Review: Optimus Terra Solo cook set

Time for another Giftmas present review. Like I have said before, I was a very lucky critter and have already reviewed my Sea-to-Summit Alpha cutlery set and Light-My-Fire meal-kit so I wanted to get around to the other loot that came my way. This is the Optimus Terra Solo Cook Set. It consists of two main pieces, a 600mL pot with pouring notches and measuring marks (in both mL and oz), and a fry pan that doubles as a lid. Convection. It works and its real! Putting a lid on your cooking is a considerable energy retention method and  I have found that when out adventuring, you don't want to be running out of fuel with half-cooked noodles. The set comes in a drawstring mesh bag, which enables it to be washed and dry out easily but at the same time keeps it tightly contained to reduce clanking and wear on the surfaces.


This set is 2-piece hard anodized aluminum and are fitted with plastic covered steel arms. The frypan has a spring locking type handle, which feels pretty sturdy, and I expect will hold a load over a fire quite well.Being only a small pan, I don't think you could spread out a whole rasher of bacon, but you could always "chop and stir". That said, it is deep enough that you could also use it as a small pot, for cooking up a variety of tasty vittles.

The larger pot has a deeper body, and the addition of a pouring notch on the left hand side is a great addition, and is subtle enough that it doesn't detract from the lines of the pot, or reduce the capacity in any way.  The folding handles are sturdy and the spot riveting seems solid. On the larger pot the handles wrap around the body, canteen mug style and store right out of the way. High speed-low drag, to borrow the term.

One awesome aspect of this setup is that the combined pot and pan are wide and tall enough to contain a standard 100 g/4 oz gas canister and a collapsible stove so that you get two pots, fuel and a fire source in one handy package.

I'm really looking forwards to my next camping trip so I can whip this bad-boy out and cook my self some delicious noms in a jiffy whilst my camp-mates eat pot-noodle. Ahh, the sweet smell of victory through better technology! At 200g, this lightweight piece of cookware could well mean the difference between eating cold raw food or contaminated water, and hot nutritious possum and dandelion stew, with boiled crater water to accompany.

Home Front: Hospitals

Here I am, sitting in Emergency with my partner who has injured herself after a domestic fall. She's ok, just a bit bruised and very sore. I am no stranger to hospitals, as not only have I worked in them for the last 13 years, but have also had my fair share of visits to them. Mostly for myself, but also for Triceratops Girl, and a variety of other loved ones who have pranged, stabbed or plagued themselves. Both Triceratops Girl and Tactical Baby were hospital born, one Au-natural, the other planned Caeser. Hospitals are centers of medical excellence and care. They have the best infrastructure, the best people and the best setup for not only treating the sick, and the broken but also usually have on-site laboratories, morgues and research facilities of one kind or another. However, like any service, they have their limits. Hospitals, and especially hospital Emergengy departments take the brunt of a hospitals everyday traffic from the public. When GP clinics close at the end of business hours, the worth ey might ordinarily take spills over to ED. Which is why I find myself in my third hour of a waiting room. We walked in, as these weren't blood-gushing or screaming injuries, and at a major metropolitan hospital like this one, the ambulances keep coming.

Why am I covering this? What's the importance? Supply and demand. In the event of a major disaster, hospitals have policies in place to mitigate the loads placed on them by this kind of thing. Patients are re-routed to other facilities or discharged early to make room for an influx of casualties. However, if you look to wide-scale disasters, covering multiple catchments it's likely that those regular policies will be overwhelmed.

Considering the expected waiting times on a weeknight at a major metropolitan hospital for a relatively minor injury, which is annoying but harmless, imagine the delays expected in a disaster situation when ED's are continuously swamped with multiple casualties. That is just for relatively "simple" situations like catastrophic weather as seen in the Hurricane Katrina, Cyclone Yasi, Indian Ocean tsunami or the Great Eastern Tsunami.

Couple this with either hospitals being directly affected by the disaster, either being in the brunt of the disaster, being cut off from major services as a result or worse yet, being an epicenter of a biological disaster, where sick people are clustered and congregate, potentially compounding infections and exposing those skilled workers and carers to the same debilitating condition. (The picture to the side is a Geiger Counter, as seen wall-mounted in the entrance ways of most major metropolitan hospitals I've been to in Melbourne)

Four hours in and we've had an x-ray, a brace fitted but are still awaiting a Dr's final assessment. We've seen bleeding and aggressive drunks spraying blood and obscenity. I sit here, in an otherwise calm, well lit, orderly hospital, very glad that we have such a well run system.

