Buyer's GuidesGearHome

Best Gear for Your Next Adventure

best emergency blankets

If you’re like most of us, you look for adventure wherever you are. Big city, rural farm town or your lunch break from your cubical – doesn’t matter; you need adventure or at least an outing. Don’t go half-cocked – plan ahead and bring the perfect gear.

Gear is a personal choice and should embody your values, however, you have to at least have the essentials covered.

Stay Prepared with these Hand Chosen Items:

Wazoo The Bushcraft Fire Starter Necklace

Throw this over your neck and you’re packed! Not quite, but it’s a start. Survival necklaces or survival lanyards come equipped with multiple survival characteristics. Most of them are fire starters with a fixed blade knife, others are for sharpening blades. Fire is one of the 3 main elements of a survival that you will need and a Firestarter necklace provides the sparks needed to start a good fire. Remember, you will still need to collect materials and know how to prepare your fire before striking the fire starter.

Don’t rely solely on a lighter, they have the tendency to fail when you need them the most. A good survival necklace can give you a fighting chance should that happen.

Here’s an article on the best survival fire starters and a video explaining how to start a fire using one.

Harnds Pocket Knife

Don’t leave home without a pocket knife. You never know when you will need to cut something. Knives can also be used for digging and carving. Pocket knives come in many varieties, but you will do just fine by getting one that has a locking blade and is of ample size for most jobs. You can also get a serrated blade knife for extra cutting capacity.

Obviously, there’s quite a difference in folders and fixed blades and we won’t go into a lengthy discussion about them here as each of them excels at different tasks. Fixed blade, folding blade – as long as you carry something.

SOG Instinct Boot Knife

You should already be carrying a quality pocket knife or a fixed blade each and every time you leave the house, especially when entering the woods or doing urban exploring. Knives are not just for self-defense; they are also one of the most important tools you can carry.

What makes a boot knife special? They are great additions to your primary knife and they are concealable. They are usually smaller in size and either fit in your boot or wrap around your ankle. Some people call them “last ditch” knives. I like to think of them as an easy addition to your everyday carry. Plus, you may need to arm a partner in the event you encounter something unsavory while exploring your world.

Not sure how to choose the best boot knife for your next adventure? Check out this article!

Stanley Wide-Mouth Hiking Flask

Drink responsibly and in style with a leak-proof hiking flask. Designed with a wide mouth for easy pouring and sipping, this hiking flask is one that will last forever. Stainless steel, so it won’t rust and will survive even the most adventurous spirits. Grab multiples if you’re concerned about the Coronavirus or just sharing germs with fellow hikers in general.

It’s discouraging to hike all day and discover beer cans on a trail. Too bad more people aren’t as refined as you and sip high-quality whiskey while exploring.

Murdy No. 1 Leather Journal

What good is a great adventure if the details get hazy when you grow old? The original way to capture memories and still classier than the selfie. Not saying you shouldn’t grab that selfie while looking over the cliff, but also write down your travel adventures before they are lost to the vastness of time. How cool would it be to show your grandchildren where you have been and what you’ve seen? A picture may be worth a thousand words, but there’s something great about reading your actual thoughts years after an adventure. I wish I would have started journaling sooner.

Garmin Instinct Rugged Outdoor Watch with GPS

For those who don’t like to plan their trips ahead of time. Sure, you have a phone in your pocket, but now you can wear your technology in style. Exploring abandoned ruins on the outskirts of town? You may want to throw a nice GPS watch on your wrist just in case your navigation skills are not up to par. But remember, technology can never replace common sense and proper planning.

Stetson Gambler Outdoorsman Hat

Hats are more than just a fashion statement; they can actually protect you from the elements. Wide-brimmed hats go a little further and cover your neck and parts of your shoulders. You will need to choose the material they are made from based on where you will be exploring.

Sunny and humid climate – you will probably want a light felt wide-brimmed hat or even a wide-brimmed straw hat.

Cold and rainy climate – check out wide-brimmed felt hats for outdoorsmen. They give you maximum protection and can help keep you nice and warm.

Here’s an article on the best outdoorsman hats we could find without breaking the bank!

