Awesome Tools

Coming soon to Google’s Assistant and Photos applications, Lens offers information or actions based on a photo or what your device’s camera is seeing. It can identify objects, detect Wi-Fi passwords, offer to show you a restaurant’s reviews and more.

Kootek’s K1 flashlight not only has a bright 800-lumen Cree LED light source, but its handle conceals a sharp blade for survival, hunting, or self defense. Its tip provides a window breaker for emergency escapes, and its light beam is adjustable. Recharges via USB.

The MultiCinch is a reusable, washable and elastic alternative to cable ties, cords and ropes. It has large and small holes along its length – use the former for a loose knot and the latter for a permanent lock. Available in three sizes.

Jacked Outdoor Cutlery presents an elegant handcrafted folding knife, with a high-carbon steel blade and titanium scales. We particularly dig the scalloped spine on the blade. Measures 9″ open with a 4″ blade length.

This pocket tool combines a dozen functions including a punch, cutting blades, wire stripper, nail/staple remover, saw, stainless steel file, phillips and flathead screwdrivers, scraper, tweezers, and of course a pen. Available in stainless, blue, or black.

TooliganEDC’s nifty spiral design was inspired by giant whirlpools which can be found in oceans. It’s laser-cut from stainless steel and has five wrench sizes, a 1/4″ hex driver slot, jimping, lanyard holes, and a bottle opener.

Need an axe but all you have lying around the shop is a hammer? Miller Knives transforms one into the other, through a painstaking process that mostly involves pounding and grinding the hammerhead’s ends until they take on the desired form.

This super-compact stainless steel tool hangs out on your keychain until you need it, and packs two phillips drivers, two flathead drivers, along with handy 1/8″ and 5mm rule markings for quick measurements.

A lightweight survival tool that incorporates a multi-edge shovel with a saw, wrench, knife, firestarter, axe, fish scaler, hook remover, bottle opener, and more. Measures about 18″ long, and weighs less than a pound.

So many of today’s knives have scales made from modern materials like plastic composites. But there’s still something that feels so right in your hand about a knife with a wooden handle. Everyday Carry picked out 10 of their faves, including this beauty from LionSteel.

SOG Knives’ new Sync I and Sync II multitools come with a base that can be attached to a belt buckle, a strap or a boot for easy access. Both have pliers, a ruler, a blade, a small screwdriver and more. The Sync II adds a medium screwdriver and scissors.

United Cutlery’s spiraling 13-1/2″ blade is definitely one of the more dangerous knives we’ve seen, but it sure looks awesome. It’s got a super-sharp piercing point, a lightweight fiberglass/nylon handle, and stainless hand guard and “skull crusher” pommel.

Keyport’s new keyholder is a modular and customizable EDC tool. It holds up to nine keys, but can also come with detachable tools such as a flashlight, a Bluetooth tracker, a knife, a screwdriver and more.

Wielded by samurai (and The Walking Dead’s Michonne), the katana is one of the ultimate bladed weapons. Now learn to make your own mini razor-sharp katana thanks to BrainfooTV, who show us how to craft one with household tools. Take that, strawberry!

This versatile portable light works as both a flashlight and a collapsible lantern, and packs a 3200 mAh rechargeable battery for juicing up gadgets. It has two brightness modes, and a strobe mode, and has magnets and hooks on its lid for hanging.

The surprisingly robust OttoLock is mainly designed for cyclists, but it’s so light and easy to use you’ll be locking down other items with it as well. It weighs just 4oz (115g) but is harder to cut than cable locks, thanks to the layers of metal and Kevlar inside its plastic sleeve.

Pablo Garcia’s modern take on the camera lucida – a 19th century drawing tool that uses mirrors to project a reflection of what’s in front of you to the surface below, effectively giving you a live stencil. This new NeoLucida has a larger viewfinder.

Our pals at Everyday Carry share some of the their fans’ favorite knives, wallets, and tools from the past month. The fidget spinners are cool, but we have a particular fondness for anything made from damascus steel.

Absolut Art’s clever tool lets you adjust framed art after you hang it. Mount Hangsmart using screws or its adhesives, then hang the framed art on its hook. You can adjust up to 6″ horizontally and up to 8″ vertically. It also automatically levels the artwork.

You never know when you need to measure something. Nick Mankey Designs created this handy leather wrist strap, which can be worn solo, or as a watch strap. It includes both metric and imperial measurements up to 9.6″ long. Available in sizes from 18 to 24mm wide.

Elk is an iOS app that provides currency conversion at a glance. It shows conversions in multiples of ten, hundreds, thousands etc. You can tap on a value to see smaller increments. It also has a very convenient companion app for the Apple Watch. $4 unlocks all currencies.

Gerber’s most portable tool for clearing overgrown paths, the Compact Clearpath has both a smooth edge for hacking brush and vines, and a crosscut saw blade for getting through thicker limbs and branches. Measures 17.3″ overall, and has an 11″ blade.

Do you still open bottles with two hands? What are you a caveman? The Gropener is a precision-engineered bottle opener which lets you easily pop bottle caps with one hand. It’s made from anodized aluminum, and has a rare-earth magnet for sticking it to your fridge.