EDC Knives: Slipjoint Folders II

Outside of America, the old swordmaking town of Solingen, Germany, is the historical center of premium knife making for the rest of the world. German brands and companies such as Böker, Hen & Rooster (Bertram), J. A. Henckels, Kissing Crane and Puma long produced the highest quality folding knives. Those brands are still around, in one form or another, and many of the old firms still make some fine (and fairly expensive) slipjoint knives.

But most of them do not make most their knives in Germany, if any. Many of their designs are German, and sometimes the steel, but manufacturing has moved to cheaper labor centers in the EU, like the Balkan states, or to Asia. Germany has loose country of origin laws, so provenance can be impossible to determine—a “Germany” tang-stamp means nothing. Collectors know this and look for older, “real” German knives. The makers still producing lines in Germany talk that point up.


Böker "Tree Brand" canoe-pattern knife, a high-quality German folder. The blade tang is stamped Solingen, Germany, and all Böker Solingen knives are indeed still made there. A very fine knife.

As I’ve said, country of origin means not so much to me. When companies like Frost started importing Japanese knives in the 70s, enthusiasts proclaimed them junk next to American blades. Now Japanese knives are praised as premium and Chinese knives are declared junk. Not necessarily true. It is a fact that China and Taiwan are now the centers of knife production, but this really is a great time for traditional pocketknife lovers.

When I started collecting 8 or 9 years ago, your basic choice (it seemed) was to either pay a premium for a jigged bone-handled Case or German blade, or buy a cheap and ugly pakawood- or burnt bone-handled “user,” often made in Pakistan. Even a plastic- or nylon-handled Uncle Henry or Old Timer was priced not much lower than a Case (though still made in America, until 2004).

But now, inexpensive folders of good quality and traditional materials are pouring out of Asia. I discovered this first in the new brand Rough Rider, but even established brands are now appearing in this value segment.

I have in front of me two “Texas toothpick” slipjoints, one made in China by Kissing Crane ($12) and the other in the USA by Case ($40). The Case has bone handles and the Kissing Crane has genuine ram’s horn. The Case uses better materials and came beautifully polished, but my Chinese knife, while just one-quarter the cost, is perhaps three-quarters the quality.

More importantly, due to its cost, the Case stays in my knife roll while the Kissing Crane goes in my pocket. Whatever its current provenance, I still admire its German heritage and its craftsmanship, and apparently some others feel the same. And it cost me less than a nice lunch. In the past few months I’ve purchased several Chinese folders, all for $7-10 each. Quality is a little uneven, but even at such startlingly low prices, I’ve been very pleased with all but one.

The good old days are not gone. Entirely the opposite. Traditional pocket knife lovers have never had it so good.


Another canoe-pattern knife, of the Kissing Crane brand, an old German marque but certainly not made in Germany. HallMark Cutlery (Knoxville, TN) founder Jacob Hall once interned in Solingen and has now acquired the marque, but manufactures at least his entry-level knives in China.

Next up: Tactical Knife Materials & Conctruction

EDC Knives: Slipjoint Folders I

Growing up, my father always had a pocketknife handy. For much of the 20th century, most men in America probably did. And most all of those millions of knives were humble slipjoint folders. Being such a fundamental tool and male accessory, these knives came in many different grades and styles from a large number of makers, such as Camco/Camillus, Imperial Schrade, Kutmaster and Utica. I own classic folders made by all those companies, purchased used. Most are in fact very well used and, alas, all of their makers gone, in fact if not in name.

The golden age of pocketknives was between the world wars. While most American knives were made in Ohio and New England, pocketknife collecting first started in Kentucky and Tennessee in the 1950s, states which still have a real love for these folders. As American knife manufacturing steadily declined into the 70s, collecting still continued to grow but shifted in focus to custom knives. However, vintage folders have steadily increased in demand and value, especially good examples, even knives that in real terms are nothing special.

But both declining demand for fine slipjoints and rising competition from Asian manufacturers have almost reduced the American slipjoint folder industry to a single large maker: W. R. Case. Case knives are now made for collectors more than consumers, deviating little from classic designs but with a constant stream of limited issues that vary in details (handle materials/colors, shields, blade etching, packaging, etc.). The Case Collector’s Club has almost 18,000 members. They are certainly fine knives and, in America, almost the last of their breed.


The new Tony Bose-designed limited edition Sway Back Jack from Case. While Case has had several collaborations with Bose, collaborations with a custom maker are rare for them, and only done with limited edition knifes. Equally rare is this (mild) departure from their traditional slipjoint patterns.

Most other “American” slipjoints are made in Asia by OEMs. Queen Cutlery is a notable exception, as is the newer firm Great Eastern Cutlery, both making all of their fine (and expensive) knives in Titusville, NY. There is also Canal Street Cutlery in Ellensville, NY. Likewise, Remington is again starting to sell American-made knives, and are even starting a collector's club for their blades (who their OEM maker is, I do not know). But most modern slipjoints from Remington, Winchester, and other old brands share no DNA whatsoever with the handmade knives bearing those names from the 1940s. A few models are made by US craftsmen, but all the rest by Chinese robots.

Next up: Slipjoints II - From Germany to Asia

I Want Me a Delany Flushboy

Warning: This post contains potty talk.

I hate plunging clogged toilets and our toilet at home (how shall I put this) was really only designed for the lightest of duty. However, the commercial toilets at work are all business when it come to . . . business. I'm sure some people are a little intimated by the loud whooossh and rush of air one experiences when one tugs on the handle of a gleaming Delany Flushboy valve. Maybe they fear for any small children or pets that might be sucked in unawares. Not me. I get a little thrill from that throaty roar, like hearing a Harley-Davidson roar to life through a set of straight pipes. No need for plungers here.

So I want me a Delany Flushboy. As it turns out, Delany just makes the valves, and they are definitely a commercial item only. But the technology used in my office toilets, called pressure-assisted jet flush, can be had in home toilets as well. They look just like any other toilet and are not difficult to install. (And they are quieter than those commercial brutes.) But they are, however, more expensive than a basic gravity-feed toilet, starting about $480. Still a bargain, I say. And with that, having stepped upmarket, you also get a much better toilet design. In fact, good gravity-feed toilets now are designed with ballfeed passthrough that really will flush (stuffed) animals right through, no problem. Seriously: "Watch Our Latest Toilet Video."


An American Standard Cadet: Fully glazed 2-1/8" trapway, 2" minimum ballpass, close-coupled flushometer tank, and even a Speed Connect tank/bowl coupling system!

Some people may be laughing, but for me this is a dream in white vitreous china. Someday. Yes, someday . . .

EDC Knives: Cheap Chinese Clones

The subject of Chinese knives is not simple. You used to be able to dismiss knives from places like China, India and Pakistan out hand. Perhaps you still can the last two. It is, however, a fact that China and Taiwan have become the primary centers for knife manufacture, including excellent value blades from top brands.

I have in front of me, for example, a Spyderco Tenacious with a big “China” stamp on the tang. The full-flatground blade is made from 8Cr13MoV, which is a good Chinese steel, with excellent G10 scales, phosphor-bronze washers, skeletonized liners, lined lanyard hole, perfect lockup, and superb fit and finish. Everything you expect from a Spyderco, and for $35 (street). In times past, Spyderco only made their value Byrd line in China. But times are changing.


The Spyderco Tenacious: Chinese and affordable, but no cheap clone.

Likewise, I personally have found the new wave of Chinese slipjoint folders, with genuine bone handles, to be very impressive. I have one in my pocket right now. When I pop the blade, it “talks” (snaps) as well as a classic Case, but at one-quarter the cost.

Of course, loads of junk knives are also made in China, sometimes collectively called “cheap Chinese clones” (CCCs). Some CCCs are literal clones of expensive branded knives, from the $140 Benchmade Stryker (clone here) to the $30 Böker Subcom (clone here). Many more just borrow design elements from popular branded knives without copying them whole-cloth. These are not always generic products. Most bottom-feeding brands also do this shamelessly.

