The low mortality rate [of bites] is based on prompt emergency medical treatment and anti-venom availability in areas with large populations of venomous snakes, ie. Southern California, Texas, Florida.

So, if you live in one of these areas, you’re more likely to run into poisonous snakes and to have access to proper treatment — if you’re prepared and make it to the clinic in time.

For $3.95 from the Camping Survival website, you can get a kit that includes “two large high-suction cups for multiple bites, one small high-suction cup for small surfaces, easy to use lymph constrictor, scalpel, antiseptic swab, [and] complete instructions.” However, customer reviews at Amazon practically plead for others to avoid this kit and instead recommend the admittedly safer-looking Sawyer Exractor [What’s This?], which runs around $16.

If you can’t get medical treatment within 30 minutes of the bite, the American Red Cross recommends bandaging the area (not too tightly) a few inches above the bite to slow the venom. Personally, after seeing the pictures of the guy who got bit on the finger and looks like half his upper body has been infected, I’d rather throw down a few bucks and have a kit on hand.

*As a born and bred Yank, I’m allowed to say this.

Cheap Snake Bite Kit [Camping Survival]
Sawyer Extractor Street Pricing [Google Products]
Snake Bite Kits Street Pricing [Google Products]

While poking around recently in REI’s camping gear, I saw something that at first made me scoff: a $55 “stormproof” camping lighter, right next to the five-buck “stormproof” matches. But then I checked out the specs: the Windmill Delta Stormproof Lighter uses a catalyzer coil that will hold a flame even in 70 – 80 mph winds.

The gas flow is adjustable, allowing a flame at variable elevations, and the 2 oz. lighter is shockproof and water-tight. Customer reviews say it’s a bit bulky but quite reliable. If you camp at the state park like my family always did, you may not need to lay down the cash (though street pricing puts it more around $40), but if you’re the serious outdoors type, a reliable flame can be a big comfort.

Stormproof Lighter [REI]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

We’ve heard a lot about portable grills that fold like briefcases or look like Crock Pots, beer kegs, woks, or UFOs.  Is the Tool Box Grill just another novelty, or is it a decent cooker?

The construction is mostly sheet metal with a porcelain grate and shield (the heated components). The manufacturer’s site says the 10,000 BTU stainless steel burner tube provides “even cooking heat,” though user reviews cast some doubt on this. The grill’s dimensions are 19.5″ x 8.75″ x 10.5″, or 173 sq. inches of cooking surface, which is a fine size for a portable grill.  Its design lets you store tools and propane inside the box and, at 19 lbs., you can carry the whole thing in one hand.

But while a portable grill should be lightweight, the flimsy construction might require some extra care. Also, we found conflicting information about the propane tank;  the manufacturer says the grill uses a standard 1lb. “camping” style canister, while a reviewer at About.com notes that it actually takes the 14 oz. disposable bottle found in most stores’ tool section.

At around $65, this grill could be a good grab for camping, picnics, and cookouts while traveling — if the griller treats it gently and doesn’t mind low heat.  Let us know what you think in comments.

The Tool Box Grill [Hans Plads]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Unlike many fire starters, the BlastMatch from Ultimate Survival Technologies allows you to start fires using only one hand.  You might not think this is an important feature until you’re alone in the wilderness with an injured hand.

Designed for extreme survival situations, the BlastMatch produces sparks three times hotter than a match in all weather conditions.  The BlastMatch lasts 1,000 strikes, and just so you don’t accidentally waste any of those strikes inside your pocket, you also have to depress a thumb button in order to engage the striker.

The BlastMatch contains a spring-loaded bar of high-performance flint material that rotates to prevent uneven wear.  Ultimate Survival Technologies also sets the carbide striker at what they consider the perfect angle to get the maximum amount of sparking.

Pricing starts at $18, which if you start looking at weatherproof lighters isn’t that outrageous.