If it all goes to crap, and it's all Code Brown, this may not be as readily available so, be prepared to look after yourself, and yours when the time comes. Common sense, some knowledge and training can make all the difference in a crisis. Something we should all aim to achieve.

Review: Platatac 60 Round mk1 pouch

Here's another pouch from Platatac, as I start to round off my collection of accessories from these guys, and this one is again from the bundled pouch deal they did a while back. I had a look back on their site, and I think this must be the Mk1 rather than their newer Mk2 60 Round pouch, as it differs slightly to what is currently on display as the 60 Round pouch. Just a FYI. This is a bang-up and sturdy pouch. without the bells and whistles of some of their other pouches, for those who just need something to get a basic job done. This pouch differs from the other Platatac pouches I've reviewed previously, like the SR-25 double mag in that the cover-lid is made of a wide band of seat-belt type webbing, rather than their regular Codrura material. This gives it a slick surface, and no edging seams, except at the bottom, where it is hemmed to reduce snagging corners.


The standard twin press-studs and hook-and-loop act as closure methods and a looped tab acts as a draw-assist as common on most of these guys pouches. The side-walls and back of the pouch return to the Cordura 1000D material standard in almost all of their pouches, and this pouch features a wide band of elastic material to both compress out of the way when empty, and also to give a snug fit to whatever you have loaded into the clip. Obviously, I don't have rifle magazines to load into mine, and I've filled this one out with NERF clips to simulate the load you might expect to carry with it. Make fun of me all you like, I don't mind! Consider that my Blue Gun equivalent.

The back of the pouch again features the twin PALS/MOLLE attachment system that is seen in the FUP pouch. This again supplies the rock-steady attachment to your harness or pack without any fiddly extra clips. All-inclusive. modular construction. Brilliant.

The addition of a belt-loop at the top of the pouch, much like found on the other Platatac pouches gives a really good feeling that all this family pouches were constructed with a lot of forethought, and with the intention of offering the user a variety of options. I wear mine right on the belly of my MAC armour carrier sandwiched between a FUP pouch and a SR-25 pouch, as I'm still evaluating how best to set up my rig for the gear I carry. It is usually empty when I am out at Stargate Lasertag LRP and compresses down quite a lot, but I have taken to loading my pouches up with NERF clips and doing "magazine swapping" as my tagger reloads, which has been a fun addition of realism.

All that said, this is a sturdy and simple pouch, I'd stake my safety on its construction and would be interested to get my hands on the Mk2 Pouch to compare the improvements.

Wish Lust: knife - CardSharp 2

I have to give credit to fellow Blogger  Ninja Space Monkey  for reminding me of this really cool piece of kit. What we have here is the credit card sized folding knife by Iain Sinclair.

When folded up, this polypropylene card measures only 2.2mm thick,and weighs only an astounding 13g. Perhaps even more than the size of the thing, is the way it folds, origami-style, from credit-card to holdable blade, and back again, like some sort of ninja-Transformer.

The blade sports a 65mm edge, and is constructed from surgical blade steel, and is both rust-free and long wearing. When folded up, the polypropylene body covers and protects the blade and the user, with a built-in safety catch, keeping the blade fixed in its folded state. When unfolded, the geometry of the folds puts a guard in place and according to the manufacturer, locks the blade in tightly. The blade itself comes in either Teflon Black or Natural Brushed Stainless Steel and the surfaces can be etched and/or printed on.

Ninja Space Monkey has had some grievances with shipping from Iain Sinclair, and the manufacture quality of a couple of their other products, but was very pleased with this particular piece.

I want one! probably to keep in my CSI Folder, rather than my over-stuffed wallet, but might also find a place on my MAC armour carrier in a pouch, but it looks like a great piece.

Review: First Aid Kit

I'm always on the lookout for things I can add to my store of preparedness items, large and small. We have a pretty well stocked and rotated "medicine cabinet", the odd compression bandage, band-aids, disinfectants and the like, and can manage cuts, bumps and abrasions around the house with little drama, but what we certainly lacked was a single, contained go-to First Aid kit. Even with the windfall of a mostly-full, retired ADF Field Medic Kit, I wanted to have some properly put together First-Aid kits and out of the blue, a 78 Piece Emergency First Aid Kit was advertised and I snapped several up.One for home (now hanging up in our main hallway), one for my car, and one "spare". I'm fond of spares.



