Nalgene Water Bottle Holders

Long before I started this particular blog I joined the Amazon associates program, just as most bloggers and website owners have, since Amazon offers such a huge selection of books and related products of interest to readers of blogs on most any subject.  Few people make big bucks off of their association with this online retail giant, but it does provide some extra dollars every month from purchases made by readers clicking through to the Amazon site to do their shopping.  I'm probably like most bloggers in the program in that my earnings go right back to Amazon to fund my own purchases of books and other items I would be buying from them anyway.

More interesting the than the monthly earnings reports, however, are the listings of the particular items purchased each month through the program.  By scanning these listings I have discovered some good books and sometimes good equipment that my readers are buying that I might not have known about otherwise.  I can also see that sometimes readers take my advice and purchase items I've reviewed here or mentioned in my books, such as a particular machete, water purification system or other important item for the bug out bag.  Sometimes these purchases give me an idea for a post, such as this one today, inspired by a reader's purchase of this Maxpedition . 12" x 5" Nalgene Bottle Holder . OD GREEN.

Seeing that someone purchased this through my site reminded me of an often overlooked, favorite piece of gear that has gone with me everywhere in my travels for at least 15 years, maybe even a bit longer.  It's a similar bottle holder designed to fit a 1 quart Nalgene bottle that I paid a whole lot less for than the $37.95 that Amazon gets for the Maxpedition holder pictured above. I picked this up one day back then when I was wandering the isles of some big adventure outfitter store and thought it might be useful:

I had already long been a fan of these nearly indestructible 1-quart Nalgene bottles as I had been using them for years and they went with me on all my big long-distance sea kayaking trips and many backpacking excursions.  The problem with the basic Nalgene bottle, however, is that it's awkward to carry unless stuffed down inside a pack somewhere that makes it hard to get to when you need it.  I still carry extras this way, inside packs and dry bags, but this simple holder transforms an ordinary Nalgene bottle into a handy canteen.  Note that mine has a quick-release shoulder strap as well as a large belt loop on the other side, shown here:

These two carrying options make it easy to bring along for practically any activity, and as a result mine has never been far out of reach since I picked it up all those years ago.  I've replaced the bottle I carry in it more than once, but this holder has gone with me on offshore sailboat passages, through the jungles of Central America and swamps all over the South, on my motorcycles and bicycles both on road and off-road and in my truck most every day I've owned it whether out on a job or on a pleasure trip.  The great thing about it is that the padded insulation built in keeps drinking water cool all day even on the hottest days if I fill it with ice in the morning.  The label on the cover says the insulation is Du Pont Thermolite.  I think I paid about 12 bucks for it.  At the time, it was the first such bottle holder I had seen made specifically to fit a 1-quart Nalgene bottle, but now there are many such holders available for these popular bottles, both insulated and non-insulated.  A quick search on Amazon turned up a whole slew of them in a wide price range, with this Maxpedition mentioned above being among the most expensive.  If you haven't tried such a holder/carrier for a standard water bottle, I suggest looking into it rather than some sort of canteen. Advantages of these bottles are that they are leak-proof, nearly indestructible, as already mentioned, and they don't impart a plastic taste to the water or other liquids kept in them.  I prefer the wide-mouth version as these are handy when you are purifying drinking water or mixing something with it such as powered milk or Gatorade.

I usually have three or four of these bottles in my pack depending on where I'm going and the temperature.  But one of them is always in this handy carrier close at hand where I can reach it for a quick drink.

An Obsession with Checklists

I've been making detailed checklists since I first began taking simple, overnight canoe trips on nearby creeks and rivers.  The list-making habit has served me well, especially when these trips expanded to hiking, sea kayaking and sailing trips that lasted for weeks and in some cases, months.  Most how-to books on various types of wilderness travel include gear and supply lists of varying degrees of detail, as do many of the recent books on prepping for survival.

When I first got serious about wilderness travel and especially backpacking, one book that had a good example of such a checklist in the appendix was Colin Fletcher's The Complete Walker (now in it's 4th edition).  Fletcher has done extensive, long-distance solo hikes such as the ones he wrote about in his narratives: The Thousand-Mile Summer, and The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon.  In The Complete Walker, he did a great job of breaking down the essential equipment for such endeavors into easy to understand categories.

