From time to time, manufacturer’s send me products to review. Two years into The Outdoor Smorgasbord, this is the best product that I have been asked to use.
From Energizer, this is a 7 LED Headlight that emits 45 lumens of light. Equipped with 4 light modes, 2 red LEDs for “night vision”, spotlight, floodlight, and spotlight+floodlight. My other headlamps are not nearly as bright. This light is plenty bright enough to blood trail deer. No MagLite needed which is what I usually fall back on for such tasks.
One of the best features of the headlamp is that it operates on 3 AA batteries and not some battery that is shaped like a nickel and can be difficult to find in stores.
But heck, who cares what batteries it has because they last FOREVER! Seriously, I’ve been using this headlamp since I started darting deer for my radiocollar research and for 2 weeks of archery season now. I’d estimate that I’ve used it easily 12-15 hours (quite possibly more) and I can’t tell a difference in the light’s brightness yet. The specifications sheet brags 16-20 hours runtime…that’s no bull.
The hinge that tilts the light to different positions is very crisp, no wobbling back and forth.
The only thing I don’t like about the headlamp is that there are 4 lighting modes and the red light is the first one. That means that if you going to a treestand in the dark, you have to click through 3 white light modes to turn off the headlamp. It would make better sense to have the modes reversed, but that is definitely nitpicking.
I’ve used a lot of other headlamps (I won’t mention the names because they are decent products), but they simply don’t compare.
Buy the Energizer 7 LED Headlight and I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.
Well, I’ve bit my tongue all summer along about the 3D target that I went halfway on with my neighbor. Silence no longer.
The GlenDel buck stinks. I know, I know – some of you own the target and think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Well, I don’t.
3 reasons:
1. I’ve shot around 1,000 aluminum arrows into it – of which only 20-30 have been broadhead tipped – and I am sinking arrows up into and past the fletchings every few shots. 260 fps with aluminum arrows. That’s poor quality and false advertising!
2. The vitals insert was incorrectly designed. The vitals line up on one side, but are reversed (i.e., heart is over liver and so forth) on the other side. No, turning it around doesn’t fix it. If that doesn’t make sense don’t worry about it. Not a major downer though, if you are aiming at heart/lung silhouettes in 3D practice, you’re in for a rude awakening when you’re in a treestand and a live deer doesn’t quite look the same.
3. There is something very, very hard directly below the vitals section inside the target. After I’ve bent the 4th arrow this year this morning on whatever is inside there, that was the last straw. I understand if you shoot a 3D target in the leg, you can expect to mess up an arrow, but 1″ below the vitals block (which as we all know is still a killing shot on a real whitetail)…give me a break! A 3 yard undercompensation on yardage and expect to have arrow damage.
I don’t do negative reviews on my website, but today the camel’s back was broken.
I would not recommend the GlenDel buck to anyone looking for a quality 3D hunting target. Look towards Rinehart’s selection of archery targets for the best in the business.
Pat Garrett from Garrett Bros. Outfitting sent me a DVD of their hunting operation to review and make a blog post.
Right now, as far as being top pri0rity on my big game hunting list, I don’t have a deep-seated desire to harvest a big black bear, but if I did… Garrett Bros. Outfitting just might be my choice.
The DVD was well put together and described many portions of their hunting operation. Not just the black bear hunting, but how camp is hauled deep into the wilderness and extracted back out every year. There are some great clips of a convoy of vehicles braving ice coated and mud trenched trails to get “camp” to where “camp” belongs.
A family-owned operation that operates out of Alberta, they offer black bear hunts as their premier game species but also offer limited moose and bush whitetail deer hunts.
For their black bear hunts, hunters may choose to hunt out of river camp or a fly-in camp. Both hunts are $3500 (an additional $750 may be paid on the harvest of a second bear). That may seem expensive, but take it from someone who has seen the DVD. This camp is a TON of work to get setup and the opportunity to harvest a big P&Y and even B&C bear is relatively high, not to mention the abundant color phase bears running around too.
For more information, you can visit the website. Garrett Bros. Outfitting is very open about their business and have many references listed for the potential customer to telephone.
I had the opportunity to field test this new product while I was in Kansas weekend before last. Admittedly, it is a very simple product, but it serves a simple purpose. Keeps your gun high, dry, and safe. And in a situation where the river was threatening to break through levees and put all of Kansas under water, that was very important.
The Magnet Gun Caddy holds your gun barrel securely in place while you put on your rubber boots, assemble treestand parts, unload your ATV, or admire your turkey (grin, personal experience).
The Magnet Gun Caddy gets more use than just in the field too. I have it stuck to my metal closet gun safe and because my shotgun with turkey choke screwed in is too long for the gun cabinet (doesn’t look like it, but there is an interior permanent shelf), the Gun Caddy solves that problem without worrying about the gun sliding and crashing onto the floor.
Simple product, solves a simple product, and makes a great little stocking stuffer-type gift.
