Home Front: Outages, news and contact

As you may have heard (or been affected by) there was a widespread internet outage in Australia yesterday which hammered home one clear message. I need a radio. With all my technological toys, and EDC kit, all stashed away, it took the plug being pulled to remind me that without data, I was just sitting in my office, wondering where the flash was. Of course, the power was on, the phones and cellular networks were still functioning, and some national sites were still active, so I wasn't worried about an immediate, local situation, but when the internet dries up ... I sat up and paid attention.

So, a radio. I was thinking a lightweight, world-band battery powered one, as it could also be charged by one of my solar chargers and would give me the potential for listening out to further reaches than just FM or AM reception, which is why I favour this over the hand-cranked emergency radios I've seen, even though they have a range of good functionality as well.

I'm of two minds on what to equip myself with, but the message was clear, when the internet went out, I was cut off from all news-sources I currently had available. Web-cast radio was offline, as was Google, Twitter, Facebook and so on. There were plenty of jokes about the Arab Spring going around, and even about current Australian political cat-fighting being to blame (a petulant cable-pulling was mentioned).

I really didn't like not being able to get the news. I'm glad I got that wake-up now, when it doesn't matter.

Review: Going Solar!

When the going gets rough, and the lights flicker out, we will want to power and run our gadgets and drive back the night with the familiar glow of electric lights. I've been collecting solar chargers for a while now, and I thought I would give you a quick review of them.

First up is the B-Squares Modular Solar Electronics which I backed on Kickstarter. This allows the user, in theory, to run a USB outputting rechargeable triple AAA charger, a set of LED lights, or a iPhone charger. The single solar square generates 0.325W of power, which is enough to run the LED's, charge the batteries or run the iPhone. Or at least, it's supposed to. I have had little or no luck with it, and am afraid to say I've been very disappointed with this device. 

 The second of these devices is the original Solio Universal charger which is a mains-capable charger, with a battery pack. It folds out into a tri-leaved floret  is capable of output ranges from 1.5 to 5W, the internal rechargeable battery has a capacity of of 3.7V 1000mAh. It comes with a variety of output ends for the included cables and will even charge iPhones via a USB output. One cool feature of this is that it can be orientated by feeding a pencil through the central hole, propping it up to achieve maximum solar  contact. I've been very happy with this device, and take it camping and adventuring with me frequently.

Lastly is the solar charger that came with another Kickstarter project, the Packlights which I have previously reviewed. I delightful sweetener to their deal was the inclusion of these purpose built charger and battery packs. Also mains-chargeable, these these packs generate  0.77W at a Voltage of 5.25 +- 5% and the internal battery has a capacity of 2200mA with an output of 5.6V at a maximum current of 600mA. It includes a USB output, and both a bright LED light, and a dim LED charge indicator. Another interesting feature is that they give estimated times for charging, which are: by Solar Charge:10-14 hours depending on lighting & weather conditions and by DC Charge: 2-3 hours where the charging current: 140mA (per hour). This is a really nice package, and I'm very glad i acquired two of them. They fit nicely stowed into one of the Platatac FUP pouches so I can imagine wearing them out in the field, ready to recharge my tech. 

Home Front: Salvage

 Sometimes preparedness takes the form of being able to spot and collect items that have been discarded or lost, and make good use of them. I've always had an eye for the left-behinds and dropped, and discarded. When "hard-waste" removal comes along, and the sidewalks are loaded with other peoples junk, I can't but help to pass my eye over it. I think there is probably a fine line between salvage and hoarding, and I hope I stay on the not-scary-cat-person side of that line. Same goes for items dropped on the street, or left behind of trains and trams. Here's an example of this. The checkered and tasseled shemagh was laying by the side of the road after a storm, and after a run through the washing machine I found that it was one of the softest and warmest I've ever had. The soft-shell black vest vest was laying over the back of a park bench in the morning, and still there when I passed in the afternoon.

Into the bag it went.

