Jack Wilder

October 31, 2017 by Jack Wilder 1 Comment

7 Kitchen Tools You Need on Daily Basis

The kitchen is one part of a house that set up is not so easy, but its benefits outshine its tasking duty.

Stepping up the kitchen is essential not just for beauty but also for winning hearts with the sumptuous meals that are prepared for their stomachs. As much as cooking can be enjoyable, not having the right tools can only make it laborious. Here are lists of tools that can make your cooking less stressful.

1. Knife Set

Chef knife is designed to aid slicing, chopping and dicing with ease giving you the feeling of a chef. The blade is usually of 6 to 14 inches

Utility Knife: This knife has a blade of between 4 to 7 inches designed for slicing and coring vegetables and fruits.

Paring Knife: This knife has a short usually made not more than 4 inches. It is designed for cutting vegetables and fruits, with precision.

Boning knife: If you are considering breaking down chicken or pork, the boning knife is the right option. This 5 to 7 inched blade is designed with such flexibility, agility, and sharpness to serve you.

Bird’s peak Paring knife: Mostly used in cutting round fruits.

Bread knife: The bread knife is a serrated knife used in cutting bread loaves without smashing it. A good bread knife can also be used for cutting cakes and pastries.

Butcher Knife: The butcher knife comes to play when accuracy is needed in trimming and segmenting larger meats cut. It can also be used for fruits like watermelon and pineapple.

Carving Knife: Thinking about slicing turkey, cheese or ham, then Carving knife is designed for this job

Cheese Knife: Designed to cut through every type of cheese, it glides through with such smoothest, and its holes prevent any sticking.

Others types of knives are Hardy Slicer, Meat Cleaver, Vegetable Cleaver.

2. Non-stick pots and pans

The invention of non-stick pots and pans brought a revolution to kitchen wares, and it is fast becoming a must-have in kitchens. Non-stick pots and pans make washing easier and cooking and frying less cumbersome. Some of the best professional frying pans are Tramontane 10-inch non-stick pan, Cuisinart Contour 10-inch hard anodized skillet, All-clad Stainless Tri-Ply skillet non-stick pan.

Non-stick pans and pots are good options for your cooking because of the beautiful features they possess which are the even distribution of heat making for faster cooking, affordability, good grip handles, and sturdiness.

3. Cutting board

Having a beautiful set of knives with a cutting board is essentially not been equipped for preparing a delicious meal. Cutting board makes cutting, chopping and slicing easier and neater and prevents cross-contamination from kitchen surfaces. There are two types of cutting board; the wooden and the plastic cutting board. While the plastic model is more dishwater safe, the wood type is more durable and more premium.

4. Pressure cooker

Cooking beef and beans can be time-consuming. Wanting to make your loved ones happy and satisfy their hunger, then pressure cooker should be a standby in the kitchen. It cooks food faster by using pressure created by heat and water in an airtight pot. The trapped steam produces internal pressure and allowing the temperature to rise. After use, the pressure is released by removing the valve making it safe to open. There are various recipes for pressure cooking.

5. Food Processor

The food processor is necessary kitchen equipment. It is similar to the blender but different in that it has several replaceable blades and disc for various tasks while cooking. It can grate, mix the dough and other mixable, grind, mill and also liquidize. With a food processor, your work can be ten times faster and more comfortable. If you need the inspiration to create more dishes, then food processors are your big shoot.

6. Can Opener

Many of the ingredients used for cooking are canned and can be challenging to get around without a can opener. Can openers are essentials for the kitchen if you must prepare a great meal? The baked beans and the corned beef, the sweet peas and others only enhance the need this portable yet invaluable tool.

7. Cooking spoons

No cooking a can be done without a cooking spoon. The various types of cooking spoons are slotted spoon which is either plastic or metal with slotted holes at the base and are used for stirring serving food made in thing liquids.

Solid spoon used for serving thick sauce.

Wooden spoon for use in non-stick pots ad these wooden spoons do not do well for serving ladies which have scooped ends and long handles for serving stews and soups.

