Reviews

Review – Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker

• 22 Nov 2011
• ekim
• 2 responses

A few weeks ago, several of our authors met up on a Saturday to test out some stoves we were given to review. Jayce will be posting some information and pictures on those soon. The subject of this post was an unexpected surprise to me. At our meet up were the owners of Saratoga Jacks, a local company that imports and sells high quality thermal cookers.

After the break you’ll find a complete unboxing and review of the 7 liter Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker as well as an introduction to thermal cookers and why they matter to preppers.
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Tags: Food, gear, Group Buy, preps, Reviews

Group Stove Test: First Thoughts

• 22 Nov 2011
• Jayce
• 0 responses

Several of the stoves getting setup

Last weekend several of the UtahPreppers got together with some friends to begin doing some hands on tests to start preparing for winter. Recently several of us have acquired new stoves and we wanted to give a conduct some tests to compare how well they worked. For our first meet up we wanted to test a few stoves and other devices with the group. While we learned a lot we realized that we’ve got some more comprehensive tests to run through before we can highlight each of them adequately. But before we move along with the individual tests, we wanted to thank some of the people that helped make this first stove test so much fun and informative. (more…)

Tags: Cooking, Food Storage, meetup, Preppers, preps, Reviews, Survival

Review: Wrap-It-Ice Bandages

• 14 Nov 2011
• Jayce
• 1 response

Wrap-It-Ice by Shield-Safety

Today I decided to write a little review on a product that I really wish I didn’t have to do. The reason for this is not for a lack of quality in the product, but the fact that I actually needed to use it. Yes, this is a first-aid bandage that I’ve had sitting in my cabinet waiting until needed, and now it is.

Several months ago I met with Mike at Shield-Safety, and went through their sales pitch about some first-aid products they had.  While a lot of what they did was not new, they had several things that did pique my interest and stand out as something I wanted to buy. Now I’m not normally a person to give into a home sales pitch, but the Shield-Safety people approached us a little bit differently, they taught first-aid basics, and how to actually use the different items that you should have available in a home first-aid station. One of the products they had that got my attention was a sealed wrap for sprains. (more…)

Tags: Evacuation Kits, First Aid, gear, Medical, Medical Prep, Medicine, Reviews

Goal0 Guide 10 Power Kit

• 04 Nov 2011
• Jayce
• 3 responses

Recently I wrote a bit about my new toys, a varied set of Goal0 solar and battery products. One of the key pieces that I bought was their 7m folding solar panels. This well-designed kit provided 7-watts of peak solar power in a tiny kit that could easily strap on to my backpack and provide charging throughout the day for small devices. The kit I bought also included their ‘rockbox’ speaker set, a small set of speakers that that have a built in battery, but easily charge from this small panel.

As handy as the device is, there were some shortcomings.  First off, the device I most wanted to use on it is extremely finicky with what it allows to charge (yeah, it’s an iPhone), and the variability of solar electricity meant that the iPhone didn’t like accepting the charge.  Secondly, some of my devices simply take AA or AAA batteries, and I didn’t have a good charger that would run off the USB adaptor that the 7m provides.

Thankfully there is a relatively new product that addresses these shortcomings, their Goal0 Guide 10.  In short, it’s a battery charger, that doubles as a combined power pack for those devices you would most likely charge from the panel. (more…)

Tags: 72 Hour Kits, Battery, BOB, Evacuation Kits, gear, preps, Reviews, solar, solar panel

OvaEasy Eggs

• 27 Oct 2011
• Jayce
• 3 responses

Heading out on a hike recently, I needed to find a good item for breakfast.  Having already converted my friends to the awesomeness that is freeze-dried eggs, I wanted to try something new.  I’ve long been anti- dehydrated/powdered eggs after having far too many bad experiences with them. To me they still always taste odd, and it leaves me not wanting eggs for a while afterwards.  However, I do have a love for eggs and really wanted to have some on our hike.  So as I was browsing along a local sporting good store, I happened upon a new item. (more…)

Tags: Food, Food Storage, hiking, Reviews

Review: Daily Bread Beef Stroganoff With Noodles

• 27 Sep 2011
• Jayce
• 3 responses

The way to a man’s heart is his stomach.  When that man is a prepper, and a blogger, nothing could be more true.  With that said, I was overjoyed recently when I was contacted by one of our local freeze-dried companies.  They were wondering if I would be interested in sampling a couple of their entrees, and writing my opinion on them.  Not exactly a difficult decision there.

