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HomePosts Tagged "Gear Reviews"

In Prepper circles there are a myriad of opinions on gear selection. From the best survival knife to the best caliber of handgun to purchase all the way down to paracord differences. The good thing for preppers is that there are so many suppliers of quality gear out there and we get the benefit of competition.

We also get the job of making decisions and in some cases; with the large number of choices you have, finding that one “perfect” thing can be elusive. I myself have purchased more than one of several items in my prepping supplies trying out new options or searching for a better solution. Bug Out Bags are another item in which preppers have options. Some might say too many options to make a good determination, right or wrong about the bag they are going to count on when you need to go mobile and survive.

I was fortunate enough to be contacted by the good folks at 3V Gear. 3V Gear came into being based on the owner, Daniel Beck, trying to find a bug out bag. In Daniels experience, most of the packs out there were very expensive or ill-equipped for the general 72-hour time frame. As with most entrepreneurs he decided to create his own bag. What came from that inspiration was the Paratus (based on Semper Paratus) meaning Always Ready. 3V Gear asked me if I wanted to review one of their Paratus bags for the readers of the Prepper Journal.3V-Gear_Logo01

Any long-time readers of this blog know that Final Prepper is not a “review” website typically but I do on occasion review products that I feel would be of significant value to preppers out there. Bug Out Bags fit into a category of gear that isn’t usually cheap either so the less purchases one can make trying to find the perfect bag, the better.

The Paratus 3 Day Operator’s Pack

The Paratus 3 Day Operator's Pack

The Paratus 3 Day Operator’s Pack loaded in the back of the Bug Out Vehicle. The pack itself is generously sized and can easily accommodate a lot of gear or supplies.

Quality

The Paratus 3 Day Operators pack is designed to be a bug out bag. It has double stitched seams, self-healing zippers, 600D PVC backed nylon and almost 3000 cubic inches of internal capacity. It is covered in just enough Military spec MOLLE  to give you a wide array of options for attachments and arrangements. The two outer pouches give you extra capacity and are the perfect size for an IFAK. They wobble slightly but it isn’t anything that bothers me. I removed one of them.

From everything I can tell on this bag it is constructed very well. I took this with me on a trip out-of-town and it served as my luggage for a week-long trip perfectly. I even threw my laptop in there in the main compartment and it fit perfectly. The compartment I put it in was likely made for a water bladder as there is a flap in the top of the Paratus that would allow a drinking tube to come out.

The front compartment has a mesh divider about half-way up the back for throwing loose items in there. You don’t have mini-pockets and internal places for pens and paper, but I never use those things anyway. Actually, I feel like I need to search around for items to put in those mini pockets and dividers…

All of the stitching seems to be quality and the zippers operate with ease. I received the black model so it looks more tactical that some of the other colors, but they all look suited to some form of combat.

Function

According to 3V Gear, the Paratus is designed to be fully adjustable to the users needs. It comes with an accessory pouch, the removable pack and all of the MOLLE you need to customize the pack to suit your needs.

The Deployment pack is the perfect size for some extra rations, spare magazines and blow out kit items.

The removable Deployment pack is the perfect size for some extra rations, spare magazines and blow out kit items. Optionally you could use it for your tactical shower kit to impress all the guys.

The Paratus also comes with a Deployment Pack that is fully MOLLE compatible and will attach to any MOLLE pack, vest or other gear. This compact pack has a convenient grab handle or it can be carried with the concealable waist belt. Perfect for when you need to grab your kit and go or for 100 other possible uses, i.e. first aid kits, ammo bags, for climbing harnesses, survival kits, even video camera bags.

The Paratus’ dimensions are the maximum allowable for airline carry-on requirements. I had this in the back of my car, but it would make a perfect bag for a three-day trip, or bugging out on short notice.