Starting up a kitchen and choosing daily needed tools can be interesting. And when it is tasking you will be glad you did when you are enjoying its benefits in the long run. The good part is that this equipment will not run your pockets.

April 20, 2017 by Jack Wilder Leave a Comment

3 Things You Should Always Take to a Picnic

Having a picnic with family and friends (or maybe just you and that special someone) is a great way to enjoyfine food in a different sort of setting.

All sorts of different places make great picnic spots. It's always a great idea to trade artificial indoor light fornatural light, and surround yourself with the sounds, sights, aromas, refreshing breezes and colors of eithernature or the well kept green spaces in and around your city.

3. Finger Food Entrees & Sides You Can Eat With A Fork

Keep It Simple. Use Hot And Cold Packs To Control Temperature.

There's no need to go crazy with pasta and sauce combos, soups, or multiple course meals with piping hot entrees. Instead of messing around with thermoses and portable soup warmers, focus your picnic's menu cheese, fruit, and nut assortments, sandwiches, wraps, pizzas, and other items.

That can be eaten without any utensils and can be kept deliciously warm (if need be) by simply wrapping them up in some aluminum foil. If you want to keep a particular dish hot, you can microwave a heat pack and place it near this item in your cooler, picnic basket or canvas picnic bag.

There's no reason to have to buy paper plates or plastic forks for picnics either. Yes, it can be a drag to have to take plates from home and have them in your basket or cooler clanking against each other, taking up space, and weighing it down. For only a few dollars you can get a set of eco-friendly sugarcane fiber plates that are super light weight, easy to clean, and stack right on top of one another. Bring your fork from home.

2. Bamboo/Sugarcane Fiber Stackable Plates

April 20, 2017 by Jack Wilder Leave a Comment

Folding Knife Storage Ideas: All You Need to Know

Thanks to the internet, the knife collecting scene is stronger than it's ever been before.

There are literally hundreds of YouTube videos where knife enthusiasts proudly showoff their EDCs (that's 'Every Day Carry' for those of you reading this who are just getting into the scene) and other pieces. Some of these videos have amassed tens of thousands, in some cases even hundreds of thousands of views, and in a handful of instances these videos have already climbed past a million views.

One of the most interesting things you'll notice when you see these videos is not only how passionate popular YouTubers like 'X4CTO' and 'DarkChild57' are about their knives, but also how much care and attention they give to the methods in which they store and display their hardware.

You'll find that this is common in the world of knife collecting—attention to detail. The "knife nerds" (this is how they are affectionately referred to in the community) usually like to have separate storage cases for their folding knives, fixed blades, and Swiss Army knives.

It's also pretty common for knife collectors to be fans of fine engineering and machining in general,and so you'll often find that they are also avid collectors of specialty firearms, wristwatches, compasses, and other cool gadgets.

For now we're going to keep it simple though and focus on some of the best folding knife storage ideas that are out there.

Pelican Case With Pick -N -Pluck Foam

A Pelican case lined with layers of Pick -N -Pluck foam is the standard for law enforcement, military, the film industry, the road crews for touring rock bands, and others who need a tight and safe fit for their pieces of equipment.

As such, this is also the preferred option for collectors who want to store their extensive collection of utility and tactical folding knives. So let's explain what both of these products are and how they work in tandem to provide one of the best storage options for folding pocket knives.

A Pelican Case is manufactured by the company of the same name. This is a molded industrial grade plastic case that form an air and water tight seal when it is closed. These cases also feature a Gore -Tex relief valve that controls the pressure inside the case.

What this means is that air can get in and out of the case as need be, but liquid and dust never can. The preferred model among knife collectors appears to be the Pelican 1300.This model provides enough space to house between 30 and 40 pocket knives when you store them vertically.

And how do you store them exactly? Well, this is where the Pick -N -Pluck foam comes into play. At first glance, it looks like any other solid piece of foam. But if you spread it apart ever so slightly with your fingers and take a closer look you'll see that it is actually a three dimensional grid consisting of 1 inch cubes.

