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Elzetta Retention

As I have previously mentioned, I started out using a Prometheus Lights Titanium Pocket Clip on the Elzetta Alpha before switching to the now-discontinued Raven Pocket Clip in 2016. The O-ring provided by the Raven Pocket Clip is key to how I use the light. It allows me to release the light and use my hand for something else, without dropping the light. The clip itself is perfectly adequate, though not as tight and springy as the titanium clip.

Last summer, I decided to move back to the titanium clip, but to add my own O-ring. I basically knocked off what Retention Ring sells, just using spare bits I already had around. It consists of a little bit of Lawson Ironwire, an O-ring with 1” internal diameter, a tiny piece of heat shrink tubing, and a knot. It isn’t pretty, but it has been working great as part of my EDC for the past 8 months.

Elzetta Alpha, Prometheus Titanium Clip, DIY Retention Ring

How I Audio: Mobile Edition

I do not regularly listen to audio of any sort outside of home or the office. But I value the ability to do so, so I always carry earbuds in my bag. As with headphones, the cable is the usual failure point. The solution, once again, is modularity.

Specifically, I recommend skipping the entire consumer earbud category and going straight to “professional” in-ear monitors.

I carry Shure SE215 IEMs. These are near the bottom-end of the IEM market. I’ve heard people claim that paying hundreds, or thousands, of dollars for custom-molded IEMs is worth it. I’ve heard other people claim that the Chi-Fi market now offers IEMs that are cheaper than the SE215s and yet provide better audio quality. To my non-discerning ears, the SE215s sound great, and they satisfy my listening and comfort requirements. But more important than the specific make or model is that most products in this market segment will offer replaceable cables. The SE215s use an MMCX connector.

For portable use, I want a cable with an inline mic (and 3-button remote) so that I have the option of using it to go hands free with my pocket telephone. Shure sells IEMs with such a cable. This cable failed for me after a couple years. Fortunately, the Chinese Communist Party has realized Marx’s dream of a practically infinite supply of generic MMCX cables with inline mics for dirt cheap. I’m now using a cable I bought off AliExpress for about $10, and if I have to spend another $10 in another couple years I shan’t shed a tear. (If this was for more than occasional and incidental use, I would likely purchase something like the Antlion Kumura Cable or Kinera Gramr, but I’m not going to carry that sort of thing around in my bag just in case.)

I prefer silicone eartips when out and about in the world. They are long lasting and easy to clean. They don’t provide as much isolation as foam tips, but I consider that a feature rather than a bug; I don’t want to be cut off from the surrounding environment. (In special circumstances where I do actually want to block or diminish environmental sound, I use actual ear protection). My favorite tips are the Spinfit CP100+. The medium size feels good upon initial insertion, but I find the small size is more comfortable after a couple hours of continuous penetration.

As a general rule, I subscribe to the Kamala Harris School of Audio Peripherals, as documented in my favorite example of modern hard-hitting investigative journalism. Wireless is a trap. But I admit that there are times when a wireless connection is convenient and worth the additional hassle, however few and far between those times may be. With a modular system, this can easily be addressed by the addition of an adapter.

Originally I thought I might purchase something like the FiiO UTWS5 or Shure RMCE-TW2. But both of these utilize telephone software, which I’m allergic to, and I realized I didn’t actually understand what the sales pitch was for this new-fangled category of “true wireless” earbuds.

Instead, I ended up going back to AliExpress and purchasing a much cheaper necklace style adapter. This isn’t something I carry everyday, but it’s nice to have the option to grab it when plans warrant.

Bluetooth is the one component of the modern audio stack where the technology is still improving – or, at least, getting less bad – so using an interchangeable module here makes sense. The adapter I purchased is built on the Qualcomm QCC5181 chip, providing Bluetooth 5.4, which appears to still be the latest and greatest thing. Portable Bluetooth devices have a limited service life due to their integrated batteries, so again, modularity makes sense here. When these batteries fail, or when I determine it is worth updating to the latest chip, I just buy a new adapter rather than purchasing a whole new system. (It’d be great if we could buy adapters with replaceable batteries, but that seems to be a dream too far.)

If someday in the future I decide it is worth it to buy custom molded IEMs, I’ll just order them with an MMCX connector and they’ll be able to play nicely with my existing ecosystem of cables and adapters. This is the antithesis of the market trend and may result in the revocation of one’s listener license.

