While on a recent hiking trip, my son and I decided to give the Aquamira frontier pro water filter a review.

Pro: Lightweight, no moving parts to break, easy to clean, small and compact.
Cons: Does not remove all forms of bacteria, does not kill viruses.

What the Aquamira Frontier Pro does, it does it well. And that is a lightweight, easy to pack water filter. One draw back, you have to get down really close to the water to take a drink. Or, you can fill up a water bottle and then use the filter to drink from the water bottle.

To drink from the filter was as easy as drinking from a straw. To clean the filter, just remove the bottom, remove the filter, wash, let dry, and then reassemble.

Post your comments in the Aquamira frontier pro review thread of the forums. If you are thinking of buying a Aquamira frontier pro water filter, take a look at readypro.org – they have a wide range of survival gear.

When getting ready for a hiking or camping trip, some people are not sure what they should bring. This video discusses some of the items I carry in my food bag. It was filmed a couple of years ago while my kids and I were on an early spring camping trip.

Personally, I like to take a couple of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) apart. Then mix and match so the food bag has the stuff I like in it.

Food that does not have to be kept cold are at the top of the list. Beef jerky, because of its high protein content is a good choice. But if your on a salt restricted diet, you might want to look at the salt content before you just grab and go.

For snacks, high protein energy bars and sun flower seeds are good to keep on hand.

Post your comments in this thread of the hiking and camping forum.

Lets just cut through all of the “fluff” and get right to the point.  The Maxpedition Versipack offers outstanding quality and at a price that will not break the bank.

If you are tired of throwing your hard earned money away on cheaply made equipment, then it’s time to take a look at Maxpedition.

If there is any doubt, just consider the materials that were used to make the pack – YKK zippers, 1000-Denier, Triple polyurethane coated for water resistance and Paracord zipper pulls. What can you really say about a company that uses Paracord on its zipper pulls? To me, that says a lot.

While making this video, I was able to fit everything that I needed for a day hike into the pack.  So dont let its size deceive you.  Some of the equipment that was put into the pack included – GPS, cell phone, matches, swiss army fire starter, MRE main entree, snacks, rain poncho, camera, multi-tool, topo maps.  And there was still a little room left over.

The next review will be taking the Maxpedition Proteus Versipack on a hiking trip. Because the real test of any equipment is how well it performs in the field.

Visit the Maxpedition website.

To save room inside the pack, I attached one of my US Army 2 quart canteens to the outside of the pack. The canteen did not come with the pack. It was one that I already had.

If you have a comment, visit the Maxpedition Proteus Versipack Review thread of the Survivalist Forum.

A few weeks ago my wife and I were at a local sporting goods store, when I found a Camelbak raider on sale for half price. Camelbak is supposed to be one of the top of the line packs on the market. So when I saw this pack on sale, I could not pass it up.

The plan is for this to be my new hot weather hiking and over night camping pack.  The first time I will be able to try this pack out will either be in May or June.

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The large ALICE pack is one of the most popular packs on the market. These packs are big enough to carry several days worth of clothing, food and other gear. Add this to the fact that they are inexpensive, and there is no wonder why they are so popular.

One of the reasons why this pack is over looked some some serious hikers, it is not designed for comfort. Most military surplus equipment is not designed to feel good – its designed to work in the most rugged situations known to man. Even though the Large Alice is a tough pack, sporting an aluminum frame, it is just not very comfortable to carry.

In this video we are going to cover some of the points and other information about the Large Alice pack.

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This video is the last of a three part series. The first two parts discussed the basics of navigation with a GPS and compass. This third and final video of the series takes us through a 6 – 8 mile over night hiking and camping trip.

We will cover the the basics one more time and then use a USGS topo map to aid in the navigation.

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Using a compass and GPS is not really that difficult, but its not that easy either. Before a hiker or camper takes their GPS and compass into the wilderness, they should spend some time getting familiar with both of them.

One way to get some practice with the GPS and compass is to use it around the neighborhood. Mark your house as a waypoint, walk to the end of the street and use the GPS and compass to find your way back home. This sounds pretty simple.

This second video is designed to bring someone to the second level of experience with a GPS and compass and how the two are used for navigation.

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After the hiking or camping trip is over, its then time to clean the gear. One item that is often over looked is the water filter. If the water is left in the filter too long, bacteria will start growing in it. This will render the filter useless on the next hiking trip, because it will be full of bacteria.

Cleaning a filter is pretty much a straight forward operation. Get a large bowl of clean tap water, put some unscented bleach in with the water and wait a few minutes. Then use the water filter to pump the water from the bowl into the sink. Or, pump the water from one bowl to another, and then repeat. This way the bleach water is reused a couple of times.

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