Bad CCCs often look the look, but just don’t work right. I have a CCC in my desk at work that looks like a tactical knife, but is in fact a tail-lock slipjoint. That means you cannot open and close it one-handed, a basic feature of tacticals. Another CCC I own is a proper one-handed opener, or intended to be, but the proportions are just wrong. It would take a four-jointed thumb to open one-handed, and the clip screws constantly come loose, too.

But I bought a $10 CCC in Mexico that opens brilliantly. In fact, it's even spring assisted . Give the index flipper a nudge and the blade pops right out. It even looks good. But the build quality is terrible. The blade is very poor steel, the liner lock too thin, the blade lockup scary bad, and the pot-metal handle weighs a ton.


Same knife as my Mexican CCC, maybe a clone of my clone, found on eBay. This one is stamped "Duck USA," but most certainly made in China.

Many CCCs are of course made in the same factories as fine branded knives. They may use cheaper materials, but the build quality can still be very good. Both of the clones I link to above have received some surprisingly good reviews, and they are startlingly inexpensive.

In the end, I think country of origin indicates little about knife quality, by itself. It is true that most premium knives are made in the US or Europe, but I think that is partly because premium buyers demand it. I’m very comfortable buying a Chinese-made knife from a reputable brand. However, bottom-feeders and generics are hit and miss, and I’ve returned more than one. Caveat emptor.

Next up: American Slipjoint Folders

EDC Knives: Blades

This post will not discuss blade steels, but rather blade patterns, geometry and edges. A blade pattern is the general design of the blade, which is oriented to its intended usage and function. But for every pattern there are distinct variations of geometry and edge that further affect its functionality in performing various tasks.

I’ll just refer you to this wiki article for an overview of the various blade patterns, to which yet others could be added (consult Stewart’s Guide for a fuller survey). Multi-blade slipjoint folders will usually have blades of multiple patterns, suitable to the knife's intended usage. For example, the 3-blade “whittler” I have in pocket today has two clip blades, one long and one short, and a pen blade (a small drop point). This makes these slipjoints very versatile.

Tactical knives have just a single blade that has to do everything, so blade pattern is a very important consideration. The most popular blade patterns are probably drop point and tanto, in countless variations. The drop point is a superb general utility shape. It is made for slicing rather than thrusting, but it can also be ground into an effective point for good penetration.

The modern American tanto blade is a dedicated thrusting design. Cold Steel demonstrates their tantos punching through car hoods and 55-gallon drums. I don’t need to do a lot of that myself, so tantos do not appeal to me so much. Especially since they are lousy for general cutting. I personally think their popularity is driven by their “wicked” appearance, which also contributes to the general weaponization of knives in public perception, a thoroughly bad thing. Not to say I'll never own one, but they make little sense for EDC.

For good slicing ability, you want to look for a knife with a broad cutting surface and good edge “belly,” the curve just behind the tip of the blade. For this reason, tanto, wharncliff (straight-edged) and hooked blades are of poor general utility. Drop, clip and spear points with simple or recurved bellies are simply better cutters in general use.

Also beware of knives with deep hollow grinds and narrow cutting planes ending at the middle of the blade. Hollow grinds give a very thin and sharp edge, but that thin edge may chip easily, especially with cheap steels. I prefer a full flat grind, a straight taper from spine to edge, which is more expensive to machine but yields a very sharp, strong edge with a broad cutting plane. Think chef’s knife.


(top) Spyderco Atlantic Salt rescue knife, a hollow ground wharncliff with full SpyderEdge serrations; (bottom) Spyderco Tenacious, a flat-ground drop point with plain edge; (right) CRKT M16-14SFG, a combo-edged tanto blade with excellent Veff serrations

Edges come in three basic types: plain, serrated and combo (half-serrated). For general use and ease of sharpening, I find a plain edge is best. However, for quickly severing ropes, or seat belts, or anything that may be sawed (serrations are just little sawteeth), good serrations are incredibly effective. A combo edge aims for the best of both words, with just the back half (more or less) of the blade being serrated. On longer blades, at least, this is often fine for general use, though it is still a compromise. But there is no best blade or edge. It all comes down to intended use and preference.

Next up: Cheap Chinese clones

EDC Knives: Tactical Folder Design II

Continuing on from my last post, here I will be briefly looking at tactical folder lock and carry designs.

Lock Design

I’m not going to even attempt to describe or illustrate all the various locking systems, but the Benchmade website covers them all. Lock design is concerned with both safety and ergonomics. Safety is obvious, but ergonomics because the lock should allow the operator to manipulate it with the using hand (i.e., one handed).

Some locks are located on the side or back or the knife handle. These are desirable from the perspective that the operator does not have to put thumb or fingers in front of the blade when closing the knife (if you know what you’re doing!). If fingers before blade is a real concern, make life easy and buy a knife with an axis lock, like the SOG Flash I mentioned last post or one of the many Benchmade AXIS-equipped models.

Note that while Benchmade says lock back knives take two hands to close, if the lock in the center of the handle spine (as is regular for tacticals), they can in fact be closed with one hand. Spyderco describes the most common technique here (YouTube demonstration), but you can also just pinch the handle between thumb and middle finger, and then release the lock with your index finger. This is necessary with blades that lack a kick (unsharpened base) and otherwise keeps your fingers away from the blade.

However, the most popular lock design is the liner lock, which does require the operator to put thumb in front of blade to push in the liner and close the knife (see right). It sounds scary, and takes a little practice, but countless users do this daily and closing accidents are not a serious concern. But if that makes you nervous, again, go with a different design.

What about lock strength? First, realize that blade lock strength is really only a concern in thrust cutting (stabbing). Otherwise, all mechanisms that keep the blade from closing work about equally well. Even for thrust cutting, any properly-designed lock will hold under typical stresses. However, many cheap knives user liner locks that are either quite thin or badly aligned with the blade axis. I'd trust a cheap back lock over a cheap liner lock. But I'd trust any style of lock on a modern, well-made knife.

One last consideration is potential for accidental lock disengagement. This is virtually a non-issue for axis lock knives, another of that design's strengths. However, if you grip a back lock knife badly, you could depress the lock release. For this reason Spyderco cuts a scallop in the lock release on many models which makes that less likely (the "David Boye dent"). Similarly, it is possible to accidentally release a liner lock with a tight and bad grip. CRKT’s AutoLAWKS dual-locking system prevents this. It takes a little more technique to close a LAWKS knife one-handed, but it is one of the strongest lock designs currently available.


(L-R) A Benchmade axis lock knife, a CRKT M-series knive with AutoLAWKS, and a Spyderco back lock with David Boye dent.

Carry Design

Spyderco is commonly credited with creating (or at least popularizing) the pocket clip, now found on almost all tactical knives. The clip is used to attach the knife to the inside of the front pant's pocket. Some knives allow the clip to be repositioned on the knife, on either side for left or right side carry, or even on either end for blade tip up or tip down carry.

Tip up/down carry makes a difference in opening the knife. For me, tip up opens easiest, since with the way I draw, tip down I have to reorient the knife in my hand to open it. However, some manufactures believe tip down carry is safer, and mount their clips that way (e.g., CRKT, on most models). Most users of course prefer a knife tapped for mounting the clip either tip up or down, left or right, like many Spydercos.

However, another consideration is where the clip is located relative to the ends of the handle scales. If mounted at the very end, again like my SOG Flash I, this allows "deep carry," with only the clip visible on the outside of the pocket and no handle exposed. If the clip is lower down on the handle, of course more handle will stick out of your pocket. This make your draw easier, but also may be more prone to snag and also advertises that you are carrying a knife. All this is purely preference, and most users will quickly find out theirs. I prefer deep carry, tip up.

Next up: Blades

EDC Knives: Tactical Folder Design I

Much could of course be said about tactical knife design, but this post concerns only design as it relates to function. I will survey here just few basics that every buyer should be aware of with respect to opening, locking and carry designs. Materials I will cover another time. Tactical designs can differ greatly in operation, and every user will have different preferences. Forewarned is forearmed.

Opening Design

All true tactical knives are designed to open and close one handed, and are either auto or manual. Autos are popularly called switchblades. They open (and sometimes even close) automatically when one pushes a button or switch on the handle. If a knife requires any manual manipulation of the blade to open it, then it is a manual knife.

