Review: Voodoo Tactical - Open Top Single Magazine Pouch

When I backed the MS Clean Kickstarter project, which I covered recently, they also threw in, as a bonus stretch item,a PALS/MOLLE pouch to house the system in. Originally suggested to be one of the HSG Tactical Taco pouches, to keep costs down they settled on the simpler Voodoo Tactical Open Top pouches which are no slouch either.

I've covered a couple of open-top shingle style pouches before; the ones built into the Platatac SCAR mini-chest rig and also the Platatac Modular Radio Pouch. Generally, I prefer my pouches ti have a lid, or cover of some kind, because I am generally not using them as originally intended. So, that in mind, here's what I can tell you about the Voodoo Tactical open top shingles.

These single-magazine pouches have a good solid finish, with 1000d Cordura as the base material, shock-cord and webbing loops, throughout. They feature a press-stud closing pair of PALS/MOLLE tabs in the lack to feed and mount on whatever platform you choose, and the tabs are reinforced with plastic internally to add some stiffness, aiding in both feeding, and sturdy attachment. The shock-cord is fitted with a looped webbing pull-tab, and it comes adjusted to fit nicely over the MS Clean case, so presumably they fit over a 30 round STANAG or MagPul P-Mag magazine as well.

The fact that it is a single case might seem a bit limiting when it comes to loadout, given that pouches like the Platatac FUP but because it is fitted out with PALS/MOLLE loops on the front (and side) it is possible to stack them quite easily. This may well add more bulk and weight to a double stacked set than would a dedicated double mag-pouch, but each pouch independently carries the magazine, so no worry of them rattling about. Again, remember, I'm not a shooter, get proper training and advice of experts, but it makes sense to me.

They are also a slimmer option for those who aren't planning to be as heavily equipped. Especially useful in those times where every gram makes a difference. These are a good basic pouch, and I could find no fault with them, they certainly are a good match for the MS Clean kits, and work as advertised.

Review: MS Clean kit

This is one of those items that I really picked up for the show-factor alone, rather than for any real practical need. I saw it come up on my Kickstarter feed, as well as on Soldier Systems, where I find a number of cool pieces of tech and tools. So, first up, my admissions: I don't own any fire-arms, but I do a variety of costume and Live-action roleplay events, which is where my "for show only" interest lies.

This is the MS Clean kit.

Whilst I don't own or operate any myself, I appreciate the need to maintain and clean both firearms, and all the tools of the trade, so to speak. I also have a LOT of pouches, and have on occasion had small needfuls drop out and get lost as a result of being adventurous with them in a pouch designed to hold magazines.

I've regularly used my Platatac FUP and other mag pouches to carry my gear, and I saw the utility of a case that married with my existing pouches. The guys from MS Clean offer the cleaning kit to fill the gap they felt existed with the current issued cleaning kits in the US military, and wanted to take advantage of the prevalence of magazine pouches.

The case is curved like a 30 round STANAG or MagPul P-Mag and initial designs looked a little like the P-Mag, with surface ribbing for grip and structure. Made of an injection molded polymer, crush-proof cases prevents spillage of lubricant and bending of rods that they say current issued kits don't. The cases are long enough to old 3x sectioned steel rods, required to remove barrel obstructions like mud, stuck cases or squib rounds. They also include a couple of brush heads, and eyelet head, and a T- handle to drive the lot of it.

The production models include bore brushes for 5.56 as well as 7.62 and 9mm, as well as a dental pick, for all that carbon scoring. The polymer is chemical resistant so the case can be used as a miniature solvent tank, as well as acting as a container to place small parts of a firearm while cleaning.

They also offer them in a couple of different colours, black, tan, green and red. The internal dimensions are 1.8cm (0.72") x 5.3cm  (2.10") x 19.3cm (7.62") and externally 2.4cm (0.95") x
6.7cm (2.65")x  20.3cm (8").

I will be setting mine up as snack and tool carriers, perhaps using the red one as a dedicated boo-boo set, with alcohol wipes and small dressings, maybe even one of the Z-Medica quick clots. I can't comment on the quality of the cleaning tools myself, but I asked out one of my trooper friends to trial it out for me.

