Archive | Survival

Lightning Review: OCOOPA Rechargeable Hand Warmer

I have gone through a lot of disposable, chemical hand warmers over the years. I like using them to keep my hands warm without the need for bulky gloves, keeping my hands more free for kung fu and such. I also think having a way to charge up a cell phone on hand is a good idea. So, the more I read about OCOOPA Rechargeable Hand Warmers, the more I wanted to try one.

I purchased the 5200mAh model which features 3 levels of warmth, USB-C charging, and a very pocketable and sleek shape. The single-button interface is easy to use – tap once to view charge level or hold for heat, then tap to change heat levels. These warmers have two aluminum plates (one of each face of the warmer) that give you plenty of surface area to make contact with or even share heat between both hands so I haven’t felt the need to buy a second one.

This hand warmer has surprised me with just how much I use it. It is great for cold hands, obviously, but I have found it to be a decent battery bank as well. It also works well tucked into an inside pocket of a jacket to add a little warmth. My office gets a little cold sometimes so I even use it there for warming hands or tucked under my flannel.

I will say that I think the duration time that OCOOPA states (8 hours of warmth on low) is optimistic. I have noticed that it lasts longer when kept in a pocket so it seems there is some kind of thermal regulation and the insulation provided by the pocket means the warmer heats less often, extending the battery life. I might consider buying a larger capacity model if I was doing this again.

All things considered, I love this thing more than I care to admit. I see it as a battery bank with a very useful bonus feature. If you already carry a battery bank, it would be easy to swap this into your EDC when the weather turns cold.

Given the time of year (as I write this), this would also make a great gift.

I bought mine from Amazon where they are frequently on sale so watch prices: OCOOPA Hand Warmers on Amazon.com

Lightning Review: Hewlett Two-Side Diamond Sharpener Medium/Fine

There are many, many overdone field knife sharpeners on the market but very few that I would consider carrying regularly. That is why I love my USA-made, easy-to-carry Hewlett Two-Sided Diamond Sharpeners with medium (600) and fine (1800) grits. I have had a couple of these knocking around for years now. It might be the most versatile, easiest-to-carry, field sharpener I own.

These diamond plates are the right size – small enough to carry in their included sleeve and large enough to actually work. They are just under 4″ long, 1.25″ wide, and just about 1/16″ thick. They weigh just over 1 ounce.

I rarely use the medium side but it is coarse enough to get some mild reprofiling done in the field should you take some chips out of an edge. The fine side is all I usually need to touch up an edge before finishing with a quick strop.

I have even used mine to strike a ferro rod and scrape tinder like fat wood thanks to the crisp edges on the plate. It isn’t meant for that and I am sure it isn’t good for it… but it works.

I bought mine on Amazon: Hewlett Diamond Sharpener Medium/Fine

Review: Nitecore NU33

I have a long history with the NU series of headlamps from Nitecore. I have used a number of them, carry one daily in the winter, and have written about them on these pages before. When I was given the chance to check out one of the newer lights in the series, the NU33, I jumped at the chance.

Nitecore’s NU series of lights are all defined by a number of features and design elements. They feature integral USB rechargeable batteries. The lights are generally compact and lightweight while also featuring multiple outputs and, often, multiple types of outputs like white, high CRI, red, etc. They also tend to feature well-thought-out user interfaces. The NU33 checks all these boxes.

Overview

The NU33 weighs in at just 3.38 ounces on my scale. This weight includes its aluminum outer construction and integral 2000 mAh lithium battery. It is USB-C rechargeable which is a VERY welcomed change over previous headlamps in the NU series with Micro USB charging. It features three different lighting options: a central white LED, auxiliary high CRI white flood light, and red LED light. Outputs and runtimes are included in the image below.

Observations from Use

I’m not going to share charts, graphs, and pictures of light spots on white walls. Those things can be valuable but I don’t think they will tell the story of just how practical this light is. This light is not flashy in terms of lumen stats but it is exceedingly useful. The care that Nitecore put into making this light easy to live with is impressive.

NU33 (top) shown with the modern classic NU25

First of all, check out those runtimes. Nitecore was somewhat conservative with outputs in favor of runtime. As someone who uses a headlamp daily in the winter, I appreciate that. The main white light, in low mode, will provide 60 regulated lumens for a staggering 37 hours dwindling to about 38 hours according to the runtime graphs provided in the manual. To put that in perspective, it wasn’t that long ago that most headlamps topped out at 60 lumens and we were thrilled with that. It is very useful amount of light for a very long time.

Those lumens are made even more useful by the design of the lens/diffuser that Nitecore uses. It provides a perfectly smooth hotspot that throws well while illuminating a large area. Cleverly, the entire face of the light acts like a diffuser so that you have a light cast over a very wide area as well. This means that even with the light angled high to look as far ahead as possible, there is still light being cast at your feet. I have never seen another headlamp pull off this combination of hotspot for distance and diffused light for area lighting so well.

All light modes are accessible via a simple two button interface.

The auxiliary light modes, high CRI and red, are both useful. That usefulness is maximized by the fact that they are both directly accessible when the light is off meaning there is no need to cycle through the brighter modes, which is a truly great feature of a great UI.

The high CRI light is a feature that I grew to love on my NU25. It’s floody, with no hotspot, very easy on dark-adjusted eyes, and it renders colors faithfully which is handy for tasks like map reading. Best of all, it comes on at a nice, easy-on-the-eyes 6 lumens but can be bumped up to 50 lumens. I can tell you from experience that the low mode is more than enough to walk a dark trail or navigate a dark room and you can do this for 147 hours!

The red light could stand to be a little dimmer to be truly useful but it is available directly from “off” which is great. The red LED also offers a flashing mode which could be useful for those who intend to use this for early morning runs where you might be using this headlamp to be visible to drivers more than to see where you are going.

