Crate Club

The Crate Club Fishing Spear is on sale now — Here’s how to use it

Let’s go stab something was the first thing that crept through my head when I opened the Crate Club fishing spear. The fishing spear is actually a spearhead, and its designed to be packed in a bug out or survival bag to give you the ability to create a proper spear when needed. Carrying a spear would be way too burdensome but a simple spearhead covers the most important part of the spear. Finding the handle is on you, but in nature this isn’t too difficult. I love projects and gear that makes me go out there and learn so the Crate Club fishing spear was perfect for that application.

The Fishing Spear comes into two pieces that can interweave to form a 4 point spear. Although if you only want a two-point spear that’s an option as well. Why two over four points? Isn’t more stabby things better than less stabby things? Well, usually, but not always. If you are fishing in an area with lots of rocks, logs, or thick muck a two-point spear is more maneuverable overall. Four points will make it easier to hit the fish by giving you a wider implement.

In some situations, you may not find the perfect handle and need a lighter two-point spear as well. The Crate Club fishing spear gives you options for both scenarios.

Fishing Spear Specs

The Fishing spear is nice and large at 9 inches overall length. The spear is made from the tough and rust resistant 420HC steel. The spear points all have a retaining lip opposite the edge and at the very end of the entire spearhead is a chisel. This chisel is designed to implant the spearhead into your chosen handle, but can also be used as a scraping tool. The fishing spear also comes with a polymer sheath and a length of paracord for lashing purposes.

Building It

The first step is finding a proper branch that’s roughly 2 inches in diameter. I found it a little easier to work with sticks that were a bit bigger than 2 inches. After that, you need to use the longer portion of the fishing spear. This portion has the large chisel.

Hold the chisel against the end of the stick and use something hard to pound the chisel into the handle. I tried both a good-sized rock and just stabbing it into a tree and had excellent success. The spearhead has a line on it marking how far it needs to go.

If you are making a two-point spear stop here and wrap the lash around the handle near the top of the spear.

If you are going with a four-point spear remove this spearhead and turn the spearhead perpendicular to the original cut. Now drive the spearhead back into the handle an inch or so. This will make a cross cut into the handle.

Remove the spearhead and assemble into a four-point spear. The spearhead clicks together. Now align the two spearheads with your cuts and drive them inward. Once they are properly seated all you need to do is lash the paracord around the handle, near the spearhead as tightly as you can.

In the Wild

This is not a spear designed for throwing. Remember this is an improvised device and treat it as such. It’s designed for stabbing and is built as a fishing spear. However, if you can catch them it will handle small game rather well too.

Drive the spear into the target with force and push it to the ground. Then continue to push the spear to ensure its deep enough in the animal for you to lift it from the water or ground. The Crate Club fishing spear could even be a great improvised weapon against medium-sized animals like strays and vicious dogs. Admittedly I’d rather have a gun for that personally, but shit happens.

The head is nice and heavy so driving it through water isn’t difficult, and when properly built it stay together drive after drive. I’ve built two now and neither has slipped or slid even after accidentally striking rocks or glancing off other debris. The Crate Club fishing spear is a tough, capable, and easy to pack tool that gives you the key to a hunting, fishing, and defensive weapon.

Check out the Crate Club to get a monthly crate of quality gear that’s hand-picked and tested by Special Operations veterans and outdoor professionals.

Protect your eyes without getting foggy: Oakley Field Jackets are 40% off from Crate Club

When it comes to eye protection, there are a lot of options out there that’ll meet your basic criteria–but if you’re going to be spending a good chunk of time in your eye pro, you want more than just bare bones protection. Oakley’s Field Jacket sunglasses are perfect for any outdoor activity, whether you’re popping off rounds at the range or chasing a toddler on the playground, but what really sets them apart from other options on the market is the “Advancer” nose bridge switch that, when flipped, will actually pull the frames of the glasses away from your face ever so slightly.

