Monday, May 23, 2016

VSSL Supplies Survival Kit - Review




Today Luke is reviewing a survival kit known as the VSSL Supplies. Will it be worth its high cost?  Find out now!

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VSSL Supplies – Survival Kit Review :

VSSL Link : http://www.vsslgear.com/collections/vssl/products/supplies

Amazon :

http://www.amazon.com/VSSL-Outdoor-Utility-Tools-101/dp/B00VVS8RLE

Price : Retail $110. On the web site.  $80 on amazon

Weight : 18 ounces (1 pound, 2 ounces).

Materials : Whether you plan to be out for a few days or a few hours, having critical supplies in a compact weather-resistant case is an essential part of preparation.

Each VSSL unit is 9" long by 2" diameter made from seamless extruded military specification anodized aluminum.

Contents :

·         Dual mode (static and SOS) LED 'flood' beam lantern light, illuminates a large area (batteries included)

• Compass (oil filled)
• 4 hour pure Canadian beeswax candle
• Razor blade
• 6 Aquatabs® water purification tablets
• Wire saw (high tensile, 60lb working strength with handle straps)
• Aluminum beadless emergency whistle
• Waterproof matches
• Tinder Quik® fire starters
• Fishing Gear
• Signaling Mirror
• Marine grade rope (250lb breaking strength)
• Reflective trail markers
• P38 military GI Type can opener
• First aid supplies
• VSSL priorities of survival and instructions

….

Pros and Cons :

==Pros==

Impressive quality. Excellent materials.  Great Engineering.

Self contained system.  Tightly packed. Well organized. Lots of supplies included

Water tight container.  Tough.

Good quality compass.  Accurate.  Oil filled.  Not water. Smooth.  A little slow but that’s ok.

Good quality flashlight.  Works well.  SOS feature is nice.

VSSL sells refills for everything in their online store so you can refill if needed.  You can use your own supplies as well.

Flashlight : The LED flashlight on one end runs for 20 hours, or up to 40 hours in a flashing S.O.S. mode.

==Cons==

Very limited first aid kit.

Uncommon battery type for the flashlight.

Another flashlight negative : If on/off button is easy to trigger inside of your pack.  If you are carrying this container, I would recommend not having the batteries installed as it doesn’t take much to turn it on.  In a survival situation, pulling out your container to use the flashlight only to discover that the batteries are dead could be catastrophic.  Store the batteries elsewhere in a safe, secure location.

Weight : With this container weighing more than 1lb, it is heavy.  You will notice this in your package.  It is large.  For the ultralight crowd, you aren’t going to like this.

Biggest Complaint : I appreciate the features of the VSSL but they limit one very important aspect to the container itself.  This holds lots of supplies, has a flashlight, has a compass, can hold water….but it can’t be used to boil water.  This is a huge negative in my eyes.  HUGE!  Yes this does come with a few water purification tablets, but what are you going to do when you run out of those?  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to boil water inside of this container?  Due to the compass at one end and the flashlight at the other, you cannot place this container in the fire.  That is my biggest issue with this container.  Yes a compass is important but being able to boil water is even more so.  I rather be lost in the woods with drinkable than a compass.  With a bit of knowledge and knowhow, you can determine direction in other ways.  I’d like to see this change being made in the future.  I rather have a container which I can boil water in and a guide explaining how to determine direction instead.

Recommended?

In general, no I wouldn’t.

I love the look of this product, the fit and finish is awesome.  The contents are great quality too but would I recommend it?  Nope.   The fact that you can’t boil water in this container is a huge negative to me.  Price is also a huge negative.  You could build your own kit for much, much less and it would be more useful.  Speaking of which, building your own kit is vital in my opinion.  Each piece needs to be hand selected.  You need to know how to use each aspect as well.  When you build your own kit, you are more likely to understand how each component works and functions.

Very weak first aid kit.

If you built your own kit, would it be as nice and compact?  Unlikely but looks aren’t all that important when you are trying to survive.




5 comments:

  1. Luke I so agree with this review but if you really needed money you could survive in the urban environment by recycling it for money lol.

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  2. Good review, Luke, thank you. I'd like to make a couple of comments. I've found that people who are willing to pay $110 for a cool looking survival kit may not ever set foot in the forest or have any need for a survival kit. If one really wants to learn about survival they may consider doing some research on the Internet and then go into the woods for a weekend with a well-stocked pack and see for themselves what they may or may not need. Survival is a learned skill and can't be accomplished by purchasing an aluminum canister with some vague instructions. If one is going to be visiting an area that has no fish, then a fishing kit would be worthless extra weight.

    My second point is I'm uncomfortable with these monikers of "First Aid Kit","Toiletry Kit", or "Cook Kit". I get it, bags need to be described but giving them all specific designations implies one can't be used as another. Items in a pack sometimes run the gamut of uses. My camp fuel, alcohol, can be used as an antiseptic so there is no need to pack antiseptic wipes. My toiletry tweezers and knife can also be used for First-Aid purposes. My first aid tape has been used to repair a tent or three at times. I've never used a trail marker. When needed that trail-marking job can be accomplished with bright-colored line. As with many other people, everything in my pack has many many uses. I prefer to call my various bags: Blue, Red, Green and Clear. It all works together.

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  3. Since your survival kit will supply you with at least 3 days, you will need to pack three 1 liter jugs of water. survival backpacks

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