Freeplay Sherpa

The Freeplay Sherpa is an emergency flashlight that can be used without any power source using a hand crank to charge the light.

There are many hand-crank lights in the market and most of them are fakes, this one is for real. You have two ways to charge the flashlight, the first one is winding the hand crank, 2 minutes of winding will give you 50 hours of good light and up to 80 minutes of dim but useful light.
The second method is charging in an AC, a 24 hour charge will then give you 20 hours of light.

The light uses an array of 7 leds and has two brightness levels, one for maximum brightness and a dim setting for long runtime useful inside a tent or at the camping site, you can always recharge if you need more light so using the high mode if needed is not a problem.

The beam is floody good for ambien illumination and as a tasklight, the reflector provides a good throw so the light will be seen from a good distance and can be used to signal your position in an emergency situation.

The sherpa is a good quality emergency light that really works, it has a very good relation of charge time and light time, on the downside it is a little big to be an emergency device, it is not regulated and it doesn't have a strobe or beacon mode to attract attention. If the ability to be able to charge and use a light is what really matters this is an excellent option.

You can get it for $33 from BatteryJunction.

Do It Yourself: LED Throwies

LED throwies are simple home made illumination devices using a LED, a battery, some duct tape and a magnet. They were created mainly as a way to do urban graffiti but can also be used as simple illumination devices, trail lights and markers.

The basic throwie model requires a 10mm LED (red pictured but other colors can be used), a 2032 coin cell battery (very common and easy to get), some duct tape and a magnet, neodynium magnets recommended.

The construction is simple just make the LED legs contact the positive and negative sides of the 2032 battery, since a LED is a diode this will only work in one position. Stick the magnet to the positive side of the 2032 battery and wrap with ducttape. To use it just stick it to a metallic surface and voila!.

Runtime for a simple throwie can be several days, with a red LED one week of runtime is normal depending on the LED used and the quality of the battery. If you want to use the throwie as a marker or locator you can use a small piece of paper to prevent the contact between the battery and the LED and remove the tab when you want to use it.

Variations include the use of a photocell to turn on or off the LED based on ambient light extending runtime, adding a simple switch, use of 3mm or 5mm LED and smaller batteries to make it even smaller etc etc.

For the ones that like minimalistic EDC you can always have one ready in your kit with a tab to prevent activation and use it when you need it, they are easy to do, can be made by children, fun to use and economic.

If you want even more information you can read this article at Instructables.com

Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 1 Watt Headlamp

This is a light weight and small headlamp made by Rayovac using a single AA cell. The light has two 5mm red leds, one 5mm blue led and one 1 watt luxeon led as its principal light source.

The headlamp has 3 modes that can be rotated using the single button switch, the first press turns on the two red leds, a second press turns on the blue led and a third press turns on the white led.

The three modes are quite bright for a single cell lamp, reds are useful to preserve night vision and blue is good for contrasting when you need to find something, it can also be used for blood tracking and other activities where blue light is recommended.

The white beam produces a good hotspot that can be used to take a night walk without any problems. Runtime is 2 hours for the white beam, we haven't tested the red /blue leds but we think runtime might be longer for them.

As a distinctive feature the light has a difusser that can be used over the red/blue leds or the white led, since it rotates from one position to the other. The difusser makes the light produce a floody beam that is very useful for a task light, for reading and other activities where you need smooth beam without a tight hotspot.

Balance is good and the up/down rotation is adjusted with a plastic ratchet. The ratchet is very solid and the assembly does not move when running. This model is probably not intended for outdoor activities but is certainly very good as a tasklight for indoors use or camping.

Using just a single AA cell the light is very light and confortable to use. A very good option for a light tasklight or a backup headlamp.

This model is available for about $20 at WallMart and similar stores, discounts might apply so you may find it at an even lower price. You can read more at Rayovac's website.

Imation Wristband

Yet another presentation for a USB flash drive, in this oportunity in the shape of a wristband.

The Imation Wristband is basically a USB drive surrounded by a rubber band giving it the shape of a wristband. The USB connector is used as a buckle to secure the drive to your wrist, bag handle, backpack or other places.

The band is not sizeable and measures 210mm (5.59'') so you have to make sure that it will fit your wrist in a confortable way. Being made of rubber and in only one size we estimate only a few will find the band confortable to the wrist.

The idea is interesting but with the size of flash drives today one has to wonder why carrying it as a bracelet is a need or even a good idea, you can put today's tiny drives on your wallet, keychain, necklace and so many places that the bracelet might even be impractical and too geeky for your taste.

The product is available in several colors and different memory sizes up to 1gb, probably bigger versions coming soon, it can be customized with your own logo too.
You can read more at Imation's website.

