Random Cool Stuff
By Cam Burns |
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This issue, we Schmear, four very different types of random products ...
Unbearable marauders
The Bear Vault (Model BV200) is a super-well engineered piece of, well, plastic — no kidding. It’s a huge cylindrical canister, 8.7 inches in diameter and 12.4 long (so the girls will really appreciate it), extruded out of tough, impact-resistant polycarbonate with an excellent screw-top that clicks into a very secure setting (for a plastic device, this is as precise as it gets) to keep food and other maraud-able valuables snug and secure at campsites. The lid is as wide as the entire cylinder (43 square inches), allowing easy access to chocolate bars, beef jerky, and other things a hungry ursine might come mooching around looking for. The transparent body lets you see what you’re fondling inside, and the device doubles perfectly as a camp chair (be sure to snug the lid securely when you sit on this can). The total weight is 2 pounds, 6 ounces — a little heavy for the super-fast-and-light crowd, but perfect for campers and backpackers more concerned with actually having a hearty breakfast available in the morning than worrying about weight issues.
According to the press materials, the Bear Vault folks actually test these suckers using bears. We tested one on a Basalt-area Sasquatch, and although he couldn’t get the device open, he was able to carry it away (unlike most species, Basalt-area Sasquatches have opposable thumbs). The MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) is $79.95 — a bit pricey for food protection, but if you’re headed into bear country, a big proud can is an invaluable bit of gear. For more info, see www.bearvault.com.
Go solo, or go home
Unless you’re on a high-dollar television program that’s fake (and weirder than some of the letters in Mountain Gazette), getting by in the wilderness can be tough business. That’s where survival kits come in handy, and in recent years they’ve been getting better and better. Into this arena the Schmear welcomes Basic Outdoor Life Sustainment (BOLS), a Colorado Springs company that makes a range of six small kits to help you wile away the hours trying to better your situation while trapped someplace beautiful.
Always intriguing is what a firm packs into a survival kit. I mean, if your arm has fallen off, I’d think gauze and cotton wool type items would fill the kit and the kit would be the size of a barn. If you have massive diarrhea, a survival kit might mean a gallon or two of Pepto-Bismol. BOLS’ Solo Plus kit ($52), which we tried, seemed to be a pretty well-balanced mixture that could handle, oh, say, many little disasters all packed into one memorable day. The kit includes a Suunto compass, a cigarette lighter, TP, an emergency blanket, Potable Aqua tablets, a gauze bandage, antiseptic wipes, Spyroflex blister dressing, ibuprofen, antacid, sunscreen wipes, a signal mirror (that’s really cool), a 1-liter water bag, a packet of TinderQuick (all-weather fire kindling), a whistle, a Princeton Tec LED Pulsar light, and a (Mini) Buck knife (and waterproof bag to keep it all in) — all in a package the size of a tiny camera case. Bigger kits include more things.
To be sure, survival kits are not medical kits, and you shouldn’t rely on it to perform open heart surgery on top of the Grand, but if you’re inexperienced in packing your own emergency basics — or experienced and unsure about what fate has in store — BOLS’ kits are a fabulous place to start (along with a bout of pre-trip reading). For more info, see www.bolskit.com.
Solutions with liquid
Liquid Solutions (a trademark of Pacific Cornetta, Inc.) is an Oregon firm that offers a vast range of devices that deal with (or does the name give it away?) liquids, mugs, flasks, thermoses, coffee presses — you name it. The firm even does arty porcelain cups. The Bullet 18 thermos (an 18-ounce stainless steel thermos; one of about ten offered by Liquid Solutions; $19.99) is beautifully constructed and just the right shape to slip into a tight pack, even when you’ve crammed it crow-bar-full of useless crap. Liquid Solutions’ Hector Press ($21.99) is a nice 20-ounce stainless steel press featuring double-wall construction and two swappable tops so that once you’re done cramming an inappropriate number of beans through hot water you can snap on a mug lid and claim the entire press as your own personal morning stimulant — buzz hard, buzz high, my friends.
Liquid Solutions’ Aletta 12-ounce stainless steel vacuum canister is a neat little piece of shrapnel ($19.99), with the same excellent construction as LS’s presses and thermoses but in a smaller, neater package (and allowing you to clip the thing someplace useful and accessible — say, on a climbing harness or a nose ring). Liquid Solutions’ Bootle widemouth double-walled 32-ounce water bottle ($10.99) is an interesting complement to the line. Being a grumpy old fart, I’m not sure I’m willing to carry that much extra plastic around, but it’s a solid, nicely designed water “bootle” with a sipper inset included so food-filled backwash is comfortably avoided in polite hiking circles. For more info, see www.liquid-solutions.com.
Sure, fire away
Now, to my favorite product this month … Surefire lights. Surefire makes “flashlights” that likely few mountainfolk will be familiar with — but should be. Surefire’s flashlights are specialized, highly technical jobs designed for those in the military and/or security business (hence the name). But they are also really great for anyone looking for something compact, precise, and able to shed light on any kind of sitch-y-ashion. Slim, superlightweight, and with lamps that can literally “put out an eye,” as the saying goes, these aren’t kids’ toys. They’re the ultimate lighting devices.
We checked out the 4.5-inch, 3.1-ounce E2E Executive Elite flashlight (now on sale at surefire.com for $75), machined from aerospace-grade aluminum and boasting a tempered Pyrex lens. The xenon gas-filled lamp provides 60 lumens output for 1.25 hours, according to Surefire (and yes, these suckers drain power fast — so don’t go leaving them on for no reason).
A better choice for those who like flashing is Surefire’s affordable G2 Nitrolon ($34). The five-inch G2 weighs just 4 tiny ounces, and it comes in a polymer compound body (kinda rubbery) that is corrosion-proof and non-conductive. Surefire claims it’s “three to four times brighter than a typical 2-D cell flashlight,” but honestly, the G2 is so superior to a typical flashlight the Surefire folks are doing themselves no favors with that comparison. Again, these lights blow through power, and with a P60 xenon gas-filled lamp assembly the G2 can produce 65 lumens for 60 minutes, or — with Surefire’s optional P61 ultra high output lamp — 120 lumens for 20 minutes. I’d say, go ahead and start blowing.
And perhaps best yet for those of you heading out for an extended wilderness misadventure is the L2 LumaMax ($165), simply because it has two illumination settings — 100 lumens and 15 lumens. The lower setting allows the light to run a full eighteen hours and is more than adequate for reading, camp chores, and getting around in the dark. The weight is still minimal (4.2 ounces) so the wife can’t complain when you stuff it next to the ice tools in her pack.
Also, each Surefire light comes with a patented button-style switch/cap on the hand-end of the light. The button allows the light to be activated for short bursts and the cap allows the light to be screwed into an on-position for longer illumination.
For more info, see www.surefire.com (and while you’re there, check out The Beast — a flashlight that costs $2,900 and with which you can probably light up several planets).
Cam Burns is an author, climber, skier, and gear junkie. He is currently expeditioning in Uganda, while simultaneously editing Classic Climbing Stories for Lyons Press. He can be reached at
jonathonhemlock@ hotmail.com.
