News, reviews and articles about outdoor gear and accessories.
I’ve watched the TV show Survivorman enough to know that in a survival situation, sometimes having the right tool can mean the difference between life and death. The folks at SlideBelts know this too. They took their already innovative no-hole belt design and are amping it up with new survival-type features in a crowdfunded Kickstarter campaign. In addition to […]
Stay alive and pop open a brew with SlideBelts Survival Belt Read More
Janet recently turned me on to the Tiny House Nation TV show on the FYI channel. While I know I will never be able to talk Jeanne into downsizing to a 500 or smaller square foot house, I can’t help but dream about minimizing and simplifying all our junk. I love watching the Tiny House
Save space with collapsible buckets Read More
Ever since my granddaughter visited Disney World, she’s been asking when I was going to put “Fairy Lights” in the trees around the house. I’ve been able to deflect, usually with the promise of ice cream, but now I can answer her request using the Night Stars light. Although my initial thoughts were “who needs
Viatek Night Stars Landscape Lighting review Read More
The Covert Compass from Shomer-Tec is a genuine nickel that has been modified to function as a simple compass that will point to magnetic North. The nickel has a groove around the edge that is used to suspend the coin from a thread. You supply the thread and when dangled, the heads side of the coin
You won’t need a fancy compass with this nickel that points North Read More
Have you ever found yourself with a plate of food but no fork or spoon to help you eat it? The Pro-Idee Picnic Cutlery set makes sure you never find yourself in that situation again. It’s a handy tear drop shaped container that holds a fork, spoon and knife. Let me show you how it
Pro-Idee Picnic Cutlery set review Read More
Always on the lookout for neat travel gear, I recently stumbled upon this product from Hydrapak, the Stash Bottle a collapsible TPU walled water bottle. What makes this so interesting to me is that when not in use, the hard molded top and bottom can be collapsed together for storage. This feature is a travelers
Get your hydration fix in a flash with the collapsable Stash Bottle Read More
There are a lot of solar chargers on the market, and most of them seem to require you to set them up and leave them in direct sunlight. Those types are more useful if you have set up camp and will stay around the same place for a long while, but they aren’t so useful
The Solar Strap lets you wear your solar charger Read More
I just finished reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed, a book about a woman who hiked the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) all by herself. It made me wish I could do something like that. But the problem is that my idea of camping is sitting on my front porch in my pajamas while surfing my favorite
VSSL – Survival kit in a tube Read More
How many times has this happened to you? You’re hiking the Appalachian Trail and are ready to make camp for the night only to discover that your matches are soggy, your lighter is out of fluid and you’ve lost your firesteel. Now you can’t make a fire to toast your marshmallows! What will you do?
Make a campfire with your shoe laces Read More
The Mudfighter-series is a collection of tools that have been designed to help you remove mud and rocks from the soles / treads of your shoes. They are perfect for cross country runners, hikers, and even people that have dogs 😉 I could have used one of these tools several years ago when I had
MudFighter tools declare war on muddy shoes Read More
Remember that time you were in a cave and your hands were all muddy, so you didn’t want to touch your headlamp to turn it on? Yeah, me neither… But the NEXT time you do find yourself in a similar situation, make sure you have an Olight H15S Wave rechargeable LED headlamp on your head.
The Olight H15S Wave headlamp is controlled with hand gestures Read More
It hardly seems possible, but it’s only a few weeks until my daughter leaves for college – and that means football and tailgating season isn’t far behind. And of course, it’s still summer, so it’s still camping season. Why should you have to rough it while participating in either outdoor activity when you can take
Tailgate or camp with the comforts of home Read More
This survival kit is expensive, but it has 25 life-saving items inside a box that you can even use to cook in. The SOLKOA Survival Kit for Best Made is stored in an 18.75-cubic inch box machined from a single block of aircraft grade 6061 aluminum. The box can be used for cooking or for boiling drinking water.
You can even cook in this emergency preparedness kit Read More
A couple of years ago (2012) I reviewed the Wicked Lasers Torch (see Other Articles to Read at end of post), touted at the time as “the most powerful handheld flashlight in the World”, and at a whopping 4100 lumens, it was wickedly bright, extremely hot, but sadly very utilitarian looking. The designers at Wicked Lasers have recently introduced
Wicked Lasers Flashtorch flashlight review Read More
Picnic coolers are just simple insulated boxes that hold ice to keep your drinks and food cold, right? Wrong! This Kickstarter project for what has to be the most functional cooler ever just started on July 8, but already they have far exceeded their original goal of $50,000 by raising more than $4.5 million dollars
When they call this cooler The Coolest, they aren’t kidding around! Read More
You’ve got the Matador blanket that fits in your pocket, so you’re ready for a picnic anytime. All you need is the food, and you’ll be able to tote everything you need in this Convertible Insulated Picnic Basket Bag from BuiltNY. The bag measures 16.5″ X 13.6″ X 10″, and it unzips to serve as your eating
A picnic is in the bag with BuiltNY Read More
We are fortunate to have access to a summer cabin on a lake and near the woods. Every summer family members descend upon the “camp” and enjoy swimming, sailing, fishing and most importantly for the kids, roasting marshmallows over an open fire. Because of this, the adults have become somewhat proficient in starting a campfire,
FIREase IncinerGrate review Read More
Slathering on sunscreen doesn’t make you impervious to the sun, it just extends your safe period in the sun by a bit. Even reapplying sunscreen during the day only keeps you safe for so long before you need to get out of the sun to prevent damage. You can use these Sunscreen Bands to monitor
Monitor your exposure to the sun and know when you should take cover with Sunscreen Bands Read More
Earlier this year, we told you about a wood-fired pizza oven for your backyard that promised to make great pizza but cost $2700. You like pizza, but you don’t have that kind of cash to dedicate to a large piece of equipment that can only make pizzas, you say? What about a piece of equipment that
Turn your kettle grill into a pizza oven with the KettlePizza Read More
Summer means swimming, fishing, boating, and other water-related activities for many people. It’s good, relaxing fun until you lose something overboard. With the WaterBuoy, you won’t have to worry about losing your keys, fishing tackle, camera, or anything weighing under 2.2 pounds. With the WaterBuoy attached, your dropped items will float to the surface within
Your keys won’t be swimming with the fishes with the WaterBuoy Read More