Father's Day Gift - Survival radio with crank for the crank

My darling wife and son got me a survival radio for Father's Day, a Microlink FR160 MultiPurpose Radio from Eton.

It has a flashlight, radio with AM/FM and weather bands, and is rechargeable using its built in solar panel or a by turning a crank. It can even recharge some USB devices like cell phones. I guess they were inspired to get one for me during the recent (June 3rd) blackout in my area.

My twitter posts show some annoyance at not having a single radio in the house with working batteries to just see if anyone else was having the same issue. I did use my cell phone to check on twitter to find that @MattTheHearn in Claymont and @DECurmudgeon who lives nearby were also without power. S@DECurmudgeon said:

@MattTheHearn said:

So now with my new radio with crank and flashlight I would have been better prepared and possibly even able to charge my cell phone if needed.

I would have also been able to follow the progress of the weather front that was moving through the area.

My new survival radio also has seven weather bands. The weather bands for my area of Delaware are, WNG704, broadcast from Hibernia Park in Chester county or KIH28, from Philadelphia.

WNG704 (map below) broadcasts at 162.425 MHz which is WX 2 on the weather radio band.

KIH28 (map below) broadcasts at 162.475 MHz which is WX 4.

These weather channels are broadcast by towers all over the nation with the frequencies varied so there is overlap everywhere, but not interference. I haven't had the chance to test out the weather radio part yet since the order of the day on Sunday was barbecues and visits with friends.

Man vs. Wild not real? Another hero with clay feet.

I am shocked, shocked to hear that the Man vs. Wild show is not as authentic as it is portrayed. The premise of the show is that Bear Grylls, an ex British special forces soldier, is dropped into various wilderness situations from the tropics to the alps, from islands to deserts. He then uses his knife and the various sticks and twigs, if available, around him to survive and get back to civilization.

The show is filmed somehow. One of the most annoying questions I ask when we are watching the show is who is filming the action. Often the shots are Gryllis holding the camera but the far away from him shots are not still like on a tripod, someone is carrying the camera. Apparently the crew goes and stays in motels each night, and perhaps so does Gryllis.

"Bear Grylls had partaken of indoor accommodations on at least two occasions when his series had depicted him spending the night in the wild."

There are also accusations that the rafts and other stuff he builds as part of his survival are built by the crew for him.

"But among the charges made against Grylls is that a raft he is depicted as having built himself actually was constructed and then disassembled by consultants to the show in order for the host to put it together. In another episode, Grylls happens upon what are referred to as wild horses that were said to be brought in from a trekking station."

Now I wasn't copying down all the tips during the show in case I was ever in a "survival" situation, maybe I was, but now that information is suspect. I am so crushed.