I recently received a few new items in the mail, that I plan on testing out next weekend. Three things specifically; a minibull stove, a custom outsdoors knife, and a sparklite from TAD gear. More to follow on this, including pics.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
As promised, a review on the DVD Prepared to Survive
First off, I have to apologize for not getting this done sooner. I came down with the evil flu, that took me down a couple of days, I had some bagpiping engagements I had to take care of, and I had an army buddy visiting this past weekend. So, its been a crazy couple of weeks, but I DID get to watch them (plan on it again soon too).
First, the packaging. The DVD set (two DVDs) come packaged in a standard plastic type case. The front picture is gorgeous: a mist covered mountain. The back is a quick overview of the contents, and the bios of the 4 authors: Gretchen Cordy, Doug Ritter, Buck Tilton, and Rich Johnson. Reading these quick bios, these are some heavy hitters in the world of preparedness. You have a USAF survival instructor, a leading authority on survival, particularly small aircraft safety, co-founder of the Wilderness Medicine Institute for NOLS, and an ex-special forces soldier, who regularly teaches outdoor survival tehniques, and writes for several outdoor magazines. So, these are your instructors; needless to say these are some heavy hitters!
The DVD set is broken down into two disks; the first one is basic concepts, in depth topics, and profiles. This DVD goes into a LOT of the mental state of a survivor; they pull on some real life scenarios, and have interviews with some folks who had survived several days snowed in on a mountain in CA. There is alot to take in; the DVD is over 2 hours long. They show a little demonstration, using some lost hikers, or basic things; a quick lean to using plastic sheeting, carrying a whistle, little things like that. This DVD mainly touches on the preparedness part of it; skills you should know, and some of the thought processes one goes through. There are quite a few concepts that are discussed, and the narrators pull from personal experience to illustrate some points. It is not dry; all 4 narrators are presenting information that, although it may not be fresh, new ideas for some of us, is certainly alot of the things people overlook, such as the boredom of your situation, the Rules of 3, and the fact that, by the time most people admit they are lost, it is dark. These are things that arent normally discussed, or are at best brushed over, in alot of the books out there. So, it is nice to see someone touch on these things (I have carried a deck of cards for YEARS in my survival kit, for just this purpose!).
The second DVD is bonus materials. They go into some of the things one would want in their kit, as well as some knife selections. This is nice, as they point out the pros & cons of some of the equipment, but dont seem to endorse any particular brand (so it doesnt really feel like an infomercial). With the knife selection section, they go over what to look for in a good sheath knife, showing several different models. Again, as these folks are professionals, they keep it well on track (no Rambo style knives). Gretchen does a section on knots; this part I found sort of lacking. She went over a timber hitch, and a square knot. IIRC, that was about it. Personally, I think that this was sort of glossed over; I would've liked to see some other basic knots reviewed as well; classic ones like the figure of 8, bowline, girth hitch and a reef knot would have been nice. Not sure why only 2 knots were covered, but, dont expect much.
The last part of the 2nd DVD is scenery; I must admit, I didnt look at these as of yet. However, I believe most, if not all, of this DVD was shot in the Pacific NorthWest, so, I am SURE it would be gorgeous.
Overall, I think that this is a worthy addition to any outdoors library. It isnt campy, they arent pushing a particular product on you, it isnt a military-style movie; it is just 4 experts sharing their knowledge & experience with the rest of us. My suggestion would be to pick this up if you can!
First, the packaging. The DVD set (two DVDs) come packaged in a standard plastic type case. The front picture is gorgeous: a mist covered mountain. The back is a quick overview of the contents, and the bios of the 4 authors: Gretchen Cordy, Doug Ritter, Buck Tilton, and Rich Johnson. Reading these quick bios, these are some heavy hitters in the world of preparedness. You have a USAF survival instructor, a leading authority on survival, particularly small aircraft safety, co-founder of the Wilderness Medicine Institute for NOLS, and an ex-special forces soldier, who regularly teaches outdoor survival tehniques, and writes for several outdoor magazines. So, these are your instructors; needless to say these are some heavy hitters!
