This week’s blog is a continuation of a gear spotlight I started a couple months ago. The products featured here are those I’ve been evaluating in the field and featuring in my courses. I’m very fortunate to have access to equipment that helps improve your survivability. If it is featured here, you can rest assured it has met my standards and passed the field test.
Reyr Gear FIRST CAST Travel Fly Rod 7’
I fly fish but I’m far from a fly fisherman. For years, a spinning rod has been my companion into the backwoods. Travel fly rods, to me, were just too complicated, took too long to assemble, and complicated. The Reyr Gear First Cast travel fly rod sets up in 30 seconds to a minute. It also collapses down to just under a foot and a half (16.5”) and has a line you do not need to feed through eyelets. If the purist is looking for a true fly rod with the Reyr Gear First Cast, they won’t find it. The best way I can describe this 4 wt rod is if a Tenkara rod and a fly rod were to have a baby. Critics will say it doesn’t cast as smoothly as a traditional fly rod but they aren’t acknowledging this rod is in a class of its own. From my perspective, this rod is capable of putting food on the table. It is convenient, lightweight, and compact enough to pack with you on just about any trip. For places that are “fly fishing only”, I now have the perfect solution. For anyone looking to get into the pastime, here is your gateway drug.
www.reyrgear.com
Dark Energy 8w Folding Spectre Solar Panel
Dark Energy has been my go-to battery pack and solar panel of choice. I’ve hesitated to add a panel to my EDC pack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQM2WI-vTzA&t=102s) because most are heavy or too large to fit. At the Western Hunt Expo in Salt Lake City earlier this year, I received a sneak peek at the 8w Folding Spectre panel. I received one for advanced testing and media use and took it with me in my travels to ID, FL, NH, and many points in between. It is a smaller panel meaning it won’t collect as many solar rays translating to a slower charge but, it will charge. Paired with the nano battery pack, it is all I need to keep my phone above 50%. At about the size of an iPad and about the same weight, it makes sense to pack with me to charge up my Garmin InReach, Streamlight headlamp, and other electronics. Here’s my take, you can’t find electrical outlets in the field but if you can tap into solar power, you can extend the duration of your trip and go further into the backcountry.
www.darkenergy.com
Watershed Bags Yukon Dry Bag
In 2016, I traveled to Alaska for 5 weeks with 3 weeks spent north of the Arctic Circle on a raft. Watershed Bags supplied me with three dry bags for the trip with 2 ending up in a grizzly’s paws and jaws. I repaired those bags and they were still functional to this year and if I didn’t rehome them to a friend, I would still be using them. Watershed sent me an updated Yukon Dry Bag and it is, by far, the best dry bag you will ever use. The other brand, you can say “line” of drybags that has a naval special warfare acronym as part of the name, doesn’t hold a candle to Watershed. The secret is the gasket used to seal off the opening. It is robust and the only way it opens is if the user creates an “S” with it. My Yukon in ranger green fits perfectly in the bottom of my canoe to hold all of my camping gear and it also is easy to secure to a vehicle rooftop with plenty of attachment points. As long as a grizzly doesn’t get into this one, I’ll have it for another decade or more.
www.drybags.com
BP Tactical Bandolero Holster
Full disclosure, this is my holster. I don’t mean, I just own it, it is MY holster as in I co-designed it with Harvey and his crew at Blackpoint Tactical. If you like a .22 pistol, you know there are limited options for a good holster. You also probably don’t like the idea of leaving your centerfire defensive pistol behind. The Bandolero is the solution for carrying your favorite plinker or bunny getter in addition to your strong-side handgun. Worn like a bandoleer, the Bandolero is easily drawn cross body and it stays in place with the help of a belt keeper on the back of the holster. Cut to fit Ruger or Browning pistols, the holster is also capable of accepting most red dots and suppressors. A .22 pistol is the perfect balance of weight, reach, small game capability, cost, and other important factors for a survival firearm. Now you have a weather-resistant, adjustable, and secure option for carrying one. This holster was over 3 years in the making and after multiple prototypes and plenty of field testing, we’re ready to see it released to the public.
www.bptactical.com
Peltonen Sissipuukko M95 Finnish Ranger Knife
Scandinavians know their way around the woods. So much of the bushcraft community draws inspiration from this region. The Finnish military is skilled in woodcraft and survival and the knife they choose for their loadout is the M95 Sissipuukko by Peltonen Knives. I was sent this knife, the smaller M07 and the smaller M23 Ranger Cub for evaluation and inclusion in my course knife box for students to try out. I immediately took to the M95 and found the mid-size blade just long enough for a camp knife but not too heavy to leave behind. While the knife can chop, it does better slicing and carving. The 80CrV2 blade is easy to resharpen and the sheath is outstanding with multiple ways to attach it. Perhaps the best part of the knife is the part you can’t really see when you use it, the handle. It is durable but comfortable at the same time and it feels secure in the hand without slippage. Military knives often need to be heavily modified for woods use but the Finns did it right. This knife is 90% tool and 10% weapon and it is the perfect companion when paired with a Swiss Army Knife and and folding saw.
www.peltonenknives.com