"The cleaning kit was a great bit of gear. First i would like to say that the case it comes in is a fantastic piece of gear. It fits in a spare mag pouch nicely and is easily accessible. The frogman lube is a great and does a good job. I found the wire brushes a bit too harsh though and the pull through rods rusted up very quickly. I was impressed with the extra brushes it came with. Its definitely a cleaning kit I carry in my webbing now." - K Taylor WA


The folks at MS Clean copped a lot of flack over the shape and design of the cases, being so close to "real" magazines. Here's what they had to say:

MS CLEAN may be mistaken for an actual magazine 
MS Clean is designed to utilize standard magazine pouches; however, these pouches are modular in nature and as such, the pouch selected to store MS Clean should be mounted in an area where it is not easily confused with an actual magazine.

What happens if I am in the dark and I go to change my magazine and try to put my cleaning kit in my rifle and get myself killed?
You won’t. You are a professional soldier or law enforcement officer, you have undergone months, if not years of training and you would never be so daft as to put your cleaning kit among your actual magazines. You would put it in somewhere else on your gear that wasn't on the front of your vest.

They are pretty prefect for my applications, and I look forward to kitting out my adventure gear (not to mention my kooky-costuming) with them.


To add to the mix, they now have a second Kickstarter underway for the DOUBLE sized kits. Twice the storage, twice the options, including a dedicated medic options, a trauma kit and super-deluxe cleaning options.

Home Front: Bunnings as a bug out location

Following on from my recent article on Ikea as a bug-out location,  which I talked about using the big Swedish household-building company's warehouse stores as a place to refit and inhabit following a society crumbling disaster event (short to medium term). The principle being that Me and mine need somewhere to go and shelter for however long, and there is no appreciable government relief on the way. Pretty unlikely in a stable first world nation right? Well, the folks of New Orleans might disagree. 

My like-minded friends and I have also discussed the various merits of other sites, such as a self-storage facility, in a basement bunker (if you have one) or even in your long term off-grid, eco-village. But one place that most of us agree would be a good site to hold up in and recover, would be a big-box hardware store, like Bunnings.           As far as disaster, apocalypse survival and reconstruction goes, it's hard to imagine a better equipped storehouse for raw materials than a facility like these. Aisle after aisle of tools, fittings, construction and fortification materials fill the cavernous warehouse. 

Anyone with a DIY bent that I know find it hard to walk around without getting itchy fingers at all the stock. Whilst they may not have -everything- you need to rebuild, or in the quantities required, they certainly have enough for any small-scale reconstruction you'd need. The facility itself is none too shabby either. Whilst open and well lit, they are often hot in summer, and cold in winter, but well enclosed and sheltered from the environment. If whatever disaster befell your area didn't damage the superstructure, it would make a good place to shelter. 

With simple layout, large roller-door as well as fire-door access, there isn't much to do in the way of barricading. The outside areas are high-fenced, to ward off present-day looters, and will offer the same protection in a disaster area. Of course, this could be improved with the addition of more barricades and area-denial tools like barbed-wire (Aisle 12, people ...) as could the main entrances. You could easily build up bigger and better walls around the inside of the existing  walls, and maintain a low-key presence, or turn it into a fortified looking castle. 

The key thing to note is that the large range of raw-materials and hand-tools. A facility like this is a treasure trove of pre-fabricated parts and construction materials, supplies and if push comes to shove, weapons.

It also features quite a wide array of potted plants and seedlings. Very little of it is immediately edible, certainly not sustainable, but if set up as a garden, you could make quite a bit of food from it. It would take time however. Food is not something that is a ready resource at a place like this.

Another aspect of this is that Bunnings have a really good rainwater catchment system. Those big roofs catch a lot of water, and that is a valuable resource. It will water any crops planted, and also provide drinking water.

All in all, there are many valuable resources and commodities to be found at a Bunnings, its a reasonably
secure environment, but it has the drawback of not being set up to be habitable, and it is a well known treasure trove. This will make it a very appealing target for other survivors.