The DVD set is broken down into two disks; the first one is basic concepts, in depth topics, and profiles. This DVD goes into a LOT of the mental state of a survivor; they pull on some real life scenarios, and have interviews with some folks who had survived several days snowed in on a mountain in CA. There is alot to take in; the DVD is over 2 hours long. They show a little demonstration, using some lost hikers, or basic things; a quick lean to using plastic sheeting, carrying a whistle, little things like that. This DVD mainly touches on the preparedness part of it; skills you should know, and some of the thought processes one goes through. There are quite a few concepts that are discussed, and the narrators pull from personal experience to illustrate some points. It is not dry; all 4 narrators are presenting information that, although it may not be fresh, new ideas for some of us, is certainly alot of the things people overlook, such as the boredom of your situation, the Rules of 3, and the fact that, by the time most people admit they are lost, it is dark. These are things that arent normally discussed, or are at best brushed over, in alot of the books out there. So, it is nice to see someone touch on these things (I have carried a deck of cards for YEARS in my survival kit, for just this purpose!).
The second DVD is bonus materials. They go into some of the things one would want in their kit, as well as some knife selections. This is nice, as they point out the pros & cons of some of the equipment, but dont seem to endorse any particular brand (so it doesnt really feel like an infomercial). With the knife selection section, they go over what to look for in a good sheath knife, showing several different models. Again, as these folks are professionals, they keep it well on track (no Rambo style knives). Gretchen does a section on knots; this part I found sort of lacking. She went over a timber hitch, and a square knot. IIRC, that was about it. Personally, I think that this was sort of glossed over; I would've liked to see some other basic knots reviewed as well; classic ones like the figure of 8, bowline, girth hitch and a reef knot would have been nice. Not sure why only 2 knots were covered, but, dont expect much.
The last part of the 2nd DVD is scenery; I must admit, I didnt look at these as of yet. However, I believe most, if not all, of this DVD was shot in the Pacific NorthWest, so, I am SURE it would be gorgeous.
Overall, I think that this is a worthy addition to any outdoors library. It isnt campy, they arent pushing a particular product on you, it isnt a military-style movie; it is just 4 experts sharing their knowledge & experience with the rest of us. My suggestion would be to pick this up if you can!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
DVD review coming soon to you!
So, I placed an order from Lifeview Outdoors last week, and received a brochure for a DVD set: Prepared To Survive. I thought, oh, goody, another thing for me to order! Doug Ritter contributed to this, so I figure it HAS to be good. Well, I was going to wait till next month, but I needed (wanted) a couple of other items, namely, another mora knife, and a PSK for my nephew. So, they were actually having a special over at their website; $54.99 for the DVD set & a PSK. So, I slapped the mora order on there, and they are on their way! I plan on reviewing this this weekend, should it get here in time.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friendly Reminder
Dont forget to change meds & bandages in First Aid kits, as well as batteries in flashlights & smoke detectors! New year, time to change things!!!
A new year for me!
So, after getting soft for the past 4 years as a civilian, I decided that I need to whip my fat ass back into shape. I was never ripped, mind you; I am short, & stout (like a teapot?!?!). However, I was solid, at my peak. My recent snowshoeing trek showed me how unfit I really am; 5 hours of snowshoeing shouldnt have resulted in soreness for a few days. When I was active in the Army, it seemed I could walk indefinitely (and a few time, it seemed like I actually did). Although I am older now, and know I will not get back the fitness level of my younger days, I can still do what I can to get back into shape. I have put on about 20 lbs or so as a result of working a desk for the past 5 years, and this will adversely affect my health. I am aware of this, and am making the concious decision to control it. So, I joined my local gym today, and will start on a "getting back into shape" program on Monday.
I have never been a fan of the gym; however, I realize that I cannot do this alone; I have tried (I usually run for about a month, then find something else to do). So, I am hoping that by making this part of my daily regimen, much like it was when I was active (when we werent deployed somewhere), and this should help me keep on track. Time will tell; my goal is 30 lbs by June, or 2 waist sizes (which is more realistic). Time will tell!
I have never been a fan of the gym; however, I realize that I cannot do this alone; I have tried (I usually run for about a month, then find something else to do). So, I am hoping that by making this part of my daily regimen, much like it was when I was active (when we werent deployed somewhere), and this should help me keep on track. Time will tell; my goal is 30 lbs by June, or 2 waist sizes (which is more realistic). Time will tell!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Winter hike 2009
So, today I decided to do a little snowshoeing. I havent done it in a couple of years and, frankly, since I have gotten back from a year in Cuba, the cold just isnt for me anymore. But, we got over a foot of fresh snow this weekend, I had today off, so I decided to take a little walk. My INTENTION was a short hike, maybe an hour or so, where I wanted to test out anew stove type (more on that below). Well, I packed a small daypack, with my essentials for "just in case", and off I went!
