GearFlogger

Datrex Emergency Water Packet

There's a reason Datrex emergency water packets are approved by coast guards all over the world: they're tough enough to be there when you need them.

It's a pretty simple thing, really, just a four ounce purified water packet for those times when everything else has gone straight to hell. The Datrex packets have a few extra features that recommend them. First, the individual four ounce size is very convenient for both storage and consumption. It's easy to ration out to groups, track how much you're consuming and how much you've got left, and if one gets compromised it doesn't affect the entire supply.

Datrex packets can be frozen, and in fact work nicely as ice packs in that event. Again their small size comes in handy because, if frozen, you can easily thaw one out fairly quickly underneath your armpit, as opposed to say having an entire gallon you needed to thaw. Try sticking that in your crack grampus.

The packets have a five year shelf life, although you should be able to use them well beyond that window, there just may be an odd taste to it. Recommendations for water consumption range from 8oz/day to 64oz/day, but obviously it depends on climate and activity level, to name just two variables. FEMA says that water, unlike food, should never be rationed, and certainly never ration water for children, pregnant women or other vulnerable individuals. Keep a dozen or so - or more if you're in the desert - of these in your car, backpack or wherever along with some water purification tablets and maybe a portable filter and you're good to go.

$26.93 for 64 packets (other quantities available) on Amazon

 

Coolest Coolers

This is a tale of two coolers. One that seems like a good idea but isn't, and another that surprised us with how much we liked it.

First, the Coolest Cooler, a ginormous beast that is, at first glance, a party on wheels. It has a blender, bluetooth speaker, four plates, paring knife and corkscrew/bottle opener. There's a bungee cord tucked away with the telescoping handle to allow you to put even more stuff on top for transport to and from the designated party location.

That's the good news. The bad news is you could buy all these things separately and get better quality for less money. Also, if one of these things breaks it makes the whole thing less valuable, versus replacing just one of the individual items. If you just really want an all-in-one cooler, the Coolest Cooler will do the trick, but be aware there is a backstory to the kickstarter for this product that may put some people off.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Coolest Vibe, a soft cooler that comes in 18 and 30 can capacities and has a bunch of actually useful tricks up its sleeve. First, it's a pretty great cooler thanks to the thick walls, even thicker lid and waterproof zippers all around. The Vibe has top and side handles and a shoulder strap for easy portability. There are even two plates and two sets of magnetically nesting - and actually useful! - utensils that store inside. A quick-release leash setup is include that can attach to a few different points on the cooler so you don't lose your bottle opener, flashlight or whatever.

The two coolest feature of the Coolest Vibe are first, the front Fliplock magnetic flap that automatically locks down but allows easy access without zipping and unzipping every time you need in or out, and second, the two straps that let you attach the cooler to your bicycle handlebars quickly and easily. Overall we found the Vibe to be a great combination of features that let you easily portage the cooler around town, on the trail or in a boat, just to name a few uses. And oh yeah, go ahead and abuse it; it's plenty tough enough for all those applications and probably a lot more that all you gear apes can think up!

Coolest Cooler $449.99 on Amazon
Coolest Vibe $199.99 on Amazon

The Better Bungee Build-a-Bungee Kit

You gotta love it when some clever people take something you just didn't think could be any better and improve it. Exhibit A is the humble bungee cord or strap. Two hooks joined by a length of elastic material. What could possibly be improved?

Well The Better Bungee folks had some ideas. They start with the rope, which in this case is replaced by polyurethane cords that stretch up to 2x their original length, and aren't affected by UV/water/gas/diesel/oil/most other chemicals, and are even unaffected by extreme temperatures. We weren't able to directly test a lot of these claims, but people seem to genuinely like them and after using them ourselves we can see why.

The Build-a-Bungee kit takes things a step farther. Ten feet of rope or strap and six hooks allow you to build up to three custom length bungee cords. The nylon hooks are pretty ingenious, just wrap the cord around the hook and press into place and presto! Instant custom bungee that you can undo and redo to your heart's content.

You can also buy the cord in bulk, and really go hog wild. The Build-a-Bungee kit is a great way to get fast, reliable custom gear tie-downs in place. The company makes a lot of other bungee related products, be sure to check them out!

