Dr. Paul Auerbach is the world's leading outdoor health expert. His blog offers tips on outdoor safety and advice on how to handle wilderness emergencies.
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I really like to "demo" innovative new outdoor products with medical or survival applications. Simplicity is sometimes elegant. This is the case with the new Kershaw Carabiner Tool, Model 1004. This five-in-one tool features a partially serrated "shaving-sharp" (it works - I tried it) blade, flat-head screwdriver, Phillips-head screwdriver, and bottle opener packaged in a carabiner-style handle. The handle is not load bearing, but can be attached easily to anything with a D-ring or loop, such as a belt or backpack. It opens and closes with a spring-loaded locking gate that is secured shut with a screw-on closure. The tool comes in blue, red, silver or black. The handle is aluminum coated with Teflon. The blade is stainless steel with a Rockwell hardness rating of 57-58 that locks into a stainless steel liner. As is the case with many Kershaw knife blades, the proximal portion is serrated for tough cutting jobs like rope or small branches, while the distal part is a straight blade. The retail price is $59.95 U.S.
Kershaw knives are manufactured by KAI Corporation. They are extremely high quality and range from camp axes to sportsman's shears to blades for hunters and fishermen, to knives for scuba divers, to special bladed tools for climbers and tactical operations. Cutting instruments are essential for outdoor medicine, whether it be to trim a wound or carve wood for a splint. Kershaw sets an example for other knife manufacturers for the quality and performance of their blades.
