AIRFORCE AIR GUNS Project

 Recently I picked up a PCP branded as a GUNPOWER SHADOW, no manufacturing label at all on it however clearly an AIRFORCE AIRGUNS product. (LOL just like Reximex making the Ixia AKA throne 2 but with zero adjustment/fixed power for the UK market LOL). I love it when manufacturer's start with the BS. They must think people are really stupid.

Identical to the early Talon from Airforce Airguns (funny that!)

Branded the "Shadow" not the "Talon" LOL!

UK labelling, total absence of place of manufacture both in the manual and the weapon itself. Why this is is probably due to some legal requirements/taxation avoidance? Who knows. However, clearly Gunpower are modified (zero power adjustment) weapons made by AirForce specifically for the UK market, where there are stringent weapons restrictions. This would be annoying to the British person for sure as they end up purchasing expensive toys; ok that's another subject altogether, ie global gun laws!

In the place of AIRFORCE Airguns, we see "Gunpower" and the absence of Made in the USA

Valve assembly on the still current "standard tank" from Airforce Airguns.

According to this page

https://www.airforceairguns.com/AirForce-Airguns-Standard-Spare-Tank-p/u1005.htm

New tank looks identical

Burst disk

No gauge and not possible to insert one on this old system.(as is without some additions). First to remove the valve system from the bottle (degassed of course!), this hole will be where a special tool is inserted to remove the valve assembly from the actual tank.

A British manual, basically identical in wording as for the USA manual. Note however the British gun has no provision for power adjustment (unlike my rifle) because it (the hammer adjustment) would be located on the LHS of the rifle as shown below.

Note Power wheel adjuster (this is not a model for sale within Britain). Not without a full FAC as I understand the law there.

Power adjuster for hammer

The "old red" safety 

A bit of dust on the breech from long term sitting around and doing nothing!

Barrel in perfect condition

Simple construction

The business end, you can make out a barrel guide (sliver aluminium disc surrounding the barrel.

Clearly it is made byAirforce Airguns in the USA as the user manuals (there were 2, why I have no idea) are basically identical to the USA manuals and the gun is definitely identical in every way to the USA models. This one, including the power wheel adjustment (which is absent on all "Gunpower" models (excepting where legally allowed, ie the British must apply for a full on gun license and reason to own one) in the UK but of course the names of the Airforce guns are identical!

 I suspect these were models to be sold within Europe but some came with power wheel adjustment dials for countries where permitted with a FAC etc could be legal to own, ie the same rifle as the USA branded one. 

Interestingly many PCPs sold into Europe are rebranded and or are modified to a fixed lower power level in joules to meet some of these countries legal requirements.

Anyway this one is the classic single shot 0.22cal/5.5mm

I think it was  bargain for about $150 USD brand new if not shop soiled! The shop guy told me it had been in stock for about 8-10 years and never been fired.

Ok so it probably needs new O-rings, we will see if it can hold the tank pressure (update, it can!). I examined the barrel internally and there was no signs of any corrosion or obvious deterioration, that was my first check in the shop. 

The power wheel was a bit sticky to begin with but once I moved it, it turns very smoothly, no doubt some grease binding over so many years of not moving. The breech works smoothly and everything else appears normal.

Exteriorly, the gun appears in good condition cosmetically.

Due to the "future proof-ness"  of Airforce Airguns and 3rd party manufacturers of parts, it seems this PCP will have a new long life.

Update:

 Well here's the funny thing. Airforce Airguns just got back to me (via email) and i won't breech their confidentiality statement in their email but they say, yeah they did make parts for Gunpower in the UK but can not sell parts to the UK? Well, just as well  I'm not in the UK but I have no idea what that is about?

In fact I'm not sure what any of it is about as i said the Gunpower guns are identical to the Airforce Airguns but without adjustment so clearly they are not ripping off the USA manufacturer its some sort of trade agreement no doubt, "we sell our guns to u at fixed powers and but they must be rebranded because we don't make fixed powered guns". Ok that's not a real quotation from Airforce Airguns but a probably one should they ever admit this.

So this is a question I asked Airforce Airguns about the shroud diameter and they told me they wouldn't know???? How can that be possible if they made the gun? I'll tell you how, because of the laws regarding "silencers/moderators" You can not be seen to be even talking about such things in certain countries. That is no aftermarket thread shown above, nor was it made in the UK and not by this mysterious Gunpower. It does indeed look like a 3/4" 16 UNF at a guess LOL

More to come 

BCT

FKMD Taranis FX-0171114

 FKMD TARANIS FOX KNIVES ITALY

Built like a tank, simple, 7.5" fixed blade, N690 cobalt steel 5mm thick spine, black Idroglider PTFE blade coating.

The FKMD Taranis FX-0171114 is a classic "clip point" design knife blade.

