Well, ETS is back at SHOT Show in Las Vegas. Doug (of course!), Blast, myself (Cliff), and several others are here looking for new products and things of interest to the ETS world.

A couple of things, dear readers:

We will be posting as we can during the show, instead of afterward as previous years. But with all the bandwidth demands, the 'Net here can be annoyingly unreliable, (like the cell phone service...) so please bear with us. Picture uploads are slllllllooooowwwww, so images may have to come along later.

In order to keep our posts from being confused with comments (and vice versa), we're asking that this thread be reserved for our review posts - so please do not comment here. We will get cranky and will delete them, or (last resort) lock the thread.

Look for the first posts later today and this evening!

UPDATE: SHOT Show 2011 is over, but there are still more news/reviews we have to put up. So keep checking back for updates!

LRI / PHOTON

LRI, the makers of the Photon Microlight, had two interesting product introductions. First, they have released a simplified Photon II Microlight with no programming – just click on and click off. Called the Photon II PRO, the folks at LRI said this was their most requested change to the Photon lineup. The PRO can be had with either the “covert nose” – essentially a shroud around the bulb – and without , and it comes in an infrared version, as well. MSRP is $6.99 ($7.99 with the covert nose). Infrared is a bit more - $9.49 ($10.49 with covert nose), and it is available now.

The test model we played with worked as advertised - on… off; on… off. There is something to be said for simplicity.

LRI was also showing an accessory pack for it’s rechargeable, 4-LED ReX light. It includes a quick charge USB dock, a headband (with adjustable clip) and, what seemed the most interesting bit, a portable solar charger. The solar charger is about 2.5” square, and will charge the ReX in 1 hour of sunlight (LRI’s claim, which we will investigate). The design of the charger allows the ReX to be clipped to the back, safe and out of the way, while the charger is clipped to a pack or laid on the dashboard. LRI says the USB dock will charge the ReX in about 1/2 to 3/4 hour. MSRP for the ReX accessory pack is $19.95 (ReX sells for $29.95), and the accessory pack is selling now.



And as for the ReX itself, that thing is bloody bright.

www.LaughingRabbitInc.com

ULTIMATE SURVIVAL TECHNOLOGIES / REVERE SURVIVAL

Ultimate Survival Technologies, maker of the ‘Blast Match’, has several product improvements this year. Their ‘Deluxe’ and ‘Aqua’ Survival Kits will be offered in a clear case in addition to their current black case, and the ‘Blast Match’ and the ‘Jet Scream’ in the clear case versions will be orange instead of black. The ‘Wetfire Fire Starting Tinder’ will be offered in a new packaging.

The biggest news from Ultimate Survival was the announcement of their acquisition by Revere Survival Products in Florida. According to spokesman at SHOT, Revere will handle Ultimate Survival‘s civilian/retail market, while Ultimate Survival will focus on the military/LEO/government market. The civilian products will be the same as before, and will still carry the Ultimate Survival Technologies logo.

www.reveresurvival.com

www.ultimatesurvival.com

I've been in Vegas for two days now and both the city and I are still standing.
In between the slots, shots, and skin I did find a few things that might interest y'all.

First up is a new, heavy duty Food Saver brand vacuum sealer. It can do 60 bags in a row before overheating, but the real cool feature is it comes with a 12-volt plug so you can run it off you vehicle up at deer camp. I'm thinking you could also use it to seal important stuff when the power is out, say after a hurricane or something.

FoodSaver by merriwether, on Flickr

Bridgford has come out with a line of sandwich-style mre thingies that are quite tasty. Depending on the flavor, the sandwiches run 2.5oz-3.5oz and contain approximately 300 calories. They come in assorted flavors with the best ones being Italian, BBQ beef, and BBQ chicken. They are available as either 4-packs or 48-case, single flavor, no mixes. They are stable for 3 years at 80F, hence the name "Shelf Stable". You can find them at Cabelas, Bass Pro Shop, Dicks, Sportsman's Guide, REI and other big outdoors gear stores. Bridgford Shelf Stable sandwiches at Amazon.com

ShelfStable by merriwether, on Flickr

Of course there needs to be a knife review, so here's mine on a new line from Ka-Bar: Zombie Killer Knives!

KabarZombies by merriwether, on Flickr
These mean choppers come with both the green grips installed, but their package will also include user-replacable black grips. I love the "Pestilence Chopper". It's sheath comes with a large front pouch big enough to hold a bottle of water or several sticks of dynamite.

