Stealth Angel, Part II- The Survivening

[Grant Lamontagne]

Recently I subscribed to this service that sends me outdoors gear for a small subscription fee.  You see these kinds of things everywhere nowadays- those of you who have gotten one of the fancy pink envelopes after ordering something from The Multitool.org Store are getting envelopes that Megan's "make up of the month club" stuff comes in.

As a thank you for joining, they sent along the Avventura Outdoors Survival Kit, a $35.95 value, absolutely free!  You can tell that it was hand picked from the finest equipment they have to offer.... 



If it looks familiar, that's because it is almost exactly the same box as the Stealth Angel Tactical Survival Kit, which is supposedly a $69.99 value.  For less than $10 worth of parts, someone out there is making $$ hand over fist on these piles of junk.  Sadly, this does not put the subscription service in the greatest light in my mind, and I am tempted to cancel my subscription before it begins.  Except of course that it is sponsored by a Canadian outdoors magazine that I want to support.



It's no surprise that the box is pretty well identical to the Stealth Angel box with the molded on tabs that are probably good for a half dozen openings and closings before they fall off.  Inside everything is exactly the same, right down to the 5km ruler, with one not-so-notable exception.



Since I don't expect anyone to actually spot the difference, the Stealth Angel doesn't have the terrible knife with it, but the Avventura one does.  And yes, I know it is a terrible knife, because it is the same one that was Contender #9 in the Fantastic $5 Challenge a couple of years ago.

There was one other slight difference, that is way more important than the idiotic, flimsy knife is that the compass with this kit is slightly more rigid when it comes to which way is North.  This is a trait that I value in a compass, even if I can appreciate the modern societal benefits of the "free range North" found on the Stealth Angel compass.   

Stealth Angel:





Avventura:





In the end, I have to wonder how the heck people get away with selling such terrible "survival" kits?  I don't really see how these are even remotely useful for survival, and yet there are some that are even worse.

I'd thought about putting together decent kits to sell in the store, but there's no way I could compete with these terrible kits on price, and no one seems willing to spend more than $20 on survival.  Anyone who would is probably smart enough to build their own kit.   

Def

[Don Pablo]

You know, it’s funny how often I seem to get web ads starring the stealth angel kit, even on MTO.
Why do they think I want one, after reading your reviews of its “awesomeness“?!

[Nix]

 

Make it stop. Please, oh dear Zeus, make it stop..........

[ThePeacent]

 

someone is making a big profit out of those, 

I've seen the items on the Big Chinese Websites that we can't link here,

the knife for less than $3
the compass, card, light and whistle for $1-2 each
the pen was priced at $5 avg. price
similar sized and looks rods for $3
and that light I bought 5 for $2.74 each
the box can be found for $3 easily

so less than $23 total if bought separately and each item individually,
that makes it a $13 profit per set 

[Grant Lamontagne]

And remember that if you can buy them for that amount, someone is already making profit on them.  Imagine how cheap they must truly be?

Def

[AlephZero]

The light looks like a Sipik SK-68, anymarkings on it?

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

None that I noticed but I can check when I get home.  It's virtually identical to the other one.

Def

[AlephZero]

Now that I checked, it is identical to the Sipik 

It is actually quite nice little light... and cheap, I got two for 5$ or so

[Grant Lamontagne]

It is not too bad, you are right, but I wouldn't want it to be my only light.  I just don't have faith in it.

Def

[Mechanickal]

Mine went through the washer once and survived!

It entered the washing machine Stealthy, but wasn't an Angel once inside.

Came out and still worked...
2.5 well spend

[Sea Monster]

I feel we should be less worried about the emissions from cars and more worried about the resources and energy that goes into manufacturing (and shipping) this utterly pointless crap.

It's about as single-use and dangerous to the environment as take away coffee cups and plastic straws, but I don't seem to see anyone protesting it.

[Don Pablo]

A lot more single use coffee cups are probably made compared to these silly cheap gadgets though.   

[Grant Lamontagne]

Nomad does make a good point, and one I have often wondered about.  In Canada we have a watchdog agency for consumer protection (as most countries do I imagine) called the CSA or Canada Safety Council.  They certify (among other things) electronic doodads to be free from potential fires, explosions and so on.  I have often wondered if these cheapo gizmos straight from China have any greater potential to burst info flames as they are not beholden to any safety agency- in addition to the potential environmental hazards from the manufacturing.

Who knows what potentially dangerous chemicals may be living in one of these things?

Def