Review: BioFuture wipes

My friends at EcoFuture have taken the bold leap  to launch a Kickstarter campaign for one of their new products and its something I thought I should share. EcoFuture have always looked for ecologically friendly solutions for cleaning, health and hygiene.  From body and foot sprays to water purification and household cleaners. Before you scoff at the domesticty of this remind yourself how little fun a bout of gastro or swamp-ass is on the trail. Even the most salty operators need to poop now and then. If you're on the trail ans have to drop one off, the last thing you want is to be hiking on without a good wipe. Having comfortable wipes can be a real morale booster, but you also don't want to be leaving wads of long-life paper or fabric wipes (even in shallow latrines). This is where something like the BioFuture Baby All Natural wipes comes into its own.

These wipes are made from a  truly flushable and biodegradable material, made from all natural, sustainably sourced plant based fiber - (and are certified as such by the Forest Stewardship Council  ) The wipes are suitable for domestic use, aircraft in-cabin use, and safe for municpal sewer systems. They will not harm wildlife.


HRIPT skin patch testing was performed and the wipes can make the hypoallergenic claim, safe for baby bums and crusty mountain men ( who may or may not also be crusty). Get clean without giving away your position with heavy floral scents.

Being fully biodegradable makes them a logical choice for those on local septic systems or composting toilets. Part of why the folks at EcoFuture are thrilled to offer parents an alternative to wipes made with harmful ingredients and preservatives is that as well as the fabric of the wipes themselves, the patented formula is nutraceutical (food) grade.) , will not harm our waterways or wildlife. Given a lack of harsh preservatives you might question their longevity, but following extensive laboratory testing and the product has shelf life of two years. Lightly scented and fresh feeling on the skin, and in combination with the soft and resilient fabric I've manged to give myself a dry-bath all over. Having nice clean toes can be such  a relief after a couple of days hiking and camping (Change your socks!) and really helped me battle camp-funk.

The wipes themselves measure 21cm x 14cm and are interleaved in the plastic packet for easy withdrawal one after another. There are 40 wipes per packet.  The packet itself had both a hard sealing flap and a soft closing flap to seal in the moisture of the cleansing and preservation solution. I compared these wipes to a standard brand, which had a slightly different size (32cm x 17cm) but I found this made very little appreciable difference when using them.  I found slightly smaller BioFuture wipes withdrew from  the packet easier, with less chance of  a double-up on wipe withdrawal, leading to less waste. I also found that the BioFuture wipes were more resilient and less prone to tear or fray, which means more wiping and scrubbing per sheet (and less likely to tear through and poop your wiping hand) something any nappy-changing parent or stubble faced-lout will appreciate.

Additionally Eco Future are working towards making a completely zero waste product. At present there is no alternative for the outer packaging that will keep the contents moist and withstand heated ovens for stability testing. They do want this to happen and are working towards creating this packaging technology!

I'm very  excited to let you know that their Kickstarter campaign is now live.

Review: EcoFuture - ChillShot

I had a funny delivery in the mail recently, and thought I might share it with you all. 

This is a stress relief supplement that was sent to me by the good folks at OurEcoFuture, who you may recall also produce the Aqua Prove water treatment, an organic hand sanitizer spray and a BioDefence foot protection treatment.

This is the Chill Shot, which is purported to promote a feeling of tranquility, reduced stress, less anxiety and inspires a greater sense of self confidence and lessening social inhibitions". That's quite a sell, in any-ones book. I gave it a shot.

With an ingredient list that reads much like a multivitamin tablet, mixed with the key "secret ingredient" Zembrin®, a Sceletium Tortuosum extract, with the more mundane but standard vitamins A, D, B6, B12, C, E, Biotin, iodine, zinc, Phosphatidylserine (a memory/cognition booster) , calcium, folate, Pantothenic Acid (another vitamin, B5) and copper, its a content rich supplement in a 60mL package.
  
