camping gear

Grabber Outdoors All Weather Blanket Review

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GrabberOutdoorsOriginalAllWeatherBlanket

Grabber Outdoors Original Space Brand All Weather Blanket

Edit:  Feb. 2013

I’ve discovered a better way to use this in a tent. In a small two person tent, put this up against one wall of the tent and it ups the ambient temp of the tent really well. In a small tent, i tie two corners along the angular top edge, and two corners along one edge of the base heat reflector facing inwards, of course. Takes a little while but it works better than laying it underneath your sleeping bag. For the floor, a sleeping pad works better to deal with the cold. Continue reading →

High Peak Dura Loft Bag Review

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HighPeakDuraLoftBag

Edit:  Dec 2011

Two camping trips in, I’ve learned a little more about this sleeping bag. The short answer is, it’s not nearly as warm as advertised if used flat on the ground. But then, from the research I’ve done, very few sleeping bags are if you lay it on the ground flat. For those who haven’t experienced it yet, it’s beause insulation works when there’s air in the insulation, but the bottom of the sleeping bag is compressed because of your weight, thus, no insulation and therefore cold. Continue reading →

Kelty Teton 2 Two-Person Tent Review

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KeltyTetonTent IMG_5946
I’d been looking for a 2 person tent for quite a while now. and it seems that there are two major factors affecting price these days: lighter weight and 4 season toughness. I didn’t need 4 season toughness, but I wanted a tent as light as I could get. Surprise surprise, every pound in weight you drop, the price skyrockets to another tier. I was unwilling to deal with 6 lbs and was very reluctant to deal with 5lbs. 4lbs was my goal since anything under jumped to about $250-$400 and I wasn’t willing to pay that. Continue reading →

Gear Aid Seam Sealer Tube, 2oz Review

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GearAidSeamSureWaterbasedSealerTube

This seam sealer is highly recommended so I got it to use on my tent. The brush is useful, but take note, the liquid is like elmer’s glue, but more runny so even a few drops will follow gravity quickly. As such, make sure the brush is always facing down, just above part you want to run the sealer over. Trying to do it sideways or upside down is laughably impossible as the liquid just runs down the bottle. Best way is to turn your tent inside out to seal the inside seams.

As for quality, it comes highly recommended, tho I won’t know till I field test it.

Garmin External GPS Antenna (BNC) Review

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Garmin External GPS Antenna

I recently purchased this item for an old GPS that was going strong in most ways but suffered from a weakish signal. By purchasing this antenna, I was hoping to dramatically improve the signal, thereby turning an old mil-spec’d Garmin GPS V into a useful emergency GPS for my bug-out bag.

Since the original factory installed antenna is bnc, changing out to this antenna is a simple affair. Continue reading →