Hey, I kind of like this.

You can keep the gun loaded when locking it.

Blackhawk HawkHook

This rescue tool features a belt/cord cutter, serrated cutting edge, glass breaker, pry tip, bottle opener, and wire stripper. Murdoc’s been carrying one for a week and it’s come in handy a few times. Done some cutting, though not in a rescue situation. (Though the opener has rescued a fair number of beers from being unappreciated…)

Blackhawk HawkHook
Blade Length: 2.250”
Overall Length: 3.2500”
Blade Material: AUS8A stainless steel
Blade Finish: Matte bead-blast finish
Edge type: Combination plain/partially serrated
Handle Material: 420J stainless steel with textured plastic scale
Pocket Clip: Right side, tip-down carry
MSRP: $39.99

A reviewer on the Blackhawk site writes:

Bigger, heavier tools may complete some of these tasks more easily, but at 2.4 ounces and only 3.25″ closed, the Hawkhook will probably be on your person or close to you when those other, larger devices are unavailable. If I were still a street cop, it would be clipped to my visor.

That pretty much sums up Murdoc’s take on this tool. It’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, but that’s what you want for a general purpose stand-by tool. For instance, I wonder how effective the glass breaker really is on a small, light tool like this. The wife won’t let me try on the minivan, so I’m left to speculate that it’s not ideal. If I know I’m going to need to break a window, I’m taking something heavier. But odds are that if I ever really, really need to break a window right now, I won’t have had any warning or time to prepare. If the HawkHook is clipped to my belt, it can probably fill in just fine.

I can see this being part of a grab-and-go or survival kit, too.

A while back I linked to a James Rummel post called Real Men Carry Nylon.

Now Caleb writes Friends don’t let friends carry nylon.

I don’t have anything to add other than I’m not sure that anything in the shooting world seems more dependent on personal preference than holsters.

Brownells AR-15/M16 Multitasker Tool:
Pocket-Packable Multi-Tool With Everything You Need For Field Repair & Adjustment Of Your AR-15

Looks good:

Rugged, compact, fold-open tool contains an amazing array of tools to service your AR-15 and many popular add-on accessories, all in a package that’s barely 4″ long when folded and fits in pocket, backpack, range bag, or the included nylon belt pouch. You get a castle nut wrench for collapsible carbine stocks, adjustment tool for four-prong A2-style front sights, 3/8″ box wrench for accessory mounts from LaRue Tactical and others, angled carbon scraper with radiused tip, file with chisel-tip carbon scraper, 440C stainless Tanto-style blade with liner lock safety, extended-length needle-nose pliers, wire cutter, and a bit driver with five, interchangeable double-ended bits. Comes with 2 slot-head, 1 Phillips, and 5 hex-head bit tips, plus T10 and T15 Torx® head bits. Bits have a ball-detent locking system to ensure they stay securely in the driver.

I can’t be certain, but it looks like the front sight tool is the bit driver without a bit installed. I’ll try to find out for sure. [UPDATE: Yes, Larry Weeks at Brownells confirmed that that's how the front sight tool works.]

Retails for $64.99. Check it out at Brownells.

Kopel: Obama administration moves to ban 80% of knives

I hear so often that gun owner worry over increased gun control is silly fear-mongering because Obama hasn’t tried to ban any guns yet. Only backwoods hicks are afraid of such things.

I’m wondering how that squares with the push for knife rules change.

UPDATE: From the comments:

All the general public will know is that in a few months Target will start selling pocket knives without the easy open feature or “thumb stud” and nobody will know why because it hasn’t been talked about on any TV news or newspaper. It’s such a small inconvenience that most people will not even notice and those that do will learn to live with it after a few months. Meanwhile we will lose a little a few more feet off beach of freedom to the sea of bureaucratic control over our lives.

Rummel says Real Men Carry Nylon.

Via a reader, the Evil Black Crossbow:

Fits on a standard AR-15 lower receiver (not included).

Obviously very high in the tacticool factor. But it’s expensive ($1299) and Murdoc’s not really sure what you’d want/need one for.

Does anyone make a crossbow that mounts on a AR rails like a grenade launcher?