Brett

Since I begin to invest (I always say I´m not a prepper, but a smart, retail long term investor) in some useful gear, one of my concerns has been to secure it.  Best investment ever? A couple of land patches … Continued

I remember the first “tactical” flashlight I bought. It was a flat dark earth Surefire G2 Nitrolon. Everyone I showed the flashlight to was amazed by how bright it was.  Before that, I had never even heard of “lumens.” Until then, the only flashlights we had around were huge D-cell Maglites or those 6-volt monstrosities the size of a tub of ice cream. Flashlights sure have come a long way in my lifetime.

By J. Bridger, Contributing Author to Survival Cache and SHTFblog.com

I’m not a huge fan of bolting things onto rifles, but a white LED light is definitely an exception. Finding a quality weapon light isn’t difficult; finding a quality weapon light that won’t break the bank is another story. If you’ve lusted after the multi-hundred dollar Surefire M600 Scout light but lack the Benjamins, you absolutely need to take a look at the $106 Streamlight ProTac HL-X.

My love affair with Streamlight began during my time at the fire department. We used the right angle Streamlight Survivor lights, and they kicked ass. The Survivors worked wet, they worked in freezing temperatures, they worked in 100°F+ temperatures, and they worked in the burn trailer the University would bring down. That burn trailer used propane-fueled fires for interior training and generated temps over 900°F . It gets hot. The Survivor lights took 6 AAs which only needed to be replaced every six months or so, if I remember correctly. They were very bright. I could illuminate the top of the grain elevator and count the buzzards at night from the bay doors, 100 yards down the block. Suffice it to say, I am a fan of Streamlight products! When I saw the ProTac HL-X, I had to have one for my rifle. From what I’ve seen so far, the quality is just as good as the tried and true Survivor lights. 

What’s in the Box?

The ProTac HL-X is about 5.5” long, weighs 6.4 oz, and has a single picatinny mount for MIL-STD-1913 rails. The ProTac HL-X’s body is machined from aluminum and comes with two tail caps: One cap with a pressure switch, the other with a standard tailcap button. The kit comes with a pressure pad, a couple zip ties, snap on pressure pad retaining clips, Alan wrench, two screws, and an adhesive pad. The light is water resistant, but only for thirty minutes. Rain won’t hurt this light, but I wouldn’t swim with it. It does take up a good chunk of rail space. It can accept two CR123s or one 18650 battery. On high output, the Streamlight ProTac HL-X will run for 1.25 hrs, and on low, 23 hours.

Also read: Bugout Flashlight Wisdom

Streamlight uses the HL designation to mean “High Lumen.” These throw a wide beam pattern, increasing your situational awareness. Tip: If you want to see less of what’s around you and more of what’s downrange, try their HPL series lights. The ProTac HL-X is 1,000 lumens (27,600 Candela), and Streamlight reports it can throw a beam 332 meters. 1,000 lumens is a lot of output, and in my experience, really is too much for indoor use. I think this Streamlight really shines as an outdoor light (pun intended).

One of the things I love about this light is the TEN-TAP programming. I like my EDC lights to have a high and low setting, but I think a WML should have just one setting: brighter than shit. I’m not a big fan of low, “SOS,” or strobes, so I really appreciate being able to get rid of those. There are 3 available programs: High-strobe, High, and Low-High. To cycle through the available programs, tap the button 9 times in quick succession and hold it on the tenth time. Voila. You can do this with the tail cap or the pressure switch.

Real-World Trials With The Streamlight Protac HL-X

I tried the ProTac HL-X out on a snowy morning before the sun came up to see how far it’d throw a beam. At 25 yards, this light is positively blinding. Same at 50 yards. At 100 yards, you would still have zero problem identifying your target. At 200 yards,you would be able to see what you’re looking at, but I think this is where it starts to get dicey. You may be able to see a person at this distance, but are your eyes good enough to make out their intentions at night? Or can you tell a dog from a coyote? You may need a magnified optic, but it certainly will throw light that far. I use a 50/200 zero on my AR, so this is just about perfect for me.

Related: Survival Gear Review: Streamlight TLR-3

The light adds a little weight to the front of the gun, but it’s barely noticeable. A 3 o’clock mount isn’t my favorite spot, but I like it better than 6 o’clock. At 6 o’clock the shadow it casts from my suppressor covers up the 12 o’clock position on a target. What the hands are doing is probably more important than faces, but I’d still like to be able to ID someone if I had to.