Review: Platatac - LD Dump Pouch

Having added a new black pack to my repertoire of cargo-carriers, in the MR 1DAP so I've been looking into matching accessory pouches. (Pouches, pouches, POUCHES). I have a pretty vast collection of khaki and Multicam pouches already, and I'm not just going to cover new colours of systems I've already reviewed but I also picked up some new ones.  One of these that I immediatly attached to my new pack was the Platatac LD pouch.

The LD Pouch or Little Dump was developed for high-speed, low-drag Special Operations and Dismounted Infantry end users, but it also fits my need profile nicely. I needed the ability to occasionally load up on extra loot, without wanting to carry a big empty bag, or pockets full of plastic shopping bags.



The LD Pouch, when folded up, is barely bigger than its 2 x 2 PALS/MOLLE attachment panels at its back. It only weighs 120g (a bit over 4oz), thanks to its lightweight mess material construction, with 500d Cordura only on its lid and backing. It's a snap to deploy it, even one handed.

When expanded by pulling up the hook-and-loop closure, the pouch opens up to give you a spacious bag for your goodies, be they tools empty magazines, evidence snatched on a raid, snacks for the movies or contraband at the end of a long night. Cordlocks snared in a webbing loop, and feeding out an eyelet give you cinching control, to close the pouch off, and the hook-and-loop lid can either be used to close the pouch, or mated to a corresponding loop field inside the pouch to stow it out of the way.

The pouch itself, being mesh, is quick draining, and breathable, perfect if you have damp gym clothes or a high-profile head you need to get back home. As long as it's a smallish head, I suppose. This isn't meant as a full-sized dump pouch, it's specifically fo small-jobs. The pouch is spacious enough to easily stow 6 or more 5.56 sized magazines (MS Clean gun cleaning kits seen here) to give you an idea.

With three separate mounting options; the 2x2 PALS/MOLLE, a webbing linked tri-glide buckle and broad belt loop wide enough to take any of my duty or rigger belts, the LD is good and modular, as you'd expect from Platatac. This small, utilitarian pouch sits innocuously on the side of my pack, but would equally disappear on my hip, along side my Mark IV pouch and multitool pouches.

I'm all for keeping my hands clear, and as much as I like cargo-pockets on both my pants and kilts, there are definitely times when stuffing some loot in a bag on a pack is superior to shoving them in a thigh pocket.

The LD dump pouch is perfect for that kind of job.

Review: Sierra Madre Research - Nube hammock tent

I have been waiting to get a good set up to take pictures of this next piece I wanted to share with you all..

Quite some time ago I backed a Kickstarter project for what  I thought was a pretty far out idea. A tent for a hammock. I love hammocks, you may recall I have several already, from the vast 5 person Hummingbird Mega-hammock to the pocket sized adventure ready Eagles Nest Outfitters hammock.

The folks at Sierra Madre Research came up with an answer to a question that has been posed by hammock lovers: how do you get tent like comfort in a hammock?

This is the Nubé.

The Nubé (pronounced "new-bay" for those who don't know how to pronounce the squiggles) is more than just a hammock shelter like a tarp or other top-cover, it’s a more like a safe haven for you and your gear wherever you are. Regular tents are subject to ground water, lumpy terrain, and all kinds of ground critters.

The Nubé is a complete hammock shelter,  which not only acts as a very broad rain cover, is fully enclosed with mesh side, protecting protecting you from insects, snakes and facehuggers. It keeps you and your gear elevated and protected, letting you hang out in comfort.

The Nubé is designed to be compatible with any camping hammock system and does itself not bear any weight. It attaches to and is suspended by your hammock suspension system, which in turn bears your weight and the gear stowed in the underslung Gear Stash below.

At the top of the Nubé is made from a 40 Denier nylon rip stop with 2 coats of silicone on the top and bottom of the fabric. The corners of the rain-shield hosts the Sky Hooks, a pair of reinforced webbing straps connect to 3mm Dyneema cordage (with easy-spot reflective tracers in the weave). These attach to hammock suspension system and are held taught by it.












At six points around the base of the cover, 2mm Dynema cords attached to similar webbing straps (which all also bear reflective flashings).

