New Gear: "SaberCut" Pocket Chain Saw

Another new bit of gear I got is a "SaberCut" pocket chain saw.

It's a 24 inch chain with bi-directional teeth built-in and flat nylon handles on each end. You wrap the chain around the thing you want to cut and pull back and forth to cut it. It comes in a nylon pouch with a belt loop and a buckle closure. The pouch feels a little flimsy but it's not as if some super sturdy pouch is really required for an item like this so it does the job just fine. I should also mention the slight detractor that the nylon handles can sort of hurt your hands if you're pulling really hard, but if you've got some climbing or gardening gloves to give your hands a little extra padding that helps.

I keep mine strapped to the bottom of my right-side backpack strap to have it easily available whenever I need it. So far I've used it on a very annoying woody vining plant in my backyard (approx. 2in diameter) as well as long fallen branch on a hiking trail that I frequent (approx 3in diameter) and both times it worked just fine for my purposes. The saw teeth can bind every once in a while if you're holding the two ends very narrowly though so I'd say it's best to hold them nice and wide for best results.

Overall, it's not a bad item if you need a compact cutting tool, not the best either but does what it's supposed to.

Total weight of case and saw together is 6 ounces.

I got mine at a slight discount for a little under 25$ US at SawTac.com

New Gear: Maxpedition Volta™ Battery Case

So another new piece of gear I've acquired is case to store spare batteries for my headlamp and flashlight. The Maxpedition Volta™ Battery Case is a 1000-denier nylon pouch with a velcro flap closure which attaches to a pack via MOLLE webbing.

Can I just take a pause for a second to say that I love MOLLE webbing? I don't understand why nothing non-military makes use of it's capability to securely attach extra accessories to a backpack. It seems like something that should be more widely used among general hiking and camping gear because there really are a lot of cool little add-on things you can use it for.

Anyway, inside the pouch comes a plastic case which can hold up to 8 batteries of size AA, AAA or CR123. (Apparently if one were so inclined it could also hold 5 shotgun rounds, or even a cell phone or iPod. I actually did put my phone in there once while hiking). The plastic case itself is actually two parts which can be detached from each other. I think I heard it described that some folks use the two sides for "new" and "spent" to keep track, but I don't use that method. I keep it full and just hope I can figure out which ones are spent. I've only had to change a battery out once so far so it hasn't been an issue yet.
I keep 4 spare AAA batteries in one side for my Petzl headlamp and 4 CR123 batteries on the other side for my little Leatherman LED flashlight.
The nylon pouch seems well built, the plastic case is not bad either. It does feel like the two halves of the case come apart rather easily, but if they're in their proper place inside the nylon pouch that won't be any kind of an issue anyway.

Some additional info: There's also a small grommet hole at the bottom of the nylon pouch for water drainage. I'm not sure if the plastic cases are watertight but I'd imagine they'd hold up okay for a short amount of time .
The velcro (or "hook & loop" since I think "velcro" is a specific brand) closure seems to stick out a bit, but it's secure enough.
Also the plastic case fits very snugly inside the pouch. You have to push it out from the bottom side of the nylon pouch to get it out so I'd say it's pretty secure.

I think it ran me about 15$US and I'm comfortable enough with that considering it doesn't feel like something I'm going to have to replace anytime soon.

New Gear: Original S.O.E. Gear Tear-off IFAK

I've been in a mood to re-assess my preps lately and add to them and one thing I bought recently was a new medical pouch to mount on the outside of my backpack. This is my new "Original S.O.E. Gear" brand "Tear-off IFAK" medical pouch.
It consists of a panel that attaches right to my hiking backpack via MOLLE webbing, as well as a separate pouch that velcros on to the panel and is further held in place by buckled retention straps.
The benefit of having all of my first-aid stuff on the outside of my pack is that if I need it I can easily unbuckle the retention strap, grab it by the red handle (which denotes medical) and tear it away from the velcro backing to quickly retrieve everything at once and have it in an organized manner, rather than wasting time digging through my bags to find loose items. It also frees up room inside my bag so it's not so jam packed in there.

As for the contents and storage features, let's start on the outside.
On the outside is a small flat-ish pocket which can be held closed with the velcro that lines the edge. Inside of this pouch I keep a small waterproof pouch which used to be a "pocket medic" kit but I used up most of the contents. you can see this peeking out of the pocket in the image above, or in the bottom-right corner in the image below. Inside of this pouch I keep:

• a multitude of different sized bandaids
• disinfectant wipes
• some tweezers and safety pins that came with the original med-kit.

The inside opens fully in a clamshell design for easy access to all of the contents. Even though my purposes are only basic first-aid and convenience items for hiking and camping, it's still really nice to have everything organized and easy to access.