I can’t speak for any other calibers these crazy kids are shooting these days, but 5.56 NATO recoil doesn’t bother the Streamlight ProTac HL-X at all. It never flickered or malfunctioned, even being in close proximity to the muzzle of my LWRC. I’m not surprised; this isn’t my first WML from Streamlight. (I also have a TLR-1 HL mounted on a Glock 19, and is a hell of a light! ) As I said before, on full power, this light may be too bright for indoor use. There is definitely some technique involved in using a light “tactically” to avoid blinding yourself, especially if you’ve just woken up. I can say from experience, its perfect for “in the yard” distance engagements with coyotes and skunks. For the casual shooter on a budget or a professional in need of a solid high-performance weapon mounted light, you can install the Streamlight Protac HL-X light and not think twice. You can rest assured it will turn on when you need it.   

 

The post Survival Gear Review – Streamlight ProTac HL-X appeared first on Survival Cache.

By David Crane david (at) defensereview (dot) com October 23, 2019 DefenseReview (DR) readers may (or may not) remember our exclusive interview with Guy Cramer about Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp.’s Quantum Stealth light-bending multi-spectral “invisibility cloaking” (i.e., visual cloaking/stealth) adaptive camo (camouflage) technology way back in May, 2011. Well, Quantum Stealth has just gone very public …

As of today I have removed all Google Ads code from my site. Here’s why I decided to do that.

Original source: No More GOOGLE Ads on my Site

Security overload leads to apathy. How often do you hear a car alarm go off and roll your eyes hoping the owner would disable the blasted thing before the incoming headache comes a knocking? The primary objection I have to such systems is they work too well. Every week I hear an alarm being triggered […]

This is just the start of the post Security Information Overload: From Panic to Apathy & the Remedy. Continue reading and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments!

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Security Information Overload: From Panic to Apathy & the Remedy, written by Thomas Xavier, was created exclusively for readers of the survival blog More Than Just Surviving.

To win a RoSPA Health and Safety Award is by no means an easy feat. Last year alone, we received close to 2,000 entries from across the globe. To achieve one gold achievement award is a fantastic accolade for your organisation… however, to continue that winning streak year after year is outstanding. In 2019, Nottingham based civil and electrical engineering firm J. McCann & Co. Ltd did just that and achieved their fourth RoSPA Gold Achievement Award (and they couldn’t be more delighted).

An Achievement Award truly is the accolade that safety professionals across all industries aspire to. In our latest interview with four-time Gold Award Winner, J. McCann & Co. Ltd explains how winning a RoSPA Award has impacted their organisation…

What motivates you/your organisation to enter the RoSPA Awards?

Entering the RoSPA Awards motivates our organisation to drive improvements for our safe systems of work, year upon year. It also allows us to demonstrate our commitment to the safety of our staff, contractors and all others affected by our work, whilst enabling us to showcase and celebrate the success of our workforce, who work to an award-winning standard.

Winning a Gold Award for the fourth consecutive year is proof of how entry into the awards process drives and develops our systems.

What benefits does winning a RoSPA Award have for you/your organisation?

Winning a RoSPA award supports our strong health and safety culture that we have here at McCann and helps to provide great supporting evidence to a client’s Pre-qualification Questionnaires (PQQs).

We also display that we are a RoSPA Gold Award Winner in all of our email signatures, which helps to promote us as an organisation that works to extremely high standards, especially when it comes to health and safety.

What do you enjoy most about the RoSPA Awards process?

We always look forward to the awards dinner because it is a great opportunity for our support staff to receive recognition for the very important work that they do. We arrange for as many of them as possible to be at the dinner where they can relax and meet with other employees from our sites and celebrate shared success.

What do you think the applicant could do over the year to keep drafting an awards submission simple?

To guarantee a straight forward submission, it is important to remain organised. Initially, you should read the RoSPA submission guidance and take the time to digest all the information and thoroughly understand it.

Assigning the responsibility to one person ensures that they are focussed on the submission and can take control of what is needed at each stage. The designated employee should then make folders for each of the submission headings and collate evidence as they go, for example, saving any relevant emails. When filing evidence, it is useful to categorise the evidence early on as this will help to prevent a repetition of evidence across the different categories.

