02 Mini uses a magnetic Hall effect switch to change modes between flood light, spot and red (660nm) LED light sources. Speaking of LEDs, Wurkkos utilise LED's from leading LED manufacturers such as Luminus, Cree and Nichia (for example the Nichia 519A).

Ok so there are plenty of reviews out there showing the operation of this EDC flashlight and I'm going to say after fully reading the manual (It is also available online too in case you were to lose the included paper copy), it IS easily understood and the light operates exactly as described. However, rather than repeat their reviews showing how this thing operated, I want to focus upon the actual usability of this small pocket sized flashlight. 

This is the stuff I really liked:

Firstly, on the design. So the big brother to this EDC version won an IF design award, so that in itself says something! 

Since this is really just a smaller version of the bigger HD 02 PRO, then one can easily see, at a quick glance it embodies a modern, feel good in the hand look. The geometric design focusing upon a basic rectangular prism gives this small EDC flashlight a look of "Tactical" appearance with a solid feel for such a small light but not a feel of being too heavy. Also despite it's prismatic appearance it is not rough feeling or has any surface which would appear to damage one's pants pocket.

PLUS because of it's design, it won't "roll off a table", since it just doesn't roll!

The magnetic battery cover has a very good thread of generous length. Why do I mention this? Because the biggest beef I have with flashlight manufacturers of EDC lights is that many produce battery covers with almost NO thread length and or of flimsy, extremely fine thread pitch which will be a definitely site of equipment failure. The threads of this small EDC light are however, not flimsy but look like miniature versions of a tungsten carbide core drill I have sitting on my desk LOL!

This EDC light uses a AA battery size, NOT a AAA. OK AAA battery powered EDC lights are ok because you can make the actual light smaller but with lower run time trade offs. One will never get the burn time from a AAA battery, fact. 

Run time for me is paramount, more so than how powerful the light is because ALL modern LED flashlights are powerful when it comes to lumen output. This light is able to produce up to 1300 LM, this is blindingly bright but seriously for EDC, I want a light to run for a long time. 

Say I get caught in the subway (yeah it has happened and the train stops somewhere between stations, all lights out, you can be the guy or gal with the mobile phone, and sure, almost everyone these days is carrying a mobile phone but their capacity for lighting is NOT their virtue, plus phones are definitely easy to drop, one can not grip it like a proper flashlight design. Ok so speaking of run times, they are pretty good.

OK, here are some pertinent specifications:

Spotlight mode Maximum setting

2, 32 and 24 minutes respectively  for the following lighting intensities: 1300 LM,510 LM and170 LM.

Floodlight mode maximum brightness: 30 and 35 minutes for: 400 and 220 LM

Minimum brightness in Floodlight mode 18 LM, 17hr and 6 minutes! Let me tell you right now that at 10 lumens one can easily follow a pathway in complete darkness, just to set the record straight. So 18 LM is more than enough and a continuous run time of 17hours is very good (this is of course with the included Lithium ion battery installed and fully charged).

Moonlight mode at 0.5 lumens is over 60 hours- you can just read a book in total darkness at 0.5 lumens-maybe if you life depended upon it and you had luck on your side 0.5 lumens might get you out of a cave if it was a simple straight line out of there LOL!

The side light The longest run time for minimum mode which is 12 lumens and this is 17 hours and 26 minutes! and the shortest on max and minimum respectively is: 320 &210 LM is 3 minutes and 1hr 28 minutes.

Transport safety

In order to safely lock out this light from accidental switching on during transport, whether that is in the pocket or in a piece of luggage, a safety switch is seen here. I note that when the light is withdrawn from the pocket the safety switch is only directed towards the OFF position if it were to encounter any fabric resistance. That's smart. For the not so attentive, there is of course a small but obvious "pictogram" of how the battery must be inserted into the unit. This of course covers the manufacturer from all those who insert the battery the wrong way, although I would imagine like many modern LED lights reverse polarity protection would be operating. Of course if you are like me travelling all the time through airports, you may actually disable the batteries like me by placing some insulating tape over the  terminals for extra safety for lights carried ONBOARD, as it is of course illegal to transport any lithium ion batteries in the cargo.

