Survival Product Reviews
Husky Flashlight
The past few months, my son has been pretty hard on his Husky flashlight. It handled it pretty well until he took the light bezel off. The damed wires broke and I could not repair the friggin thing.
OK – I figured out that since it was made in China, every 0.2 inches of wire would increase the cost by $0.03 which could end up to be thousands per month. The proverbial United Airlines removing 2 peanuts from every peanut package. None the less – stupid.
I attempted to fix the light in all my free time. It did not work. I finally figured out that I needed to do a few tricks which could have fixed the light. OK.
The fix, I took the other kids lights and unscrewed them 1.2 a turn. I put clear nail polish on them and tightened it up. Guess what – I could not remove the bezel. Lets face it. If a LED goes out, you still have the others. Big Deal.
By the way – my son lost a few of the parts so my wife threw the light away. AHHHHHHH! I could have made a ???
Later!
I have had this flashlight for over a year. Barring an issue with the hand crank which I corrected with JB Weld, this thing has been the BOMB! It can charge with USB from your computer, Solar, or the hand crank.
Charging circuit is rather efficient. If you crank it for 1 minute, you get a pretty good charge on the light – I accidental left it on overnight and the led was still glowing. As for the USB charger, I estimate it takes about 1 hour to fully charge the unit. Solar, takes a better part of the day. Be sure to have the unit north south facing with a slight tilt to the south for the best charging. I was really amazed that the internal batteries stored energy so well.
The Radio works well even in remote locations and I was able to tune into two Weather Service Channels in the Arizona Outback (I was between the two transponder towers). The speaker was clear and not tinny, which other tested units had an issue with – Good job Eton! However, Weather Bob (the electronic announcer) is a boring guy. The external antenna is a colapsable unit which was designed to fit nicely into a noch on the side of the unit. Full extention legnth is 12 inches, which was adequate in my area.
The lighting on the unit is a 3 white LED unit and works very well at night time, provided you have a good charge. If starting from just a hand crank for the light, it does a pretty good job at charging the batteries. The light is a bluish white and fairly bright. I am surprised about how far LEDs have come over the years. I was with a BSA troop last year and ran the light constantly for over an hour with no noticeable degradation of the light – mind you we were doing a night compass course and having fun!
From a weight perspective, the unit is not overly heavy and is comfortable to hold. I tip my hat to Eton for this. Even with the light weight of the unit, it still feels substantial! The unit is covered with a non-slip coating which is comfortable but not sticky. Further, I have a large hand size and my youngest son has a small. Both of us agreeed that the unit is easy to hold on night hikes. I attribute it to good engineering of the lights profile.. The light on/off button is easy to push without having to worry about accidentally triggering the light.
UrbanSurvivalSecrets recommendation – 9 out of 10 Stars (maybe I should rename to survival rations?) The only thing I would like to see would be a short wave radio on the American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (Red)
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Leatherman 830850 Skeletool CX Multitool
Unlike its less expensive sibling, the Leatherman 830850 Skeletool CX Multitool
The Leatherman 830850 Skeletool CX Multitool
Also, with the assorted bits available, you have a veritable Bat Tool for you belt
When planning for survival, most of us will have some electricity. Whole grains will form the cornerstone of our diet at this point. The trick is to make the whole grains (like wheat) useful. The reason you store whole grain is that it will not go rancid like flour as quick and it is pretty resistant to most bugs. If you want to be sure, freeze your grain for a week to kill any eggs which may be in the grain – yes, this does happen.
This is where your grain mill comes into play. I personally own The WonderMill Grain Mill
(the older sibling to the Wondermill – same one with a few different cosmetic changes!
With the change from Whisper Mill to Wondermill, the manufacturer acknowledged that the thing sounds like a jet engine taking off.
I typically can grind about 5 pounds of wheat in a few minutes on the fine grind setting. To say it is fast is an understatement. The fine grind setting allows me to make bread rapidly. To make this even better, it is really simple to clean up. However, if you are not careful, you can jam the grinder when adding grain. The nice thing is that the manufacturer has videos on how to clear jams. Here is the trick though – start the unit and wait for about 5 seconds when the noise is constant before adding the grain. After you have seen all the grain go through the hopper, then wait until the grinder sounds like it was when you got it up to speed. The you can stop it. Otherwise, you will burn out the motor. Not rocket science.
After grinding the wheat, I store it in a zip top bag in the freezer.
Be smart and be prepared!