Modular, Portable Audio Rig

The FMP Cutting Board

I previously mentioned that I install Rhodia pads in my Field Message Pad backwards, such that the thick cardboard backing is on top. This way when I open the pad, the cardboard provides a surface for writing on the back of the pages, where otherwise I would be writing on top of the FMP cover’s tool slots and the stuff carried within them. This means the other side of the pad has a less firm backing. On a fresh pad this is not an issue, but can become one as pages are consumed and the thickness of the stack of remaining pages is reduced.

My latest innovation in Field Message Pad technology is the addition of a cutting board.

FMP Cutting Board

I keep a number of thin HDPE cutting boards on hand at home. I don’t use these in the kitchen, where I care about my knives, but as project mats. If I’m gluing something, or cutting material with a utility knife, I’ll throw one of these mats down to protect the work surface.

I traced a 4x6” square out on one of these, cut it out with a utility knife, and gave the 4 corners a few passes with a file. The resulting piece slides down the back slot of the FMP cover, behind the notebook. With this underneath, and the Rhodia’s cardboard backing on top, I have a firm writing surface from the first page of the notebook to the last, on both sides of the page.

FMP Cutting Board

Being able to take notes on a stable surface while standing up, with the FMP in one hand and a pen in the other, feels like a super power.

Also, I always have an A6-sized cutting board with me now. Perhaps for impromptu charcuterie.

Screwing, Redux

Since I outlined it in 2018, my EDC tool kit has not changed much. It is still based around the same titanium Fix It Sticks, and intended primarily as a vehicular repair kit.

Sticks of Fixing

It is still carried in the same cuben fiber packing cube from Mountain Laurel Designs (since discontinued and replaced by the otherwise equivalent Ultra X 100 Packing Cubes), though said cube is much worse for wear. Some of the smaller bits have poked a couple holes in the bottom of the pouch. I’ve patched this with Tenacious Tape on both the inside and the outside.

The bit selection has been augmented slightly. Installed in the Fix It Sticks are my most frequently used 1/4” drive bits.

  • Torx T20s
  • Torx T25s
  • Phillips #2
  • Hex 4mm

In the bit holder, I carry additional 1/4” drive bits.

  • Hex 1.5mm
  • Hex 2mm
  • Hex 2.5mm
  • Hex 3mm
  • Hex 5mm
  • Hex 5mm x 50mm
  • Hex 6mm
  • Hex 8mm
  • Torx T8s
  • Phillips #0
  • Slotted 0.6mm x 4.5mm
  • 4mm MicroBit Adapter, holding a slotted 0.25mm x 1.5mm

Keen eyed readers will notice two 5mm hex bits. The longer, 50mm bit is needed to reach into my Gevenalle CX Shifters to adjust the mounting bolt. This longer bit can also be used to provide a turning tool to be used with my Pitlock key. (In 2018 I discussed using the longer Torx T25 bit for this. I now carry a standard length T25s, since I need the longer 5mm hex for the shifters.) My rear Phil Wood Touring Hub takes two 5mm wrenches to remove the end caps. Doing this allows the cassette to be removed from the wheel, providing easy access to repair a broken drive-side spoke without messing around with cassette removal tools.

Mini Knipex Cobra Pliers are only used infrequently, but are so useful when I do need them that I put up with their extra weight in the kit.

The Fix It Sticks tire levels and chain breaker still live in the kit, though I have been debating removing the chain breaker. It is compact but heavy, and it has been about 15 years since I last had an incident that required a chain breaker on the road. It would definitely be in the kit for any multi-day trips.

My Pitlock key is on a Flex-o-loc key ring. The ring also holds a spare KMC CL559R Missing Link, a Maratac Titanium Peanut Lighter, and a CountyComm Titanium Piccolo Capsule that holds two small security bolts.

A small cuben fiber zip pouch holds my patch kit and one FiberFix, including that little spoke wrench that comes with the FiberFix (annoying to use, yes, but agreeably small and light).

