These appeared on the Mil-Spec Monkey site over a couple of months, but Ckucke was putting a group order together and waiting for something to come back into stock, so I didn’t get my hands on one until now. A MOLLE-compatible trauma shear sheath is one of those things that a pile of people need and is painfully easy to design and build, but for some reason nobody had made up until this one came out. I was going to have Tactical Tailor make me a standalone shear sheath like the one that is built into the top of their First Responder Bag if I ever got around to emailing them a custom project, but since the Mil-Spec Monkey one came out, I don’t have to! Yay! On arrival, I saw a paper tag behind the MOLLE webbing, so I yanked it out. It was a Tactical Tailor build tag complete with TT part number – I really got what I had dreamed of. Continue reading ‘Mil-Spec Monkey Shear Pouch’
Archive for the 'Review' Category
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These guys work crammed into a warehouse space on Ilaniwai Street (Tyke street off of Ward Ave) and seem to be the go to guys for hard to find parts for imports. Been trying to find replacement heater hoses for the FX16, and no one including Toyota has them or were willing to try and order them, except for Napa in Hawaii Kai. But actually Hawaii Kai is not convenient for me during the work week. Ended up finally at Hawaii Import Parts and right off the bat they knew it would be something that would be a little challenge. But he told me he could order them and they would take about two weeks, so the order is in, for two sets. The “store front” is a tiny space in front of the counter crammed full of parts and stuff cluttering the area, but these guys know their stuff. He found the radiator fan thermo switch too, $40 is much better than the OEM $150. I need to find a fan that will fit first though, so I passed on that, but I know they have it. They get all manner of chemicals too, bunch of euro stuff, and every color of RTV sealant that I didn’t know there was! Oh, and check out the “Costco” sized oil eater box if you’re there, called The Tanker at 16 quarts!
A few weeks ago, in the gravel lot next door to the work office, I noticed a new lunch wagon opened up. I popped over to check it out, it was gourmet grill cheese sandwiches, called Melt. At the time I was looking for something to supplement food I had brought from home and this didn’t sound like it would go too well. I figured to try it at a later date. Earlier this week I purposely did not bring home lunch planning to try it, only to find no one at the truck. Heynow, what the heck?! Tried again today. Dunno if this is supposed to add to the hipster vibe or what, it seemed half the clientel were being mod and dare I say looked like they should have fixie friends. The concept feels mainland city, like LA or NY. Continue reading ‘Melting’
Update: it’s been closed for a few months now, that didn’t last very long….
Tucked away in that odd cubbyhole space off of 11th avenue behind the strip of shops that holds Big City Diner on Waialae, on our way to Himalayan Kitchen, we saw a new Mexican place show up. A few weeks later, we decided to try it out. Its a small, intersting space. I’m thinking some of it is holdovers from when it was a Japanese restaurant, Bozu. We spent some time hemming and hawwing outside deciding if we wanted to do it, looking at the menu posted didn’t help, it was in microprint that all us old fart hyperopic eyes couldn’t deal with. I went in to grab a printed menu and that sucked us in. As soon as we we headed inside to a table, I had to arch an eyebrow at the bottles of Tabasco on the tables. That already raised a question mark in my brain. Continue reading ‘Convenient Secret? Mexitlan Grill’
This altbier from Kyoto’s Machiya Brewery has the eponymous qualities that distinguish alts – a bitter, ale-like flavor and matching color. When poured, there is a finger-thick head, which quickly dissipates. Although the head is not persistent, the carbonation is actually reasonably high for a Japanese craft beer: From beginning to end, the bubbling can be felt on the tongue and lips, and each tip of the glass excites new outgassing from solution. The initial flavor is bitter with no flowery or sweet hop note. The bitterness moderates in the middle, allowing a light flowery aromatic to bloom before the bitter fully fades to reveal a maltiness that subsides into a clean, even finish. The color is a light reddish brown, somewhere between a pale ale and a red ale. Compared to the Onuma Alt reviewed here earlier, this one has more carbonation and a stronger bitter. Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Machiya Brewery Hanamachi Beer Jibiiru’
