SHOT Show 2014: Ted Nugent interacts with fans

Ted Nugent made an appearance at the Outdoor Channel booth on day three of SHOT Show, where he signed autographs and took photos with fans:

(click to enlarge)

SHOT Show 2014: SOG Knives releases new "Elite E-Tool" ultra-light entrenching tool with saw attachment

SOG Knives is releasing a new ultra-light entrenching tool for 2014 called the "Elite E-Tool." The Elite features a carbon steel shovel blade, and a handle constructed from tough yet lightweight glass-reinforced nylon. The Elite also comes with a wood saw that hides inside the handle when not in use. The shovel blade can be locked into different positions, and the entire tool packs neatly into a nylon carrying case:

For more information visit SOG Knives at 

http://www.sogknives.com/elite-entrenching-tool.html

SHOT Show 2014: Les Stroud at the Camillus Knives booth

"Survivorman" Les Stroud spent a couple of hours conversing with fans and sharing survival stories at the Camillus Knives' booth on the second day of SHOT Show:

SHOT Show 2014: Gerber releases Made in USA, limited edition "Legend" CPM-S35VN Hunting Knife to celebrate 75th Anniversary

(Photo credit: Gerber Gear)

Gerber's Press Release:

GERBER UNVEILS THE LEGEND KNIFE

Premium Materials, Lofty Design and Seventy-Five Years of Knife Making Experience Combine to Create Ultimate Hunting Blade

Portland, Oregon (January 16, 2014) Gerber, a brand synonymous with innovation, quality and reliability for 75 years, today introduced the Legend, a new breed of hunting knife. Born of cutting-edge materials and crafted with decades of design experience, the Gerber Legend is completely sourced and proudly made in the USA to deliver a knife that hunters will covet, cherish and most importantly will provide a lifetime of service.

Built to last using premium CPM-S35VN stainless steel and a full tang construction, the Legend features a 3-D machined G-10 handle with Oregon Spalted Maple inlay for a superior grip. A limited edition offering, the Legend includes a handmade Tanner Goods sheath with puncture-proof insert for convenient carry. Housed in a custom storage box the Legend is one trophy that is meant to be used and abused in the field and comes with Gerber’s legendary lifetime guarantee.

Gerber released its first hunting knife in 1947 and since then, with products like the Gator and Myth collections, the brand has continued to innovate. The Legend continues this legacy and sets a standard for all future Gerber products to follow.

“When we set out to build the Legend we committed to building the best hunting knife Gerber has ever produced,” said Bill Raczkowski, Hunting Category Marketing Manager for Gerber. “To do so we’ve combined the highest-grade materials available, all sourced domestically, with the experience of our incredible engineers to craft the Legend in our Portland, Oregon headquarters and we’re proud to say that we firmly believe we hit the mark.”

Production of the Legend will be limited to 1,200 units and product will begin shipping in May. 

Additional photos of the Legend from Rocky Mountain Bushcraft's SHOT Show coverage:

(Photo credit: Jason Schwartz/Rocky Mountain Bushcraft ©2014)

SHOT Show 2014: Me with Dave Canterbury

Got a chance to meet Dave Canterbury at the show. Very down to earth guy and I enjoyed chatting with him. RMB will be reviewing one of Dave's new survival products later this year, so keep checking back as Fall approaches. 

SHOT Show 2014 Cool Product Spotlight: Mora to release new Bushcraft Pathfinder Knife on April 1st

Mora lovers, mark your calendars. Come April 1st, Mora will be releasing it's new super-sized "Bushcraft Pathfinder" knife, which is basically a Mora Black Carbon Bushcraft on steroids. Here's a sneak peak live from SHOT Show 2014:

(click to enlarge)

We will be posting a full review of this very cool knife as April approaches, so make sure to keep checking back!

May 3rd, 2014 UPDATE: REVIEW: The Big Bad Mora Bushcraft Pathfinder Knife

SHOT Show 2014: Me with Mykel Hawke

Gear Review: Zebra Billy Pots

Our friends over at Ben's Backwoods recently sent us some stainless steel bushcrafting cookware and asked for our opinion. These pots, called "Zebra Billy Pots," are popular in European bushcraft circles, and are also standard-issue gear for students attending Ray Mear's reknowned Woodlore Bushcraft School. More recently, they've begun to spread in popularity here in the States as well.

