I have always been of the opinion that in the age of the hyper-competitive and ever-changing internet marketplace, a company must go above and beyond in both the products and the services they offer to earn the loyalty and respect of the savvy consumer. County-Comm has proven to be one of those companies for me. I first discovered them by pure accident while buying camping supplies one year and have been a patron ever since. CC is one of those unique companies that hooks you by offering very practical, but at the same time very COOL EDC and Prep Gear. My latest order focused on obtaining some very practical gear to have in my GO-Bag should things get hairy.
Whenever I am buying Prepper supplies/gear I try to stick with a very basic concept: The item must fall into one of these 7 categories. And within that category, it must either be the item or either be a way to service that item in a practical way.
- WATER
- FOOD
- MEDICAL
- TOOL
- FIRE
- LIGHT
- WEAPON
The Lumora (4) AA Model Lantern/Flashlight
After going through two hurricanes I appreciate any device that can put off a good amount of light either by batteries, wick or oil. This hybrid Lantern/Flashlight which has a R3 XP-G CREE LED bulb and runs off (4) AA Batteries that can power it for up to 190 hours on Low (which is a really nice change of pace, seeing most common Electronic Lanterns run off C or D Batteries) does the trick, But that is not the only perk of this nifty gadget. It also has a dim function within the power button that allows you to dim or brighten the light (therefore helping save your batteries) to fit the need required. And last but not least, you can collapse the whole thing and turn it into a very bright flashlight. On the outside of the package it list the brightness at 190 Lumens, which is EXTREMELY bright for a lantern, especially one that runs of AA Alkaline Batteries! Some other nifty features are the four extendable feet on the bottom to allow you to set it securely on a table, etc. and a folding metal hook on top to allow you to hang it anywhere you please. The manufacturer of this piece of kit is UCO-GEAR, which besides the Lumora, offer a model called the Arka which is like the Lumora, except it has a Rechargeable battery that doubles as a USB charging station to charge up that cell phone, GPS or any other USB compatible device. At $18.50 it beats the price of most battery-powered camping lanterns that have half the power and use C or D Batteries to boot.
Frontier Emergency Water Filter Straw
I have been meaning to buy some of these for my entire family some time. I have a Katadyn Micro Filter in my Survival Bag, which can treat up to 13,000 Gallons, but I wanted everybody in my clan to have one of these in their respective Go-Bags also. This particular model is made by Frontier and can treat 30 Gallons. The bare minimum for an average adult doing moderate activity is 3 liters per day. So using that as a rough guide, one gallon equals around 3 and a half liters, so one straw would last you around 10 days, so the average person would need to have 3 to 4 of these to last a month. These are modestly priced around $10 to $11, so a family of 4 with 3 each could be outfitted for around $120.
Mylar Hoodie
All of us probably have a mylar blanket or two in our GO-bags or VBOBS, but how about a Mylar Hoodie? When I saw this, I thought to myself how ingenius! Instead of trying to force fit a mylar blanket around you in the event you really need some warmth, just slip on this hoodie. They sized it big, around a 3XL, so as long as you are not Andre the Giant, it will work fine. OI bought two of these, one for the GO-Bag and one for the VBOB. At $8.50/ea buy a few for all the family.
Maratac AA Tactical Flashlight
I already did a write up on Maratac Lights in a previous article Making the Tactical Flashlight Practical Again, so if you have not read that piece, please do. In any case, I will give you the broad strokes on this well-made, handy and potent little light. First, it is a small light, only around 4 inches long. It can only be operated from the tail cap button (which is zombie green in color, nice touch!) Also the tail cap itself is cranellated for striking. The light has only two modes: Low and High. Low is 15 Lumens and High is 145 Lumens. It runs off ONE AA Battery and the run times you get are really amazing: Low is 55 Hours and High is 2.2 Hours! It is designed to be held in the “syringe” style, and the compactness of it make it perfect when used as a handgun search light. Another neat feature of this light is the “diffuser” it comes with. This is simply a piece of soft, white plastic that fits over the head of the light that turns the flashlight into a small bright lamp when you sit it upright on the tailcap. They also added to the “cool” factor (according to my kids) when they enabled the diffuser to glow in the dark green once light has been applied to it! For $28, you would be hard pressed to find a light of this quality anywhere that runs off alkaline batteries.
Maratac TLL Strobe Light
I originally bought this to use as a emergency lamp, but once I got it, I found literally dozens of ways to use it practically. Originally designed for the military to be used in place of flares to mark LZ’s and Landing Strips (TLL stands for Temporary Landing Light), you know right away this thing is TOUGH and BRIGHT!! Simple to use, it only has 3 modes: High, Low and Strobe. And the best part: It runs of a SINGLE D Battery! Run times are as follows: High: 150 Lumens for 100 hours, Low: 40 Lumens for 500 Hours, Strobe: 150 Lumens for 225 hours. The CO only has to use his imagination how he can creatively use this thing. From marking duck blinds to deer stands to helping mark your vehicle in that stadium parking lot or even as a cheap home security system to deter burglars. A bargain at $39.
Swedish Metal Match
No prepping kit would be complete without a few metal matches. I really like these, as they are the Swedish kind and are the best you can get IMO (not the cheap taiwan crap from Amazon). They coat the flint rod with a protective black coating, so you will need to give it a few scrapes before you start sparking away. You can get OD Green or Orange..I like the Orange only because If I need it bad enough, I want to be able to find it in a hurry! No GO-Bag is complete without a couple. $8.95/ea they are worth every penny.
Cord Supervisor
This is a good example of the kind of stuff County-Comm is famous for…small, practical items that make your life easier. Now, if you are like me, you have a lot of electronic devices with all kinds of cords: power cords, headphones, charger cables, etc. and those cords are always getting tangled together and end up a big wasp nest. Well, no longer. Introducing the “Cord Supervisor” a simple piece of moldable black plastic with indents cut into the top and bottom. Simply run your cord through one indent, wrap it around, thread it through the other indent and wha-laa! Your cord is now wrapped up and “supervised”. They also included a handy little clip to attach it to whatever you choose, so you won’t lose it. Not exactly a “prepper” essential, but IMO, an essential for anybody with costly electronics. Quick story: I own a pair of really nice BOSE Headphones that I bought specifically to use with my laptop. I noticed when I would store them and wrap up the cables, it had started putting tension where the wires actually connected to the headphones. That’s when I discovered this nifty gadget….so please, pick up a few, they could literally extend the life of your electronics gear! At $2.95/ea you can afford to give a few as gifts too!
So there it is….a few items I got that you may (or may not) find useful too. Remember: Always better to have a thing and not need it than NEED IT AND NOT HAVE IT!
Stay Alert, Stay Armed, Stay Prepared and Stay Dangerous!