$27.99 at The Better Bungee

The North Face L4 Softshell Hoodie

One of the big questions in modern gear: hoodie or hoody? The North Face sticks with the former, sticking its thumb in the collective eye of the "sometimes Y" crowd. Yet tantalizingly, the sticker on the price card attached to the jacket says "HYBRID HDY," leaving open, perhaps, the possibility of rapprochement in the future.

The full name of the piece is the Summit Series L4 Windstopper Hybrid Hoodie, but's let's just agree to call it the L4. The Windstopper material is basically from the navel up, and then down to the elbows on the sleeves. The hood, lower arms and hem area are all a stretchy wind-resistant fabric, and the idea of it all is to allow maximum mobility and breathability while still maintaining Windstopper protection of the all-important core.

In practice it works very well, especially for high-output activities like climbing, biking and hiking. The cut of the piece is what TNF calls "arms up", meaning climbers in particular will appreciate the freedom of movement the L4 offers in the vertical realm. The hood is best worn under a helmet and functions as a nice liner that way. Zipped up all the way it provides great lower face protection, and it's comfy to boot with a full length zipper flap with a microfleece chin strip.

The L4 is nothing if not versatile. Depending on how it fits you and how you size it, the L4 can function over a thin base layer when you're exerting yourself, and then just throw a puffy vest or jacket on at the belay station or wherever you go static. Alternately you could wear it over a fleece when you need the Windstopper effect, and take it off when you need to vent. Venting is aided by the perforated inner lining that backs up the two zipped handwarmer pockets and the single chest pocket.

The beauty of the L4 is in its simplicity. The only adjustment is a single hem drawcord. Everything else just seems to fit and work the way you want it too. Any which way you can't go wrong with the L4, it's a superlight windshirt that operates flawlessly under a wide range of conditions.

$199.95 at Moosejaw

Made by True Biltong

Biltong is dried and seasoned meat, usually beef and very similar to jerky, made southern African style: dried with vinegar in addition to salt, but never smoked.

Made by True has packaged three flavors of beef biltong for your trail needs. All start with air-dried U.S. beef. Cape Town Classic is the closest to traditional biltong, seasoned with just vinegar, salt, pepper and coriander. A Savory Adventure uses a touch of garlic and some herbs and spices, and Little Bit of Spice is just that, with chili powder and paprika adding a bit of zing.

All three are very thin-sliced, tasty and healthy with 16 grams of protein and zero sugar. Each package also includes a floss pick, which we didn't usually need but hey, to each their own. If we had to pick a favorite it would be Little Bit of Spice, just because we like the extra pow. The price isn't all that off from protein bars, and the taste is so much better. If you're looking for a tasty trail treat to power through the day, give Made by True biltong a try.

$6.99 at Made by True

Architec Carson Merino Hoodie

Merino wool is one of the superheroes of natural fabrics. Combine it with a bit of artificial fabric like Spandex for some stretch and you have the potential for something wonderful.

Architec has done just that with their Carson hoodie. It uses a 95 percent wool and 5 percent Spandex mix to get the best of both worlds. Architec claims the Carson is designed to be worn for weeks on end like its namesake, the famous frontiersman from Missouri.

Because I am particularly lazy about my everyday wardrobe, I took that challenge to heart and wore the Carson for two weeks everyday. True to its billing, the hoodie smelled much better than I did on any given day and showed no undue wear at the end of it. Given the reputation of some Merino garments for fragility, we were very impressed by the durability for everyday wear, and when we finally got around to washing it, by how easily it maintained its form and function without having to do anything special to it.

The Carson breathes very well, handles varying temperature and humidity without any drama, and requires minimal care. What more could you ask for? How about more than your average dash of style. The Carson has an athletic and very slim cut. If you're anywhere in the upper half of your size range, go up a size. The neck of the hood has a slight asymmetry to it by design, cutting a very stylish figure, and making the Carson equally at home whether you're at work or at play. For utility there is a small, unobtrusive zipped pocket on the right hip, big enough for a wallet or plus-size phone.

Architec maintains a commitment to sustainability, a growing and necessary trend when sourcing Merino wool. With its equal and demonstrated commitment to quality, its hard to go wrong with the Carson hoodie, which will serve as a boon companion everywhere from the frontier to the front range.

$148.00 at Architec

myCharge AdventureUltra Portable Charger

Everything needs a charge these days, and there are charging options available from the size of lipstick to a large briefcase. Toward the smaller end of the spectrum is the myCharge AdventureUltra portable charger, a compact 20,000mAh unit with a trick up its sleeve.

