I guess you haven't figured it out yet, lol...many commenters are very dumb and know nothing. They just parrot what they hear and have no experience with anything, I carry what I want/need and couldn't care less about what commenters think about it 🤣.
I'd probably ditch the flares, if you're wanting to use them for signalling you could instead use a glow stick, some paracord and swing it in a circular motion; Also The flares would be a bitch to extinguish. Awesome kit though, I've taken some ideas from it
I just did a job on lcoal high street and I must have seen 50 full size camping backpacks up and down town centre, so time of year and location makes huge difference, i wear a molle army green belt covered in molle pouches, often clients commennt asking whats in the pouches...so i simply say tools....
6:02 almost had a slip up there 🫣 LOL just kidding bro this video was so great and informative to watch. I really loved it ! I love it even more because you've got such a dads execution and i am so entertained watching you review all of this 🤣♥️
Loved the video. With all the Apple iOS 18 update coming I have been looking for encrypted private phones. A few companies I have found and am looking into is silent circle, purism librem 5, unplugged, and sempre. So far just looking but considering swapping…
You're doing better than most Sir. Keep working hard and you'll have all the high speed stuff you need. Have fun doing what you're doing, you seem like a good dude. 🇺🇲
To use the Grayl, you have to loosen the top drinking cap about a quarter turn so the air can press out as the water presses in. Thanks for giving us a lesson of why you test your gear before relying on it in the field :) I think you were using a water test kit designed for tap water contaminants. And although bacteria was listed on the pop up, you didn't mention it when you tested the pond water or the filtered water. In testing wild sources of water for potability, you're worried mainly about bacteria, protozoa and cysts. These are the things that will make you sick in the backcountry. If you're closer to civilization, maybe agricultural runoff or industrial contamination. But I also question the test because you said the LifeStraw filtered everything, and it should have been pretty high in bacteria since you spit the water from your mouth back into the cup. And it also supposedly filtered everything with the purification tablets. Those should have killed anything living, but wouldn't have removed calcium or copper, etc, from the water. Plus, I don't think you can adjust the time needed for purification relative the the amount of water being purified. You need to follow the instructions pretty closely when using them. Like you, I think of them as a backup to my backup, even though mine are a single tablet and not a 2-step process. I tend to run a Sawyer and a Grayl. They are backups to each other, but they can also work in tandem where I filter through the sawyer first and then through the Grayl, with my theory being that this would help the Grayl filter last longer by pre-filtering some contaminants. The Grayl filters much more than the Sawyer, down to the virus level. And that's why the filters don't last as long. Plus, as you stated, the Sawyer is compatible with most bottles that have 28mm threads, which is Smart Water bottles, the CNOC bag, and most plastic bottles. It makes it very convenient to use. The Grayl titanium offers the additional ability to boil water in the collection cup, and to collect water from a recessed water source by tying a cord to the little ring on the cup, plus it can store water as well as filter it. You do make a good point about the potential to lose the Grayl cap, and I think I'll buy a replacement cap to keep in my repair kit, just like I have a replacement silicone O ring for the Sawyer. I was hoping you'd try drinking the water from various filters so we could see a taste test. By far, I think the Grayl water tastes the best, with the Sawyer in 2nd place. (I haven't used the LifeStraw, so can't comment.) The purification tablets leave a strange after taste that I really hate, so I always bring some flavored electrolyte powder in case I have to use them. One additional purification method you might try out is a steripen. That uses UV light to sterilize water without chemicals. It doesn't filter anything out, but it does kill bacteria and viruses. The downside is that it needs to be charged. But the upside is you don't have to worry about it in freezing weather, whereas you cannot let a filter like the Sawyer freeze ever or it bursts the micropores. And the Grayl states it can undergo one freeze/thaw cycle, but that's it. Thanks for a great and entertaining video!