However, some manual knives are “assisted.” This means that when the user rotates the blade open as little as 20 degrees (it varies), a spring takes over and opens the blade fully. Really, the only difference between an auto and an assisted opener is whether you push a button the handle to open it (auto) or nudge a flipper or thumb stud on the blade (assisted). Here is a (slightly cheesy) YouTube demonstration of assisteds vs. autos by Duane the YouTube Knife Guy.

Contrary to popular belief, autos (switchblades) are legal to buy, own and carry in most states, with certain restrictions (by state). Federal law only regulates interstate sales, and that is in theory more than practice. But with a good design and a little practice, the user can open a manual, assisted or auto knife equally fast. An auto knife may in fact be slower to open than a manual, since it is usually carried locked (so it does not open in your pocket). So, unlock and then push button (auto) or just flick thumb/index finger (manual). Autos anymore are cool but pointless.

I discussed the basic kinds of openers in my last post: thumb stud, thumb disc, thumb hole, or index flipper. Of these, I find that thumb holes are slowest but offer the most opening control, while index flippers, though very fast and fail-safe, offer the least control. Thumb studs/discs take a little technique to use, and knife design is important for effective function, but they give the user the option of a very fast or a very controlled open.

I prefer a thumb stud on an assisted knife to any other opening design. You can pop the blade open instantly, normally, or open it in a relatively controlled way if necessary. But entirely manual knives are safer and, with good design and practice, can be opened as fast as an assisted. They also may also be easier to close one-handed, since you do not have to compress a spring. The ideal for me is my SOG Flash I. Light and safe to carry, deep pocket clip, grippy handle, fast to open and easy to close (the thumb lock release also compresses the spring). If I could only keep one of my EDC knifes, this little guy would be it.


SOG Flash I

Next up: Tactical folder design (part 2)

EDC Knives: Knife Anatomy

With a title like “knife anatomy,” I virtually guarantee that no one will read this post. But I feel obliged to define the terms I will be using in future knife reviews (which I also expect no one to read). This introduction will not be anything like complete. For more info, see here and here.

Most tactical folders consist of a blade pinned to a handle composed of two steel inner liners to which outer coverings (scales) are affixed. The liners may be drilled out to lighten them (skeletonized), and some knives have no liners—the blade is just pinned directly to polymer or stainless steel scales.

Setting aside opening and locking designs, construction materials, and blade shape and grind (all later posts), the most important knife feature is handle design. The handle needs to effectively function as sheath and blade lock while providing an ergonomic and secure grip, and if possible some level of aestheticism (good looks sell a lot of knives). Secure grip is very important, since most folding knives do not have quillons (a handguard) to keep your hand from sliding up onto the blade when thrust-cutting.



Handle and blade features are often described in unfamiliar vocabulary. Here are some of the most important and arcane terms (per above photo, clockwise from top):

swedge: The spine of a knife blade, opposite the cutting edge, is sometimes ground into a swedge (false edge) to save weight, improve penetration, or simply for appearance.

opening hole: This is to provide a gripping surface for the thumb of the gripping hand to open the blade (i.e., one handed). This hole is found on Spydercos and some Benchmades. Otherwise, most knives use for opening a thumb stud on the side of the blade (see inset above) or a disc on top (as on the Emerson in my previous knife post). Some knives also use a flipper on the back of the handle, actuated with the index finger, which when the blade is open may form a finger guard (see right).

thumb ramp: While not all knives have it, a thumb ramp allows the user to better choke up on and control the blade for precise cutting tasks. Placing the thumb on top may also provide a more secure grip than a thumb-down choke. Thumb ramps usually have jimping.

lanyard hole: A through-handle tube for the attachment of a lanyard (wrist cord).

finger groove: A scallop in the handle to improve grip.

choil: A finger groove cut into the blade in front of the handle. Often any forefinger groove is called a choil.

jimping: Also called friction grooves by some makers, to use a layman’s term. These are grooves cut in the lower spine of the blade, choil and/or handles to improve the user’s grip on the knife.

So, armed with this knife savvy, you can now impress your friends and spouse with learned observations like, “that Spyderco has a substantial thumb ramp with aggressive jimping, and quite a deep choil.” Don’t you feel smarter?

Next up: Tactical folder design (part 1)

It's Really Not Funny

For Brian (of course).

Update: Flashlights and Batteries

First item: My UltraFire C3 flickering problem was in fact persistent. The problem (fairly common on these models, it turns out) is with the way the head mates with the battery tube. The tube must ground on the emitter but, when screwed down, it rests on just two blobs of solder on the emitter back that, on some lights, do not provide good enough contact. The solution is to take a piece of bare copper wire, shape it to fit just inside the head beneath the battery tube, and screw it all together. That fixed it for me. But I'm still steamed I had to correct a design flaw. For $11 it is still an amazing light, but even at that price point there are actually a lot of options.

I was perhaps too bold, or at least naive, with my recommendations in my previous flashlight post. I don't know that I recommended any lemons, but even now with just a bit more research, I'd make some different recommendations. Though not here and now. This is Knife Month, after all. But look for more discussion and reviews to come.

Flashlight and battery tech naturally go hand in hand. Most high-performance lights work best or even exclusively with exotic lithium-ion* batteries (go lithium!) that you basically have to mailorder from Asia. They run at higher voltages, which hi-po lights like. Again, more on this to come.

But I did want to mention one interesting fact, relative to AA batteries and flashlights, as yet another supplement to my original battery post. First, alkaline (disposable) and NiMH (rechargeable) AA batteries produce different voltages, 1.5v and 1.2v respectively. That means that they are not strictly interchangeable. The device they are used in must be regulated to use both voltages. There is also an exotic AA-sized rechargeable lithium-ion battery called a 14500 that runs at 3.6v or 3.7v. But before you drop one of those guys in your light, again, you need to be sure of the voltage range that it will accept. Or you could literally blow up your light.

My UltraFire C3 is regulated for 0.8v ~ 4.2v. That means it will run on any AA you care to put in it, even a 14500. You can even buy an extension tube that turns it into a double-AA light (but not two 14500s, do the math!). The fact that it will run on as little as 0.8v also means it will suck your batteries pretty dry. That's a very good thing.

But different battery chemistries (see my first supplement) can change the way your light performs. More expensive lights are digitally regulated to produce a consistent amount of light as the battery draws down. When drawn down close to dry, some switch into "moon mode," a low-power draw that produces little light but sucks that last bit of juice from the cell. However, cheaper lights are usually direct drive. Basically, the power goes straight from the battery to the bulb or LED emitter. In these lights, the kind of battery you use can really change performance.

For example, in my UltraFire C3 (per this review), a 2500mAh NiMH lithium battery* will produce a consistent 40 or so lumens for about 90min, and then output drops steeply until completely dead at about 130min. A good alkaline AA will produce about 36 lumens when fresh, but steadily declines to about 4 lumens at 100min, then running at that level out past 220min. Two different batteries give you two quite different lights.

The reason for this difference (per Wikipedia) is that even though "the nominal NiMH voltage is lower, it sustains for the length of the discharge cycle, because the low internal resistance allows NiMH cells to deliver a near-constant voltage until they are almost completely discharged. Alkaline discharge voltage drops more towards the end of the discharge cycle."

High drain on alkalines also decreases their effective capacity. "Alkaline batteries, which might have approximately 3000 mA·h capacity at low current demand (200 mA), will have about 700 mA·h capacity with a 1000 mA load. Digital cameras with LCDs and flashlights can draw over 1000 mA, quickly depleting alkaline batteries. NiMH can handle these current levels and maintain their full capacity."

Bottom line: For direct drive lights, NiMH = more light for less time, while alkaline = less light for more time. (Whew.)

This is just geeky tech abstraction if you only need a light to occasionally find your car keys, but in more critical applications, knowing precisely what to expect from your light may be more important. For such uses, one should really own a quality light with digital regulation and accurate manufacturer-supplied performance specifications (like this Fenix LD01). And always have on hand a spare battery and backup light.

*Further tech point: Disposible lithium (NiMH) batteries and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are not the same thing. Both are lithium based, but two different chemistries, voltages, etc. Lithium, the psychotropic drug, is related to these batteries chemically, but the Lithium Press just topically.

