Gear Review: Uvpaqlite

Uvpaqlite: The Rechargeable Glowstick Review

 

Gear Review: Uvpaqlite
Buy at Amazon

I don’t do reviews all that often, but not too long ago survivalblog had a passing mention about a new company that made reusable glowstick the size of a chemlite. I immediately ordered a couple of uvpaqlites for my personal evaluation.

Basically the devices are containing strontium crystals that are doped with other rare earth elements to form the latest generation of glow in the dark technology. These crystals charge very quickly from any type of visible light and glow for quite a long time. As with most glow in the dark devices, the stronger and longer the light source charging the crystals the brighter and longer they give off glow.

Glowing Crystals in a Sealed Package

The company that produces the crystals is called uvpaqlite.com and the crystals come in either glued inside a robust flat plastic sheet that reminds me of vacuum seal bags, or plastic tubes filled with clear epoxy.

Since I had never heard of the company before, I did not want to spend a lot of money on my first evaluation set was pretty inexpensive. I purchased the smallest product in both lines – the flat 4×6 mini uvpaqlite for $3.50 and the key chain sized tooblite mini for $4.95.

I received the package pretty quickly in the mail and wasted no time in charging them and trying them out. In my first video they had only charged for an hour or two since I only charged them from the time I got the mail until it got dark that evening.

While my camera did not take a very good video, I was able to use the mini paqlite in my pantry to read the labels on my can goods. It was bright enough that if I held it next to something I could make out what it was.

UVPaqlite Review II

 

I think this size of paqlite would be very good as a trail marker or a way to find something in the dark, We used the chain it came with to attach it to the pull switch on our bedroom ceiling fan, and the light it gets during the day (even with the shades drawn) is enough that I can always quickly find the light switch. it is not a replacement for a flashlight.

The tubelight went on my keychain, and even though it is normally in my pocket, I use it to help me find my keys and the door knob when I come home at night. It also helps when I misplace my keys, in the morning, as I get up while it is still dark out, and if I turn off the lights I can just look for the glow.

Great Product

The company that sells these lites says that the larger size will light up a small dome tent, and while I did not try it, I believe it would. Once again my camera did not do these devices justice, but I could set the large paqlite in my living room and make out the walls and location of the exits. It would not light the room up enough to read by, but I could use it to find my glasses, flashlight, or other personal protective devices.

I keep the 8×15 paqlite on the dash of my work vehicle, where it is constantly receiving a charge, that way when I get in the truck at night, I can see where all my tools are. It also helps me differentiate my vehicle from everyone else’s as they are all unmarked white SUVs. The large tooblite is attached to the outside of my daypack where I can use it if I have to make an unscheduled trip into the woods. I know that even if I forget to check my flashlight batteries I will at least have some form of light,.  Now, I don’t know about you, but whenever I am sitting around a campfire at night I always seem to lose something important and have to fumble around in the dark looking for it.

These products are very well made, and while the manufacturer suggested I do a destructive review to show how robust they are, I really don’t want to shoot them and have to go out and buy a replacement.

I thought about driving over them, as I believe they could handle that without damage…

Disclaimer

All in all, I think these are great products, and when used according to their limitations have a definite use in a prepared household. I had planned on buying the larger sizes to use while camping, but the company contacted me and asked me if I would review their larger lites. Of course I said I would. (FTC disclaimer – I received no payment for the review, but

I did receive two paqlites from the company at no cost to me, which I intend to keep).
I shortly received the larger Tooblite glow stick (about 8 inches long) which retails for $6.95 and the large 8×15 paqlite which costs $24.00. As a side note they came in a clear envelope which allowed them to come charged – I wonder what the post office thought of them glowing in their trucks.

Review: Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld

Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld Review

Review: Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld
Buy at Amazon (Not the Same Radio as Reviewed)

Now for those that care about these things, I have not received any compensation of any type for this review. I am reviewing this device because I think EVERY prepper should have at least one ham radio, and with the quality/price ratio this radio is worth looking into.

