Review: Peruvian Fleece Cap

So, I've made no bones about my disdain for winter, and am always on the look out for more cold-banishing gear to add to my collection. This winter I added some long Nomex gloves to couple with my Harry 1.2 softshell jacket. However, I wanted something to keep my head snug and toasty. When in Canada I often wore a tuque and when living in England I had a hunting cap with ear-flaps so when, I saw these come up on eBay, I got a set for myself, and one for Omega too (who is still acclimatizing to Melbourne from Brisbane, 5 years on)

This is apparently a "Peruvian Wool Fleece Cap" patterned after the traditional Chullo. Im pretty certain it isn't wool, so lets just say that it is fleece. The cap is topped by six triangular sections, much like most fabric hats, but is edged with an asymmetrical band that includes the "ear-flaps". A cord-locked drawstring is sewn in to assist with retention, and to keep the flaps tucked up to your chin in especially chilly conditions.

I tend to roll the ear flaps up and cinch the drawstring in a little, because I like to hear my surroundings more clearly,

However, when up at the snow, or in just a bitter wind, I am only too happy to protect me delicate flesh and roll them down. 

The snug fit lends itself to sitting under a hood, such as in my Harry 1.2 jacket, or even under a helmet, such as my Ops-Core knockoff bump helmet.

Thankfully there have been few days this season where I've felt like I've needed this cap, but I am vey glad to have it, packed and ready, for when I did. A great camping and wilderness survival addition. 

I'm thinking of doing Halloween as Angry Finland...

Side note, my mother had kept my ear-flap cap, I passed it on to Tactical Baby ... RLTW!

Review: Platatac - Leg Rig

I was looking over my collection of gear and realised there were a couple of items that have quietly gone un-reported, little pieces that seemed to take a back seat over their flashier cousins, and I wanted to give them some web-space too


I've shown this piece, in use, a couple of times, in my "No, Really" post, and coupled with its usual attachment, the Young Guns belt. However, it deserves it's own review. This is the 3/4 Leg Rig by Platatac.


I've covered a drop-leg holster in the past, and I have to be honest, they bring out the Han Solo in me ...

This was an early model of their now more mature Leg Rig but it serves me just fine. The three main features of the rig are: a  3 channel by 3 row PALS/MOLLE field, which is built on top of a 1000d Cordura with a stiff plastic reinforced backing platform.

Twin straps wrap around the thigh, and are half elasticized and half webbing backed with hook and loop. This gives you two different ways that you can adjust the fit, as well as it having sufficient flex to accommodate the changing dimensions of the thigh whilst running, climbing or scrambling. Anyone who has worn a non-elastic cuff whilst doing any of that kind of thing will tell you, its no fun. Two bands divides the load, and gives you a better fit to the shape of the thigh.

The "inside" of the rig shows us the way the mounting strap attaches, with a hook backed strap and a loop-faced side on the inside, to avoid abrasion. This gives you a really wide latitude for adjustment up and down, to ensure the best fit for your rig.

This was really good for me, as I have really long skinny legs, getting a thigh rig to sit right can be a real pain for me.  The thigh straps are free-sliding, and run through the middle of the rig, meaning you can customize the buckles and which thigh you wear it on to suit your need.

On top of the mounting strap, connected to a slider ring, is the belt clip. With both a hook and look backing, and two press studs, the belt clip not only bites down hard, and is adjustable for different bet sizes, it can also be woven into the middle of a riggers belt such as the 215Gear Ultimate for an extra secure and non-slip fit.

You can add any PALS/MOLLE capable item to the rig, I usually wear mine with my Drop Gas Mask bag as a dump-pouch, but could just as easily fit it with any 1, 2 or 3 channel PALS/MOLLE kit I wanted. The newer Platatac leg rigs are 4x4, giving the wearer a little more real-estate to mount on, but i have skinny thighs, and plenty of pockets already. I've been considering getting another, in the "more subdued" black to wear out and about, I've had similar rigs in past, but my colour pallet has lightened over the years...

Review: Spyderco Byrd - Harp tool

A very touching gift was given to me recently, for an anniversary, and because my tastes are well known, it was something i wanted to blog about!

This is the Spyderco-Byrd "Harp Tool" so named because of its resemblance to the musical instrument in its layout.

The tool consists of a C shaped bar of steel, filled with eight separate tools, held in place by a pin under tension from the ring itself. The tools in the array are  held in place by having a ridge and slot on alternate faces, such that the tension "snaps" them in place.

