Home Front: My Precious!

Photo yoinked from my Aunts Facebook page of the view she had

I have family in Colorado Springs who were threatened by the recent fires there and being way over this side of the planet, there was bugger all I could physically do to help, except offer some advice based on my experiences in the Black Saturday Fires. They didn't really have a lot of preparation time, and the fires were fairly unusual, where as here we have a "Bushfire Season"  so all I could do was give them some strategy to escape and avoid, and what to pack when they did.  My Aunt and her husband are no fools, neither is my Uncle, and I had no intention of teaching any of them to suck eggs, but this is kind of my schtick.

 
I recommended my Aunt pack 72 hours of clothes, food and supplies for her pets (if she was taking them), water, as well as extra fuel, her important documents, maps and phone chargers. Being what they were, fires are something you can "go back home, after" even if there isn't much left of home. Once everything is burnt, it won't burn a second time, which sets these events apart from floods or other natural disasters, which leave an area wrecked AND dangerous for a while after the event. Once they were clear of the fire-danger, life would have gone on nicely, and society carries on. You can buy nappies, pet food, and more clothes. Hotels are still open, Credit Cards and online banking still works.

 It reminded me though, of the need to know where all my own precious things were, in the event of a "bug-out, your home is about to go away" emergency. I know I have some difficult to re-obtain documentation: my passports (yes, 2), my weapons collectors permits, divorce papers, financial settlement papers, birth certificates for myself and my daughters. Fortunately, these are in a file that can pretty easily be grabbed and stuffed. It then occurred to me, as it did when preparing to evacuate from the Black Saturday Fires (and to some extent, from my home in Dubai in the lead up to Desert Storm) "What precious things would I hate to loose if all of this was destroyed?". This was not a "society ending" or "head for the hills" evacuation and survival decision, more a "this house may be gone tomorrow, take what you love" one. The list was something like this: my family heirloom American Civil War sword from Gettysburg, our external HDD farm, which holds a lot of our combined music and many of my photos, and my crocheted Godzilla, who's been with me since I was a toddler. Everything else could burn, and be replaced, or is already part of my EDC and/or bug-out loadout.

What about you?

Review: Platatac/Gerber branded cap

Ok, here's a quick one, to keep you interested, and keep me in practice.

This is a promotional item that came with a deal when I purchased my Gerber Strap Cutter and I must say, it's pretty cool. Ok, so it's just a cap, there isn't all that much to it. Yet, there are a couple of things still to say. As well as being well made and solidly put together, with a nice fit on my hairy head, and a good bill-geometry, the front of the cap features a hook-and-look loop field which has Gerber branded embroidery directly sewn through it into the body of the cap. Great for morale patches, or in fact, attaching laser-tag sensors for when I go Stargate lasertag LRPing. Along the sides of the cap, in subdued colours are the Playtpus Outdoors  and Platatac logos and an Australian (and/or New Zealand) flag on the back. All beautifully embroidered. The cap itself is a darker green than their usual khaki, but still a nice shade, I thought.

So, why does a hat matter? Several reasons spring to mind. Head covers reduce your exposure, to the elements, be they sun, snow or rain, and also to unfriendly eyes. Shiny foreheads, bright flowing locks, distinctive faces and the like can give your away at times where not being seen is an advantage, get in the way or just let the sun rain or dust get in your face when you need to be "eyes-on".

I always pack a hat, it's a little thought of element of your EDC, serves a variety of functions and rarely draws unwanted attention.

Review: Platatac - Harry 1.2 Softshell Jacket

Winter rolled around with alarming speed this year, I felt and I am remarkably displeased with this situation. Winters in Melbourne are typically blustery, damp and cool. It rarely drops below freezing, but we do have some frosty mornings and bitter nights for sure. The time came around when just layering jumpers simply didn't cut it, to either shrug off the rain or cut the wind. I've enjoyed wearing my Microfleece Half-Zip coupled with either my kendo club vest, or any one of my salvaged jumpers but the combined wind and wet have left me unhappy. So, when the opportunity arose to upgrade my winter-time wear, I jumped at it. What I'm sporting here is the Platatac Harry 1.2 Jacket, my new best friend in winter. This is the XXL in BRO Olive, which blends nicely with my other things, and avoids "Melbourne Black" an aesthetic choice.

What can I tell you about this jacket...? Firstly that it is solid. Not heavy, because it's not all that weighty. Not stiff or bulky, because it's neither of those. It is solid. The fabric has a really "present" feel, unlike the feathery polarfleece jumper feel that I am used to.

