Review: Petzl Shunt

Following on from my post yesterday on the Ascension rope ascending device which I use to go up ropes whilst strapped into my climbing harness or for hauling things as part of a pulley system along with the gear in my in-car bug-out-bag I thought I would tell you a little bit about another piece of cool climbing tech that I acquired to give me some safety and utility whist getting into tall places, out of deep holes and spanning chasms. So, here we go: this is the Petzl Shunt rope clamp. Another piece of excellent engineering from these people, it's frame is made from machined aluminium, and the internal smooth, sprung cam is likewise aluminium.This means the whole piece only comes in at 188g, for those conscious of how much gear they are hauling. The Shunt is designed to be either a one or two rope device, but Petzl make no bones about the safety precautions around this. it will take a 10-11mm single rope, or 8-11mm double rope.The ropes must be the same diameter, and either be a loop of the same rope, or a single strand. Hooking onto two different ropes is highly discouraged in their safety guide. They also recommend that a figure-8 ring is applied above the Shunt by  double carabiner-ended quickdraw webbing, giving you a two-stage system.

 So, here's how it works. Rope is fed into the device by pulling the sprung "tongue" out of the body, and into its almininium shell such that the tongue will be facing "in" towards the wearer. The "tongue" can then be released and will snap closed. A carabiner is then fitted through the large hole, and attached directly to your harness in most instances. When a load is applied to the carabiner, the rounded cams bite down onto the rope, pinching it and providing a hands-free stoppage on the rope. I use 11mm static rope, as I generally use it as a fixed line and not as a free-climbing top-roping safety line type deal. Petzl tell us that the Shunt will hold a static load of 3Kn (which apparently equates to 305kg(force)) on a single rope and 7.5kn (760kg(force)) on a double strand of 11mm rope before slipping.

In dynamic situations, it fares worse, with a 60-70cm slippage at 3-3.5kN on a single 11mm rope and a potentially unstopped slip at 1-8kN under testing conditions of a 2m, Fall Factor 1 drop for a me-sized 80kg accroding to Petzl. Sobering, but remember, this is a locking ascension device, rather than a dedicated fall-arrester, it is designed to slide up a rope, then hold you before the next slide up. That said, in the event of a slip and drop, it will take the weight , pulling the cam tight against the rope and doing its job to the best of its ability, as long as you just LET GO and let it, Likewise, it will NOT work if the "tongue" is impeded by your body, a wall, or anything else, it must be free to pull down to work. This has a cool feature in reverse, though, in that it will allow you to descend in a controlled fashion by squeezing the body of the Shunt towards you, releasing some of the tension of your load on the "tongue" and the rope will slip through. Letting go again will halt your descent. Again, combined with a figure-8 this allows secure, controlled movement on a rope. I also use mine in combination with my Ascension rope ascending device. (Shh, don't tell Petzl)

There is a small hole in the back of the "tongue" that I have attached a dummy-cord through, because, let me tell you, the springs in this are snappy, and I have had the misfortune of it "sproinging" out of my hands as I was getting ready to fit it to a rope. Fortunately for me this happened whilst I was testing the unit and familiarising myself with its use, rather than dangling from the sky somewhere. Better for me, better for whoever might be below me. Again, this is a really useful piece of kit, not without limitations, as the manufacturer very diligently points out in their manuals (PSA: read them, pay attention and familiarise yourself with all climbing kit before putting yourself or those around you at risk). I've had a lot of fun with this, without yet dropping out of a high-hide like Ian Malcolm.

Review: Petzl Ascension

I thought I would return to some of my adventurous kit, rather than the more military style gear for a little while. I've always been a scrambler, and a climber. Getting into high places and up tall things has been lifelong past-time. When I started to get into wall-climbing, and saw the cool kit available, I started expanding my collection of tools to get me up and down safely. I've already covered my climbing harness One such tool I've added to my armory is the Petzl Ascension which is a spectacular piece of engineering.The frame is made of a hard-anodised aluminium, which are colour coded for left and right handed use (the off-hand version looks exactly the same, but flipped.

It features a chrome-plated steel cam with bitey teeth with a nylon catch and a rubber over-molded plastic grip. It will take anywhere from an single 8mm rope all the way up to a 13mm, and the design of the cam includes a vent to self-clean muddy or icy ropes. For those who have never seen or used one of these, the idea is simple. with the rope fed into the bitey-cam's jaw, the sping-loaded cam is pressed against the rope, but due to the angles used, doesn't bite down when the rope is pull (or pushed) from top to bottom. It bites down when weight is applied bottom to top.



What this means is that when you are going "up" the rope, it moves freely, but doesn't move backwards. A safe method for ascension! Better still, the clever folks at Petzl have included a variety of attachment methods, to make this a very versatile tool. A small hole in the base facilitates a lanyard or foot-sling, (which -massively- improves the efficiency of my ascents, I've found). The main hole at the bottom connects to your harness in regular ascents, but between this, and the double set at the top, this piece can act as part of a self-belaying system or a hauling system, in conjunction with other similar tools.

This is not the kind of tool everyone will need or want, and does take some adjustment to not only use efficiently and safely but I've found that for hauling gear, or scooting myself up a fixed line, I couldn't ask for a cooler piece of kit. Its mountain-rugged, and hardy enough to take a 4-6kN fall, depending on the thickness of the rope you are using, and be sure to follow the Safety guide instructions as it has some limitations, especially with regards proper attachment and positioning. A very good piece of kit to have for multipurpose climbing utility!

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.