Everyday Carry Pocket Dump of the Day: Shards of Utility

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Dalton’s a just-the-facts-ma’am, no nonsense kinda guy. How can you tell? Just look at his everyday carry gear. Nothing fancy, nothing ostentatious. But everything he carries does what it’s designed to do and does it exceedingly well.

From the unassuming Gerber Shard OPMT hanging from his keychain (you never know when you’ll need to pop the top on a bottle, amiright?) to the excellent Spyderco Delica 4 (is that the ZDP-189 version I spy there?), to the dependable Olight torch to the ultimate in utilitarian more-faithful-than-Lassie pistols, the GLOCK 19.

Given all that (and the fact that Dalton works in construction), we’d lay odds that the key on that chain fits a four-year-old Tacoma sitting in his driveway. Again, nutnfancy (so to speak), just steadfast reliability that will do the job for years and years. Agree?

18 thoughts on “Everyday Carry Pocket Dump of the Day: Shards of Utility”

  1. That Olight S2 isn’t worth it. It’s bright, but it has no hot spot. It’s also fragile. I emailed Olight, and so far they’ve ignored me for almost a month. FWIW.

    • Avoiding the creation of a hot spot has the goal, and is considered the bees knees of brighter lights since red dots, reflex sights and the like became popular.

      The spot washes out your dot/reticle and in some cases make it hard to even see irons. This is why so many lights like SureFire have two light modes. One for longer range searches and one for closer up work with blinding you or washing out your sights.

      No hot spot is generally considered a feature rather than a bug. After they killed the dark spot they decided a bright spot wasnt so great either. Smooth diffusion of generously bright light is the goal. Generally.

      • It’s an EDC light, not a weapon light. For me, I like to have some throw and hot spot. If people don’t want it, that’s cool too.

        The point of my post was that the S2 isn’t durable and Olight doesn’t have a good warranty/customer service, at least in my experience.

        • Which doesn’t change the facts of how flashlight manufacturers chase “perfection” and the market.

          Just because it’s not a “weapons” light doesn’t mean you won’t have it in one hand and the gun in the other. If it’s washing out your sights what difference does it make if you’re holding it in your offhand or if it’s mounted to the gun? It doesn’t make any difference, you still can’t see your sights. That’s a worry for the maker because it’s a worry that is reflected by the market.

          It’s exactly the same thing as the dark spot that SureFire figured out how to get rid of. They did that first with flashlights and then moved the tech to weapons lights. When they originally did it with flashlights the market’s response was “HOLY SHIT THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!” which allowed SureFire, for a time, to command the market and the price structure of that market.

          • “If it’s washing out your sights what difference does it make if you’re holding it in your offhand or if it’s mounted to the gun?”

            If I know where my target is, I don’t absolutely need to see my sights within 10 yards, because I know how my gun points. A WML will make my shooting far better because I have two hands on the gun, whereas a regular light keeps your support hand off your gun.

            Also, is it true that a 1K lumen light blinds you and washes out your irons? Seems to me that if you can’t see your irons because of your light, you can’t see much else anyway, and probably shouldn’t be shooting

            Flashlight tactics are something I’m untrained in (not even “self-taught”), so feel free (as always) to enlighten me. No pun intended.

        • “For me, I like to have some throw and hot spot. If people don’t want it, that’s cool too.”
          I agree.
          The Streamlight TLR2 throws a bright center beam with good peripheral coverage. Balance is just about right, and the laser might even come in handy some time.
          I have flashlights stashed everywhere- vehicles, desk, nightstand, gun safe, kitchen, and microlights on the zipper pulls of my jackets.

  2. Could be a Tundra. I have a 21 yo 4runner. Cause I’m a cheap bastiche.

    And field notes made a comeback.

    • How many miles you got on that Tundra?

      I was pushing 300,000 on my bought-new Civic Si before I sold it after 19 mostly reliable years. (Two alternators, 3 timing belts)

      The motor had lost a bit of it’s ‘punch’, and it was needing a quart of oil once a month or so…

      • 1 starter. It has a timing chain. All the difference in the world. Plus a non interference engine. If a timing belt on a Honda or Nissan snaps, it takes the engine with it. Not so my 4runner.

        230,000 miles and still gots lots of life left in it. No oil loss. Plan on driving it to Montana this summer.

  5. I’ve owned everything from Surefires ( a bunch of them) to Mag lite, Fenix, Steamlight, Foursevens, And Olight to name a few .
    Olight has been my go to light for the last year or so, I bought a bunch for my crew, ( firefighters ) they’ve been stellar.

  6. I guess I’m going to have to keep spreading the bad news on Field Notes. They were designed by Aaron Draplin, a man who actively bashes gun owners. I’ve seen this first hand at one of his presentations in 2015. It angered me listening to this guy smear gun owners. What’s worse is to see so many gun owners proudly support him. Please people, quit giving your money to a man who thinks you’re a mouth-breathing warmonger. There are better alternatives to Field Notes as long as you’re OK not looking like a hipster.

  8. Just a note on the lights. I have to agree with the gentleman who said hot spots are undesirable. A smooth, uniform beam works best for me. I have a dozen or so Surefires (and gifted many more to friends). They have never let me down and put a few of them through the shit. I once took a class on combat light use put on by Blackwater. Or was it Blackhawk? They begin to run together after a while. Anyway, good stuff. Learned a lot. Seek out good training. Knowledge can never be taken away from you.

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