The outer material is densely woven and has a leather-like heft. I was immediately impressed by this. My usual winter-time option is my Matrix-style floor length leather coat, so I appreciate the solid feel without the weight of all that leather.Secondly, I can tell you this about the construction: It's rugged, and tough. I don't tend to be gentle with my clothes, they get tossed, dragged, stuffed and trodden on. Tactical Baby and Triceratops Girl are always hanging off me, climbing over me and generally using me as a staging / feeding platform. Water resistance I've tested, having trudged around in the rains a few times, and been very happy with how dry I've stayed. The best part has been the wind-stopping. Putting this on, you are instantly cocooned in a double layer of that densely woven nylon and a polarfleece liner. I've had snow-jackets that haven't been as toasty. Speaking of which, it is also flash/flame resistant. Good for Flamin' Moe's, campfire mishaps and for those putting their very only body in harms way. It's also feature packed.

There are three distinct sets of pockets, each recessed under a fold of the outer layer: The first pockets are the regular "jacket-hand warmers" and are exactly what you'd expect. Zippered, deep enough to shove your hands in, wide enough to accommodate the cuff of the jacket (avoiding that "ride-up" effect) as well as having space to stow every-day items like keys, gloves or whatever. A bonus feature is that they are fully backed. No thin nylon mesh leaving a wind-penetrating hole into your cocoon of warmth!

The second set of pockets are a pair of nicely tailored bicep-pockets. Not only are these angled for ease of use by the wearer, but also angled so you don't need to keep stuffing items back in if you happen to leave them unzipped. The cavity is roughly the size of a CD, and is cut such that the lines of the pocket are obscured and blend into the lines of the jacket. A loop field at the upper edge of these pockets adds to that, whilst giving a couple of spots for adding your favorite, or needful patches. Here's one of my TAD Spartan mountaineering patches

Each arm-pit features a double sized zippered vent, which I must say, is an AWESOME addition. Being able to open up a little and vent, whilst still keeping your front zippered up is a great boon, allowing you to regulate temperature whilst keeping your core dry. It also means I get access to the contents of my holster harness whilst keeping my front zippered up. I don't know if this would be of any use to the "concealed-carry" types out there, but it means I can grab my Myki train-card without having to get a chest-full of drizzle.

You can see here that the sleeve/torso junction is well gusseted leaving plenty of mobility, without either bunching up when arms arm lowered, and not making the waistline ride up when giving a "French Salute". Having your arms free to climb ladders, scale fences, lay prone and outstretched all whilst not exposing your belly and kidneys to the elements, or exposing my under-layers to the elements is very desirable. The bottom hem of the jacket features two adjustable drawstrings to further tuck in your parts. The wrist cuffs are hook-and-loop cinch-able, to close off the elements as well.

  The detachable hood also bears some detailed discussion. The hood attaches to the body of the jacket with a solid zipper, feeding into a recessed flap on the collar. It also features two hook-and-loop tabs at each collar-corner, which sandwich into corresponding pockets on the collar, giving a more secure, and broader wind and rain-stop. The back of the hood features two separate drawstrings, one for the brow-line, the other pulls the lip of the hood back from the face. This gives a remarkable amount of customization to the fit and wear of the hood. A third more conventional drawstring at the front of the hood controls the face aperture. It also controls the built in bill, which I loved, as a glasses-wearer, I hate getting rain splatter on my specs.

Where are those third sets of pockets you ask? I didn't forget. They're hidden, concealed in the hemline of the main zipper at pectoral level. This is a great place for my iPhone, I've found, but could just as easily hold ID, passport, a billfold or a a nasty surprise item like my SAR comb,these pockets accommodate a CD case easily, to give you an idea of the dimensions and are cut such that the contents don't bulge or "hang", divulging the position of your hidden goodies. As with the bicep and hand pockets, the pocket lining is fully covered by the polarfleece internal layer of the jacket.

The main zipper line is double ended, and features a chin to hemline tongue to block wind and wet incursion, giving you plenty of ability to rug up, the double ended zipper gives you access to your beltline or regulate temperature. I have had a few issues with lining up the two zippers, but I seem to always have that when it comes to double-ended zippers, but that is really my only point of contention with this jacket as a whole. There aren't any internal pockets, but given how I layer my tops and pockets, this isn't an issue for me. I always have my Holster-Harness on, which is all the internal pockets I'll ever need. This jacket really makes winter go away. Now to do something about my legs!

Review: Lazy Patch Duvet Suit

Winter is Coming. I am really not fond of the cold. I have lived in Denver in the US, Surrey in the UK and Calgary in Canada, so I am no stranger to "proper" winters, with snow, sleet, black ice and exploding water pipe misery. That's one of the reasons I am so pleased to be living in Melbourne, all in all, we have very mild winters here. The temperature rarely drops below freezing. The weather is however, very changable and the butt of many jokes....

