Product Reviews - Page 4 of 6 - Ultimate Survival Gear

Life Gear Products Review

Too often many people go off into the bush without carrying basic necessities such as food and water but even worse they fail to carry survival gear with them or even any way of signalling or calling for help! We all know that the Aussie bush is harsh and unforgiving and unfortunately many people get lost or even die due to dehydration, starvation or traumatic injuries of some sort as a result of heading off the beaten track for a bit of adventure. I’ve been searching for a brand that sells reliable outdoor emergency signalling tools such as torches and glowsticks and I think I’ve found it! A couple of weeks ago, I ran in to Life Gear (check them out at www.lifegear.com) and was very excited about the products that they have to offer as they make emergency gear specifically designed for hikers, campers, bushwalkers and joggers. Anyway, the kind folks there sent me several samples so that I could show you what they have to offer.

If you haven’t heard about Life Gear before, they’re a North American company based in California that is “dedicated to working hands-on at every level to develop and promote innovative everyday products engineered with life saving capabilities.” At this stage they have several different lineups of torches (Americans call them flashlights) which are designed for everyday usage but have rescue and emergency features built into them which come in real handy.

It is estimated that 10.5 million people on 6 continents used Life Gear products in one year through the efforts of strategic partners such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

So let’s take a look at the product samples that we received. First we have these LED glow sticks which […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Torches|0 Comments|

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Gerber LST Folding Knife – Amazing Lightweight Indestructibility

Gerber LST Folding Knife – Amazing Lightweight Indestructibility

The Gerber LST is an ultra light and ultra-thin pocket knife designed by none other than Pete Gerber, the founder of Gerber Legendary Blades (also known as Gerber Gear), and Blackie Collins (one of Gerber’s former knife designers) in 1980. Pete Gerber had a vision of creating knives that were ultra lightweight due to using synthetic materials in the handle but at the same time retained their qualities of rugged performance and reliability. The LST is proudly made in Portland, Oregon in the United States of America instead of China.

My initial impression when I first held this knife in my hand was that it was amazingly lightweight and ultra thin, yet had a feeling of indestructability. The smooth lock back mechanism was a delight to operate with a pleasant, firm “click” sound emitted whilst doing so. It has an overall length of 6.10” (15.5. cm) with a blade length of of 2.63” (6.7 cm). When closed it is only a mere 3.61” or 9.2 cm so it really doesn’t take up a lot of space in your pocket.

The blade
This knife features a fine-edge, drop-point blade made from 420 HC (high carbon) stainless steel which is a great mid-range steel.

This steel is more than capable at handling any tasks that this knife may be used for (cutting boxes, packages, cord etc). The knife came razor sharp out of the packaging and was able to shave the hair of my arm with ease. It also was able to slice through paper quite easily. I also opened several boxes with relative ease in my testing of this knife.

The handle
The handle is made from glass filled nylon. It has a nice feel to it and the textured thumb […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Folding Knives|0 Comments|

The Firestarter by Aussie Survival Tools – Review

Aussie Survival Tools claims their firestarter is the best in the world – is it really? Today we will take a look at The Firestarter from Aussie Survival Tools and find out if it really is the best in the world. The Firestarter includes a Rosewood handle, 99.8% pure magnesium rod and a high quality ferrocerium rod.

The Rosewood handle of The Firestarter can be used to create wood shavings for emergency tinder when dry tinder is hard to find after wet weather. The great thing about Rosewood is that it is naturally oily, resists water and lights easily – burning for a long time. Aussie Survival Tools say that this is the only firestarter with a built in supply of tinder and we have not come across any other firestarter with this feature (except for the Bear Grylls firestarter which includes a watertight tinder storage compartment with cotton balls, but no built in supply of tinder), so Aussie Survival Tools does have a unique design. To use the handle to create tinder, simply use the included carbon steel striker to firmly shave the Rosewood into fine curls to form a small pile.

