Hello,
This is my first post here,
I am after some advice ona few bits a pieces i want to purchase.

Do you have an recomendations for the following?
I want a pair of everyday wear gloves, that are slash proof (Kevlar?) preferably wrist length with some form of wrist support?

Next item! <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I want a nice low profile daily carry waterproof backback preferbaly with a small hydration pack. and i was thinking about a getting a pacsafe thing for it, for when its unattended, anyone have any experiance with those?

still a few more to go!
I want a couple of Flashlights, one for daily personal use, in my bag or packet if need be,
and one slightly bigger for walking the dog, camping etc.
I was thinking about a photonlight, but they are proboly to small for the daily carry? but i might get one anyway.
I use flashlights alot, so Cheap and easily obtainable batterys, or a rechareable would be best for both lights.

Last thing, What is a good all weather coat? I dont want to climb everist but just to wear most days when it isnt warm.

Last one! <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
does anyone know a company tat make tough but quite baggy pants, reinforced knee's and stuff would be good to.

Thankyou for any help you can offer!!
all the best.

1. blackhawkindustries sells a kevlar full wrist supported glove http://www.blackhawkindustries.com/product_detail.asp?product_id=1980&d=

2. if you are going to get a hydration pack, i would recommend camelbak, platypus or hydrostorm. they are the most durable, has most features and are easyest to use.
http://camelbak.com/
http://www.blackhawkindustries.com/product_catalog.asp?cat_id=46
http://www.cascadedesigns.com/platypus/

3. small led light like the proton are very usefull, but you wont see much with it at 10 yards away. best flashlight to walk the dog or something are proberbly surefire ( very pricy ), maglights ( S&W makes very good maglight like flashights for a lower price )

4. i dont really have experians with that, so cant help you with that <img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

5. mil-spec BDU's trouwsers (millitairy trouwsers) has loads of bags, are durable, lightweight, cheap, has ajustable straps,dry fast, etc. aviable at armynavy shops, supplyshop,etc. you can get reinforst version of them, they also come in non-camoflage colors <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
i love those pants.... <img src="images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Sorridsky,

PC2K covered most of your questions just fine, so I'll only hit the ones he passed on.

I wouldn't consider the pacsafe steel-net-things for every-day carry (EDC). I know it says they only weigh a pound and a bit, but when you see them in person, they are amazingly heavy in the hand.. they feel like they weigh a ton. For a daypack or similar, it's like committing to carry a brick around everywhere with you.

Even if you do take the time and trouble to "net" up the pack, you still have to secure it to something else, or someone can just pick the whole thing up and carry it off and break into it at their leasure. For most people, it's easier just to never let the pack out of your sight. My opinion only, YMMV.

Everyone has different opinions on coats, and a lot depends on what you're up to. In my opinion, most outdoorsy coats don't work that well for urban/suburban every-day casual wear simply because they're too short... mountaineers often have insulated or rainproof pants on, so they don't need them to be long, but almost nobody does in the city, so it works much better to have a coat that reaches mid-thigh or so. You stay warmer and dryer with less effort.

My current favorite deal is the Columbia Sportswear Double Whammy. It's pretty long, and comes with a removable nylon-shelled fleece inner jacket that works fine on it's own if it's not too wet, and a removable hood. You can wear either jacket alone or both together if it's really cold or cold and wet, so you're getting the versatility of three coats in one. It's nice to be able to stash the hood out of the way when it's not needed, which is most of the time- even in the rain you might have a hat or umbrella. It's got an expanded PTFE (like Gore-Tex) layer, so the fabric is waterproof... I don't think the seams are taped, which lowers the cost, but that means if you stand in a downpour for an hour you might get a little moisture seeping through the seams. Big deal. It's got pit-zips, which are worth their weight in gold when you start to get too hot (happens a lot with the liner in) but can't take the coat off. It's got decently placed, useable lined hand-warmer pockets, which is worth 20 degrees easily if you don't have gloves with you, and it's got a lot of very well-designed pockets and features.

