Camping Gear

Scrubba Washbag: Keep your clothes clean in the field

The Scrubba Tactical Washbag is a nice little design intending to keep your bags a little lighter by offering you the option of cleaning clothes easily and effectively. While I posted my initial impressions here, I’ve now had the opportunity to air my dirty laundry a bit.

To recap, the Scrubba is a polyether bag with a built-in washboard of sorts made from little rubber nodules. Using the Scrubba is easy: simply add clothes, water and a little detergent. Using the air-lock valve to deflate the bag, manhandle the bag for a minute or so. Open it up, wring the clothes out, rinse the clothes off and you should have yourself what is advertised as a “machine quality wash”.

I decided to put it to the test

After a few days hunting in the rocky hills of eastern Oregon in 100°+ heat, I was left with a small pile of pretty funky clothing. I picked out the clothes with the most stank: two pairs of Ranger Panties and a DCU top that hasn’t been washed since midway through my last Afghanistan deployment (in 2004). There’s a layer of salt crust on there that I think might require Holy Fire to remove.

Yes, the Scrubba is a simple-to-use product. I tossed in my clothes, dumped in 3/4’s of a gallon of water and a little dash of laundry soap. My advice is to add a little water to the soap prior to loading in the clothes to let it get a bit sudsy, but I’ll get into that a little later. Rolled the top of the bag down and clipped it shut. Opening the air valve, I squeezed all the air out. Tossing the bag on the ground, I then used my body weight to mush, grind and rubba the Scrubba for about a minute and a half. Not getting a whole lot of movement out of the clothes due to the full-on vacuum, I let just a little air in and washed the clothes for another half-minute.

Opening the bag, I dumped out the water and started wringing out the clothes. A quick rinse, then another wring-out. I found a convenient branch in the sun nearby and aired out my laundry. A couple of hours in the sun and I was ready to pack up and move out, cleaner no doubt than when I arrived.

But how clean? I keep coming back to the advertising point of “machine quality wash” because it is both a bold claim and the easiest reference point for us all. I gave the washed laundry the only two tests that matter: the smell test and the eyeball test. First up, the DCU top. Smell test? Fresh! Eyeball test? Still some sweat and salt stains around the collar. I think even a machine would have a little trouble getting those out though… Second up were the Ranger panties or “silkies”. These are also known as the “undergarments of freedom” and an “oasis for your crotch“. The eyeball test is a little tough on black material, so it was on to the smell test. They were considerably cleaner than when they went into the Scrubba, smelling like they had been worn a bit but showing none of the eye-popping, stomach-churning reek they went in with. Drastically cleaner? Yes. Machine quality? Close but no cigar.

Here’s where I want to go back and cover the adding soap/water before clothes. The directions say to add them all in step one, but if you add clothes first, the top clothes get the soap while still concentrate and the bottom clothes get it once watered down and dirtied. I could have and should have figured this out ahead of time, but experience breeds success quicker than anything.

At the end of the day, the Scrubba Tactical washbag does indeed get the job done. Taking up very little space, this product can clean your clothes pretty well as long as you have an ample supply of fresh water. Coming in at $55, if you find yourself traveling often the Scrubba washbag is a good option to look at to reduce your packing list and increase your hygiene. Check it out!

Stanley Adventure Base Camp Cook Set | For the adventurous epicurean

Back in my Boy Scout days, it was all about eating freeze dried food while hiking through New England. Then the Army ruined me with those shitty MRE’s. After my time in the military, it was back to better freeze dried food for kayaking expeditions. Now I’m an Overlander. And weight just isn’t a factor. If it’ll fit in my Toyota Tundra, you better believe that 5.7 liter V8 will haul it to our destination. So my cooking needs have evolved through this transition. Gone are the titanium sporks and pocket sized micro-stoves. I now have a 12 volt fridge and a 20,000 Btu 2 burner stove. So a more robust cook set was in order. I recently tried the Adventure Base Camp Cook Set from Stanley.

