Video Review: LED Flashlights

Gear Review - 11 in 1 Credit Card Survival Tool

Here's a neat little survival tool I picked up the other day. It's a 11 in 1 Credit Card Survival Tool. Made from stainless steel, this is a great thing to keep in your wallet, purse, glove box, bug out bag, or your everyday carry. The tool is thick enough to actually be useful, and for the price you can pick one of these up for all the locations I mentioned. I picked this up for $1 with free shipping when it was on sale. Regularly they are $2.99 with free shipping which still is a good price. Click here to view this item on Meritline.com.

Here's the breakdown of the chart showing what each part of the tool is made to do:
1. Can Opener
2. Knife Edge
3. Screwdriver
4. Ruler
5. Cap Opener
6. 4 Position Wrench (for various size nuts & bolt heads)
7. Butterfly Wrench
8. Saw Blade
9. Direction Ancillary Indication
10. 2 Position Wrench
11. Lanyard Hole (Key Ring Hole)

This is a quality tool that could come in handy if it's all you had with you. It's small enough and light enough to carry when you don't want to keep a multi-tool. This would also make a great gift, and go well with your already existing preparedness supplies.

Gear Review: Gerber Profile Knife

If you're looking for a quality, inexpensive fixed blade knife this is what you need. The Gerber Profile knife features a full tang, fine edge 4" titanium nitride coated surgical stainless steel blade. It has a textured rubberized handle that provides a nice comfortable grip, and includes a nylon belt sheath. You can purchase this knife from Wal-Mart for around $20. Don't let the price fool you this knife is worth every penny.

It is very well made and I have put it through a pretty good test and it held up very well. I was able to cut down a number of saplings and small trees to make a small shelter. The knife is very sharp and has held it's edge well. I purchased this for camping trips and also to keep in my get home bag/bug out bag and it's been a lifesaver. I would recommend this knife to anyone needing a good knife and not looking to pay a ton of money. It's held up for me so far and should last a long time.

**It also has great reviews on Wal-Mart.com

Video Review: Katadyn Combi Water Filter

Here is a followup video review I did for the original post I made about my Katadyn Combi water filter. The written review includes all the specs of the unit, and the video shows a brief overview of the unit and it's features.



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Gear Review: 6 in 1 Camping Multi-Tool

Here is the first video review posted on the official Kentucky Preppers Network Youtube Channel. Make sure you subscribe to the channel for updates and more video reviews.

Gear Review: Katadyn Combi Water Filter

Katadyn makes some of the best backpacking filters on the market. They have a lot of different models that would fit nearly anyone's hiking or backpacking needs. These filters are well made, durable, and hold up while on the trail. With a Katadyn hiking filter, all you need is a decent water source and you can have all the clean drinking water that you can pump out. These are perfect for your Get Home Bag, Bug Out Bag, or Get Out Of Dodge Bag. They're small, lightweight, and remove the need to carry water, which is very heavy.

Out of all the models of filters Katadyn makes I wanted to choose a filter that was within my budget range and also had a filter that would last a long time. There are a lot of filters on the market that you can get for fairly cheap but most will only filter a couple hundred gallons at the most. If you're using a filter for your Get Home Bag, you want something that has a filter that will filter enough water as long as you're out with your bag. The Katadyn Combi was the filter I settled on.

The Katadyn Combi is part of Katadyn's Endurance Series of filters. The endurance series of filters are designed for 1 - 4 people to use, have an extremely long life and are for extremely dirty water. It's filter combines a silver impregnated ceramic element and a refillable, activated carbon cartridge. It is effective against bacteria and protozoa and also reduces chemicals and bad taste. The ceramic element filters down to 0.2 microns which will remove 99.9% of all bacteria. The ceramic element is washable which will prolong the life of the filter. The activated carbon isn't required for the filter to work but will make the taste and smell of the water a lot better.

The ceramic element will filter around 13,000 gallons (depending on water quality) and the activated carbon will last for 100 gallons before needing to be replaced. The unit itself is only 12" long and less than 3" in diameter. It will will filter around 1 liter of water per minute (hand pumping it) and weighing in at less than 21 ounces it is the perfect backpack filter. The housing is made of durable plastic and is built to last.

The unit comes with a quality carrying bag, 1 ceramic element, 2 packs of activated carbon, and a bottle adapter to attach the filter on top of any standard water bottle (Nalgene). There is a optional water faucet adapter that allows the Combi to be used in a camper, cottage, or a boat. This filter would also be great for a pop-up camper or a small camping setup without a filter in the camper.