I don't know anything that works better for casual wear in the city/suburbs, and it will do just fine for most wilderness trips, but for some reason it's on sale at a lot of places now for $100 - $120, which is half of list price and what you'd expect to pay. It comes in LOTS of sizes and color combinations, but most retailers only have two or three colors, so if you don't see one you like, look elsewhere. Right now, I think it's a bargain.

Thankyou Guy's.
I think I will forget the pacsafe then, and just stick with a rucksack with an optional Hydration resivour.
I was thinking about maybe a Blackhawk 3 day assault rucksack?

those gloves look great, I was looking for somthing for everyday wear, I doubt they will stick out to much.

As for the flashlights, I was looking at streamlight, arc and surefire lights, But Can't really figure out whats best for me, being a flashlight newbie! the price range is vast, and i cant see any major advantages for the more expensive lights?

thankyou again, for the advice

sorridsky,
the more expensiv flashlights often are built better or offer better performance. When you use them a lot, they are often a bit cheaper then the less expensiv ones (at least in the long run). I´m a Maglite fan because they are really robust. Mine took a lot of punishment and still work perfectly (one fell down a 14 ft. ladder hitting every step on it´s way down without any damage). When you really use the light very frequently buy LED light with a decent quality. Choose one that uses batteries you´re using in other devices (I went for the AA because they´re cheap, easily available and you can get rechargeables with decent capacity. The lights for those cells are usually small enough for EDC.).
The surefire is real pocket search light. The cost per hour of light is horrendous. IMO it´s too bright and expensiv for normal use.

A flashlight that I always carry around with me is the petzl zipka. It may not suit you but I find it really useful. You can use it as a head torch or on your wrist or you can carry it normally. It uses 3 LEDs and 3AAA batteries.

I once had a pair of khaki combat trouser that I got from a surplus stall at a show. They had reinforced knees and inside leg/seat, as well as being to layers thick anyway. They were great. They lasted for ages. Unfortunatly that was about 3 years ago and I have never seen a pair since. I have seen the stall owner more recently and asked him about them but he too hasn't seen any since and doesnt know who made them.

try armynavy shops ( they call it a "dump" here ). all millitairy shop i have seen got BDU's

Sorridsky,

Welcome aboard, you'll find a lot of folks here with helpful thoughts regarding your questions.

An additional resource on your search for flashlights etc. would be
www.candlepowerforums.com and www.ledmuseum.org

additionally, the Equipped To Survive site has a great set of websitelinks and manufacturers for all sorts of gear as well.

Enjoy.

My personal choices are:

I love Arcteryx backpacks. One that I use Arcteryx Arro series. It has a room for bladder and pack is also water resistant for rainy days. The zippers on the pack is self-sealing so rain or splash can't get thru it. And since back of the pack is very well padded it really feels comfortable.

Somebody did mention Zipka headlight and I would second that. It may not be a search light but for camp, hiking, climbing use it is really great. As a backup I also have Inova X5 flashlight. Great product, small, waterproof and durable. The only problem tehre is with Inova flashlight is that it uses lithium batteries which are little expensive but the light is definiately worth it.

As far as the coat goes. I usually dress in layers so I don't really have what you would call an all around coat. I do have a nice Gore Tex shell and plenty of fleece underneat to keep me warm anyday. But if I had no option as far as layering goes I would go for M65 field jacket. I think those are the best.

And now the pants... I went out to couple of Army and Navy stores to pick up some surplus BDU pants. Not all of them are the same as I assumed at first. There are the cheap ones that would be ruined after few washes and there are the ones that can be used over and over again. I think the ones that have original military tag are good not the immitations. Another place that I buy my cargo pants from is Abercrombie. They are about $50 a pair but they are really comfortable and long lasting.

Matt

For a flashlight, I would go with an ARC. The AAA ARC cannot be beat. There is also the Opalec and Inretech LED light modules that you retrofit an AA MAG. For brighter lights, I use an ARC LS or Inova X5MT. If you want a MagLight size light but still want a strong LED for battery life, there are a number of flashlights that have been modified with an LS LED for around $60.00 that will last a lifetime. I suggest you head over to http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi for information on flashlights. Pete