I've been a test subject for a nutritional biochemist before, so am no stranger to the taste these kinds of things can have, but for the unprepared, this might have been a shock. Think about chewing multivitamin tablets, and ashing it down with grapefruit juice. You know its working, but isn't necessarily what you'd want to base a cocktail on. 

At slightly higher volume of consumption, the effects are reported to  become more pronounced and produce feelings of euphoria, increased tactile sensitivity, as well as amplified libidinal desires, not to use if pregnant, nursing or operating machinery. and that hit is not intended for use by persons under the age of 12.


I found it to be a very gentle buzz, not unlike the Musashi energy drinks I used to have, quite different from the Red Bull/V type go-juice drinks. Think of it as a multivitamin shot, with a rounded calming effect, and you'd have the right idea. 

High stress survival situation, on limited nutritional value rations? This might be the ticket to help keep your head (and brains) when you don't have time to look after yourself or get enough rack-time. 

Events: EcoXpo - Free Tickets Anyone?

 Follow up to my EcoXpo event (Friday-Sat-Sun, this week19-21-April-2013), in Melbourne..........
*****************************


Dear Josh,

Thank you for registering your details for a trade pass.

As a thank you for your support, we are offering you free tickets to offer to all of your customers, clients, friends and family.

Promote this offer in your newsletter, facebook and social media. Please use the following link

https://yi120.infusionsoft.com/app/form/trade-visitors-clients-offer

The free ticket is for Friday 19 April only and valid from
10am - 9pm at the Melbourne Showgrounds, entry via Gate 5.

Thank you and we look forward to your visit.

 ***********************************************

Upcoming Events: Convertions/Expos

What with the Camping and Caravan expo a little while back, I've been givning more though to what other conventions and expos I can get to.

Here are a couple of events I'm intending on going to which are coming up....

SHOT Show Melbourne May 25-26
 
Australian Warrior Expo, November, Brisbane

and here is one that is on next weekend, the EcoXpo at the Melbourne Showgrounds

A bit of a divergence, I hear you think?

Not really. To be properly equipped, one needs an awareness of the troubles one might encounter, and a variety of methods to counter, combat and overcome those troubles. That doesn't always mean Khaki and MOLLE ... sometimes it's Solar and Suppliments.

I will be attending along with one of my associates from OurEcoFuture, Tim Pietschmann who is doing a keynote presentation. Perhaps you'll be there too ...

Any other Conventions or Expo's you think I should attend?
I didn't get to go to last years Land Warfare Conference maybe next time ...

I've always wanted to get to the US SHOT Show, but that's a long way off, financially ...

Review: EcoFuture - Aqua Prove

So, full disclosure, following on from my review of EcoFuture's Organic hand-cleanser and Biodefence Athletic Foot spray they asked me to work as a consultant for them, and advise them on their documentation and product specifications. I was delighted to be on-board, and looking forwards to working more with them on upcoming projects. I'm not, however, being paid to blog, or review their products, but when cool new things come my way that I think have something to bring to the field of being Apocalypse Equipped, I'll bring it.
Microbial water contamination is a big deal, and anyone who has traveled in the developing world can tell you, it can be very un-fun. When sophisticated modern water treatment is out of your reach, having a reliable alternative treatment method is key.

This kit offers one method, utilising Chlorine dioxide as a bactericide, anti-viral and protozoal cyst killing agent, which works by oxidising and disrupting the cell membrane, cell wall and proteins of these microorganisms, whilst being safe to humans, and leaving no environmentally harmful residues.

It produces 0.2% aqueous ClO2 in a pouch/pocket sized bottle, from a single capsule into the dropper bottle. Once dissolved, 4 - 8 drops to 1L (32Oz) of water, left standing for 5 minutes, should be sufficient to treat most water safely.

It is packaged in a sufficient quantity to purify 250L (66gal) of water, and in a bottle small enough to include in ones on-flight baggage. This is a really great idea, and from my testing, adds no noticeable taste to the water in my Nalgene, my SIGG or my hydration bladders, unlike iodine tablets.