What advice would you give to organisations considering entering the awards for the first time, or how would you convince organisations not entering the awards to start entering?

First of all, the awards are about telling the story of what is going well using information you already have, which can be simpler than you may assume, so it is always worth entering. Also, don’t avoid entering if you have had an incident at work. The RoSPA Awards are a great opportunity to show that you have developed mature safety processes, but can also show how you learn from such incidents to prevent them from happening again. This can also lead to opportunities to demonstrate key learning and share findings with the rest of your wider industry.

We would advise not repeating the same evidence within the categories, which is where preparation and organisation play a huge part. It’s also good to remember that less is more with your written submission. Draft your document and check the word count, you will likely exceed the word limit the first time you do it but keep working on it until it’s as succinct as possible.

So what’s stopping you? The process of joining the global RoSPA Award-winning community couldn’t be simpler. Simply visit www.rospa.com/awards, register online, and submit your entry via our online portal. First-time entrant? Don’t worry, as support and guidance is available through our mentoring scheme – read this blog to find out more.

 

Recently Brion Toss a well respected Pacific Northwest Yacht Rigger and author of several books on yacht rigging had a contest to find a knot that might not be as well known as the Bowline but worthy of more people … Continue reading →

To win a RoSPA Health and Safety Award is by no means an easy feat. Last year alone, we received close to 2,000 entries from across the globe. To achieve one gold achievement award is a fantastic accolade for your organisation… however, to continue that winning streak year after year is outstanding. In 2019, Nottingham based civil and electrical engineering firm J. McCann & Co. Ltd did just that and achieved their fourth RoSPA Gold Achievement Award (and they couldn’t be more delighted).

An Achievement Award truly is the accolade that safety professionals across all industries aspire to. In our latest interview with four-time Gold Award Winner, J. McCann & Co. Ltd explains how winning a RoSPA Award has impacted their organisation…

What motivates you/your organisation to enter the RoSPA Awards?

Entering the RoSPA Awards motivates our organisation to drive improvements for our safe systems of work, year upon year. It also allows us to demonstrate our commitment to the safety of our staff, contractors and all others affected by our work, whilst enabling us to showcase and celebrate the success of our workforce, who work to an award-winning standard.

Winning a Gold Award for the fourth consecutive year is proof of how entry into the awards process drives and develops our systems.

What benefits does winning a RoSPA Award have for you/your organisation?

Winning a RoSPA award supports our strong health and safety culture that we have here at McCann and helps to provide great supporting evidence to a client’s Pre-qualification Questionnaires (PQQs).

We also display that we are a RoSPA Gold Award Winner in all of our email signatures, which helps to promote us as an organisation that works to extremely high standards, especially when it comes to health and safety.

What do you enjoy most about the RoSPA Awards process?

We always look forward to the awards dinner because it is a great opportunity for our support staff to receive recognition for the very important work that they do. We arrange for as many of them as possible to be at the dinner where they can relax and meet with other employees from our sites and celebrate shared success.

What do you think the applicant could do over the year to keep drafting an awards submission simple?

To guarantee a straight forward submission, it is important to remain organised. Initially, you should read the RoSPA submission guidance and take the time to digest all the information and thoroughly understand it.

Assigning the responsibility to one person ensures that they are focussed on the submission and can take control of what is needed at each stage. The designated employee should then make folders for each of the submission headings and collate evidence as they go, for example, saving any relevant emails. When filing evidence, it is useful to categorise the evidence early on as this will help to prevent a repetition of evidence across the different categories.

What advice would you give to organisations considering entering the awards for the first time, or how would you convince organisations not entering the awards to start entering?

First of all, the awards are about telling the story of what is going well using information you already have, which can be simpler than you may assume, so it is always worth entering. Also, don’t avoid entering if you have had an incident at work. The RoSPA Awards are a great opportunity to show that you have developed mature safety processes, but can also show how you learn from such incidents to prevent them from happening again. This can also lead to opportunities to demonstrate key learning and share findings with the rest of your wider industry.

We would advise not repeating the same evidence within the categories, which is where preparation and organisation play a huge part. It’s also good to remember that less is more with your written submission. Draft your document and check the word count, you will likely exceed the word limit the first time you do it but keep working on it until it’s as succinct as possible.

