More Fivefinger adventures!

My father came to visit me for the first time in almost 10 years and while showing him the sights here in New Mexico, we went out to the Malpais National Monument, which was a first for me as well.
The Sandstone Bluffs was our destination, for the spectacular views that it offers.

My father isn't as agile as he once was, so he took many of these pictures as my wife and I scrambled all over the rocky bluffs and eventually made our way down to the lava flow.
Being able to bound lightly over the rocks, aided by the spiderman-like grip of the Fivefingers, provided me with an incredible sense of freedom. Other hikers out there made their way down the rock face, but seemed ponderous in comparison. As almost always, the Fivefingers were a conversation starter, with the most common question being "Are those things comfortable?"

The bluffs themselves are relatively smooth and dense sandstone. However, the lava flow itself is incredibly broken up and present a real challenge in places. Wearing the FiveFingers meant that I was naturally cautious where I put my feet. I don't think I could have traversed the lava flow any more effectively in regular shoes without falling and breaking something important! There is often a thin crust covering deep cavities and the whole place seems to shift under your feet. Combined with the incredibly sharp edges and points of the basalt crust, falling would be very bad indeed.

The Sandstone Bluffs. Beautiful, ain't it?

My wife and I standing on one of the "promontories".

You can see some of the lava flow as the darker areas in the lower right.


That snowy mountain in the distance? That's a volcano.
Lots of those in New Mexico.

You can see here how rugged the terrain is. Scampering across and down this and then back up, was a lot of fun!

At the bottom, The Enemy was present in force!


More shots of the lava flow in the top part and some of the cliff faces themselves in the foreground. I love this kind of terrain.

My beat-up old FiveFingers on lava rock!


And finally, a shot out across the lava flow itself.

Solving unique problems uniquely

I've made a great deal of sheaths in the last decade. Many of them using a variety of belt or neck attachments, but always with an emphasis on being compact, accessible, secure and comfortable.
Thus, I've eschewed using the typical foibles that most other knifemakers use such as TekLoks, which I frankly find to be unbearably huge and in most cases, outright uncomfortable.
Sure, they do have their uses and they are inarguably a very solid system, but for concealed carry of a knife, they are just too large.

Now, recently, a friend needed a knife and being a woman, she has unique requirements compared to most guys.
One, she wears scrubs on her job, but goes fairly casually dressed the rest of the time. So, she needed a solution that would work both in her scrubs, which are pocket less, and with jeans and a belt and everything in between.

I wracked my brain for a bit and came up with what you'll see in the pictures below.
The knife is one of my Sliver designs, a compact little knife, ideally suited for concealed carry.
The sheath is meant to allow carry of the knife horizontally on the belt or waistband.
The clip is titanium and entirely custom. It has a great deal of tension and combined with the rubber material affixed to the back of the sheath, this helps keep the sheath in place and limits horizontal displacement.

First up is the knife. Right about 5 inches long with the blade coming in right at 2.75 inches. Not a bad handle-to-blade ratio. Materials are G10 bonded to 6AL4V titanium with a carbidized edge.


And here's the sheath. Bog-standard kydex, with a custom titanium clip and foamed rubber friction appliques.



As you can see, the holes in the sheath allow for ready conversion to neck carry. I may also at a later stage, add the holes necessary for using it with my bungie belt attachment.
I should also point out that yes, after these pictures were taken, I did make holes in the foamed rubber as well...
Generally, I'm pretty happy with how this all turned out. Overall, it's probably one of the most elaborate sheaths I've ever made. So, a unique solution to a unique problem.

Special Circumstances Zipper for sale! SOLD!

Up for sale is a Special Circumstances Zipper.
This knife is a design collaboration with Morgan Atwood and executed in translucent G10, 6AL4V titanium with a carbidized edge.
A great hide-out/ self-defense piece, the Zipper works in a variety of grips, and cuts in every direction. The carbidized edge is a meat-eater, but not well-suited for utility use, other than cutting soft and/or fibrous materials.
The sheath is set up for neck carry, but could easily be converted to be used with for instance a teklok or for use with my bungie belt attachment.

I'm asking 200 even for this knife. Paypal or USPS Money Order only. If CC paypal, add 3% for the fees. Shipping in the US included via USPS Priority with delivery confirmation.

Daniel Defense DDM4 Carbine Review

This is going to be my first firearms review, so bear with me.

After having recently been discharged from the US Army because of a knee injury, I decided it was due time for me to purchase my own long-gun.
I decided to stick to the platform I had the most experience with, which was of course, the M4 platform, as that was what I was trained on in the Army.
After long hours of research, poring over specifications, etc etc, I finally settled on a Daniel Defense rifle, the DDM4 carbine.

We'll start with the specifications as listed by Daniel Defense on their website.

