GIVEAWAY!-- Rocky Mountain Bushcraft-themed Liberty Bottleworks 32oz Water Bottles- Made in the USA!

Hey friends!

Jason here.

I wanted to let you know that I am GIVING AWAY two brand NEW Made in the USA Liberty Bottleworks ROCKY MOUNTAIN BUSHCRAFT THEMED 32oz ALUMINUM WATER BOTTLES, retail value $24.95, to two lucky RMB followers.

Liberty Bottles are 100% Made in the USA from Deep-Drawn recycled Aluminum. They feature an easy to use 1/4 turn on/off BPA-Free cap, an easy to drink from wide opening, and an FDA-approved flexible food grade coating inside the bottle.

I have been using these bottles for years, and I love them. The opening is the perfect size to drink from- not too small, not too large.

For more information about Liberty Bottles, check out my June, 2012 review- Gear Review: Liberty Bottleworks 32 ounce Aluminum Water Bottles

The BOTTLES

Each bottle features one of three popular survival/bushcraft tips from RMB:

(click to enlarge)

 

TO ENTER:

1) LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TELLING US WHICH RMB ARTICLE, REVIEW OR 'TIPS & TRICKS' IS YOUR FAVORITE, AND WHAT RMB BOTTLE COLOR YOU LIKE BEST

2) VISIT THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN BUSHCRAFT FACEBOOK AND HIT THE "LIKE" BUTTON

THAT'S IT!

NOTE!: You must have a regular Disqus comment profile so I can contact you after the winners are selected. 

The two selected winners will each receive (1) RMB themed Liberty bottle of their choice (White, Aluminum, Tan, or Army Green). 

The giveaway will run for approximately 2 weeks, and end on Wednesday October 25th, 2017 at 6pm MST. Winners will be announced 24 hours after the end of the drawing. 

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING RULES BEFORE ENTERING!

1) To enter the giveaway, you must do the following-- a) Leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite RMB post/article is, and which Rocky Mountain Bushcraft Liberty Bottle color you like best. You must post it using a regular Disqus commenter profile so that you can be contacted after the drawing ends. Sorry, anonymous profiles will not be counted.

3) Giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only.

4) Two winners will be selected from the comments section using a Random Number Generator, and will be announced here on Thursday October 26th, 2017.

5) RMB reserves the right to announce the winning screen names in the prize winner announcement post.

6) Winners will be contacted through their Disqus registered email address. You will have 5 days to respond to the winner notification. You must provide a valid mailing address so that we can mail you your prize. If a response is not received within 5 days, Rocky Mountain Bushcraft reserves the right to rescind the offer and offer the prize to another giveaway participant, which will be determined by running a second Random Number Generator sequence.

Me with the crew from Liberty Bottleworks at the 2013 Outdoor Retailer Show:

Good luck!

-Jason

Survival Gear Review: The S.O.L. Escape Bivvy at 14 Degrees F

Photo credits: © 2012 Rocky Mountain Bushcraft/Jason Schwartz

Photo courtesy of S.O.L.

Here's the scenario.....Your vehicle breaks down on a lonely, remote stretch of road in the middle of winter at 10pm at night. There's no cell phone signal, and due to its remoteness, you will probably be the last vehicle to travel this road that night. Temps are expected to drop down to the low to mid teens.

To make it even worse, all you have on is a shirt, light jacket, pants and stylish shoes, because you were on your way back from a party at a friend's house, so you dressed more for style than for warmth for this occasion.

Now, you are faced with a serious dilemma -- walk 20 miles to civilization, which could take a full 6-7 hours, or, you brave the night out inside your vehicle, all without adequate winter clothing to stave off hypothermia. Things are beginning to look VERY grim.....

But wait! You just remembered you have an SOL Escape Bivvy in your trunk that you bought along for just such an emergency.

Your excitement quickly deflates, however, after you fish it out of your trunk and see just how awfully small and light it is. This Escape Bivvy weighs a measly eight ounces--really? With no insulation? In low to mid teens? Are you kidding me? "I am SERIOUSLY screwed!"

Now, back to reality.

The above scenario plays out all too often in real life. Many unprepared motorists have died from hypothermia because they didn't bring enough warm clothes or a sleeping bag to survive a night in extreme conditions.

So what if all you had was an SOL Escape Bivvy, like in the above scenario, would it keep you alive?

I decided to find out by testing it in similar conditions to the fictional scenario above.

The SPECS:

• Weather the Elements- Highly water-resistant fabric keeps you dry even in wet, soggy conditions.
• Stay Warm- Reflects 70% of radiated body heat.
• All-season Durability- Hard-wearing fabric resists punctures and tears through heavy use.
• High-visibility orange exterior- Makes it easy for rescuers to spot you even in areas with high tree cover.
• Size: 84" x 31"
• Weight: 8.5 oz
• Street Price: $40

The TEST 

On a cold winter evening with temperatures hovering between 13 and 15 degrees F, I dressed in very light clothing, laid the Escape Bivvy down outside, grabbed my trusty Kestrel Portable Weather Meter, and jumped inside for as long as I could stand it!

For test consistency, I laid the bivvy on a winter-rated sleeping pad to simulate being insulated from the ground like I would be if I were laying inside a vehicle, or was using pine boughs or leaves underneath me for insulation if I were out in the woods. 

The goal -- measure the temperature inside the bivvy while I was inside, while also taking note of the perceived warmth (or lack thereof).

I wanted to make it as harsh as possible, so I wore just a thin long sleeved polypro t-shirt, cotton khaki casual pants, and a pair of socks. Since I was going in shoeless, I didn't want to risk frostbite on my toes, so I wore a pair of my heavier wool socks.

Just before jumping into the bivvy, I measured the outside temperature-- a bonafide 14 degrees Fahrenheit:

The view once I was inside- this sure ain't the Hilton!

Once safely nestled inside the bivvy, I pulled the drawstring as tight as I could make it. I then waited about a half an hour before taking the first temperature reading.

At the end of the half hour mark, I took the first temperature reading- 51.6 degrees! This means it was an amazing 37 degrees warmer inside the Escape Bivvy than outside:

A half hour later, I checked the temperature again -- 54 degrees!

I managed to rough it for 4 hours with just a t-shirt, thin cotton pants, and wool socks. Temps stayed in the low to mid 50s the entire time.

That's very impressive for something this small and light that also manages to be breathable. Speaking of breathability, the Tyvek material SOL used in the Escape Bivvy works very well. I did not notice any unusual buildup of moisture or ice while inside of it.

Once again, I find this very impressive.

I am quite confident that I would have easily survived the night inside the Escape Bivvy, especially with a light jacket and wearing shoes. That's impressive.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Escape Bivvy is an impressive piece of survival gear. It weights just a fraction of what a sleeping bag weighs, packs up incredibly small, and has the breathability of Gore-Tex.

The material used in it is also soft enough to use it as a sleeping bag liner, without feeling uncomfortable. When I've used it in this role, it seems to have added 15 to 20 degrees to my sleeping bag rating.

The final verdict? Highly recommended.

For more information, visit SOL at: 

www.surviveoutdoorslonger.com/survive-outdoors-longer-escape-bivvy.html

About the author

Jason Schwartz is the founder and senior editor of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft and the author of Edible & Medicinal Survival Plants of the Rocky Mountains pocket guides. He has written for Backpacker Magazine and The New Pioneer, and has been featured in media outlets such as The San Jose Mercury News and The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at rockymountainbushcraft @ hotmail.com