  • Main compartment: 20” H x 12″W x 5.5″D (1320 cubic inches) with internal organization
  • Top front: 13″ H x 12″ W x 3″ D (468 cubic inches) pleated w/ internal organization
  • Two large MOLLE pouches attached to each side, (5″x 2.5″x 8″, 100 cubic inches)
  • Overall Size: 2890 cubic inches
  • Body contoured shoulder straps with D-Ring for equipment attachment
  • Adjustable padded waist belt
  • Waist belt measures 52″
  • External side compression straps
  • Heavy-duty carry and drag handle
  • Molded EVA back panel
  • Two double zipper pulls on the main compartment for easy access
  • All zipper pulls threaded with para-cord for durability and noise reduction
  • MOLLE and PALs attachment points throughout
  • Includes 3V Gear Rapid Deployment pack
  • 3″ x 5″ Velcro ID panel with 3V Gear 3D PVC Logo patch
  • Hydration compatible
  • Sternum strap
  • Available in: Olive Drab, Black, and Coyote Tan

Comparing the Paratus the 5.11 Rush 24

One of the things I wanted to look into were how the Paratus from 3V Gear compared to my trusty Rush 24 from 5.11 Tactical. For starters the price, when I bought the Rush 24 was about $175. Rush is also made out of 1050D nylon as opposed to 600D for the Paratus. What does that mean? The 1050D Nylon has a higher tear strength but to my untrained eyes and fingers it was basically the same fabric. For sitting in the back of my car waiting on an emergency, the fabric of the Paratus seemed more than adequate.

You can see below how the profile of the two packs is different with the Paratus appearing slightly thinner, but they both have almost the same capacity with all added features.

  • Rush 24 – 2070 cubic inch capacity
  • Paratus – Main compartment + Top Front = 1788 cubic inches. Add the Deployment pack (not shown below) and you get another 432 for a total of 2220. The side pouches add another 100 cubic inches.

Paratus4

Paratus2

Overall Impressions of the Paratus 3 Day Pack

The Paratus pack is priced competitively at $80 on Amazon.com and to be perfectly honest, the price is what made me take notice. At the time, the Rush Bags, well anything from Maxpedition or 5.11 to be sure were well in excess of that price so I had discounted the Paratus as being inferior. Surely, they could not offer comparable quality with that much of a price difference could they?

I am happy say that while it isn’t the exact same thing, I think the Paratus makes for a perfectly acceptable alternative to the Rush 24 series bags. We can quibble around the details – does the Rush 24 have more features? Maybe, but at the end of the day, it is a pack you throw on your back that holds stuff. The Paratus, at well under $100 is a great value and I am sure you will agree if you purchase one for yourself.

I just checked and even the Rush 24 price has come down to about $110. Perhaps Paratus is giving 5.11 a run for their money?

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In Prepper circles there are a myriad of opinions on gear selection. From the best survival knife to the best caliber of handgun to purchase all the way down to

 There are hosts of camp stoves in the marketplace today, as I learned when I started to doing my research. Many use liquid or compressed gas fuels, which have the benefit of accurate metering of fuel, and as a result, the heat output of the stove. But they also have the disadvantage of the cost and inconvenience with regard to obtaining fuel, plus the added danger that some of these highly explosive fuels present.

Back in the day, being poorly funded, we either improvised a lot of our camping equipment, or we learned to do without. We may have accidentally been building and using some of the earliest versions of today’s rocket stoves, which were little more than modified Maxwell House coffee cans.

Of course like many outdoors men and women, if we were at our hunting camp and intended to stay for a week or more, we would bring-in a small home-made (welded) steel stove (which was very heavy).  If we were hiking or on horses, then that stove stayed home, and we would have to improvise and build something on-site using rocks, trying to incorporate some form of reflector for added warmth.
Coming into camp after hiking for 10 miles with your rifle, sometimes in the cold and rain, we would always be looking-forward to huddling around the warmth of the camp stove or make-shift fire pit and warming-up with some hot coffee and chow. So as we see, a good stove optimally provides some warmth and also cooks your food and heats water for coffee.