KA-BAR is a Knife Rights Sharper Future Legal Fund Bronze Donor

Support companies that support Knife Rights.

Adventure Medical Kits has expanded their SOL line to a plethora of different kits and kit supplements. They have a basic "complete" kit in a custom hard plastic case with includes a knife/whistle/flashlight thingy, fire starter, tinder, compass and assorted other survival tools.

SOL by merriwether, on Flickr
Inside and outside of kit.

The knife is available separately, as are many of the other components.


Energizer continues to innovate emergency energy equipment such as solar chargers for small electronics, rechargeable batteries, and assorted LED li (3 on each side) designed to be hung by the included carbiner. It'll be great for use in tents or during power outages.

EnergizerLantern by merriwether, on Flickr

In my opinion Energizer also had two cases of FAIL with their new equipment. The first was there was no simple way to connect their battery charger to any of their solar panels. Second was their new, big car jumpstarter/emergency power source can only be recharged by 110AC. You can't recharger it from your vehicles 12vdc or solar panel.

Tomorrow I'll be meeting with a rep from Gerber knives and will post what I find after I get home.

-Blast

BCB INTERNATIONAL

While they didn’t have any new emergency preparedness products (kevlar undies don't count...), BCB International, the makers of one of the better wire saws on the market and the Crusader Canteen / Cup setup, announced that most all of the components of it’s premade survival kits have been assigned NATO stock numbers (NSN). These components can be purchased from BCB individually for making your own kits. While not a specific mark of quality – NATO does not review and “accept” items – an NSN means a military somewhere in NATO (in this case usually the UK) has tested and accepted the item as standard. That should give a user a level of confidence in quality above what often shows up in big-box sporting goods stores.

www.bcbin.com

SMITH & WESSON

While we don’t normally review firearms as survival equipment (we each have our own personal preferences), Smith & Wesson announced a new revolver that holds some interesting opportunities. Called ‘The Governor’, it is a .45/.410 revolver competing with the Taurus ‘Judge'. What makes the S&W different is that it will take the readily available .45 ACP, along with the much less available .45 Long Colt used in ‘The Judge’. S&W made the .45 ACP M1917 revolver for the US military, so they have some experience in this area. Right now 'The Governor' is only offered in a 2 3/4” barrel, which is not good for outdoors survival (but great for urban, bad neighborhood survival…). With a longer barrel it could be a good choice for an all-around handgun in a survival situation.

As always, carrying a firearm for survival is a personal choice. If you choose to carry a firearm for emergencies, make sure you become familiar with how to use it.

A picture is forthcoming.

EDIT: Here it is...



www.smith-wesson.com

I finally made it to Las Vegas for SHOT Show this year. And while I have only been here for a day and haven't been able to see the whole show yet, I have found a couple companies that have some intriguing new products. I am not going to try and review every new product at the show, I am going to post reviews on products that I find interesting and think the members here will be interested in.

I don't have decent pictures of all the lights right now, I will have to wait until I get to a computer with Photoshop before I can get them up.

Surefire introduced a handful of new products that, if they live up to the advertised specifications, will be game changers in the high quality LED flashlight business.

The first new product that grabbed my attention was a rechargeable headlamp capable of 500 lumens for an hour (yes, 60 minutes of full output) according to Surefire. The Maximus is a 5.1oz LED Headlamp that has adjustable output from 1 to 500 lumens. The Maximus’ lithium ion rechargeable battery takes about four hours to completely recharge. Without actually testing one of these in the field, the only flaw I can find right now is the Maximus does not have the option to use disposable batteries if needed in a pinch.

Surefire’s new series of rechargeable handheld lights do not have that same limitation. Each of the five new rechargeable LED flashlights Surefire released has the option to be fueled by either lithium-ion rechargeable or CR123 batteries.

The UDR Dominator is a monster of a light weighing in at 2.3 pounds; it has 11 output settings from 10 to 2000 lumens. Surefire has yet to release the runtime for the Dominator.

The UBR Invictus is a light we have seen a previous incarnation as the UB3T. The Invictus uses a selector ring at the base of the bezel to choose between 8 light output levels from 5 to 800 lumens as well as a SOS and Strobe setting. The Invictus will provide 100 hours of light on the low setting and 1.5 hours on the highest output setting.