The cords tied down to the very nice aluminium mini-star picket with eyelets to feed the cords through, so you don't loose them when you're well off-grid somewhere. The tie-downs are notched to facilitate better attachment.

These come in a pouch that attaches to the tent pouch. This is probably the least elegant part of this system. The tie down cords wrap around the webbing, and are kept in place when in storage by a very clever hook and loop flap built into the webbing.


The Nubé fits around the hammock and completely encloses it, and works its way up the attachment system cords at both ends, and has Verso Closure Sleeves an elastic drawstring sphincter, with a cord-lock. These seal down around the main cords and not only block the rain, but also keep out bugs and all manner of creepy invaders.

The whole Nubé weighs  1.2kg (2lbs 10oz) and when fully set up is 3.6 - 3.9m (12 - 13') depending on how far the end Closure Sleeves are set up.

The Nubé sits at 2.7m (9') wide, not counting the tie down cords. That is a lot of umbrella coverage, which really impressed me.

And then you need to see the INSIDE of the tent.
The mesh bug-shield is fully integrated with the cover and zippers shut, along the whole length of one side. There are toggles spaced along the opposite wall allow you to tuck it all away as needed.

There are lots of internal features inside the shelter as well. On both sides there are two triangular pockets which both also feature gear clips at the bottom. The height achievable from the ground is based basically only restricted by where you have slung your hammock, but I have found that I can stand up fairly comfortably stand (at 6'4") in the shelter at the height I like slinging my hammock. There is even room to sling a SECOND hammock, forming what Sierra Madre call a HamBunk, (seen here in green and orange).

The base of the  shelter is where the Gear Stash is located, made of 70 Denier nylon with a rip stop weave (with a PU coating of 1200mm) along the very bottom of the mesh lined bottom half and it is almost long enough to act as a mini hammock all on its own (it's certainly big enough for Tactical Baby, now 3, to lay in happily).

 The Gear Stash has it's own suspension cord, and a cinch closure as well, which keeps it off the ground and secured. As the Nubé is not designed to be weight bearing, the fact that the Gear Stash has it's own cords means that you can really load it up.

I was really impressed with every aspect of the Nubé (apart from the peg bag, but I also cant think of a better way to store them, so I won't complain too loudly).

The Gear Stash is quite spacious, and I can imagine you being able to fit a bunch of stuff down there, it's long and narrow, so a big wide pack like an MALICE 2 pack might spill over the sides, but it can certainly take a number of narrower packs, like the Platatac Nomad covert, and the Mystery Ranch 1Day Assault Pack easily enough, even togther.

One of the really cool things the Sierra Madre team have thought to add are a number of QR 2d barcode links to "how-to" for each of the features on YouTube. I found this really useful (and thankfully when I set it up for the first time I was in a service area), and the tabs themselveswere of a long lasting plastic, so hopeully they will last for next time I am caught scratching my head lookign at a web of parts.

That said the Nubé was remarkably intuitive to set up, but with so many features, its worth doing your research and learning how to use it most effectively. All the Seirra Madre products are fitted with compression sacks, and even these had had a lot of thought out into them.

The Nubé sack features four tightening points, but these are made with two U-shaped loops of webbing, so you have no loose trailing ends, and a carry handle built in. It packs down to 25 cm x 15 cm x 15 cm (10" x 6" x 6") and is a neat little ball.

Everything about this system was really well thought out, and I'm really looking forwards to my next outdoor sleeping experience (post-apocalyptic LRP "After The Fall").


The Nubé is constructed by skilled hands in SMR's manufacturing facility SMR ILLUMINATE in Managua, Nicaragua. They also do humanitarian work, it gives me a good feeling to know that not only did I back the creation of a cool product, but the people that do it go on to make the world more robust.

Stay tuned for reviews on their other components to the Nubé system:

• The Pares Hammock, the purpose built, deluxe platform to base the Nubé around.
• The xPlor hammock, the base level hammock, perfect to add to build the HamBunk twin system.
• The Nubé Floor is an accessory that gives you the ability to set up your Nubé as a ground shelter, without trees.
• The Nubé Winter Barrier is an accessory that gives your Nubé 4th season protection. 