EDC Knives: Tactical Folders

I own a Buck 110, and had a balisong as a teen (my martial arts phase), but really have no interest in folding hunters or butterfly knives. Most other knife users and collectors also do not. On the other hand, slipjoint folders are classic collector’s items, and still very useful for opening boxes, paring fingernails, and similar light-duty tasks. Everyone should have, at the very least, a little Swiss Army knife in purse or pocket, and I personally love, own and carry a number of different slipjoints. But the king of modern folding knives is the tactical folder.

The tactical folder is an evolution of earlier folding hunter and locking utility knife designs. But the tactical folder is hard to describe, such is its variety, though certain features are typical. It is a single-blade locking folder made from high-performance steels and (usually) polymers, designed for high-functionality and, very often, avant-garde appearance. Most all have pocket clips and can be easily opened and closed one-handed. They are also purpose-built for hard utility and/or self-defense use ("tactical" means "combat").

If these greatly varied knives collectively resemble any single archetype, it is probably the Viper/CQC combat folders made by Ernest Emerson. Emersons may or may not have been the very first true tactical knives, but they were early, purpose-built, and certainly fit the description. Tactical knives' popularity has exploded since the 90s, driven first (goes one theory) by military use during Desert Storm, when commanders forbade the carry of “scary looking” fixed-bladed combat daggers by soldiers.


Emerson CQC-11, a classical tactical knife

Many tactical folders today do not look like defensive weapons, nor would be effective in that role. Most emergency rescue folding knives, for example, are of tactical design. Spyderco knives are one of, if not the, original tacticals. The pocket clip, serrations, and other common tactical knife features started with Spydercos. But the classic Spyderco is a pure utility knife, based on Sal Glesser's original C01 Worker model.

It’s arguable that "tactical" (meaning, "combat") is simply the wrong term here. "EDC knife" or "clip folder" (Gerber's preference) or even just "modern folder" might be better designators for smaller, modern single-blade folders not designed for serious defensive use, but rather for daily utility, with the term "tactical folder" reserved for dedicated combat knives.

But the fact is that "tactical folder" is commonly applied to this whole broad category of knives. And a number of popular EDC knives, often called “minis,” are just downsized versions of proper tactical knives. The only difference is size, and the size at which a knife can be said to become truly tactical rather than just utilitary/EDC is debatable.


Three popular EDC knives (left to right): Benchmade Mini-Griptillian, Spyderco Delica, Kershaw Leek

My own interest is of course in EDC knives, but since the formal difference between EDC and proper tacticals is often not that great, much in my following posts describes every kind of tactical knife equally well.

Next up: Knife anatomy.

You Want This Fat (Really)

Quick shoutout to an article today in the NYTimes about a kind of body fat we all need more of, called brown fat. This fat is highly metabolically active (i.e., it burns loads of calories), but it is only activated in certain conditions, principally by cold or "by catecholamines, hormones that are part of the fight or flight response" (see on adreneline, below). Babies have lots of the stuff, but adults much less or even none at all. Amount seems to be determined by genetics, and an individual's amount of brown fat doubtless factors in to their overall metabolic rate. That is, naturally obese people seem to have less than thin people, or in some cases, none. But useful research on this in just beginning.

Of course, a pill that stimulates brown fat would be brilliant. Scientists will be working on that, guaranteed. But one medicine that inhibits its action is beta blockers, taken for high blood pressure. The only substances known to stimulate it are epinepherine (adreneline) and ephedra/ephedrine.

Ephedra is just the natural form of the pharmaceutical ephedrine. Ephedra has been (irrationally) banned, but ephedrine can be purchased OTC in antihistamines. It is a mild stimulant, but one of the things it stimulates is brown fat, especially if taken with caffeine. The article says that ephedra/ephedrine and caffeine "have too many side effects to be used for weight loss," which as a general statement may be true. Again, they are mild stimulants. They may cause weight loss, but can also cause twitchiness or even anxiety. Think of the prototypical coffee (caffeine) and cigarette (nicotine) addict. Thin but jittery.

But the fact is, this has been known for years. Tens of thousands of physique athletes take an "EC stack" when cutting fat to boost metabolism and keep from loosing muscle. It's one of the only proven thermogenics. Likewise, green tea, another mild stimulant, has long been known to contribute to weight control. There are many reasons Asians traditionally are thin, but one factor is that they drink oceans of green tea.

This is not to advocate stimulants for weight loss, but just to say: science has once again succeeded in demonstrating what we've always known.

The Unthinkable

This is a shoutout to a great post on Mr. Fweem's Blog and an article by Clay Shirky titled, "Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable." What an incredible bit of writing.

Shirky talks about epochal change in one branch of publishing, newspapers, but much of this applies to all print publication. The institute that employs me is, in part, an academic publisher. Academic publishing lives in a strange bubble to begin with, but we are even further removed from reality by the fact that our publishing is non-profit (only partly by design). But even we are increasingly asking the question, does it really make sense in the Internet Age to spend diminishing resources putting ink on dead trees? It's not just the cost. If your goal is the widest possible distribution of information, then printing is limiting. And in fact, we put almost all (soon to be all all) of our print publication on our free website anyway. So, why not go direct to web?

The main reason for us is that print publication is still academically legitimating. Scholars in most fields still distrust the internet, as if the expense of print publication somehow is a guarantee of academic quality. Rank advancement committees generally discount web-only publications. This thinking will have to change, and in fact, university administrations may be the force that changes it. They want to own the intellectual property their institutions produce instead of ceding it to publishers. But that is another topic.

Another reason for print vs. web publication is to restrict unauthorized reproduction. But online distribution of print texts, mostly unauthorized, continues to increase. I won't get into that, but in addition, two words to ponder: Google Books. We are just years, but not decades, away from having most print books available to everyone on web, for a modest fee or free. More and more titles will be published primarily as ebooks, and secondarily as print titles, mostly via print on demand. But don't get me going on the death of books.

The Shirky article also has some poignant thoughts on the nature of information revolutions like we are experiencing. Speaking of Gutenberg and the invention of the printing press, he describes the massive upheaval it caused, especially for civic and ecclesiastical hierarchies:

The Bible was translated into local languages; was this an educational boon or the work of the devil? Erotic novels appeared, prompting the same set of questions. Copies of Aristotle and Galen circulated widely, but direct encounter with the relevant texts revealed that the two sources clashed, tarnishing faith in the Ancients. As novelty spread, old institutions seemed exhausted while new ones seemed untrustworthy; as a result, people almost literally didn’t know what to think. If you can’t trust Aristotle, who can you trust? . . .

That is what real revolutions are like. The old stuff gets broken faster than the new stuff is put in its place. The importance of any given experiment isn’t apparent at the moment it appears; big changes stall, small changes spread. Even the revolutionaries can’t predict what will happen. Agreements on all sides that core institutions must be protected are rendered meaningless by the very people doing the agreeing. (Luther and the Church both insisted, for years, that whatever else happened, no one was talking about a schism.) Ancient social bargains, once disrupted, can neither be mended nor quickly replaced, since any such bargain takes decades to solidify.

Religions and ideologies are experiencing this in a major way, to their benefit (new movements) or detriment (established groups). I found it interesting that Pres. Thomas S. Monson's closing remarks at the recent LDS General Conference focused on the internet. Obviously pornography is the leading concern, but working for a Mormon apologetics organization, I know something of just how challenging the internet is for the church in terms of information and message control.

It is no surprise that Elder M. Russell Ballard, who is heavily involved in the church's proselyting and public communications, has encouraged faithful LDS blogging. That was something of a volte-face but also a recognition that, on the internet, volume is more powerful and persuasive than authorized credentials. It's the means for a million little converations, not the vehicle for one authoritative declaration. But there is still a tendency to treat the internet as a source of information and media rather than the source. This perpective is slowly changing, of necessity. But most of us will really only apprehend the magnitude of this revolution in retrospect.

To Write Is Good, To Edit Divine

My job includes several substantial editorial assignments. I know what it's like to sweat under deadlines and how easily typos happen. In fact, I can't even look at a book we've published after it comes back from the press. I'm too afraid of what mistakes I might find.