BlastMatch [Ultimate Survival Technologies]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Designed to be part of your basic camping gear, the 15″-long Gator combo axe by Gerber packs an axe and a razor-sharp 6″ saw in one 1lb 12oz package.

Gerber attaches a forged steel axe head to a hollow glass-filled nylon handle for an axe that’s both rugged and lightweight.  They texture the axe handle with their “Gator” texturing to help prevent the Gator from becoming a throwing axe.  The saw handle, which is held inside the hollow axe handle by an internal magnet, also features the “Gator” texturing.

Pricing starts around $30 and includes the ballistic nylon carrying sheath.

Gator Axe II [Gerber]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

It’s always sad to see a tool die in the line of duty.  Until this week, I owned eight of these 6″ mini-clamps from Irwin.  It seems that a 3-foot drop with a 2×4 in its jaw was a bit too much for one of these little blue clamps to handle; it snapped like a twig and sent  the smaller jaw skittering across the shop floor when it hit.  So now I’m down to seven — depressing.

To be fair, the mini-clamp really wasn’t designed for that kind of thing, and had I substituted one of the bigger clamps of the same design, the issue wouldn’t have come up at all.  The bright side:  I now have license to go get more clamps, which is never a sad occasion.

Just be aware that the cheapo plastic bar clamps aren’t made to handle stress in key areas, like where the jaw meets the bar.  It might only bite you one time out of twenty, but once is all it takes for total failure to occur.  Still, $20 for a set of four is a good price point considering the two years of hard shop time I got out of it.

Quick-Grip Clamps [Irwin]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

I love my Coleman two-burner propane stove for camping, but it’s a little bulky and I’d recommend bringing extra tanks if you don’t want to run out in the middle of cooking a meal. In contrast, a small stove like this Vital Stove from SolHuma burns whatever dry combustible fuel you have, including wood, cardboard, twigs, straw, natural fibers, or animal dung — I’m not to sure about the last one — and leaves little residue.

Easy to carry and store, this light and compact stove weighs just 1-1/2 lb and measures 5″ by 8″ by 2″ folded shut. It works well in any weather, cold or hot. The secret: an internal fan creates forge-like conditions in the base of the stove. The fan constantly stokes the fire, producing up to 20,000 BTU of heat at 1,200°F. Two AA batteries power the internal fan for about 24 hours.

Made in Canada, the asking price is $69 Canadian or about $65 US — not bad considering my Coleman two-burner stove costs $60. To justify buying one, you could even use this stove at the shop. Throw in a chunk of scrap lumber and heat a can of Pork ‘N’ Beans for lunch!

Vital Stove [SolHuma]
Vital Stove [Garrett Wade]

Quick temporary shelter — a shed when you need storage, a greenhouse for that last unexpected frost, or a portable outdoor workspace when the weather is getting nasty — can make the difference between ruin and success. With Finley’s Easy-Up structural resin joints you can quickly put together a structure with a peaked roof and lean-in sides for stability. And since the only lumber it requires is square-cut 2×2’s and 2×4’s, you don’t have to cut any odd angles or measure any miters.

To me this means that even the first time I use these, all I need is lumber, a circular saw, and fasteners/driver. If I keep the cut lumber, every other time I just need fasteners and a driver! Street pricing on the kit starts at about $33 without a cover, and at about $230 with a cover.

If you don’t need an enclosure, you might still check out the rest of Finley’s 2×4 Basics line — we’ve posted on their shelving and workbench kits, and they offer other fast solutions as well.

Easy-Up Enclosures [Finley]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

With Homax’s Tarp Hook you can reuse your empty plastic water or soda bottles by turning them into weights to keep your tarp in place. You can also make a bird feeder or insect trap out of ‘em, clip ‘em to your pack to carry some extra water, or replace those nailed-up baby-food jars with ‘em.

Simply screw the tarp hook onto the bottle in place of the normal cap. Then fill it with the appropriate stuff for your application.

