Home Front: Battle belt

There is a lot to be said for having a go-bag, get-home-bag or bug-out bag ready and kitted out for those dire-circumstances where you need bare-necessities to make it to a secondary location.  But sometimes, requirement for action is a little less dire, demanding light-weight gear in limited capacity, but needs to be ready to go.  

One such method is to have a battle-belt. In my case I have set out to build a camping/hiking belt that has all the things I might find needful whilst out on the trail or if I needed to blaze one of my own. 

I've been modifying its setup for some time adding things, moving things and testing it on every hike we go on. The current setup has been pretty stable, both physically but also dynamically. 

I've included, hydration, first aid, navigation, fire-lighting and shelter options as well as storage space for other pieces of kit.

I started off with my Heavy Cover 
Titanium canteen and nesting cup in a GGG tactical pouch that I found in my collection. I put this central at the back of the belt for weight distribution. This gives me 37oz (1.1L) of water ready to go as well as a cook-pot and water sterilization (by boiling) method, on my person. Left of the canteen pouch is an older Platatac radio pouch that I use to house a ferrocerium rod and striker combo, a bic lighter, a set of medical sheers and a folding saw. 

So I have fire-making options and fire-crafting options. to the left of the radio/fire pouch is a three-pocket admin pouch where I keep a Sharpie, a pencil, sharpener, crayons a small note-book and space for my phone, as well as space for additional items. Right of the canteen is a Blackhawk Stealth Weapon Catch which holds a Go! outfitters Landing Pad mini-tarp for some single person shelter. To the right of that i have a tear-open GGG IFAK, that i've filled with a variety of bandages, gloves and the like, along with a CAT tourniquet  for extreme bad-times recovery and a Gerber Crisis Hook to round out the rescue/aid pouch.

To the right of the IFAK is a large Kryptek Highlander pattern pouch that contains a 100 foot spool of Go! Outfitters reflective guy-line as well as my emergency IR helmet strobe. I also have a couple of bundled hanks of paracord, one half of a set of pocket binoculars, and an Extac Australia Pocket Shot along with the arrow brush fitting and a couple of bags worth of marbles and bb's as ammunition. 

Finishing up the items carried on the belt is a collapsible mesh sided platatac ld dump-pouch, for foraged or salvaged items, and a horizontally slung ZU Bladeworx Grunt fixed blade knife that sits at belt-buckle level. A very sturdy tool for cutting, battoning and all manner of blade-craft. 

After its first big outing I realized that I needed to add shoulder straps to assist with its bulk and weight, so I rigged up some harness straps with some recycled kiddy car-seat straps.  With a little adjustment, I've managed to distribute the weight of all the items and keep it stable for those long hikes, or short dashes.

The belt that forms the basis of this set up is a Propper 360 riggers belt that has a hook and loop and locking bar fixture as well placed attachment ring for attaching safety lines or other retention systems. This belt runs through an older Platatac 3s belt pad that has PALS/MOLLE loops throughout and suspender loops as well as a breathable mesh padding. 

I think I might upgrade this ad-hoc system to something purpose made, like the Platatac bk harness perhaps, but for now, this whole rig lives in my room on the back of my desk chair, ready to throw on at a moments notice before rushing out to confront whatever adventure or misfortune may come my way.

Anything i'm missing or should add or remove? 

Review: titanium pry bar

Time to cover another piece of EDC that has slipped beneath my reporting radar for too long. Its no secret that i'm fond of titanium tools, they're strong, light and non-magnetic. I'm also very fond of pry-bars. Remember kids, your knife is not a pry-bar. Nor is your screw-driver. 

I've always been "the knife guy" in my circle of friends, because I always have at least a pocket pen-knife on my person. More and more these days, environments are less and less permissive when it comes to knives, so I've looked to alternatives. A quick self-audit showed me that I open a lot more boxes than I do cutting food,  and the leading edge of a pry-bar can do a number on most packing tape I've encountered. So I've added more pry-bars to my collection than knives of late. I also find myself making adjustments to equipment and storage units to make things fit more often that I am cutting things. In my search for a more perfect EDC pry-bar, I came across this listing right ebay link for this very functional tool. 