One title we published (not one of mine) was a work of Islamic philosophy called the Decisive Treatise. The cover designer got confused and set the title on the spine as, Decisive Treaty. The editor caught it in the first round of proofs and corrected it, but when later design adjustments were made, the designer accidentally used his original file. So, yes, the spine was printed as, Decisive Treaty. Ugh.

So I winced in sympathy upon hearing of a small but catastrophic typo in yesterday's Daily Universe, our campus newspaper, whereby a photo of LDS apostles at the recent general conference was captioned, "Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostates." When discovered, the university rushed to pull the 15,000 copies of the paper out of circulation, replacing it with a corrected print run later in the day. Here are the gory details.

The Existential Muffin

I just typed the title to this post, and then wondered, has anyone else written on this topic? Yes, of course, and Pamplemousse makes some good points on the nature of muffiness. A muffin should be more than just a breakfast cupcake.

But this post is not really about muffins. It's about culinary disappointment.

So, I go to the dentist this morning and, on my way back to work, I notice a new eatery, the Paradise Bakery and Cafe. I love great pastry and, ever hopeful (and peckish), I have to stop. This is a big and beautiful cafe, with professional menus and a throng of smiling staff. I should have walked straight out over that fact alone. Unless you're eating haute (out? haute? eating out haute?), if a place looks great, the food is probably not.

The "bakery" section was a joke, about 6' of single-shelf counter. They had big signs about their "famous cookies," but the sample they gave me could have come from a Keebler box. Maybe did. The only thing with any promise was their muffins. I bought the Apple Cinnamon. It was ok, I guess. But just a breakfast cupcake.

This small dissappointment should not have put me in a funk, but as I've blogged before, I love great food. But it is so hard to find. Now, if I had the money, I'm fortunate to live just an hour's drive of many great restaraunts. During ski season, there are probably twenty that would not disappoint any reasonable foodie just in Park City and the resorts. We even have two hauts restaurants local (the Chef's Table in Provo and the Tree Room at Sundance). But these belong to an entirely different catagory of eateries. Dinner for two will cost you at least a Benjamin.

I love good eats on the cheap, but there is a reason why it is a commonplace for greasy spoons to advertise "home cooking." For a variety of reasons, restaurant food is rarely better than even modestly competent home cooking. I'm no cookie wizard, but I can certainly bake for myself a better cookie than those to which Paradise claims fame. In fact, that is the challenge I've set for myself—find affordable restaurants that can beat our home cooking. Sounds easy, but it's not.

Cookies and box-baking aside, real baking is a real challenge, and good commercial bakers can produce breads and pastries that only accomplished home cooks can match. We're very fortunate to have a couple of good bakeries local. Kneaders is spotty with pastries, but they have some great specialty breads. For your basic cinnamon rolls and such, I love Shirley's. If you get out to Midway, then Bäckerei & Eis at the Zermatt Resort is worth a visit. Their bleu cheese bread is unbelievable and their pastries fair to great (skip their Napoleons). If you're into it, they also have great gelato.

But I'd trade them all for Provo's only French patisserie, the Eliane French Bakery (sic). Eliane's is nothing to look at, but their pastries are the real thing. One reviewer complained they did not "taste as good as they appeared." I think that's because Americans expect a blast of sugar whenever they bite into something creamy. Sorry, in my very limited experience, that just is not French, who use sugar as a flavoring and not the main ingredient in pastry. Authentic or not, Eliane's is very good, and as close to real patisserie as you are going to get in Happy Valley.

EDC Knives: Slipjoints, Folding Hunters, Balisongs

A folding knife is simply any knife whose blade folds or retracts into its handle. They come in a huge variety of styles, especially art knives, but most folding knives are one of four basic types: slipjoint, folding hunter, balisong and tactical.

A slipjoint is the classic pocketknife. These knives rely on the tension of a backspring to hold the blade both open and closed, and do not have a blade lock. They may have just one blade or several of different styles, traditionally for different game dressing or woodworking (whittling) tasks. Perhaps the best-known slipjoint knives are classic Case pocketknives and the ubiquitous Swiss Army knife.

In 1964, Buck Knives introduced the Buck Folding Hunter Model 110 (below), the archetype of the folding (or lock-back) hunter. This type of knife is very similar to the slipjoint in its basic design, but always has just a single blade, usually a clip or drop point, which locks when opened. The blade is unlocked by depressing the hinged backspring at a scallop in the rear bolster. The Buck 110 is five inches long closed and quite heavy (7.2 oz.), and is therefore carried in a belt sheath rather than in a pocket. But many later models, copies and variants are smaller, lighter, and more pocket-portable.



The third type of folder is the balisong, popularly called a butterfly knife. The balisong (describes Wikipedia) is “a Filipino folding pocket knife with two handles counter-rotating around the tang such that, when closed, the blade is concealed within grooves in the handles” (see below). World War II servicemen in the Pacific brought them home, but they really did not become widely popular until their import was banned in the 1980s. Such is the power of notoriety. They are still subject to regulation in some states (mostly because they look scary), but in most places they are perfectly legal. The balisong is in fact more a traditional martial arts weapon than a practical knife.



Next up: Tactical folders.

Netbooks: Evolution or Revolution?

There was a good article in the NYTimes today on netbooks, the latest incarnation of the subcompact notebook computer. Tiny laptops have been around for years, but the general trend has been that the smaller it is, the more it costs. Netbooks have made a big splash less because they are small than because they are cheap. That's because they use smaller, slower and cheaper CPUs, little memory, small hard drives, etc., and sometimes don't even run Windows. In that past that would have killed sales, however cheap, but anymore the primary application for most computers is simply the internet. At their name implies, netbooks run the internet just fine, and at long last the internet has conquered the technology universe. It is the "killer app" that by itself justifies a hardware purchase.

But the first netbooks were still merely evolutionary. "Thin clients" have been around for years and have long been hailed as the computer of the future. So, pretty cool, but not a new idea. And a $300 computer that cannot do much more than surf the internet is a niche product. It may steal some laptop sales, but cost is still prohibitive.

However, the next generation of netbooks may just be revolutionary. Makers will push the price under $100, at which point cost becomes (at least psychologically) irrelevant. That's less than an iPod Nano. You've just created a new product category.

Personal computers — and the companies that make their crucial components — are about to go through their biggest upheaval since the rise of the laptop. By the end of the year, consumers are likely to see laptops the size of thin paperback books that can run all day on a single charge and are equipped with touch screens or slide-out keyboards.

The industry is buzzing this week about these devices at a telecommunications conference in Las Vegas, and consumers will see the first machines on shelves as early as June, probably from the netbook pioneers Acer and Asustek.

“The era of a perfect Internet computer for $99 is coming this year,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, a maker of PC graphics chips that is trying to adapt to the new technological order. “The primary computer that we know of today is the basic PC, and it’s dying to be reinvented.”

I'm looking forward to Christmas already . . .

EDC Knives: Introduction

I’ve been devoting some leisure and spare brain cycles lately to EDC and personal preparedness. Most constructively, I’m digging into first aid, knot craft, and other practical skills relevant to urban and wilderness survival. But at heart I’m a gear guy, and I would rather read and blog about guy gear than on how to perform CPR.

Last week was flashlights, but the next several weeks it will be knives. I’m going to first offer a fairly thorough introduction to modern knives, split over a number of posts. Reviews of my own knives will follow on an ongoing basis. Note that I omit multitools entirely from this survey. They are simply a different class of tool that I’ll discuss separately sometime in the future.

There are two basic kinds of knives, fixed blade and folding. Since I am interested primarily in everyday carry knives, I will say little about fixed blades, most of which are too large, heavy and conspicuous for EDC. But here are a few considerations.

Some people do carry small, light fixed blades for EDC, called “neck knives” because their sheaths are designed to be worn on a chain or lanyard around your neck. But I think they are impractical for EDC, unless you don't mind digging into your shirt to get out your knife. And really, they offer no substantial advantages over a good locking blade folder. Since they are suspended upside down from your neck, there are also scary reports about knives falling out of their sheaths and onto the ground, usually at the worst times and in public places. Since many are wicked-looking blood-drinkers, this may cause a little public panic.


CRKT Triumph neck knife

For non-EDC uses, from camping to chopping celery in your kitchen, fixed blades are great. Their advantages are safety, strength and lack of design constraints.