These cubes can be removed in order to create a cavity with the shape and depth of your choosing. Seeing as how different pocket knives have different shapes, the Pick -N -Pluck foam is perfect because you are able to create a specific shape for each knife for a nice snug fit.

If you only have a few pocket knives to store but you are planning on acquiring more the Pelican case with Pick -N -Pluck foam is great because it means you don't have to make a space for a knife until you purchase it.Furthermore, if you want to store a few pocket knifes together with

your favorite folding knives, guns, or any other items you can. You determine the exact size and shape of the spaces. We find that the best way to do this is placing the butt end of the knife handle or other object on the foam and then tracing its contour by placing tooth picks around it so you can see which cubes you need to pluck out.

As for the foam itself you have two options: the Pick -N -Pluck foam that comes with a Pelican case is either open cell poly ether, packaging foam in black or Ethafoam semi -rigid foam in white. Both of these options can handle extremely high loads, especially the second.

Is There Any Alternatives To Pelican?

A Pelican Case for folding knife storage runs for about a hundred bucks, which is incredibly good value. However, other companies are making Pelican style knockoffs and selling them for a fraction of this price and yet you still get a high quality product.

For example, MTM electronics makes a pelican style case that also comes with its own cube grid foam that works exactly the same way as the Pick -N -Pluck foam. It also has a pressure release valve. Whether the quality of the materials is as good as those used in a Pelican case is questionable, but unless you're going to be jumping out of airplanes or scuba diving with your knife case you'll probably be fine.

Other knife collectors opt to buy the Pick -N -Pluck foam separately and use it inside an old metal ammunition box. Not only does this work well for storage but there's an undeniable coolness factor in being able to store your knives where rounds of bullets are usually stored.

The Spyderpac from Spyderco

If you talk to a number of survivalists, electricians, and others who carry different knives for different tasks and therefore have amassed quite a collection one of the most common complaints you'll here is that it's hard to keep them organized.

Many simply toss all their knives in drawers and plastic containers with snap lids,which makes it difficult to find a particular knife at times without having to rut around through all o the knives that are jumbled up together.

Yes, we've already gone over Pelican cases.

These are great for storing folding knives (or anything else for that matter) and their high level of precision they offer thanks to its state-of-the-art airtight seal, pressure release valve, and other features.

Still, not everyone feels that they need a case for their knives;

They just want to be able to keep them organized.Enter the Spyderpac from Spyderco. Depending on the size you buy, with this item you have either 18 or 30 transparent pockets (4.5 X 2.5 inches) for storing your pocket knives.

Three nylon loops at the top make it easy to mount your stored knives to the wall, or you can fold the three segments up and secure it with its own Velcro straps to be put away or moved from point A to point B.So these are two of the most popular folding knife storage ideas, but there are more.

For instance, some knife collectors use magnetic systems to store their knives and we haven't even gotten into these options.What has your experience with storing pocket knives been like? Tell us all about it in the comments section.

April 20, 2017 by Jack Wilder Leave a Comment

Apply These 11 Secret Techniques To Improve Folding Knife Tricks

Image Courtesy: karambit

One of the stealthiest and most versatile weapons you can get out there is a folding knife.

Being a concealed weapon, making the most of it entails knowing some of the basic folding knife tricks.

This way, you will be able to have a good grasp on using your folding knife the right way.

Due to the deadliness of its strikes, there are lots of laws governing the use of this type of knife in various countries and in order to be on the safer side, you should know what the law of your state says about the use of folding knives, whether you are buying it for fun or self-defense purposes.

11 Secret Folding Knife Tricks

If you are ready to learn some of the tricks of effective use of folding knives, here are some you should know about. They are as follows:

Flick Opening Trick

Being one of the basic knife tricks, every knife enthusiast should be able to master the trick. For this particular trick, there is a simultaneous spinning of the safe handle and sending the bite handle away with a flick of the wrist.