What good does that do? Well, to put it simply, that little gap between the lenses and your nasty face allows for a bit of airflow that can help keep you from overheating in extreme environments while helping the anti-fog lenses stay as anti-fogged as you’d like them to be. Out here in the woods of Georgia, dynamic shooting drills in high humidity can leave even the best shades foggy–but thanks to the Advancer switch on these Field Jackets, my vision stayed clear long enough that I found myself having to make up all new excuses for me to take a break in the Georgia heat.

These glasses usually run you around $250 retail, but our partners at the Crate Club are currently unloading their stock of Field Jackets at an insane $150. Use the purchase link below to get yours while supplies last!

Find these and other great products from the Crate Club

Stay healthy on the trail with 40% off this EDC medical kit from the Crate Club

In a survival situation, there’s no such thing as an inconsequential injury. Small cuts and abrasions can compromise your ability to do the things you need to do, and the looming threat of infection is ever present in a field environment.

Whether you’re lost in the woods or you’re fighting your way through the streets of a third world country, if you want to last longer than a few days, you’ll need a way to treat small injuries before they become significant threats. That’s where kits like the Crate Club’s new Ouch Pouch, or Every Day Carry Med Kit, come in.

Unlike trauma kits meant for emergencies, the Ouch Pouch comes with everything you need to manage the sorts of wounds you can expect to accumulate during a long hike, camping trip, or covert run for the border. Inside the sleek black pouch, you’ll find all the gear necessary to clean, treat, and cover cuts, scrapes, bruises, and even burns, along with other essentials that’ll help keep you moving when the going gets tough, like Ibuprofen, Aspirin, an antihistamine, and antidiarrheal meds.

If you’re lucky, you’ll never need to use a trauma kit, but the Crate Club Ouch Pouch is meant for frequent and easy use, addressing small wounds before they can get infected, and helping to manage the aches and pains of life in a tough situation. The Ouch Pouch is an essential part of a well rounded kit.

To purchase all the gear included in the Crate Club’s new Ouch Pouch would run you just shy of fifty dollars, but right now you can get the complete kit for just $29.99 for however long supplies last.

Snatch up your Ouch Pouch from the Crate Club for just $29.99 while supplies last by following this link

Turn your backpack into a ballistic vest with 40% Crye Precision Ballistic Soft Armor Inserts from Crate Club

It’s easy to be prepared for an emergency you see coming, but that’s the thing about emergencies: you rarely do. That’s why we try to maintain a simple mindset in our approach to gear reviews–it’s not just about the quality of a product or how much it costs, it’s also about how feasible a product actually is in real life situations. It’s long been my belief that a firearm that digs into your hip everyday will eventually find itself left in the glove box, a pocket knife that you can’t easily open with one hand will find its way into a drawer, and any piece of kit that weighs you down or makes you uncomfortable will work it’s way out of your pack or off of your belt once the novelty of the purchase wears off. It’s just a fact of life: when something makes our lives harder, we tend to lose interest in having it around, even if it could save our lives in the event of an attack.

In today’s world full of news reports about mass shooters, terror attacks, and armed thugs, the need to be prepared is more prevalent than ever, but because we have a lot to do in our busy days, it’s also important that being prepared doesn’t compromise our ability to function or make us stand out in a crowd. Walking around in full battle rattle like you did in the streets of Fallujah might offer a great deal of protection, but being the guy with visible tactical gear also makes you a target (and tends to ruffle the feathers of your coworkers).

When it comes to ballistic protection in an emergency situation, discretion is key. Any shooter worth his salt will prioritize high-threat targets over the civilians he came to massacre, making a guy in a flak jacket the first to be put down in many situations, rather than the last. That’s where quality ballistic protection that doesn’t add significant bulk or weight to your day comes in: you need something that doesn’t compromise your ability to function like a normal person but that can protect you when bullets start to fly, and in that regard, one of the best best products on the market is, without a doubt, the Crye Precision Ballistic Soft Armor Insert.