Weather Resistance

 It's only splash proof and for me, I wish it were truly IPX68  instead of just IPX6 but this is OK, it's not a light for caving  right? They do state in the manual NOT to submerge this particular model. Noting WURKKOS make many waterproof lights including some kick butt dive lights (Hopefully I will get to review some of these in the future and truly take them UW.). 

The HD 02 is drop resistant to 1.5 m and i think it might damage the concrete should I drop it LOL. 

You can tell I like the design right?

What else do I like? Well that if one chooses to use a regular AA battery, the charge light is a different colour other than green 

Showing 50-100% charge at "solid green"

Time to fully charge included battery is approximately 1.25hr if charged at 5V 0.9A

Power of this unit 13W. 112 grams.

(not that it can be charged, which it can't by the flashlight) but it signals a different battery type is in use.

The unit itself ships with 2 spare tail cap O-rings!

Lastly, this EDC flashlight other than a strobe and SOS does not feature any gimmicky RGB lights or fake cop flashing lights- sure it's probably easy for manufacturers to produce such lights but seriously, those kinds of things are total BS for an EDC light.

Stay tuned for my video discussion about this Wurkkos HD 02 EDC flashlight coming to @BushCampingTools

BCT

You Need to know this before purchasing a water filter for Trekking, hiking and or camping

Different Kinds of Water Filters for Hiking and Why Does It Matter?

Just take a look at this super clear water! Wow! Looks great eh? Super clean, great for swimming etc etc. Well this is what I thought after discovering this area in pristine jungle about 15 years ago. 

Not a person to be found because it's really off any track of any kind and we enjoyed it like this for over the past 15 years, and as the Sierra Club motto goes, we took nothing but photographs and left nothing but foot prints!

Well all that has changed because if you think you have truly found some amazing wilderness, someone else will also discover it eventually. Maybe they see a car parked in the middle of nowhere dirt track/road and start wondering; "what are these guys parked here for"? I know I do LOL! You continue upon your ritual once a year foray into this supposedly "private" region only to find one year there are other cars parked close by to where you left your car but no problems because there is no way they can possibly know what you know! 

Wrong! 

About 4 years ago, not 2-3 km further up river from where the above shot was taken, I remarked to my kid one day how amazing this place truly is and that we have it to ourselves. By the time I had finished the "...selves" I heard noises that were not of the jungle but that of what I couldn't believe and that was the female voice, in fact 2 of them rounding a bend in the river, clad in nothing but bikinis like we were on some cheesy movie set about teenagers surviving after being stranded in the bush! 

Of course I had at the time in my paw a rather large knife, about to cut out a large palm heart from a fallen palm and decided I should cease all such activity lest it startle them. Well, were we surprised, because they certainly weren't surprised to see us and even less surprised by the chopper in my hands as it retreated into it's scabbard! So what were they doing here? Two high school leavers, simply in their words "going for a walk". Seriously, in bikinis 7km up a trackless river? Yes seriously! Well how adventurous and great that was and we exchanged stories and wished them luck in their future endeavours etc etc. before they went their way. 

My point of this little story was that our pristine (it was still pristine then) bit of paradise was now on the list somehow of things to do for school leavers LOL. Fast forward to just 3 years ago back in 2023 we were again in this area only to find two drunken guys (yes drunk as evidenced by the plethora of empty beer bottles)  brandishing machetes, busily chopping down palm trees like no tomorrow (as only an inebriated person could) to make some sort of platform out across the river to lay upon. They greeted us (a little surprised) waving machetes in a friendly way as we passed them as they chuckled to themselves stumbling over river rocks at the same time still gripping their machetes! 

With the exception now of the beer bottles from our previous years friends, still scattered about in 2026 (we brought them back with us) the place looked still in good nick with the exception of the now looking very much worse for wear, their jungle platform was all but rotted and in disarray from no doubt some serious river action as in flooding over the past 3 years since we have travelled this way. At least that's what we thought.

 What were we doing there anyway? Certainly not celebrating leaving school or on a drunken binge playing survival of the fittest! No, we were doing some fossicking for semi precious stones. This is still an undocumented area for such things and our previous encounters with others, clearly demonstrated they were only there for "a good time" and certainly not competition.