Many items are universal and carried by almost everyone, but the details of these items are highly individual, and every experienced outdoorsman has preferences on the types and the manufacture of everything from backpacks to fire starters, boots, knives, hats, firearms and on and on. But you have to start somewhere, and that's what I did years ago after first reading The Complete Walker.  Working from Fletcher's lists, I crafted my own personalized wilderness checklist and after every trip added items I wished I'd brought along or deleted those I found unnecessary.  I created sub-lists or completely separate lists for each means of travel, whether on foot, by canoe or by sea kayak.  At first I did these by hand, then later on a word processor so that I could easily print a fresh copy and check it off as I loaded my pack or dry bags.

When I started sailing, the lists became ever more extensive, as the greater capacity of a larger boat meant more provisions, more essential equipment, more complexity of systems and more things to break or otherwise fail.  And of course, each voyage generated a brand new "to-do" list for repairs or improvements to the vessel before heading out again.

Today's prepper, whether planning to bug-out or bug-in has it easier when it comes to finding checklists.  There are many excellent books on the subject that include a variety of lists, such James Wesley Rawles' How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times. Online survival-related forums are full of member posts that include personal checklists, and many blogs on the subject include these as well.  Although people often debate the validity of published lists and criticize some for leaving this or that out or bringing something that may seem unnecessary, such debate is as pointless as arguing over which is the best handgun for self-defense or which rifle is best for hunting.  The answer is whichever is best for the user, related to their particular experience and situation.

Naturally my new book on the subject of bugging out would not be complete without some sort of checklist in the appendix.  I put one in with some hesitation and with a disclaimer that it is what I consider the minimum essentials to take if I had to bug-out on foot with nothing but what I could carry on my back.  I don't expect it to ever come to that, but it's a good exercise to make such a list and and an even better one to load up such a pack and go try to live out of it for a few days to see what it's like.  (See this basic list from the Bug Out Checklist button in the navigation bar).

Since my book addresses not only bugging out on foot, but also utilizing such transportation as full-sized motor vehicles, ATVs, dual-sport motorcycles, bicycles, canoes, kayaks, larger boats, and even horses and pack animals, it would not be practical to include complete checklists for every means of travel.  There are also other game-changing factors, such as climate, terrain, season of the year, and whether you are traveling alone or with your family or other group.  As a result, I've decided to stick with the basics and then add sub-lists of "extras" or "nice-to-haves" that I would include if I had a way of carrying it besides on my back.  There is also the option of caching supplies and equipment if you have done your advance scouting and have a plan about where you will go - whether in some uninhabited wilderness or on you own private retreat land. 

I'm always interested in knowing what other folks consider essential in their checklists of gear, and just about every time I've taken a trip with someone else, whether in the woods, mountains or on the high seas, I've come away with some new insight that leads to yet another modification of the old checklist.  These lists have become a way of life and I have no doubt that they will constantly evolve for as long as I am able to go outside.

Make Mine a Machete

You can keep the axes and hatchets, I'll stick with my machete.

The author putting an edge on with a mill file.

Anyone who has spent any time adventuring in the tropical regions of the world has surely seen the many uses of the ubiquitous machete. Variations of this extremely versatile tool are found around the globe in the hot climates of the lower latitudes, but surprisingly, the machete is under utilized in temperate zones such as North America. Sometimes referred to as jungle knives, it’s easy to see why these long cutting tools are popular in the tropics. For cutting your way through thick underbrush and vines, a more effective tool has never been invented. But the common machete finds thousands of uses in Third World countries, from butchering meat to cutting firewood and even building houses. Machetes are cheap, lightweight, and easily carried in a sheath that can be slipped into a backpack, canoe dry bag or worn on the belt.

Given these advantages, it’s surprising that more survivalists and other outdoors enthusiasts do not make the machete a standard item on their gear checklist. One reason for this is the north woods tradition of using axes or hatchets for chopping and cutting tasks, rather than long knives. Few wilderness travelers really have need of an axe however, as this heavy and cumbersome tool is best used for serious tree cutting and jobs such as splitting large quantities of firewood or building a cabin. This sort of woodcraft is rarely necessary unless you are in a secure bug-out location where you plan to stay for an extended period of time.

