The Outdoor Pantry Freeze Dried Smoked Pulled Pork with Salsa and Black Beans

The Outdoor Pantry Freeze Dried Smoked Pulled Pork with Salsa and Black Beans Review 
By Brittany Johnson

The Outdoor Pantry Freeze Dried Smoked Pulled Pork with Salsa and Black Beans meal is an excellent choice for backpacking, camping and/or day hiking so long as you don't have too many dietary restrictions (contains wheat and meat). The package weighs 2.7 oz. and doesn't take up much room in your backpack. With 13.2 g. fat, 60 g. carbohydrates and 24.3 g., the entire portion has a total of 433 calories which is great for refueling on the trail. This savory meal can easily be prepared with just one cup of hot water and is ready to eat in less than 10 minutes. The meal is delicious on its own, and also goes well with tortillas. I brought this meal out with me for dinner during an overnight in the Sespe Wilderness. After a long day of hiking, this was the perfect meal to help warm my body up and rejuvenate lost calories. There's nothing like a hot and tasty meal before curling up in your hammock on a cold evening in the middle of the wilderness. I definitely recommend this product to my fellow hikers. 

The Outdoor Pantry Freeze Dried Mexican Chocolate Coconut Cookie

The Outdoor Pantry Freeze Dried Mexican Chocolate Coconut Cookie Review
By Brittany Johnson

The Outdoor Pantry freeze dried Mexican Chocolate Coconut Cookie is a flavorful organic, gluten free and paleo outdoor treat that anybody would love. With a great crispy texture and notes of chocolate and coconut, these cookies are delicious and great for any outdoor adventure. The pack weighs 2.0 oz. and comes with two cookies. The pack contains a total of 370 calories (each cookie contains 185 calories). I brought this snack out with me on a camping/fishing trip and ate it for breakfast the morning before fishing. While being stashed for a few days in my gear, the cookies packed well and didn’t even crumble by the time that I had arrived to the fishing spot. Along with some coffee, the cookies gave me enough energy to make it through the early morning and all the way until lunch time. This is a delicious high calorie and lightweight snack whether eaten alone or dipped in coffee. I definitely recommend this product.

Wazoo Survival Gear Koozie

Wazoo Survival Gear Koozie Review

By Brittany Johnson

The Wazoo Survival Gear Koozie is bound together with 125 feet of paracord, comes with a fire cord drawstring, fire steel, a ceramic striker and a whistle. The Koozie can make a great drink holder or gear stash. You can easily fill the Koozie up with your own survival kit or first aid kit. This review covers the large Koozie but Wazoo Survival Gear also carries a smaller version of this Koozie. The Koozie's dimensions are 8" x 4.75" x 1" and the whole Koozie weighs 8.5 oz. The Koozie comes with a paracord loop that can be used to attach a carabiner for easy carrying. You will find the whistle on the end of the fire cord drawstring where you will also find the fire steel and you will see the ceramic striker stitched on the inside of the Koozie close to the top. The fire steel and the ceramic striker work perfectly. Doesn't take much to make these pieces spark which is a necessary feature for any kind of survival fire starters. The Koozie flattens easily for convenient packing or can just be hung from your gear bag. 

I personally love this Koozie. I have used it for everything from drinks, to snacks, to first aid kits, to miniature tackle boxes, keys/phone/wallet keeper for camping and everything else that comes to mind. The Koozie is evidently high quality which you will notice as soon as you hold the Koozie in hand and since it comes with some basic survival necessities, it is a lot more than just a great
drink holder, it's a great little survival kit too. I definitely recommend this product to all my fellow survival enthusiasts.

Winerest

Winerest Review
By Brittany Johnson

The Winerest is an outdoor chair adapter for wine glasses. Definitely a great item for wine lovers/glampers.  The Winerest easily attaches to either handle of an outdoor chair. This item is only 3 oz. and can easily be attached to a carabiner clip for easy carrying. The dimensions are 6.5" x 4.5"x 0.4" which is nice since it doesn't take up much room in a backpack or bag. It's light enough to take anywhere and even light enough to just permanently leave on your favorite outdoor chair.

I personally love the Winerest for days off by the pool and especially get togethers with friends during overly prepared car camping trips. It's an awesome item to have with you when you already have the luxuries of home, such as wine glasses and wine of course. I recommended this item for the wine lovers in your life.