• Lower Receiver: Mil-Spec with Enhanced Flared Magazine Well
• Upper Receiver: Mil-Spec with Indexing Marks and M4 Feed Ramps
• Barrel: 16″ Ordnance Grade 4150 MP Tested, Chrome Lined, 1:7 Twist, M4 Profile
• Chamber: 5.56 NATO
• Flash Hider: A2 Birdcage Flash Hider
• Bolt Carrier Group: Mil-Spec MP Tested, Properly Staked Gas Key
• Buffer: H Buffer
• Sights: Daniel Defense A1.5 Fixed Rear Sight; Pinned “F” Marked Front Sight Base
• Rail System: Daniel Defense Omega X 12.0 FSP
• Buttstock: MAGPUL MOE Buttstock & Mil-Spec 5 Position Receiver Extension
• Magazine: MAGPUL 30 round PMag in Black
• Vertical Grip: Daniel Defense A2 Styling Vertical Grip
• Case: Comes with Custom Daniel Defense Full-Latch 30ft Impact Plastic Case
• Made in the USA!

Daniel Defense has been around for a few years now, in the beginning only manufacturing accessories for the M4 platform, such as rail systems, sling mounts, etc.
As a matter of fact, they recently took over the contract for supplying the US Army with rail systems!
Their quality is generally considered quite high and it appears that my rifle does reflect this.

I chose their product because it, for a very reasonable price, had almost all the add-ons that I was looking to acquire anyways, such as a full rail system, a back-up iron sight, a decent stock, a Pmag included as standard and a vertical foregrip.
The rail system alone, retails for 346 dollars!
Combine that with the other desirable characteristics, such as a 1:7 twist, chrome-lined barrel, Magnetic Particle inspected barrel and bolt carrier group, and a properly staked gas key, it was almost a no-brainer.

And here it is, in all it's black glory.

Here shown with a Magpul Dynamics MS2 Sling. Review Forthcoming.
Note the extra "rail estate" forward of the front sight post.

Very nice Daniel Defense BUIS. This sight is preset for an elevation of 300 meters and is only adjustable for windage.

Castle nut has been staked in one location only. Should make it easier to replace the rear sling mount plate than some other rifles where the castle nut has been staked in more than one spot.


Very nicely flared magazine well.
Overall, the machining and fit and finish of this rifle looks impeccable.

Note the Magpul trigger guard. This gives you a nice bit of extra room if for instance you're wearing gloves.
In general, this rifle is pretty loaded with Magpul gear. Definitely not a bad thing!

Zeroing for the first time. The rifle is very accurate and zeroing went smoothly. Any errors were entirely mine. The trigger is a complete dream to shoot, compared to the Colt M4 I was issued. Very crisp and with a remarkably short and light pull. I'm not sure of the actual trigger weight, but it's pretty light. Very, very nice.


Playing around with some barricades and just generally shooting the hell out of the rifle.
It eats the cheap Wolf ammo like it was nothing. No failures to fire or to extract.

The DDM4 comes standard with an A2-type grip with the typical finger groove. While at first, it didn't really bother me, the more I drilled and shot with the DDM4, the more it bugged me. So being the incorrigible tinker that I am, I took matters into my own hands.
I removed the finger bump and textured the living daylights out of the grip. At the same time I very slightly contoured the grip further and the end result can be seen in the picture below.
The grip is significantly more comfortable now and the heavy texture adds a significant amount of grip. Feels very secure.



Overall, I'm quite happy with my actual purchase. As a product, the Daniel Defense DDM4 looks to be everything it should be.
But, all is not roses.
The DDM4 comes fitted with a Daniel Defense QD swivel mount and the rail system itself has limited-rotation mounting points for QD swivels as well.
However, the DDM4 doesn't come with a single swivel in the box. A decision I find slightly odd.
When I inquired with Daniel Defense, more baffling things ensued.
No response whatsoever to the two emails I sent them. None, zip, zilch, nada.
This is slightly troubling from a customer service standpoint, especially for a company that is relatively new to the M4 market. I'm now somewhat doubting that I'll get a response if I ever have a real issue with the weapon.
I'm frankly not expecting to have any issues, the DDM4 seems exceptionally well-built out of solid components. But it's still somewhat unsettling, and something I dearly hope that Daniel Defense fixes in the near future.

Other than that, I have no complaints and can only look forward to shooting this a lot more!
Recommended with some reservations per the above comments.

Addendum: Joe at Daniel Defense finally got in touch with me the other day and answered my question entirely to my satisfaction.
The swivels are not included for two reasons. One, to cut costs for the end user. And two, to make it easier for the customer to pick the sling solution that fits his needs.
Personally, I would have liked to have seen at least the rear swivel included, but Daniel Defense's reasoning behind not including them is entirely understandable.
I'm also gratified to find out that Daniel Defense does indeed seem to care about their customers! Something I find exceedingly important in this day and age of out-sourced customer service.