An alternative to the axe - the hatchet is meant to be a scaled down axe that is handy to carry and can be used to cut smaller pieces of wood to build campfires.  But it’s really a poor substitute for an axe in this capacity, and a good machete with a sharp blade can handle all your firewood cutting tasks and can also be used to fell small trees in an emergency situation where you might need to build a survival shelter.

The one job that axes and hatchets cannot handle at all that machetes excel at is cutting trail through dense brush. The narrow cutting surface of only 3-4 inches on an axe or hatchet blade is useless for cutting vines, springy branches, cane, or dense grasses. With a sharp machete, you can wade through such undergrowth with ease, the long blade clearing a wide swath with each stroke. In jungles around the world, native people who are experts with machetes can clear trail almost as fast as they can walk. In some places it's almost impossible to travel without one.  Aside from tropical jungles, the cutover land and second growth forest found in much of the U.S. abounds in briar patches and other dense undergrowth that forms walls of vegetation.  The same is true in many swamps where impenetrable canebrakes or palmetto thickets occur, and even in some mountain areas.  On numerous occasions, I have spent days at at a time bushwhacking off trail in the Appalachian Mountains where rhododendron thickets made walking practically impossible without a machete.

The machete can also perform many of the tasks you might need a knife for, as it can be used to cut almost anything, including chopping up vegetables and other food items. With a good machete, you can eliminate carrying a large camp knife and take only a small pocket knife or multi-tool for delicate tasks.

Although all machetes are cheap compared to fine knives, it’s worth spending a few extra dollars to get a good one. The bottom of the barrel variety usually cannot be sharpened to a fine edge. The best machetes are the imported ones from Central and South American countries, where the makers know and understand what qualities a machete should have. Look for a blade of spring steel that can be flexed, but avoid the flimsiest, lightweight blades and get one with some heft. Much of the effort of cutting is eliminated by letting the weight of the blade do the work.

Blade length is another consideration. Machetes typically range in length from 18 inches to as long as 30 inches. The shortest variety is handy for many tasks, but I prefer a blade of about 24 inches for all-around usefulness. This length will still fit inside a backpack and it is long enough to have the necessary weight for serious cutting. Many jungle dwellers that use their machetes daily prefer the longer 30-inch blades because they cut even better.

To keep your machete razor sharp, you will need a small mill file. Knife sharpening stones are too slow for putting an edge on such a big blade, but they can be used for the final honing after you’re done with the file. Don’t try to carry a sharp machete without a good sheath. The best ones are made of leather and many imported machetes come with nice, hand-made leather sheaths. Remember that the machete is an extremely dangerous implement that can cause horrendous damage if you cut yourself or a bystander who is too close to where you are working. Always keep the edge away from yourself and others and be especially careful of your legs and feet while cutting brush in front of you.

Gear Review: Compact, Hi-Intensity Flashlights

This review I wrote as a result of testing several Compact, Hi-Intensity Flashlights was first published in Sea Kayaker magazine.

A new breed of flashlights for sea kayakers and other boaters in need of a powerful package compact enough to fit in the pocket of a PFD.

Expedition paddlers exploring unfamiliar coastlines are almost certain to eventually get into a situation that requires paddling at night. Despite careful pre-trip planning and studying charts to look for possible landing and camping sites, many factors such as weather, fatigue or accidents can cause delays that require navigating in darkness. This can even happen on a simple day trip, so all paddlers should be prepared for paddling at night. Some type of bright light is required safety equipment for alerting other boaters as well as for finding a hospitable shore. A powerful light is also especially useful for picking up reflective channel markers or the reflective tape on your partner’s PFD or kayak from a long distance.

When I first started taking long kayak trips almost 20 years ago, I carried a powerful underwater light designed for scuba diving at night. This light was a bulky affair—about five or six inches in diameter, like the 12-volt spotlights designed to plug into a cigarette lighter outlet in a car or boat—and powered by eight D-cell alkaline batteries. It was bright, though, and completely waterproof, and held up on two trips lasting several months.

The problem with the dive light was its size and shape. It was too big to go anywhere on deck and it was even an awkward fit in the cockpit. I normally kept it between the seat-back and the rear bulkhead while traveling, but that made it difficult to get to. It was expensive to purchase and expensive to run with less than two hours of burn time on a fresh set of the best alkaline batteries. The size and weight of all those D-cells limited me to carrying only one or two spare sets.