This set uses high quality, heavy grade 18/8 Stainless Steel for the 3.5 Liter pot and 7.25″ 3-ply frying pan. Also included are basic table settings for four hungry campers. And a few additional handy items like a drying rack for the plates plus a silicone oven mitt. Although I understand why Stanley chose to include four plastic sporks, I’m really not a fan. One night we grilled 2″ thick fillets. Can’t spork a fillet…So we broke out some real knives and forks. The 3.5L pot is perfect for stew, soup or boiling water for pasta. The lid even has a built in strainer when spaghetti is on the dinner menu.

(You can find more great articles like this on The Gear Bunker)

The 3-ply frying pan has a thick stainless base to help provide even heat to cook the contents. The folding handle proved to be sturdy enough for the task and the heat was very uniform at all burner settings. Although 7.25″ is a bit small when considering feeding a family of 4, it worked very well for two of us. Also of note, the frying pan is old school without a nonstick coating. Better for your health, but you need to liberally coat the pan if you don’t want to be chiseling food from it. This set is well engineered and everything neatly nests into the 3.5L pot. There’s even a graphic representation of how everything fits into the pot printed on the inside of the lid. Because we sometimes struggle to remember how things go back together.

Adventure Base Camp Cook Set Details:

Weight: 5.60
Dimensions: 11.06L x 6.10W x 10.90H in
Dishwasher Safe
18/8 Stainless Steel
Nesting system
Locking frying pan handle
BPA-free
Set includes: [1] 3.7Qt / 3.5L pot, [1] vented lid, [1] 7.25in diameter 3ply frying pan, [1] cutting board, [1] spatula with extending handle, [1] serving spoon with extending handle, [4] 6in plates, [4] 22oz bowls, [4] sporks, [1] dish drying rack, [1] heat resistant trivet, [1] locking bungee
MSRP $80

My $.02:

The plastic 6″ plates, sporks and bowls will do the trick for the weekend warrior. But for the hardcore Overlander who plans to use this kit for weeks at a time, I recommend supplementing larger plates and a full set of silverware. The plate drying rack is kinda gimmicky but the engineers had some extra space within the package so they used it. I always towel dry and put everything away when cleaning up anyhow. The Adventure Base Camp Cook Set is right in-between backpacking and Overlanding. Too heavy to carry on your back and not quite large enough for a week or two in the Tundra. I feel this set would be the perfect choice for a family of four car camping for a long weekend.

You can find more great articles like this on The Gear Bunker

About the Author:

Erik Meisner served in Attack Company, 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment as a rifle team leader with deployments to the Middle East, Central America and Asia. He’s a licensed pilot, SCUBA diver and enjoys Alpine skiing, shooting, Overland camping, boating, sea kayaking, traveling and golf. Growing up in a military family, Erik had the pleasure to live and ski all over North America and Europe. Now residing in beautiful Northern Michigan with his wife and 2 sons they continue to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible.

GearAid ARC Rechargeable Light and Power Station: The go everywhere light

GearAid ARC Rechargeable Light and Power Station: What you need for the next blackout

If you have ever been camping, scuba diving or done anything in the outdoors, you most likely have had to repair something with tape, glue or some kind of sealant. Insert GearAid. If you have never heard of them, you may not be alone. They started fixing gear in 1981 when SCUBA divers realized Aquaseal was stronger than their wetsuits. They are now known as the go-to company for the outdoors, sporting goods and SCUBA industries. Everyone has their go-to product for fixing things (Duct Tape if you are like me). GearAid has a full array of care and repair items to suit all of your outdoor needs.

GearAid doesn’t just offer care and repair products. They offer a variety of tools, knives, and an assortment of other outdoor related products and replacement parts.

Recently I was out of town for work and we had a power outage in our subdivision. It seems to always happen when I am at work or out of town for some reason. My wife called me and asked where all of the flashlights are and I reminded her that we had the GearAid Rechargeable Light and Power Station. She put the Arc Light and Power Station on the coffee table in the living room and had enough light for the living room and the kitchen. She kept the light on the medium power setting and had no issues for the six plus hours that the power was out.