The concept is simple: slide the insert into your backpack or shoulder bag and it creates a layer of ballistic protection between you and the guy with a loaded 9mm and a few wires crossed in his brain. The insert is thin and light enough to just keep in your pack everyday and forget about–until you need it, that is.

Just one of these inserts can turn your old JanSport book bag into a ballistic vest that’ll stop most pistol caliber attacks, giving you the protection you need to get out of harms way, or to intervene if the opportunity presents itself. The only real downside to these inserts is usually the cost associated with them: ballistic protection you can stow in you book bag and forget about will usually run you about $300 retail. Fortunately for us, that’s where our sponsors over at the Crate Club come in.

This week, the Crate Club is having a huge sale on Crye Precision Ballistic Soft Armor Inserts – and when I say huge, I mean damn near half off. You can grab your insert for just $179.99 for as long as the Crate Club’s stockpile lasts–making this the perfect gift for students heading off to high school or college after the summer break, frequent travelers, or for anyone that prizes safety and security but doesn’t want to make a target out of themselves with higher profile protection.

Follow this link to get your Crye Precision Ballistic Soft Armor Inserts for 40% off from the Crate Club

Stashable Survival: Crate Club’s 12 in 1 Survival Kit packs a punch

Of course, we all know there’s no such thing as an “all in one” survival kit, especially when we’re talking about something compact enough to stash in the glove box of your car, but the folks over at the Crate Club know their gear, and they managed to jam this small survival kit with 12 handy tools that might be just what you need to get yourself out of a jam.

There are lots of great pieces of gear on the market today, but even the best gear can’t help if it’s sitting in a pile in your garage. Effective gear needs to strike a balance between capable and comfortable–because as much as we all hate to admit that we might be a bit soft from time to time, if a piece of our kit starts gnawing away at our love handles or weighing us down through the day, chances are it’s going to get stowed.

That’s where these handy 12 in 1 Survival Kits come in handy. You can stick one under the seat of your car, stash one in your go bag, or just about anywhere else that could fit two packs of cigarettes. This kit isn’t going to be your primary survival loadout. Instead, it’s all about getting you of a bad situation without cramping your style in the mean time.

Here’s a full list of what the kit includes:

1 x 5 in 1 Paracord bracelet
1 x Emergency thermal blanket
1 x Flintstone
1 x Multi-function scraper
1 x Tactical steel pen
1 x Tactical torch LED flashlight (AA battery not included)
1 x Compass
1 x Portable mini light
1 x Tactical Military Knife
1 x Swiss card
1 x Whistle
1 x Water-resistant and shockproof case

You can get one by joining our sponsors at the Crate Club, or you can scoop up just the kit itself for under forty bucks from this link.

When you need a compact backup light: ASP Pocket Light

In an effort to further minimize my EDC I have begun to carry a new light. Regular handheld lights can be difficult to conceal and carry a weight that could be better used in a different capacity like an extra magazine or a fixed blade knife. Consequently, I have found a pretty good trade off to be the ASP Pocket light.

I carry the ASP Pocket light attached to my RAM key fob and it is remarkably unnoticeable in my pocket. With a total length of 2.9 inches and a diameter of only a half of an inch this light is so compact that I forget I even have it. Weighing .8 ounces with the battery, a first glance concern would be brightness. How bright can a keychain light really be?

The answer is that its bright enough to take place of your normal EDC light. Not a good enough answer? To be more specific the light has two separate output levels, one measuring at only 15 lumens while the high setting puts out 80 lumens. Not bad for a keychain light.

Even if you don’t want to completely replace your EDC light, you can still add this accessory to your loadout without sacrificing any space or adding the extra burden of weight. With a run time of up to 6 hours depending on output level, this little fella will make the things that go bump in the night into the things that go bump in the light.

Check out the Crate Club to get a monthly crate of quality gear that’s hand-picked and tested by Special Operations veterans.

Courtesy of the Crate Club Knowledgebase