First, there is no locking mechanism holding the blade open, and thus no lock to accidentally unlock or potentially fail, thus folding the knife onto your fingers. Also, many fixed blades are made of much thicker steel than folding blades. The blade material may even extend the full height and length of the handle, which is called a full-tang design (as the neck knife above). These are almost crowbar strong. If you are going to hammer on your knife with a rock like Bear Grylls, or otherwise abuse it, such strength is desirable.

Finally, fixed blade knives can be made in any shape or dimension, to suit most any conceivable task. Since most folders are designed to be carried in your pocket (and some state laws restrict length of concealed blades), folding knives usually have blades under four inches long. That’s plenty long for most EDC uses, but for camping or wilderness survival, or in a defensive situation, a longer fixed blade may have more utility.

Next up: Folding knives.

State of the Blog Report

I blog, like most bloggers, mostly as an exercise of self-expression. However, I cannot help but occasionally peek at Google Analytics to see who (if anyone) is visiting TLP. Admit it, we all like being read.

I've posted 53 times this year. Most of my hits are from family, it seems, but I've also had 83 unique visitors directed from Google. My most popular posts by far were Head-Fi Ahoy! and This Little Piggy, directed from searches for "piggy headphone amp" (32 hits!). Clearly I should start making and selling piggy headphone amps. Sadly, I've published professional papers requiring infinitly more effort that I'm certain have been less read.

Next most popular (16 hits) was my review of the JVC HA-FX33/34 headphones, followed by various hits for my other discussions and reviews of audio gear and albums. Jim Noir, in particular, must have more fans than one might suspect (at least 5, besides me). My politics, economy, health and other such posts get basically no referred hits.

I'm a researcher both by nature and profession, but for someone who works with ideas for a living, I have little personal interest in abstraction or simple communication. Anymore, I read very little fiction. I read quite a lot of religion and history, but just professionally. Personally I'm more interested in ideas made concrete, able to be both examined and experienced, such as food or the arts or invention. I have a general interest in industrial design that is strongly expressed in my personal interests. A well-made flashlight may both be highly useful, admirably clever, and an object of functional beauty. The same is also true of, say, Eero Saarinen chairs, but being unable to collect or use those, I'm more inclined to research and admire (even if more prosaic) a great flashlight or a fine pair of headphones.

Given that what I most like to write (reviews and such) is what googlers most like to read, I'm encouraged to do something I've been thinking about for a while. I'm going to go thick into gear topics for the next bit, starting first with a knife month in April, perhaps spilling into May. I'm short on time and will only post a couple times a week. But who knows, aside from the simple pleasure of it, maybe I'll produce another "piggy headphone amp"-caliber hit.

EDC Flashlights: UltraFire C3

I have never really owned a quality flashlight, except perhaps my tiny AAA Maglight Solitaire that ate batteries and put out very little light in return. But I recently purchased a latest-gen LED flashlight that is a quantum improvement over anything I've ever used before. I'm not going to get into a lot of detail, but for the interested, there is a great flashlight FAQ here and a flashlight forum here. See also light-reviews.com and flashlightreviews.com for loads of reviews. Many lights (mostly cheap) are available on DealExtreme, and many items are listed with reviews and comments from buyers.

The flashlight revolution is all about powerful new LED emitters. We're all familiar with the little two-wire LEDs found on keychain lights or used in clusters in (cheap) larger flashlights. These are called simply "miniature LEDs." They use little power and put out decent light. But companies like Philips and Cree have developed much larger and more powerful LEDs called "power LEDs." These require heatsinks and some associated circuits to operate, but they too are very efficient and put out a lot of light.

The Cree XR-E (detailed tech) is a power LED performance/value champion and can be found in a large variety of inexpensive lights. I purchased the UltraFire C3 from DealExtreme for about $10 shipped. It is a single AA design, with an anodized aluminum body and what appears to be decent o-ring seals. It is no SureFire, but for the money I'm very happy. It puts out probably about 40-45 lumens (peak), depending on your battery. That is more than enough for any basic task and better than your typical double C-cell non-LED flashlight (e.g., 2xC Maglights produce 36 lumens). And a single, quality alkaline AA will run for about 90 min down to 50% output and will continue to put out at least some light for about twice that long. For fuller reviews, with lots of photos, see here and here.



You can find any number Cree-based AA flashlights on eBay and all over the internet. Energizer makes one that you can pick up for $17 at Target. But anything that says Cree on the box is a serious light. Upmarket, look for Fenix or the above-mentioned SureFire, the Cadillac of tactical lights. Personally, next time I will buy either the Romisen RC-G2, which is just $11.30 shipped, forward-clicky (see below), and has a little better reputation for consistent quality than my UltraFire; or spend a bit more ($16.67) on the even better MTE SSC-P4. Both are 1xAA lights.

To really get high output, you need a higher voltage light, which will typically use 2xCR123A batteries. Examples are the 170 lumen Romisen RC-E4, the 180+ lumen UltraFire C2 (review), or the fantastic 225 lumen Fenix TK10. If you prefer sticking with (cheap) AAs, there are also brighter 2xAA lights like the UltraFire WF-606A (maybe 110 lumens).

There are two things I don't like about my C3. The first is that it has a reverse click-switch, meaning that you have to click it all the way on for it to power up. A forward click-switch will allow you to depress the switch slightly for temporary light, without turning it all the way on. Also, when I first got it, mine flickered a bit until it warmed up. I just stretched the rear spring and tightened everything really tight, and that fixed it. I hope it stays fixed, but in any case, I like things to work right out of the box.

Next time I would like to get a light with a crenellated bezel (as below), which may be touted a defensive feature, but more importantly protects your lens and lets you stand your light lens-down to make a kind of mini-lantern. I'd also like another light with some real output, for effective outdoor use. There may just be an UltraFire C2 in my future.


A boutique McGizmo McLuxIII-PD: about $400, if you can even find one for sale

Addendum: See update here.

Everyone Likes a Quitter

At least when they work at AIG. Or so the comments about this resignation letter of an AIG exec generally indicate. It is not a bad letter, really, and one might even rightly feel sympathetic. Until you remember that this gentleman has made millions just pushing around other people's money. Much of which has now disappeared while, as he admits, he still has his.

One commenter muses: "My father is an ironworker and so was my grandfather. My uncle, as a carpenter, builds beautiful staircases. I also work with my hands. For the life of me I still can't figure out what AIG makes that justifies the $700,000 bonus this man received." Indeed.

Trending towards Homogeneity

I found interesting Nick Kristof's take on one consequence of the global migration away from consuming newspapers to grazing on-line news. One result, he argues, is that we will see further polarity and more entrenched homogeneity of perspectives, because we naturally self-select news that is most congenial to our personal perspectives. The more empowered we are to self-select our media, the less diversity we are exposed to. One pundit calls this new self-selected Internet news "The Daily Me":

The effect of The Daily Me would be to insulate us further in our own hermetically sealed political chambers. One of last year’s more fascinating books was Bill Bishop’s “The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart.” He argues that Americans increasingly are segregating themselves into communities, clubs and churches where they are surrounded by people who think the way they do. Almost half of Americans now live in counties that vote in landslides either for Democrats or for Republicans, he said. In the 1960s and 1970s, in similarly competitive national elections, only about one-third lived in landslide counties. “The nation grows more politically segregated — and the benefit that ought to come with having a variety of opinions is lost to the righteousness that is the special entitlement of homogeneous groups,” Mr. Bishop writes. One 12-nation study found Americans the least likely to discuss politics with people of different views, and this was particularly true of the well educated. High school dropouts had the most diverse group of discussion-mates, while college graduates managed to shelter themselves from uncomfortable perspectives. The result is polarization and intolerance. Cass Sunstein, a Harvard law professor now working for President Obama, has conducted research showing that when liberals or conservatives discuss issues such as affirmative action or climate change with like-minded people, their views quickly become more homogeneous and more extreme than before the discussion. For example, some liberals in one study initially worried that action on climate change might hurt the poor, while some conservatives were sympathetic to affirmative action. But after discussing the issue with like-minded people for only 15 minutes, liberals became more liberal and conservatives more conservative.

