Re-Blog: Self Reliance

I came across a very informative article recently, that I thought my be of interest to you my readers.

Dan West is the founder and CEO of Walden Labs, a certified permaculture designer (Geoff Lawton, 2013), and a seeker of truth. In 2014 he bought a 100+ year old, rundown, farm in the north of Sweden that he's transforming into a resilient homestead full of abundant natural production systems.

"When you are new to self-reliance, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I wish I could tell you the "lost" feeling changes over time, but it doesn’t.
The truth is; while you expand your knowledge of taking care of yourself, your interests in new subjects and skills can spiral out of control.
That’s the thing with depending on yourself, it’s hard to just specialize on doing just one thing. Sure you can become a master of growing potatoes, but potatoes won’t keep you warm through the winter or quench your thirst.
And, when you think you have figured something out, you may realize that you have solved only a small piece of the puzzle."

Mr West has developed this infographic to outline and track a wide variety of elements to self reliance, untpder he major headings of food, water, shelter, energy and protection. It's well worth checking out, and you can download a high resolution PDF version of this document from his article.

Disaster Shopping Event: Kathmandu trip

I was wandering the streets recently, and passed one of the big-chain outdoors stores with a sale on, and thought I'd pop in to see what was what.  I thought I might do a new thing for a spot. I wandered around and found 6 items that I would want to grab and go with if a disaster was imminent. This wasn't a very well thought out thing, and I might do it differently next time, but the premise was: "if SHTF whilst out strolling, what would I grab and go with, right now". I had parked my car only a block away, I had my family with me (Omega, Lorin and Tactical Baby), so we already had a reasonable EDC and BOB capacity on-hand.

Dynamo Radio which gives you a portable and personally powered connection to the outside world, at least listening in. The Radio is recharged by turning the crank for 90 seconds (providing approximately 40 minutes of playback). It also features a torch, clock and alarm. It carries a IPX6 "Splashproof" rating, and even features an earphone jack (reducing your noise signature, and reducing power consumption).

 An internal rechargeable battery pack (2.4V/300mA) powers the radio two LR-44 button batteries run the clock, but it can It can run off AAA 1.5V batteries or be powered by an external DC3V adapter. It has a pretty standard frequency range (AM 540-1600KHz, FM 88-108 MHz). It weighs 200g and is pocket sized.

Phantom MTB v4 hydration pack caught my eye as a carry-it-all.
Lightweight & simple, with enough room for the essentials required for a short trip if we had to hump it. Its design encourages airflow & comfort, with airmesh harness and backing and and adjustable straps. It features a multi-tool organiser, waist strap for secure running or climbing, reflective come-rescue-me flashings, and is 2L hydration bladder compatible. It's construction is of some very lightweight materials, the main body being a P600D Oxford, the trim a N420D SC HD and the lining N210D Oxford, all materials are double polyurethane coated for waterproofing.  It weighs only 390g and this is telling, it's a pretty flimsy pack, compared to the usually mil-spec bags I'm used to, but it would have work well enough for what

With more storage and salvage in mind, as well as contamination reduction, I spied a
Dry Sac 3-pack, which would meet that need. Constructed of a light but tough 30D diamond patterned nylon ripstop with polyurethane coating. The three pack comes in three sizes: Large 48cm L x 33.5cm W, 8L capacity, medium 38cm L x 26.5cm W, 2L capacity and small 28.5cm L x 20cm W with 1L capacity. They are lightweight, durable, and water resistant with sealed seams. I really like dry-bags,  Its just a matter of stuffing them, rolling down the top a minimum of three times to cover the flap and folding back and clasping the Fastex buckles.

I also saw a pretty good little pocket sized Survival kit in a find-me Safety-Orange case the case's contents: Pencil, Waterproof paper, fire steel and striker, cotton wool (2pcs), button compass, whistle, survival mirror, Wire saw, a small multi-tool, snare wire, fishing kit, salt sachet (2pcs), safety pins (2pcs), duct tape, zip-lock polybag, braided nylon cord and a carabineer.

It's only 12cm x 10cm and weighs 186g, so would be a very quick way to bolster a survivors kit on short notice.


Power and light are key elements for even short term comfort in a disaster situation ,and can greatly improve morale which is where something like the LuminAid come into play
This is a solar powered, inflatable LED light, with a waterproof (IPX-7) solar cell, battery and LED lantern, which is housed in a PVC-free balloon, which makes it buoyant, and dissipates the light evenly, making it a lantern rather than a flashlight. The battery is fully charged after 7 hours of direct sunlight, and can retain its charge for up to three months, before needing a top up. 