Available tools are: a flat-head and Phillips-head screwdriver, a  punch/awl, a gimlet (I had to look that one up, but it is a small hand drill) , a wood-saw, corkscrew (always a favorite and plain essential if operating in the European AO), a light-use file and a small/"large"-head hammer that doubles as a bottle cap opener.

Lacking a knife, this is definitely a secondary tool-kit addition, but you can never have too many tools stashed away. The tools are all functional enough to get little jobs done, but are obviously not up to a lot of hard labour, especially given the ridge-and-slot locking design. I'm not sure what I would use the hammer for that I wouldn't just use a rock for, but For Want of  a Nail...


With an overall length of 16.5 cm (6.5") and a closed length of 9.5cm (3.75") and weighing only 117g (4..6oz.) this is a light weight addition to a pack, picnic basket or glove box. That's where I will be stashing this little guy, perfect for a three hour tour.

Guest Submission: hardware conversions

One of my old friends and readers shot me a message a while back saying "I went to Bunnings (read: Home Depot, USAnians) and got a bunch of things to try out for the Apocalypse ..." and I thought it was high time that I gave them a bit of a write up. This is a decided departure from regular store-bought "tactical" gear, and look towards what "found items" might be converted into impromptu hand to hand weapons.

Such as this driveable post-socket spear which is lashed to a whittled post, and lashed on with leather strapping. With some rudimentary sharpening this makes a big two handed spear / axe / mace. These can be found holding up many street signs, fence posts and the like, and once pried from the ground make quite a formidable hand to hand weapon, or even giant ballista bolt head.

The second piece was a fence-post-topper, the kind of thing you see decorating fancy fences which my friend decided would make an excellent mace-head.

I've got to admit, whenever I pass a wrought iron fence, especially old, cracked or loose, I wonder how easy it would be to wrench a length free, and use as an ad-hoc melee weapon. This example is mounted to a long bolt, but could also be mounted directly to a post. I'm thinking the threading might lead to a weak point, especially under the heavy impacts a mace might expect, but hey, this is impromptu at its best. Use what you have, when you have nothing else, and Adapt, Improvise, Overcome. Thanks Karl!

Review: UVPaqlite

I had a comment left for me by a reader on my Facebook page (g'day LCpl Thralls!) following on from my Lazerbrites post I dropped by UVPaqLite to check out their glowsticks.

I'm a sucker for lights, as my regular viewers would know, and have an enormous affection for glow-in-the-dark products, having decorated many childhood bedrooms with constellations and have expanded that into my adult life with the SAR GlobalTool Moon-Glows. I was impressed by the range of rugged, practical items that UVPaqLite had on offer, and snapped up their mixed collection Scout Pack.

 I put my Moon-Glow down beside the collection for a comparison as well as a wrapped cyalume stick, for scale. I super-charged all of these with my Jil-Lite Jenyx UV torch

The scout pack consists of four different elements; the UVGlowStik, the 6" ToobLite, a UVO ring necklace and the flexible signature UVPaqLite sheet. 

The UVGlowStik, ToobLite and UVO are solid pieces, consisting of solidified clear epoxy, in which crystals of
glow-in-the-dark strontium aluminate are suspended. Being solid-state, these pieces can be cut or drilled and can also be taken to ANY depth. 

Unlike traditional GITD products, the large crystals are clearly visible but apparently this large granularity increases the brightness, duration and speed of charging, they certainly appeared to do so.

The 4"x1/2" UVGlowStik is not quite as bright overall as the 6" ToobLite, but is "ruggedised", lacking
the tube, plastic cap, and key chain ring of its larger cousin, but features a drilled lanyard hole.

Swiped from UVPaqLite webpage.

The UVO is 1.75" in diameter, and comes in both the traditional greenish GITD hue, but also in their "Ice Blue", but subtly adjusting the chemical composition of the crystals. Spinning the UCO on its lanyard produces a signalling method of contrasting of light and movement which would make it easier for rescue crews to see from the air.

The UVPaqLite flatpack is a vacuum sealed roll-able, stuff-able, pouch measuring 20cm x 15cm (8"x6") and weighing only 36g (1.3oz) and can be dangled or laid flat to provide a tents forth of illumination all night long.  Better yet they have an essentially infinite shelf life, unlimited recharge cycles. Perfect for a disaster, where resupply, or even infrastructure is doubtful.