New Bee Portable Speaker

New Bee Portable Speaker Review
By Brittany Johnson

The New Bee portable speaker is Bluetooth capable and water-resistant. The speaker has a IP65 waterproof coating which makes it great for the pool, shower, rivers, lakes, beach etc. I wouldn't recommend fully submerging the speaker but you can definitely keep it near the water and won't have to worry about splashing. The speaker can last up to 10 hours on a full charge. It takes about 3 hours to fully charge the 3.7 V 750 mAh lithium battery. The speaker has a transmission distance of roughly 10 M. The speaker is only 4.8 ounces and the dimensions are 0.86 inches x 4.1 inches x 2.3 inches. The speaker has a lightweight and small design which makes it great for hiking, camping and backpacking. There are three control buttons on the top of the speaker; a power button and two volume buttons. The power button can be held down and used to answer and end phone calls. The power button can also be short pressed several times to reject calls. The volume buttons can be held down to decrease or increase volume or they may be short pressed to change the song. Aside from the instructions, the speaker comes with a micro USB cable, 3.5 mm audio cable and a carabiner clip.

I take this speaker with me on hiking, camping and backpacking trips because it is small and light enough to clip to my day pack or canteen and loud enough to provide entertainment during my outdoor recreational activities. I also bring this speaker to work with me and enjoy that it is loud enough for me to hear throughout the shop but not so loud that the office upstairs is disturbed. If you are looking for something lightweight and inexpensive that you can use safely near water, then this speaker is definitely the one.

Ivation Solar Panel Backpack

Ivation Solar Panel Backpack Review
By Brittany Johnson

The Ivation Solar Panel Backpack comes with a removable 3.5 watt solar panel in addition to a waterproof 2200 mAh power bank. The solar panel is attached to the backpack by velcro and the power bank is tucked away in the front pocket on the backpack. The solar panel and the power bank are both removable for easy portability. The backpack itself is a sturdy, weather resistant daypack with a waist strap and light back padding. This multi-pocketed daypack has a small front zippered pocket with the power bank stored inside, a second zippered compartment which consists of 2 big pockets, 3 pen pockets, 3 small pockets, a mesh zippered pouch with 1 big pocket, 1 small mesh zippered pocket, plus 1 small mesh pocket, and a third compartment which has 1 laptop pocket and 1 large storage area. The backpack straps have 1 small mesh pocket on the left strap and 1 plastic loop on the right strap. There are also 2 mesh side pockets and 3 fabric loops sewn into the backpack for carabiner clips if needed. The backpack, the solar panel and the power bank combined weighs a total of 2.8 lbs.

I use this daypack for camping, hiking, day trips and the like. I recommend pre-charging the power bank from a wall outlet or electronic device before longer trips as you never know what the weather will be like and this product works best in direct sunlight. I also recommend bringing a second power bank or solar charger for your longer trips. The power bank can be fully charged in 2 hours from a wall outlet or electronic device but the time to fully charge the device using only sunlight can vary. A phone can be fully charged in 4-6 hours from the fully charged power bank. You will be able to tell when the power bank is charging by the blue light and you will be able to tell when it is dying by the red light located on the power bank (which you can see in a photo below). The power bank has a USB port to charge your electronic devices and a micro USB port for charging the power bank from the solar panel. If you plan on charging your phone or electronic device directly from the panel itself, I suggest getting an adapter for the male micro USB. Personally, I have found that it is best to charge electronics from the power bank itself rather than directly from the solar panel. I recommend this product for day hikes and car camping trips no longer than a few days but I would carry a higher watt solar panel and larger mAh power bank for trips any longer than that.

Mifine LED Headlamp

Mifine LED Headlamp Review
By Brittany Johnson

The Mifine LED Headlamp is a durable, waterproof, 1000-1200 lumen light with a red taillight. This product is rechargable and comes with a cigarette lighter adapter with two USB ports, a wall charger, USB cable, two 18650 x 3.7V rechargable lithium batteries (but may also use regular AA batteries) and an extra set of straps. The product weighs 1.2 pounds and the dimensions are 1.4' x 1.4' x 1.7'. The headlamp is aluminum casted with an elastic headband and has a single power button with three modes for a bright light, low light and strobe light. It's lifespan is up to 100,000 hours.

I love this head lamp and have been using it for quite some time now. It's bright enough to set up camp at night with ease. I appreciate that it is light enough to take hiking, camping and especially backpacking and its durable enough to survive through these trips. It fits perfectly over a hat or beanie if necessary but fits comfortable on just your head as well. On longer trips, I use the USB cable to recharge the headlamp with my solar panel. The full charge lasts quite awhile, I have used it for up to 6 hours and have yet to have it die on me. I still recharge after usage just incase. When fully charged, the light on the USB cable turns green, so you don't have to worry about wondering whether it's charged or not and overcharging the batteries.