Ask HN: What's on your key chain? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What's on your key chain?

7 pointsmcrittenden12 comments

Any interesting tools or flash drives you really like? Something else?

I've got the key shark and love it: http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/8325

Ti Widgy Pry Bar from County Comm: http://www.countycomm.com/titaniumwidgy.html

I love stuff like this. Do you have a job where you need to pry stuff a lot, or are you able to find lots of day-to-day uses for it?

I am not a professional pryer. You dont need to use it that often to make it worth its weight in gold; it is god's metal so it is light enough that I do not notice it.

I also EDC a spyderco[1] tenacious and I am thinking about getting a Leatherman Piranha.[2] (which you should check out if you have never heard of it and like these kinds of tools.) With a spydie and the piranha I would have everything I would like to have on me during daily urban/suburban life.

I cant say enough about Spyderco. I wish they were more popular outside of the .mil/leo/tommy-tactical circles. Most of the knives are "Made in Golden Colorado, USA, Earth" and this is etched prominently into the blade. The one problem for me is that the USA knives are superior quality so they also cost $100+. If you dont mind spening 100+ get the Para-2 the thing is awesome.

Spyderco also makes a line of knives (they all have "human characteristics" names like: Tenacious or Persistence) that are made in China with a lower grade steel than their normal knives. They cost around $30 and given the price point they are extremely well made. This is the blade I EDC. I have a tendency to lose things and I never have to treat the thing like it is sacred. With a zip tie on the thumb hole you can essentially turn a manual opener into a knife with optional auto deploy.

All of the knives come razor sharp from Spyderco. If they lose their edge to such an extent that the average person can not resharpen it on a kitchen knive stone you can just put it in an envelop with $5 and send it to Spyderco. They will put a new factory edge on it, lubricate the bearings and send it back to you. The tenacious/persistence knives make great gifts for guys of any age. Anytime I need to buy a git for a guy I buy a Spydie for them if I have not already given them one.

I have a whale fetish so the following is one more reason I am such a fan of Spyderco. Spyderco makes a blade for marine biologists to free whales that have been entangled in large marine ropes.[3] They lose $100 a blade on these and they are only available to government and NGO biologists/wildlife folks.

I realize that this turned into a Spyderco advert, I apologize, I am just a big fan of the product and the company. I have no affiliation whatsoever with Spyderco.

[1] http://www.spyderco.com

[2] http://www.leatherman.com/product/Piranha

[3] https://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=279

Awesome info, thanks a ton for that.

I recently bought a Leatherman Wave for my EDC after carrying a Victorinox for about 6 years and I've been happy with that so far. In hindsight I wish I knew that the Piranha existed though since that + a good knife would be basically equivalent with less bulk, although I'd lose out on the pliers and scissors I suppose.

Anyways, there's still some random stuff I feel like I'm missing, such as perhaps some sort of flashlight or nail trimmers or a flash drive. I'm considering buying that pry bar as well just for the heck of it since it's small/light and my Wave just has a wide flathead screwdriver that I wouldn't trust with prying anything significant.

The flashlight is the one item I want to add. I keep holding out for one more bump in brightness/size ratio. If I am going to EDC the extra size of a flashlight I want it to be bright enough that i could temporarily blind/disorient an assailant long enough that I have 10-15 seconds to get away. With Af-Pak winding down I am hoping that companies like surefire turn their attention to the civilian market.

I carry a Wave with a factory pocket clip at all times when awake. It's only marginally bigger/heavier than a normal knive with a pocket clip. I use it daily, I carry it on me all. the. time. It's saved my bacon again and again.

I would say the most interesting thing on my key chain is an actual chain - switched from a ring to a ball chain (use aluminum tape to keep it from coming undone.) The ball chain allows the key s & flash drive to lay much more flatter than using an ordinary key ring.

Second to that would be a San Francisco Public Library card, which allows me access to their extensive catalog of on-line books.

I have this (http://www.amzn.com/B006W8U2WU) flash drive and love it. It's much sturdier than the typical plastic drives and has a great simple design. Unfortunately it is only USB 2.0, so I wouldn't recommend it if you use computers that support USB 3.0.

Just keys. Anywhere that I need to get a bottle top off there is usually a bottle opener and I never use a flash drive (Cloud ftw).

My old Pentium 4 http://imgur.com/ZTXkb8L

That's cool!

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