It was gorgeous out there today! Weather was about mid 20's or so, partially sunny. I started off with a med weight thermal base layer, goretex pants, my TNF fleece top, wool watch cap, and glove liners with ragg wool half mitten thingys (the kind that you can pull the top of the mitten off, flip it back & velcro it, so you can use your fingers).
My daypack consisted of the following:
Pack: Camelback MULE
Outside:
Military poncho
Mora knife/leather sheath, firesteel
Garmin GPS60CX
Bandana
small carabiner (non safety, key fob like)
about 6' of paracord type cordage
Main pocket:
1L british issue canteen, with metal cup (better suited to any situation, as opposed to the bladder the MULE came with)
3 1 gallon ziplock bags
2 leaf bags (large trash bags)
Top pocket (all in ziplock bags):
3 Clifbars, 1 granola bar (absent, instant coffee packets)
notepad & pencil
Spare AA batteries
Wooden nickels (I geocache, and this is what I leave in my finds)
Bottom pocket:
50' paracord (may be more, I cut this off a spool from my units armory)
Gerber hand saw
Heatsheet
Brunton orienteering compass
Princeton Tec LED headlamp (repaired with duct tape, incidentally, from my kit)
Tinder (cotton balls with petroleum jelly)
Adventure Medical Kit Ultralight (pretty standard, I only swap the medicines out, add Advil, and put an irrigation syringe in it)
PSK
PSK contents:
waterproof tin container
necklace with small compass, LED flashlight, and Fox40 whistle
15' of small cordage (the stuff that came in the RSK PSK)
handfull of strike anywhere matches in a small ziplock bag
tinder (again, the little things that came with the RSK kit)
small roll of duct tape
plastic see through disposable lighter
fishing/sewing kit (2 lures, 4 hooks, 6 sinkers, 2 needles, 4 safety pins, 20' of fishing line wound around the outside of the tube)
roll of thread
signal mirror
fresnal lens
snare wire
ferro rod w/striker
surgical blade, sealed
micropur water purification tablets
tin foil
survival pamphlet
That weighs in at about 11 lbs, almost non existent as far as weight goes. I left the poncho behind, and strapped on my goretex jacket. I also snapped the paint can stove to the small biner.
So, about 45 mins into the hike, I decided to bust brush to find a nice secluded spot to test this stove out. With a little over 2 feet of snow, find a LEVEL spot was a bit of a test. So, anyway, I found a nice place to test it out.
I stomped a flat area as best I could, then dug down with a snowshoe. Got it fairly level. Then, I went to find tinder. Easy task, as this is a mixed growth forest. Within 5 minutes I gathered what I thought was a good amount of fuel. So, on to the stove...
First, one thing I advocate wholeheartedly; ALWAYS carry cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly! These are the BEST firestarters one can use! They catch a spark instantly, and burn for a good minute.
So, I get the stove started. Got a good base of wood burning. Then, decided to test how long it takes to get water to a boil. I filled my canteen cup about halfway, and put it on the stove. It worked, but with a fair amount of fidgeting. It took about 15 minutes to get it to start forming bubbles, at which point I stopped the test. It was hot enough for coffee. The reason it took so long is that you have to constantly feed the fire, and remove the cup in doing so. This method isnt the greatest, but, hey, its a wood stove, essentially! I have seen other designs with s smaller can attached horizontally...but, well, I like quick & easy! And this stove does exactly that, with no fire scar afterwards.
Ok, the design of the stove is stupid simple; get an unused 1 qt paint can from your local hardware store. Take a tailors tape measure and make marks along both the top and bottom of the can at 1" increments. Now, drill out those marks with a 1/4" bit. Thats it, you're done!
The idea behind it isnt so much a stove, as a controlled fireplace. Word of warning; paint cans have a lining on the inside, so, when firing this up for the first time, let it ALL burn off. Takes about 10 minutes, give or take. After that is done, it should be fine.
When you are cutting fuel, think SMALL. This is a small wood burning stove; nothing larger than your index finger will fit into it. Hence, the constant need to stoke it. But, again, as long as you have access to stuff to burn, you are fine. It just takes a little longer, thats all.
So, done with the stove testing, I pack up, and start my trek home. I decide to cut through the woods. Well, I got some fantastic pictures, but, a shortcut it was not. I wouldnt say I was lost; I could always backtrack. I COULD say I took the scenic route back to my jeep though :). It was a nice day for a walk anyway! 4 hours longer than planned, but, hey, that sometimes happens, you know?
More photos here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