First strike against the Wuxun KG-UV3D radio is that is Chinese made. Some don’t care –some do, personally I’d rather buy American made, but a simple internet search will show you how hard it is to find a American made ham radio.

First positive comment is that it’s around $100 bucks. This is in a world where almost all other handhelds start at 5 times that amount. I first learned about this radio from a group of ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) volunteers in East TN. These guys all had at least one and they were of the opinion that it was good enough, and sturdy enough, and if they broke the thing it was only a $100 radio.

As I said in the video my intent was to buy one, try it out, and if mine was as functional as the ones I was shown in Athens then I would buy a couple more for the wife and for storage. My wife is now expecting, so I had to add another prepper tier to my list, so the extra radios were bumped back, but I still intend to buy a couple more once I stockpile a lot of diapers and bottles…

I am not going to get into too much detail on these radios, as a ham will just go dig up the spec sheet and it may cause informational overload to a non-ham. But basically:

Wuxun KG-UV3D Features

  • Dual band monitor (VHF/UHF, VHF/VHF, UHF/UHF)
    • You can monitor two different sets of frequencies at the same time
    • The radio comes in different flavors so you can almost pick which two bands you want.
  • Selectable high/low power settings (VHF: 5W high/1W low) (UHF: 4W high/1W low)
    • You can select more time or more power
  • 13 hour battery life
  • Includes intelligent desktop 3-4 hour rapid charger
  • Loud speaker audio output (500 mW)
  • Bright flashlight illumination function
  • Meets IP55 waterproof rating
  • English female voice prompts enable non-sighted operation (can be turned off)
    • The Chinese lady scares me so I turned mine off
  • 128 memory channels (shared)
  • VOX Function
  • Digital FM radio (76-108MHz) with automatic tuning and storing, radio frequency display, 18 FM memories in 2 banks
  • Wide/narrow bandwidth selection (25 or 12.5 kHz)
  • Power on display: show battery voltage, 6-character customizable welcome message, or display test
  • Windows PC programmable, free software available for download. Optional low cost cable
    • This is the selling point for me – I found the manual programming wasn’t as bad as some reviews claimed it to be, but I liked doing it from my computer even though
    • There is some bugs in the setup and you may have to try more than once to get your radio to connect to your computer
  • The program is limited to a “legal” frequency band and not actual – meaning I can listen to the weather radio and FRMS and GRMS frequencies (among other things) but I have to put them in manually.
  • Radio to radio cloning with optional cable
  • 105 groups DCS/50 groups CTCSS
  • DTMF encoding (includes ABCD tones, continuous with button press duration)
  • CTCSS encode/Decode (no decode delay)
  • Stopwatch function
  • SOS function
  • Low-voltage voice prompt
  • Busy channel lockout
  • Selectable transmit over timer (from 15 to 600 seconds)
  • Selectable step sizes of 5, 6.25, 10, 12.5, 25, 50 or 100 kHz
  • Multiple scan modes including priority scan
  • Keypad lock (auto or manual)
  • Programmable by computer or keypad
  • High contrast white backlit keypad. All keys are backlit (except A/B & TDR)

Conclusion

That’s a lot of stuff, add in that you can unlock the radio to get additional channels* and that it feels like a Kenwood (very sturdy feeling) transmits clearly and loudly and you can buy an adaptor to run a longer antenna makes it (IMHO) a very good buy.

*about that unlocking;

1. It’s most likely illegal, and I am not suggesting you break the law
2. With the advent of trunking and other digital radio advances just because you can transmit and receive on the local law enforcement channels on the Wuxun KG-UV3D or other radio does not mean you can communicate with them.

Lee Universal Decapping Die Review

 

Gear Review: Lee Universal Decapping Die
Buy at Amazon

For under $15.00 the Lee Universal Decapping Die is one of the best pieces of reloading gear you can get, heck it’s a bargain at double the price. I have broken a lot of decapping rods over the years and that ended as soon as I got this piece of equipment. The reason this die is so good (Lee calls it “Virtually” Unbreakable) is that the decapping pin is held in a collet so that if the decapping pin hits resistance – say you accidently throw in a berdan primed case, or the flash hole is off center, or WHATEVER, the pin will be pushed up out of the collet instead of bending or breaking under the pressure.

