These Portable Camping Chairs are my absolute favorite. I am getting older and sitting on the ground takes its toll on my back and legs. With this Camping Chair I can rest easy and enjoy my morning coffee without stressing my aging knees.
Because it packs up to the size of a water bottle, it is easy to take anywhere and everywhere. That makes it perfect for camping and hiking, but also means that if you have to bug out, its easy to grab and take with you.
I keep one of these Portable Camping Chairs with my camping gear for obvious reasons. If I know I’m going to be stuck in line or waiting I throw one in my backpack. There is nothing like relaxing while others are shifting from foot to foot while they wait for the line to inch forward.
Portable Camping Chair Scoring
This Portable Camping Chair isn’t going to save your life. But it can improve the quality of your life. This Camping Chair scores a 101/1000.
The bottle sized camping chair that goes anywhere.
The size of your drink bottle.
Sets up in five seconds.
Sturdy and stable.
Support up to 300 pounds while only weighing 3.5 pounds.
These Waterproof Dry Bags are a basic camping necessity. What good is making it to camp if all your clothes and gear are soaked through from the pouring rain? There is gear that just can’t get wet. That might be electronics, cash, clothing, or more importantly, ammunition. Any of them could make the difference between life and death if they get wet and you need them.
I guaranteed it’s going to rain while your camping or hiking at some point. Make sure the supplies you need to keep dry are in these Waterproof Dry Bags. I have been on long hikes through the rain. Once I get my Rain Fly up these Dry Bags mean I clothing to wear and dry goods to eat.
Waterproof Dry Bags Scoring
These Dry Bags should be a staple of your hiking and camping gear. They keep your gear dry when the rain just won’t stop. What good is getting to some cover during a storm if everything in your pack is already soaked through? These Dry Bags can have a moderate impact on your survival and score a 209/1000.
Don’t be left cold and wet!
Designed to keep your gear safe and dry, no matter the activity.
When it comes to optimizing space in your tent, yurt, or off grid cabin these Bunk Bed Cots are just the thing. They let you bunk twice as many in the same floor space. It is honestly great for kids too. Who doesn’t love a bunk bed?
These Bunk Bed Cots are the perfect way to comfortably sleep additional survivors after a disaster. I’m not sure how many survivors will be with me. If I’m lucky enough to gather more of my family to me it would be good to have bunks for them.
Bunk Bed Cots Scoring
I love these Bunk Bed Cots. They let me quickly add more bunk space for guests. While they will have a low impact on survival and score a 25/1000, some creature comforts are still worth having.
Compact and comfortable bunked cots.
Rounded frame doesn’t sink into the ground.
Side organizers hang from cots to hold gear or personal items.
11 inches off the ground with 21 inches in between cots.
These Biodegradable Body Wipes are a life saver. They are great for camping, hiking, and travel, and can make a world of difference when you need them. I was stuck in a small airport in India waiting for a connecting flight a few years ago. I was not allowed to stay inside the terminal.
They literally made you exit and sit on benches outside. The benches were poured concrete and there was very little shade. Let’s just say I was sweating and uncomfortable with no real options for food or water that I felt wouldn’t leave me in hospital. By the time I got onto a plane I was soaked, stinking, and not very comfortable. Thankfully I had some of these Body Wipes. Once in the air I was able to play bathroom gymnastics and get my stinking clothes off, wipe down, and put on dry clothes. As this was the start of sixteen hour of flying, it would have been horrible if I had and Biodegradable Body Wipes.
If your are younger than me, or just a player, and you like to camp or hike, these are also a lifesaver when it comes to hanging out with potential partners. Who wants to get close when you are both sweaty and stinky?
Biodegradable Body Wipes Scoring
Once infrastructure fails, running water and showers are going to be hard to come by for quite some time. Don’t go to bed gross and dirty, wipe up and and go to bed refreshed so you can get a good nights sleep. These Body Wipes can have a moderate impact on your survival and score a 212/1000.
Quickly remove sweat, stink, dirt and grime.
Leaves you feeling clean and refreshed.
Made with aloe vera, tea tree oil & chamomile.
Cleans and deodorizes with no sticky residue or dry-out.
Hypoallergenic and pH balanced to be gentle on your skin.
These Military Grade Chemical Light Sticks are awesome. I keep Light Sticks as emergency lighting with tons of gear. Some in my toolbox to quickly light dark spaces in cars and walls. Some in my camping and hunting gear for emergencies.
