My New E.D.C. Knife: HK Axis by Benchmade

My last two EDC knives been by Benchmade.  First was the Griptilian.  First quality pocket knife I ever purchased.  I had long envied automatic knives, spring-assisted knives, so after several years, I decided to go for the HK Entourage.  Two issues: To me, it didn't feel as tough as Griptilian.  Secondly, I loathed the texture of the handle.  If what it felt like was a sound, it had little bit of the nail on the chalkboard thing going.  *shudders*

Anywho, I went back to carrying my old Griptilian & I loved it even more than before. I sold the HK Entourage to my coworker, another Benchmade carrying dude. 

Few weeks ago, I started seeing this HK "Axis" knife online...  I caught the bug.  I finally ordered one few days ago.  First impression:  It's heavier than Griptilian, and it feels more solid.  I can't quite "flick" the blade in/out effortlessly yet, but I'm sure that'll come as I get used to the design more, and knife loosen up over time.  Pics:

Handle is open on both front & back, so you can see right through between the grips.  Not used to that, but it's cool & should be easier to clean.  Steel liner runs the whole way through, which was one of the selling point I liked about this knife over my Griptilian.  Liner in Griptilian is much narrower & shorter.

Good looking knife!

StarkPower JumpBox V8 Pro 600

So I picked up one of these.  It's a portable battery you can jump start your vehicles with..... or also charge your electronics with.  I wasn't worried about my vehicle, but the prepper in me got it for the latter.  lol  

Okay, I'm not a prepper, but we do occasionally get power outages during winter, and with the smartphones taking care of so many things these days, I wanted a way to be able to recharge my phone + whatever that came up that needed charging.

It came with not just the jumper cables, but also connectors for phones, USBs, etc.  More info on their website.  According to the manual, it will hold charge for 3-years!  It also recommended that battery be recharged every six months for optimum performance.  Its life expectancy is estimated to be 8 to 10 years.  Sounds good to me.

I didn't want to wait for actual power outage to test results on this gadget, so last couple of days, I tested the sucker out charging my phone. 

After recharging the unit fully, I kept track of how many % the charger used to charge how many % on my phone.  After three charges, according to my calculation, it charged 191% on my phone.  To do this, it used up 92% of the charge on the charger.  

I don't know how accurate these battery life readouts from the phone & charger are, but going by those numbers, basically, two full charge on my SONY Xperia T2 would just about completely deplete the charge stored on the charger.  I'm not gonna lie, I was underwhelmed.  I thought it would do at least three, or four full charges.  I was hoping for even more than that.

Still, the length of period it claims to hold its charge is impressive.  3-years, charge every 6 months to top it off.  Most power outages in my area only last several hours at most anyway.  It's really compact, too.  It's heavier & thicker, but barely bigger than my phablet.  I think I like this as a power outage insurance.  I would need something drastically better in case of the zombie apocalypse though.