EDC Toolkit

FMP Load-Out

My Field Message Pad is currently loaded with:

  • Pilot Vanishing Point, Fine Nib with a Pilot CON-40 piston converter loaded with Noodler’s Blue-Black. This is my new favorite human input device, but I got mine on eBay for a little less than half list price. I’ve been trying the blue-black ink for a few weeks now, but will probably go back to Noodler’s Black.
  • rOtring 800 loaded with Pentel Ain Stein 0.5 mm HB lead. This is another thing I only own because I found one for less than half the list price. I carried a rOtring 600 in the FMP for years, but I always get stressed about the thin metal tip. The 800 could conceivably be temporarily moved to a pocket if the situation warrants, unlike the pokey 600. And the twist mechanism is fun to play with. Both rOtring pencils are pieces of industrial art, in the same category as Curta calculators, but realistically they are no more functional than the much cheaper Staedtler 925. Quality lead made me reevaluate my previous dislike of mechanical pencils.
  • Fisher Space Pen M4. Sometimes you need to write off-planet. In pen.
  • Zebra Onamae Mackee. I used to carry a Sharpie. Then I decided to check if the Japanese had invented a better Sharpie. It turns out the answer is yes, they have.
  • CountyComm Titanium 15CM Ruler. For many years I carried the General Tools 300/1, but mine became bowed. This is a titanium knock-off of the same. The matte finish makes it harder to read, but I use this more as a straight edge than a measuring device. The bowed-ness of the General Tools stainless version is annoying in that application. The titanium version has been in my kit for 3 years and so far it is still straight and flat.

FMP Human Input Devices

A 14mm binder clip secures used pages, allowing the pad to quickly be flipped to a blank (or currently in progress) page.

I still primarily use the Rhodia A6 pads. I install them backwards, so that the cardboard backing is on top. This provides a writing surface to more easily utilize the back of the pages. Otherwise I’m writing on top of the FMP’s tool slots, which is annoying. (The thing the Canadians got right is to put heavy cardboard on both sides.)

When expecting inclement conditions, I drop the fountain pen and the Rhodia, and install a Rite in the Rain *46. But given my druthers, it’s all fountain pen all the time.

FMP Load-Out

Evaluating the 16340 Battery

16340 batteries are rechargeable batteries in the same form factor as CR123As. Last year I purchased 4 different 16340s to try out:

Two of these have integrated Micro USB ports for charging. That’s a nice feature, but the current iteration of my electronic support package contains a (now discontinued) Olight UC Universal Magnetic USB Charger (the Foursevens USB Flex Charger appears identical in every way but the logo), so I can just as easily charge the other two batteries when out and about.

Over the past few months I cycled through all of these 16340s in the Elzetta Alpha. The Alpha, carried on a Pocket Shield, is still my EDC light. Each battery performed in a manner than seemed identical to me, despite their slightly different specs. They worked great. Until they didn’t.

As a CR123A is consumed, the light output diminishes. This provides ample visual warning that it is time to change the battery. All of the 16340s caused the Elzetta to put out a steady amount of light right until the battery died. There is no visual warning that it is time to charge the battery. You just go to switch the light on and nothing happens. Or it switches on and you get great light for 10 seconds, and then it dies.

The life cycle of the 16340 only works if they are put on a fixed charging schedule that is built around maximum likely use. I don’t want to mess with that for my EDC light, so I’ve moved the Elzetta Alpha back to disposable CR123A batteries.

I’d be happy to save money by using the rechargeable 16340 batteries in an application that was less mission critical. But for all the devices I currently have that take a battery in that form factor, the CR123A is still superior. (Eneloops are still great, however.)

Telephone Armor

I’ve never cracked the screen on one of my phones, and I’ve always used a screen protector and case. I don’t know if those facts are related, or what magic pixie dust gets sprinkled on phone glass these days, but I always feel better after up-armoring my telephone.

For my most recent phone, I landed on Armorsuit MilitaryShield. The product name is silly, but somewhere in their marketing I saw a reference to the material being used on helicopter blades. “Oh,” I thought. “It’s just helicopter tape for your phone.” Now that I was aware that was an option, I couldn’t think of a single reason I would not want it. Helicopter tape – or more specifically paint protective film – is so called because it was developed to prevent abrasion on helicopter blades from small flying debris. I use it on my bike frame. I am told it is often used on racing automobiles. The idea is that it protects whatever surface it is covering from being chipped by debris travelling at high velocity, thus protecting the aerodynamic properties (or stylish paint job) of the smooth surface underneath. When applied to the screen of a telephone, the takeaway is that it is pretty tough.

Armorsuit MilitaryShield is offered in matte and clear versions. I bought both. I installed the matte version first because I was curious what that would look like. I find it to be excellent. It diffuses glare, making the screen easier to see outdoors, and doesn’t show fingerprints. I think it makes reading text on the screen more comfortable. It makes it look vaguely like an E Ink display.

