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With 2021 in the books, I wanted to do a quick run through of some of my favorite backpacks at the end of this year. So, with that in mind, here’s some quick thoughts on some of my favorites and why/what you would want these for. It’s a bit of a ‘state of backpacks’ post, with a nod to the fact that there are still a few I have yet to test. There’s a longer form variant of this in the best list with better delineation — this is the quick hit version.

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It has been a while since I grabbed a Fenix light, and while the PD series is popular, the PD36 Tac specifically is a newer light with a standout feature: tail selector switch. This is a big tactical light, which is clearly meant to be used for long stretches of time, in security type situations.

It’s solid too…

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Barrel Flashlights are expensive and hard to get. They are ‘dropped’ on their website in themed drops. They also do collaborations with Triple Aught Design — should Barrel’s standard base price be too low for your interests. They make some of the sexiest looking lights I have seen, with a lot of the design being about the coloring of their ‘Rail’ designed lights, or materials in the ‘Brake’ design.

My light was bought secondhand off a member, and is the Rail 3 Picatinny setup with a white cerakote for extra bling. I use this light a ton but mostly because it ‘sparks joy’ and not so much because it is the best. It is, however, quite a good light.

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I’ve resisted buying this bag for quite some time — originally because the pricing was silly. But now GORUCK offers these bags both from their Vietnamese factory, as well as the US factory. This is the Vietnam version, and it clocks in at a great price of $125 (at publication time).

I wish I grabbed this sooner, as this is a really good duffle/travel bag.

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Casio has been slowly bringing a small subset of their watches into the smartwatch/fitness watch realm of things. They started small, went big, and now are applying some really interesting stuff to some of their less expensive watches. One of those is the new GBD200.

I snagged one to see how it stacked up to my Garmin Instinct Tactical, and then quickly replaced and sold the Instinct in favor of this GSHOCK. It’s everything you love about a GSHOCK, with some nice little upgrades that don’t destroy what makes a GSHOCK great to being with.

Well done, Casio.

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When these lanterns came out, I dropped it on my wishlist right away. For the longest time it was something I really wanted, but refused to buy. The run time was insane and I have a soft spot for lanterns, but did I really need more lanterns? I rarely used them, well until this one, because I finally gave in a picked this lantern up, and I regret not doing so sooner.

This isn’t even that expensive, at about $75 with batteries, shipped to your door. That’s a good deal. That it is also well made, has killer LEDs and a really good set of features — value all around.

I have found myself using it in many scenarios where I might have suffered with tail standing a flashlight before, but this works so much better and because it’s a really high quality light, I love using it outside of emergencies.

Let’s dive in.

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Over the last year I have had a very large shift happen in my bag/backpack setups. That shift has been moving from GORUCK as my default choice for bags, to Mystery Ranch as my default choice. All of this migration happened rather naturally with a lot of duplicates, until I felt like I reached a tipping point with the amount of bags I had, and purges began.

In order to purge, I had to decide what to keep, and why to keep it. To determine that, my criteria became: bags which are a bit easier for me and my family are the ones I keep. As it turns out those showed their faces from Mystery Ranch time and time again and not as much from GORUCK.

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I now maintain a yearly “Best” list. but the more I got to thinking about it, the more that list can be overwhelming for some. I write it mostly for myself and a few close friends, and I try to pick a few items with a similar utility, but which differ widely in either price or use. So the pocket knives section takes you from the backwoods, to luxury EDC.

Jump to the list here.

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My first go with Wurrkos in the FC11 went well — it was a good enough light that I felt I couldn’t just toss it aside in an emergency bag as I had intended to do. Because of this, I’ve been keeping my eye on what Wurkkos is doing: they make budget lights, but they are well made and use nice LEDs in many of them. The TS21 might be the epitome of all of this: it is a fantastic, even before you consider the low price.

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This was my first Wurkkos light, which I never got around to reviewing as I had bought it specifically to stash in a get home bag in my wife’s car. It was recommend to me as a great option, easy to use, solid, cheap and with a great LED. It spent about 3 days in that get home bag before I decided to put a slightly more expensive light in the bag, so I could use this light myself.

It’s not the best light, I think the TS21 is a better buy, but it’s much lighter and easier to carry, so it’s worth considering if you want a great light for not a large budget as it can be had for $30 easily.

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Almost everyday I see a question pop up on some flashlight related forum which is seeking a very durable flashlight. The recommendations always end up citing the same brands: HDS, Elzetta, Malkoff, and a few brave souls recommend SureFire. The thing all of these have in common is that they are tactical focused brands which seek to make extremely durable lights.

I’ve never owned a Malkoff and I waited quite some time for this specific light to come back in stock to try out, and I am happy I waited — this light is an underrated champ.

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We are heading into that particular buying season, and as such I like to put together some thoughts on gifts and other things (affiliate links on some, but not all of these). But this year with all the craziness around and weird shipping times from places like Amazon, I thought I would put up a guide from some places I like that live outside that realm, and from there pick some of the cheaper options you can get from these places which provide excellent value considering the place you are buying from.

So, here we go.

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