Either way, I dont enjoy being cold. I'm usually happy to put layers on, with a t-shirt, a vest, a polar fleese jumper like the ones I have reviewed, and the like, but there are times where I just want to rug up, sit at my computer and watch hilarious people hurt themselves whilst family records it for YouTube. Thats where the Lazy Patch Duvet Suit comes in perfectly. They also get called Doona Suits, but thats a cultural thing I think :)

I  got mine a few years ago, a gift after spotting them online, these are in fact made by a Melbourne based comapny, which pleased me to no end. What they are is a set of pants and jacket, made of fluffy doona material, with a cotton inner and outer laer, stuffed with 100% polyester. The great thing is that they are made as an "all over" outfit, being extra long in both wrist and ankle length, which is especially good for a long limbed critter such as myself, regular pajamas usually leave me with bare chilly skin.The Lazy Patch suit jacket also is cut long to ensure you have good coverage and no sneaky drafts stealing away your precious body heat. The jacket features a large pectoral pocket, and two good-sized hand pockets as well as a very high collar, giving you doona all the way up to the cheeks for that all-over body warm feeling.

The zipper on the jacket is double ended, so you can regulate your airflow, for when things start to warm up. The pants have a drawstring closure, which normally would perturb me as I don't have much in the way of hips, but tying them up , combined with the squishy nature of the doona-pants, have never given me pause to worry about loosing them. They also feature a set of pockets, which is great. Lazy Patch have recently started shipping their suits with a clip on hood to reduce the loss of heat from the head (but please note the old "75% of your heat loss is through your head" myth was busted). My suit pre-dates this however, so I can only guess at their awesomeness. They also make booties of the same material to complete the all-over body cocoon of warmth. Now, obviously, my suit is in Woodland Cam, but they offer a variety of other colours, mens/womens/kids cuts and the like. These aren't weatherproof, being cotton based but for those times when you are going to be cold but dry, they are really exceptional for keeping you warm, not weighed down with layers and layers. Purpose built to keep you snug, indoors. That said, I've taken these camping frequently, great for those nights around the campfire and the early morning dashes to the calls of nature.

They have a new product, an all encompassing suit they call the Pouch Suit. This looks a bit more rugged,
outdoors capable. I'd love to give one a try. However, till then, I will be spending more evenings in my Duvet Suit, trying to remember not to wander to the shops in it, more for the cammo than anything else.

So, come the storms, snow-drifts, blackouts, I'll be ready. And warm.

Review: Platatac Microfleece Half Zip Jacket

Winter is coming! which is the kind of natural disaster I am always fond of being ready for. I've lived in both the Middle East and West Africa, and much preferred that to my time in Calgary or England, especially the winters. I am not ford of being cold, so any opportunity to rug up is a good one.I happened to be trolling the Specials on the Platatac webpage
when I saw that there were microfleece jackets on sale. I'm a big fan of this kind of material, not only because it is light, and soft, but also quick drying and warm.

I also have fairly mutant-long arms, so generally end up with cold wrists and hands as they poke out the end of shirts and jackets that would otherwise fit my body. this means that it's rare for me to find something that fits me all over. I took a risk with the Microfleece Half Zip Jacket and have been really pleased with the results.

Made from 100 weight Highland fleece, the jacket is rather surprisingly thin to feel, but are really warm and cut the wind. The collar is high and I generally wear it up  to protect from wind chill but it can also be rolled down like a skivvy to trap heat escaping from the neckline. Each bicep has a big patch of hook-and-loop for attaching  patches, here I am sporting two from Triple Aught Design.


The extra long body of the jacket (admittedly this was the XXL) means that I am shielded from the deathly fingers of chill on my kidneys as I am adventuring. An especially awesome feature are the thumb-loops that sit unobtrusively just inside the wrist seam, and allow the wearer to hook their thumbs through to ensure the sleeves don't ride up, and keeping the hands and wrists snug and warm. I was so pleased that these fit my otherwise mutant-long 196cm arm-span. Great for cold mornings trudging, keeping your wrists warm at full-draw with your re-curve bow or going full mall-ninja tactical on someone. It keeps my paws warm. I like it. I bought a second one, in the "full-zip" in black, because, well, Winter IS Coming.


It pleases my Scandi heritage to no end that this top has evolved from the famous Norwegian army shirt or ‘Norge’. That's two kinds of win, to my mind.