With this done, the back of the knife blade and the bite handle are position at the back of the users hand. With a swift flick back of the wrist, the bite handle is returned to the front, making the folding knife to be in an open position.

Flick Closing Trick

This is a complete opposite of the above described trick. With the knife already in its open position and your palm being open, the bite handle is flicked up into your palm. With this maneuver, the handle and blade are simultaneously lined back to a closed position.

Pinwheel Trick

This is one of the favorites among the various folding knife tricks as every knife trickster will always dazzle his teeming fans with it. It entails holding your knife in a horizontal position, making sure that the tang pins are pointing in the same direction with your thumb.

The bite handle is then dropped while holding the safe handle. The bite handle is then flipped around, ensuring that your grip is shifted as you flip the bite handle. This way, the bite handle is positioned upwards and automatically snaps to a closed position.

Aerial Tricks

These are not like the basic knife tricks and as such, it takes lots of devoted practice time, experience, and confidence before you can effectively perform these tricks.

In order to minimize cases of injury, knife enthusiasts recommend training with professionals and at the same time, starting with fake knives. When you finally become confident of your skills, then you can use real folding knives.

Apart from learning how to make effective use of your folding knives through folding knife tricks, there are other folding knife related tricks that would further maximize the functionality of your knives. Some of these tricks are as follows:

Removal Of Rust

There are times that rust build up on knives due to wrong storage or lack of use and cleaning. When this happens, you can easily use pencil lead or graphite to remove the accumulated rust from those areas of the knife that are hard to reach.

Securing Your Knife

If you don't want to mistakenly lose your knives, it is important you device means of securing them. One of the tricks is to secure your knife to your belt or any other piece of clothing using a lanyard. This way, you will minimize chances of it dropping and injuring you or getting lost.

Scrubbing With Sand

Did you just use your folding knife in roasting in open fire? Is the blade caked all over with burned food? Getting it sparkling clean is very easy. All you need to do is place some quantity of sandy soil in the center of a piece of material, wrap or tie it off and use to scrub the affected blade parts. Rinse off with warm soapy water. Repeat till your knife's blade is sparkling again.

Sharp After Each Use

You don't really have to wait at the end of the day before you can sharpen your knife. This is where a pen -style sharpener comes into the picture. With this tool, you are able to sharpen your knife after each use. This is more time and energy saving as compared to when you have to spend a long time at a stretch in order to fully sharpen your knife.

Boil To Disinfect

This is one of the many folding knife tricks that has continued to be a life-saver. If you suspect that your knife might be contaminated, simply boil it in water. If yours is the all -metal type, it can be boiled wholly but for those with wooden, plastic, or porcelain handles, only the blade should be dipped into the boiling water in order to decontaminate it.

Avoid Sand Build -Up

If your folding knife is constantly exposed to very dry and dessert -like environment, the chances of it getting clogged up with sand are very high. In order to avoid such occurrence, you should always blow out sand from the knife after each use. This way, you free it of debris that might inhibit its functionality.

Don't Forget The Handle

The handle of your folding knife is where most of the moving parts of the knife are located and if not taken proper care of, these parts could corrode and inhibit knife movement. Always make sure this part of your knife is oiled after each cleaning session to prevent any rusts.

These are some of the folding knife tricks that would help you make the most of using this very versatile weapon or tool, whichever option it serves. Remember that your folding knife is a very sharp object and as such, its capability to curse devastating damage is very high. For this reason, always respect your knife's space and don't get sloppy otherwise, your arms or any other part of your body might pay heavily for your gross mistakes. Go ahead and have fun with the various tricks, without injuring yourself or someone else.Know of any other fun tricks for folding knives?

Let us know about it then.

April 20, 2017 by Jack Wilder Leave a Comment

7 Professional Folding Knife Photography Techniques

Does it sometimes mesmerize you when you see great product pictures, especially considering that you have tried without success to take such pictures?

Well, if you are a knife enthusiast, one of the skills you should learn is professional folding knife photography techniques.

