[ View menu ]

Archive for 'Musings'

REVIEW: A Pair of Surefire EDC Flashlights That Won’t Break the Bank

Surefire has for decades been synonymous with high-performance flashlights, weapon lights and the like, but you would never accuse the company of building particularly affordable flashlights. They’ve never been a factor in the consumer EDC (Every Day Carry) market, just too expensive.
SHOT Show 2015 marked something of a revolution at Surefire as it upended [...]

Leatherman Tread Moves EDC Multi-tool in New Direction

Leatherman’s Tread takes the concept of an EDC (Every Day Carry) multi-tool in an entirely new direction with virtually unlimited potential. There have been numerous less than successful attempts at functional jewelry that you wear as a pendant and there’s no shortage of keychain-sized tools, many of which can be hung from the neck. However, [...]

Surefire Breaks New Ground with 1xAAA Titan & Titan Plus

Click for FULL Review
Surefire has for decades been synonymous with high-performance, high-end flashlights, weapon lights and the like, but you would never accuse the company of building particularly affordable flashlights. Nor were they ever a major market mover in the consumer EDC (Every Day Carry) market. That was then.
SHOT Show marked something of a [...]

ACR vs DME SATRO PLB: DME Loses

Final judgment is in on ACR’s lawsuit against DME and its design consultants alleging that they misappropriated ACR trade secrets and documents and incorporated them into DME’s SATRO PLB. In a Stipulated Judgment and Permanent Injunction issued on January 15, 2013, DME lost big time.
For background:
Click Here for the original article about the [...]

Post Election Rioting: Alarmist or Just Being Prepared?

The past few weeks have seen a significant uptick in emails to me expressing concern about possible rioting as a result of the upcoming election, asking what the writer should do to protect themselves (a subject also being discussed on a number of online forums). If anything is a sad commentary on the current [...]

After 13 Years Life Raft Aerospace Standard AS1356 Published!

Call me persistent, call me stubborn, call me crazy–what started as a small test and evaluation of aviation life rafts nearly 20 years ago for The Aviation Consumer has finally resulted in a new and vastly improved SAE Aerospace Standard for aviation life rafts, AS1356. This new standard addresses many of the serious deficiencies that [...]

GGGH = Great Gear Gifts for the Holidays

I don’t care if you have been naughty or nice, ‘tis the season for me to make a list of everything from stocking stuffers to ultimate gifts that would make anyone who enjoys the outdoors smile.
I know, you are thinking this is just about me and my Doug Ritter Gear, but read on; there is [...]

Goodrich Buys Winslow

Press Release below. I admit to having mixed feelings about this. Winslow (my top recommended life raft manufacturer) was going to be sold, that was never a question since it was bought by vulture capitalists, and a sale to someone has been in the works for some time now. The good news, [...]

Delorme Introduces inReach – First 2-Way Consumer SEND

Delorme has announced their long-awaited two-way satellite messaging device, the inReach. Unlike Delorme’s first SEND, which was a SPOT product that utilizes the Globalstar satellite system one-way messaging capability, inReach works on the Iridium system that provides full two-way communication, with obvious benefits.
The interface with the device can be through a DeLorme Earthmate [...]

ETS Joins Coalition to Save Our GPS

Equipped to Survive Foundation has joined the newly formed Coalition to Save Our GPS, which is opposed to the unusual and unsound waiver by the FCC for LightSquared to use its satellite spectrum for high-powered ground-based broadband transmissions that may interfere with GPS signals before testing has determined that it is safe to do so [...]