I’m going to make Black Friday easy for you, at least on my site. I can’t promise that you won’t have to stand in line for 10 hours to snag your cheap HDTV, but I can make buying a flashlight, firesteel, and a few other items easier for you.
Through the end of Monday, November 30, you can use coupon code bf09 for 25% off the below items/categories. I have limited stock on some of the items, but everything not marked with a asterisk (*) can be backordered if I run out. New stock will be here in the next week or two.
I made some videos a little while back showing the Rite in the Rain water resistant notebooks, which are pretty neat. I’ve been using them for years myself and have been really happy with them, so adding them to my product selection was a no brainer. I recently picked up their DuraRite pads as well, in 3″ x 5″ and 4″ x 6″.
The regular RITR products are water resistant paper, but they are still paper. They can handle rain, a light dunking, and short term immersion. Water will eventually seep into them though, so they are not considered completley waterproof.
The DuraRite products are made out of synthetic materials and are completely waterproof. You can drop them in water, write on them underwater, leave them underwater, and have no problems.
I have customers that do a lot of kayaking, canyoneering, fly fishing, and other saturated activities that swear by DuraRite. If untreated paper gets destroyed by you and regular RITR pads still get a little ratty from moisture, then maybe you need to try out the DuraRite line.
The TA series (TA20, TA21, and TA30) from Fenix is an alternative to the JETBeam Raptor selector ring system. Unlike the smooth action of the JETBeam lights, the TA series has a more tactile feel, with a solid click at each level.
The TA20 has three brightnesses and one strobe setting, running off of two CR123 batteries. The TA30 is a very similar light with the same settings, except it runs off of three CR123 batteries that give you about 50% increased runtime. The TA21 steps up the levels, giving you nine brightnesses and three flashing modes off of two CR123 batteries.
JETBeam is always coming up with new ways to make me drool over flashlights, and one of the neatest things they have incorporated into their lights is the IBS system. The current models that feature a reverse switch (click and release to turn on the light, soft press to switch modes) all have the IBS system. The system allows you to program the light’s three modes to whatever you want, from 2-240 lumens, strobe, SOS, and several other flashing modes. My customers are divided on whether or not strobe is a good thing to have in a light, so this is the light to get if you want to make sure that your light does not have strobe on a daily basis. Of course, if you like strobe and the other flashing modes, you could always program all three modes to give seizures.
The Jet I Pro is the baby of the family, using only one AA battery. On a 14500 rechargeable lithium, the Jet I Pro easily rivals lights several times its size thanks to the powerful LED and reflector designed to take advantage of the LED as much as possible. This is the light that I combine with a headlamp as my lighting arsenal in the woods when I am looking to keep things relatively lightweight.
The Jet I Pro EX is the same as the Jet I Pro, but uses 2 AA batteries instead of just one for twice the battery life and higher brightness on NiMh and alkaline batteries.
The Jet III ST can use 2 CR123, 2 16340, or 1 18650 battery. The body is still slim enough to keep in your pocket or pack, making this one a good option for people who like lithiums and still want a compact light.
The Jet III Ultra is a larger lithium light, with a much larger head and reflector compared to the Jet III ST. The larger head gives you a light that throw the beam much further than the smaller reflectors.
Here’s a video showing the lights and how to program the interface:
The JETBeam Jet III M is a personal favorite light of mine, so I’m kind of surprised at myself for taking so long to make a video of it. Maybe I subconsciously wanted to hoard them all to myself.
The Jet III M has a neat interface. When the head is tightened, you will always have full brightness. When the head is loosened, you have access to a user defined mode with a ridiculous array of options. You can set it to anywhere from 2-240 lumens, strobe frequencies from 1-20 Hz, SOS, beacon flashing, and several other flashing modes. The light is made for rough users in mind, with thick aluminum walls, stainless steel bezels and tail covers, and waterproof seals.
Here’s a video showing the light and how to program it:
The A6 Polestar from iTP is a neat light. Instead of using a rear “tactical” switch like many premium lights these days, you have a switch on the side of the light that turns the light off and on and switches between the three brightnesses and strobe. Another feature that appeals to a lot of people is that it uses 6 easy to find AA batteries instead of lithiums. AA are a lower voltage, so you have to have a wider body to accommodate the higher number of batteries needed to power the LED, but it’s still a very manageable size, at around the size of a 2D MagLite.
Here’s a video I made showing the light and comparing it to a 4D MagLite:
Next up in the videos is one featuring the JETBeam RRT-1 and RRT-2 Raptor series lights. The Raptor series uses a stainless steel selector ring to switch between the three different brightnesses and a strobe mode. The RRT-1 features a massive reflector that can light up objects several hundred yards away, which is pretty neat to see on a dark night. The RRT-2 uses a smaller reflector that is not quite as good at throwing the light, but it’s still impressive.
Next up in the video onslaught is the JETBeam RRT-0, a really cool new light in the Raptor series. It is using the same stainless steel selector ring as the RRT-1 and RRT-2, but in a much smaller form factor. They also got rid of the strobe mode, giving you quick access to four different brightnesses. There are two versions, the regular one and the EX. The regular one uses CR123 batteries while the EX adds on an extender, allowing you to use AA and 14500 batteries as well.
I went a little video crazy over the past couple of days, meaning that after being really slack on the blog and video front over the past few months, you now have 12 new videos to suffer through.
The first one shows the butane lighters I stock. I had several requests for this one, which kind of surprised me. I always figured the lighters kind of explained themselves…
If you read my blog, then you probably already know that I get excited about my products pretty easily. Such is the outcome of owning a business that focuses on products for activities that you love.
A new line of products has had me ridiculously excited for about a year and I am very happy to finally be able to share the news. The products are GearPods: modular survival, tool, and adventure kits.
The main parts of GearPods are various tubes, connectors, and other pieces that all connect together. You can have your fire tools in one tube, first aid in another, cooking in a third, gear repair in a fourth, etc. Once you have your kits put together, you can connect and arrange them as needed for different trips. The connector and cap pieces have rubber gaskets to keep your gear dry and safe.
The empty tubes and connectors will be available in the coming weeks and months, but for now, very well thought out premade kits are in stock and ready to ship. The Trailhead kit contains basic survival and first aid items. The BackCountry fleshes out the Trailhead kit contents and adds cooking items such as an aluminum cup, stove, and fuel. The Wilderness kit takes all of that and adds in shelter items like an ultralight nylon tarp and an emergency blanket. Covers for the two larger kits are also available.
