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

Review: Zazz LED tent pegs

Following up from a recent care-package from my friends at Zazz, I have a second piece of out-doorsy gadgetry to review for you. Zazz often have some pretty funky items, several of which I have reviewed in past, so when they asked if I'd like to see what they had coming up, I was only too happy to see. These tent pegs are an example of the kind of gadget they offer: What you have is a set of four polycarbonate tent pegs, with a X cross section for strength. Each peg comes with an intergral hook, as well as a lanyard hole, to give you several different tie-off options, as well as a somewhat reinforced hammering face, to drive the pegs into the ground. The most interesting feature of of the pegs however are the adjustable LED lights at the top end of each peg.





The LED is activated by twisting the top of the light, and produces a striking bright cone of illumination for its size. Two button batteries provide the power, but I don't have an data on how long each light would last. I suspect you would bet several sets of "dusk till bedtime" out of them. The lights are fitted with a snug swivel, such that they can be angled to project light in 90 degrees. The LED case is not waterproof, so you'll want to be aware of the risk of rainwater ingress.

When upright the LED illuminates the plastic body of the peg, casting a warm orange glow. The package seems to suggest that orange light "frustrates mosquitoes" which seems to be part of urban folklore.






Whether or not it repels mosquitoes, having a ground level LED spotlight lighting a path in front of my tent, angled back in to my vestibule so I can put my boots on or get at my supplies, or warmly marking my campsite seems like a good idea for the kinds of recreational camping that I do currently. I will welcome illuminated tent pegs on my next social camping trip for two reason: it will help me find my tent whilst staggering back from the firepit and they will dissuade other revelers from stumbling into my guy-ropes as they themselves are staggering back from the firepit.

Trailblazing without the blaze!

Review: Dead On - Annihilator superhammer

A very happy surprise was another birthday present I received from a good friend who knows my proclivities, something I in fact tried to find for myself but had alas been unable to find for myself. So, last week I was handed A Dead On - Annihilator Superhammer as fearsome a smasher as I could hope for in such a package.

This is a 35cm (14"), 800g (28oz) piece of forged steel. Tools adorn it top and bottom. The split head is made up of a solid and 1" square striking face, which features a Dead On® bottle opener at its chin. Good for those post-wrecking but pre-zombie smashing bottle of Nuka Cola (because you don't want to open bottles that are going to go in your mouth to have infected brain matter contaminated chunks stuck to the lip ...). The flip side of the striking face is Nail Puller/Tile Ripper which is a strong chisel edged tool-face, curved slightly to assist in slipping under and levering up what ever you are prying up.

Between the striking face and the "Nail Puller" the "Board Straightener" sits ready to grip and twist. The two sets of teeth are just over 4cm (1 5/8") and just under 3cm (1 1/8") in width, respectively, which is reported to fit standard board sizes (I don't actually know what this means). Below the chisel edged Nail Puller/Tile Ripper lies the frightfully formed Demolition Axe, which curves down almost to the edge of the rubberised grip. This is not a shaving-sharp axe, rather that the steel of the haft is formed to a triangular ridge to an angle of around 45 degrees to the full width of the haft. This leaves a very hardy working edge, and is intended for drywall, thin wooden structures, shingles and conduit. The middle of the curve is notched with what appears to be a wire-stripper, but could also be used as a nail-puller as well. Here you can see the Annihilator in it's current home, which is wedged in the middle of the Bullock Echo daypack and the Bravo hydration Pack combo which I reviewed recently. It fits in the mid-channel of double-wide PALS/MOLLE quite nicely, and nestles nicely behind the main drag-handle, without protruding out the bottom.At just over an inch in width, it is too wide to slot into PALS/MOLLE on it own.

The tail of the tool features several other interesting combination tools. The tip is a rugged ridged point, which could be used for penetration, or scoring as needed. Within the tip is the "Multi Purpose Wrench/Nail Puller", which as suggested includes a hex-bolt socket, and a wide feeding nail puller. The manufacturers suggest using the wrench for releasing concrete forms and other general uses and the tip for smashing, cracking and chipping away at tile, brick or other things deemed "to go away".

So, I felt it was a good idea to put the Annihilator up against the mighty Stanley Fatmax Fubar to give a good comparison. Let me first say I haven't yet done any real smashing with the Annihilator, just waved it around and banged a few posts and bricks. However, at 800g vs 1300g it already comes up significantly leaner. You can see in the side-by-side pictures that it is thinner and narrower. If a slighter tool is what you are after, this is it.

I noticed a slight bend to the left in my Annihilator, I cant tell if this is a design feature or a flaw, but it was certainly of little concern. The Annihilator lacks the curved pry-bar end of the Fubar, but it has the curved Nail Puller/Tile Ripper at the back of the head,  and has a number of other features built in that the Fubar lacks.

I plan to leave my Fubar in my in-car bug-out-bag, but will be sorely tempted to keep the Annihilator in my every-day bag. I am also strongly considering commissioning a kydex holster for it, so I can lash it to my other PALS/MOLLE kit. This is an awesome piece of kit. Who's up for a "lets smash things" video-blog?

Find one on Amazon here:

Home Front: Grocery Run

So, taking a pause from the usual tactical/hardcore kit, and looking more to the preparedness side of disaster preparedness, rather than response. I've discussed stocking up on supplies before, at least to the extent that we do it here, which is to say keeping the pantry stocked well enough to weather the slings and arrows of misfortune, at least for long enough to regroup and make other plans.

