xREEL™

The xREEL is built on the idea that the ability to catch food should not require a rod, a reel, or a tackle box. It is a hand-line fishing kit that fits in a pocket and carries the bare necessities for catching small fish anywhere there is water, which makes it as much a survival item as a recreational one.

The body is a compact spool with an o-ring-sealed compartment large enough for the included tackle plus a few of your own favorite lures and jigs. That compartment is genuinely waterproof, so it doubles as dry storage or a tinder capsule. Wound around the outside is over 50 feet of 15-lb test monofilament, which is enough line for most backcountry fish in most water. A flexible TPE finger strap gives you a secure grip and real control of the line even when your hands are cold or wet, and a ring of hook-parking holes lets you stow the hook safely between casts so it is not loose in your kit.

It ships ready to fish: 6 hooks, 6 split shot, and 2 floats are in the box. To use it, pay line out by hand, work the bait, and retrieve hand over hand, coiling the slack back onto the spool as you go so it does not tangle. It is a different skill from rod-and-reel fishing and a quick one to learn.

The xREEL floats if you drop it in the water, it is made in the USA, and it is covered by Exotac's lifetime warranty in Black, Gunmetal, Blaze Orange, and Olive Drab. Optional reelKIT tool inserts add fishing, gaff, or hunting tools to the same body. It is Exotac's second best-selling product and the anchor of the brand's survival-tools line. It is machined and finished to the same standard as Exotac's fire tools, which is rare for a survival fishing kit and is the reason it holds its value on the used market.