Back side (power settings/light Level) and USB charging port

Mulitfunctional:

Not only did the Arc Light provide hours of light for her during that time. Her battery was dying on her phone so I reminded her that that was a 1.5 amp USB charging port on the back of the light. Problem solved (kinda). She commented later that “this little light thing” was awesome. The Lithium-Ion battery in this thing is a rock star. Fully charged and on the brightest setting, the Arc can turn night into day for up to eight hours. Use the built-in stand or hang it up with the hook and you are hands-free to chop wood or supervise the chopping of the wood.

If you are in the market for a multifunctional light/power station, don’t overlook the Arc. It may be small in size, but it packs quite the punch. There is no doubt that if we are anywhere in the outdoors, this little beauty will definitely be in my pack.

Specs Courtesy of GearAid:

- Weight: 16 oz
- Size 4.9”x 4.5″ x 1.6″
- Cell Capacity: 10,400 mAh (38Wh)
- Cell Type: Lithium Ion
- Lumens: 20-320
- Brightness Settings: 10
- Run Time: 8-96 hours
- USB Output: 5V 1.5A
- Micro-USB Input: 5V 2A
- Durability: IP65
- Color Temperatures: 6500k, 4200k, 3000k
- Not for use in marine environments

Black Diamond Spot Headlamp | They upgraded, so should you

I refrain from giving any gear too much praise, but I have to applaud Black Diamond for coming up with one of the best headlamps available on the market. The Black Diamond Spot Headlamp comes equipped with more features than your standard headlamp, yet its price rivals those without them. Before we get started with its review, know that this is written for the 2017 model Black Diamond Spot Headlamp.

Specifications

Lumens:  300
Weight w/ batteries:  88 g (3.1 oz)
Max distances: [High] 80 m; [Low] 16 m
Max burn time: [High] 30 H (est.); [Low] 175 H (est.)
IPX rating:  IPX8
LED type:  1 QuadPower, 1 DoublePower, 1 SinglePower
Batteries:  3 AAA (included)

My thoughts and review

White light brightness & intensity

The decision to upgrade the new Spot Headlamps to 300 lumens was the right call by Black Diamond. While I don’t have any personal experience with the 2016 model, which was 200 lumens, I do have plenty of experience with a variety of dimmer headlamps. Low lumen headlamps don’t help much when the sky is black and you find yourself in the dense parts of the wilderness. Some of those lights are so dim that you are better off turning off your headlamp and relying on your natural night vision instead. The Spot Headlamp provides enough light to illuminate a comfortable distance ahead; you can see where you’re going and nothing will take you by surprise.

Red light

In case you didn’t know, red light is better than white light for preserving your night vision. Red light and white light interchangeability might not matter much for civilian use, but it sure does for military personnel. If you ever had another soldier who didn’t know how to work his headlamp ruin your night vision, you know exactly what I mean. While your Spot Headlamp is off, holding onto the on/off button will turn on the red light without ever transmitting white light during the process. The Spot Headlamp also saves the last used setting when you turn off the headlamp, so it will continuously use red light until you revert back to white.

Adjustable output

Most headlamps offer a combination of light outputs. At the very least, you will likely have a low setting, high setting, and possibly a strobe setting as well. What I found convenient about the Spot Headlamp was that you can hold the on/off button and it will steadily increase/decrease the brightness of your light output. When you turn off your Spot headlamp and turn it back on, the brightness memory feature will use whatever brightness level you left it on.

The headlamp also uses the PowerTap feature. By tapping the PowerTap symbol on the side of the headlamp, it will immediately switch to its max brightness. Tapping it again will revert it back to your dimmed setting. As great as this feature is, it turns out it can also be inconvenient. I found several users complaining about the unreliability of the PowerTap feature. At first, I did think that the PowerTap feature was a bit faulty. However, after some extended use, I discovered that the key is to not do a “quick” tap, but to do a deliberate tap; make contact between your finger and the PowerTap surface for almost a full second. I found that using a deliberate tap makes the PowerTap feature work 100% of the time. After some time to get familiarized with the headlamp, it was no longer an issue for me.