The Combi comes with a 1 year warranty and the list price is $159.99 without the faucet adapter. The cheapest place to get the Combi is eBay for around $135.00. The faucet adapter is around $40.00 from Amazon, which is the cheapest. I don't have the faucet adapter but I did purchase an extra filter so I have the ability to filter around 26,000 gallons of water. I do need to get a few more packs of the activated carbon, but as stated above you can use the filter without the carbon.


Here's an instructional video from Katadyn about the Combi:


Katadyn Combi Fact Sheet

Gear Review: Fire Starters

Making a fire is the most important thing in a survival situation. It can provide you with warmth, food, and a huge moral booster. Fire is also useful when camping and for fellowship of friends and family. There are many different ways to start a fire and knowing different ways to start a fire is important whether you're in a survival situation or not. A fire needs 3 elements to burn (fire triangle) heat, fuel, and oxygen. Sufficient heat is needed to start any fire, and the proper fuel to oxygen ratio is needed to keep a fire going.

First off is the trusty lighter or matches. Every prepper should have a few packs of quality Bic lighters put back, and a few thousand matches. This is the easiest way to start a fire. When starting any fire you will need something to burn to get the wood going. Newspaper is good to use to start a fire, and those free want ad papers at gas stations are great to have on hand. You want to stay away from using fuels to light a fire, especially if you plan on cooking over the fire. You run the risk of getting those chemicals on your food.

The next best thing to a lighter or matches is a firesteel. A firesteel should be part of every preppers survival kit. Whether it's your get home bag, everyday carry, bug out bag, or camping supplies; a firesteel is invaluable. If you're lighter runs out, or your matches get wet, your fire steel is your last line of defense so to speak. A firesteel works by moving a metal blade across a magnesium alloy to create sparks that can get up to 5,500°F. Those hot sparks can be thrown on a number of different types of tinder to start a flame that will light your fire. Firesteels can even be used in the rain or snow and will last for around 12,000 strikes.

Here are some ideas for tinder:
-Vaseline Soaked Cotton Balls
-Hand Sanitizer Soaked Cotton Balls
-Dryer Lint
-Pine Needles
-Dried Grass
-Unraveled twine

There are a lot of ways to start fires in the wilderness if you don't have a lighter or firesteel. I will do a part 2 to this post detailing some ways to start a fire without them. This post is to show that you need to have these things on hand so you don't have to rub sticks together to try to keep yourself warm at night. A firesteel can fit in your pocket and is a crucial part of your everyday carry.

Gear Review: LED Flashlights & Batteries

Light is very important for humans. Our vision at night is limited, so we have to rely electricity and light bulbs to light up the darkness. Over the last few years we have seen LEDs or Light Emitting Diodes, come onto the scene. LEDs are far superior to traditional light bulbs that use a piece of resistive wire inside a glass bulb. When a current is applied to the wire, it gets hot and begins to glow; this creates the light. LEDs require no resistive wire, and are simply diodes that produce light when a current is passed through it. LEDs are far superior to traditional light bulbs in that they consume less energy, last longer, are stronger, smaller and faster switching.

Now that LEDs are more mainstream, you can purchase LED flashlights for the same price as regular flashlights. It's a no brainier that LEDs are the only way to go if you're purchasing flashlights for your emergency kit. You can purchase battery powered LEDs, or some companies are now making hand-crank LED flashlights that are powered by a dynamo motor which uses your hand to generate the electricity. A lot of the Chinese made hand-crank lights are cheap and won't last very long, but there is one company that makes quality hand crank lights and that is Freeplay Energy. I have never had any personal experience with Freeplay lights, but I have read good reviews and they're suppose to be quality lights that will last for years. They are somewhat expensive so I opted to just go for battery powered lights.

I purchased my LED flashlights and headlamp from Meritline. Meritline offers great prices on lots of different styles of LED flashlights. They even have some that have 100 LEDs in one flashlight! I have (2) 20 LED flashlights from Meritline, a 21 LED headlamp, and a 24 LED tent light. All of these do take batteries and although they have extremely long battery life, in a SHTF scenario you can't rely on the local store to supply you with batteries. This is why it's important to stock up now on the batteries you need. I have around 400 batteries; 200 AA and 200 AAA. I purchased them in bulk from Meritline for very cheap, around $.25 a piece. This is the only way to purchase batteries because buying them in the store is a lot more expensive, and the cheap alkaline batteries are just as good as the expensive ones.


I choose to go with alkaline batteries over rechargeable ones for economical reasons mainly. Rechargeable batteries can be recharged but without electricity you would have to have a solar charger for them. Even at that, they only have so many charge cycles until they go bad. I figured for starters a few hundred alkaline batteries were good, and in the future I will probably invest in a solar charger and some rechargeable batteries.