What made this choice even better was the timing. I just happened to be heading up that weekend with the guys for a little man-camp time.  What a better way to test things out. (more…)

Tags: Food, Food Storage, gear, Reviews

Review: The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers

• 12 Sep 2011
• Jayce
• 4 responses

Walking along the book aisle in Costco the other day, I came to a rather sudden stop as a specific book caught my eye. With a name like The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers, can you blame me?  This was obviously a book stocked for a local audience, so I hope our non-Utah readers can find a copy.  Author Caleb Warnock is a local (Alpine, Utah) writer, year-round gardener, and teacher of “Forgotten Skills” classes.  It also helped when I noticed one of the people listed in the special thanks section is a friend of mine, and local sci-fi author (how’s that for a tight-knit Utah Valley). Also at only $11 or so, any tidbit that might help will likely pay dividends well over the purchase price of the book.

This book also stood out to me, because I often wonder *how* my family managed to get enough food to live.  My mom’s side of the family was that oft-discussed “hearty pioneer stock”.  However I have noticed that while many farmed to live, I have a long history of blacksmiths and military.  There is no hiding that this must be because I inherited a really lousy black-thumb, they took up other trades because of this family curse. I’m one of those people who has to work really hard to make part of his garden succeed.  I enjoy blaming my heritage on this, as it cannot be some failing of my own, right?  So I felt driven to read this book, and find out how they managed to live, despite my inability to grow enough of the right foods in the wasteland of Utah.

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Tags: Books, Canning, Food Storage, Gardening, Pioneer, Recipe, Reviews

Food Production Systems DVD Giveaway Winner Announcement

• 20 Jun 2011
• ekim
• 0 responses

We recently posted a review of the Food Production Systems For a Backyard or Small Farm DVD (see it here. As part of the review we were proud to offer a free DVD to one of our readers who commented on the review. Friday night I used Random.org to randomly select a winner from the 40 eligible (Sorry Jayce and Connor) entries.

The winner as determined by the random number generator is…
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Tags: Food, Food Storage, Gardening, Reviews

Food Production Systems DVD Review and Giveaway

• 09 Jun 2011
• ekim
• 44 responses

Can a two hour DVD turn you into a self sufficient farmer, providing all the food for your family on your postage stamp sized yard? Of course not. (If you think this is possible, let me know. I have a unique business opportunity to discuss with you :D ) However, the Food Production Systems For a Backyard or Small Farm DVD Is a wealth of information on how one family managed to do just that (on a bit of acreage) through trial and error over a decade. A full review of the DVD after the jump.
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Tags: Education, Food, Gardening, Howto, Links, preparedness, Reviews, Water

Introducing Goal 0 solar power products

• 25 Mar 2011
• ekim
• 5 responses

Here at UtahPreppers we try to keep an eye on prepping topics, trends and products from all over the country and often the world. Even though we try to keep a global focus we still like finding and supporting local businesses that fit into the prepping niche. We recently met up with a Bluffdale company to take a look at some of their innovative solar products.

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Tags: Battery, gear, lights, power, preparedness, preps, Reviews, solar, solar panel, Storing Systems

Book Review: What’s Wrong With My Plant?

• 17 Feb 2011
• Joseph
• 1 response

The other day I picked up a new gardening book from the hardware store. Its cover wasn’t cluttered with photographs like so many other gardening and home improvement books; in fact, the only photo on the cover was of an obviously-distressed leaf. The rest of the cover was largely devoted to the full title of the book: What’s Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?): A Visual Guide to Easy Diagnosis and Organic Remedies, by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth. This was actually the first thing that caught my eye. I don’t like when books try to glam themselves up in an attempt to conceal the vapid content inside. This book looked like it was ready to get down to business, and so I picked it up and started leafing through it. It didn’t take me long to decide to buy it. (more…)

Tags: Books, Gardening, Reviews

New Design

• 06 Jul 2010
• Jayce
• 3 responses

I’d like to give a huge thanks to author Wade (anavidesign.com) who has given his time to help provide us with a new site design!  For those reading this from Facebook, RSS, or other means, please head on over to the site and check out the kicking new design.  And if you need work for your site, well check him out, since I’m sure he wants to buy some more preps :)

And for those drooling over that new amazing logo in the corner, we’ll have some links soon to get it on various items.  I know I’ve already put it on a bumper sticker on my truck, as well as a t-shirt; and it looks great.

Tags: Reviews, site