Machined from a solid billet of TC4 titanium alloy it lays 11cm long by 1.6cm wide and 1cm tall. It has a stiffening channel milled down it length on both sides a set of two crenellations at the tip end and three at the butt end as well as a deep scalloping for ergonomic grip. A lanyard hole at the butt end adds a good retention and draw option. The working end of the pry bar comes down to a symmetrical edge with a 2cm slope ending at a flat 1cm wide,  2mm final bevel. 

Its not a chisel, its a pry bar and that final edge is strong whilst being fine enough to slip in to most locations I've needed to pry up. That said, some jobs have required a little persuasion either lifting, wedging or just tapping the tool in to get that wedge started. Once started though, the tool performs nicely, lifting with the sturdy and ergonomic body. After a long period of it living in my pocket along with other elements of my EDC I whipped up a small leather belt pouch from some scraps, where it has been a handy tool for all my prying, tape cutting and even occasional flat-head screw driving need. All in a mere 45g item.

This is a lovely tool that I've enjoyed using and just nice in the hand as a fidget toy.

Home Front: Dried food stew

 Pushing on with a food and meals theme, I thought i'd make a start with this simple meal. I started out by collecting my ingredients. I'm a big fan of dehydrating food and I wanted to try my home-dehydrated items out. I had bought and dehydrated bags of frozen peas, corn and diced onion. ( hint for the novice, do these all separately to avoid mixing when they fall through the grills when shrunk by dehydration).1kg  frozen peas yielded 252g and 1kg frozen corn yielded 223g corn kernels. Pictured here was 1 cup of each, a half cup of dehydrated onion, 1 cup of  "soup mix" (beans, split peas, lentils,  I also used a handful of  hard jerky I had made, cut into 1" squares, a tablespoon of seedy mustard, and a half teaspoon each of granulated garlic and fennel seeds. So the only wet ingredient was the mustard. The rest could be stored in a sack and if in a decent jar, would last pretty much indefinitely.  

It was light on seasoning, but I wanted to make as minimalist a meal as possible, to see what little you could get away with and still have a palatable meal. 

I wanted to push the rustic angle so 

I opted to prepare this in a piece of stoneware I had acquired at an op-shop. This  Stoneware Tureen had a close fitting lid and wing-handles and similar items can be found elsewhere too. I put all the ingredients into the tureen and added 6 cups of water, put the lid on and put it in the oven on low for a number of hours. 

With plenty of water and a long and slow cook everything re-hydrated nicely and with a couple of stirs to blend flavours, it came together nicely. The jerky softened up and the peppery marinade I had made it with blended into the stew just a little, but pleasantly so.

The peas, soup mix and onions all softened up and thickened the soup into a hearty stew. The corn re-hydrated about 70%, enough to be tender, but not juicy. 

I tested it after a couple of hours, stirred it and  added a little more water then left it to bake some more. The beef softened up but was still a bit tough. smaller chunks or perhaps some beating to soften the fibres might help next time. 

I cooked it down till there wasn't any standing liquid, which might have been a mistake, but it was soft, not soggy when I decided it was "ready" and ladled myself out a serve. It smelt great whilst slow cooking and whilst not exciting to look at, was both surprisingly tasty and filling, with a couple of good ladle fulls making a solid meal and this made several servings worth. 

If and when i make this again, I think id use beer or stock for the liquid base, and add some form of fat or oil just to bolster it and add richness. Perhaps bacon or spec in chunks?

Some additional seasoning wouldn't go astray, perhaps even just a bay leaf or two. 

It was certainly a good way to make use of my dehydrated ingredients and made a very satisfying set of meals for what would be a very light  batch of ingredients (I forgot to measure, bad scientist).

This kind of meal is called a pulse. It is very ancient and exceedingly simple to make. Next time with more rigorous record keeping. 

What else should I add? Might try dehydrating frozen carrot next. 

This is certainly a meal one cold make in the coals of a campfire, even semi-buried in ashes and returned too after ranging for a solid evening meal. Well worth trying, even with the risk of burning. 

dehydrated MRE style meal

'pocalypse-stew!!

Review Oceanus Brass - Cablelaid cordage cutter

Here's another solid brass tool to add to my loadout of adaptive hardware. I'm always looking out for tools that can help me adapt to my environment or supplement my resources, especially if normal resources are unavailable or scarce. This particular tool turns plastic drinking bottles into cordage!