A four-pack of tarp hooks runs about $5.

Tarp Hook [Homax]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon(B0012XTEP6) [What’s This?] [What's This?]

Pounding tent stakes into hardpan, into tree roots, into rock — into just about every impossible plastic-stake-breaking, metal-stake-bending situation there is — has been an American pasttime for as long as camping has been. These ScrewPegs should take some of the pain out of the situation.

Pack the giant-screw tent stakes and your favorite cordless drill/driver, and off you go — as if you really needed an excuse to take power tools camping. Propane stove, air compressor, power drill: there’s nothing quite like roughing it.

ScrewPegs run 42 pounds sterling for thirty pegs — that’s about $85 if the exchange rate holds steady.

ScrewPegs [Corporate Site]

Woodcraft is having what they dub a “blowout” on Bessey clamps. Sunday car-sales pitches aside, they’re knocking about ten bucks off the larger Bessey clamps they have in stock, like 24” and 40” K-body clamps.

The clamps feature steel jaws and a non-marring, glue-resistant casing. It’s a “while supplies last” type of thing, so either they’re trying to get rid of overstock or Bessey is coming out with a new model soon and they don’t want these hanging around taking up space. Either way you can save a few bucks on some big clamps and add to the collection in the shop.

Bessey K-Body Clamps Sale [Woodcraft]

Have you ever gazed up at the starry night sky and wished you could remember more from high school astronomy than just the Big Dipper? With the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium, you just point, shoot, and learn. The SkyScout uses GPS technology, calculation positioning software, and gravity and directional sensors to identify celestial objects and tell you all about them.

You just look through the camcorder-like lens, point at a star, planet, cluster, or constellation that interests you, and click the “target” button — the SkyScout then provides textual descriptions of the object, including history, mythology, and trivia.  It can also deliver the descriptions via audio, but reviewers say it drains the batteries.

According to the SkyScout website, the device offers a number of cool features:

1. Locates over 6,000 stars, planets, and constellations from built-in celestial database and provides scientific information for each object
2. Provides comprehensive text and audio descriptions providing history, mythology, and other entertaining information for the most popular objects
3. Tonight’s Highlights: A customized list of the 20 best objects to view for your exact date, time, and location anywhere in the world
4. Constellation Lessons: if the star you identify or locate is part of a constellation or an asterism like the Big Dipper, you can actually take a guided tour through all the stars in that constellation and even see an onscreen map of the constellation

With the SkyScout’s USB port you can update its database, using the downloadable Skylink interface, as new objects (such as comets) are discovered. An SD card slot takes expansion cards containing more audio information, and a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and earbuds are included.

The SkyScout measures 7.4 by 4 inches and weighs 15.2 ounces sans AA batteries — light and compact enough to carry around your favorite dark site.  Street pricing starts at $300 but can run as high as $400, depending on where you shop. This gadget looks like it may well be worth it — especially for backyard astronomers, campers, or kids learning about constellations.

Street Pricing [Google Products]
SkyScout [Official Site]

Ah, summertime: it means camping, fishing, swimming, and, of course, burning your mouth on blackened hot dogs you jabbed on a stick and held too long in an open flame. Or does it? A variety of manufacturers make inexpensive campfire grills that claim to produce edible hot dogs, or even snazzier grill fare like kebabs. Most either screw-mount to a metal stake or have folding legs that can stand on uneven ground.

I’m inclined to think the stake-mounted model is preferable since you have more control over the distance between the heat source and the food. With the folding legs, you just have to hope it’s not sitting right in the fire or perched too far above the heat to cook properly. Also, the models from CampfireGrill feature a raised edge on all sides, which seems like a good idea (hence their slogan, “Our weenies never fall off!”). Street pricing starts around $15.

What do you think? Do campfire grills live up to the hype, or should I just go strip a branch and poke my dog the old-fashioned way? Let us know in comments.

Street Pricing [Google Products]