The pots are manufactured by Zebra of Thailand. They have been making stainless cookware since 1966. Unlike cheap cookware that's made in China, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc, the quality of the Zebra pots is very high, and more akin to gear that's made in Sweden, Germany or the US. As a mark of this quality, each individual component of the Billy Pot is stamped with Zebra's unique logo:

(click to enlarge)

The SPECS:

Zebra 16CM Pot

Fluid Ounces: 100 oz

Diameter: 16 cm (6.3")

Individual Piece Height: Pot w/ lid 7.25" Insert 1 .5" 

Total Height: 7.25" 

Weight: 2.00 lbs

Steel: 18-10 Marine Grade Stainless Steel

Made by Zebra in Thailand

Price- $26.98

Zebra 14CM Pot

Fluid Ounces: 64 oz

Diameter: 14 cm (5.5")

Individual Piece Height: Pot w/ lid 6.25" Insert 1 .5" 

Total Height: 6.25" 

Weight:1 lb 9 oz.

Steel: 18-10 Marine Grade Stainless Steel

Made by Zebra in Thailand

Price- $24.98 (USD)

Zebra 12CM Pot

Fluid Ounces: 44 oz

Diameter: 12 cm (4.7")

Individual Piece Height: Pot w/ lid 5.5" Insert 1 .25" 

Total Height: 5.5" 

Weight:1 lb 3 oz.

Steel: 18-10 Marine Grade Stainless Steel

Made by Zebra in Thailand

Price- $21.98 (USD)

FEATURES

What makes the Zebra Pots so handy is their bushcraft-friendly features. The handle has a notch in the middle, to make it easy to hang on a branch over campfires.

It also comes with a removable pan that nests over the pot, which comes in handy as a plate, mixing bowl or frying pan. When used with the lid, this pan can also function as an improvised dutch oven for baking bannock bread, or for steaming vegetables when used over boiling water inside the lidded pot.

The pot itself is constructed of 18-10 Marine grade stainless, and its simple shape excels at common tasks such as boiling water, cooking stews and soups, melting snow, etc:

Melting snow in the 12CM pot for drinking water.

The middle-sized 14CM Zebra Pot has room to cook up to three ramens at once:

Heating up baked beans in the 14CM Zebra Pot.

The overall quality of the pots is superb, and they are built to withstand heavy use. Early Zebra pots came with problematic plastic lid clips, which were used to hold the lid down when the pot was not in use. The issue with these clips was that they would melt when exposed to the heat of a campfire. This plastic has been phased out in later models, and all new Zebra pots come without them.

Conclusion

There are many cookware choices on the market for bushcrafters, but with the combination of strong, quality construction, bushcraft-friendly features, and a very reasonable price, it's not hard to understand why Zebra Pots are so popular.

Yes, there are lighter options than the Zebra Pots, but lighter isn't always better. The advantages of carrying a heavier stainless pot include a more evenly heated cooking surface, bombproof construction, and easier cleaning.

For many bushcrafters, who typically travel shorter distances to their favorite wilderness spots, the Zebra is an excellent choice that's built to last.

5 out of 5 Stars (Highly Recommended)

Zebra Billy Pots are available from Ben's Backwoods

(Campfire photos by Monica Tymcio)

About the author

Jason Schwartz is the founder and senior editor of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft. He is a former Red Cross certified Wilderness & Remote First Aid Instructor, and has taught bushcraft and wilderness survival techniques to the Boy Scouts of America, interned with the US Forest Service, and studied wilderness survival, forestry and wildland firefighting at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado. Jason has also written for magazines such as The New Pioneer and Backpacker, including writing the "Tinder Finder" portion of Backpacker's "Complete Guide to Fire," which won a 2015 National Magazine Award (NMA). Email him at rockymountainbushcraft @ hotmail.com (without spaces)

Site Update- SHOT Show, Upcoming Reviews and Articles

Dear Readers,

Hope you had a wonderful holiday! Next week, I will be at SHOT Show in Las Vegas, and will be checking out the latest and greatest in survival knives, survival guns, axes, and related gear. I plan to post my adventures on our Twitter and Facebook pages now that I have an Iphone and finally learned how to use it!

Articles and Reviews-- Due to the flood disaster here last Fall, we had to delay testing and photography on some of the edged tools and bushcrafting gear we had planned to post reviews on last month. I'm happy to report that we have finished these reviews, and after SHOT Show will be posting lots of new material. Reviews will include Council Tool's new Velvicut Boy's Axe, Wetterlings Fine Forest Axe, Ontario Blackbird field review (plus other survival knives and axes), some very cool curved knives, original articles on bushcraft and wilderness survival, new and interesting wilderness survival guns, and many more.

