Category: Review

Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Coast HP5R Rechargeable Flashlight

My wife, bless her heart, is always making fun of me about all the flashlights I have all over the house, as well as in vehicles, and even on my person. Right now, there are three flashlights sitting on my two-drawer filing cabinet, next to my computer desk. On the end table, on my end of the sofa, sit three more flashlights, and there are three more on my nightstand. There’s always one in my jacket pocket, too, and let’s not forget the one or two on the kitchen table and some emergency battery-operated lanterns in the living room, and …


Product Review: Springfield Armory XD-45 Mod.2

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Last month, SurvivalBlog readers got an in-depth look at the Springfield Armory XD-9 Mod.2 sub-compact 9mm handgun, and to be sure, it’s a winner in all respects. However, not everyone thinks that the 9mm round is the best all around caliber for self-defense or other uses. Some of us believe nothing less than the .45ACP will make do, and I’m in that group myself. Yes, quite often I can be caught carrying some kind of 9mm pistol, but if I know in advance that I’m headed into harm’s way I’ll elect to carry a .45ACP of some sort. Many gun …


Scot’s Product Review: Anker 14W Foldable Dual-Port Solar Charger

We have had a number of requests to review ways to make electricity without the need for the grid, particularly for things like cellphones and tablet computers. I’ve been looking into options, and they usually boil down to solar, though I hope to get some products that use other strategies. There is a huge range of solar solutions out there, from systems that can power a whole house to something that can keep a small battery charged. The whole house solutions can easily hit $40,000 or more when you include the battery backups, while the least expensive small ones can …


Buck Knives Model 245 MWG, by Pat Cascio

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You probably won’t find the new fixed blade Buck Model 245 MWG on the Buck® Knives Official Website list of their Hunting and Tactical Knives just yet, because it is so new; I received one of the first samples. Sure, a month or two ago, many websites released a press release– the same I received– on the Model 245 MWG Buck knife, but these sites do an injustice to the product and the reader, if you ask me, by simply posting a press release without actually testing the product. Everyone is probably familiar with the most famous Buck folding knife …


Scot’s Product Review: Nikon PROSTAFF Target EFR 3-9x 40mm Rifle Scope

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If my rifles had feelings, I bet my .22’s and air rifles would feel slighted. They don’t get the expensive accessories that my centerfire ones get, the most important of which are quality optics. I usually have to pinch pennies, and I view the most important firearms in my collection to be the self-defense and hunting ones, so that’s where the money goes. The importance of self-defense does not need to be stated, while hunting puts food on the table and also serves a critical function. I don’t get to hunt as much as I would like, but when I …


Scot’s Product Review: Scoping the Garand

Recently, you were treated to my diatribe on the wonders of the U.S. Semiautomatic Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, better known as the Garand after its designer, John C. Garand https://survivalblog.com/scots-product-review-the-m1-garand/. The brief synopsis is that I really like the thing. It fires the hard hitting .30-06 cartridge, which is fully capable of handling any game on the American continents (though I might like something bigger for the large bears), and it can deliver match grade long-range accuracy when tuned. In service grade with a fresh barrel, Garands often shoot just as well as a modern sporting bolt action rifle. The …


Scot’s Product Review: MRE Depot Food Products

I recently wrote about the Yoders meats sold by MRE Depot, one of a number of vendors that sell storage foods aimed at preppers. As well as MRE’s and Yoders meats, they also carry a number of other items of interest. While MRE’s are useful and everyone should have some, the other items are, in my view, more important. A diet of MRE’s is going to get old pretty quick. This review is on some of the other food products they offer. They were kind enough to send several different items for me to review. Since I think readers deserve …


An Argument for Milsurp Rifles

I’ve been reviewing old military rifles off and on, with the idea that they have uses for preppers. I’ve even had letters suggesting that I do these reviews. We recently published a very thoughtful letter from M.M. to the contrary. I wanted to address a few of the points he made and thank him for taking the time to write. The first point is that I wasn’t very good at saying that we are looking for bargains in these rifles. My main goal was to help people realize that if they see a good deal on one, they ought to …


Product Review: Infidel Body Armor – Level IV

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Much has been written and discussed on SurvivalBlog lately about body armor, which is something many people mistakenly refer to as a “bulletproof vest”. There is no such thing as bulletproof vests. There are just vests that are designed to “resist” certain types of ammo of varying degrees of power. I make no claim to being any sort of expert when it comes to body armor. However, over the past 35-yrs or so, I have tested quite a bit of soft and hard body armor. My tests were not “scientific”; I just took body armor panels out and shot them …


Scot’s Product Review: Panteao Productions Make Ready to Survive Video Series

I recently reviewed a couple of videos on weapons craft from Panteao Productions and found them quite useful. Panteao recently released its first three videos in a series on survival. The press release says they will have a total of thirteen videos, which are to be released over the next few months, to cover the full range of survival topics, from weapons to medicinal plants. One of the things that impressed me about the first two videos I watched was the quality of the instructors– Bill Jeans and Freddie Blish. The survival videos use five instructors, all of whom have …


Springfield Armory XD Mod.2, by Pat Cascio

Much has been written about this redefined little 9mm handgun from Springfield Armory– the XD Mod.2 since the first day it came on the scene. The gun is also available in .40 S&W, and by the time this article appears in print, it will also be available in .45ACP. I’ll be the first to admit that when the first XD subcompact 9mm came out, I wasn’t all that thrilled with it. It was too chunky to my way of thinking, and it just didn’t feel right in my hand. I shot one but never bought one! Just a quick run …


Scot’s Product Review: Mauser 98 Rifle

As part of my continuing investigation of old military rifles for prepping, I have come to the products of the Mauser boys– Paul and Wilhelm– who are best known for their bolt action rifles. While they didn’t invent bolt actions or the box magazines that came to be one of their signature features of the bolt gun, their rifles, particularly the Model 98 (that’s for 1898) pattern, are still considered to be in the top tier of the type. Versions are made to this day. As best as I can research, the first bolt action rifle was the Dryese needle …


Scot’s Product Review: Federal Ammunition

I have always had good results with Federal ammunition, in handguns, rifles, and shotguns. It is what I carry in my primary self-defense pistol, and it’s what resides in my home defense shotgun. I’m torn between one of their loads and a competitor’s for the AR platform. Federal offers a pretty complete line; while it doesn’t satisfy every niche of my needs, it gets most of them and does so with reliable, high quality, and consistent products. They have some lines that I think should be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers, for self-defense, hunting, and training. Federal American Eagle Fresh …


Idaho As a Retreat Locale, by Jonathan Rawles

Note from HJL: The following is the first in a series of articles on retreat locales from JWR’s eldest son, Jonathan Rawles. The series will focus initially on top retreat states, then address specific regions in each state. Idaho has long been considered a mecca for the survivalist, prepper, and for every strain of independence-loving individual. The attractions are clear. Idaho remains one of the freest and safest places in the world. Geographically, Idaho can be split in two. The upper half of the state is largely rugged and mountainous, while the southern end is basin and range country similar …


Scot’s Product Review: MobileSec Cellphone Blocker and Laptop EMP Shielding

I always liked the line that states, “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean that someone isn’t out to get you.” These days, in addition to physically trying to “get” you, there are also those who are trying to virtually get you by stealing your information for misuse. There are those who might want to wipe out everything with an EMP event so that not only do you not get to use your own stuff, you can’t even get a backup from someone else. It could be a foreign government, a criminal consortium, or even your own government doing the deed. …