It has two light settings, a 15 lumen glow, with 12 hours of illumination, and 30 lumens, with 6 hours of charge. The bladder is blown up by a valve, the same kind of valve seen on pool toys world wide. At 77g this is a simple innovation that would go a long way to driving back the chaos after a disaster, especially in a family situation. 

A second light also caught my eye, this time as a communal power source as well as light source. The Power source lantern has a Cree R5 LED 3W light with four lighting modes: high – 150 lumens; medium – 75 lumens; low – 13 lumens; flashing, with corresponding run times: high – 6 hours; medium – 12 hours; low – 94 hours. The lantern also features a USB output which can be used to connect and charge your digital devices as a power source. It features a rechargeable Li-ion 3300mAh battery offering DC 5V-1A Max output. 

The lantern can be placed on its base, hung by its built-in hook, or attached to metal via powerful built-in magnets. It also features a battery indicator and has a  IPX5 splash resistance rating. Being able to keep a phone charged can also be really useful and potentially life saving survival tool.

So, there is my quick summary of six items that caught my eye that I might grab, if I happened to be passing near a Kathmandu store in the outbreak of a sudden disaster. 

Review: Platatac SUP pouch

Here's a very useful pouch that has gone un-sung for a while, but I wear one every day. This is the Platatac SUP II Small Utility Pouch.

It was primarily designed as a pistol magazine pouch, which I got to model with one of the Glock style iCombat CO2 training magazines the SUP mk II can carry a range of items including pistol magazines, multitools or knives, flashlights of up to 1” diameter bezel, flexicuffs and even OC spray if that's your thing.

The pouch has a hook-and-loop removable lid can be adjusted to securely fit items varying in length. There is an internal hard plastic plating within the flap, for one handed operation during the reload or access to your needfuls. Internal elastic retention on the sides allows the SUP mk II to act as a shingle for CQB application. Might not be as tacticool as a TACO pouch but they fully work. I have my second-hand Gerber multitool in one of mine, which lives in the small of my back on one of my rigger belts, everywhere I go.

These low profile pouches are great for storage of quick access items and are small enough to be placed anywhere on your rig without hindrance to your freedom of movement.

The pouch is fitted with PALS/MOLLE attachment system, with a single channel of two rows, one after another (no gape) so you can loop it a couple of ways. Instead of a press-stud closure it has a fiddly hook-field sewn into the bottom webbing loop, and the stiff plastic reinforced tongue has a corresponding field-loop, and a tab of webbing to use as a draw pull. I found this really difficult to set up right, as it was on the opposite side of the tab than I would have expected. This means that to fasten it it has to be doubled over, which made me pretty nervous about how well it attaches.

It's never come loose, even when I have had it rigged for a belt loop, rather than fed through other PALS/MOLLE but I'm just hesitant.

The drainage grommet in the bottom of the pouch nicely frames the needle-nose Gerber pliers, and seats them nicely, and having a good pouch for my multitool has been a crucial part of my EDC. 

Review: VSSL Outdoor Utility cache

First seen on Breach Bang & Clear

I had missed the release of this particular product when it ran through its Kickstarter campaign, mostly for financial reasons, but my dear friend and Kickstarter aficionado Gareth Hodges had one and wanted to pass it on, so I snapped it up at a generous discount (thanks man!), so I have had one in my hot little hands, and pack for a while now.


This is the "utility" model of the VSSL which is to say, one of five models they offer, and this one is filled with s variety of useful and needful survival items.
The main body of the canister is a machined aluminium tube, with end caps that screw in to give a gasketed airtight seal. Each VSSL unit is 23cm (9") long by 5cm (2") diameter made from seamless extruded mil-spec anodized aluminium, and this model weighs 510g (18 oz). 

The unit is very sturdy, the two end caps are knurled, and the body has engraved details on it, as well as some knurling as well, giving a solid grip to open either end.


The real utility of the unit however is in its contents. As well as the two end caps, one of which has a dual mode (static high/low and SOS) LED ‘flood’ beam lantern light, illuminates a large area ( which runs on 3x N type or Energizer E90 batteries), and the tail cap holds a 4 hour burning pure Canadian beeswax candle and has an oil filled compass on its surface.

The seven little aluminium pill-boxes each with a small collection of survival needfulls, some in pairs, others singly. 