Review: Fenix CL20 camp lantern

Whilst I was looking for a replacement for my lost Fenix TK51, (finally settling on the most excellent LD60) I also saw the newly released CL20 camp lantern that Fenix have put out. Sean from G8 Distribution was kind enough to send one to me one to trial.

The CL20 Camp Lantern weighs in at 100g (3.6oz) excluding batteries, and 8cm (3.1") length x 4.5cm (1.8") width x 6cm (2.3") high, making it pocket sized,and its rounded shape makes it ideal for stuffing into a pack, or pocket, and not having to worry about sharp edges jabbing you or your gear. That rounded dome houses a multifaceted internal coating, which coupled with the neutral white Cree LED, gives a very gentle light, making it easy on the eye, even at the maximum settings.
As with all of the Fenix lights I've used, the output is digitally regulated, maintaining constant brightness levels regardless of battery life and includes reverse polarity protection to protect from improper battery installation. The CL20 will take either a pair of AA's, or a single CR123A, giving you a range of power options for better.

A push button control on the side steps up from the lowest setting, 8 lumen, then on to 50, 100 and finally the maximum of 165 lumen. At this setting, it casts a 10m glow, perfect for tents and work areas. a double-press of the button when off turns on a second LED, in red, and supplies a 1.5 lumen glow, enough for navigating around a dark enclosure, or finding your way along a path, but not so much as to dazzle you out of your night vision.

The most exciting features of the lantern apart from its great ergonomics are that the red LED also has a "SOS" style flashing mode, accessible by toggling the button again when on red-LED mode. The other great features are the attachment options.

A metal ring attached to the middle of the lanterns base gives you tent hook attachment, as well as acting as a latch to access the battery compartment. Beside the metal ring, on either side, are two rare-earth magnets which gives you ferromagnetic attachment options. I've now hung mine from a shower hook, stuck it to frame of my car, the wall of a shed and to the bolt holding up my Ikea Gorm shelves.

With an IPX-6 waterproofing rating (heavy rain and brief submersion) and a 1.5m drop rating, this little light is both rugged and useful. I can imagine it becoming a standard addition to my camping kit, but also to my car tool-kit, and also as part of my black-out recovery kit.

Full power white LED in a dark room

Red LED in a dark room

Review: cast iron pans

I thought it might be time to look at some more rustic side of both camping and survival. I've covered some light-weight cookware  before which is just the thing if you are humping a pack into the back country, or making a roost half way up a mountain, but they just don't have the feel of home cooked cookware, nor do they have the feel that comes of more solid construction.

Modern pans, with ceramic, teflon or even enamel coating, with a variety of metals as the base, aluminium, steel, sandwiched copper, but some are delicate, some warp and some don't do well in open flame.

However, cast iron is a tried and true material, in common use for pans from 200BC until the 1970's.

Cast iron has the ability to withstand and maintain very high cooking temperatures, and its excellent heat retention makes it a good option for long-cooking stews or braising. A well seasoned pan will have a layer protecting the cookware from rusting, providing a non-stick surface for cooking, preventing food from interacting with the iron of the pan. This forms essentially a renewable "non-stick" surface.

Frequent use of acidic foods such as tomato sauce or the harsh cleaning of the pans will remove the seasoning and the cookware will need to be re-seasoned frequently.  This is one of the reasons cast-iron has fallen out of favour, it requires attention. They can also rust, when neglected.

It's also heavy. The 9" all-iron pan weighs 1050g (2.3lbs), the
10" wooden handled pan 2000g (4.4lbs), where as the teflon coated red handled 10" pan under these
weighs half that.  That said cast-iron pans are bomb-proof. The wooden handled one I picked up in New Zealand, and brought home rather than discarding, the all iron pan, I found at an op-shop.

I heartily recommend anyone who spends time outdoors, and can hump a bit of extra weight, to pick up a cast iron pan. They cook really well without burning, warping or leaching nasties into your food. They can take a fair bit of abuse and, with some very easy maintenance they'll last a lifetime.