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Saturday, December 8, 2012

10 Great Survival Christmas Gifts





So its that season again and you always end up wondering what to get. It also happens to be the right time to give that present that may happen to plant that seed that one day could sprout into a full survival mindset! I'm breaking it down into $100, $50 and $25 price range (give or take) 


 
 
This is a great gift for a like-minded person that appreciates functionality, generally favored by military, LE and outdoors enthusiasts. At 155 bucks these aren’t exactly cheap but this Casio Pathfinder has altimeter, sunrise/sunset, barometer, thermometer and compass besides the typical functions found in the watches. It’s also solar, so you forget about batteries and the waterproofing problems that always follow opening the case for battery replacement. 
I have one that is somewhat similar, the CasioProtrek PRW2500T-7  but being made of titanium and having a few more funtions makes it twice as expensive. On the bright side the resin and rubber wristband models are lighter.


 Surefire P2X Fury Dual Output LED
One of the latest LED lights by Surefire, the dual mode puts out real 500 lumens and 15 lumens on low mode. There are a bunch of excellent flashlight manufacturers, but there's a reason why the military sticks to Surefire. 

3)Leatherman Wave $62.47
 Leatherman 830037 Wave Multitool with Combination Leather and Nylon Sheath



Excellent blade, saw, file and pliers among other tools. The blades can be opened single handed and lock into place, like all other tools included. A handy clip means you can just clip it you your jeans pocket on the way out and be set in terms of knife/tool needs for everyday tasks. I’ve written about these tools for years and they are still the undisputed king of multi-tools. There’s a reason why the Wave is Leatherman’s best-selling multi-tool.
For those that want top notch stuff, The Charge Tti is a bit more expensive but its absolutely worth it with its premium blade steel and comfortable titanium sculptured panels. That's my first choice, and I keep a Wave as backup at home.
Leatherman Charge TTI 2012
 

 KA-BAR Full Size US Marine Corp Fighting Knife, Straight
 Seven inches of 1095 Cro-van steel, shaped into a true American icon of a knife. Any guy with warm blood running through his veins would love to have one of these and could use a spare one as well. Its not just a fighting knife, it’s a time proven classic that works for all general purpose applications where a knife is needed. For the average prepper that simply wants a reliable tool this one will serve them well too. Heck, I’d love to get one of these for Christmas myself!

 Midland XT511 GMRS Two-Way Emergency Crank Radio
This radio isn’t just good for staying informed during emergencies, it could be used to calling for help too which might be an invaluable asset. It has a LED flashlight, alarm and a USB port so as to crank charge your cellphone and other gadgets (that will sure take a while)

 

It’s a G-Shock, so whatever kills the watch will probably kill you as well. Its solar, so you don’t need batteries. Ive had solar watches for decades and they do work. Its atomic, so its always on time, with ridiculous precision. Short of an EMP blast, this G-Shock will outlive you. If its an EMP blast that worries you, then you want a Seiko Black Monster. While costing around 200 bucks, I happen to own this watch and the Monster is worth every penny.

 Spyderco Resilience Black G-10 PlainEdge Knife
I’ve owned several of these and I believe them to still be the best value today in terms of folders, an outstanding knife for the money. Ive lost one to a police officer and another one to a fellow shooter, both of them good friends that clearly needed them more than I did and are probably putting them to good use right now. Great gift.
The Spyderco Tenacious is similar, slightly smaller and cheaper, still a great knife for $33.90

 The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse
Of course, shameless self-promotion! In my defense, ever since I published it though, not a week goes by without several people emailing me, thanking me for writing it. In many cases, its people that weren’t into survival and preparedness and my book set them on the right track. From die-hard survivalists that needed a more realistic approach to teens and soccer moms, it just feels great to be told you’ve positively influenced someone’s life

10)Leathermam Micra $21.61
 Leatherman 64010103K Micra Multitool

These are great for “converting” people. Being so small, they don’t think much about keeping one on their keychain. A couple weeks later they start wondering how they got by without it.

Tight Budget? Here’s some bonus sub $10 gifts suggestions anyone would love to get:

 SABRE RED Compact Pepper Spray with Pink Key Case
Nothing says I love you like a pink can of pepper spray! :-) Show the ladies in your family you care about them too by giving these this Christmas.  Really, they think its cute and end up carrying it, which is always a good thing.

 Gerber 22-41770 Artifact Pocket Keychain Tool

Very popular and practical keychain tool.

Streamlight  Nano Light Miniature Keychain LEDFlashlight $6.24
 Streamlight 73001 Nano Light Miniature Keychain LED Flashlight, Black
As with the Gerber Artifact and the Leatherman Micra, its only after having it in their keychain for a few weeks that people start wondering how they got around without it before.

FerFAL

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Mora knives from Sweden. They run ten to twenty bucks on amazon and they're a great value.

Lance said...

I'd add a short wave receiver to the list, if for entertainment only. Just something simple like a Grundig S350 with a dial. You can roll up and down listening for something. When the hurricane flattens the local power grid and cable you get tired of the local news (assuming you had batteries or a generator to listen.) They obsess on what anybody can see when driving around. A boat in the road, hanging power lines, gas lines, repeat cycle. For weeks. The rest of the world did not stop, being able to listen to outside new's sources is a welcome break.

Don Williams said...

1) Nothing says "I care" at Christmas like a gallon of Martin's
13.3% Permethrin.

http://store.parsonspestcontrol.com/martinspermethrin133.aspx


Dilute it by a factor of 27 with water and you have a clothing spray similar to Sawyers, what the military uses to treat ACUs etc. Kills ticks, mosquitoes, fleas, chiggers,etc on contact while having almost a 100 year history of being harmless to humans in dilute form. One treatment of clothing will protect for 36? washings--i.e, a year.

A KaBar or AK47 will take care of the big guys --but it is the little guys that will kill you. The Black Death would not have got off the ground if they had permethrin back then. Lets you protect your livestock and your wife.

Don Williams said...

Correction -- 0.5% permethrin spray protects clothing for 6 washings. About six ozs needed ->
27 gallons will provide about 576
clothing treatments. Assuming you wear a pair of treated clothes for 3 days between washings (under survival conditions) then you have 18 days per treatment. So 576 treatments will cover you for 576*18days or 28.4 years.

fahri said...

it's great article...

Steve said...

Great List, for those who live in places pepper spray is illegall, try bear spray as a legal alternative.

gaga said...

Oil is predicted to hit an average of $50 next year.

Bob said...

Loved the ideas, but I have to say I like the Leatherman Skeletool CX much better. It's lighter and in most cases cheaper, yet can do it all. I have a Wave, too, and love it, but my Skeletool is the one that's always in my pack on hikes, and that's in my BOB. Great list.