The magnesium used in The Firestarter is among the purest available at 99.8% pure magnesium. Magnesium lights easily and burns with a hot white flame. Magnesium can be used to light damp (but not wet) tinder, rubber tires for a black smoke signal, or just for easier fire lighting in any condition. To use the magnesium, use the included carbon steel striker to scrape magnesium shavings into a pile of tinder.

Ferrocerium is a man-made metallic material that gives off hot sparks at temperatures of 1,650 °C (3,000 °F) when scraped against a rough surface (pyrophoricity), […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Fire Starters|0 Comments|

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Gerber Winchester 2.5” Brass Folder – Sleek EDC Pocket Knife

Gerber Winchester 2.5” Brass Folder – Sleek EDC Pocket Knife

I’ve just got in a package of some nice folding knives from Gerber Gear. The first one we’ll be taking a look at is the Winchester 2.5” Brass Folding Knife made by Gerber Legendary Blades. Gerber has a contract with Winchester (best known for their small arms ammunition products) to manufacture several different knives for them among which is this neat little brass folder.
The Winchester 2.5″ Brass Folding Knife features a clip point blade, lock back mechanism and a surgical stainless steel blade. Measuring from tip to butt it is only 6 inches or 15 cm long. Weighing in at only .3 oz (8.5 g), this knife is so light weight that you even forget its in your pocket – at least that’s what I found!

On first look, it appeared to be a nice-looking, sturdy pocket knife that should serve you well for many years to come. Out of the blister-packaging, it was razor sharp and I proved that using the trusty old “shaving hair off arm” and paper slicing tests. I also turned the end of a stick into a nice spear point with it too.

Surgical Stainless Steel Blade

Since a knife is really only as good as its blade, let’s start right here.The blade length is 2.5″ or 6.35 cm – not too big and not too small.

The description on the package says the blade is made from “surgical stainless steel”. You might be thinking “Now whatever is that?” Well, I did some research on what surgical stainless steel is and its actually equivalent to 440 – a mid range stainless steel. The blade is not as susceptible to rust as a carbon steel blade, but it is still advisable to always clean and oil it […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Folding Knives|0 Comments|

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Helle Temagami – Les Stroud Survivorman Knife – Review

Helle Temagami – Les Stroud Survivorman Knife – Review

Since 1932, Helle Knives represented the very highest traditions of quality in Norwegian craftsmanship. This knife production started in an old forge near the home of the founding brothers, Steinar and Sigmund Helle. The knife soon became extremely popular among the locals and their fame spread to other towns, so the two brothers packed their bags full of knives and set off on bicycle towards the east to set up the foundations of this modern day knife manufacturing company. Today, Helle knives are still made manually in order to stick to Helle’s core philosophy of quality craftsmanship. As they always say, “No machine can replace the hands of a skilled craftsman.” Despite its aesthetic qualities, a Helle knife is not made to be an ornament. It is made to be used. Out of the many different knives Helle makes, today we are going to be taking a look at the Helle Temagami. Designed by Les Stroud (famous for his Discovery TV show “Survivorman”), the Temagami is a medium length, fixed blade bushcraft knife made at the Helle knife factory in Holmedal, Norway.

Unlike other popular knives with 4mm+ thick blades, the Helle Temagami has a 3mm thick 11 cm long blade. This does not compromise the strength or quality of the blade at all, in fact it gives the Temagami an advantage over other thicker knives because thinner blades can be used for fine bushcraft tasks like what the Temagami was designed for. Helle knives are not survival tools, they are cutting tools, and the Temagami is no exception. The semi-full tang of the Helle Temagami provides the extra strength associated with bushcraft knives, and with the drop point style tip this makes for a stronger tip and overall, […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Bushcraft Knives, Combat / Survival / Camping & Bushcraft Knives, Survival Knives|0 Comments|

Mainstay Emergency Rations – MRE’s / Survival Food – Review

In our search for the best survival food brands out there, we came across the Mainstay Emergency Bars which are manufactured by Survivor Industries Inc in the USA. Mainstay is a somewhat popular MRE (meals ready to eat) or “meal replacement” brand among survival circles in the US and produces some of the best emergency food and water rations around. So.. let’s take an in-depth look at these products and at the end of this review, I will explain a little about who and what these products are for.

