Poutch

It’s a patch that’s a pouch.

What on the face of it looks like a patch of my logo, is also a pouch that holds a knife, a flashlight and a ferrocerium rod.

NiteCore NTK05, TEC Accessories Pixel, and BCB Ranger Fire Lighter (the holder removed, and with a piece of cut down hacksaw blade as a striker).

Klever Kutter Karrier 2

I had one of the earlier models of this, and got a new model recently. Same basic idea, but it’s a bit bigger, so didn’t fit in the pouch I had made for the previous model.

Like the first one, I added a fob to help pull it out of the pouch / serve as a finger loop / identify it as mine.

Close up of the lanyard knot.

A co-worker liked what I had done and asked if I could put a neon green fob on. I only had about a foot of neon green paracord, that had already had the core taken out, which doesn’t really lend itself to doing the lanyard knot. So I put a spiral sinnet on instead.

The only webbing I had laying around that would fit was some 2.75" webbing. A bit wider than I wanted, but it was the quickest route to take. Not pretty, but it does the trick. (The previous version on the right.)

Being a bit wider, means I can also stick a pen in there.

Fyr’mups

I have made a separate pouch for this item before, the Spark’mups. (Which was actually the first thing I ever posted on this blog.) Meant to hold a Silva match case (a copy of the K&M Matchcase), containing a SparkLite and TinderQuick tabs.

If you want to know a bit of the thought process behind this (and several other pouches to come) read about the Tūl’mups. Same basic premise and design features – just a different size.

As usual, I started out with a rough paper model to get a sense of the size needed. A lot cheaper than making mistakes in fabric. Not a perfect medium, but it works okay.

A few pictures I snapped. I think it’s all fairly self explanatory. The BALLS (Belt Attachment Lowerable Loop System) might not be, but that is explained in the aforementioned link.

Oh yeah...sewn by hand on the commute to work and on lunch breaks.

Klever Kutter Karrier

A place I work at sometimes insists people use these “Klever Kutters” to open boxes. I thought it was silly, but whatever. 

It works I guess, although I did see people get injured by them. They flail away at pallet wrap with it, hit the pallet, the tip breaks off, they don’t notice and when they reach into their pocket to grab it, they slice a finger open. I’m of the mind set that how you use a tool is more an indicator of whether you’ll get injured by it rather than thinking that a safety feature will protect without fail. I’d rather someone with a clue uses whatever cutting tool they can manage safely, than think an 18 year knucklehead won’t manage to foolishly misuse a “fool-proof” gimmick. 

It worked all right for the number of times I used it, but the Spyderco Tenacious I carry could have done the job just as well and just as safely - because I use it safely.

I decided to make a little sheath for it.

Just used some seat belt webbing I had laying around. Folded it in 3 - one part forms the belt loop, one part forms the holder.

I put some seam tape at the ends. Sewn by hand on breaks one day.

Realized a limitation the first time I used it - with a belt loop that goes all the way to the bottom, pulling on the tool, pulls the sheath all the way up, and made it tough to get the tool back in.

Nothing a couple of stitches didn’t remedy.

And of course, I also added a lanyard, with two lanyard knots. I can pull it out of the sheath easier, and the loop is big enough to put two fingers through, meaning I could hang on to it while I used my fingers for other tasks.

Simple carrier for a little tool that works, but that I would never have spent my own money on by choice.

NyfFyrLyt™ 3

The other two versions worked, but I still wasn’t entirely happy with them.

Sooo....back to the drawing board. Main thing I didn’t like about the second go around was the zippered top opening. Thought a flap might work better. Wanted to carry all the stuff that went into the original two versions, but I also wanted to carry some more stuff. Redundant perhaps, but I wanted to carry my Leatherman Wave as well as the Victorinox Huntsman. The bits that accompany the LM. A PocketWrench 2. A pen. A lighter. Having the battery die in the flashlight is annoying, so wanted to have a way to carry extra batteries as well.

I’d seen the Skinths, and thought they had some cool features. But while Eric is a good guy, buying one from him would deprive me of the fun of making my own thing, and there were a bunch of my own features I wanted to add. 

I could have gone narrow and thick, and instead opted to go with wide and thin.

Like Soviet weaponry, it’s not pretty, but it’s effective.

First component for the four main tools. The two white bits at the bottom...

....are Spectra cord that I used to hold the pen in place.

The back/flap component for the four flat tools/items.

The two side by side.

The third front and sides component. Decided to add a SliverGripper to the side as well.

All three components combined. I added an H&K hook to it to hang keys on.

The size of the whole thing is about 180 cm (7") by 120 cm (5") by 50 cm (2"). The main pouch is about 110 cm (4.5") by 105 cm (4") by 30 cm (1.25"). And the weight of it is a heavy 1 kg (2.2 lbs.).

The back side. One change I made to the whole set up was to have straps that I could detach at the bottom. This way I can either have it high up on the belt, or drop it down low so that when I’m wearing a backpack with a waist belt, it hangs down below that waist belt. Having that lump of stuff under a belt is really uncomfortable. Yet I still wanted to have this on my belt, on my person, so that if I ditch the pack I would still have it. This attachment system is known as BALLS - Belt Attachment Lowerable Loop System.

Viewed from above.

The front side, with a pouch for a lighter. It’ll hold a Bic, and any other similar sized disposable or refillable lighter. Hemmed and hawed about whether I should put the lighter on the inside, or maybe the flashlight or the SAK on the outside pouch. The lighter ended up on the outside. Maybe if I tackle version 4, it might not be there. 

The back side, with a pouch for two AA batteries. I found that 1" tubular webbing is the perfect size to house the batteries. Made it so that it flips down to release them. One drawback to this approach is that I already knew that the tube would push loose from side to side, so I added some shock cord and a cord lock to help hold it in place. I put the batteries in facing a different direction and also put a circle of plastic between the two batteries to make sure they didn’t drain.

The contents. 
Top row: Fisher Trekker Space Pen, Silva Matchcase, Leatherman Wave 2004, Victorinox Huntsman, Whistle, Fenix L1D, Bic Lighter 
Bottom row: Sliver Grippers, PocketWrench 2, Leatherman Bit Kit, Brass Calipers, AA batteries

And here you can see it worn normally on the belt, and worn low on the belt.

The BALLS straps on the back also allow me to mount it on PALS webbing, like here on the Messenge’mups.

Oh yeah, and I sewed the whole thing by hand.

I suspect that like the other ones, I may find some flaws with this one after living with it for a while and tackle version 4. But for now, I’m happy with it.