I found that the whole set could be exposed to electric room lights for "getting ready for bed" durations, and still be visibly glowing in the pre-dawn gloom, when Tactical Baby comes calling. Daylight exposure for just a few minutes makes them light up visibly even in lit environments, thanks broken ozone layer! UVPaqLite suggest that they would still be visible as markers even after 4 days of cave-darkness. These are super cool, and I think I will be adding more to my collection as soon as budget allows, great gift ideas are forming ...

300 posts! Tonight we dine in THE BUNKER!

Hi all, I just noticed that yesterday was my 300th post, and I wanted to drop a quite post in here whilst I am compiling to say thank you to all my readers, commentors, vendors who send me cool things, friends and family who let me test things on and with them, train with me and generally support me in my quest to be Apocalypse Equipped!

In the almost three years of doing this blog I have had the good fortune to make a bunch of great connections, friends and learn a whole lot.

If anyone out there wants to join me in my adventures, guestwriter-spot, try some of my gear and ideas out, drop me a line and we'll make something happen!

Events: Tough Mudder #3 September 14th

Last weekend I participated in my third Tough Mudder challenge. Previously I reported on what I wore on my first and then subsequently, for the Stampede and then earlier this year, my second Tough Mudder. I see the Tough Mudder challenges as more than just an Endurance Sport event, but as a training and testing opportunity for me. Training myself to overcome obstacles, and go the distance, but also in anticipating the hardships my team-mates will face, and either preventing or mitigating them.


The Tough Mudder Pledge is a good starting point for this:

• As A Tough Mudder, I Pledge That ....
• I Understand That Tough Mudder Is Not A Race But A Challenge.
• I Put Teamwork And Camaraderie Before My Course Time.
• I Do Not Whine, Kids Whine.
• I Help My Fellow Mudders Complete the Course.
• I Overcome All Fears.

My team mates did not feel up to running the length of the course, which is fine, I hate running, but I can, and I have been training to do so. However, the discipline of NOT running, of not leaving a team-mate behind for personal glory, was what it was all about.

Here's the course for this time: MelbourneSpring2013-CourseMap
There were all the old favourites, as well as some new ones.
 One set of Berlin Walls was replaced for forwards sloped walls, giving no purchase to climb over. There was a "Warrior Carry" where team mates had to carry each other for a distance. A couple of different "over and under" climbs and my favourite, the Cage Crawl, where you had to navigate a long caged-in, water filled trench.

I took my iPhone along, in its SLXtreme waterproof case which unfortunately suffered a non-spectacular failure, with one of the hinge-caps breaking off, causing it to leak. This took my phone offline for a couple of days (rice in a take-away-tub, by a heater recovered it) but I managed to track half of our progress with it here: 11.84 km run with @RunKeeper.

That was a bit sad, but that's the way these things go. I also trialed a couple of other pieces of kit: I fitted my Contour GPS to my shoulder via the Picatinny adapter and fixed it to an ITS Picatinny-MOLLE adapter which in turn I mounted to my trusty First Spear OAGR vest.

Knowing there would be dark tunnels, I fitted my Princeton Tech Switch MPLS light to my MOLLE on my chest, along with my ill-fated SLXtreme case, and a  glow stick from UVPaqLite. I also tried out my newly-acquired rejected prototype Platatac hydration carrier that I scored from eBay, filled with Gatorade. I'll cover that separately, but it served its purpose adequately. TAD Amphibian shorts and my x-strapped (this held them on, but rubbed me raw) Blackhawk kneepads rounded off my regular load.

I kitted out with my Z-E-R-T patch and call-sign tab, as well as another off-market Platatac prototype admin pouch, which I kept a laminated copy of the course map, and a spare cyalume stick in case my team-mates needed some encouragement in dark places, when all other lights go out.

Lastly I wore my GoST Paleo Barefoot PRONATIV's along with their Lining Socks, which, after a 2km walk from parking to the event, 18km of course, and another 2km back to the car, were amazing.

This time I decided to collect loot, and picked up two discarded hydration packs, one I gave to a team-mate, the other I slung, as well as several "technical shirts" and a bunch of gloves. We'll see if any are salvageable.

I had a really good event, it was lots of fun, cold, wet, dirty fun. I feel that again I have proven to myself that I can not only achieve this kind of goal myself, but can also aid others in doing so too. Orange Headband ahoy!