The contents are thus:

Razor blade

6 Aquatabs® water purification tablets

Wire saw (high tensile, 60lb working strength with handle straps)

Aluminium beadless emergency whistle

Waterproof matches

Tinder Quik® fire starters

Fishing Gear

Signalling Mirror

Marine grade rope (250lb breaking strength)

Reflective trail markers

P38 military GI Type can opener

First aid supplies 

VSSL priorities of survival and instructions

There's a good spread of items, and here they are itemized:The pill-boxes aren't hermetically sealed, but they don't really need to be, as they all live in the VSSL tube. The contents aren't meant to be for long term sustainment, rather to help out in the event of a short term emergency, or even to fill a gap in your EDC when out adventuring. It's solid construction and precision machining makes it a very well put together survival cache. 

The weight is a bit of a concern considering the overall size and scope of the contents, however, they are well packaged, so would be safe and ready to use when you need it, whether it's been sitting in your pack, in the back of your car or buried in your safe-drop spot. 

VSSL also produce several other versions of the flask: a Fist-Aid canister (full of boo-boo repair items), a Shelter canister (with a tarp, line and the like), an empty canister (build your own), a Flask (300mL of capacity and two collapsing shot cups) and their Zombie Spike version (for brain stabby goodness). 

Wish Lust: Kickstarter - Leveraxe

New Leveraxe - The Smart Axe Reimagined. Reinvented. Reborn.

Here's a last-minute plug for a very cool idea. I am a big, big fan of axes,part of my Viking heritage no doubt, and my favorite logsplitter is the Fiskars but I'd be willing to give it away if I managed to lay-hands on one of these weird looking axes, now being re-released on Kickstarter

About 20 years ago a 74-year-old Finnish inventor, Heikki Kärnä, began clearing trees to build a house, an arduous task that led to an obsession with improving on the tools he found at the local hardware store. He spent 15 years building numerous prototypes of his axe at a local steel workshop. Now the product is finally ready to be brought in front of wider public and ramp up the production capacity to take on its competitors. It's unique off-center head enables it to chop and split hardwood logs far easier, and faster than conventional symmetrical mauls and splitters. Check out this video...




Leveraxe took first steps to approach their market niche in the USA. Thus far the feedback from test users has been amazing and interest towards this invention had rapidly spread worldwide. Most importantly there have been no reported accidents with Leveraxe since they started selling their previous models. The popularity of these axes exploded once other bloggers began posting YouTube videos of Leveraxe in action, splitting hardwood. I'm late to the party, but it looks phenomenal.


The main purpose of their Kickstarter campaign is to introduce their product to the US market and find resources to invest in their own production tools.

The original version's handle is made of wood, whilst the new handle will be made of a polyamide, much like the Fiskars axes, which is characterized by high mechanical strength, stiffness and thermal resistance. Most futuristic about this part is that it is hollow inside, making the Leveraxe even more lighter which in turn helps to build up more speed when in action. Furthermore, this polyamide offers high toughness at low temperatures, fr those of you with sub-freezing winters as well as easy processing.

The new axe head will be made of a cast steel alloy, which enables us to produce more complicated products in one step but also offer excellent wear resistance in later use. With the upgrade, they will keep all the proven features of the original design (like the side hook, which clamps onto the log after the swing of the axe), and are even offering the axe in KickStarter Green.



Thus far Leveraxe has managed to make small production batches and distributed their invention in small quantities and have relied solely on receiving customer feedback for advertising purposes. However, to move on produce on a larger scale they require expensive production tooling which is why they have now taken the step to ask people to help them out through crowdfunding.

It's not a small investment, but it looks like it is built to last, and the sheer style of the thing makes it desirous beyond measure.  I want physics to do the work when I am splitting logs, and make all that time in high-school pay off. The payoff in reduced fatigue, jamming, bouncing or over-cutting risks alone would make it worthwhile for a serious wood-fire burner. If it weren't for the exorbitant shipping costs that big items are hit with to Australia, I'd be all over this. Only a few days left, get in quick!

Review: maybe 5.11 Tarani x14 karambit

We have friends who heard that I have a thing for knives, and fixing broken things, and they send a mashed karambit they were very proud of my way. It looked like it had been stood on, popped the main blade fixing screw, and some of the torsion spring and locking mechanisms had bent and warped. The belt clip had two missing screws, but the blade was in good shape, if a little blunt. I got out my TORX screwdrivers and set to work.