However, it was shockingly clear that upon turning over some harmless looking stones (looking for gems) by the once pristine river that these actions revealed some sinister threat to the "clean river concept in the middle of nowhere". My son yelled not in excitement of finding some huge semi precious stone but rather finding a huge and not entirely old, stinking human turd! 

Disgusting! as he came within inches of accidentally actually touching it! So no longer could we imbibe directly from this seemingly pristine river originating from the middle of nowhere and travelling through the middle of nowhere!  Obviously, we were not the only ones coming here.

So what about water filters?

So this brings me to my point about water filters. They are useful if you don't want to get sick and while you may think you are truly in the middle of nowhere, this at best will only be a matter of time, trust me. Now what harm could come about from drinking such water polluted with human excrement? Well, you could easily ingest someone else's E. coli (Escherichia coli) 

False coloured SEM micrograph of E.coli bacteria.

and  this could prove to be very serious, the scope of which is beyond this article (go check it out if you're interested). 

However, let me say this: you could contract Hepatitis A, as it's easily transmitted via a fecal route from water and or food etc.

Presumptive hepatitis-like particles (the round looking things!) as seen with negative staining in a TEM micrograph.

 and then you may end up with liver damage at the end of the day (ok, not the end of the day literally, but after several weeks-the virus needs time to multiply (replicate) inside of you).

 The rule is generally to boil water for at least ten minutes to kill all viruses and other microbial pathogens, whether free swimming and or cysts or eggs of those same pathogens. Boiling water at sea level ie 100C is a great idea if you firstly have the time to do so and secondly, something to boil water in which is going to be a useful volume for everyone to drink. You must have time up your sleeve, as unless you are drinking tea or coffee, both not very good to rehydrate with as they are both strong diuretics (ie they will probably make you piss more than you retain) you will have to wait around to imbibe from that precious boiled water. 

In with the water filter. Hold on, which water filter? As nowadays there are literally dozens of different water filters for hikers, trekkers and campers. The type of water filter you choose should: 

1)  Reflect the region to which you are planning to travel through, ie the level of expected contamination* 

2) How much time to you have on your journey? The shorter the time the bigger the necessity for quickly filtering water and especially if the travel party is large, ie more than 2, and being able to move on, yes, twenty minutes standing around filtering water can make a difference between navigating to a campsite in the pitch dark or a comfortable stroll into the campsite during daylight hours. Sure one can do the trek in the dark to campsites, We've done it countless times but this was not as a result of hanging around to filter water.

3) What you can afford, because the sky is the limit when it comes to portable water filters. (to include spare parts, user serviceable parts etc.)

4) How often will you use it? (tied into point 3 ) and this point introduces, disposable and long term usage.

Hand pumped units

Hand pumped units have been, for a very long time, the favourite amongst the trekking fraternity. Generally small in size, replaceable long term filter inserts and able to filter out both viruses and bacteria along with protozoans and their respective cysts. Prices were/are dictated by the sturdiness of construction, ie all plastic versus metal and plastic, plus ease of use. In my experience with water filter usage over the past thirty odd years (nothing has changed) hand pumped units are great BUT they do require one has some stamina and at least one working arm in order to extricate your clean drinking water, since there is definitely some effort required especially for systems which use ceramic filters. The positives for such filters are that they are relatively easily serviceable (especially in the field-without special tools) and they are usually very sturdily constructed and are of course self priming. They are generally unaffected by the head pressure and thus one can pump water from easily 2m below oneself (possibly more provided you have a long enough hose). 

Water bottle type filters

Only good for one person (pushing it for two, if water access is easy), all plastic construction, usually good ones the filter is replaceable as it will have limited capacities. One must be able to easily access the water in order to fill it. Ok you could lower a container to the water (if possible) and bring it to the filter unit.

Pros: relatively cheap to own and operate

Downsides: Low volume produced and slow to actually drink from. Short duration day hiking.

"Life straws"

- Emergency use only

Pros: Easy to carry

Cons: Limited for emergency use only and short duration use. Single person usage only (especially if contamination/ infection is a high risk situation) No capacity for filtering viruses!