I've splashed some drops around in my bottles empty, when I've thought they might be a bit "on-the-nose" or slimey inside, and they have come back really well, no stains or marks, and better still, no more stink.

When I head away from regular treated water, either adventuring, traveling, or off-grid, I'll be glad of this, to keep me regular, in a good way.

Review: EcoFuture - BioDefence Athletic Foot Shield

So a while back I showed you the alcohol free HandSan spray that I was sent samples of, and from the same folks at EcoFuture, here is an equally useful product, which may touch the heartstrings of some of you. This is the BioDefence Athletic Foot Shield, which is a food-grade organic-compound based, alcohol-free prophylactic spray for feet. As someone who wears boots all day, pretty much every day (I don't actually have any shoes that aren't boots anymore, apart from my sandals) I occasionally suffer from athletes foot which is itchy, annoying and unsightly. In its extreme stages it is debilitating.

This is NOT something you want in a survival situation, especially if you have been spending a lot of time in your boots, trudging through mud and wading through dirty water. My last big bout was following the Tough Mudder, and this product really sped up my recovery, I feel. The active ingredients are a mixture of organically derived materials including: flavonoids such as the Vitamins A, B3, C, D, D3, and K2 and Ubiquinol . More details can be found on their product data sheet including bactericidal and fungicidal testing  performed.

They key thing however, is that it a topical spray, applied before booting-up, that acts to give your beleaguered skin a fighting chance.

Review: EcoFuture - Organic Hand Cleanser

I've been in touch with a firm that produces a range of cleaning products, to both industrial and household, as well as food-grade standards, EcoFuture. I originally contacted them after hearing about a call for testers of products, as a part of my day-job. Hopefully I'll cover some of their other products at some stage, but here is one that I've had in my bag for a little while, and wanted to discuss, their Alcohol Free Organic Hand Cleanser

Being a molecular microbiologist by training, and a hospital microbiologist for a number of years for a living, before moving away from the messy and stinky labs, I have some pretty strong beliefs on cleaning and hygiene. I've been a very big supporter of the 70% ethanol and/or chlorohexadine to do my bug-blasting, (although regular old scrubbing with soap is tried and true). However, with the coming of first Triceratops Girl, then a year ago, Tactical Baby,  I realised that I could possibly go for something gentler on their delicate flesh than lab-standard skin and surface cleaners.

This is where EcoFuture's world-first, certified organic, alcohol free, vitamin based, hand cleanser comes in. Medically researched and laboratory proven* to be bactericidal (>99.999 reduction of organisms in between 15 seconds and 9 minutes) to a range of common pathogens, (such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria
monocytogenes, Enterocuccus faecium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptocuccus pyogenes and  Staphylococcus aureus) at a 0.5% concentration. The interesting thing about this is that it is assertion that the active ingredients are organically derived (I make the distinction between "organically farmed products" and "naturally produced organic compounds" in this if not all cases. The product notes indicate citrus-derived complex bioflavonoids, Vitamin K-12, Ubiquinol and it appears the principle antibacterial would be rosmarinic acid.

So, how well does it work? Well, I have been spraying my hands, and Tactical Baby's bum with it during nappy changes. She looks startled by the pump-spray, but does not mind the feeling, has suffered no rashes, soreness or discomfort from the spray, and we seem to have avoided any of the bacterial gastro woes that new-parents often fall victim to. Being alcohol free, it is gentle on the skin, a bonus for sore-baby-bums, hands, faces and the like. It's also not a fire-risk, for those of us that occasionally have a tendency to spray things  around open flames.

 The product is currently available in a 60ml pump spray (150 applications), which I have previously stashed in our Crumpler Hillman Hunter nappie bag, my Bullock Echo daypack or just left on Tactical Baby's staging area (read: nappy change table). Thus far, all looks good, and handy to have for the aftermath of those "aghhhh, no! baby-fistfull of poopy nappie!" moments, or other delicate unclean times you may encounter, where "stiff wire brush and Detol" isn't an option...


*they sent me both an MSDS and an analytical testing lab's reports