Survival

Canadian outdoor gear company VSSL has added to its line of sleek, cylindrical survival kits with a new collection designed to cover shelter repairs, fire-starting, navigation and cooking, all while adding minimum bulk and weight to your backpack.

In 2018, Garmin launched the ultralight inReach Mini two-way emergency communicator. Now it updates the tiny, satellite-based survival tool into the all-new Mini 2, a palm-sized device with more power for saving your bacon in the backcountry.

Back in 2018 we caught wind of versatile multitool called the Combar from Israeli startup Aclim8. The company has now introduced a lighter version at a lower price point, but managed to do so while maintaining most of that impressive functionality.

Watergen has long been working to refine and grow technology to pull water vapor out of the air and collect it for drinking. Its latest innovations shrink that water-harvesting tech into a form portable enough for overlanders and RVers.

Founder of Trayvax wallets and Kimbo campers, Mark King, brings together EDC and overland adventure with the Trayvax Ration. Something of a vehicle-adventure mess kit, the Ration packs a single burner and space for food, water and utensils.

Californian-based knife maker Terrain 365 has introduced a new implement for the everyday carry crowd with a very portable form factor, and around the same footprint as a set of US military-issue dog tags.

Built to travel with tinkerers and DIYers from garage to distant outdoor spaces, the new Caliber X takes a different tack on multitooling. The skeletal chassis disguises an 18-function build for everything from backyard BBQs to wilderness survival.

Canadian gearmaker VSSL has caught our eye of late with its sleek, flashlight-inspired tubes that pack impressive arrays of essential items inside, and now it’s back with its most compact version yet, the First Aid Mini.

The unique Kukrax is designed to combine the best bits of a modern-day tactical tomahawk with the curvy nature of a kukri machete, offering a unique and seemingly highly efficient way to cut through your timber.

In 2017, Tortoise Gear launched the Firefly, a fire steel fit to a Swiss Army toothpick slot. Now it's back to get some extra use out of the corkscrew. The FireAnt screws onto a Victorinox corkscrew to bring fire steel and tinder to your pocket.

Colorado's Bone Daddy Blade WerX has come up with a pocket-sized multitool that can take on lightweight cutting tasks on its own, but can also be mounted to a handle to become heavy-hitting axe should the situation call for it.

The newly launched Lifesaber is a modern and handy example of a hand-crank generator that can also produce clean drinking water and start fires at camp.