Bear-Grylls-Gear

The Bear Grylls Survival Series Ultimate Knife is basically a Gerber Prodigy. It is about the same size but it is slightly larger and it certainly has more features than the Prodigy.

I think it excels at being a good hiking knife or an extra survival knife. I don't know that I would want it as my main survival knife. It's been reported that If the knife is put to extremes it has failure points, however, I've seen reports that Gerber has addressed these failings and improved the quality of this knife.

He does use this knife in his Man vs. Wild television show.

One thing to always remember is that you get what you pay for. This is an inexpensive knife in the $10-$15 range. It does exactly what it is designed to do and that would be anything that is light duty. It will cut rope or twine, food, open a ton of boxes, and sharpen the occasional stick. That's it, it's not fair to ask this knife to do the same things as a more expensive folding knife.

The best thing about this scout knife is the blade. It's made out of good quality steel and it holds an edge well. The handle looks and feels cheap, but it does fit well in an average sized hand.

This knife would be an excellent present as a first knife for a young person. Especially with it being from Bear Grylls!

This Parang is basically a different type of machete. It is about the same thickness but it is shaped quite a bit differently.

At this price point this is probably the best you're going to find. Being blade heavy it allows the user to swing the knife using less force which is great in a survival situation where you are trying to conserve energy.

This parang has received a lot of praise since it came out. I will be buying one of these for myself as soon as my budget allows it.

I've heard that the sheath isn't the best but honestly as long as it holds the parang securely that's all I care about.

This is a great survival kit for someone who doesn't know anything about building their own or that plans on throwing it into a bug out bag and never using it until it's needed.

Personally, I don't recommend not using it until it's needed because you need to know what to use when, but in today's hectic world it's not like we're all sitting around with tons of time on our hands.

It does have it's good and bad points but the only way you'll get the perfect survival kit is to build it yourself.

The Good:
The whistle on the bag is usable and loud and I like the survival and SOS instructions. The more information you have the better off you are. The zippered bag is nice and would come in handy once all the survival stuff had been exhausted. The survival blanket and the fire starter are a must have in any survival kit and they are included here.

The Bad:
The snare wire would be more usable if it was longer, and the LED light is cheaply made.

The Ugly:
NO COMPASS! Get a button compass to stick in it, like this one.

This kit is nice and light so it's great for day hikes as well.

Now with all this being said, you could build your own cheaper and better if you want to take the time to do it right. However, If you do settle on this kit, remember to buy a compass!

A smaller version of the Ultimate kit. Great to throw into a bag or purse it's inexpensive and very light.

A few of the items I would probably change out but the knife is decent, the firestarter works, and the survival tips that come with it might just come in handy.

The matches are NOT strike anywhere but they do work with the striker supplied in the kit.

Again, there is no compass so be sure and buy one when you buy this kit.

This is a great fire starter. It showers nice sized sparks and it's easy to use once you get the hang of it. Yes, you do need to practice with it, just like you need to practice with ANY product you are buying to put into your survival kit.

It has a cap that comes off that you can store cotton balls in for tinder. One reviewer I read got 4 cotton balls into his, but I was only able to get 3 in mine.

It also comes with an emergency whistle and a lanyard so that you can tie it off to something like your pack so that it is always at the ready.

This is a nice knife that can be used as your Every Day Carry (EDC). Overall it gets good reviews and I think it's great as a knife to take on short day trips.

This knife is not designed to be a full on survival knife so it shouldn't be used as such. It's a little tough to open with the thumb studs, I haven't played with one enough yet to figure out if the problem is where the thumb studs are located or if it's just a matter of the blade being tight.

It looks like Gerber redesigned their Suspension Butterfly multi-tool and reintroduced it as the Bear Grylls version.

The main difference is the rubberized handle. One good point is that this knife is rust resistant, but don't take that to mean rust PROOF.

One note on rubberized handles. Yes, with use they will eventually wear out. HOWEVER, the reason I like them is because they come in handy in severe environments.

Ever been changing a flat in twenty degree weather? Would you rather grab a metal handled multi-tool or a rubber handled one?

I will say that the tools could have been made a little better, however, in this price range it's not a bad multi-tool.

Ok, first I'd like to say, I LOVE THESE PANTS! But there are a few things you should know before you run out and buy them.

Workmanship could have been a little better and EVERYONE complains about the sizing. Sizing is an easy fix, just order two sizes larger than you normally would. One size larger would probably fit, but they would be tight.

According to a few reviews on the Bear Grylls site and Amazon, the glue on the water proof cell phone bag can cause a problem if you wash it with the pants or you wear them on a really hot day.

I didn't even mess with it. I took it out as soon as I got the pants and replaced it with a waterproof bag that I had.

Other than that these are great pants.

These are the more expensive version of Bear's pants. They have the same sizing problem as the cheaper pair. Also, the pockets should have been made deeper.

The two main differences are that the cargo pockets are internal and zippered instead of external and buttoned like on the cheaper version and these have more stretch fabric sewn into them.

I'll be honest, I don't know that these few advantages equal double the price of the other pair.

Again, sizing is the issue, but this shirt is getting very good reviews. I haven't bought it yet but I've got my hopes up that I'll get it as a gift. If not, I'll be shelling out the money for it soon.