Unlike what you might think, it takes more than just propping or dropping a knife on a good background and taking pictures. It requires a particular skill set of its own. After all, you are trying to transform a piece of metal work into an eye -popping item and the best you can do is find out how you can achieve this with less effort.

Knives are made of metal and as such, they are highly reflective. If you have been struggling to take those pictures, listed below are some techniques that would help you take amazing pictures. They are as follows:

Set The Scene

If you want to take really good pictures, then you should start with setting a good scene for the photo shoot. While the background might not be the focus of the proposed photo shoot, it is important that you prepare a good background.

You can get studio -quality backgrounds with just few sheets of scrap papers, metals, and fabrics. While you can get these items from any scrap materials store, you can also get resourceful and find the things you need right within your home. From the sitting room to the dining room, kitchen, and even the laundry room, there are everyday objects that can serve as awesome backgrounds for your knife photo shoots.

Be Flexible

When it comes to professional folding knife photography techniques, nothing is really set in stone. While there are certain positions and angles you are expected to take your pictures from, you should create adequate room for flexibility.

Sometimes, those shots you didn't really take your time to take might turn out to be the best among the lot. Therefore, even when you have made mental notes of the angles you want to shoot from, never say no to certain changes that might crop up along the line. If it looks good in the camera, it is definitely good.

Invest In A Few Gears

Remember you want to take pictures that look very professional and as such, you should be prepared to invest in a few inexpensive gears.

If you already own an iPhone or any other smart phone with good lens, then all you need to invest in might just be two or more LED lights, a portable tripod. You can get an adapter for the tripod to enable you effortlessly attach your smartphone to the tripod.

One good thing about these gears is that they are so portable that they hardly occupy any space and as such, you can easily log them around. If you are using an iPhone, you will also find that you don't need to buy any editing gear as all your editing can be done right on your mobile device.

Make It Less Noisy

This is where backgrounds come into the story of professional folding knife photography techniques, yet again. While you might be tempted to shoot your pictures on dramatic backgrounds, it could take the attention away from the main focus of your photo shoot — the knife.

To ensure that this doesn't happen, it is important that you make your background as noiseless as possible. From while to gray and down to black, you can opt for something simple and interesting. Choosing chaotic background will not do your photo shoot any good.

Take Off The Lens

This trick works very well for those shooting with cameras. With this technique, the lens is taken off and held in front of the camera to get a macro view. In order to ensure that this works well for you, your camera needs to be set on manual mode.

In order to achieve maximum focus and sharpness, you should move closer or far off from the knife being photographed. You can also get a portable reverse lens mount for a few bucks. This way, you can be sure of shooting very sharp pictures since the lens is steady. Your camera mounted on a tripod would also do more magic for this macro visual.

Don't Forget To Share

This is one of the professional folding knife photography techniques you should take very seriously. If you are looking forward to experiencing improvements in your knife photography skills, then you should not hesitate to share your photos. This technique will be very constructive if you are already a member of any of the photography communities.

This way, you will be able to receive constructive criticisms and at the same time, get inspired by knife photos posted by other users, especially when it comes to creativity and resourcefulness.

Improvise

Sometimes you take very poor quality pictures because you don't have certain gears and you are unable to improvise. Take for instance the tripod. If you cannot afford to buy a tripod for the moment, there is a household item that could suffice — your lamp.

All you need to do is remove the lamp shade, screw your camera to the shade holder and bam!, you are ready to start shooting professional pictures at a go. With the size of the bolt threads being the same as those found on tripods, mounting your camera will be done in a flash without any stress or hassles.

Final Verdict

These are just a few of the professional folding knife photography techniques that would help you take amazing pictures always. Apart from these techniques, it is also important that you always remain inspired always.

Try out your hands on various knife designs. Some of the things you should take into consideration are the blade material, blade shape, blade length, handle material, design and details. With all these put into perspective, you can be sure of getting incredible results each time you carry out a photo shoot of your various knife collections.

Over time, you will see a significant improvement in the quality of your knife pictures, whether they are taken indoors or outdoors.