I date my boxes and use them for fun once they start to get to the three year old mark. That means hanging them in trees at Halloween and marking trails if I have newcomers coming to my off grid camp. If your arriving after dark you are never going to find me if I don’t mark the trail for you.
Because these Light Sticks don’t generate heat, they are also perfect for getting a little bit of light in places you don’t want to risk a spark.
Chemical Light Sticks Scoring
If you do any hiking, caving, camping, boating or generally anything outdoors you want to keep a few of these Chemical Light Sticks handy. They are perfect for emergency light, and because they can be seen up to a mile away if you end up in trouble it will help rescuers find you.
These Chemical Light Sticks can have a high impact on your survival. It’s hard to survive in the dark. These Light Sticks score a 501/1000.
Intense light for up to 12 hours.
Bright green color can be seen from up to a mile away.
Standard issue for all military personnel.
Perfect for your emergency kit, for hiking, camping or trail marking.
Ideal for confined space, underwater and tactical applications.
These Safety Flares are a key survival tool. When electric and cell service are down and your batteries are dead you can still reach out. Call for help. Let your camp know to run and hide. The uses of these Flares is limited only by your imagination. If you have a lot of open ground or water, or just a ton of hills between you and your camp, these Safety Flares can make all the difference.
I’ve only ever had to use a flare once, and it was years ago at a scout camp. We lost a camper who went into the woods to take a leak and never came back on a dark, rainy night. We think he got turned around in the dark, but thanks to a flare in the night he was able to head towards the light, and we were able to find him.
Keep in mind you should not under any circumstances use these Flares if there is a risk of a wildfire and or you are not in fear of mortal danger.
Safety Flares Scoring
These Flares are a great addition to your Survival Gear. They are going to give you the ability to quickly let everyone know something is wrong, or to rally. One Flare means we are under attack. Two Flares means we are being overrun and head for the rally point. You get the picture.
Because infrastructure is going to go down these Flares can have a moderate impact on your survival. They score a 207/1000.
This Lightweight Backpacking Rain Fly is a year round piece of gear. Its a sun shade, its a rain fly, and it blocks the cutting wind in the dead of winter. If you have a smaller cabin, I would stock up on these Lightweight Camping Rain Flies as they let you expand out onto the ground around your cabin while still offering some degree of protection from the elements.
Because this Fly is so light and portable it only makes sense to keep one in your pack. I take one hunting with me as well. Add some branches and I have a nice shelter to sit and weight for the sun to come up so I can pull some ducks out of the air. Yes, I eat them. I don’t believe in shooting anything I don’t eat – at least when it comes to wild animals.
When I hiked a lot I never took a a tent unless it was sub zero temps. I would just bring this Backpacking Rain Fly and a sleeping bag. I never had any issues and it saved me weight and room to carry other gear. Or just more food so I could stay out longer.
Backpacking Rain Fly Scoring
This Rain Fly is going to have more or less impact on your survival depending on where you live and what time of the year it is. Don’t let the moderate survival impact score full you, it is a must have if you are going to do any hiking to your bolt hole. It scores a 208/1000.
10×10 camping tarp.
Made out of 210T polyester coated with TPU.
Lightweight but offers heavy duty weather protection.
Protect yourself from rain, wind and snow.
Protects you (and your equipment) from the sun and rain.
Razor Wire is critical after a disaster. It serves so many purposes. Which camp do you think scavengers are going to raid first? The one with no fence and no Razor Wire or the one that is clearly prepared to deal with any intruders?
No, I do not put up this Razor Wire for routine camping, but we are talking about more than just regular camping right? Once the Zombies start biting or a natural disaster knocks out our infrastructure you are going to need to be able to protect your bolt hole from both the undead and from other survivors, and while this Razor Wire isn’t going to make a Zombie back off from pain, it is metal wire that is going to stop them from moving forward as long as you have it firmly strung between trees or other structures, just be careful and make sure the living don’t run into it by accident.
If you are lucky enough to have a heavy duty fence, this Razor Wire also makes a great deterrent to human survivors to keep them from trying to climb your fence and sneak into your camp. I like to put a string at the base of the fence. Wire tire it in place and then repeat it at the top of the fence. A really dedicated intruder is going to get through it eventually, but this is both a deterrent and well as a mechanism to buy you time to react.
Razor Wire Scoring
This Razor Wire can have an extreme impact your survival. It waves off many would be scavengers while also providing very real site security. This Wire scores 905/1000 and should be high on your list of critical gear.