After running the matte protector for about five months, I peeled it off and installed the clear version. Having become accustomed to the matte display, the clear version seemed to be designed specifically to amplify glare and attract greasy fingerprints and cheek marks. I removed it after a couple weeks and reinstalled the same matte protector I had previously removed. It went on just as perfectly the second time as it did the first time.

If you do a lot of multimedia editing on your pocket computer, you might not like the diffusion of the matte protector. It makes photos less sharp. But I think it’s great.

In the subsequent two years after I installed the matte protector for the second time, the upper right hand corner of the protector has unpeeled itself slightly. This happened after I dropped the phone on this corner. The edge of the case absorbed the shock but forced up that bit of the screen protector. I could probably remove the case and try to spray a little soapy water into that corner to reactivate the adhesive, but I haven’t bothered. The phone was dropped over a year ago and the corner hasn’t peeled back any more in that time.

Telephone Armor

The case I use for my phone is the unfortunately named SUPCASE Unicorn Beetle Pro Case. I dislike its chunkiness. But I like that it has port covers, which were builtin to my previous phone. Port covers keep sand out of the charging port (it’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere). The Beetle, so-called, consists of two parts. The upper part comes with a terrible glossy screen cover. I addressed this oversight by dropping that part of the case into a pot of not-quite-boiling-water for a minute or so. This softens the glue holding the screen cover to the frame, allowing it to be peeled away cleanly and easily. The result is a pretty alright case, and a great screen cover.

The matte protector is approaching its third birthday now. But for the aforementioned slight peeling on one corner, the protector looks like new. There are no scratches or other marks. The screen underneath it is pristine. I pay no mind to tossing the phone into a pocket or bag with keys, knives, or other sharp and scratchy objects. I expose it to road debris without concern. All is as it should be.

USB Type-C Multi-Cables

I started carrying the Anker PowerLine II 3-in-1 Cable in the latest iteration of my Electronic Support Package a couple years ago. It has a USB Type-A connector on one end, Micro USB on the other, with a USB Type-C and Apple Lightning adapter that pop on to the Micro USB connector. It makes for a nice little multi-cable to charge all my gadgets and transfer small bits of data around.

As I began to acquire more devices that supported USB Type-C, I found that I desired a multi-cable that was Type-C native. A quick survey of the market offered some options, but nothing that struck my fancy. However, during that search I happened to discover that Cozy (the same company that makes those USB Type-A covers I use on my bike lights) offered something they called LightningCozy which would allow me to put together my own multi-cables. So that’s what I did.

USB Type-C Multi-Cables

I have one model built around the Cable Matters USB-C Cable, 60 watt, 3.3 ft. On one end it has a Satechi Type-A to Type-C Adapter attached via a LightningCozy. On the other end it has a JXMOX USB C to Micro USB Adapter attached via another LightningCozy. It is bundled with a Ringke Silicon Cable Tie.

This creates the perfect package for my needs. I can use it to charge all my USB-chargeable things, including the Thinkpad X270. (I have no Apple devices in my life, so I don’t need the Apple Lightning adapter, but could easily add that if I find the need.) The cable doesn’t provide the fastest possible data transfer, but it is more svelte than a fast data cable, and is perfectly acceptable for my incidental data use. It doesn’t do video, but as of yet I have no USB Type-C monitors in my life, so I don’t care. One of these multi-cables is my EDC in the Electronic Support Package.

My second model of multi-cable is built around the Cable Matters USB-C Cable, 100 watt, 6.6 ft. On one end it has a Base Sailor USB C Female to USB Male Adapter attached via a LightningCozy. On the other end it has the same JXMOX adapter as the previous cable, attached via a LightningCozy. It also has a USB-C to Lenovo Slim Tip power adapter I bought a few years ago on AliExpress, attached via electrical tape and a piece of Type 1 Paracord. The cable is bundled with another Ringke Silicon Cable Tie.

I keep this second model in my laptop kit, along with a HyperJuice 66W GaN USB-C Charger. (I also have a Satechi 72W Type-C PD Car Charger I can throw into the kit if I’m going on a trip and think I might be spending a while in a car.) I don’t carry this kit unless I’m also carrying my laptop. This cable allows me to power either of my Thinkpads, or anything else USB-compatible, and gives me more reach than the short EDC cable. Both the X260 and X270 only want 45 watts, so the 100 watt cable is overkill, but it is occasionally useful to have the capacity to deliver more juice to other devices. As with the previous cable, this one doesn’t transfer data at blazing speeds, nor does it do video. I have no need of those capabilities, so I stick with thinner cables.