So what’s stopping you? The process of joining the global RoSPA Award-winning community couldn’t be simpler. Simply visit www.rospa.com/awards, register online, and submit your entry via our online portal. First-time entrant? Don’t worry, as support and guidance is available through our mentoring scheme – read this blog to find out more.

 

Last week I was in Germany for a few days with the Bergfreunde, and on Monday morning I woke up at 4 am to hike alone to the Top of Germany via the Stopselzieher Via Ferrata.

Disclosure: This trip was supported by the Bergfreunde and the local Tourism agencies, but I did not get paid to write about it. As you know: I’m keepin’ it real and tell you how it is – I maintain full editorial control of the content published on Hiking in Finland. Read the Transparency Disclaimer for more information on affiliate links & blogger transparency.

Watch the VIDEO!

The weather forecast was “Thunderstorms, every day” at the start of my journey to the Zugspitze Region in Austria and Germany. But how it is with weather forecasts, they can be off sometimes, and as my Alarm rang at 4:00 o’clock on Monday morning I jumped out on the balcony, half wishing for lighting bolts to flash across the sky so I could head back to bed. However, a calm, dark blue sky with white, blinking stars was above me, and so I brushed my teeth, got dressed, headed to the Hotel restaurant to drink a coffee and then I was off. I heard some traffic in the distance, but soon I left the little village of Ehrwald behind me and hiked up one of the trailrunning trails to the Gamsalm, a small hut next to the ski slope. I followed this wide grassy hill upwards and another 20 minutes later I entered a low forest and a narrow trail. A frog surprised me by jumping almost under my foot, but in the beam of my headlamp I saw him and avoided an untimely end for him.

The trail took me up a scree field and the trees became smaller and smaller, until they completely disappeared. In the light of my headlamp I hiked up, the only sound being my panting. The first hour passed with almost 450 m of ascent, which is a tad too fast, and so I slowed down a bit, and as the sky started to became lighter I also could see more of my surroundings.

At the old middle station ruin I took a big gulp of water, a bite of my vegan chocolate bar, and continued on the Georg Jäger Steig trail. A group of chamois was grazing in the field above me, completely ignorant of me. I took a few photos of them, and followed the trail towards the ridge which would give me my first glance of the orange dawn. I could see the big, new pillar of the Gondola Station, which starts at 8:30-ish to ferry the first tourists to the top, and it’s about here that I put on my harness, Via Ferrata Set and Helmet. The trail is really exposed, narrow, and I didn’t want to risk falling down, but in the end I didn’t clip in even once as I didn’t find the trail as bad as I read.

To my surprise this section was really short and in a mere 10 minutes I stood in front of the Wiener Neustädter Hütte, one of the alpine huts of the Austrian Tourist Club. A dozen eyes of hikers and mountaineers looked down on me as I hiked up to the hut, I said Hallo, watched with them towards the sunrise, and then continued onwards towards the entry of the Stopselzieher Via Ferrata across the Schneekar scree field.

A helicopter was commuting to and from the summit, dropping off the supplies needed on the highest peak of Germany and also some construction goods, and I was happy when it flew off after a while so I could enjoy again the sound of the mountains. Now the Stopselzieher is a Via Ferrata with a Difficulty rating of A/B which means it is really easy, and experienced mountaineers probably won’t need a Via Ferrata Set, but if you’re a Beginner then use it to be safe on it. It’s a nice Via Ferrata which takes you through a small cave, and then climbs at a moderately steep angle upwards. You climb via steel ladders and natural rock up, and here and there are natural platforms which are useful for a short hydration break, catching your breath and enjoying the view.

I was lucky to be the first person on the Via Ferrata, and enjoyed the steep and exhausting climb up to the ridge. At the ridge I basked in the sun, took off my harness and helmet, put on my sunglasses and continued on the trail towards the top. The trail ascends here besides a lot of pipes and cables, and it isn’t the most pretty experience, but I didn’t mind. A group of young men hiked slowly in front of me, and from their conversations I gathered that they started at the Knorrhütte three hours ago.

And then I was at the Summit Station. A lot of people were already up here, because you also can sleep up here at the Münchner Haus of the German Alpine Club, but it also was now 9:00 o’clock and the first Gondolas had arrived at the top. I didn’t mind, it was nice to see so many people enjoying the beautiful sunny weather at the top of Germany, and after a bit of navigating I found the trail which lead me to the summit cross.