The top half has three different sized sets of elastic straps, one large pouch, and one small pouch. In this area I keep:

• Sunblock
• Bug repellent spray
  
• ibuprofen (pain relief)
  
• generic benadryl (allergy relief)
  
• hydrocortisone cream (itch relief)
  
• triple anti-biotic ointment
• hand-sanitizer

On the lower half is one large set of elastic bands and a big zippered mesh pocket. I haven't come up with anything to use keep in the large elastic bands yet, but in the mesh pocket I keep:

• two 4x4 sterile gauze pads
• two 3x4 non-adherent bandage pads
• one set of assorted moleskin blister pads
• bite & sting kit (a suction kit for such wounds)
  

A couple of things missing right now that I plan to include are some ace-wrap bandages (such as to wrap a sprained ankle), and some medical tape.

All in all I'm very pleased by the quality of workmanship that goes into Original S.O.E. products. I have no doubt this thing will serve me well on my camping and hiking this coming summer and will be something that will likely outlast me in it's usefulness.

New Gear: Snow Peak Mini Solo Titanium Cook Set

A quick bit about a piece of gear I've purchased and used. I'm going to be periodically posting a lot of these in the near future.
This time it's the Snow Peak brand Mini Solo Titanium Cook Set.

This consists of a small titanium pot with a lid and a titanium cup, both of which fit together for storage, and the two pieces come in a mesh bag to hold them together. Each container has folding handles.
I got to use these items, or at least the cup, on a weekend survival training retreat that I took a couple months ago. We found and picked wild elderberry leaves and wild mint and made tea with them and though we used a different titanium pot to boil the water in, I did use my own cup to drink the tea and I have no complaints. The tea itself was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS by the way :) Best I've ever had.

In order to maximize the use of space, I also keep some small supplies inside my titanium pot. Inside I keep a 7ft length of twine, an easy-sharpening tool for my blades, a 25ft length of 550 paracord, and two cliff-bars.

Gerber Gator Jr. Machete

So one of the items I recently picked up is the Gerber Gator Jr. Machete. It's a 10" blade and it has a saw blade edge on the back.
I must say that I absolutely love this thing. It's leaps and bounds better than the cheapy 18" one I got from Harbor Freight in terms of weight balance, hand comfort and overall sharpness and chopping power.
The saw blade works very well and the ability to have both in the same tool is really convenient and made chopping up a monster vining bush in my yard into simple work.
The sheath this thing comes with is great too. it's got some rigidity to it and feels durable. The only thing I wish the case had is more capability to attach it to my backpack instead of just the standard belt loop.
This is the "Jr." 10-inch blade model, versus the standard 17-inch blade size. I went with this because I think it's a lot more versatile and easier to swing around. I was able to get into tight places on the bush I hacked down where an extra 7 inches would have made it impossible. The shorter size also makes it much more convenient for me to keep in or on my backpack. While I'm sure the extra weight at the end of the full-sized model would be great for a bit more chopping power, this one has enough weight to it for it's size and it's well balanced enough that it certainly gets the job done very well regardless.
Anyway this thing is great for yard work and I plan on taking it with me the next time I go hiking because there are some fallen branches on the trail I frequent that could use some clearing if someone hasn't got to it first. Also, it comes very nice and sharp but I haven't had to do any sharpening myself yet so I'm not sure how easy that will be. I'm a total novice so well see how that goes when the time comes that it needs it.

New Camelbak hydration pack. I'm stoked!

So I've been hiking a lot more lately and unhappily using my little brother's old "Outdoor Products" hydration pack. The thing was flimsy, not very well made and felt like it did a really bad job of distributing the weight on my back, so I decided to invest (somewhat heftily) in a Camelbak hydration pack.

I went with the Camelbak H.A.W.G 500 (don't ask me what h.a.w.g. stands for). It's the second iteration of the H.A.W.G. and the "500" comes from the fact that it's made from 500 denier cordura nylon material, which is half the denier rating of the original's 1000 denier (which is what the best military equipment manufacturers use). Denier is a rating for strength in cloth products.

The 500D makes it lighter, which is great by me, and I don't really need something to be a full 1000D for my purposes anyway. The 500D material feels PLENTY tough in it's own right and loads tougher than whatever the hell the last pack was made of.

Having never owned or experienced a real Camelbak pack, I was a little wary of spending $125 on a hydration pack, but after getting this thing I'm a firm believer in the brand and the quality they put into their products.

This is actually from Camelbak's military line and I wanted it because I knew it should be made to last and the PALS webbing on it will be ideal for mounting a tear-away velcro first-aid kit (makes no sense to have to take extra time to dig into my pack if I or someone else get's injured.)

Anyway my pack is shown up there sitting happily with my 1-liter Camelbak water bottle and my Leatherman Wave.

Here's the product page for all the details:
http://www.camelbak.com/government-military/hydration-packs/hawg-500.aspx

Hiking stuff and some thoughts on survivalism.

I haven't posted in ages it seems. Work has been increasingly more frantic and time consuming and keeping my eyes glued to the Presidential Election has occupied any other time I had, but I just wanted to show you some of the cool stuff I just bought.

I plan on going hiking sometime after I learn more about the local plant life so that I can so I got some cool boots, climbing gloves and a good tough belt, just because I'd rather wear something other than my beat up old Dockers belt ;)

The Boots: Altama 8" EXOSpeed boots

I looked all over for some good hiking boots that were nice and high at the ankle too keep the stickers out of my socks but couldn't find anything. Finally I looked around online and decided that you can't do much better than what our troops wear so I purchased these things on Amazon. They're good for all sorts of rugged (dry) terrain and they're up to par for ACU use.