Review: Under Armor shirts

I came away from Tough Mudder, with a congratulatory head-band, and a celebratory t-shirt, from their sponsors, Under Armor . As I staggered around after completing it, trying to find my team, I wandered past the merchandise tent and had a look at what they had going, and saw another design that caught my interest. As it turns out it was another Under Armor shirt as well, so I came away from the event with two. Since then I've worn both, a couple of times and have been very impressed, so thought I might share my findings with you all. First of all, I should mention the fit. The general philosophy beneath Under Armor seems to be that they make close fitting garments in order to keep maximum contact between the wearers skin and the garment. This makes sense when you consider the material used is pitched as having their "Signature Moisture Transport System" which wicks sweat away from the body, keeping you cooler and drier. I did a little searching to find out what material they actually use in the shirts.

The best guess  I could find was "63% Nylon, 23% Polyester, 14% Elastane" blend, which would account for the "ultra-durable 4-way stretch woven fabric" that is reported by the manufacturer. Both the stretch and wicking are dead on the money, and whilst I happen to choose a looser fit, mostly to give me torso a bit more "body", I have really appreciated the "give" that the elastic fabric has. It is very comfortable to wear, and certainly gives the impression of being hard wearing and functional. One of my two shirts is in their "Loose" fit, the other "Regular" rather than either "Fitted" or "Compression"but both shirts are from the "HeatGear" range, which are stated as suited to temperatures between 75-100oF (which is 23-38oC). As well as being wicking, the shirts are light, and breathable, which no doubt is part of the design of this range, but is also reported to be 30+ UPF (blocking 96.0 - 97.4 of UV light), impressive for such a light, and light-permeable fabric. Being both an anti-pick and anti-pill material, I expect these to be very hard wearing shirts.

UA's website purports "anti-odor technology" which prevents the growth of odor causing microbes, keeping your gear fresher for longer. I havent yet worn one of these shirts for long enough for that to have been something I can test, yet, but I think that I'll be wearing them a lot in future adventurous endeavors, both as a base-layer, a solo-layer and I also intend to wear them as named, under armour! My regular readers can expect to see me doing my best "Operator" impersonation in upcoming costume events, and I've worn these out clubbing, where I don't mind showing off perching, striding about or dancing my tail off. They certainly saw me clear camping over Easter; cooking, chopping and tenting...

One caveat to this is a message that UA themselves put out there: "WARNING! This product will melt when exposed to extreme heat or open flames, posing a risk of serious injury where melted product comes into contact with skin!"

So, not to wear fire-twirling, volcano spelunking or dragon slaying; CHECK.

Review: Jackeroo hooded vest

Melbourne's inclement and changeable weather leads to some interesting clothing requirements. Just as in Crowded House's "Four Seasons in One Day", we can have a weekend topping 37oC and dry, then 25oC and tropically steaming and wet to 19oC drizzly and dank by Tuesday. Seasoned Melbournites can usually take this in their strides, and plan appropriately, (even if our tram and train networks seemingly can not), however having some multi-seasonal pieces of clothing goes a long way towards not being caught too badly off guard. My take on this is to wear layers, and take-off, or do-up as required. I usually keep a pair of fingerless gloves of some kind stuffed in the pockets of most of my coats and outer-wear vests, and a bandana, shemagh or Headsox scarf to round out my options. However, here is a piece of clothing that fills several niches at once. This is the Jackeroo hooded vest, which is a KMART line, apparently. I'm a big fan of vests, mostly because I wear my holster harness all the time, and a vest is a good way to cover up its lines. This adventure-wear vest is no exception. With long lines, it comes down past my belt line, even in size M, and zippers shut to give me a nice snug fir to keep the wind and weather out. There are two chest pockets, closed with hook-and-loop, one of which featuring a second, zipperable pocket and lanyard loop. The outer is a tightly woven nylon and the inner is a breathable and wicking polyester mesh.

Below this are two bulkier triple pockets; one side opening pocket for hands,and two buttoned-down gear pockets on each side give ample storage capacity. The bottom of the left pocket has another lanyard loop. The waist has a well fitted and mounted shock-cord drawstring, adjustable on both sides. The hood buttons to the body with press-studs and features the same wicking mesh as the body. A great feature of this hood is the incorporated bill, which extends past the drawstring, a great addition for glasses-wearers like myself.
 The collar of the vest also has some good features worth mentioning.

As well as having a press-stud closure, the high collar is tailored to stay up without being too constrictive, which is a welcome relief to those of us who don't like water trickling down into our drier layers.Not only is the vest quick drying (but not waterproof, mealy resistant)and very light, it also packs down int a very small bundle, for when you want to either pack something just-in-case, or the weather changes and it's too much to wear. I usually just open mine up, as the light material just whisps around me day-to-day. I have only seen these in khaki, which is great, as it's my colour, but the other products in this line also come in light-safari-green.

I'm very happy with this as an inclement weather vest, camping and adventuring-wear, and urban preparedness ready piece of clothing. It fits my aesthetic nicely, and is hard wearing, light and suitable for multiple conditions.