When this light finally died after years of hard use, I went through an assortment of cheaper, less durable alternatives powered by a single 6-volt lantern battery. None of the compact flashlights I carried for use around camp could compare to these bigger, more powerful spotlights that were so useful for scoping out a strange shoreline from a safe distance before landing.

A variety of high-power flashlights are now available in compact sizes. They are powered by 123A 3-volt lithium batteries, the same type used for many cameras and other high-drain electronic devices. Some of these lights are only slightly bigger than the popular compact flashlights that use two AA 1.5-volt alkaline batteries, but they are far more powerful. I recently tested two of these that are powered by three 123A cells and another pair that use just two cells.The three-cell lights are much more expensive and slightly larger than the two-cell lights but are powerful enough to replace the large bulky spotlights I used to use. The lithium batteries are only 1 <3/8> inches long (compared to 2 inches for a AA battery), so even the three-cell lights are small enough to carry any time you go paddling. They provide a bright, broad beam of light that is useful to a kayaker looking along the shore for a place to land.

All of these lights use Xenon lamps. Xenon is an inert gas that fills the lamp bulb to allow the filament to burn hotter and brighter without burning out. They all produce a clear, consistent beam without the usual varying rings of light typical of standard flashlight beams. To test the lights, I took them for a night paddle along a heavily wooded, swampy lakeshore.

SureFire M3 Millenium Tactical Combatlight
The M3 Combat Light is the largest and by far the most expensive of the four flashlights I tested. At $252, it’s billed as a “heavy-duty tactical flashlight to meet the needs of demanding customers such as military special operations units, SWAT teams and other law enforcement professionals.” The case is anodized aircraft aluminum with a checkered grip especially designed for the Rogers/SureFire combat grip—a technique used by the aforementioned customers when engaging opponents in the dark with a handgun. Sea kayakers won’t need that particular design feature, but the no-compromise quality built into this rugged light makes it a good choice for the demands of an expedition.

Although not rated for underwater use, such as diving, SureFire claims that all its current lights are waterproof to about 33 feet. I left it under about three feet of water overnight and found no moisture had entered the case. The switch is built into the tailpiece—turning it full clockwise turns the light on—but the tailpiece also functions as a momentary push-button switch when partially rotated. Backing the tailpiece off by turning it counter-clockwise disables the push-button feature so the light can’t be accidentally activated when packed.

The M3 comes with a 225-lumen lamp and a 125-lumen lamp. On a set of three batteries, the 225-lumen lamp provides only 20 minutes of run-time, and a 125-lumen lamp runs one hour. With the high-output lamp installed, the M3 is by far the most powerful of the four lights I tested.

This light provides a useful range of at least 200 feet, completely illuminating the dark woods of the lakeshore I paddled along from that distance. The beam it throws is perhaps not as broad as my old diving spotlight, but it is amazingly intense for such a small package. I even took it out for a drive on a deserted country road and found it bright enough to drive by, held out the window of the car with the headlights turned off. Reflective road signs were visible over a half a mile away.

At just over seven inches long and with a bezel diameter of 1.62 inches, the M3 may not fit in small PFD pockets, but it’s still compact enough to carry in a chart case or perhaps secured with a Velcro loop to your PFD. A lanyard is included with the light. With the high-power lamp, it will burn through 123A batteries in a hurry, but for such power that’s a reasonable trade off. SureFire sells its own brand of lithium batteries in a case of 12 for $21. These batteries are so small and lightweight, a kayaker could carry several cases on a long expedition.

SureFire M3 Millenium Tactical Combatlight
SureFire
800-828-8809 or 714-545-9444
helpyou@surefire.com
www.surefire.com

Pila GL3
The other three-cell 123A flashlight I tested was the Pila GL3 from Permalight. A bit more compact than the SureFire M3, the Chinese-made Pila GL3 measures just over six inches in length and has a bezel diameter of 1.3 inches. Like the M3, the case is also anodized aircraft aluminum, but inspection of the threads inside the screw-on bezel and tailpiece revealed some rough surfaces and possible damage that might interfere with removal and replacement over time. This light did leak inside the bezel during an overnight immersion test, but it is only rated as splash proof. Despite the water intrusion, the light continued to function perfectly while wet and after disassembly and drying.