These bars come in various ration pack configurations (1200, – 1 day energy bar, 2400 – 2 days, 3600 – 3 days) all of which contain the same amount of vitamins and minerals. Susan from Survival Storehouse, the Aussie distributors for the Mainstay emergency food and water range, kindly sent me a sample of the 2400 or 2 day food ration pack and also the personal care kit, the ARK 3 for a review and taste test.Mainstay 2400

Inside each vacuum sealed, foil ration pack are 6 small, hard bars, each of which contain 400 calories each.

6 bars multiplied by 400 calories each makes 2400 hence the name of this particular ration pack. If at sea, the instructions on the packet recommend that you eat three of the bars a day giving you a 48 hr (2 day) supply per packet and on land, two of them giving you a 72 hr (3 day) supply. The reason for this is that you generally use up a lot more calories when out at sea (especially when trying to stay afloat after a shipwreck or going overboard for example) than on land. The conditions at sea are less forgiving than those on […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Survival Food|0 Comments|

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Survivor Emergency Water Filter Review / Comparison

Survivor Emergency Water Filter Review / Comparison

Survivor Filter is a Canadian company with a simple goal – to provide people with access to clean water in any environment when they need it most. They offer emergency water filter systems for your Bug Out Bag, survival kit or just for the outdoors. The Survivor Filter Triple Filtration Straw which filters down to 0.05 Microns and the Survivor Filter Pro Portable Pump Filter which filters down to a whopping 0.01 Microns! Today we are going to be taking a look at the Survivor Filter Triple Filtration Straw, so let’s get started.First of all, let’s take a quick look at the features and specifications of the Survivor Filter Triple Filtration Straw:

Triple Filtration to 0.05 microns, thanks to UF Filtration, Carbon Filtration and mesh – 4 times more efficient than the competition at 0.2 micron

Dual Filters (Ultra and Carbon) are removable and can be cleaned or replaced by purchasing on Amazon or Survivor Filter website as needed. Plus, comes with 4 extra mesh filters!
BPA Free and Weighs only 3.5 ounces. Fits just about anywhere (7 inches long X 1 inch wide) and Comes with detailed instructions and How to Use Manual.
Can be used directly from fresh water source, or firmly attached to a soda bottle, making the Survivor Filter the Most Versatile Personal Water Filter Straw Available.
Has a special mouthpiece, an integrated cap to keep the mouthpiece clean and produces a flow rate of 200 ml. (7 ounces) per minute.

To operate, remove the protective cap from the mouthpiece, stick the other end directly into the fresh water source and suck water through the mouthpiece. The threaded end can also be screwed onto standard pop bottles for easy purification on the go.

The Survivor Filter Triple Filtration Straw […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Water Filtration / Purification|0 Comments|

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Rocky S2V Survival Grenade – Review

Rocky S2V Survival Grenade – Review

Overview

Rocky S2V have come up with some great, high-end adventure clothing and footwear gear designed to stand up to the harshest of weather conditions.

As a bonus accessory to their clothing and footwear range, they came up with a survival grenade which is basically made up of a few hard-to-improvise, survival items wrapped in about 3 metres of paracord that you can clip to your belt or pack using the supplied carabiner. It also comes with a cardboard sleeve that houses a Survival Priorities Guide by Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School.

About 3 metres of paracord make up the tightly woven body of the Rocky S2V Survival Grenade.

