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Difference between revisions of "Chinese stuff general/Everyday carry"

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* KZ-HDS1, ED3, ED9, DT3, EDR2, ATE/S. KZ in general makes great value IEMs.  
 
* KZ-HDS1, ED3, ED9, DT3, EDR2, ATE/S. KZ in general makes great value IEMs.  
* Superlux HD661, HD668B, 681EVO, 662EVO (EVO series are considered the best buys for quality by Head-Fi and other reviewers)
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* Superlux HD661, HD668B, 681EVO, 662EVO (EVO series are considered the best buys for quality by Head-Fi and other reviewers with 662EVO the most recent)
 
* Takstar Hi2050, Pro80
 
* Takstar Hi2050, Pro80
 
* Xiaomi <s>Piston 3</s>, Air/Capsule, Dual Drivers/Quantie (The piston 3 youth edition are cheap, but don't sound good.)
 
* Xiaomi <s>Piston 3</s>, Air/Capsule, Dual Drivers/Quantie (The piston 3 youth edition are cheap, but don't sound good.)

Revision as of 13:45, 10 September 2016

Battery banks

Buying too cheap might result in very hot lithium housefires & most don't have anywhere near their advertised capacity. Stick to the one brand that is known to use great batteries and electronics:

Xiaomi

Tons of Xiaomi fakes are floating around. Either buy from the official mi store, ibuygou, banggood, dinodirect, fasttech, gearbest, dx etc... Aliexpress and Ebay are both marketplaces so your risk of getting fakes is much higher. Even though you will probably get a refund, it's still a PITA to deal with.

Sellers will often trick you by writing something like "Powerbank for Xiaomi" so it shows up in the search results even if it's not a genuine Xiaomi product. Don't just read the title and purchase a product on a whim. This is general advice for Chinese products, but sometimes seller will have a title mentioning "Original *insert brand name* product", but then will say that it's not the original product in the detailed info. Some Ebay sellers claim they have licensed Xiaomi OEM powerbanks but that's total horseshit. Those are fakes, plain and simple. Some even have sand in their "cells": https://youtu.be/Fn_lu-jEv9k?t=55s

Xiaomi powerbanks:

  • 5000mAh slim version
  • 10000mAh (about the size of the old 5400mAh. Actually 10200mAh.)
  • 10000mAh Pro (Uses Li-Po like the 5000mAh. Slim, adds an USB C port.)
  • 16000mAh
  • 20000mAh

Discontinued:

  • 5400mAh
  • 10400mAh (older and larger than the 10000mAh. This one technically has 200mAh more, but because the 10000mAh is more efficient it will actually charge devices for longer. The 10000mAh version is recommended over the older 10400.)

Others

  • Romoss powerbanks (Polymos is the premium Li-Po line)
  • Qidian, if you feel like building your own. The QD 188 can charge laptops.

Bags

Bags & backpacks in general are very affordable from China. For camera use, the National Geographic & Lowepro bags in particular have great design according to /p/

  • National Geographic
  • Lowepro

Flashlights/Torches

Focus on Cree LEDs with a single chip, especially their Q5 (updated version note: The Q5 is a specific bin of the XP-E2 LED, so disregard what the old pastebin says) and XM-L2 series. They have long battery life / super strong output, respectively. Do not pay too much attention to usually bogus lumen ratings.

  • SK68-type (many have fake Cree Q5 that are actually LatticeBright, don't bother finding genuine ones though)
  • Convoy C8 & S2+ (Red / Blue variants on the latter have a nicer strap, but may cost extra vs gray)
  • Eagle eye
  • Nitecore
  • Olight

Headphones/IEMs

AudioBudget has a huge list of IEMs with a detailed review of each.

  • KZ-HDS1, ED3, ED9, DT3, EDR2, ATE/S. KZ in general makes great value IEMs.
  • Superlux HD661, HD668B, 681EVO, 662EVO (EVO series are considered the best buys for quality by Head-Fi and other reviewers with 662EVO the most recent)
  • Takstar Hi2050, Pro80
  • Xiaomi Piston 3, Air/Capsule, Dual Drivers/Quantie (The piston 3 youth edition are cheap, but don't sound good.)
  • Rock Zircon

Comparison of various IEMs:

Zircons are the current meme, huge bass hump if you like that kind of thing, a little difficult to get a good seal with big ears but no real flaws.

Pistons are pretty good for a more balanced tone, still have a bit of a bass hump. It's an older meme.

KZ ATE S are great if you want good isolation + bass in an IEM that stays put very well due to the memory wire. "KZ ATE" is the same earphone but with an inline mic and no memory wire, I don't like this version as well. With some ears they hurt like hell to even put in properly.