The Gloves: Metolius 3/4 fingered Rock Climing Gloves

While I don't necessarily plan on any rock climbing per se, at least not to start with, I figure it can't hurt to keep some gloves handy just for the hell of it, plus they just looked cool. :)

The Belt: 1.75" SpecOps® "Better BDU Belt"

Again, I thought it would be good to have something army combat uniform style so through searching online I found this belt made by SpecOps that's apparently a "better" version of the BDU belt. I just think it's tough as hell and it has a heck of a hold. And I'm tired of going through belts. This thing feels like something that will last, and even though it looks a little funny, I don't think it really matters since my belt is always hidden under a shirt. As long as it works and fits and that second point is something most belts don't do for me since I'm so skinny so I'm very happy with this.

My thoughts and a note on one noteworthy point made by some survivalists:

While contemplating some realistic scenarios of hard times that survivalists prepare for, it is often said that it is unwise to look militaristic. The logic as far as I've gathered goes that if times get tough, you don't want to look militaristic to the military lest they think you're some kind of rebel that they're going to have to keep an eye on. If things really got serious you could even be locked up as a precaution. On the other hand, if you look able bodied and well prepared to people who are worse off than you it's possible that you could either have people begging you for help, or more desperate ones sticking you up for anything you've got. If you want to keep what you have, you don't go shouting about it while others have nothing.

Now, I understand that, but this is all based on the fear that we're going to turn into a Mad Max: The Road Warrior type of society. I don't rule that out, the basis of survivalism is improving your life and preparing for whatever happens, even if what happens is in fact, nothing. But let me stress that survivalism isn't solely about running around in tinfoil hats and screaming "the sky is falling," though you're free to do that if it feels right to you. But survivalism principles applied to your every day life can help you save money, do more with what you have, be self sufficient and knowledgeable in ways that can be very personally rewarding to you.

Personally I do see times getting tough. The economy is in a real bad spot and I don't think even Obama's earnest hope and desire to fix and change things for the better can get us out of it. I don't see it getting truly extreme, not Mad Max status, but even so it would be good to know enough to immunize yourself as much as possible against the economic situation, whether that's growing and preparing your own food, or picking up a beneficial skill to contribute to your community and perhaps trade services for goods or vice-versa. And even if nothing happens you'll be richer for what you learn!

I am behind in my studies and extremely busy at work, but I'm going to try to find time to read these two books that I bought on primitive skills and I'll try to do that and share some of what I learn as soon as possible, but we'll see how soon that really is.

'Till next time,

Cheers!

Firesteel and Paracord

So I got in some supplies!
I ordered some Sweedish Firesteel and 550 Paracord from a great information resource I found, http://www.survivaltopics.com/.

Sweedish Firesteel
Sweedish firesteel is like other metals that are used to create sparks and in turn fire. The website I found it on reccomended it above the rest though. I'm not sure if that was only because the sell it there, or because it really is a cut above, but either way I'm happy with it.

It's really easy to use. It works just by scraping particles off of it with another hard object like a piece of metal or even a shard of glass! It creates a considerable shower of sparks when scraped the right way which will quickly ignite anything highly flamable (more on that stuff in another post).

Another great thing about it is that it's waterproof. It'll spark just fine even after it's been completely submerged in water (though obviously your kindling and timber needs to be dry to catch fire in the first place.

I didn't need to but I ordered the 5 pack. It was cheaper that way and you get a good size for any situation. For reference the thickest one is about the thickness of a good gel pen and the smallest is way tiny, Convenient to fit in a purse or a good size wallet. These do have limited uses but that big one would last quite a long long time if used efficiently.

550 Paracord
This is cord originally developed by the military (WWII I think?) for parachutes but it's become very popular since then because it's been found to work very well for all sorts of things. The number 550 comes from the fact that this grade of it (Grade/Type C or 3) is built to have a minimum breaking point of 550 lbs.

It's got a good nylon outer sheath and 14 inner threads braided first in pairs and then all together from there. The fact that it has these easy to get-at inner threads makes it very useful for even small things like sewing (repair clothing/gear) and even as fishing line. And the nylong sheath can be burned down to seal the ends after cutting to keep it from fraying.
I'm curious if it could be used to stich a wound shut but I don't know anything about what kind of materials are used for medical stiches. I'd be interested to find out though.

One thing to note is that it is a bit stretchy which could be either good or bad depending on what you need it for, but I like that aspect because I would imagine it would make good bowstring. I'll have to experiment with that.

It's suprisingly thin and light for something that can hold up to 550 lbs. So small in fact that I experimented with lacing one of my shoes and it fits very well in shoelace holes. I've got 50 feet of it in just a small bundle smaller than most TV remotes and it weighs just as little. It was relatively cheap too, only 7 dollars for that 50 foot section. I thinkI'll probably buy some more sometime soon so I can mess around and see what I can use it for.