It has a nice mesh liner and internal and external pockets. And it was free. Under that is a red hard-shell jacket, with reflective tape, internal and external pockets, zipper and hook-and-loop closure, a hood under the collar and is waterproof. Again, a dropped item left laying on the footpath. I make a habit of leaving things where they lay for a decent length of time, so their rightful owners can happen back that way and collect it, but after that, I consider it fair game.

Same goes for junk left by the road-side. This high-chair was left out for the junk collection, but made it's way into the back of my car, and with some scrubbing and adjusting to make up for its missing parts, both Triceratops Girl and Tactical Baby have made good use of it. This is more a factor of mindset rather than any particular skill-set or item.

Knowing that you can make something that was otherwise scrapped function again, and suit your needs is a great boon in a survival situation, I feel, and the same goes for a disaster situation. "going to the store for a new one" may not always be an option, even if you have the resources to do so.

Seeing alternate uses for things, or the opportunity to breathe new life into what would otherwise be discarded like the "Pathopak's" I reviewed, which I use for food and hardware storage, those Grolsch bottles which I use for brewing I reclaimed from a bar I formerly worked at, and my beer drinking friends supply me with, and even the crate they are sitting in.

There are many day-today opportunities for salvage, getting into the mindset and habit of it could well put you in good stead in the event that either the supply chain is broken or disrupted, or your ability to purchase or acquire needfuls is impeded somehow. Be smart, be careful and be safe. Adapt, innovate, overcome.

Review: Pathopak ration pack

I've been lax these last few days, having had a bunch of family happening going on, a weekend of activities with Triceratops Girl, my Aunt from Colorado came across the Pacific to visit and have just been run off my feet. However, here we are. I wanted to show you one of the specific survival preparedness items that I have developed. I have used one of the DGP Pathopak's that I previously reviewed and stuffed it full of of food and drink that will be long lasting, sustaining and comforting. Combining with a cooking and/or mess-set and some cool cutlery puts food in the table (or patch of blasted earth) which is very important for health and morale.

The 2L Pathopak has room for a regular sized can on top of a squat, "man-sized" meal-in-a-can can and whilst a tight fit, still seals shut. I rigged one of the numerous conference lanyards to be a sling and carry handle. This one is just a hand-stiched prototype, and not quite up to bartack stitching but have been able to test its load bearing ability pretty well running about carrying it by its handle. The content is quite variable, this iteration holds a tall can of fruit, and a tortellini bolognese meal-in-a-can.  Supplementing this is a packet of ready-to-eat rice. two powdered orange drinks and three sachets of powdered chai latte mix.

The contents of this tub are in no way meant to represent a full and nutritionally balanced diet, but there is sufficient food in there for several meals, with both hot and cold drink options. The canned food can be eaten cold, as can the rice, and the beverages can likewise be drunk cold, but most would be improved by cooking. Obviously, a good supply of potable water is essential in a survival situation, but having this kind of kit prepared, in such a way that I can throw a few into the car as needed, along with the rest of my kit, is a real boon. I figure I could load 10 or so up and have them ready to grab and go easily enough. They stack, and could be made up like an MRE to have a variety of menus. Good for camping, I think that will be my primary use for them, which gives me a opportunity to test the mix of contents, and see what needs changing, swapping or adding.

 

Pictures and movies: demos

I had a reader ask for pictures of my gear in-use. Till now I've mostly done static shots on a desk. What things from my collection would you like to see being worn, wielded or wave?

I'll take some footage ASAP ....

Review: 215 Gear Sling

Here is another piece of rugged kit that I have gotten very attached to over the last little while. For the Stargate Lasertag LRP that I do, I had the option of slinging my tagger with laptop bag straps and cable ties, or get something deigned to do the job. This is the 215Gear Ultimate Single Point Sling . This is a heavy duty, made of MilSpec materials, from the inch-wide tube-webbing, and the heavy adjuster buckle (which also has a lanyard hole fitted to act as a draw-pull), down to the heavily shock-corded ends which lead to another of the very impressive Cobra-buckles I covered in the Riggers-Belt I reviewed previously.