I'm the anon that was originally shilling the ED4s, with more time with them I actually like the Zircons better for nigbass (Zircons have better clarity), but ED4s still have their place since they're $5 vs the $12 for the Zircons.

ED3 is also pretty good, slightly tighter, milder signature than the ED4.

Other people like the ED9 s but I found them harsh, sibiliant, and difficult to get a good seal on, as well as poor isolation. I've tried to get into them multiple times, but I just rip them out of my ears in disgust after 30 seconds.

You can find Piston 1 (copies?) for $0.99 which are surprisingly listenable (plastic, marked "Mi" on the back of each IEM). They're a little midsy and sound like shit if you A/B them with anything good on my list, but they're still a vast improvement over the typical pack-in buds that come with cheap mp3 players etc. I give them away to little cousins etc who I know won't appreciate or take care of "nicer" stuff.

Fucking garbage tier: KZ ED2, Fake Piston 2's.

Or to put it another way:

  • Piston 3: flat-ish, tiny bass bump, moderate isolation
  • Zircons: thicc African-American bass, small treble spike, moderate isolation
  • KZ ATE-S: moderate bass, not much treble. "S" has memory wire and stays on well, good isolation with foam tips
  • KZ ED9: flat-ish with large treble spike, low isolation

Frequency response graphs for all earphones mentioned can be found on AudioBudget.

KZ ATE-S review:

Had a few days with the KZ ATE-S.
Overall: Really don't like them.

Main gripes:
1. They don't fit my fucking ears. At least not without hurting. I have sticky-outy ear lobes so that's probably why.
2. No clip included, so they're useless as 'sports' headphones.
3. Memory wire just makes things fiddly and while they don't fall out, you have to constantly adjust them.
4. The sound, while clear, is soulless and hollow. They just make things less enjoyable to listen to.
5. The tacky silicon wire is tangle-bait and a pain to untangle.
6. The foam tips do nothing, the silicon ones are better.

Things I actually liked:
1. The sound really is quite crisp and clear, but it's hard to appreciate when my ears are in pain.
2. They're cheap so I didn't waste much money.
3. I like the little cardboard box.
4. I liked that it didn't come with a mic, I don't care for those things.

I tried to give these things a shot, but the longer I used them the more I grew to dislike them. 

Knives

Specific models are up to your own taste(remember to check out the steel type, usually it should be 440C), but these brands are good:

  • Enlan Bee
  • Ganzo, known for their knockoff designs of more expensive knives(such as Benchmade, Spyderco) with axis lock
  • Sanrenmu some original designs, known also for making "OEM" Benchmade knives(read: blatant copies), quality is allright tough
  • Baodanli if you want some tacky Chinese designs (dragons, tigers, ancient Chinese coins)

As always, ask around before making a purchase.


Sanrenmu and Ganzo, basically pick whichever ones have the deployment/locking methods and/or aesthetic you like.

Some of my personal recommendations:
gearbest.com/survival-emergency-gear/pp_198687.html - Sanrenmu is the OEM for the CRKT Drifter which is considered by knife enthusiasts to be one of the best name brand budget knives, and this knife is literally that knife but without the CRKT logo and less than half the price.

gearbest.com/survival-emergency-gear/pp_185413.html - This is a copy of the Chris Reeve Sebenza, which is a $200+ knife and while anyone who owns a real Sebenza will tell you it's not nearly as good as the real deal, the general consensus is this is an insanely good knife for the price. Here's a video review: [YouTube] Knife Review : Sanrenmu 710 (BEST FOLDER UNDER $10) (embed)

gearbest.com/pocket-knives-and-folding-knives/pp_267528.html - This is basically a chink-only type of knife that is a copy of a Spyderco Paramilitary but with a copy of a Benchmade axis lock. Video review: [YouTube] Knife Review : Ganzo G729 (Axis Lock Paramilitary Clone) (Great Knife For Pedestrianism) (embed)

gearbest.com/pocket-knives-folding-knives/pp_218908.html - I actually ordered the last one of these GB had in stock last week because of a very favorable review I read online. Here is that review (the blade shape is different but it's the same knife otherwise): everydaycommentary.com/2014/03/san-ren-mu-605-review.html

Also you can look on Ali for "spider knife" or "spyder knife" for Spyderco counterfeits which I understand are actually good knives in their own right. Also "sebenza" for straight up Chris Reeve fakes, which I have also ordered one of.

I'm also looking at this for a good fixed blade but I'm waiting for it to go back on sale, it used to be $6.99: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/buck-knife/32706564021.html

Pens

Fountain:

  • Jinhao 599/A, x750
  • Baoer
  • Hero