We look forward to sharing our adventures with you, and as always, really appreciate your emails, comments, and the support you've shown.

Cheers!

Jason, Leah, and Monica

Review: AT&T NEC Terrain- Amazingly Tough Smartphone

Several months ago, AT&T sent us NEC's rugged new Terrain Smartphone to test. Built to military specs, the waterproof, dustproof, and shockproof Terrain is touted to withstand extreme use under any field condition. Specifically, AT&T asked us if we could play "rough" with it to see if it could withstand harsh mountain conditions, yet still be reliable.

Check out NEC's promo video to get a better idea of the Terrain's features:
             

Our main focus was to see how reliable the phone would be after months of dropping it on boulders, submerging it in streams, and subjecting it to the dusty, high wind conditions prevalent in the Rocky Mountain Bushcraft test area. Secondly, we wanted to see how well the battery held a charge during these tests.

Since we were focusing on the phone's reliability, as opposed to it's smartphone features, I'll skip those details and instead, refer you to CNET's thorough review of the Terrain, so you can get an idea of its pros and cons as a smartphone.  

FIELD TESTING-- Will the NEC Terrain live up to it's hype?

Monica and I tested the Terrain over several months in conditions ranging from calm, sunny days, to blinding blizzards, and raging, Continental Divide-driven windstorms.

One particularly "evil" test involved throwing the Terrain into a large boulder beside a mountain stream, and letting it fall into the running water below. During the test, I threw the Terrain against the boulder so hard it actually bounced up in the air before landing in the stream below:

(click to enlarge)

The funny thing about the test was that the running water kept activating the touch screen, and seemed to stay on the Yahoo internet browser, as shown below. Was this particular mountain stream a Yahoo fan? Note that even after the phone was smashed into the boulder, the Terrain still stayed on and was receiving a phone/data signal:

After leaving it submerged for 20 minutes, I had Monica call it, to see if it I could answer it while it was still in the water. Amazingly, the phone rang underwater! I picked it up, shook the water out of the ear piece, and was able to carry on a conversation with Monica for a couple of minutes before hanging up. 

After drying the phone off, I called some friends to say hello. None had any clue that the phone had just been smashed against a boulder, and then submerged in 35 degree water for 20 minutes prior to our conversations. Very impressive.

Call Quality/Battery Life

The Terrain's call quality was not as crystal clear as my Iphone 5, but still very good, and the volume can be adjusted higher than the Iphone-- a real asset when trying to talk during windstorms. 

Battery life, on the other hand, was a different matter. As several internet reviewers have already pointed out, the NEC Terrain's battery leaves much to be desired. After 5-7 hours of use, the battery would quickly go into the "red zone," and we'd have to resort to recharging it with our portable Goal Zero solar powered system if we were going to stay in the field for longer periods.

Form Factor

One feature that I particularly like about the Terrain is its compact size. For other smartphones to have the level of weather/shock protection that the Terrain has, they have to wear large, bulky cases like Otterbox's Armor Case, which is what I use to protect my Iphone. The smaller size of the Terrain makes it more likely that I'll grab it when I head out in the field if I only need a phone for calls, texting, light internet use, and email replies.

Conclusion

The Terrain more than lived up to NEC's hype as a super tough smartphone. It survived everything we threw at it, yet didn't seem to sweat any of it. Though not as intuitive or as full-featured as my Iphone 5, it seemed to work well as a basic communication device. The Terrain's compact size and toughness make it great for carrying into the field.

In fact the only problem we found was battery life. (Are you listening NEC?) One workaround to this problem is to carry a lightweight smartphone battery extender like Goal Zero's Switch 8. Otherwise, the Terrain is a handy, reliable field communication tool.

Even with the battery life issue, we highly recommend the Terrain if you're looking for an ultra-tough smartphone that's remarkably reliable under any conditions.

4 out of 5 Stars (Recommended) 

About the author

Jason Schwartz is the founder and senior editor of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft. He is a former Red Cross certified Wilderness & Remote First Aid Instructor, and has taught bushcraft and wilderness survival techniques to the Boy Scouts of America, interned with the US Forest Service, and studied wilderness survival, forestry and wildland firefighting at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado. Jason has also written for magazines such as The New Pioneer and Backpacker, including writing the "Tinder Finder" portion of Backpacker's "Complete Guide to Fire," which won a 2015 National Magazine Award (NMA). Email him at rockymountainbushcraft @ hotmail.com (without spaces)