By David Maccar

by David Maccar

You may remember a couple months ago we reviewed two items from a new line of survival knives designed by TV host and survivalist Bear Grylls and Gerber Legendary Blades. Now, another of TV’s famous survivalists will release a blade bearing his own signature touches.

Les Stroud, of “Survivorman” fame, has joined forces with the Norwegian knife company, Helle, to create “The Temagami – A knife you can actually use in the wilderness.”

According to a press release from the company, Stroud once found a Helle knife on the forest floor while trekking the Temagami Canadian wilderness. Getting a hint as to where the name came from?

Apparently it was “the best knife Stroud would ever use,” and he did so for several years until the wilderness reclaimed it.

From the release:
Years later, Helle became interested in Stroud as Survivorman, attracted to his philosophies, his values, and way of thinking. Helle approached Stroud to design a new knife – a knife that could be used by true outdoor enthusiasts seeking the real thing: a natural way of life. When Stroud told the story from Temagami and realized the knife he found in the forest was actually a Helle knife, a rare opportunity for partnership was forged.
[ Read Full Post ]

By David Maccar

by David Maccar

Last month I gave you my take on Gerber’s Ultimate Knife, one of several new products resulting from a collaboration between the knife company and TV host and adventurer Bear Grylls, based on specs and photos.

The folks at Gerber were kind enough to send us an early sample of what they’re calling the pinnacle of the company's Bear Grylls Survival Series (the full line officially goes on sale in February, with the Ultimate Knife slotted for an early release on Nov. 15) along with another item in the series, the wicked-looking Parang machete.

So, what else was I to do but take them into Wharton State Forest in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens and beat the living crap out of them?

Here are the photos and my review of the Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife and Parang and all the bells and whistles (literally on that last one) that come with them. [ Read Full Post ]

By Jay Cassell

I’ve been testing out the new Wenger Swiss Raid Commando watch, and I have to tell you, this is one cool timepiece. It’s big and bright, as you can see, but that’s not even the half of it. Among its features: a solid stainless casing treated with a film of ionized ceramic and metal that creates a slick, impervious surface; quartz movement with a 12-hour chronograph function; date display; tachometer (it can measure speed over a known distance) and really bright luminous hands and numerals. It’s also water-resistant down to 100 meters, according to the company, but I can vouch for that. What I can vouch for, after wearing this last deer season in woods from Saskatchewan to New York, is that the chronograph works, the date display works, the tachometer works, and the thing keeps time as only a Swiss watch can. It can also take a bit of a beating, as I’m not exactly easy on watches.

My only beef is that I found the instructions confusing. Maybe an IT guy could figure out the watch’s functions the first time reading the manual, but it took me... [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

From the Billings Gazette:
Lost in the Big Horn Mountains, presumed dead by family and friends and hallucinating because of too much wind and too little food, Travis McMahan, stumbling up a creek, found a dead fish.

“It looked all rotten,” he said. . . . “I cut its head off and skinned its back,” he said of the fish. “And there was good meat in there, so I ate it.”

Later that day, his father and 15 friends — making one last-ditch search effort before a snowstorm was forecast to hit — found him. His father, who had expected to find his son’s body, was the first person he saw. . . .

“He really didn’t say much,” Travis said of his father’s reaction to finding him. “He was just in tears.”

Be sure to check out the whole, harrowing story. [ Read Full Post ]

By John Merwin

Staying alive. Personal safety is high on my fall fishing list. The water temperature this morning on one of the big lakes I often fish is 51 degrees. Normally dressed, if I fall out of the boat there’s a good chance of death by hypothermia.

So a couple of years ago, I bought one of the Mustang Survival Jackets shown here. It’s a floatation coat/PFD with enough foam inside to also protect my body’s core temperature in the water. I figure that’ll be enough so I can either make it to shore or somehow struggle back into or on the boat on my own. The jacket is also plenty warm and comfortable while fishing.

This was not some free sample, by the way, but cost somewhere well north of $200. When I explained it to my wife, she who otherwise tends to parsimony immediately bought one too.

I have similar thoughts about river fishing. Neoprene chest waders aren’t as comfortable as the new breathables I most often wear, but unlike breathables the neoprene will act as a wetsuit if I take an inadvertent dive. So there would be some warmth during... [ Read Full Post ]

By Chad Love

There's already been a  boatload of bloviation expressed on the recent reversal of the ban on loaded firearms in our national parks, some of it sensible but most of it (predictably) bordering on  hysterics.

This column from the Huffington Post is a perfect example:
 
"In fact,  the new rule is likely to make national park visitors less safe around  wildlife. Packing heat could give some people a false sense of security and  make them more likely to approach bison, elk, moose, and grizzly bears,  rather than keep a safe distance which is better for both people and  animals."

But the most certain outcome of this congressional action is  that it will promote poaching. The National Park Service warned in its fiscal 2006 budget submission each year for the past several years ... The data  suggests that there is a significant domestic as well as international trade  for illegally taken plant and animal parts." Poaching, the agency said, "is suspected to be a factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife  and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks." 

[ Read Full Post ]