Chad's Crappy Corner and his final "survival gadgets" of the month.

Chad’s Theme for Feb is  “survival gadgets” and this week he and producer Jeff Needles find two important ones.

A Time Magazine Invention of the Year winner, LifeStrawcontains no chemicals, no batteries and no moving parts to wear out. It features a high flow rate and weighs only 2oz. It is perfect for the ultra light backpacker, camper, hiker, traveler, boy scout, hunter or for emergencies. Unlike many similar filters on the market today, LifeStraw has met EPA standards for water filtration in independent testing. LifeStraw has been used around the world under extreme conditions for humanitarian relief. Does not filter chemicals, salt, viruses, heavy metals, taste. Please NOTE: It takes roughly 3-5 seconds of sucking to start the flow of water through the filter. 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006QF3TW4/?tag=059b-20 As an Amazon Associate Giz Wiz Biz earns from qualifying Amazon purchases.

And Chad’s take?  As a joke I said our producer Jeff Needles had gone down to the dirty river in Petaluma and filled a bottle with water for Chad to test the LifeStraw on. Turns out Jeff really had done that!! You'll see Jeff doing it in the video version of this show. And you will also see Chad drinking a bit of that yucky water as people in the studio and in the chatroom say: "Don't do it!". Chad survived on air, but no one knows if he's going to be totally fine in a few hours. However, as Chad said, if you were stuck with no water at all, you actually would take a chance and drink from a dirty river or other doubtful source if you had a LifeStraw. 

WARNING! Drinking the kind of water found in contaminated waters like the Petaluma River is definitely not recommended! TWiT insisted Chad get tests to make sure he didn't intake anything he shouldn't have in his body!

S.O.S. Rations Emergency 3600 Calorie Food Bar - 3 Day / 72 Hour Package with 5 Year Shelf Life. Perfect for anyone in the process of building a disaster / emergency kit. The SOS Emergency Food Rations are US Coast Guard approved and has a shelf life of 5 years from the date of manufacture. Content: Each package contains 9 delicious bars providing 410 calories per bar totaling over 3600 calories per package. Non-thirst provoking formula offers maximum survival capacity with drinking water restriction under all environmental conditions. Directions: Eat three food bars per person per day. Use for famine relief and in emergency situations caused by earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, civil unrest and other natural disasters. $9.25 & Amazon Prime as of 2/26/15

http://www.amazon.com/S-O-S-Rations-Emergency-Calorie-Food/dp/B004MF41LI/ref=pd_sim_sg_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=15V6EXFS7CBMH1136XEH  As an Amazon Associate Giz Wiz Biz earns from qualifying Amazon purchases.

And Chad's take? Although Chad said the outside of the packages were oily, the bars themselves were pretty good. He said eating them was like eating a cookie. Others from the TWiT Brickhouse tried them too and no one objected to the taste. (No one else however volunteered to try the LifeStraw.) I'm going to buy both of these items to keep on my boat for emergencies.)

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1507