Each of these hand-bag sized rip-stop and bright red kits is stuffed with a collection of well laid out items in several easy access pockets. There are three main pockets to this kit, folding over into one easy to see at a glance package. In the middle of this kit are 6 rolled 5cm x 4m bandages, a elastisised compression bandage roll, medical tape, alcohol wipe sachets, a set of plastic forceps, scissors and a set of safety pins.

The inner pocket is covered over by a clear flap, which in turn carries sterilised non-woven wound pads, both in 10cm x 10cm and 5cm x 5cm. It also carries a series of non-adherent 5cm x 7.5cm seterilised pads, an eye-pad and a bundle of elastic band-aid type plasters. Sufficient to patch up all manner of domestic injuries, where more intense medical attention is either not required, or can be at least patched long enough to keep someone from leaking all over the place on the way to see a Doctor.

The final pocket contains several items that I consider important both for specific needs and generally. Befind a hook-and-loop flap are a set of sterile latex gloves provides barrier protection against any infectious agents that may be faced whilst tending someones injuries and I think are crucially important when doing so. I usually put a couple more sets of gloves in any first aid kit I have, for this reason alone. Many years in a microbiology lab have made the phrase "Gloves!" part of my unconscious battle-cry when facing body fluids. A burn dressing is likewise a vital part of any kit. Burns are especially susceptible to infection, and require special care to avoid septic shock setting in, which may occur with fibrous bandages. A triangular bandage is also a welcome addition, being useful as a sling, head bandage and for splints. The inclusion of an instant ice-pack is a great idea , especially if in a remote location, even if it is disposable. I may replace this with a catalytic renewable one at some stage. Lastly, the inclusion of a space blanket made me very happy, as they are an awesome first aid and survival tool as I've said before, when reviewing the Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival kit.

When I was on my Junior High Outdoor Education field trip, in 1991 whilst living in Canada, and up in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, my tent-mate hacking into his thumb with an axe whilst holding the log he was looking to chop. Less-than-stellar, right there. However, I had a first aid kit on hand, and quickly patched him up sufficiently that he could be driven the several hours to the nearest hospital to get the stitches he required. Now, its not like he would have lost his thumb or anything, but having a kit on-hand, and having the where-with-all to act made the rest of his treatment a lot easier. Be prepared. Be equipped. Know what you have and how to use it.

Review: Arc'teryx climbing harness

I've been a rock-climber, off and on, for almost 20 years, in the indoor-wall sense, but have been a boulderer and a scrambler for my whole life. If there is a tree I want to be up it. If there is a cliff-face, I want to go down it. If there is a second story patio, well, you can fill in the rest ... Whilst I was at uni, with my first real job giving me a taste of financial independence, I saw a piece of kit that has been with me since then, and has literally been a life-saver. This is my climbing harness, by Arc'teryx.
Like a lot of my gear, it seems that this particular model has been superseded but don't let that daunt you, it doesn't bother me.

Lets have a look at what goes into a climbing harness. There are three main components; a reinforced padded waist-belt, leg loops and a connecting loop. The waist-belt is sometimes called a "swami-belt" and in this case, features a wide padded belt, which is surrounded by a webbing band, stitched heavily, and buckles to one side of the middle. Like a Riggers Belt, it has a wide loop sewn into it, through which the connecting loop is found. A series of plasicised loops around the back and sides act as attachment points for accessories. The leg-loops have retention tapes that attached to the beck of the belt and in this case, another heavy webbing loop is found at the back.

The leg-loops are similar to the waist-belt, in that they are padded and reinforced, and feature a tear-drop shape, rather than a full circle, as in climbing when your body's weight is supported by these three belts, cutting off blood supply, or restricting movement is a real hazard. The leg-loops run up, through the connecting loop and form a continuous belt supporting both your legs. I think I may have outgrown this particular harness, as whilst it still does up securely, the padding no longer quite meets in the middle as it did when I was a gaunt student and I have filled out into my more mature body. I'm still confident in its ability to do what I need it to, but I think if i get back into regular climbing, I'll need to find myself a new harness.

