I carry a similar unit made by Energizer.

I have had multiple rayovac products all with issues. From rechargeable batteries that don't last long and primary batteries that leaked to chargers that don't fully charge the batteries.
I went away from rechargeable batteries for a while, turned out my $30 Rayovac PS4 only charged to about 80% compared to a $30 MAHA.
be very careful with their products.

My son has one of these batteries for his phone ( don't know the model) but being a member in the paranoid what-if camp, I carry with me a second (cheaper model) cell phone whenever there is any hint of anything that requires extra precaution.

This second phone is leftover from my kids collection. I decided to give it a new home in my EDC bag instead of the junk drawer.

So BPJ, if your kids ( senior and junior ) have thrown away some older phones, it's time to grab one of them.

Oh, and my older spare phone has a built in torch, so it doubles as yet another flashlight.

Thanks guys. Have I told you lately that I love you?! I do! LOL!

I've decided to stick with the Kodiak pack. It's comfortable, just the right size and I like the pockets. Y'all are probably right about the colour not making a lick of difference.

I'm working on my cel phone solution and plan to have something in place before I head downtown again in a couple of days. I'm getting a replacement phone, including a charging method that doesn't rely on the grid or my vehicle. Likewise, an am/fm radio is being purchased today.

I'm still on the hunt for a collapsable walking stick. Apparently, a lot of the outdoor stores'around here think they are seasonal for the summer. Duh! There's a Sail Outdoor store on my route to work so I'm going to pop in tomorrow afternoon.

Interestingly, when I go downtown this week, there's going to be a big protest in the area by provincial teachers. I don't expect anything like the G20 riots, but it is food for thought.

I've been feeling a lot better lately so I took my son (9), nephew (8) and niece (6) for an overnight car camp this weekend. We kept it really simple - went to an in the city campground with tents, bags and blankets, can to boil water in, fire kit, weiners, instant KD, marshmallows, hot chocolate, koolaid jammers and water. We also brought a hobo stove just in case a fire ban was re-established. We didn't need it but we did use it just to show them how it's done.

They hunted for crawfish, (didn't catch a single one in almost three hous but they sure had fun!), foraged for fire sticks, worked on their firecraft and practiced their knife, axe and cooking skills, all under the eye of this watchful mama. 2 of them slept in tents for the first time and my nephew even spent the entire night in a one-man tent by himself. Very brave!

We forgot our thermarests (Duh!) and it got pretty chilly in the wee hours. Thankkfully we had lots of wool blankets. This preggo could not get comfortable so I stayed up all night in my chair by the fire, watching the stars and the racoons. Got to see a beautiful sunrise too, so it wasn't so bad.

Despite being REALLY tired, it was a great trip. (Photos are on pages one and two here if you're interested:
http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac

ps - When it comes to camping while pregnant, sleeping on the ground sucks (even with a mattress) and I'm just about done carrying bags of wood. Things to consider when prepping the family BOB and GHB.

PPS - The kids love the LED glow sticks. Thanks for the tip, Izzy!

Great idea on the reflective tape, Mark. Thanks for sharing it! not sure avout sternum straps. I usually like them but I'm a little tender in that region right now. Better to pack light, me thinks.

Sorry , I was over interested LOL, so I looked at page 3 as well.

I noticed the whistle kit and the cigar tube kit. Are they for the kids ? Any particular reason for using the tube ? I mean it offers ideas , like some folks make a knife sheath survival kit. A tube like this is great fit with a knife sheath.

Chisel,

My son wanted a pocket fishing kit that he could use when we go on our hikes and impromptu trips. He searched around the house to find containers and the tube and whistle are tow that he cam eup with. We stuffed them with hooks, sinkers, line, and eye hooks (for making poles out of tree branches), etc. He hasn't had any luck catching anything yet, but mom's been sidelined for a few months so hasn't had many chance to try. Good thing to add to next weekend's adventure!

Awesome trip jac, I'm hoping we can get in a family trip ourselves labor day weekend, and after that we have a Pack campout with our cub scouts planned for Sept 8th, and a District Cub campout for sept 28th - 30th. I hope we have as much fun as it looks like you had.

Im jealous Mark. Our rescheduled Cub-o-Ree camp was just cancelled.It was originally to be held in June but we got thunderstormed out so they rescuduled it to mid-September but too many groups have other commitments so they cancelled it completely. We're now scrambling to get a fall camp booked for our group.

I don't think I'm going to up for much for on the ground camping until after this baby is born though, so I may have to pass on the next one.