While the UDR Dominator and the UBR Invictus are big, bright lights that are have limited application, the next three rechargeable are the lights that I am excited about and can’t wait to test in the field. The UAR Aviator is almost a rechargeable version of the A2 LED Aviator, almost only because the UAR is more than an improvement on the older model. Similar to the A2, the UAR has four satellite LEDs surrounding a center primary LED in a reflector designed to provide a flood-light style beam. Using a selector ring on the base of the bezel, the UAR has four output levels from 15 to 500 lumens and a strobe setting. The UAR (as well as the UBR Invictus and the UNR Commander) also has a new 4-function tail-cap that allows the user to access four preset output settings instantly. The UAR will provide an hour of light at the highest output level, and 50 hours at the lowest level.

The UNR Commander is a similar light to the UAR Aviator, both lights provide identical maximum and minimum output levels and runtimes but the UNR is designed with law enforcement users in mind. Slightly heavier (12oz vs. 8.6oz), longer (9.35”: vs. 8.74” and with a larger diameter bezel (1.8” vs. 1.625”) the UNR is designed to provide a tighter, farther reaching beam than the UAR and replaces the UAR signaling strobe setting with Surefire’s “MaxBlast” disorienting strobe feature.

The last of Surefire’s new rechargeable LED lights is the R1 Lawman. As you can probably guess from the name, the R1 is also designed for Law Enforcement Officers. The R1 has three output levels from 15-300 lumens and Surefire’s disorienting strobe. The R1 has two switches that the user can program to their needs themselves, the traditional tail-cap switch and one on the head.

Lastly, while not new for SHOT, Surefire has released new versions of the popular 6P, G2, Z2, and G2Z light. The 6PX, G2X, Z2X and G2ZX are single output (200 lumens for 2.5 hours) simple LED lights and are priced less than their predecessors. The 6PX Pro and G2X Pro add a second (15 lumen) output level to the 6PX or G2X.


Unfortunately I don’t have prices for all of these products yet, but as soon as I do I will post them here.

Benchmade introduced a new knife at SHOT this year that was, for me, the highlight of the show. The 915 Triage is about 95% of what I think a perfect “rescue knife” should be, missing only an oxygen wrench hole (which a couple of Benchmade’s Safety Cutters do feature).


The 915 Triage is a manual opening folding knife that features a 3.5” modified sheepsfoot style blade in N680 steel, a 2” long 440c hook safety cutter, fully lined G10 handles and a carbide glass breaker. The 915 Triage uses Benchmade’s Axis Locking system allowing the knife to be opened and closed with one hand, ambidextrously. The 915 is available in any combination of plain or combo edge blades with or without black anti-corrosive coating and either a black or orange G10 handle scales.

Without comparing them side by side, the 915 Triage seemed to be the same size as my RSK Mk1 with a thinner handle profile (due to the G10 handles). In direct comparison the 915 is only slightly bigger than a large Griptilian, with a thicker blade profile, thinner handle, and heavier. Clipped in my front pocket, I could tell no difference in between the two knives.

The market has been flooded with what companies are calling “rescue” knives many of them are either disposable junk, knives already in production that have had brightly colored handles and rounded off blade tips to make them a “rescue” knife, but few of them actually are purpose built “rescue” knives (Gerber’s Hinderer for example) which are great rescue tools but less adequate as an EDC knife. The 915 is the first knife that I have seen that can truly fill both roles as an EDC knife and is a “rescue” knife in one package. The 915 was designed with military and public safety users in mind, but I foresee this knife become equally popular with well equipped civilians looking for a EDC knife that also could fulfill the function of an automotive escape tool like Benchmade’s Houdini.

The MSRP for the 915 Triage is $165 with an non-coated blade and $180 for a black anti-corrosive coated blade.

Benchmade is a Knife Rights Sharper Future Legal Fund Platinum Donor

Support companies that support Knife Rights.

PRINCETON TEC

Princeton Tec has expanded and updated their MPLS line of LED lights for 2011. In the mostly military arena they added a second LED light to their tadpole-looking MPLS ’POINT’ task light (which first showed last year at SHOT 2010) to create the ‘SWITCH’, so a user can choose between two lights or colors. These lights are made to clip to the side of a military helmet, and both are offered in a variety of colors and infrared.