I sat for a long time on the summit, composing photos, and took in the magnificent view over the Jubläumsgrat Ridge. One day I’d like to ascend the Zugspitze via this Route.

My original plan was to descend via the Gondola and relax for the rest of the day, but those who know me also know that I have difficulties to sit still and take the easy route. So while I was drinking a coffee and eating a Pretzel, an idea hatched in my mind: I could hike back via the Gatterl Route to Ehrwald, making a pretty loop of this trip. It was so early in the day still that I had plenty of time before the promised Thunderstorms, it was nice and sunny and the friendly chap at the DAV hut refilled my water bottles for free, so around 11 o’clock I descended to the Zugspitzplatt and ran on the trail to the Knorrhaus Hut.

Now this trail to the Knorrhütte was very, very busy. The Route via the Knorrhütte is one of the easiest as you have no climbing to do, but I didn’t really like this bit. The descent of the screefield on the lose trail was fine, but it is the kind of trail which I wouldn’t want to hike up. Going against the flow was fine, however! At the Knorrhütte I used my last cash to buy a peasoup and a tasty elderberry drink, and as it was still some 26°C I also refilled all three of my water bottles at the well. And then I was off towards the Gatterl, the border between Germany and Austria.

In this time and age where backward morons want to again build up border walls and refuse people entry into a country it is beautiful to walk on my own feet over a border, without anyone asking for my passport or anything. I walked to the gate, said bye to Germany and continued on the trail to the Ehrwald Alm.

I got really tired on this stretch, and as I passed a small stream I sat down, took off my shoes and cooled down my dear feet. A big gulp of water, some more vegan chocolate and I had the energy I needed to continue to the end. After the Ehrwald Alm more and more people were sharing the trail with me, and it was beautiful to have so many fellow humans enjoying the beautiful nature here. Four kilometres from Ehrwald I heard the first thunder ???? and I put some more speed into my steps so I wouldn’t need to get the rain jacket out of the pack. Alas, I wasn’t fast enough, and about 500 m from the Hotel the Thunderstorm reached me!

I stopped my Suunto at 16 o’clock in front of the Hotel, with a big smile. I did it! I climbed to the top of Germany and hiked back to Ehrwald with a beautiful loop, and it only took me some 8 hours! I entered my Hotel, had a well-deserved coffee and then went to stretch & relax in the Sauna!

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Practicalities

I stayed at the Tiroler Hof Hotel in Ehrwald which is ideal for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. It’s close to the centre of the village and the various trails go past the front of the hotel. It has a delicious breakfast, great views and a large Spa with nice Sauna for relaxing after a day in the mountains. I started and ended my hikes and activities in Ehrwald all here, and would go there again.

Ehrwald and my route up the Zugspitze are still one of the less popular routes, as it is very steep. However, I saw on my descent many groups of people heading to the Via Ferrata, so I’d start as early as you’re comfortable getting up. I started my hike from the Hotel at 4:20 and had nobody in front of me, but if you take less photo breaks you also should be fine starting at 5:00 o’clock.

Gear-wise I’d recommend to go as light as possible. I wore my La Sportiva TX2 shoes, the Houdini Motion Lite Pants, an Houdini Activist Message Tee, and the Black Diamond Alpine Start Hoody softshell. In my pack I had thin synthetic insulation jacket, the Rab Microlight Alpine Jacket and my Houdini Aegis Hardshell which I all didn’t need (I run very easily really hot and it was a warm day, but weather can change quickly in the mountains so I go prepared). In the morning I had the Petzl Bindi on my head to illuminate the trail, and for the Via Ferrata section I wore the Petzl Sirocco Helmet, a Camp ALP Harness and the Edelrid Cable UL Via Ferrata Set. All of that was in my trusty HUCKEPACKS pack ???? when not needed, and I also had three 0,5 l Softflasks with me full of water which I refilled whenever I could. Add in a few vegan chocolate and Müsli bars and you have a lightweight pack for a fun day in the mountains!

I took the train to Ehrwald after flying in to München. It’s fast, cheap and convenient, and you can see the beautiful panorama from the train without standing still with you car. You pass Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and with the Guest Card from the Hotel you can take the local Bus around the mountain to also take different routes up and down.