Photo: Courtesy of Alexa Hohenberg
As earth-wanderers, always looking for the next adventure, we tend to be rather spontaneous humans. The say-yes-and-figure-it-out-later personalities that always have a tale to tell. We find ourselves in the most unique places, welcoming challenges and inviting new experiences. We like to live by the seat of our pants. Driven by this sort of lifestyle, it pays to be prepared. You want to be ready to get up and go anytime the opportunity arrives.
For those of us that spend a lot of time outdoors biking, hiking, rafting, snowboarding or skiing, this is one cool accessory you’re going to want to own: the KODIAK Series Survival Braid, a bracelet by Outdoor Element, that is re-designing survival for those times when you may not be so well prepared.
Photo: Courtesy of Alexa Hohenberg
So You Can Live to Talk About It Later
On first glance the bracelet looks like a fashion wrist-band. A sort of thick, braided friendship bracelet crossed with a leather strap. On further inspection though, you’ll see it’s got an integrated fishing hook hidden in the eight to 10 feet of paracord, home to two strands of fishing line and a strand of tinder. The central teeth on the buckle double up as a ferrocerium & stainless steel striker (like a flint so you can ignite a flame). So should you be stuck un-prepared, lost in the woods or backcountry, this little bracelet give provides you some vital tools to be able to stay warm, fed and hopefully discovered by search and rescue (the smoke from the fire you’ll be able to make, always helps search teams).
Photo: Courtesy of Alexa Hohenberg
Catch a Fish & Start a Fire
All you need to do is unravel the bracelet, release the fishing hook, and pull out the fishing line and tinder from the paracord. Wearing the bracelet won’t instill epic fishing skills upon you, so hopefully you’ll know what to do with the fishing hook and line, but at least you have one right?
Recall you fire-making skills and use the buckle to make a spark, light the tinder and whatever suitable dry materials you can find around you. Now you’ve got a fire going. Good one!
Photo: Courtesy of Alexa Hohenberg
Tried and Tested in Australia by Us!
We tested the Outdoor Element Kodiak survival bracelet while camping at the snow close to Perisher Ski Resort. It took us a while to get the flint/striker to catch the somewhat sodden dead grass we had found, but we got it going eventually (in large part, thanks to the tinder in the paracord and some toilet paper we found in the car).
Fishing on the other hand, we avoided that — but that’s because we were prepared and had sandwiches
Author’s Note: I’ve given a few Outdoor Element Kodiak survival bracelets to friends and received great feedback, they were stoked! The product retails for $24.99 USD which is pretty awesome. Check out their website www.outdoorelement.co for more info, or follow them on Facebook.
For more from Alexa Hohenberg, head on over to Still Stoked.