Princeton Tec has also added five new MPLS headlamps this year to their lineup that, while "tactical", seem applicable in the non-military world:

- The ‘EOS Tactical’ uses a single, 45 lumen bulb with interchangeable filters for red green and blue light.
- The ‘Quad Tactical’ is the same as the ‘EOS Tactical’, but with 4 smaller LEDs instead of one single.
- The ‘Fuel Tactical’ has 4 white LEDs for a claimed 45 lumens.
- The ‘Fred Tactical’ is the ‘Fuel, but has 3 white LEDs at 35 lumens and a single red LED.
- The ‘Remix PRO’ has a single large 70 lumen LED and three smaller LED’s that come in a variety of color options.

The first four new headlamps use 3-AAA batteries, which the ‘Remix PRO’ uses a single CR123 battery. All come with several attachment options, including a universal butterfly clip that will attach to the 1-inch headband or any 1-inch pack or gear webbing.



I got to handle a ‘Remix PRO’, and both the white bulb and the smaller 3-red cluster are quite bright.





A nice feature of all the new MPLS headlamps is the headlamp can be rotated 90 degrees to cover the on/off switch.



This prevents the light from being accidently switched on in your pack – and for those of us who have had this happen, that is a nice touch, indeed.

MSRP runs from $59.99 for the ‘Fred’ and ‘Fuel’, to $79.99 for the ‘Remix PRO’.

www.princetontec.com

SOLKOA

SOLKOA is a company mostly focused on professional training programs for emergency and crisis preparedness, but has branched out into providing survival gear and kits for both military and civilians. The experience they bring to gear they developed themselves is not academic - their founder was a SERE trainer for the US Army. SOLKOA market their own gear under the Fastfire label.

SOLKOA/Fastfire offers two fire starting kits using their ‘Fastfire’ tinders. The regular kit has four ‘Fastfire tinders; the smaller ‘emergency’ kit, two. The tinders can be used to start fires in wet conditions, or for using under a canteen cup or small pot to heat /boil water. ‘Fastfire’ tinders are large – they look like a big, square marshmallow – and come individually wrapped. SOLKOA says they will burn for 11-13 minutes at around 1300 degrees, and can be extinguished quickly and re-lit. Other companies, such as Ultimate Survival Technologies, offer a similar product, but the ‘Fastfire’ ones are bigger. To use an old military rule, “P equals plenty”.



Fastfire also sells a 4-inch ferro rod and hacksaw blade striker as the ‘Firestrike Maxx.

SOLKOA’s entry into the civilian survival kit market are two pre-made kits – one targeted toward hunters and one for backpackers. Packed in a soft nylon pouch, the hunter’s kit has a compass, heavy thread, whistle, signal mirror, small water bladder, a ‘Fastfire’ tinder, folding razor knife, wire saw, heavy mylar emergency blanket, and, one critically important thing – room to add items. The version for backpackers will additionally include a Photon microlight, a sewing kit and several bens wipes. MSRP for the kit for hunters is $40; the backpacker’s version is $45.



Two other new products SOLKOA/Fastfire showed were the most interesting emergency preparedness gear this writer saw the whole show:

The first is the ‘SUMA’ container, a two piece, almost pocket-able box made out of machined aluminum. It is designed to be a multi-purpose, waterproof container for survival or other hard uses, and it appears to be almost bombproof. The SUMA is offered in two sizes - 11.5 cubic inches and 22.5 cubic inches. When closed up and tied down, the ‘SUMA’ becomes, in terms of durability, an ammo can in your pocket. Are they expensive? Well, yes. The smaller box is $45, the larger $65. But they look like they will survive Armageddon.



The second was the ‘Grip-S’, two machined aluminum rods about 1/2" diameter and about 3" long with set screws and slots that allow them to be used individually or paired as handles for a screwdriver (a flathead/philips 1/4” hex bit is included, others may be used), handle for a universal shank saw blade, and as the handles for a wire saw. Unlike a typical wire saw with handle loops at the ends, the ‘Grip-S’ uses a wire saw without loops, threaded through the ‘Grip-S’ handles and held in place with a set screw. If a normal wire saw breaks it is useless; whereas if the ‘Grip-S’ the wire saw breaks, you simply discard the shorter broken piece and move the handle to the longer one. My one beef with the ‘Grip-S’ I got to examine was the set screws protrude from the handle when components were in their slots – that could get rather uncomfortable when trying to saw through a 8-inch log. MSRP on the Grip-S is $40, but that also includes 28" wire saw and the flathead/phillips hex bit.



www.fast-fire.com