I’m in the market for shears that can cut clothes, bandages, and what not (not pennies!). Knives are out of the question. It is even illegal to carry a switchblade over so many inches. So, shears is it is.
Most people would buy the $2 – $10 shears that you find online. But I was looking if there was anything better. Why not? I stumbled across the Solingen’s Robin “Safety Boy†rescue cutter and the Adroit Innovation’s Trauma Shears. Apparently, the regular shears that we are used to are made with aluminum or some alloy. According to some, the cheap steel remains sharp to cut through three pairs of jeans.
Robin Rescue Boy
The Safety Boy Rescue Cutter retails for $70 online. It is manufactured Germany’s premier medical supply company Solingen. They’re advertised to cut through clothes like butter. And you can use them to smash windows in needed. However, the Safety Boy is on the hefty side at one pound and bulky. So it fits great in a bag or somewhere on your vehicle. Fortunately, someone sells a holster specially designed for the Robin Rescue Boy. But it costs $40 and its way too extreme for a simple sheers.
Carabineer
The Trauma Shears retail for $45 with options to customize the shears. They are the offspring of two outdoorsy ER doctors. They basically replaced the large end of regular ems shears with a carabineer. They use a titanium coated alloy that keeps the shears sharp after many uses. Perhaps storl could enlighten us on Claus steel.
Upon first glance, I felt instant appreciation at Trauma sheers from the photos. The website has numerous testimonials including recent Haiti relief missions.
The NiteCore IFD2 is the 2 AA light in the Infilux line, adding another light in addition to the CR123 IFE1. The Infilux lights have a regular switch on the back to turn the light on and off, but there is a rotary ring on the head as well that will give you adjustable brightness, from less than one lumen to 260 on the high end. One complaint about the IFE1 is that it was hard to get and keep in the lowest brightness since the lowest brightness was so close to the detent before going into strobe. The IFD2 solves this by giving you a bit of extra room before it goes into the lowest brightness. The lowest brightness is rated at less than a lumen, but there are actually two brightnesses even lower than that. I would estimate that the lowest is more like .01 lumens, which is completely and utterly useless for illumination purposes, but it sure is fun to mess around with and see.
The IFD2 is quite a bit longer than the IFE1, but is still slim enough for reasonable pocket or pack carry.
See it in action below. I mess around with the lowest brightness as well, just to show you what it can do.
Back in September, I went on a weekend camping trip with some friends and had the best breakfast I have ever had out in the woods! Believe it or not, we made hot and fresh doughnuts with only a few ingredients that are easy to pack in and out! It was a great alternative to trail mix, granola bars, or freeze-dried fruit.
Ingredients:
packaged biscuits
Vegetable oil (1 quart)
Cinnamon
Sugar
(Or powdered sugar if you prefer)
Directions
1. First heat up your isobutane or propane stove to a medium/high setting and put the vegetable oil in the pot and place it on the stove
2. As your oil heats up, open the biscuits and cut them into fourths using your pocket knife. This makes the perfect bite-size doughnut hole. (Alternatively, you can fry the whole biscuit for a quicker preparation and a larger doughnut).
3. After approximately 5 minutes (or when you see the oil start to ripple) drop the biscuits in and let them fry for 1-2 minutes
4. Flip the doughnuts over and let the remaining side cook for 1-2 minutes
5. When the doughnuts reach a golden brown color, take them out.
6. While they are still hot, cover them in cinnamon/sugar or powdered sugar (I like to do this by adding the cinnamon/sugar mixture to a brown paper bag and dropping a bunch in at a time and shaking them up so they get evenly coated).
7. ENJOY!!!
I would love feedback about the above recipe! Also, if anyone has any favorite recipes for camping that they would like to share, I would appreciate the ideas!
When the air starts to smell crisp and the leaves begin to fall, I know it is time for me to get back to the outdoors! I absolutely love being in the woods or on a trail in Autumn. Each year, I try to plan at least one camping trip during the season. I am so excited about this years trip; some friends and I are going to Blue Ridge to escape from the monotony of office work, and the hustle and bustle of traffic at rush hour in Atlanta. I haven’t been to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Georgia since I went there on a field trip back in the fifth grade, so it will feel as if I am getting to visit a new place for the very first time. We are renting a cabin, going fishing, horseback riding, apple picking, and hiking. Honestly, I am looking the most forward to hiking. I have always found so much serenity and peace when I am on a trail and at one with nature, especially during my favorite season!
I would love to know where people are traveling this Fall as well as what their favorite thing to do outdoors is during this time of year!
The NiteCore SmartPD D11 takes the features of the D10 and D10 SP and crams them into one light. You have the adjustable infinite brightness of the D10 plus the quick access to strobe and SOS of the D10 SP. You lose the quick access to max and min brightnesses, which may or may not make you happy.
The D11 has a CREE XP-G R5 LED, which is the latest, greatest, and overall brightest LED of the small LEDs. The D11 can easily light up a backyard or inside of a warehouse, while also dropping low enough that it can be used for up close work. The light is part of the SmartPD line, meaning that it has a piston that travels the full length of the battery tube instead of a switch. The system is very reliable (if you keep the contacts clean) and is a pretty cool use of a different sort of light technology compared to what 99% of what everyone else uses. Most people’s eyes will glaze over if you start talking about pistons, lumens, and adjustable brightness in a flashlight, so just keep the light in your pocket and let people be impressed by its brightness when appropriate. Unless you are talking to me, of course. Then, you will have a two hour conversation to deal with.
The 4Sevens Preon Revo is an updated version of the Preon 1. The ReVO keeps the same interface and AAA battery as the Preon 1, but makes several changes to make it even better. The XP-G R5 LED of the Preon 1 is swapped for an XP-E R2 LED for better throw in such a small light. Knurling and other grippy features are added to make the light easier to hold. Extra material is removed wherever possible, making the ReVO even smaller than the Preon 1. Finally, a substantial attachment is added to give the light a better way to attach a keyring.
I really liked the Preon 1 before, so the ReVO with all its improvements is even more impressive. If you want a tiny light for your pocket that can still light up a backyard, the ReVO is very hard to beat. It is also available in stainless steel, assuming we do not sell out in a couple of hours like the first time we had them.
NiteCore updated their EZ AA light with a new, brighter LED and a more versatile interface that still keeps the easy feel of the old light. The old light had two modes, accessed by tightening the head of the light. First up was low, with high available as you tighten further. The new light has infinite brightness, giving you a much wider array of available brightnesses. Loosen and tighten the head and the EZ AA starts ramping through the brightnesses. Loosen and tighten it again to keep the one you want.
The EZ AA is one of the brightest AA lights I have seen, which is even more impressive considering its diminutive size. It is half the volume of other single AA lights, but puts out 160 lumens. The EZ AA is a perfect light for pocket carry or backpackers looking for a compact, lightweight light that still has impressive output when you need it.
The Surefire AZ2 Combatlight is my new favorite light from Surefire. Similar to the A2L Aviator, the AZ2 has a main bright LED surrounded by four secondary LEDs. The secondary LEDs are not nearly as bright as the main one, but they have a really nice floody light that lights up a wide area in front of you. The main LED is more focused and is good for distances.
When you first press the switch, the secondary LEDs are activated. A full press turns the main LED on as well, so you have a great combination of an up close and distance light. The AZ2 has the best combination of the two that I have seen in any light from Surefire or any other company. As with most Surefire lights, this model is powered by two CR123 batteries that are included with the light.
Yes, I know the light is pricey, but a flashlight is so essential to me that if I have the funds, the AZ2 is an easy choice.