LED Flashlight
-20 LEDs
-Use 3 x AAA Battery
-Chrome Metal
-Water Resistant
-1-1/4" diameter x 5" length
-Extensive lifetime of LED (100,000 hours)

The LED flashlight is really a great light for the price. It's super bright, very long battery life, and small enough to fit in your pocket. I keep one in my car and one in the hosue and regularly check them to make sure the batteries are still good.


LED Headlamp
-Silver plastic housing
-Water resistant
-Ultra bright LED light
-Beam projects up to 50-foot
-Extensive lifetime of LED (100,000 hours)
-Alternate between 1 LED, 7 LEDs, 21 LEDs and Flashing Mode
-Adjustable straps
-Tilting lamp
-Use 3 x AAA Battery

The headlamp is another great product for the money. It's made of plastic, and feels a little cheap, but as long as you take care if it it's going to last. I don't keep batteries in it while in storage to keep them from going bad or corroding. It's important to keep batteries out of your electronics when not in use. The beam is super bright, and you can alternate how many LEDs are turned on to keep the light down or save battery life.


LED Tent Light
-24 White LEDs brings perfect illumination indoor and outdoor
-Comes with a hanger, magnet and hanging hole
-Alternate between 15 LEDs, 6 LEDs, & 3 LEDs
-Use 4 x AA Battery
-Extensive lifetime of LED (100,000 hours)
-Battery last for up to 50 hours
-Water-Proof

The tent light is not only good for outdoor use, but great for indoor use. In a power outage a tent light could light up a whole room; you would need multiple candles to do the job of the tent light. It also has the ability to set the number of LEDs that are on to save battery, and at full power it lasts 50 hours. It has a hook to be hung on the wall, or hung from the ceiling or top of a tent.

Lighting is very important and with today's technology advances, there's no reason to be using conventional bulbs. LEDs are 10x better and when looking for flashlights for your emergency preps, only purchase a quality LED flashlight. And don't forget, flashlights are useless without batteries, so whether you like rechargeables or alkaline, make sure you have plenty of them and the means to charge them!

Gear Review: Midland 2-Way Radios

*UPDATE: The range what was I expected, about a mile in town depending on how many buildings and homes there are. In optimal conditions, like an open field, you could get probably 5+ miles.

Communication devices are an important part of anyone's survival kit. There are many different options to choose, such as HAM, GMRS/FRS, CB...ect. I opted to go for the GMRS/FRS 2-way radios. They are popular, inexpensive, and easy to use. First off I have the Midland XT511 Base Camp radio. This is a great emergency radio with a ton of features. The one thing that sold me on the radio is the Dynamo Hand Crank. This allows the user to charge the power pack with the hand crank for use when the power goes out.

Other features include:
-Built In Alarm Clock
-AM/FM Radio
-All 10 NOAA Weather Channels with Alert Function
-22 GMRS/FRS Channels
-3 LED Flashlight
-Voice-Activated Operation (VOX)
-Water Resistant
-USB Port for Charging Electronic Devices (iPod, Cell Phone)
-Accepts AA Batteries along with Rechargeable Battery Pack
-121 Privacy Codes

If you're looking for an all in one weather radio, GMRS communicator, flashlight, alarm clock with a built in crank charger, this is the best unit on the market. It is durable, and the range isn't all that bad on it. It can be charged with DC adapter for home use, AC adapter for car charging, Dynamo hand crank, or AA batteries. This helped me out a whole lot when we were hit with the Ice Storm early this year.

The main reason I chose this radio is because of the Dynamo hand crank on it. The battery packs that it charges, are the same packs in some of the hand-held radios, and by having the Base Camp, and a couple hand-helds, you could essentially charge all the radios with the one Base Camp.

I went with the Midland GXT800VP4 2-way radios. These accept the same battery pack as the Base Camp, and also match the color and style. The hand-helds include most of the same features as the Base Camp, and mate with it perfectly. The hand-helds are also water proof.

Other features include:
-22 GMRS/FRS Channels
-All 10 NOAA Weather Channels with Alert Function
-Voice-Activated Operation (VOX)with Vibrating Alert
-Accepts AA Batteries along with Rechargeable Battery Pack
-121 Privacy Codes
-Keypad Lock

These radios work great together, and give you three communication devices. The privacy codes allow you to keep transmissions private, and have a low power setting to conserve battery life. These are a great addition to your hunting, camping, or survival gear and will provide you with years of use.