Lumabiner: a Ground Search and Rescue Gear Review. This is the CRKT Lumabiner. Combination knife, carabiner, and LED flashlight, this little tool (approximately 5″ long open, 3.4″ closed”) is really just a handy thing to have for SAR.
It clips directly onto your gear or belt(loops) which means you don’t have to go looking through pouches and pockets for it, it’s right there on top.
The flashlight is actually brighter than I thought it would be. Not a replacement for a larger flashlight, but a quick source of light for finding things in the dark.
Very nice design, detaches easily and quickly from wherever you have it clipped on, and can be operated with one hand, and there are two thumb studs, one on each side, so you can open it with either hand. It also has a nifty little switch which locks the carabiner latch into place, making sure it doesn’t fall off your gear by accident.
The knife blade itself is relatively small, but it’s quite sharp, cutting through paracord and duct tape and just about everything else you can throw at it. It doesn’t have a screwdriver, or pliers, or tweezers, or a saw, or anything like what you’d find on a multitool or swiss army knife. But then the Lumabiner isn’t supposed to replace them, just allow you to tuck them out of your way when you don’t need them but keep access to the most important tool, the knife blade.
The whole Lumabiner is really lightweight, but it just feels solid and well-balanced.
I would highly recommend this to anyone in SAR, as a quick-access knife/light.
(All content Copyright© GSAR GEAR 2009)