Battery life indicator

A useful feature of the Spot Headlamp is the battery life indicator, but I have yet to see any retailer highlight this feature. The battery life indicator is a simple feature, but is almost unique as most headlamps don’t have it. The battery life is indicated by three different lights: green (100%–50%), yellow (50%–25%), and red (25%-0%).

Learning curve

I don’t believe the Black Diamond Spot has any serious drawbacks. My new Spot Headlamp is my trusted go-to headlamp for any nighttime activity. However, as I illustrated in this review, the Spot Headlamp can be confusing and difficult to learn at first. After all, it has its many great features and functions, but only one button. In fact, the majority of negative reviews and criticism come from users who are frustrated with its intricacies. Fortunately, in an effort to aid the learning process, Black Diamond has released a short two-minute video on YouTube last month detailing its operation. In lieu of writing out meticulous instructions (manual available here), I invite you to watch the aforementioned video as the visuals far exceed what I can illustrate on pen and paper.

The verdict

The good
-High-value headlamp for a great price
-300 lumens (2016 model was 200 lumens)
-Memory brightness feature
-Battery life indicator
-IPX8 rating

The bad
-Controls might be confusing to use at first

At the time of writing this review, the Black Diamond Spot Headlamp has an MSRP of $39.95. For its price, the Black Diamond Spot Headlamp is one of the best headlamps you can get. Just be sure you know whether you’re purchasing the 2016 model or the new 2017 model. It is difficult to use at first, but as with all things, it gets easier once you familiarize yourself with it. If you prefer a simpler headlamp, you might consider something like the Princeton Tec Sync, which uses a turning knob. While my first impressions of this headlamp are great, I am eager to see how well it holds up after some long-term use. You can expect an updated review from me down the road.

Have any experience with the Black Diamond Spot Headlamp or other Black Diamond gear? Is there other gear you would like us to review? Let us know what you think!

The Hennessy Hammock Survivor | Lightweight Comfortable Camping

I’ve lived in a lot of different shelters throughout my time as a survival instructor. Pup tents, tents, snow caves, hammocks, rock over hangs, tree wells, lean-to shelters, lean-aways, shelters made from parachute and most other shelters. Throughout this I’ve defaulted to something simple most of the time, a tarp of some type with a poly pad. It’s light weight and dual purpose. A year ago however I discovered the Hennessy Hammock and decided to give it a shot.

I’ve been using the Hennessy Hammock for over a year now, sleeping in the shelter for a total of 37 days spaced out evenly month to month. It’s important to understand that a Hammock in general is not a recommended shelter during the winter. Even with a good inflatable sleeping pad under you to create dead air space you’re going to sleep very cold. I don’t recommend hammocks in temperatures below 40 degrees in most cases unless you have very specific equipment / gear. Even if you do there are shelters far more suited to those environments.

With that understanding let me be clear that hammocks have many benefits, you’re cooler in hot temperatures, they’re extremely comfortable, you don’t need level ground and generally they don’t take up much space in your pack. There are several downfalls however, many hammocks put you into a banana shape which can be uncomfortable after several nights, further many lack protection from insects. What sets the Hennessy Hammock apart from other hammocks is size, weight, sleeping position, and bug net.

The Hennessy Hammock weighs in at 3 pounds packed, with an approximate dimension of 5″ x 8″ x 12″. When combined with Hennessy’s snakeskins you have a very convenient package. The snakeskins is composed of two stuff sacks at either end of the hammock. They can collapse the hammock in under 30 seconds with practice and the Hennessy Hammock will never touch the ground. Talk about quick and convenient. The Hennessy Hammock has an asymmetric sleep position wherein you sleep at an angle to the ends of the hammock. This allows you to lay just about completely flat and will eliminate most of the strain common to sleeping for extended periods of time in other hammock systems.

The Hennessy Hammock Survivor is also equipped with a zippered bug net to keep out unwanted guests during your adventures and it works very well. The Survivor also comes with a smartly designed rain fly cut just large enough for the hammock itself. There is no wasted space. And while some may find this irksome, it cuts down on bulk, and weight which are huge factors to consider when doing back country rucking. I’ve found that I tend to put the rain fly very low to the Hammock. This helps to keep any rain out which might come in at an angle during high rain and winds. The inside of the hammock has a pouch suspended over where you sleep which allows you to stow your headlamp or other misc items when relaxing or sleeping.