Here are some thoughts, since you asked... I'd ditch the flares and mini firestarter logs. They're too big and heavy. There are many smaller commercially available tinders that can burn for upwards of 10 minutes and are much smaller. I'm partial to the mini infernos by the Pathfinder school, but there are lots of options. Flares are also hard to extinguish and the entire point of them is to be very very visible. I'm not sure what stove you had in that little orange bag, but I don't think it's a JetBoil, which is a whole system where the pot connects to the stove, and they're much larger than that. Could have been any one of a number of small cannister stoves, though. However, if you're worried about noise discipline, those butane stoves are loud. You could burn an alcohol stove which is virtually silent and weighs very little. And I question the large collapsible bowl you're using to boil water - why so large? You could get a 650 ml titanium cup and save space and weight. Or you could get a Grayl titanium and have your water filter and your cup in one. If this is a go bag, the point is that you'll be on the move. So stopping to boil water in general is just a backup if your filter fails. You're not even packing any food that requires boiling water to reconstitute. (Which is another thing I'd change... add a few backpacker meals, some instant coffee, etc.) By far the largest omission, however, is the lack of insulation. You don't have any insulative clothing packed (remember to not use cotton as an insulation layer), and you don't have any sort of insulated sleeping bag. At night you're going to want more than that tent and the clothes on your body. In an emergency, you'll need good sleep, and lighting a fire for warmth might not be the best idea. Overall, I appreciated your well-though-out video and your informed yet humble delivery. Yes, we can all learn from each other. For instance, as soon as you mentioned that little packable nanopack (I'd love a link if you could), my mind went to all sorts of uses. That's a really good idea. And I know nothing about radios, so it was nice to learn about different antennas being useful in different circumstances.
Great video with some great info and ideas. I know you had a camelbak in there but it didn’t look like it could carry any extras. I’d consider a small packable backpack so that if you need to bounce or condense gear you could carry your extra gear comfortably, efficiently and still have it accessible.
Garand thumb has a ton of “becoming deadly in the…/surviving in the…” videos but I haven’t seen anything like that for the Midwest and as an Iowan, I would appreciate something like that
as a michigander that would also be greatly appreciated… might not be exactly the same but midwesterner woods are much different then the mountain or desert videos i can find
Thank you very much for the genuinely and thorough test of these filters. I have noticed a lot of prepping influencers that pick up gear from different manufacturers and they always say this is the best because they got free gear out of the deal. This is not the case here with you I can see that you're very genuine I bought a katadyn vario 15 to 20 years ago and it was the best from a high-end hiking shop . My point is this I have noticed in the last year or more that everybody that is purchasing these new filters they are woefully inadequate and if you check out the katadyn vario you'll see that it does 5000 gal has a ceramic top filter that's cleanable you can filter mud water switch it over to clean water and it is unequivocally the best system yet but I notice nobody is buying the product because people are cheap they only spend the least amount of money that their life is worth sorry for the bad news everybody but you better cough up the cash and buy the best because you should be worth it if not it's your life. Kind of weird people are aware of the best equipment but yet they downgrade to the lowest that is available and back then my kit only cost $160 the cost of those same equipment is I don't know 200 maybe I'm worth it thank you for the great video.
with the sawyer, i had an old pump filter that only did 20L, a cheap camping shop one thatw a s20 years old, the sawyer doesnt have a prefilter, so the old filter became a prefilter, i can drop in a source of water, and just use pump and ruber tubng and attach sawyer inline, with various mods you can make a sawyer do anything....the grail and life straw are very single purpose...
the grayl is a new product and very popular with dave canterbury, gray bearded etc, i prefer the sawyr for its compact size, and multipurpose, ie attach to bottles, plastic soda bottles, pumps, tubing, straw, various bags....loads of mods and hacks...but for me not have a tiny 2 year shelf life...unlimited, you can always combine with tablets ( which as you say may great backup), boiling.
Sounds like you're in the Norfolk/Hampton area, which would of course get you stuck on 64 west to move out of. The best bet would be 460 as the alternative. But it's definitely gonna be tight.
Cool Box. Throw some Mountain Home or MRE's in there. Living in a city, I might think about locking mine under the back seat - so it cannot be stolen (as easily). Another thing, since you said you use it as a range box, I'd throw a few tools in there like allens, drivers, punch, etc. and a small spare parts kit. (I have an extra firing pin for my HG, and any parts that I have upgraded, I keep those old good parts in my range bag) Just some thoughts on your already good idea. Thanks for reading my comment. Take care