You'd be pressed pretty hard to wander too far anywhere and not find modern trash. Plastic drinking bottles get thrown out of cars along roadways, get blown or dumped into waterways and turn up all over the place. The trick is to turn this abundant waste into useful product! Thats where a tool like the Cablelaid by Oceanus Brass comes in. Machined from solid brass bar stock, the tool is based around a simple principle; a razorblade, held in place behind a channel to feed the leading edge of the plastic through and cordage out the other side. 

The top plate of the tool is held in place by three inset Alan key screws, to facilitate swapping out of the simple razor blade in the event it dulls, though flipping it would double your cutting mileage, before replacement or sharpening is required. 

The tool has three channels built into the side that both guide the bottle in to the razor edge but also set the width of the cord produced. Notches set at 8mm, 6mm and 4mm to the blade with a 2mm guide slot along the top of the tool. The tool works by cutting the end of a plastic bottle off, then feeding the edge into the desired notch and the razor begins to cut the bottle into cordage. the notch then feeds the bottle in measured width to the razors edge and cordage exits out the back of the tool. 

In order to maintain a constant pressure on the cutting edge and even bind-free cutting, it is beneficial to mount the bottle to the tool, such that it spools.

To facilitate this, the tool has a hole bored through it, that fits a pen, pencil or the purpose made telescoping feed rod, its also helpful to anchor the tool in place, and a couple of nails serve the purpose well. Thus braced, its a matter of cutting an even strand, which takes a little finesse, and more than a few false starts. The more even the initial cut of the bottle is the better the start will be. as notched cord is weak and often snaps as it is drawn off the bottle. 

I found that gripping the end of the cord in some pliers made for a good method, allowing me to focus on keeping an even tension on the cord, such that an even cutting would take place, free from pinching and mis-angled cuts. 

 

From a standard 1.25L soft drink bottle, with a good clean start and careful processing i've been able to reliably cut 10-12m (32-40') of 8mm wide cord.

I've found that removing the label and washing out any sticky residue helps keep the cutting smooth and steady, but the first, initial cut to remove the base of the bottle seems most important. I also found that cutting from bottom to top is most successful.

The tool is pocket sized, at 114mm (~4 1/2") long,  23mm( ~15/16") wide and  11mm(~7/16") tall weighing a solid 184g (~6.5oz) but it'r rock solid and comfortable in the hand the way that solid brass is.

It can take either standard razor blades or alternatively box cutter blades, which fit into machined spots inside the tool. 

The tail end of the tool features a lanyard hole, and comes fitted with a brass Bow-Shackle that is the signature of Oceanus Brass products. Versatile and useful on its own. A final nice touch is that the tool came with replacement blades, spare screws and Alan key as well as the telescopic rod in an all-included package.

Though the art of bottle-cordage conversion requires a certain finesse and practice, it's well worth attempting as an alternative to bought cord and thus far I've found a number of uses around the house and in the garden. More to follow.

Review: Kings Adventure Big Daddy Deluxe Double Swag

In a similar vein as my review of the capable and functional SnugPack Stratosphere Bivy, and from the same birthday purchase splurge last year I also picked up a luxury camping item from Kings Adventure in the form of the Big Daddy Deluxe Double Swag.

Though I tend to prefer hammocks for the "off the ground away from pests" and low footprint aspects. Having a good flat lay can be hard to achieve in a suspended hammock, and its nice to have company that isn't all pressed elbows and knees or bunk-stacked hammocks. For this reason I looked for a double bed style swag.  

 

Kings Adventure was on my radar as source of gear, having seen them at Melbourne Camping and Caravan ShowMelbourne Camping and Caravan Show and having bought my camping stove from them having bought my camping stove from them . A happy medium between tent and bivy bag, a swag like this aa swag like this a self contained bed and shelter system.  

Constructed from waterproof & Ripstop 400gsm canvas, with a heavy-duty waterproof 450gsm PVC bucket floor base. The two arc ends are supported by tent poles with clips, fitting to pegs held in split rings at each corner, have been upgraded to 10.2mm diameter for extra strength. The ends are held up by a telescoping alloy spreader pole, which also connects to polyester clips to lift the roof and keep the whole structure taut and self-standing. Corner pegs and end-flap guy lines help keep it secure and stable. 