In practice what has made the Hennessy hammock such a keeper for me is the ease of use. I can put it up in under 4 minutes and can take it down in 30 seconds. It allows me to sleep flat even when the terrain is not and it keeps out unwanted insects. I’ve put this hammock through its paces over the past year and would certainly recommend it to anyone considering a hammock during 40 degree F plus weather.

Princeton Tec Quad Tactical Headlamp

I was shivering uncontrollably. My thin warm weather rip-stop Crye multicams did little to ward off the December chill in Northeastern Washington. It was 2030 hours, well past civil twilight this far north and it had been dark for four hours by this point. We’d been evading by moon and starlight and had settled into our third location for the night. Freezing rain occasionally rifted over us in sheets. We huddled into a defilade to make comms via our PRC-112 emergency radio. We received a text message data burst for our next set of coordinates. However the backlight on our radio was not working. “Jones, turn on your headlamp” I nodded while my teeth chattered nearly uncontrollably and when I hit the button on the top of my headlamp to turn it on, nothing happened. Hissed threats against the headlamp followed as I tried fixing it. However she’d given up the ghost after three days in the field – the plastic frame had cracked from the temperature deviation between the day and the night and water had gotten into it. The headlamp was dead and it was the only light we were allowed. Our operation became much more difficult because of that equipment failure.

Critical gear failing in the field is anyone’s nightmare. I never imagined that headlamps could fail in such short notice until I began to do Survival and Evasion exercises as a Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Specialist (SERE Specialist) for the United States Air Force. My gear needs to be able to survive in all conditions throughout the world. I demand quite a bit. When I finished training as a SERE Specialist I was issued one hell of a headlamp from Princeton Tec known as the EOS and I’ve seen it issued to a variety of other Special Operations forces throughout the military for the plain and simple reason that this thing doesn’t die. I’ve taken the Princeton Tec EOS headlamp everywhere and put it through everything. I have confidence in it to the utmost.

So when I was given the opportunity to review another headlamp from Princeton Tec made specifically for military professionals or outdoors enthusiasts I was ecstatic. I was sent the tan / multicam quad tactical MPLS (Modular Personal Lighting System). What we get compared to the workhorse Princeton Tec EOS is a lighter package, the quad tactical weighs in at just 78 grams compared to the EOS weighing in at 103 grams. With the reduction in weight the quad tactical is outperforming the EOS by emitting 78 lumens compared to the EOS, which emits a healthy 60. Be advised that the quad tactical puts out a wider focused beam that allows your peripherals to work with you compared to the EOS which is more focused beam. In either case I’ve found that I like the wide beam on the quad tactical more. They both take 3 AAA batteries.

The profile on the quad tactical is slimmer and closer to your head / helmet which means I’m not catching this thing on branches or lower overhangs as much. Further the power button up top is much improved in my opinion over the EOS. The power button on the EOS was slightly offset to the right of the top of the device compared to the quad tactical where is it dead center. It’s just more intuitive in my opinion. The headband remains the same between the two lights which doesn’t disappoint me at all. These lights are also all waterproof to one meter. The red filter is interchangeable to three different colors; red, green, blue. Compared to other headlamps that require you to flip a switch a certain way to activate the red light I much prefer pulling the filter over the light – it’s simple and you know you’re going to get red. Plus you won’t be that one guy in the group that accidentally flips to white light and destroys everyone’s night vision.

The quad tactical like the EOS have a variety of different mounting solutions. A NVG adapter is included so that this light can be mounted directly to your helmet. The standard straps can also be removed and attached to MOLLE webbing. Or you can loosen the band and wrap this thing around your helmet and secure with some 100 mph tape (my preferred method).

The headlamp is a simple but essential piece of gear. Make sure you have one that is rock solid. I can’t say enough about the simplicity, reliability and ruggedness of all Princeton Tec designs but also the EOS and quad tactical specifically. Given the lighter weight and the brighter overall output I’ll be sticking with the quad tactical for the foreseeable future.