My Review Of The Cold Steel Brave Heart Knife

In ancient Scotland, the sgian dubh was treasured for its super thin blade that was small enough to hide from enemies.

This knife style was loved so much that Scottish warriors always carried it with them as a backup to their claymore and dirk swords.

Now you can have the same piece of mind at a very reasonable price.

The Cold Steel Brave Heart has been very popular for the past 10 years or so.

I recently decided to get one of my own and here are my thoughts.

What I like about the knife:

1. At 4 inches long, the blade is small enough to conceal and large enough to give you awesome cutting power.

The blade is taper ground to a razor sharp edge that was able to shave right out of the box.

The Brave Hearts blade is made from Japanese AUS 8A stainless steel. This steel holds a good edge, but is easy to sharpen when you need to do that.

2. There is jimping (thumb grooves) on the spine of the blade. This feels nice when you are making precise cuts.

3. Cold Steel's Brave Heart comes with a super tough "Secure-Ex" sheath. This is basically a hard plastic material that will stand up to the worst conditions possible.

What I don't like:

1. There is no hand guard. This is a pretty typical feature for daggers, but it leaves you with little protection against slipping or other knives.

2. The blade is pretty thin. 2.8mm is perfect for puncturing or stabbing, but can break or chip if used as a prybar or chopping tool.

Overall:

The Cold Steel Brave Heart does its intended job VERY well.

If you're looking for a dagger/boot/utility knife that is convenient to carry around, I recommend this knife.

Scrapbooking Tools: Product Review: ProvoCraft Tools Sew Crafty Mini

At first glance, the ProvoCraft Tools Sew Crafty(TM) Mini seems like a great idea. Its compact, appears to be easy to use, and has the ability to be battery powered or can plug into the wall, if you purchase the separate power adaptor for it. At around $10, it is also affordable. The machine itself comes with a bobbin of white thread, a needle threader, and a couple of replacement needles. For an additional $10, you can also purchase the accessory pack, which comes with bobbins threaded in every color, several more replacement needles, and another needle threader. Geared more towards a tool for scrapbookers, I was intrigued by this product and purchased one for my supply cabinet.

What seems like a good idea actually is; at least, until you start using it. While the compactness comes in handy when you're cramped for space, and the lack of wires makes it portable, that's where the advantages to using this sewing machine end. Once you've gotten your thread through the needle eye, and you start sewing, you'll find that the thread doesn't want to stay in the tensioner. Once this happens, your stitches are loose and pull out easier. Tightening the tensioner doesn't help this problem, and often if you're in the middle of sewing something, you can't easily slip the thread back in. Instead, you have to stop by pushing the awkwardly placed on/off button and reinsert the thread. If you're trying to sew a longer item, you're in for a lot of starting and stopping.

The Sew Crafty(TM) Mini is also incredibly loud for being such a small tool. It makes an almost deafening whining sound as it works, making it impossible for me to do any quiet sewing when my 10-month old sleeps in the next room. You can also forget trying to watch television or talk on the phone while using this item, because the noise is just that bad.

While it's easy to figure out how to thread the machine, and how to use it, it is also difficult to remove your item from the machine once you've completed your stitching. Many times, the thread gets caught in the area below the foot. Pulling on it to try to remove it threatens to pull out your stitching (which, if the tensioner has come loose several times, has taken a while to accomplish), and adjusting the needle wheel to move the needle up and down and release the thread only works half of the time.

Stitch selection is also a minimum. The Sew Crafty(TM) Mini only does one stitch: a straight line. You can't really expect more than that for $10, but it would be nice if it did another stitch for those who don't own a full-sized sewing machine.

All in all, if I have the time to sit down and try to create a straight line stitch with the Sew Crafty(TM) Mini, I also have the time to pull out my bulky sewing machine and use it, instead. If you would like a sewing machine, but don't have the money or space for one, this is the perfect tool. Otherwise, your money is best spent on the real, life-sized thing.