After seeing one of these on a Redline pro BMX at McBike, I had Jarrel bring one in for me. It arrived just before I went to Japan, so I had to wait until I got back to install it. When I took it out of the box, it didn’t feel particularly light, that is until I dropped the CroMo fork out of my bike and compared the two. There was a significant weight difference! Installation was a bit of a bee-yotch. The crown race seat was a bit rough, long, and possibly slightly oversized. This made getting the probably slightly undersized Race Face crown race on a PITA. The supplied preload lag bolt had a larger diameter shaft than the fully-threaded bolt supplied with the Race Face top cap, so a bit of reaming was required to allow the bolt to pass through the cap hole. Lastly, the safety tabs on the fork dropouts were too close in to accommodate the giant axle bolt washers on my Atomlab hubs, so some grinding with a rotary tool was required to relieve them about a millimeter so the washers would sit flush. All the sweat and blood was made worthwhile the first time I took the bike for a spin. The vibration damping qualities of the fork are excellent. No longer do my hands get blasted off the grips when I land hard off a jump or bunny hop. Of course no sooner do I get this does Answer release the even lighter Dagger fork. Dammit!
About $275 USD MSRP/ $200 street
Recommended
Three out of four BMX monkeys
Not quite sure if these are new, or just new to McBike, but I found two new flavors of GU energy gel the other day. I bought one of each to try and tested them on this Sunday’s ride. The Jet Blackberry with double caffeine had a nice, rich berry flavor that didn’t taste like “chemical berries†or some kind of cough medicine. The double caffeine didn’t hurt. I’d buy that again. It didn’t quite give me a euphoric sense of well-being, but the berry flavor gave me a momentary bit of happiness during the grueling, humid ride. Continue reading ‘New GU Flavors’
Fighting schoolgirl in uniform, how can you go wrong? You figure with the decades that Japan has been producing them they’d have it down pat. Well, I’m sad to say that what is being titled as Mutant Girls Squad and screened at HIFF, it is not true. I thought the original Japanese title, roughly literally translated “Girl Warrior, Legend of the Bloody Iron Mask” was more cool, but perhaps this English title matches this movie better. It had the elements, not one, but three cute fighting girls, blood spatter fountains and guts, weapons sprouting from all manner of body parts, cheesy effects, and yet it didn’t come together. I found it very uneven, jerky pacing, abrupt editing which was intentional, humor often feeling too forced. Perhaps it having three directors had something to do with this. The movie makes obvious reference to others, the iron mask bit and line of dialogue lifted straight from Sukeban Deka, and other pop culture references, some which I got, which gets a chuckle when you get it, but not much more. Continue reading ‘Mutant’
The second exclusive flavor in the SA Harvest variety pack is this Harvest Pumpkin Ale. Pours a medium dark amber with medium head that quickly dissapates. Lingering carbonation is light. Mouth feel still fairly crisp, but a bit more weight. Unfortunately I can’t say much about aroma with my current hampered condition. Not a whole lot of bitterness, none of that lingering in the back of mouth and tongue. I can’t taste the pumpkin, but can detect the faintest hint of the spice. I don’t know if this is in combination with the earlier Hoegarten I had and busy day, but it seems to pack a little punch. Anyway, all in all I’d have to say I enjoy this beer, despite misgivings of thoughts of pumpkin in my beer. I’d give it a 3 out of four boogie woogie monkeys.
Another from the Harvest Collection variety pack is this the Black Lager. Pours a opaque and true to its name, pretty much black. Moderate head that dissapates quickly but the carbonation persits, which contributes to its crisp mouthfeel. I don’t get a strong aroma, but my sinuses prevent that. There is a strong bitter that persists throughout with a bit of roastyness lingering. I’m not sure what to say about this beer. I’m a fan of darks, but this one seems to lack any complexity. While not bad and I’d certainly drink it, it’s not one I savor and go out of my way to find. I guess I’d have to give it a 2 out of 4 dark roasted monkeys.