I find this trend very disturbing, but am not sure it is substantially the result of changes in how we get our news. That is simply one facet of the democratization of information that the Internet has brought about. But the enormous welter (relative to the past) of opinions and viewpoints that we are now all exposed to has no doubt caused an increasing retreat into ideological subcultures in a search for foundational worldviews and certainty. This also has factored into the great growth of conservative religious movements (yes, like Mormonism).

I'm one of those strange people who really likes to be challenged by alternative cultural perspectives. I find it invigorating. Homogeneity, for me, is anathema. But I do not think print media inherently promotes a greater diversity of perspective. Newspapers are products, after all, that their publishers are trying to sell. They serve their readership, necessarily. But in that respect, true enough, they can never compete with the infinite alternatives available on the Web.

Good News for Your Prostate

Some very important research on prostate cancer screening and treatment was just concluded and published. NYT has a good writeup.

The fact is that if you get prostate cancer it will kill you, or not, at whatever stage it is diagnosed. Say a man has a PSA test today and it comes back positive.

It leads to a biopsy that reveals he has prostate cancer, and he is treated for it. There is a one in 50 chance that, in 2019 or later, he will be spared death from a cancer that would otherwise have killed him. And there is a 49 in 50 chance that he will have been treated unnecessarily for a cancer that was never a threat to his life. Prostate cancer treatment can result in impotence and incontinence when surgery is used to destroy the prostate, and, at times, painful defecation or chronic diarrhea when the treatment is radiation.

So, each year more than 180,000 men receive a diagnosis of prostate cancer, but of those only 3600 will truly benefit from the traumatic treatment. And there is no way to tell who those are.

The good news, then, is that it now appears pointless to get screened and treated for prostate cancer. You may be that one in fifty men who will benefit. But the odds are not high and the downside risks are very substantial.

And in fact, these studies are also significant for women with respect to mammograms and breast cancer:

Screening is not only an issue in prostate cancer. If the European study is correct, mammography has about the same benefit as the PSA test, said Dr. Michael B. Barry, a prostate cancer researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital who wrote an editorial accompanying the papers. But prostate cancers often are less dangerous than breast cancers, so screening and subsequent therapy can result in more harm. With mammography, about 10 women receive a diagnosis and needless treatment for breast cancer to prevent one death. With both cancers, researchers say they badly need a way to distinguish tumors that would be deadly without treatment from those that would not.

Update: There is a follow-up article in the NYT on the results of these studies that is a little more nuanced in interpreting them (for another counterpoint, see also here). Clearly further research may modify their conclusions. But it also summarizes the present results in clear and simple terms: "The [PSA] test is about 50 times more likely to ruin your life than it is to save your life."

2nd Class Citizens

I'm looking forward to the new iPhone/iPod Touch OS (3.0) and am glad that my Touch will support it. (See officially here and unofficially here.) Some highlights for me are landscape keyboard support across all apps, more sophisticated app support and in-app purchases, and most especially, greatly enhanced YouTube support. I love YouTube and love using it on my Touch, but the current support for it blows.

But while iPhone owners get this update for free, Touch owners will have to shell out $9.95. Why? Because there are competitors to the iPhone but not to the Touch. And trust me, we Touch owners have no practical choice but to upgrade. All apps from here on out will be coded with the OS 3.0 SDK. Do not upgrade, and your Touch is hastening towards obsolescence. Isn't it great that now even our music players are on the software upgrade extortion merry-go-round? You just gotta love being the willing victim of a monopoly.

Update: DailyTech just noted that Apple has fessed up that the Touch does indeed contains a bluetooth chip (Apple in the past denied it). It was used originally for its lame Nike+ service. BUT, if you want to use it for bluetooth headphones, syncs, remotes, etc., you will, no surprise, have to cough up 10 clams for the OS upgrade. Grrrr.

Porcine Superbugs

Just a quick shoutout to a recent NYT column by Nick Kristof on MRSA "superbugs," staph infections that are resistant to antibiotics. These seem to be transmitted from pigs to humans and are near-epidemic among people who work with hogs. I was shocked to read that 18,000 people a year die from MRSA infections, more than die annually from AIDS. The pig MRSA problem is probably linked to the extreme overuse of antibiotics with industrial-farm pigs, as with all industrial livestock. After reading about "pig brain infections" a while back, I personally am feeling even more put off by pork. Risk of parasites is bad enough. It really is a high-risk meat.

Update: If Kristof's first column wasn't enough to put you off pork, this follow-up may do the trick.

Enrichment Night Activity?

My High Priest group leader sent this around to all of us, bearing the caption, "Wyoming Relief Society Meeting," without further explanation. I'm not sure what official source this came from, but he is my priesthood leader and I'm sure his description must be accurate. Is this some kind of church pilot program? Will sisters in Utah also be having NRA-themed Relief Society functions?

Unfortunately, this is a prime example of unsafe gun handling. One woman has one forefinger on the trigger and is pointing her gun at the other. Another is loading her gun while pointing it at her friend. I support RKBA, but I must reluctantly admit that perhaps guns should kept out of Enrichment Night.

(Just to give you an idea of the kind of ward I live in. As I've said, I remind ward members occasionally that I like guns, which is both true and an effective smokescreen for my liberalism. And yes, if you're not a Mormon, none of this makes sense.)

Warning: Long Rant

Listening to NPR this morning on manufacturing in the US, I experienced a moment of insight on just how badly managed our country has been, especially under Republican leadership. Apologies in advance, but I need to vent, which is why blogs exist.

Here are some facts. We basically have the highest corporate tax rates in the world, one of the main things driving corporations and jobs overseas. Other countries use value added taxes (VAT) on goods to pay for things like government services and health care. These costs, then, are borne by consumers. We use corporate payroll taxes, which are almost half of all tax dollars, to pay for government, and then we make employers bear most the cost of worker health care besides. Or not, as companies continue to roll back or drop coverage, or pass costs on to workers.

We have the highest health costs and lowest health care coverage among first world nations, and ranked last in heath care in a recent international study. In healthy life expectancy (HALE), we rank behind 27 other countries, tying with Slovenia. Given that practically everyone over the age of 8 in Slovenia smokes, yet their infant mortality is less than half of ours (very significant to this metric), Americans are by any measure very unhealthy. But get the government involved in our health care? Why, it would ruin it!

Back to taxes. The very "unamerican" VAT of virtually all other countries saddles us with a huge trade disadvantage, because foreign VATs are not levied on trade goods. US manufacturers pay steep taxes on goods they produce, taxes which foreign manufacturers do not pay at all, and must price even their trade goods to cover those taxes. The US government also offers just a bare fraction of the tax incentives other nations offer to manufacturers. These are the major reasons American consumer manufacturing has effectively disappeared.

I challenge you to go to Wal-mart and find anything there made in America, except cans and boxes of processed food, which is of course to Americans what smoking is to Slovenians, a slow death by self-administered poison. Most stimulus money spent on consumer goods will simply leave the US. We only retain a major presence in capital manufacturing (e.g., airplanes and hydroelectric generators) because of our historically superior education and vocational training, which since the '70s has been in steady decline. We now face a serious shortage of skilled workers. Look for these jobs to go next.

Republican economic policies have of course fostered the concentration of wealth into the hands of the few, broadening the income gap. The GOP's paradigm is based on supply-side, trickle-down economics. Basically, keep taxes very low on the wealthy, and their ever-expanding wealth will trickle down and raise up everyone else. Hence, e.g., the GOP has rolled back sharply taxes on capital gains and stock dividends, leading the richest man in the world, Warren Buffett, to marvel that he only pays 17% of his income in taxes while his secretary pays 32%. Yet Republicans are screaming about the unfairness of Obama wanting to roll back the Bush tax cuts for top earners, employing their best "you'll be next" fearmongering as a smokescreen.

In the place of manufacturing jobs for low- and middle-income workers, our economic policies have erected a financial services empire for the wealthy. Kind of like England and Iceland. And now that that industry is devastated, with about ten years of market gains wiped out, $50+ trillion gone and no end in sight, all three of these countries are in deep trouble. And their rich are less rich, though to be sure, still very rich. (The retirees who have lost trillions, however, are mostly not rich.)