Constructed of durable galvanized steel.
Designed for a long life.
Rustproof, waterproof, and corrosion-resistant.
Razor barbed wire has three coils and 147 feet in total.
This Clip On Visor Light makes any Ball Cap into a headlamp. That means I can use both hands to do whatever needs doing. I keep one in my toolbox, another in my vehicle, and one more with my camping gear. They are perfect for those times there isn’t enough light and your task requires both hands to get the job done. I have a shed out in the woods and its too far for me to run electric too, making this light really useful when I need to go find some tool or bit of gear I haven’t used in a year (or ten).
When it comes to camping, it is just so useful to be able to switch it on and have the light where I am looking, regardless of what I’m doing. Ever try to cook in the pitch black by firelight? It is so much easier when you are wearing this Clip On Light.
This Light is also perfect for things like interior wall painting. I wear glasses so I like to wear a cap when painting to keep the paint off my lenses, and that makes this Clip On Light perfect so I make sure I don’t miss spots, especially when painting white on white.
Clip On Visor Light Scoring
This Clip On Light can have a moderate impact on your survival. Once the power goes out for good you are going to be glad you planned ahead. It scores a 215/1000.
5 bright LEDs putting out up to 30 lumens at max brightness.
Powered by 2*CR2032 button batteries.
Up to 24 hours working time.
90 degree rotatable head.
One-click power button for easy on/off operation.
Clip on the hat/Cap or your pocket for hands free.
Long Long Time is the 3rd episode of the The Last of Us. The first two episodes both scored a 100/100. That is the first time that’s ever happened since The Walking Dead Season 1. If you aren’t watching, you really need to fix that. The only part that sucks is that if you are on the East Coast you have to wait until 9pm to get your fix!
The Last of Us: Long Long Time
Spoilers Below
I give detailed, blow by blow details as I review. If you want to skip the spoilers jump down to the Scoring!
If you have watched Long Long Time let me know what scene you thought was the most powerful.
Opening Scene
Joel and Ellie have made it out of Boston. They are out in the wilderness, alive, but clearly affected by the loss of Tess. Joel is pissed. Ellie is more more and emotionally intelligent than any fourteen year old should be. She knows that Joel is pissed and that he might be angry at her for Tess’s death.
Cumberland Farms
Joel and Ellie come across a gas station as they move through the woods. Joel stashed supplies in the past but seems to have forgotten exactly where. While Joel searches, Ellie finds a hatch in the floor. Because she apparently has no survival instinct she decides to go into the dark basement under the convenience store. As Ellie explores she finds an infected man crushed beneath a fallen section of wall.
Ellie Comes Face to Face With A Zombie
Ellie’s eyes are hard and cold as she slowly drags her blade across the Zombie’s face. What is she thinking? Is she wondering what is inside her? She isn’t infected like others, but that doesn’t mean the Cordyceps isn’t changing her somehow right?
When Joel calls for her she simply tells him the store wasn’t as picked over as he thought. Ellie found a box of tampons. She doesn’t tell Joel she just made her first kill.
Walking
Joel and Ellie are hiking. They are also bonding. We get a bit of back story as they chat. The tainted food carried the fungus. The world ended quickly as everyone who ate the infected food turned into Zombies. Ellie has a Right Angle Flashlight on her backpack which I absolutely just ordered.
Joel warns Ellie that they may want to cut across open ground. There are things ahead she may not want to see. The ground is littered with the skeletal remains of survivors who were gunned down to make sure they didn’t turn.
September 30th 2003 (Flashback)
Survivors are being loaded onto trucks as police and military forces try to keep them organized.
A man is sitting in his basement, watching what is going above him on his video cameras. Bill, played by Nick Offerman, has entered the scene. Bill has a plan. He gets gas and supplies. He’s been planning for the end of the world and is ready to deal with it.
Fences go up. Defenses are set. Firewood is cut. The garden is planted.
Bill is enjoying his dinner when his security system warns him of movement. A Zombie walks directly into a trap and gets blown away. Bill – “It doesn’t get old.”
This statement is important. It clearly shows that Bill has seen multiple Zombies fall to his defenses. He knows what dangers this new world has in store for him.
Bill – Four Years Later, 2007 (Flashback)
Bill’s preparations have clearly served him well. He’s survived years while others have died in droves.
The security system beeps. Bill has captured a man in a trap. Bill has a tester. The man is not infected. Bill wants the man to keep moving on but the man is hungry. Frank is hungry. Bill is worried that if he feeds Frank others will show up.