The other end of the Cobra-buckle is another piece of webbing, with a loop of paracord, which is offered as a means of attachment to your platform of choice.  The combination of webbing and paracord is billed as assisting in eliminating metal-on-metal noise. What I like about this is that it is possible to detach your slung load, which is always a boon when the chance to sit, rest or pass it on to someone else comes along, but with the cord loop, it is possible to rapidly swap the buckle to a -different- load withiut the need for any tools or adjustment. If it has a lanyard loop, it can be slung with 215Gears sling.

I think this is a pretty cool piece of kit for anyone who is out and about in adventure-land and needs to have something at-hand, which at the same time they can go hands-free with in a moments notice, and back again, with the springiness of shock-cord to get it where you need it at a moments notice, and the durability and survivability of the heavy nylon webbing to give you rock-solid support.

Great addition to my gear, all around.

[edit] I was asked to do a vid-review, so you could see this in action, so, here goes....

Review: OtterBox Utility Latch

Here is a piece of kit that came to my attention following a comment by one of my readers after my review of my iPhone case . Up till then, my iPad has been naked tech, no case, cover or guard. It still lives in my CSI folder which in turn lives in my messenger bag but doesn't do anything for it when I'm -using- it. So here is what I have added to give me some more security and functionality. This is the OtterBox Utility Series Latch . The basic idea is that four elastic loops attached to a nylon webbing backing hoop over the four corners of the device. A loop of nylon tape gives an attachment point for the included S-clip.


That however is just the beginning, that nylon backing is a platform for a variety of very clever accessories. The webbing itself features a wide handstrap with removable padding that can either be gripped or slip over you knife-hand style. Because the central webbing is square, and the elastic loops are all equal, the device can be held portrait or landscape, as best suits your needs. Each corner of the webbing hosts a plastic tag with an eyelet, through which I have fed a length of shock-cord, purely as an extra place to secure any documents I get handed in meetings I don't take my CSI folder to.
Those tags are designed to take the accessory baggie that comes with the Latch, which is itself billed as a "angled stand" and performs this task well, with twin S-clips to again give portrait or landscape proppage, but I found it to be awkward to carry around with this in place, and have relegated it to my messenger bag, for when I need it. The included accessories are pretty cool in and of themselves. A rain-cover made of elastic hemmed waterproofed rip-stop. I'm not sure how useful this will be in a big wet, but for times when I am without a bag to store my device in, or when I know I will be in and out of a drizzle, or something.

The narrow shoulder strap will let me go hands free in a slinging fashion, should I desire, or offer me a platform to write on if i balance one edge of my device on my belt buckle. Seeing as I can type one handed on my iPad, and use the big S-clip to secure it to my holster-harness or riggers-belt I haven't had much use for this either. The wide elastic belt, however, I am very much looking forwards to using. It affixes through the main-body webbing, where the yellow nylon can be seen in the top picture, and becomes either a thigh-strap (for pilots, drivers, or boring meeting Angry Birds players) OR it can be fitted to the back of a car seat head-rest, for running back-seat movies and games for little people amusement. A very cool feature, with a lot of potential. The buckle end is sturdy, and the hook-and-loop fixture is long enough to fit a variety of legs I think.

Whilst I cant say this is a ruggedising or especially protective piece of kit, and I have had a couple of occasions where the elastic loops have slipped, and lost full grip on my device, which was a bit scary, I like how well it fits my grip, allowing me a much more natural tap-tap-tapping stance, without having to white-knuckle as I wander about reading my ITS Tactical App or browsing for more toys. A relaxed body responds to change much faster than a rigid one. One thing it does do to protect my device, is that the elastic loops act as spaces for me screen, padding and buffering its contact with whatever I put it down on. No more gran of sand scratches!.