Tag Archives: hiking/camping

Benchmade Pika II

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benchmade-pika-iiSince I lost my Gerber EZ-Out, I’ve been looking for a suitable replacement. I looked far and wide but haven’t been able to find one until recently: The Benchmade Pika II. It reminds me of the Benchmade AFCK which is a knife I’ve always liked. But there’s more to it than that.

Let’s begin with the blade. It is 3.5″ long and is a modified clip-point with a partially-serrated edge. It has a big nice round ambidextrous thumb-hole. The steel is 9Cr13CoMoV from China but it’s said to be equivalent to 440C steel which has the highest strength, hardness and wear resistance of all the stainless alloys. Pretty good so far.

The handle is made of glass-filled nylon with molded “triple-grip” pattern. It was the thing I least liked about the knife as it was too intricate but it does seem to work. Polymer handles are pretty tough by themselves as I’ve experienced with my Gerber EZ-Out but Benchmade chose to further reinforce it with a steel inner lining. Nice but could be a problem when exposed to saltwater.

The locking mechanism is lockback.  A lot of people don’t like lockbacks and opt for a whole bunch of new technologies like axis locks. But lockbacks seem fine to me so far. The lockback mechanism on the Pika II seems very well made with no slack or wobble whatsoever.

The clip is the one of the best thing about the Pika II. It is small, light, and very strong. But best of all, it can be relocated to 4 positions. You can carry the Pika II any way you like! There’s also a provision for a lanyard. Well-designed, indeed.

The Pika II is part of Benchmade red box line: “Best in class value”. The knives in the red box line are low-cost, well-designed, fully-functional, and made in China, Taiwan to be precise.

There’s actually nothing wrong with that. Over a decade ago, I got myself a clip-point lockback that was made in Taiwan. It had a good, sharp, stainless steel blade. The only thing wrong were some chrome plated fasteners that eventually rusted. But it did it’s job, and well. I expect the Pika II to do the same.

2009 March 21 to 22 Putipot, Zambales

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Last week, in what has become an annual pilgrimage, I went to Putipot again. Criso mentioned that she and some of her officemates are planning a trip to Putipot.  She invited Michelle and I. Coincidentally, I’ve promised Michelle to take her there and I figured it would be a good time since I prefer to go there in a group. We decided to go and I invited a bunch of people. But eventually only Ralph and his girlfriend Tiff committed.

Early Saturday, Michelle and I met up with them at a Shell gas station on the the northbound side of NLEX. After a quick breakfast and Chow King and purchasing some supplies at Shell select, we went on our way.

Our route took us all the way to the tip of NLEX, SCTEX all the way to Subic, then through the various towns of Zambales. We made a quick stop at San Antonio for a visit to the pamilihang bayan or town market. It was a pretty long trip, almost 7 hours and at one point I got a bit lost and had to rely on Google Maps on my phone to make  sure we’re on the right track.

But eventually we got to Uacon, Candelaria, Zambales. For a change, I decided to park at Dawal Beach Resort instead of my usual Isla Vista Beach Resort. I was irritated by the unfriendly staff of the latter when Michelle called them up for directions. It turned out that Dawal is actually much better, not just in facilities but also in friendliness. Everything was a snap and in no time at all, we’re put-putting on a boat to Putipot.

The island was almost as great as it was as before though the crowd seems to be thicker . But there were some welcome changes. Gone are  the fugly Globe tents of the previous year and the island seems to be cleaner with some trash bags and cans in strategic locations. In their place are huts which, fortunately, are made of native material so it wasn’t so bad.

Of course we were prepared with tents so we foregoed the huts and set up our tents. After swimming, we cooked then ate dinner of grilled liempo and tuna. This was followed by tequila. I was tired so the tequila got to me pretty quick and I was off to an early sleep. I didn’t even get to see the stars at midnight and the sunrise at dawn :(

The next day, we went swimming again, packed most of the stuff up then cooked and ate grilled chicken for lunch. We then completed our packing, called for our boat, put-putted back to Dawal, washed up, and soon we were on our way back. It was much faster going, 5 hours, and we got home in time for dinner.

Not a bad start to the summer!

Nalgene 1L Polycarbonate Water Bottle

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I’ve heard about the durability of Nalgene bottles for the longest time but for cost reasons (they’re around P900 for a 1L bottle) I have put off getting one. That changed when I spotted Nalgene bottles selling at bargain prices (around P300 for a 1L bottle) on a recent trip to HK. I got one for myself and now I’m absolutely exultant. So what makes it so good?

  1. Of course, its legendary durability. It’s said to be indestructible though I’ve read about a bottle breaking when run over by a truck (duh!). I’m not in a habit of leaving my gear where they can be run over by trucks so I guess this won’t be a problem.
  2. It can handle boiling water. I don’t usually drink hot drinks but it’s nice to have that option. You can also use this to dry wet clothes by wrapping them around the bottle.
  3. It has a big mouth opening. You can easily (Look Ma! No spills!) transfer water from your other bigger containers to it. You can also easily pour in powder milk, coffee, juice or even ice cubes.
  4. It has a loop-top. The loop-top prevents the cap from falling down and getting dirty or, worse, getting lost. It may also be for carrying though it seems a bit flimsy for that purpose.
  5. It doesn’t leak. But then those are the same claims that I heard for my CamelBak and Platypus containers. They leaked so we’ll just have to see.

I guess those are compelling enough reasons, yeah?

2008 April 12 to 13 Putipot, Zambales

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The IT Department was looking for a summer outing destination and because I enjoyed my previous trip there, I suggested Putipot. Eventually it was agreed upon and so last weekend, almost exactly a year later, I was back in Putipot.

We were planning of using Rein’s car and mine for transportation but he had to back out because of an exam (with Prof. Aragon no less, no asking for an advance exam there). So some of us had to take the 12MN Victory Liner bus from Caloocan.

Also, at the last minute I learned we have insufficient tents and stoves. Tents are mainly for back up as it was summer and no rains or storms are expected. Still, I had to check the weather forecast to assuage my concerns. I then rushed off to buy a Snow Peak Starter Kit at ROX. Jeff also volunteered a small kitchen stove. It was lighter than your regular LPG kitchen stove but still way heavy.

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2008 March 30 to April 4 Hong Kong Trip

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Just came back with Jeff and Racquel from a trip to Hong Kong for a seminar by Adobe on InDesign CS3 development, Flex development, and a preview of the upcoming InDesign CS4.

The seminar was conducted by a bunch of soft-spoken Europeans (Ferdinand, Emanuele, Andreas, and Roger) and a fast-speaking Hong Konger named Sunny (or maybe Sony for “So!” his favorite expression). The attendees were a bunch of Filipinos (that’s us), Thais, Indians, Koreans, a Hong Konger, and an Australian. Quite an international mix.

The material was a pretty interesting (though I couldn’t resist getting drowsy every right about after lunch). InDesign CS3 and Flex development were cool but the InDesign CS4 preview almost blew me away (almost, we try to be unflappable) but I’m on an NDA so I can tell you but then I’ll have to kill you :P A lot of material was covered so we we’re pretty occupied. We did get to go around the city on the first day and at night after the seminar sessions.

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