Streamlight Stylus

The Stylus is a pen-shaped flashlight by Streamlight. Among the many penlights in the market the stylus has the distictive advantage of being one of the thinnest versions being as thin as a regular ball pen or a mechanical pencil, other products are bulky when compared to a pen.

The stylus has a button on the tailcap for momentary activation, you can also tighten the end cap for constant on mode when needed in a penlight momentary use is probably the most used mode so the button is very useful.

The light uses three AAAA (that is four As) batteries, not very common to find but not hard or impossible, the AAAA batteries have the same length as AA or AAA batteries but are thinner. Some models of 9v batteries are made of 6 AAAA batteries so in case of emergencies you can "attack" a 9v battery to get the AAAAs.

The beam is dim as expeced from the regular 5mm led in this light but useful as a small task light or for quick inspections, it has a long runtime of more than 50 hours. The total brightness for the white led version is 10 lumen. The pocket clip is more oriented to a shirt than a pocket because it is rather small, so it can be seen as the regular clip you can find in a pen.

The light is available in white, red, blue, green and UV LED colors and several body colors to choose. You can read more about it at streamlight website or order from EDCdepot for $14.

Victorinox Soldier

The Soldier is the original model issued by the Swiss Army, it is a simple multitool with just 4 elements and the handles are made of an aluminium aleation referred as Alox.

The soldier features a blade, can opener with small screwdriver, bottle opener with large screwdriver and wire stripper and finally a reamer/awl.

The blade is excellent, non locking but stronger and thicker than blades in other popular SAK models, it is certainly beyond the category of letter opener and can be used for most common cutting jobs without any problems. Production year is stamped on the blade.

The can opener, bottle opener and screwdrivers are the same as in other SAK models, they are strong and functional and in case of need can be used for prying or scraping jobs without breaking them.

The awl/reamer is probably the most characteristic item in the soldier since it is not common in other models; it is a very pointy and sharp piece of steel that can be used to create holes, punch, scrape, pry little things and other similar jobs. It can be a handy tool since many times we found a pointy/sharp object is needed and we never have one. It can also become useful as a last resort self defense tool.

The handles made of Alox metal are very strong and very stylish, they have a fine knurling job that make the grip excellent and non slippery. The only detail is that there are no toothpick or tweezers in the Alox handles as you can find in the plastic ones. There is no lanyard hole or attachment point so you have to carry it loose in your pocket or in a belt sheath.

The soldier is a classic knife that is stylish and functional, if you just want a stylish pack of basic tools of high quality this is an excellent idea.

You can get it from Amazon for about $25.

Buck Transport

The transport is a keychain folding knife by Buck made in collaboration with Peter Whittaker.

The transport is 2 7/8'' long when closed (7.3cm) and the blade length is 1 1/4'' (3.2cm). The transport locks and unlocks using a button on the side, interestingly the knife is also locked preventing accidental opening.

The transport features a bottle opener incorporated and a lanyard half-hole at the back of the handle. The lanyard hole is generous enough for splitrings, paracord, ballchain and other options. There is no pocket clip.

The handle is made of nylon, is strong and has a good grip but may be a little slippery if your hands are wet or greasy.

The blade is a drop point made of 420J2 steel. It cuts well and it is pointy enough to penetrate cardboard and similar materials, the short blade will make large cutting jobs difficult but for small tasks such as opening boxes, cutting cord and similar tasks works perfectly well.

One thing we liked is that the transport really doesn't look scary at all, you can deploy it and use it at the office, when camping and other public places without scaring anybody. A practical little knife that is accesible and easy to use.

The transport is available in red, pink, gray and blue handles for about $18 from REI. You can also read more at Buck's website.

Purrell Military Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizer is always a good idea for your EDC, first aid kits, travel bags and other kits. This version features purrell's traditional hand sanitizer product in a special bottle with the military in mind.

The product itself is an alcohol based gel with usually 70% of alcohol, applied over your skin and rubbed it will kill 99% of germs and bacteria, it dries very quickly leaving no trace or residue except the characteristic smell of alcohol.

Among other uses hand sanitizer is an excellent fuel so it can be used as a firestarter when camping.

In this version the bottle is refillable, in foliage green color and made of a very strong plastic, it can be dropped and abused in several ways and won't be easy to break. It also offers a low infrared profile for night operations, there are grips on the side to help use the bottle with just one hand.

We find hand sanitizer a very useful EDC product, this version maybe more masculine than the colorful bottles you can get at the pharmacy but the product is still the same, so you can pick the container that you like the most, this is just one of many options.

You can get it for $3.50 from CountyComm.