Here is a really simple tweak. First, I started adding a lanyard to my EDC flashlights. The first knot I used was a hangman's noose. It was easy to deploy and retie and added a few feet of cordage. Then, I changed to wrapping the light with a simple whipping. Adds cordage and it makes biting it for hands free usage more comfortable. A few years ago, I saw on candlepowerforums, a fella who added some cordage to his flashlight to convert it into a headlamp. It this rendition, I used a couple of constrictor hitches and a fisherman's knot. It has an added benefit of giving you a loop to slide your fingers into while holding the light. Makes it easier to hold something else at the same time. Same concept as the hideaway knife. I saw another one where the guy used one constrictor knot on one end of an Armytech headlamp to wear it like a necklace, which can also be held by the sternum strap of a pack. Anyone who has hiked or camped where there are flying insects can attest to the value of moving the light off your face. This one is not my picture. Please feel free to add your ideas. And it doesn't have to be about flashlights and knots.
Nice pictures. I have to try to describe things in words only. I modify lots of stuff. If it's a tool with a metal or plastic grip surface I stipple it. Wood tool handles either get a pine tar finish or a wrap of stair tread tape. Radio's all get 550 cord lanyards. No more dropped/lost radios, and I don't have to trust cheap plastic belt clips. Flip phone gets stair tread tape stuck on both sides. This keeps it from sliding out of a pocket, or from under your shirt if you need to talk on a flip phone and be hands-free. It also serves as a nail file, match striker, or just rough sand paper. Ammo cans get a general purpose carrying strap clipped to the handle rings. Makes a full can much easier to carry. Key and pocket knife fobs are either similar to your flashlight lanyards, or 6-8 feet of 550 cord in a quickly deployable "parafob." My Coleman camp cooler got modified last year after I got tired of draining the water and disturbing how everything was packed. A few feet of clear 1/2" plastic tube allows me to start a siphon quickly to drain the cooler of excess water. I miss the old metal Coleman cooler with the drain at the bottom, but I guess one accidental opening of that drain inside the tent would end the nostalgia. Probably the must appreciated modified piece of gear I use daily is a tiny retractable string reel for a security badge that I have repurposed into a retractable flashlight reel with a Photon Micro Light clipped on the end. This gives me an always available light source, and when I'm done I just let go and it zips back under the flap of my belt pouch. (a modified GI compass pouch) I just can't leave stuff alone, and few things I use on a daily basis haven't needed a tweak. Thanks Hanzo. This should be an interesting thread. HD