This is a much better design than any of the other decapping systems I have seen. In every other decapping die I know about the pin is threaded or otherwise fixed in the die, so that if it hits resistance it bends. The pins may be inexpensive, but finding a replacement at 5pm on a Sunday can be quite difficult. With the Lee die, you just need to loosen the collet with a wrench and push the pin to the depth you desire and then retighten it. This is much simpler and faster.

What is probably the best review of this piece of equipment is that if you perform an internet search for a review of the Lee Decapping die all you will find are forum posts where experienced reloaders are recommending this equipment to new shooters. I could not find a negative comments about this piece of equipment, and to me that says a lot.

I have no affiliation with Lee precision in any way, other than I like some of their products and I want to share with you what works for me.

 

90 amp Harbor Freight Welder Review

 

Gear Review: 90 amp Harbor Freight Welder
Not the same welder (This one is even cheaper)

This review may be a little controversial – it all depends on if a professional welder reads it…

I want to learn to weld, it’s on my “hope I never kick the bucket” list. You know skills I wish I had, but if I had them all I would be 176 years old simply due to the time it takes to learn everything. I also have the unfortunate experience of working somewhat close to a harbor freight store. Due to the cost I tend to buy a lot of consumables there – media for my bullet tumbler comes to mind. I tend to stay away from their durable goods though because I am concerned about quality, but something about a $100 welder just called my name.

I have the willpower to say no when something calls my name once, but this darn thing was persistent, it just kept calling. Finally after getting some overtime from working the last TN disaster I bought it. I bought it after looking at hundreds of reviews that says this thing is junk. BUT, all of these reviews were from professionals that use big name welders for commercial purposes. The lowest cost welder these guys were recommending cost thousands of dollars and with capabilities far beyond my scope of use.

Now, that’s not to say I don’t WANT some of these great welders, just that even if I had the cash to spend on one, my money would be better served buying tools I actually need.

As one review said “Anyone who does fabrication and builds for pay simply needs the ability to lay heavy bead, with long duty cycles. If you were a factory mechanic, and spun wrenches for a living, you wouldn’t use 99 cent store sockets for long term. A full-time logger doesn’t use $100 kmart chainsaws. For the homeowner trimming one tree once a year, it works. You don’t need a $700 Husqvarna ‘Rancher’ chainsaw with a 20+ inch bar for that kind of like duty. Not that it wouldn’t be nice to own….”

I need something simple, and cheap that lets me weld up to 3/8 inch thick steel. And this welder does that.

Out of the box the Harbor Freight Welder comes with one 2 lb roll of flux core wire, a combo brush/slag hammer, and a face shield. I bought some heavy welder gloves when I bought it, and picked up (but set down) a auto darkening helmet. Next time I go back to the store I am going to pick it back up, as not being able to see until the spark is stuck is a little scary for me.

It did take some minor assembly to get it ready, but it took less than 10 minutes and the hardest part was assembling the cheap welding face shield. The instructions were not that hard to follow especially considering they were written overseas.

I tried to weld two things one was a cheap china made charcoal grill that had a leg knocked off during our April storms (it stuck, but I melted through some sheet metal), the other was a set of crucible tongs I made. Once again it made a very ugly weld, but in fairness it was probably more my lack of skill than the limitations of the welder.

I can hit the target with a cheap pistol, but my group size is tighter with a better quality pistol, but when I started shooting I did not know enough to tell the difference.

I have read that with a better quality torch tip and flux core wire it improves its weld capabilities. But it will sputter a lot and cause lots of little balls of slag to be thrown all over your work.

Is it worth it? I say yes if you’re going to use it irregularly and can get it for less than $100. My mind may change after I gain some skills – especially after I make that battery powered stick welder and the alternator welder I have on the project list, but who knows.

Watch the video below to see what it does out of the box, but be warned I don’t know much (anything) about actually welding…

BTW – Constructive comments about how I’m doing it are much appreciated…