5mm 0.2" thick spine

Classic clip point blade shape! Forprene Grip.

Excellent chopper for a 7.5" blade, due to metal distribution helped by the placement of the tang.

Full Molle compatible carry system. Symmetric scabbard.

Knife "Strip"

Note despite the grip completely covering the tang, this IS NOT an electrical insulator and the FX-0171114 is NOT intended to be used as such.

Hardcore field knife, the FX-0171114 TARANIS from FKMD, Fox Knives Italy Maniago.

One swing almost through a 60mm thick branch! 

Feathering on a sub-optimal knotted dead oak branch.

Check out the video here at BushCampingTools

You can also see it here too:

And also see it here as well

Striking a fire steel, no problems!

Second trip

Everything for this fire, including the meat skewers etc and cutting up of the cooked meat was basically prepared using the FKMD Taranis

BCT

Coffee and Knife talk: Today's subject is Collector's Knives

 Coffee and Knife talk: 

Today's chat is about is Collector's Knives.

BCT

Q: Has the LINDER Super Edge 2 become a collector's item because LINDER are no more? ; ATS-34 is no longer made by Hitachi?

What makes something collectable we can not actually say. It is different for everyone. However, it could be argued that it is a deep down neurological desire  or rather what becomes an addiction to own something for which we place some value. That value does not have to be in the form of money but rather "a value of appreciation in the form of simply visual stimuli which increases our desires to own more".

How about the iconic AITOR OSO BLANCO (Olivio)?

When it comes to collecting knives, what defines a collector's knife? 

Does that knife need to posses a serial number? Does that knife need to be from a limited edition production run? 

What about Extrema Ratio's rendition of the infamous Gerber BMF, as seen in their AMF Survival knife, is this a collector's knife?

Can the knife merely be "hand made' so that realistically no two knives will ever be the same? Does it matter if bazillions of the same knife has been made, all identical from some AI controlled CNC machine from an anonymous programer?

Could the Production knife such as the PARUS from FKMD become a collectors knife, if they stop making it?

None of the above. A knife is a collector's item simply if there is that desire to own it . It is not a collector's item if you say I'm collecting it because it is worth something (more than the retail value) or that it will be worth something in the future; no, because unless you plan on selling them then you are selling and not collecting, that is something different. 

Is a collectors knifer worth anything? It is not worth anything except maybe the price you paid for it? Or unless many many people desire it, then it will be worth more than the price you paid for it. The joy from the visual stimulus is the "worth"; there is no need to justify it in any other way. For example: collecting plants and filling your house with them. Clearly it is not done as an excuse to propagate plants as there are far better ways to achieve this; it is done because of the 'feeling" it gives the collector. 

Is there anything "wrong' with collecting?. Well if we say this then we have to argue that there must be something wrong with museums, art galleries and zoos as well. Which brings me to the point of the following; No, a collection does not have to enjoyed by the public.

Will this LINDER Bowie become a collector's knife?

Is collecting knives a dangerous addition? Well to answer this we must examine what is meant by a "dangerous addition".

All additions can become dangerous if it impedes the family or the individuals's financial situation, or leads to financial ruin and all that goes along with this. They become dangerous when they upset the social interactions between people.

Placing "too much value"  on inanimate objects can be a bad thing. All things in moderation. Milk is ok but too much, you could drown in it.

BCT

 

 Portable Solar Panels are they any good? And what is the minimum useful size?

The simple answer is YES.

If in a vehicle, you can not have them big enough.

Plus big is best if possible when it comes to solar panels for the maximum efficiency. By efficiency, the actual efficiency is dictated by the design of the actual semiconductor itself, I mean the bigger array as in surface area, the more chance to catch the available photons!

What about if you are hiking?

If you are on foot then you will be limited to how much you can carry and also you will need a "flat" uncrushable space to store the folded cells prior to use or some where to lash them too if strapped to a pack whilst walking.

Minimal wattage is going to be 15W but remember going bigger wattage is great but this usually means a bigger solar arrays, so that's just current physics! and this means a bigger "flat thing" to carry.

What about these folding/flexible panels?

Well the ones which can be rolled up still present as a cylindrical object to carry and in some ways is more of a PITA to carry than something flattish.

Expensive Vs Cheap??

So for example, a Goal Zero (an expensive brand?) each panel works out at approximately 16 Euros per panel; so a 24 panel array is retailing for about 400 Euros, not including shipping?

If we compare this to a 4 panel array at the same cost per cell you can find them for as little as 64 Euros or $67 USD.

Recently I reviewed a Bulgarian brand by the name of Dulotec. 

The cover material of the DULOTEC 15W array is also water resistant (ie light rain is ok) because the ballistic nylon is coated on the rear side.

