You may be surprised to see a small, lightweight, USB-C rechargeable air pump on these pages but this Flextailgear Tiny Pump 2X has earned a permanent place in my backpacking gear.
This is sold as an air pump for sleeping pads but I think of it more as a lantern that happens to blow up sleeping pads. That is how it earned a spot in my pack… it kicked out the backup light/lantern that I was already carrying out of my pack.
Maybe it is weird to start out a review of this pump talking about its secondary functionality as a lantern, but is actually a very useful light. The included bail makes it easy to hang up in or near your tent and it has broad, floody beam with three well-spaced output settings. It’s a better backup light/tent light than what I was carrying before and it weighs less than many similar lights.
The main reason that I appreciate the pump feature is how easy it makes setting up my sleeping pad. After a long day hiking up hill the whole way, it’s easier to push a button than to blow up the pad with your lungs. It’s also nice to not introduce the moisture from your breath into your sleeping pad where mold can form. This might help extend the life of your sleeping pad and help you sleep a bit warmer.
At around 3.5 ounces and roughly the size of a shot glass, this Tiny Pump 2X packs a lot of usefulness into a small space. I would probably never carry a dedicated pump, but a lantern that also happens to pump up my sleeping pad effortlessly… I can get with that.
I picked up this ThermoDrop Zipper-Pull Thermometer to help fill in the temperature data gap in my favorite areas to explore in my area. The forecasts in my area come out of a city that is about 2 hours away by car and there are countless microclimates between here and there. There are mountain weather websites that do their best to make some algorithmic guesses about forecasts but they often miss the mark which leaves me guessing about how to gear up for trips into the mountains.
Last summer, I spent a night out on a mountain bench just below the tree line. According to forecasts for that elevation, I should have seen temperatures down around 32F. The actual temperature never went lower than 56F which was MUCH closer to the forecasted temps for the valley below. This will help inform future trips into this area.
There are a few specific attributes of the ThermoDrop that make it so useful. First, it is extremely compact and lightweight (smaller than the diameter of a US quarter and weighing in at half a gram). Second, it shows the current temp but also records the lowest and highest temp since it was activated which is the real game changer versus most cheap zipper-pull/keychain thermometers.
I have found no end to the usefulness of this little thermometer. I’ve used it to monitor the temperature inside a cooler during power outages, check temps in a crawl space during a cold snap, test my comfort level in various sleeping bags and insulation layers, and even check temps on training runs/walks during hot summer days.
This is GREAT gear that has changed the way I hike and train. It is small enough that you’ll never leave home without it and useful enough that you won’t want to. I highly recommend it.
Pokka Pens are one of my favorite purchases of 2023. These tick all the boxes for me as an EDC pen – they’re affordable, they’re lightweight, they’re easy to carry at the bottom of a pocket, they last of LONG time, and they will write in places that a nicer gel pen or roller ball might not.
The real innovation of the Pokka Pen is the form factor. It is a half-size pen that has a long, snap-on cap. When the cap is posted, it is long enough to create a full-size pen. They are so compact that there is no need to clip them in a pocket. Just drop it into the bottom of your pants pocket and you’ll never know it’s there until you need it.
Pokka Pens can be great as your only pen for EDC or as a second pen. The latter is how I typically use them. I like nice pens and I typically carry one daily. However, when it comes to being able to write on almost anything, it is hard to beat the good old ballpoint pen with its oil-based ink. There are a lot of things like receipts that gel pens, roller balls, and other inks just struggle to write on but the Pokka Pen handles this easily (this includes Rite in the Rain paper).
These are available in several versions and with a variety of add-ons like clips, aluminum caps, and more. All of that is nice, but for how I use these pens, I like the plain-jane ballpoint type (similar to a Bic pen). The basic ballpoint Pokka Pen does everything I need it to very, very well. If you intend to use these in the elements, Pokka Pens does make a slightly more expensive version with pressurized ink that will write in even more challenging conditions.
When I am carrying a nicer pen, there is Pokka Pen in the bottom of my pocket as well. When I only carry one pen, it’s a Pokka Pen.