Something passes between Bill and Frank. Bill might be safe but just like anyone he needs companionship. There is a human need to be near others.
Are Bill and Frank gay? I am not sure at this point but feel like they might be. (Good for them.)
Maybe what saved Frank was Bill’s gaydar?
Frank prepares dinner. Rabbit and Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages. Bill is more refined than he might appear. Frank is enjoying his dinner as Bill struggles to come to grips with the newcomer. Frank knows that he is supposed to dine and dash but he sees the piano and can’t help but sit down and tickle the ivories.
The first song Frank picks hits a nerve with Bill. Bill sits down to take his turn at the keyboard. Neither Bill or Frank have a good singing voice but somehow it is still a very touching scene.
Frank bends over to kiss Bill. It is a touching scene. It is also the first scene that maybe could have been done better. There wasn’t enough passion in the kiss. For two men, starved of life, I would have thought there first kiss would have been more ravenous.
Two seconds later the reason why becomes clear. Bill has never been true to himself. Frank is is first gay love, and gay lover.
Bill & Frank – Three Years Later (Flashback)
Frank is pissed. Bill does not want to give Frank supplies to fix up the house.
Why? Because Bill and Frank are going to have friends.
In the next cut scene we see Bill, Frank, Tess, and Joel having lunch. Bill is up tight and worried about security. Frank is just happy to have people over.
Bill doesn’t want Joel and Tess to ruin their lives. Joel helps bring Frank to their side by promising to bring him new fencing. Joel also warns Frank that scavengers will be coming. Bill’s defenses may not be as solid as he thinks.
Bill & Rank 2013 (Flashback)
Bill has updated his fence. What was wire is now stacks of crushed cars. Frank surprises Bill with a small strawberry patch. It is a sweet and emotional moment. Now I’m scared for the “crash”.
Bill tells Frank he was never afraid before he showed up. The meaning is clear. Before Frank Bill wasn’t afraid to die because he had nothing to die for.
Frank is sleeping. The scavengers have arrived.
Bill’s traps go off. Some of the scavengers are killed but there are too many of them. Frank drags Bill inside after he is wounded. Bill, like a moron, was standing out in the open.
Bill is bleeding out. His last words to Frank before he passes out are, “Call Joel, he’ll take care of ya.”
Bill & Frank – Older
Time has passed. Frank is frail and no longer able to walk. Bill pushes him around in his wheelchair and tends to their homestead. It appears that Frank has had a stroke? He appears weak and can only move with Bill’s help.
Bill wakes up to find Frank in his chair. Frank declares it is his last day. He doesn’t want to live as a burden on Bill. Frank asks for one more good day. Frank has a plan. One more good day. Marriage. And finally a glass of wine full of enough drugs to end his life.
Bill cries but follows Frank’s instructions.
Frank prepares the same rabbit and Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages meal they had on the day they first met. Bill dutifully mixes Frank’s drink with the medications as requested. Frank downs the glass after confirming the dosage is enough.
Frank notices there were already pills in the bottle. Bill plans on going with Frank into the next world. They laugh about how romantic the gesture is.
Welcome to Lincoln (Current Timeline)
Joel and Ellie have arrived at Bill’s homestead. Things look deserted. Joel calls out to his friends. The medicated meal on the table doesn’t look too old. Joel and Ellie have arrived not too long after the fateful dinner. Bill and Frank are dead.
Bill’s letter to whomever, but probably Joel, is heart wrenching.
Joel and Ellie now have a truck, weapons, and supplies. Joel is grumpy as hell, but the two of them are in much better straits than they were.
The two of them ransack Bill’s supplies. Not only do they have hot water for showers but also toilet paper, guns, ammo, and food. Joel tells Ellie no when she asks about a gun but she finds one in Bill’s desk and takes in anyway.
Joel and Ellie get into Bill’s Chevy S10 and head out. Ellie is amazed. She has never been in a car. Joel is more realistic. It’s an old budget truck. Hopefully it will get him to his brother.
Long Long Time Scoring
First thing. Both Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal are amazing. They are incredible actors. Bill, played by Nick Offerman, and Frank, played by Murray Bartlett are also great – their story just doesn’t have the same weight as Joel and Ellie’s. Still, the episode was amazing. How could it hold up to the first two episodes? That is an unfair expectation isn’t it?
Still, Long Long Time was a gripping and emotional episode and scores a 95/100, making it Worth Your Time.