Once I found a spare main fixing screw I had in my parts-bucket, and bending and hammering the frame lock spring back into shape I was pretty satisfied that I'd rejuvenated the blade back into a functional state. The thing was, even fully screwed together, it seemed ... wobbly. I held it in my hand and looked at the 5.11 logo and Tarani branding and thought to myself "is this something that Tom Davin would have released?" I had some serious doubts.

I did a web-search on the listed data "5.11 Tarani X14 karambit" and all I came up with were Russian language YouTube reviews, and an Ali Express listing for a 5.11 Tarani x14 karambit.

I asked Omega for the 5.11 CUB Tarani Karambit that I got fer her a couple of years ago and held them side by side, the difference was immediately obvious. Even if the "x14" was an entry level, budget version of the "CUB", it just seemed too different, with a torsion spring rather than a linear liner lock. The molding of the scales was also a little bit off, not sharp enough or well finished enough to be a match to the 5.11 logo.  The scales and the frame were also not fully flush.

That might have been because of the damage it had sustained, but it seemed more likely, due to poor construction in the first place.

At full length it makes a 16 cm (6.3") arc, with the blade making up 7 cm (2.7"). At it's widest, the blade is 2.8 mm thick, and made out of 440 steel, half serrated for extra bitey cutting needs, and is apparently hardened to a 55 HRC rating. The surface is oxidation coated, for rust prevention, and marked with a very convincing 5.11 logo on one side, and the Tarani logo on the other. Weighing in at 120 g (4.25oz, it's quite light and lithe in the hand, the ring-loop fitted me well, although the gaps within the frame meant that if I gripped tightly, they could have dug in.

Its a nice enough knife if you're not looking for reliability, or quality and want to look badassed with your karambit. I will happily address my thoughts if 5.11 get back ti me, but overall, my impression was that this was a poorly put together piece.

Review: Propper -Pistol Rug

As first seen on Breach Bang & Clear today ... 

Here's an interesting piece from Propper, with some pretty specific uses. This padded, zipperable case is marketed as a pistol carriage case, and here's what I thought of it. Constructed of durable Cordura material on the outside, and with a quality zipper set along two and a half of the three sides, the case is both well put together and well presented. A leather foot fits along the base of the zipper, to ensure it remains secure and adds to the overall finish of the piece. This is the Propper Pistol Rug.

Propper offer this in 8", 11" and 13" sizes, the two I have are the . Probably the best feature of the case, is the all-encompassing soft closed-cell foam that fills the middle of each panel. This foam runs right up to the very edge case, and is faced with a soft fabric lining. This will keep your gold-inlay and pearl handles safe and scratch free, but for me the best part is that that soft foam keeps whatever you have stored in the case pinned in place, and yet doesn't silhouette against the outer faces. You don't get any indication of what is inside it once its zipped up.I have a base-guitar case that I carry swords around in from time to time, like some sort of Aussie nordic metal mariachi, and apparently you can do the same thing with firearms too.

Living in Melbourne, Australia, its rather difficult for a regular citizen to own a handgun; not impossible, but there are a lot of red tape to get and then maintain the appropriate licenses. I've not gone down that path, but I do have a reasonably good mock-up training tool at my disposal. This solid aluminum cast of a Walther P99 gives a decent look-and-feel. You can see that you can also carry a reasonably big knife like my Super Colubris in one of these too, to the same effect. Both are contained nicely by the bag and can take a fair amount of abuse before the tools contained slip around and reach an edge, away from the padding.

One very clever piece of design is that the metal d-ring located at the closed-zipper end of the bag, as well as acting as a lanyard loop if needed, can also act as a locking point, for you to slip a little padlock through to offer you some additional security. Sure, it won't stop a dedicated evil-do'er or zealous airport boarder-security professional, but it will certainly keep little-hands and drunken idiots off the dangerous tools. It will also limit the chances of an accidental exposure of your particular piece. Especially important if you want to transport your tools without flashing the neighborhood. It isn't armoured, it isn't waterproof, it isn't high-speed. It's just a padded bag, but we well thought out one.


When filled and zipped, the bag will slip nicely and inconspicuously into the bottom of a pack, again without silhouetting or drawing unnecessary attention to itself. With no other external features other than the logo, it's stealth without LOOKING like it's stealth, which is perfect for the casual carrier. Security through obscurity.

[Late note:] I managed to swing a play with one of these simulation/training Glock's this week and the Pistol Rug seemed to work perfectly. I managed to stop myself from wandering off with the pew pew toy and thus will live to play another day.