Their 15W, 4 cell panel retails for approximately $53 USD! Remember all of the panels are made in China anyway and all of the construction is also Made in China too.

Do not thing that Goal Zero is not made in China.

A 5W (waste of time) panel from Goal Zero retails for about 60 Euros!, About $61 USD!, That's chucking money away and paying for a brand name.

In reality you can not do anything with a 5W panel. Maybe only trickle charge a larger power bank if you are lucky.

 You are buying from a fixed cost market when it comes to quality solar panels. A bit like coffee prices LOL!

What about for Preppers? or just for when there's a power outage? Can it charge a phone even through glass windows?

Full morning sun, although passing through slightly dirty doubly glazed windows.

Actually after 10 minutes or less the phone (iPhone 5S) was at 34% from 27%, which I thought was pretty good considering this was full morning sun coming in through doubly glazed windows. So clearly the solar panels are pretty good IMHO (I mean let's face it, that;'s what one is really paying for, the quality of the actual cells, as I mentioned above.)

BOKER PLUS Little DVALIN Black Tanto in D2 Titanium coated

BOKER PLUS Little DVALIN Black Tanto in D2 Titanium coated.

Preview by BCT

Presentation box (magnetic catch on the lid), is quite nice and this would make for a good gift (for the nephew niece etc etc), just add your own wrapping paper and anyone will like such a little present I think. Plus one can custom make their own handles (see below).

Two small pamphlets are included, one in Deutsche the other English. These are simply marketing blurbs about the product, an excuse of why German's have to manufacture in Asia to stay competitive. (heck just about all countries are saying the same) but with a caveat and that is the Asians are mainly using high tech robotic mechanised methods of manufacture and not that painstaking handmade touch we have come to know about German craftsmanship (a dying art for sure). However, if "we want cheap" or "inexpensive" ie 安い in Japanese (please no jokes about the kanji), then that's how it is.

Does inexpensive have to mean garbage? Of course not.

Böker is such a well-known company. In fact just for a bit of trivia, it was the first knife brand I ever came across as a kid of about 7 years old. I found in my mother's sewing room, she had from her mother a Böker folder, ebony scales with brass bolsters, two blades. The blade steel was amazing but the poor knife had been used like no tomorrow and the axels for both baldes was shot and worn out and hence the baldes wobbled a bit on taking them in and out but boy of boy, could those baldes hold an edge! They were of some carbon steel and bore the infamous Böker mark at their bases. 

So all trivial history aside, Böker has been around for a great many years and as such has a reputation. This reputation can not afford to be marred by producing crap products, whether made in Germany or made in China or elsewhere.

Now let's come to the Böker Little Dvalin made in D2, a type of finger knife.

In fact as a "finger knife" it actually has a pretty damn good handle/grip and can accommodate a decent sized hand of around size 8.5! believe it or not.

The grip also sports a palm swell as well.

The Kydex sheath fits the knife very well and the retention is secure as! To reduce the pricing the belt clip is not like a "Tek Loc" but rather a simple belt clip (it works just fine) and one can tailor fit it to a wide belt width range.

Lanyard hole of course!

The blade of the Little Dvalin has been LASER engraved with the designer's mark (Midgards Messer) and has also according to Böker been coated in Titanium. On this latter point they do not elaborate on what kind of Titanium coating this is as there like a bazillion types of PVD of Titanium etc etc. Clearly it is not a TiN as it would be a different color. Maybe it is simply a straight out and out Titanium metal coating because then it would be just gray or silver in color.

There appears to be a serial number or batch number of some sort on the very thick spine.

The handle scales are made from G10 and strangely, Böker even offer for some small fee, one can download a file to enable one to 3D print a set of your own colored handle scales! Ok fair enough, for that designer look!?

The under surface has "grip" in all the right places and the butt end actually slightly tapers for a good ergonomic fit considering the small handle.

I carefully examined  the grind, because at the end of the day, if the knife comes cheap but one needs to resharpen it then the knife wasn't cheap at all. in this case, the grinds were well executed and the knife deadly sharp out of the box.

The upper gimping is great, both for resting the thumb and also the forefinger.

The Böker plus mark, I can not fault this Little Dvalin knife  so far. 

Stay tuned for some serious testing of this little beast in the field!

As a final note:

These smaller knives are becoming very popular and i think especially across Europe as the Europeans seem to be forever tightening their knife laws, with some exceptions, notably Bulgaria, where the knife laws are similar to the USA however knife crime in Bulgaria, despite it being legal to basically carry any type of knife you wants is practically zero! Compare this to a population the size of say the UK which is about ten times that of Bulgaria and where the knife laws are extremely vague but at the same time extremely draconian; (as in basically illegal to carry anything), the knife crime is reported as high! (ok seriously folks, most of the stabbings within the Uk are from improvised weapons, not 200 buck hunting knives).