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Rucking is an all-weather type of activity. This is a Rucker 1.0 in Wolf Grey.

I love Rucking. Put on a heavy backpack, walk outside for a while. Call it a workout. And it is a fantastic workout, a fantastic way to clear your mind, and the only workout which has stuck for me. I’ve been doing it for a little over three years now, and I wanted to share with you what I have learned along the way.

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Two years ago I reviewed the first Shadow Guide from Tom Bihn, and it quickly became my favorite Tom Bihn bag of all time. But the original was a limited run, and only has come back in stock once, further, while great it was a bag that had some flaws in it.

Now, Tom Bihn brings the Shadow Guide V2 33 Backpack (affiliate link) and it is full of changes — all of which make this a substantially better bag. I have only had it for a little over a week, so this is more of a first look/impression than a review of the bag. But, I like what I see so far.

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In Texas heat, it feels near constant that my kids want a drink of water when we are out on walks — yet the kids won’t carry their own water. So my typical setup of a Bullet Ruck, or the Field Bag means I am constantly diving in and out of the bag to grab water for them. Fast forward to my testing of the Mystery Ranch 2 Day Assault and I found the water bottle pockets on that bag made my life easier, even though I typically loathe such pockets during more general use. With the 2 Day Assault being too large, I looked at what else I might get which was smaller, but with water bottle pockets.

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On December 24th, 2012 I wrote my first review/post of the The GORUCK GR1. I still have that GR1, which I believe I actually bought at the end of 2011 — but the timing doesn’t make sense and I cannot find a purchase email for it. Oh well, lost to history.

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I don’t think I have ever put thought into a hair comb before, but I did this time. Couldn’t be happier that I did too.

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What’s color bag should I get if I don’t really want to stand out because of my bag?

Almost universally I see comments from people on sites talking about the best or right color for bags — especially when the advice is geared towards ‘blending in’ — when people ask any ‘which color’ questions.

All these people talking about color choices are full of shit.

For one, and let me be clear on this: it doesn’t matter what color your bag is. That said, here’s how I think of the different color groupings for bags, but ignore me on this and you do you. Because the color of your bag is a statement, and any color bag will blend in when in a large enough populace — because bags simply come in all colors. And people simply don’t care that much about the color of your bag.

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In the last year or so, Mystery Ranch came out with the 2 Day Assault Pack — a civilian backpack which takes heavy influence from the military packs Mystery Ranch is famous for. The 2-Day doesn’t have the famed Futura Yoke that makes the high end (read: expensive) packs legendary, but it has a spin on the Futura system that Mystery Ranch labels as ‘framed’. The yoke, how tall the straps sit from the top to the bottom, is adjustable with a frame sheet integrated. I’ve been putting the bag through its paces to see if it is going to stick.

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I’ve had the Snugpak Jungle Blanket for a year and a half, and while originally an impulse purchase — I’ve grown to become a big fan. I purchased this to keep in my bug out bag (and it’s where I still keep it) because it seemed well suited to a versatile emergency item.

Over the year and a half, and now owning two of these blankets, I’ve come to appreciate them for what they are and aren’t. Everyone should own one, or perhaps two.

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Fixed blade knives, for me, are like lighters. I absolutely love having them, playing with them, and even using them — but I don’t really have a ton of need for them. Which is why when I saw Bradford Knives post a good deal in partnership with Drop on the Guardian 3.5 (I have the Guardian 3, 4, and 5) I thought I would give their ‘.5’ series a go. For science.

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Note: Lochby has previously provided me with review samples, however I purchased this one with my own cold cash.

I’m a pretty big fan of Lochby’s aesthetic and the simple but well planned out gear they sell. Recently they launched a pen case called Quattro. As the name suggests, it is designed to house four pens, nothing else. But I would be remiss to not point out what Lochby states this is for:

The Quattro fits your favorite four pens for when you’re on the go.

That they label it as a carrier for your favorite four pens is just perfect. I love that little touch.

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I need to confess to something upfront: when I ordered this knife I thought I was getting something comparable in size to the Mini Bugout I recently reviewed — a Spyderco challenger to that epic knife. But I really didn’t read the specifications there, did I? Turns out this knife is tiny. Like really small. How small, well:

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Now this is a light. Dang. I actually forgot to review this, because I thought I already had. Alas I was wrong — I’ve been carrying the Mini mk III in my bag to the office for a long time and after testing the Prime C1, I pulled this out to play with it and see how it compared.

I’m glad I did, because it made me realize just how good this light is.

Power

The Mini mkIII comes in two variants: standard (reviewed here), and turbo which trades output for throw. I mention that because it is easy to assume the wording of turbo means it is a higher end model, but it’s not — all turbo means on these lights is that it is useful in different applications. For most, the standard will be a more useable light, especially considering it has a slimmer overall profile.

The power output on this light comes from an included RCR123A (optionally can be powered from a standard CR123A though it is seemingly discouraged generally). The output comes in at a whopping 900lumens in burst mode (30 seconds before dropping down). That’s impressive from a light about the size/volume of an AirPods Pro case. Actually, it’s kind of absurd.

This works because of the specialized battery the light comes with, and impresses anyone using the light. On the lowest output the light shines a very usable 1.5 lumen beam that is pleasing, dim while still being bright enough. This mode allows the light to run for an impressive 90 hours.

This light challenges your assumptions about flashlights a bit, but that’s basically what Prometheus Lights (now the owner of the FourSevens brand) does with all their lights. It shouldn’t be effective for as small as it is, and yet it is effective. It shouldn’t last like it does, with the output profiles it has, and yet it has some run time on it.

Carry and Use

Using this light is fantastic, because even though it is a twisty light (twist the head to turn on and off) the controls on it are stellar. Twist on and off twice really fast, and you get turbo. The light turns back on to last used mode, assuming you stayed on that mode last for at least half a second. You can also change up the order of operations with 6 configurations available — I set my light to config 4 which allows me a lot of options, but no strobes as I don’t typically use those.

The issue with the light is the girth, even though the light is very short and small, it still is quite bulky to carry clipped on to your pocket. So much so, I don’t find it very useable for that configuration.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t easily carried, as it works well to be carried in a bag, or loose in a pocket. Except, I do need to note: there is a very powerful magnet on the back of the light. Which means it will cling to ferrous metals and generally be very annoying to carry around loose in a pocket.

This magnet, though, can prove handy as seen below.

During a recent power outage I found myself needing to use the bathroom, with the Mini being the only light on my person. To illuminate the bathroom, I just stuck it to the light fixture using the magnet. It worked.

The light is very refined, and you’ll notice it every time you use the light. It doesn’t really matter what you are using it for, it works well enough for that use. Operating one handed, yep. Brightening a room, yep. Stepping on Lego prevention when checking on sleeping kids while not waking them with too much light, yep. Seeing if your cat is being stupid, or if it is being attacked, yep.

Overall

Small, powerful, absurdly useful. That’s how I would describe this light. At $60 it’s not the cheapest out there, but you get a whole lot of bang for your dollar.

Where the SureFire Backup is huge and over built, the ArmyTek Prime C1 is ugly and a bit unrefined — the FourSevens Mini MKIII screams refinement and power. It gets warm. It’s a bit small to hold for long periods of time. But it gets the job done every time. It fits right in the middle of the two, a nice upgrade from the Prime C1, while not being completely overboard like the SureFire will be for most.

I wouldn’t say this is the only light someone could own, but for how most people need and use flashlights, this is a really strong contender. The only downside is the battery being non-standard and needing a charger for the battery. Other than that one downside, I highly recommend it.

Go get one.