Switching back to discussing the main white light, the spacing on the 60, 200, and 700 lumen modes is excellent with each offering a large step up in brightness and also balancing run times. The 200 lumen setting is perfect for most uses with a generous 9 hour runtime. The 700 lumen mode has enough punch to really look a long way up the trail while still offering 4 hours of runtime which is noteworthy in a world where most lights offer a high output mode that runs for only about an hour. This sort of well-balanced separation between modes is easy to get wrong but Nitecore nailed it.

The front portion of the NU33’s case is made from anodized aluminum. This is nice for both durability and conducting heat away from the light. The body of the light is fairly compact considering the size of the battery that it houses which makes this light easy to carry and easy to wear. I also think Nitecore has improved the bracket design versus previous lights in the NU series like the NU20 and NU25 which have somewhat fragile brackets.

Previous offerings in the NU series of lights had battery meters but they weren’t as easy to use as the improved meter found on the NU33. Now, instead of having to count dim flashes, the battery level displays on a simple four level LED readout. It is far more foolproof.

Easy to activate and read battery level indicator

I am gushing so far but there are improvements that could be made. For instance, many of the NU series headlamps have a clever silicone rubber bead applied to the inside of the head strap. This prevents sweat from dripping down and helps the strap really lock in place. This feature is curiously missing from the NU33 and I miss it. In addition to my gripes with the red light being too bright, I find it annoying that the light flashes brightly when locking the buttons to prevent accidental activation though I do appreciate that Nitecore provides an option to lock the switches to prevent accidental activation in a pocket or pack.

Wrap Up

I was already a fan of the NU series of headlamps and this NU33 has solidified my love of these lights. It takes everything that was great with the previous NU series lights and makes improvements to the UI, charging interface, and construction. It also offers excellent, useful modes that are well-spaced and easily accessible. Best of all, it goes hard on useful outputs with useful runtimes rather than chasing impressive lumen claims to print on the box.

This is a truly excellent headlamp that retails under $50!

Learn more at Nitecore.com

Purchase at NitecoreStore.com or Amazon

USB-C charging is much more robust than Micro-USB

The Survival Knife in your Pocket – Cold Steel Pendleton Mini Hunter

I owned a Cold Steel Pendleton Mini Hunter years ago. I never really did much with the one I used to own because I didn’t have a sheath that made it very practical to carry but the knife itself was excellent. I thought of it as a paring knife on steroids which is to say it was an excellent utility knife that was quite stout.

Fast forward to earlier this year when I was looking for a knife with some basic requirements – stainless, large and stout enough to baton sticks of a reasonable diameter for fire making, small enough to EDC, and with a 90-degree spine. The idea was that, when coupled with a Swiss Army Knife (with saw) and a ferro rod/lighter, it would be the foundation of a sort of EDC-able survival kit. Surprisingly, this was difficult to find in a relatively affordable production knife which drove me back to the Pendleton Mini Hunter. It not only fits this niche but I found that it has become extremely affordable. I purchased one for just $35.

The knife itself is excellent. The flat ground AUS-10A blade is 3″ long and .130″ thick at the spine which is quite stout. It features a drop point blade shape that has a distal taper to the tip rendering a strong but useful point. The handle is molded rubber that allows a four-finger grip (though it is narrow) and is comfortable to use even when cold thanks to the lack of exposed tang. It has a small guard that is unobtrusive and the 90-degree spine throws sparks like a champ.

In use, it really does feel like the most useful paring knife if your kitchen but 10X as durable. It may not sound like it initially, but that is supposed to be high praise. It can cut your apple for lunch, trim a thread, dress your deer, or start a fire in challenging conditions which is pretty impressive for a knife that costs $35, weighs 2 ounces, and is exceedingly easy to carry… as long as you spend a bit more money on sheaths.

When it comes to sheaths, there are a ton of options. I can only speak to the two I’ve tried. The first is a KSF (Knives Ship Free) Pocono Pocket Sheath. This leather pouch sits gracefully in your front or back pocket and has room to carry a ferro rod (which I do) in addition to the knife.

The sheath second option, a kydex sheath from RK Kydex, is probably the better option considering the versatility, availability, and affordability. I set mine up with a single snap loop which makes it easy to carry on my belt, as a neck knife, or in the pocket. I had this sheath in days, the quality is excellent, and I only paid $28 for it which is very affordable compared to most of the market. I highly recommend these sheaths.

The combination of the Cold Steel Pendleton Mini Hunter and the RK Custom Kydex Sheath was perfect for fleshing out my pocket survival knife idea. It is on my belt as I type this. I think this knife would make a great addition to anyone’s kit or a great gift.

Links to the products above:

Cold Steel Pendleton Mini Hunter AUS10A

Cold Steel Pendelton Mini Hunter 3V (upgraded steel)

KSF Pocono Pocket Sheath

RK Custom Kydex Sheath


The above URLs may be affiliate links.

Amtac Gear Teases New Knife – Northman X

NOTE: See below for the latest information and images.

Amtac Gear recently shared a tease for a new knife in the Amtac Blades line – the Northman X. This knife splits the difference between the Minuteman and the original Northman dimensionally. It appears to be an amalgamation of the larger Minuteman/Magnus grip with the Northman-like blade which should make for a knife that is equally at home in a pocket sheath or on the belt, especially for those who find the Northman handle to be on the small side.

You can read our review of the Northman to get a taste of why this is an exciting development. Like all Amtac Blades, I am sure this new knife will be supported with all the sheaths users need to squeeze every last ounce of versatility out of it.

https://amtacblades.com/

UPDATE: The NorthmanX is now confirmed and available to pre-order. https://amtacblades.com/northmanx/

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