The biggest difference between the Pila GL3 and the SureFire M3 is the addition of a red four-LED light built into the tailpiece. Like the M3, the on-off switch for the light is a rotating tailpiece that also functions as a momentary push-button switch. The distinction is that the red LED light comes on first as you begin to turn the tailpiece clockwise. Turn it a bit further, and you can use the push-button to turn on the main lamp. Turning it fully clockwise turns off the red LED light and turns the main lamp full on.

I like this red LED feature a lot. It’s handy to have both a high-power spotlight and a red lamp for reading charts without ruining night vision all in the same compact package. The red LED light is plenty adequate for following a trail through the dark woods at night or for chart work or other tasks in the cockpit such as searching through a dry bag for a snack, and the current draw in this mode is so low that it will burn up to 60 hours in continuous operation. The Pila GL3 will also operate on two included lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that can be recharged in just three hours. (These batteries weren’t available during my testing.) This is a nice alternative to the 123A batteries if you’re just using the light for short trips or the occasional night paddle.

The white Xenon lamp in the GL3 has an output of 130 lumens, comparable to the lower-powered lamp provided with the SureFire M3. The GL3 will run for a continuous 50 minutes on three 123A batteries using this lamp. In a run-time and output test, I found the M3 (with the 125-lumen lamp) and the GL3 to be about equal.

The Pila GL3, being a bit shorter and slimmer, is somewhat easier to stow in a pocket than the SureFire M3, yet still produces comparable output. The red LED is a nice addition, and although it is not as nicely machined as the M3, at about $85, the price is a lot easier on the expedition budget. The model I tested has now apparently been changed, with a redesigned case and a 200-lumen Xenon lamp. The upgraded model is available with a variety of LED tailpiece and switch options.

Pila GL3-Xenon
Permalight (Asia) Co., Ltd.
937-644-2170
info@pila-usa.com
www.pila-usa.com

Two-Cell 123A Flashlights
I also tested two smaller lithium-powered flashlights that are in a different class from the three-cell lights. The SureFire G2 Nitrolon and the Brinkmann Maxfire LX both operate on just two 123A cells, using Xenon bulbs like the more powerful lights. While not as useful as a spotlight for examining a distant shore, the two-cell units are plenty adequate to meet the safety requirements of a bright light to signal other vessels, providing more output than a four D-cell flashlight in a package small enough to easily fit in a PFD pocket or chart case. Both of these lights remained dry in the same immersion test I used for the larger lights.

The SureFire G2 sells for $36 and has a 65-lumen lamp that runs for 60 minutes. There’s an optional 120-lumen lamp available that provides 20 minutes of run-time. The tough polymer case is 4.9 inches long, and the switch works the same as the M3, with a rotating tailpiece that also features push-button momentary on.
The Brinkmann Maxfire LX comes in a rubberized polymer case 5.5 inches long. The output power of the Xenon bulb is not given in the information packaged with the Maxfire, but in my tests, it seemed equal in every way to the SureFire G2, including run-time. One key difference is the lack of the rotating tailpiece switch found on all the other lights tested.

The Maxfire uses a simple push-button switch in the tailpiece, working as a momentary on switch when lightly depressed and full on after pushing hard enough to click. I like this switch better than the rotating ones because it’s easy to activate with one hand from any position. This high-powered flashlight is also a bargain compared to the others tested, available at discount department stores for about $16 to $20. It comes with two Sanyo 123A batteries in the package.

SureFire G2 Nitrolon Xenon Tactical Flashlight
SureFire
800-828-8809 or 714-545-9444
helpyou@surefire.com
http://www.surefire.com/

Brinkmann Maxfire LX Lithium Xenon Flashlight
800-527-0717 or 972-716-4262
customerservice@brinkmann.net
http://www.brinkmann.net/

Small but Mighty

Having tested this new breed of compact, high-power flashlights, I can’t imagine being without one in the future—not only for sea kayaking, but as a great emergency light to carry in a vehicle or to use while sailing, hiking or any other outdoor activity. All the lights tested are better than anything I’ve used in the past. I’ll definitely pick up a Maxfire or G2 for all-around general use and probably one of the powerful three-cell units like the M3 Combat light for nighttime navigation. It’s also worth noting that if you don’t mind spending even more money and carrying a slightly bigger flashlight, SureFire and other companies offer tactical lights that use four and even six 123A cells, claimed to be powerful enough to function as handheld searchlights.