The myCharge is a solid little charger, 5x6x1.5 inches and about a pound in weight, with a nonslip rubberized coating. Charging ports are protected by pressure fitted covers and include 2xUSB and 1xUSB-C, and then there's the trick: a three-prong outlet that can handle up to 65 watts. That's enough for a lot of laptops, LCD TVs up to 32 inches and whatever you have at that power level that you might need to plug into an outlet. Medical devices come to mind, and if you're a field research scientist you might have any number of devices that need a three-prong outlet to charge. Obviously comfort items likes fans, razors and what have you would be easy enough.

The myCharge has other benefits to recommend it: pass through charging means it can charge other devices while it is being charged itself using the included wall plug, and it charges devices pretty fast. If you're charging phones, you'll get quite a few top-offs out of the AdventureUltra. Of interest to prepper types, the myCharge should maintain a full charge for at least three months.

The LCD display is simple and useful, with a power button for the USB ports and a second button for the three-prong. The display has eight power bars to indicate the charge remaining, and a clear "max charge exceeded" message will display at the bottom if, you know, you exceed the max charging ability. Overall we found the myCharge AdventureUltra to fill an interesting niche in portable chargers with both a small form factor and a three-prong outlet, and with a nice build quality there will be plenty of folks who can solve their charging problem with it.

$179.99 at Amazon

Staruby Collapsible Pet Bowls

Hiking with pets means bringing some kind of container to hold food and water. Ideally it's lightweight, easily attached to a pack and easy to store. The Staruby collapsible pet bowls hit all the right notes.

The inexpensive bowls are BPA free, collapse to about a half-inch thick and come with a carabiner to attach to the outside of a pack. Two colors make it easy to consistently use one for food and one for water, and the size - about 4.5 inches across the top and 3.5 inches across the bottom - are perfect for any size pet, especially since they're deep enough - about 2 inches - to stuff quite a bit of food and water into.

When not being used for hiking, they're easy to attach to your pet go bag - you do have one, don't you? A little emergency food and water plus these bowls will do the trick for dogs, with a small carrier to round things out for cats. You can't beat the price and functionality.

$5.29 at Amazon

Columbia PFG Bahama Vent Shoe

It's winter, and that means... planning a beach vacation to get through January! And if you're going to the beach, you've got to bring the right footwear. We wanted something that could go from sand to sidewalk and handle a little splashing to boot, and we found a great solution with the Columbia PFG Bahama Vent shoe.

Columbia's PFG line is just solid hot and humid capable clothing. We used one of the PFG shirts to bum around Europe for three weeks this summer in 90F+ temps, so we had high expectations of the shoes. Long story short, the shoes measure up. They have a fold down heel so you can wear them as a slip on, then flip up the heel cup when you need a bit more security. They're comfortable for long walks on pavement, sand or anything in between, and they easily handle water and walk well while wet.

The Bahama Vent shoe is a great travel shoe, packing up small if you're carrying them as a second pair or performing on beach and boardwalk if they're your only dogs. Highly recommended, and on sale at REI at the moment for almost half off!

$39.83 at REI (on sale from $70.00)

Zoku Vacuum Bottle

Vacuum bottles are a dime a dozen these days, which is actually great since they're reusable and save on plastic pollution. It's the little things that set the good ones apart, and we're happy to report the Zoku vacuum bottles nail a couple extra points to set themselves apart in a good way.

The Zoku bottles are available in some fun colors and patterns, making it easy to identify yours in a pile, and some colors like the camo definitely will appeal to your little Floggers. They're also available in 12 and 18 ounces capacities, so you can match them to your - and your kids - intake needs.

The 18/8 stainless steel and BPA and phthalate free construction are reassuring, and having internal threads on the 1.5 inch opening makes it easy to drink from without looking like you've got a hole in your lip. The cap is a really nice design, with a user-replaceable lanyard that is great for adults and kids alike. Lash it to your pack or use it to attach a kid's name tag, it's a useful feature even more so than the typical hard carabiner clip.

The finish on the Zoku is likewise great, comfortable and nonslip. All in all the Zoku is just a great design: hardy stainless steel, environmentally friendly, and easy to drink from. The price doesn't break the bank either, and we think it's an especially good deal given the quality of the bottle. Put this high on your gift list this holiday season.

$29.99 at Amazon