A little while ago I stumbled across an online shopping site called Grocery Run which offers a variety of discounted products, with different deals every day. They tend to do CostCo-like bundles of products, in two's or three's, and allow multiple orders of items too (although usually capped). A flat shipping rate will see an order straight to your door.

The items listed are always canned, or dry goods, no fresh produce is offered, but that's just fine for the kinds of things that we want to use this service for.

Staples, household items and the like, a brilliant way to stock up on items, far cheaper than to go to a major supermarket chain, delivered to your door. We've placed a couple or orders now, and have been very satisfied with the quality and condition of the goods we're received.

I was worried they would be all at "end of life" or "dented and broken" to come at the prices offered, but thus far none of what we've gotten have been in any way store-quality. I can only assume they are over-runs.We saw almost exactly the same stock on the shelves at the NQR shop we went to last week.

Sometimes being able to stock up is more a matter of being able to afford to do so, and the cheaper you can find your produce, the better prepared you can be.

Probably the best part about this particular method of shopping for us is that they take PayPal, which means we could convert our online credit for actual food!

Sneak Preview: upcoming reviews

I was a very lucky birthday Coyote and scored the full suite of KA-BAR Zombie Killer fixed blades, which I will be reviewing as soon as I've given them a good solid trial.

Early thoughts: hefty!

Review: S&W Tactical Pen

This is the first of my birthday-present posts, and I wanted to start them off with a bang: A Smith & Wesson bang. I'll even jump right in with the anticipated "pen is mightier than the sword" comment here, because you can indeed achieve more with a pen than you can with a sword, but it can be a lot more satisfying to do so with a sword.

Then again there are times in all of our lives when carrying around your favourite piece of live steel, say for tree-chopping or perhaps laying waste to anything in sight is not what the authorities, or your workmates, have in mind.


I understand their fears. I don't agree, but I understand.

For those times, however, you can always fall back on your pen. Especially if that pen is machined out of 6061 aircraft aluminium and designed by the likes of Smith & Wesson. This is the S&W Tactical Pen  and one of my lovely girlfriends imported it for me (with all the trouble you might imagine of Australian Customs) but it was so worth it!

The machining and finish are a delight. The groves along the body lend themselves to a very positive grip in a variety of holds, as well as affording a very comfortable writing grip.

As well as a series of grooves machined along its circumference, there is a broad, raised, cross-hatched region which reinforces the achievable grip. The bullet-headed tip is pointy enough to be an aggressive tool for control or compliance, as well as being sizable enough to present a realistic force multiplier in defensive situations. I would not like to be on the receiving end of one of these in even unskilled but motivated hands. That said, it is also rounded and subdued enough that I have no fear of Tactical baby hurting herself with it if I leave it laying around. It's fairly innocuous until wielded. Which is mostly the point.

The pen part is a regular ballpoint ink cartridge, housed in the reverse end, again, all well machined and anodized. The pen end is capped by pressing the cap on directly, the cap has a nylon liner which accepts both pen and pointy end equally securely and firmly. The butt-cap and the retaining clip both feature the
with the Smith & Wesson logo and name which are laser engraved. Two hex screws affix the spring retaining clip without jutting out overly.

There is even a lanyard hole in the butt-cap, so you don't loose your prized writing implement in some ravenous mutie's head, or if you share a workspace, pens seem to go walking.

This is my first piece by Smith & Wesson, and so far I am very impressed, both by the elegant functionality, the ruggedness and the simplicity of this delightful tool. So, when I'm writing up my next set of notes at work, taking a order list at a cafe or signing my next piece of licensing documentation, you'll have to ask yourself: "do you feel lucky, punk?"

Review: Zazz - Survive Army Fire Steel tool

The good people at Zazz were kind enough to send me one of these little guys this week. I have quite the collection of fire-steel's now, between my Swedish FireSteel (which was a gift a number of years ago, and has a prize position in my EDC) and the fire steels found in both my Gerber Bear- Grylls Basic and also in the Gerber Bear Grylls Ulitimate survival kits.  I really like these pieces of kit. They work in the rain, in the snow and last for thousands of strikes.


This one has some additional features which are worth mentioning. Firstly, a goodly sized ferrocerium rod (all the better for striking with) and a saw-toothed striking steel. The back side of the striking steel is marked with millimeters to act as a small ruler. The body of the striker, as well as being dished to better fit the thumb, is also equipped with a signalling whistle. Lastly, the body of the ferrocerium rod is also equipped with a button compass.

Here are some shots of me testing out the striker, a very impressive rain of hot sparks, certainly enough to light a camp-stove at the first strike, and can get tinder going in no time at all, in good conditions.

Including a compass is a terrific idea, even if it is not up to military grade navigation, it is far better to have -any- compass rather than none at all. Rod and striker are affixed with a nylon cord and a stopper. The cord appears to be sufficient to reduce the effect of the steel on the compass, for rough navigation, at least.

I'll leave you with the packaging, which is quite entertaining in and of its own right.

I'm certainly going to include this is one of my packs, because frankly, not being without a source of fire is something I strongly encourage. Now to decide which one to put it in!