I will however be looking at the new Arc'teryx range to furnish myself with, as this is a belt I have put to the test, and bounced back to tell the tale. At the very least, it will remain in my preparedness kit, along with rope, carabiners and a figure 8 descender, for times when I need to get up there, get down there, or stay right where I am. Few things give me as much sense of security as well made climbing gear when my life is on the line. Literally.

Home Front: Conditioning

There is a lot to be said for having a pile of kit and tactical gear, stored supplies and a kick-ass armour plated deathmobile, but having the physical and mental wherewithal to make it through a disaster is a different proposition. What can be done for this beforehand? Well, let's think about that.

Mental preparedness is more about being aware of the situation you are in, the situations you are likely to be in, and the situations that whilst unlikely, are possible. Once you have these three things present, if not clear, in your mind, it should be possible to do something about how you will weather them physically, as well as mentally.

Let's consider some of these ideas. If we just limit ourselves to weather, so as to avoid some twisty political discussions, we can model some of these situations.

So,
Likely: heavy storms, hail, heat, snow
Infrequent: hurricane, blizzards, forest fires,
Extremely unlikely: tsunami, volcano, earthquake, catastrophic storms or fires

Obviously, this is a pretty simplistic list, and the chances of these things affecting you are different depending where you live. I live in Melbourne Australia and as such am pretty earthquake safe (although we have had Some news making 4.0 tremors a few years ago). Likewise, if it snows here it also makes national news. We did however have massive catastrophic fires a few years back. So, you need to adjust your thinking to cover your surrounds, and places you go to visit, and the means you use to get there. I'm sure the recent running-aground and capsizing of a cruise ship off Italy hasn't escaped anyone's notice.

What do you do to prepare yourself for these occurrences? How do you condition yourself to face them? Well, for the likely events, things that you face seasonally, it can be as simple as packing and dressing appropriately, with "layering" in the fine old tradition of "put another layer on/take a layer off and stop complaining". At the same time, I also pack a poncho in my messenger-bag but one could just as conveniently carry an umbrella such as the one I previously put on my Wish-Lust list. A hat, scarf of bandana tucked away, or some gloves can make all the difference between a pleasant day and a miserable one. I tend to wear pants that I can roll up into shorts, and vest (partly to cover up my holster-harness, but also because they are good for modulating my core-body temperature).

How do you plan for the infrequent events? Being aware, and knowledgeable plays an immense part. We have Bushfire Preparedness system in Victoria (which were sorely tested over Black Saturday, but still an excellent resource). Conditioning your self to expect them, and being able to act appropriately is something that only you can do, but is a key element to your ability to "adapt, innovate and overcome" to any situation you may be faced with. This is the philosophy I take whenever I leave the house, and when I close up for the night. Does that make me a survivalist nut? I don't think so, and frankly, I don't care. The difference between having a couple of bottles of water, sunscreen, a blanket and some lights in the car and not, is the difference between a ruined, painful and miserable outing and an adventure!

The biggest and scariest events, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, catastrophic fires and storms are all things that whilst you can plan for, and prepare for, are also the kinds of events that break plans. So your options are to condition yourself so they don't break YOU. What do I do? I do things that are hard. Maybe not hard for you, but hard for me. I sustained an injury last year which precluded me from my regular kendo training for a number of months, but with physio I'm back at it. I train at least once a week at that. I have gotten back into rollerblading as a part of that physio too,

Both these were much more mental obstacles than physical ones, but it was a matter of regaining the courage to face not only my declined fitness, the prospect of pain and degraded proficiency. Getting through that was a matter of will. Perhaps even more do was signing up for the Tough Mudder endurance obstacle course which is coming up and will be a real challenge, both physically and mentally. I'm doing it with a bunch of folks from work, the Funk-a-Mentals, and we're getting into training in earnest. Here's a log of one of our runs, which whilst perhaps not very impressive, is more continuous running than I've ever done before, being more a scrambler than a runner.

Tan at EveryTrail


What I am doing, is running in the kinds of clothes I wear everyday. Cargo shirts, boots and a t-shirt. One of he guys asked why I was running in boots. I told him that that's what I wore all day every day, and that if it was good enough for the Army (and all the Forces) it was good enough for me too.

So, whether you are ready or an invasion or heading into volcano territory. Being both physically ready to cope, and mentally toughened to face what comes, it's up to you and you alone.