5.11 Tactical RUSH24 Military Backpack

You need a good bag even for the shortest of hiking trips. Reason being – you never truly know what you will need on your excursion or how long you will be there. We’ve all been there; you pack everything you can think of, but then the trip gets extended through no fault of your own.

This tactical backpack is large enough for everything you need for short trips and overnight stays. Not just for the woods, this pack is not only fully functional, but looks great as well. Roomy main storage with dual side pockets; you can stuff all of your gear for your next adventure in this one bag. It also comes with hydration ports for hydration bladders so you don’t have to keep stopping every five minutes to rehydrate. Just bite the mouth piece and never stop exploring.

GearLight LED Tactical Flashlight

It goes without saying that you should bring a flashlight anywhere you go, but we’ll say it anyway – BRING A FLASHLIGHT! While a dollar store brand flashlight will work some of the time, you can do better. Plus, where you’re going, you will need a brighter light than what you can find for a few bucks on the shelves.

Plastic flashlights are fine to keep around the house, but you will want to get one made from a more durable material like metal. Things break in your pockets, especially while urban exploring or checking out an abandoned building. The last thing you want to happen is for the sun to drop and you get stuck inside an unfamiliar building with no way to see your way out.

Tactical flashlights can cost anywhere from a few bucks to more than $100. You don’t need to break the bank, but be sure to grab one that has good reviews and can withstand some bumps and bruises.

Olympus TG-5 Waterproof Camera

You have one on your phone, but if you really want to capture the moment – buy and learn how to use a quality camera. You can edit your own pictures with software. Who knows, abandoned building photography could become your next hobby.

12 MegaPixels, waterproof to 50 feet and crush proof – what more could you want from a rugged, outdoor camera?

Don’t Die In The Woods World’s Toughest Emergency Blankets

Space blanket heat sheets for backpacking, hiking, urban exploring and just about anything else you can get yourself into. Here’s the kicker – there’s always a chance you will have to spend the night on a trail or an adventure that you haven’t planned on. Raise your hand if you’ve been hiking and let the sun go down before you made it back to the truck. Could be miscalculation or maybe you were having too much fun and lost track of time. Or, you stepped into what you thought was a puddle and now you are soaked up to your gills with freezing cold water and you need to warm up. It happens.

You never know when you will need an emergency blanket, so throw one of these in your go-bag and call it a day. These are the toughest emergency blankets you will find and you get four of them! Stash the single blankets in your car, truck or backpack. Be the hero and bring enough for your entire group.

These emergency blankets are extra large to protect your entire body and help you retain as much heat as possible.

BONUS TIP: Use your trusty silver duct tape or paracord and convert these emergency blankets into emergency shelters or sleeping bags. The sky is the limit when you know what to do.

Mechanix Wear M-Pact Coyote Tactical Gloves

You need to protect your hands – especially where you’re going. Tactical gloves provide extra support for grip, which allows you to hold onto your gear better. Need more protection for your knuckles? They have that covered as well with hard plastic. Nothing will derail your adventure quicker than a hand injury. The best tactical gloves allow you to have maximum dexterity, while offering adequate protection at the same time. 

Related: The 15 Best Tactical Gloves of 2020

How to Plan an Adventure

Plan. Obviously, or is it? While it may be fun to explore on a whim, you need to at least know where you are going, how to get back and what gear you will need. Anything can happen once you leave the confines of your home and that’s what makes it so exciting. You probably don’t carry enough gear on you at all times for all situations, but you can work on your everyday carry to get close enough to handle just about any situation.

Take a friend. Adventures are more fun with friends involved. A lot safer too. It’s easier to get out of a tight spot with a companion by your side. Your companion can be your dog, co-worker, friend or anyone that you trust. Be sure they are prepared for the adventure as well. Personally, I’m the gear guy in my group and bring enough for everyone to share. I prefer traveling with those with experience and that pack their own gear, but we know not everyone is always fully prepared and you will get some late additions to the party that show up without anything.

Bring the right gear. Can’t stress this one enough. You never know what you will encounter, so expect the unexpected. Pack gear that can get you through anything. Also, test your gear before you go. You must not only be able to effectively use your hiking gear or urban exploration gear, but you need to be sure it actually works. Accidents happen and items are sometimes broken in transit.

Adventure safe and adventure often!

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *