OUT & ABOUT

Before fishing got all modern with high-tech reels and rods, and lines and hooks, our ancestors caught seafood dinners with pointy things. Return to those simpler days with this 9” Fishing Spear Head from Crate Club by Martin Brothers. Technically it’s a tactical survival tool, but that just means it’s super-high quality and durable. Made of 3/16” thick stainless steel, you can use it as a (2)- or (4)-point spear. Assembles easily and folds flat for storage. All you supply is the stick that the spear attaches to, and the hunting spirit. The fish will respect you more with a spear—trust us.

Veterans will know this as an entrenching tool, but to everyone else it's a folding camp shovel. Our hardened steel version is 22-1/2" long when open, folds to a measly 9-1/2", and weighs just over 2-1/2 lbs. Blade is 8-1/4" long x 6" wide, serrated on one side. Fits into the light canvas pouch, which you can carry on your belt because you never know when you'll need to dig a hole.

Newly manufactured P-38 Can Opener from the same folks who supply them to Uncle. It folds! into 1-1/2" x 5/8" flat piece which is easily carried and lost. Reportedly works much better than the Asian knockoffs for those who really want to gain entry to the Spam!

Daytime, too, or whenever you need to start a fire, especially outdoors. These pressed resinous-pine tinder sticks measure 4" long x 1/2" square, and our each is a box of a dozen. Marked as being from the “Survivor Series,” they’re water-resistant and slow burning, lasting approx five minutes each. 

You can only carry so much bottled water in the woods. Campers and preppers alike will want this water purification tube, eminently backpackable at 9" long x 1" dia x an ultralight (2) ounces. Called the Water Washer, its microfiltration membrane is good for 1,000 liters. Meets EPA and U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards, and filters out 99.9% of waterborne protozoa and 99.9999% of bacteria, including E. coli and salmonella. No batteries, no BPA, no chemicals, no aftertaste, and no reason to go into the wild without one. Or two.

Call this one the “Glam Bottle,” a 17-oz stainless steel vacuum-insulated tumbler with a gold flake ice-design exterior. Measures 10” tall with a 3” dia base, tapered shoulders and a silver cap. Keeps beverage cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours. Keeps you looking cool for as long as you’re holding it.

Try a reusable heat pack. This little 3-1/2” x 2” Soma Care™ heat pack has a metal disc inside—flex it and feel the pack magically heat up to 130F for up to an hour. Made for use with a Soma Care™ belt, but it’ll work fine wrapped in a soft cloth. Directions are on the side, including instructions on how to re-activate it. Jarvis says: it may take several clicks to activate the gel inside the pack but at this price what's a few extra clicks. 

They don’t give them away in bars anymore, so you’d better buy this Matchstick Fire Starter. Has a 1-1/2" x 1-1/8" x 3/8" flint housing and a 1” striker with a small cotton wick around the end. Fill it with a little lighter fluid and you’re ready to start something. Includes a 1/2” clip to hang it on something. A must for camping.

Certainly not. It's 4” long stainless steel spork with a set of little hex wrenches on it, along with a screwdriver slot and bottle opener, and it comes with a carabiner so you can hang it on your belt or backpack. Dork. No, no, we didn't mean it. Just lost our head there for a minute. You're a person who likes multi-purpose tools. And camping. And sporks. Just like us.

Put your silverware on your belt. This 4-1/4" camping implement separates into a fold-out fork and spoon, and the spoon has a fold-out knife at the other end so you can use it with the fork to cut your pork chops. Also includes a corkscrew (we recommend a nice Grenache or Tempranillo with pork chops), a can/bottle opener and the ubiquitous awl. In brushed steel with a black canvas belt pouch that you should put the thing into fork-down or the tines might catch on the fabric and make you crazy.

The last grill brush you will ever need and you gotta keep those grates clean. Do it with our 17” long grill brush from Silberspitze. Has a 6-1/4" long x 3" wide business end with (3) rows of helixed stainless steel coils that easily get rid of grease and grime on grates. No more worrying about steel bristles sneaking into your food, or nylon bristles melting. Also comes with a handy non-stick copper grill mat that measures 15-3/4" x 13". Your grill, and your dinner guests, will thank you.

This black canvas pouch has belt loops and a cornucopia of compact construction tools inside, including a small combo hatchet/hammer/tent-stake puller; entrenching tool (that’s a shovel to you) with a compass in the handle, and pickaxe and saw attachments for the shovel handle. Belt measures 9-3/4” x 4” x 1-1/4” overall. Don't go into the woods without it. Also, take snacks.

Or would have, had you hung one of these yellow glow sticks around your neck. You’ll get a dozen of them at 6” long with both a small hole and a carabiner-ish slotted opening for hanging. Includes a 24” plastic cord to hang them from. Surplus factor: packaging shows rainbow colors, but all are, in fact, yellow, which is fine because who wants to glow green or blue? Bend or shake to activate. (Duh.)

They have the look of something designed for the space program. They're mylar, a paper-thin shiny metallic sheet, that comes in handy when your car breaks down in winter, or when you're separated from your climbing group on the slopes of Mt. McKinley. Barring that, they're also a perfect material for a do-it-yourself cold-climate Halloween costume-near impossible to rip by hand, but cut easily with scissors. There's no padding, so they wouldn't be too comfy on your bed, but they sure are warm. They both come folded about the size of a wallet. The Blanket is 52" x 82", the Sleeping Bag is 34" x 84".

Thwart thirsty mosquitoes with this giant net, the same one used by the U.S. military. Measures 7-1/2 feet tall x 25” dia at the top with a 13-foot dia bottom. That means it’s wide enough to easily cover a large cot or a small car. Includes a nylon cord to hang it from a ceiling, tent strut or tree limb. The net itself is white polyester, and comes in an olive drab drawstring bag.

It’s always hot somewhere. Stay cool with a hyper-evaporative towel. In a sports-jersey-ish fabric, you wet it and wear it--around your neck or head--and the evaporative quality keeps you cool. Measures 40” x 12” in a flattering blue, and comes in a plastic bottle with a carabiner-like clip on top so you can wet it and hang it on your belt until you heat up.

You will survive with this Survival Candle, a 3-wick burner made of soy and palm wax in a 3-1/8" dia 2-3/8" tin can with a lid. Rated to last up to 36 hours.

Once upon a time, tweeting is what birds did, and also what people calling birds did. Return with us now to those trilling days of yesteryear with this little hand-held Audubon bird call. Measures 2-1/4" long with a cast-aluminum shaft inside a birch barrel. Twist it to tweet, and there’s no limit to how long you go on.