When I started my review of the ‘Survivor’ model of SilverFire’s rocket-stove, the first thing that struck me was that it was not all that heavy! Considering how well the stove is built, coupled with the fact that the stove has some form of heat-sink encased between the outer stainless steel housing and the inner liner, it’s amazing that the stove weighs-in at mere 12.5 pounds.

The encased heat-sink is important because it stores and then slowly radiates the heat collected from the fire inside in a measured manner. I also maintains and modulates the thermal updraft inside the stove’s chimney, keeping the fire inside going without the need to have it ‘blazing‘. I also noticed that the stove continued to radiate heat for a considerable period of time even after we allowed the fire to go out.

Since the SilverFire ‘Survivor’ is designed as a bio-mass stove, it will readily burn twigs or ground scrub (flammable organic biomass), making sourcing fuel an easy task in most environments. Even in post disaster areas, there is always an abundance of wood scraps and splinters strewn about, that would provide ideal fuel for this stove in most post-disaster scenarios, where a stove like this would be a real blessing.

We have been shelling walnuts as of late, and walnut shells make good fuel for small fires. Since I had a convenient pile of walnut shells, I decided to give the stove a try with the walnut shells.

I have friends that have used them in their pellet stoves will great success, And by using the walnut shells, you have complete utilization of the harvested nuts. An added benefit is that the charcoal from burned walnut shells can be used medicinally, and if properly processed and packaged in a housing, it can also be used as a charcoal filter for water, but I digress a bit.

The SilverFire ‘Survivor’ is very well made and that’s a fact; it’s solid and sturdy! It will easily endure being packed along a trail in a backpack or on a mule if you’re packing heavy.

The access door on the side of the stove made lighting the stove very easy. We used a small bed of shredded paper fire-starter (dipped with candle wax) and placed a handful of walnut shells on top of that. It lit right-off and once the fire was burning, we simply closed the access door. There is a small vent integrated into the door assembly that allows metered air-flow into the stove.

Because we were using Walnut shells, we could continue to feed the fire by lifting our pot off the top of the stove and then using a large metal spoon to periodically pour-in some added shells from the top. You can also add any bio-mass fuel in this manner (from the top), or alternatively, you can feed the fire from the access door as needed.

We decided to boil a pot of water and time that process. We added about 2 quarts of water to a stainless-steel (copper bottom) pot and waited. The water in the pot reached 212 degrees in approximately 19 minutes, which seemed a reasonable time since we weren’t running a blaze, but instead, a controlled fire.

All things considered, for the price point of about $120.00, the SilverFire ‘Survivor’ is a great compact survival or disaster stove and considering its quality, should last a lifetime!

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 There are hosts of camp stoves in the marketplace today, as I learned when I started to doing my research. Many use liquid or compressed gas fuels, which have the

If you have not seen or heard of MRE’s (Meal Ready to Eat) by now, I have to wonder where you have been. MRE’s are a military staple that has naturally bled over into the preparedness market because of their long storage life and simplicity. For the uninitiated, MRE’s are what our soldiers eat when they are away from base. MRE’s come from a long history of military food options that are meant to fill bellies and provide energy in a near bomb proof package that can be thrown in the back of a connex for 5 years and not go bad. Taste and consistency are usually the casualties in this type of scenario.

MRE’s are utilitarian and I have said it before, if you are expecting gourmet out of something with those requirements you will be in for a big surprise. Other bloggers have complained about how unhealthy the meals are and how the taste leaves something to be desired. While that may be true in a sense, again these weren’t designed to win any foodie contests; their only mission is keeping you alive. These are not fresh ingredients you grew in your garden or purchased at the local Whole Foods, these are survival rations.

When I was in the Army, these were usually given out as lunch. Hot breakfast and dinner were usually offered any time we were away from our regular mess hall so we didn’t technically live on MRE’s but ate more than enough to develop favorites. I had tried them all and some were definitely better than others. I have had my fair share of MRE’s in various locations all over the world. Did they taste better than anything else, no but they were filling.

XMRE Meals

The XMRE 1300XT is designed to provide 1300 calories in one meal. It is the same idea as any other MRE but with a little more calories. Like all MRE’s, the idea that makes these meals such a good choice for the military also makes them worthy of consideration for preppers, so I was happy to give it a try.

I opened the box and saw a lot of new menu choices that I had never tried before:

  • Shredded Beef in barbeque Sauce
  • Chilli and Macaroni
  • Cheese Tortellini
  • Chicken Pesto Pasta
  • Southwest Style Beef in Black Bean Sauce

I don’t think any of these menu items were available when I was in the service, but the idea is the same. In every MRE you get the following:

  • entrée: Variety of beef, chicken or vegetarian entrees.
  • Cracker/Bread: Regular or vegetable crackers, snack bread or flour tortillas.
  • Snacks : Nut raisin mix, dry fruit mix, corn nuggets or others
  • Spreads/Sauce: Peanut butter, Cheese spreads, fruit jellies, fruit jams or others.
  • Dessert :  Puddings, pound cakes, wet packed fruit, dessert cookies, dairy shakes or other portion-controlled packs.
  • Fruit Flavored Beverage: Single or assorted fruit flavored drink mixes or others available.
  • Instant coffee: Single serve instant coffee.
  • Spoon: Single serve instant coffee.
  • Napkin: 11 ¾ x 12 ¾ brown napkin.
  • Beverage Bag: Hot beverage bag included in each meal.
  • Condiment Kit: Includes salt and pepper, non-dairy creamer and sugar.
  • Moist Towelette: Towelette with sanitizing soap solution. Which comes in handy if you are like me and get food all over your fingers.
  • Optional Flameless Heater: One MRE military type flame-less meal/ration heater – for each XMRE complete meal kit.

I decided to go hiking on a local trail with my survival dog and try the XMRE out for lunch. I took the Shredded Beef with barbeque Sauce and for those counting calories, the nutrition information is printed nicely on the back of every bag.

XMRE Nutrition information clearly displayed for those of you in a SHTF situation worried about your figure.

After we walked along for a little bit in the snow I found what I thought was a good place to stop and eat lunch. I poured the contents of the XMRE out and remembered that it is better to do this on level ground. Oh, how the mind forgets when you get older. I took out the Ration heater and got ready to warm my meal up. We didn’t have heaters when I was in the army, we relied on fires or the engine block of our 5-ton trucks to keep food warm. The last ration heater I tried took a couple of minutes to get warm, but not the heater from XRME. It started smoking almost immediately and was definitely doing a good job. My meal was nice and toasty in no time which if you think about a Bug out scenario could be an advantage. No fire would mean you could escape detection more easily.

MRE’s are pre-cooked so all you really need to do is open the bag and start eating.

I tried the cracker and jelly but prefer Peanut butter or cheese on a hard cracker. It just seems to go better, but both were just as good as any MRE cracker I had ever eaten. Mine tend to crumble in my hands and this was no exception. My dog helped me finish off some of that part.

Next I moved on to something I hadn’t tried in an MRE before and that was Roasted Corn Nuggets. This was just like corn nuts and provided a nice crunchy appetizer before the main meal.

Corn Nuggets were a tasty surprise.

After I had finished the cracker and corn nuggets, I was ready for the shredded beef. Opening the bag I saw exactly what I expected to see. It wasn’t pretty (is shredded beef ever?) but it tasted pretty good. My dog kept a very watchful eye to make sure that I didn’t drop any.

Don’t let it out of your sight!

The last item I tried was the cookie. Again, something I never had in the MRE’s of old. We had things like fruit loaf, which wasn’t too bad, but this cookie was pretty big and it tasted good too. Maybe I was hungrier than I thought or my standards were low.

Big cookie for dessert.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with my XMRE meal. The food all tasted fresh for an MRE if that makes sense. Everything tasted good and even the moist towelette bath I had to take to get all of the barbecue sauce off my face was nice. When I was done I threw all my trash in the handy-dandy bag and we got back on the trail.

What is an MRE good for?

Going back to my earlier remarks about MRE’s. They are not what I would feed my children every day if I had options. These meals are made to stay fresh and stable for years so you have to understand there are some chemicals in here. I choose to look at these for what I believe are their strengths. Exceptionally long storage life – usually about 5 years in the right conditions. They require no cooking. They come with all the utensils you need to eat, wash up and have a cup of coffee afterward. They are dead simple.

I have a few boxes of MRE’s in my home because they augment my food stores. While they don’t form the majority of my food supply, I think they have a place. If disaster happens and I want to eat a quick meal without cooking anything, I have the MRE. If I need to go out away from home for a day or two, MRE. If I want to offer some charity to someone, MRE.

Are MRE’s a good choice for you? Only you can answer that question, but I am pleased with the quality of XMRE and would recommend them to anyone. You can purchase these online at Amazon and for more information you can view their website.

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If you have not seen or heard of MRE’s (Meal Ready to Eat) by now, I have to wonder where you have been. MRE’s are a military staple that has

It should go without saying that James Wesley Rawles has had a significant impact on the prepper and survivalist community. His daily blog www.survivalblog.com draws over 84 thousand unique views each month from the US alone and the years of information contained in its pages have informed millions. In addition to his blog, Mr. Rawles is a busy speaker sharing his knowledge and experience as a former Army Intelligence officer at prepper conferences all over the US as well as a writer. He has written 5 books already and another title is in the works.

One of the very first books I read as I started getting into what has now been labeled as prepping was How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It. This book helped me foundationally start to look at some of the problems I was identifying in the world and how to plan to survive. Shortly after I read this book, I purchased Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse. I am not a fast reader by any stretch because my reading time is almost exclusively reserved for when I am ready for bed and want to get a chapter or two in before I crash.

Patriots was such an excellent book, and I just so happened to be on vacation that I finished it in a couple of days; in between seeing family and eating too much. I was so enthralled with the story of the Grays and their survival group in Idaho. I learned so much from this book and it captivated me with the portrayal of an economic collapse and the fallout from that event in the US. I have since reread it because in the realm of prepping this is great fiction right up there with Alas Babylon and One Second After.
I was approached by the publisher of Mr. Rawles latest novel Expatriates a few weeks ago to see if I was interested in reviewing this book as well so naturally I took them up on it and I just finished last night.

Expatriates, along with two other books, Survivors and Founders aren’t continuations of his original novel Patriots. All of the books in this series are told contemporaneously.

Expatriates

It is hard for me to separate this book from Patriots or Survivors since they are all about an economic collapse called “the crunch” but this novel is set in Australia and the Philippines primarily. There are a lot of characters and the story shows how several sets of people deal with the changing realities of life where the formal US government has been dissolved. If you are interested in reading about surviving on a boat or Nautical Survival, this book will offer you a lot of interesting scenarios.

Expatriates paints a different picture of a collapse than I have been considering but it is one that is probably more likely. Instead of something as dramatic and instantaneous as ‘collapse’ sounds, there is more of a slow slide into a different reality. The food isn’t gone the first day, people can still purchase fuel for a time and life goes on for years. His timeline approach for each of the areas allows his characters to live out the problems Mr. Rawles must envision if a similar future visits our shores.

The story is full of a lot of details about elements in the story unique to the location. From weapon specifications to mining operations and local customs, Expatriates weaves a story that tries to immerse the reader in the lives of each of the characters and finishes with a major confrontation and a satisfying ending. If you like prepper fiction then I am sure you will like Expatriates. Now that I finished this latest book, I want to go back and read Patriots again, but I have too many other books on my nightstand.

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It should go without saying that James Wesley Rawles has had a significant impact on the prepper and survivalist community. His daily blog www.survivalblog.com draws over 84 thousand unique views