On the other hand, middle-class wages have been effectively stagnant since the '80s. The middle class has kept apace with inflation first by become two-earner households, then by becoming deeply leveraged, thanks to cheap credit and inflated home values. Now that joblessness is headed to double-digits (already there in five states), home values have collapsed, and credit is scarce and costly, the middle class is in deep $*&!. Where the poor have always been.

These policies and economic ideology have been insufficiently opposed by most moderates and progressives, due to these ideas' notional popularity and to the power of K Street, advocates of the wealthy. Republicans continue to be masters at reductionism. They have no good ideas right now, but are great at populist spin. How could low taxes not be good? Indeed, low taxes on the middle class and corporations would be good. On the other hand, high taxes on fuel, consumption, and the wealthy would also be very good. Likewise one could deconstruct similar spin on small government, deregulation, etc.

So today I'm in a testy, "we've been sold a pack of lies" kind of mood. Bless Obama, curse Reagan and all his offspring. Obama is not getting everything right, but at least he understands all this. His plans for health care, education, tax reform, etc., may be too ambitious in this dire moment, but I understand the urgency he feels. I feel it too. And if his policies remake America into an European-style socialist republic, color me a socialist.

The Anti-Touch

Apple has revised its Shuffle, perhaps to ensure that it really is the polar antithesis of the Touch. While the Touch does so much that its ability to play music is almost forgotten, the Shuffle only plays music, and that just barely. The Touch is highly configurable, with numerous bells, whistles and gewgaws, and multiple controls. The new Shuffle has one switch on it and no buttons. It still shuffles, naturally, and you can change the volume and skip tracks with headphone cord-mounted controls. But that's about it.

It's "hot new feature" is an artificial (vocoder-like) voice that tells you the name of the song and artist you're listening to. Yawn. It also supports multiple playlists. That is more useful. But you can't buy a player today that does not support playlists. So yawn again.

And the new Shuffle comes with multiple downsides. First, $80 is a premium price, even for a 4gb player. And the smaller size is not useful. They've gone from a player that is slightly larger than my thumb to one slightly smaller. I don't need something that small. As a NYT article said, "Of course, at this size, Apple may want to consider adding another feature: a locator beacon. The new Shuffle’s so small, it’s only a matter of time before you lose it."

But the real deal-killer is the fact that you have to use the Apple-supplied earbuds with it, since it requires the integrated controls to operate. Some of us just cannot use the Apple buds (ouch!) and their sound quality is terrible. Doubtless Apple (and perhaps some 3rd parties, too) will introduce upgrade earphones. But Apple's earphones are never a good value, and in any case, you simply cannot use your 'phones of choice.

Of course, Apple is trying to hold onto a profitable niche. I expect these cost $20 or less to produce. I personally was hoping Apple would take a cue from Chinese Shuffle knockoffs (see left) and put a little screen on it.

But if you want something like that, with much better sound besides, just get a Sansa Clip.

Foodie Mags

Another throwaway post, I know, but I liked this writeup on some changes afoot in food publishing. All positive, I think. One of my main complaints with most food mags is that they are aimed either at soccer moms or economically unconstrained super-foodies. I'm not interested in either more creative cupcakes or truffles and fois. But it looks like Gourmet may take a step towards the proletariat. Smart move, I say.

Reflecting the bad economy, Gourmet, which usually writes about expensive restaurants and faraway travel, has added a feature about what to do with leftovers, and put a ham sandwich — albeit a fancy one — on its March cover. . . . “There is an incredible opportunity,” said Ruth Reichl, the editor in chief of Gourmet. “People need help learning to cook again, and they need advice on less-expensive ingredients, and we’re trying to give it to them.”

Rise of the Dittoheads

This has been dismal week, and that fact was probably behind a post I wrote and then deleted (too grim) about the whole AIG boondoggle, which will probably cost every family in America about $3000 each. Then I hear today that the $13 billion we just gave a very badly mismanaged GM has already disappeared, and they need another $16 billion to keep the lights on next week. As Gail Collins just observed of the PennyMac swindle, "Once again, we are reminded that life is not fair. Lately these unfairness bulletins have been coming so fast and furious that there isn’t time to get upset about all of them. Prioritization is essential." I'm about to stroke out with rage at the trillions we taxpayers are just handing, after the fact, to greedy and feckless bankers and execs. I don't even know where to direct my spleen first. So I'm just going to breathe deep, leave the unfairness bulletins to other people, and instead turn to some political comedy.

Rush Limbaugh. Now, there is someone truly funny. Not his jabs and jibes, but the man himself. Just thinking about him makes me smile. If you do not know why, well, it would take too long to explain (start here for bio and here for his warped reality). But I see him as a one-man vaudeville act. I smiled even wider today at Timothy Egan's column. I realize that Republicans are headless and desperate, and the turn to Newt Gingrich I understand, but the rush to Rush leaves me really bemused. I liked (and agreed with) Letterman's comment that at his much ballyhooed CPAC address he looked like an Eastern European gangster. And he raved like a madman. If I could take him seriously, he would frighten me. And I am frighted that there are millions of people who do take him seriously, including (at least in appearance) some Republican leaders.

In a saavy move, the Dems are in fact championing El Rushbo as the face and voice of the Republican party. The GOP is drowning and the Dems are throwing them an anvil. This too makes me smile, but it somewhat disappoints me as well. I think government is better when both parties are strong, and as I've said before, I am at heart a disaffected Republican who wishes the party would come back to me. Not looking like that will happen anytime soon.

Big Pharma Exposed Again

If that title sounds a little tabloid, well, I really wish this issue would hit the scandal rags. Few things fill me with more pure outrage than than Big Pharma's takeover of American medicine. Most doctors, many unwittingly, are Pharma pawns. Some of course are not. But how can you tell which from which?

This problem has long been known. But now, students and some faculty at Harvard are taking the ethical highground and demanding reform at their own institution.

In a first-year pharmacology class at Harvard Medical School, Matt Zerden grew wary as the professor promoted the benefits of cholesterol drugs and seemed to belittle a student who asked about side effects. Mr. Zerden later discovered something by searching online that he began sharing with his classmates. The professor was not only a full-time member of the Harvard Medical faculty, but a paid consultant to 10 drug companies, including five makers of cholesterol treatments. “I felt really violated,” Mr. Zerden, now a fourth-year student, recently recalled. “Here we have 160 open minds trying to learn the basics in a protected space, and the information he was giving wasn’t as pure as I think it should be.” . . . The students argue, for example, that Harvard should be embarrassed by the F grade it recently received from the American Medical Student Association, a national group that rates how well medical schools monitor and control drug industry money. . . . “Harvard needs to live up to its name,” said Kirsten Austad, 24, a first-year Harvard Medical student who is one of the movement’s leaders. “We are really being indoctrinated into a field of medicine that is becoming more and more commercialized.” David Tian, 24, a first-year Harvard Medical student, said: “Before coming here, I had no idea how much influence companies had on medical education. And it’s something that’s purposely meant to be under the table, providing information under the guise of education when that information is also presented for marketing purposes.”

Mormon Fiction

The success of Mormon fantasy authors (notably Card, Wolverton and Hickman) has long fascinated me. Likewise with the new inroads by Mormon authors into youth fiction, in both the spawn of Rowling and teen romance genres. Brandon Mull well represents the former and of course Stephenie Meyer the latter.

I honestly don't know where this is coming from, but the Boston Globe takes a good look at it. Worth the read.

A Radio Patriarch Passes

I loved Paul Harvey as a kid. His conservative politics went over my head, of course, but in some small way I'm sure he contributed to my formation. The conservative media celebrities of the present, the Hannitys and O'Reillys and Limbaughs, have nothing like his power (except Glen Beck, who has a small touch of his magic). They're all shock-jocks. They love to make critics. Harvey made everyone fans. He had unparalleled gifts for making everything sound like common sense, and the inspired delivery of a born entertainer.

I was sad to read of his passing on Saturday. There may be a few Garrison Keillors out there (though I only know of the one) who will keep alive his folksy flame, with or without his conservatism. But with all the pandering and snark in today's conservative media, I'm afraid Harvey belonged to a bygone era. We'll never see a broadcaster quite like him again.