Featured Product

Battery powered water filters 

Battery powered water filters have an advantage over manually operated ones, in that they are able to filter water at a considerably faster rate, since it is an electric pump doing the work. Since this is the case, such water filters can capitalise upon different filter media, such as but not limited to, Ahlstrom Disruptor water filter material. This material was developed approx back in 2002 under two successive NASA  research grants via a NASA spin off company Argonide Corporation.

(You can read all about it here)

Argonide Corporation developed a technology called Nano Ceram and it is this which they licensed to Ahlstrom in Finland to mass produce these filters which are essentially nano alumina fibres, marketed under the brand name of "Disruptor". This type of filter works on a completely different manner than a physical removal via tortuous pathway through a ceramic filter with pore size much less than disease causing viruses. The "Disruptor" filter media when in contact with water, develops a positive charge and this positive charge attracts microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria, along with spores, cysts and other small particles, due to the fact that such small things naturally carry a negative charge. It's that simple, despite the technology behind it. 

For example: this unit seen below

is basically an electric, rechargeable lithium ion battery powering a small pump, which enables it to draw water (no priming necessary), firstly through a pre filter (not shown in this image) based upon the hollow fibre filtration technology, then passing this pre-filtered water through an Ahlstrom Disruptor filter, which can remove up to 99.9999% bacteria and 99.999% viruses along with other small particulate matter. The Ahlstrom filter also incorporates a carbon element as well as to remove many heavy metals and or coloured impurities/odours. The biggest advantage of such a filter is one of speed. For example: the unit we review from ITEHIL, can produce 700ml/minute for up to 4-5 hours (on one charge) dependent upon how contaminated the source water is! 

All filters are replaceable and the unit is of course easily recharged via a USB C port which can also double as a power bank, along with a built in solar panel, the unit can be recharged (dependent upon the available sunlight and strength) via this solar array. Typically for Chinese manufacturers, always wanting to please as many people as possible, this unit also features a built in flashlight (2 power settings and one Morse code setting). Don't laugh about the power bank feature either. As someone who is regularly going away from the grid, have power is mandatory for comms and (not so critical) cameras etc. Having a light on the unit can also enable one to actually use it independent of a headlamp or other such light source.

Anyway, check out my video field review of this water filter system (I call it a system because it actually incorporates two types of water filter technology) coming out tomorrow Friday 23rd October @BushCampingTools

BCT

* We are only talking about contamination from microbes and not heavy metals and or industrial pollution.

 

Extrema Ratio Tuscan Revisited Why this TANTO is great, an in depth appraisal

 Extrema Ratio TUSCAN

The Extrema Ratio TUSCAN is one big kahuna of a TANTO!

Made from a 1/4" slab of Böhler's N690** cobalt high Chromium stainless steel, sporting an ergonomic non slip grip of G10. This was/is Extrema Ratio's answer to all of those who insist upon a "full tang" knife where we see for the first time a tang which is the full width of the handle. Make no mistake though, their tapering tangs seen in all of their current military offerings are more than robust enough to take an extreme beating in the military arena and for all those who push their blades from them (LOL, like me!).

The Tuscan also comes in a full satin finish (shown below) for those who want the above kick butt features but who also insist upon a blade which is totally food safe. Of course, this satin blade would NOT be appropriate for covert operations unless you wanted to signal your adversaries your position.

Image courtesy of Extrema Ratio S.R.L.

Just look at the spine thickness. But don't be misled, this isn't some overweight tank which is slow to move. The handle of course has been carefully milled 

in order to produce a blade which is NOT handle heavy, otherwise a knife (ANY knife for that matter) becomes uncomfortable to use for any length of time as the weight isn't correctly distributed, FACT.

As a production knife the TUSCAN looks and feels like a custom build with the funky milling of the G10 scales and the expertly stitched scabbard.

It's no good having a good knife and the carry system is just ma ma, because this will be the thing which fails first and you will be left in a crappy situation of how to carry a blade.

The serviceability of such a knife design is easy as, as there is simply one large straight edge and only a small curvature at the tip, hence even a beginner at sharpening will be able to keep such a tool sharp.

haven't seen it in action yet? Still undecided?

Then check this out here: 

** Also available in Böhler's S600 kick butt tungsten industrial proven and field proven tool steel!