It took about a minute for me to un-wrap the paracord to remove the contents inside. I really wanted to know if this was real 550 paracord, so I took it apart and found that this is not the regular 7 strands with 2 yarns per strand type, but instead had 5 strands with 3 yarns per strand. So, it is real paracord, but not the standard type. With the 5 inner strands removed, this survival grenade contains up to 18 metres of usable cordage including the outer casing.

Inside the tightly woven paracord grenade shape is a small aluminium foil bundle containing a scalpel, a ferrocerium rod almost 5 cm long, some jute twine tinder, 2 metres of aluminium snare wire, a large sewing needle, 2 split shot fishing weights, 1 small and 1 large fishing hook and a 30 by 30 cm square of thick heavy duty aluminium foil.

The foil containing all these items is very thin, and when un-wrapping it, I put a large hole in the side.

This is really no big deal as this piece of foil can be […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Survival Kits|0 Comments|

Cam’s Cords: Excellent Commercial Grade Paracord Products – Australia

G’day folks! Recently, I was researching for place in Australia to source genuine US made 550 paracord and I came across Cam’s Cords. I got in contact with them to see if we could have a look at what they had to offer and the owner/manager, Cameron was more than happy to send us some samples – so thank you Cameron.

Overview
Cam’s Cords is an 100% Aussie owned and operated home based business near Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Cam’s Cords was started back in 2012 after Cameron encountered some difficulty sourcing genuine 550 paracord from the USA. If you live in Australia or New Zealand and are looking to buy paracord for your emergency preparedness kits or anything related to survival, I think you should really check out Cams’s Cords. Don’t bother trying to go through the hassle of trying to source paracord from the US – Cam’s Cords has an established relationship with a US paracord company which manufactures genuine, high-quality products. Not only is the US dollar a tad more expensive but also the price of shipping to Australia can really hurt the pocket. I’ve got a lot to cover, so without further ado, lets get started.

Paracord Bracelets
First, we’ll take a look at a couple of their paracord survival bracelets…

Since cordage is one of the hardest and most time consuming things to improvise in any survival situation, especially in the wilderness, it pays to carry cord wherever you go. One convenient and compact way to carry cordage is a paracord bracelet. Not only are they a bit of a fashion statement but they can come in very handy in a survival situation. You can get these from anywhere between $10 – $50 on the […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Cordage|0 Comments|

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LifeStraw Go: Great Water Bottle/Filter for Hiking, Camping and Go Bag

LifeStraw Go: Great Water Bottle/Filter for Hiking, Camping and Go Bag

Having access to clean water is absolutely critical for your survival and that of your loved ones. Therefore having the right equipment and knowledge is paramount to increasing your chances of survival be it in a WCS or your next mountain hiking trip. So join us as we take a look at a wide range of different survival water filters and purifiers to find the Ultimate Survival Water Filter appropriate for personal use and emergency preparedness kits (Get Me Home Bags, BOB’s and INCH bags).

Today, we’re going to be taking a look at the Life Straw Go which is next in line in our “Survival Filters 101″ series.
LifeStraw’s range of products is manufactured by Vestergaard, a Swiss company which specialises in disease control products for developing countries.
LifeStraws are world renowned and are widely used in 3rd world countries and in emergency aid supplies.

The LifeStraw Go is one of 3 products in LifeStraws range of filters and features a water bottle with an integrated LifeStraw filter making it possible to drink directly from streams and lakes using the straw, or simply filling up the bottle and taking it with you. So, this is your go-anywhere water bottle!

So first we’ll take a look at the bottle. Its a pretty standard looking sports type water bottle, its blue in colour with the LifeStraw branding down the side of it – nothing special about it really. Its made from BPA free Tritan (a sturdy type of plastic) and can hold 22 oz (0.65 L). So it can hold a reasonable amount of water. It is 9.25” (235 mm) long and 3.14” (80 mm) in diameter making it both portable and compact. With an open-style high flow bite valve, drinking from […]

By Admin|July 2nd, 2015|Water Filtration / Purification|0 Comments|