Where to buy:
Refills are available direct from PokkaPens.com and are very easy to install. I buy my Pokka pens in multi-packs on Amazon where they are available in a variety of colors: Pokka Pens on Amazon
There are many, many overdone field knife sharpeners on the market but very few that I would consider carrying regularly. That is why I love my USA-made, easy-to-carry Hewlett Two-Sided Diamond Sharpeners with medium (600) and fine (1800) grits. I have had a couple of these knocking around for years now. It might be the most versatile, easiest-to-carry, field sharpener I own.
These diamond plates are the right size – small enough to carry in their included sleeve and large enough to actually work. They are just under 4″ long, 1.25″ wide, and just about 1/16″ thick. They weigh just over 1 ounce.
I rarely use the medium side but it is coarse enough to get some mild reprofiling done in the field should you take some chips out of an edge. The fine side is all I usually need to touch up an edge before finishing with a quick strop.
I have even used mine to strike a ferro rod and scrape tinder like fat wood thanks to the crisp edges on the plate. It isn’t meant for that and I am sure it isn’t good for it… but it works.
I purchased a SOG Tellus FLK a while back because I couldn’t resist what appeared to be a very good deal for a large folding knife. I was also intrigued by its surprisingly lightweight given its size and the way SOG executed the frame-lock (more on this later).
SOG states that the Tellus FLK is an “outdoor workhorse,” which is certainly the vibe I get from this knife. The blade shape, size, and overall feel in the hand remind me a lot of past Zero Tolerance/Rick Hinderer collaboration knives and that is a complement. The knife feels like it is ready to work thanks to SOG’s design choices.
The first thing I noticed about the Tellus FLK is its weight. Now, I am not saying this is a lightweight knife but it one of those knives that messes with your head a bit. When you pick this up, you expect it to feel much heavier than it does. It feels very light for its size. This is thanks to SOG’s choice to mill out very large voids in the liners and likely the use of polymer for several parts of the knife including the scales, backspacer, and even the thumb studs.
Those polymer thumb studs are actually very comfortable to use and the blade deploys easily when using them. In fact, I greatly prefer them to the flipper tab that this knife also includes.
The scales have diagonal, grooved texture that offers a ton of grip without being aggressive or hard on your pockets. They are relatively thick and well-contoured. The polymer scales are affixed to the steel liners via internal, nested screws. SOG also chose to affix a small section of scale to liner-turned-frame-lock which improves the comfort in this area. This is the kind of innovative thing that can and should be done with polymer handles!
The 440C used in the Tellus FLK’s broad, drop point blade is easy to resharpen and seems relatively tough. The height of the blade, coupled with a nearly full-height flat grind allows the blade to really thin out behind the edge. This knife cuts better than a lot of knives with even thinner stock thanks to this cutting geometry. It is impressive in this regard.
The pocket clip is reversible and offers a ton of clearance for pockets with chunkier fabrics. The position is somewhat low on the knife which, for me at least, allows it to fall in a comfortable part of my grip rather than being way out toward the edge of my hand.
The blade locks up solidly though there is some slight side-to-side play which is typical for larger bladed folders with ball-bearing pivots.
All of that sounds pretty good (and it is) but there are a few design choices that leave me scratching my head. First, I am little confused by the use of a ball-bearing pivot given the “outdoor workhorse” intentions of the Tellus FLK. Boring old PB washers would like stand up to fouling more readily and might have even been cheaper. Second, the pivot screws on this knife are fairly large but they went with a T6 driver… and that fits kind of loose. Be careful when adjusting the pivot on this knife. Again, different hardware might have made more sense for this design.
Wrap Up
This knife offers a combination of features that make it very attractive at the price: standout ergonomics, tough stainless steel, great cutting geometry, and multiple deployment methods. It is also significantly larger than a lot of knives in this price range and that is worth something if you need a larger knife for your application.
I like the Tellus FLK so much that I could see choosing this over other classic, low-cost work knives like the RAT 1 just based on just how much knife you get for the money. I’m impressed.
I purchased the SOG Tellus FLK with my own money, from Amazon: SOG Tellus FLK