Side flaps open all the way with heavy duty zippers on both sides, allowing easy access for either person ( as its a double) and bug-proof mesh with full zippers round out the build. Set up, the Swag is a spacious 2.15m (7') long and over 1.55m (5'1") wide, at the peak of its arc it is 96cm (3'1") high. Internally, both head and foot ends have a zippable window panel, behind more bug-mesh, and under storm flaps, allowing good airflow without compromising comfort. The real selling point for me, beyond the large footprint, was the included mattress. The ripstop fabric covered and free-floating pad is 7cm (2.75") thick, fully expanded. It's so comfortable. 

Not only was it soft and padded, it also breathed and I could lay on it without matt or blanket without getting sweaty. The ceiling has loops for tying up the side flaps if they are up, but when down they serve as good tie-in points for a lamp or in my case to store my glasses whilst sleeping. 

The heavy 400gsm canvas is weather proof and shady, allowing for afternoon naps as well as shelter from harsh sunlight as needs be. 

Overall, I enjoyed sleeping in the Swag far more than I did in the Stratosphere Bivy, primary because of the mattress but also the roominess. Not having the skin of the Bivy pressing down on me made it a lot more comfortable. No shade on the bivy, but the more tent like Swag was a treat. 

Tactical Baby and I camped out over a couple of nights and we did side-by-side camping, swapping after a night from bivy to Swag and we both agreed the swag was the more comfortable. 

We hiked in to our site, and initially I had rolled the swag up in a single layer, so was a wide bundle at a little over 1.55m (5'1") wide, I carried it draped over a shoulder but I had rigged a sling to carry it at the small of my back on the way back which was more convenient but still wide. 

The swag only weighed 14kg, so its no trial to carry, even with the regular camping load, but once home I found I could double it over and roll it up to make a much more manageable bundle at 80 cm long x 50 cm across. This was possible with the built-in straps and double-D-shackle binders. The bundle was thus smaller and more manageable to transport and pack out and in the vehicle. It's obviously not as easy to ruck in as a bivy, but the luxury it brings is palpable and welcome, making up for the minor inconvenience . Better than hauling a full sized tent for sure. I haven't had opportunity to put it through a solid storm-test, but the construction seems solid and the stitching tight.

Review: King's Adventure Stove

 During the opening rounds of Covid lockdowns in the summer months of 2020 it occurred to me that disruptions might linger on till at least winter. Though I live in a temperate city, which rarely dips below freezing, I wanted to ensure I had a source of heating for both warmth and cooking that was off-grid. I have a variety of BBQ's both charcoal and LPG (I also acquired spare LPG cylinders). At the time
I even had a cast iron wood-stove I was restoring. I had seen portable wood stoves for ages and even camped near some on occasion and thought they would suit my projected need quite nicely. Bigger than a backpack pot-stove but not as big as one of my kettle BBQ's or the cast iron one. I wanted something I could use to burn household and reclaimed timber if needs be, more so than logs and branches that an open-fire pit might be used for. Portability was also an important consideration.  

The ads I'd been seeing pointed me towards https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/ which seemed to be a reliable source for robust camping kit. Kings Premium Camp Oven Stove | Wood-Fired BBQ | Enclosed Firepit | Steel Construction | For Camping or Backyard Use - 4WD Supacentre

It seems the particular model I chose is out of production and the current models are square sided, rather than rounded, but this plays very little part in its utility as a camp-stove. 

The curved sides of the stove feature a welded bar on one side, acting as a hanger for tea-towels, tongs of what have-you, for drying and keeping out of the dirt and off the stove itself. It also acts as a barrir to stop things touching the hot sides of the stove. 

 

Stove pipe sections all fit inside the stove for transport and storage. 

On the other side of the stove a similar bar forms a hinged handle for carryig the stove, briefcase style (before setting up). It could also be used for hanging things, but more care needs to bwe taken as its stand-off distance from the belly of the tove is far less than the fixed bar on the other side.  

The three legs of the stove are hinged and fold flush to the belly when in transit, held in place with pins, each with their own retaining chain. The legs each have a round foot, each with a couple of holes drilled through for tent pegs to secure the stove in place. 

The legs, once unfolded, are held in place by those same retaining pins as used for storage. The rigid stove-pipe sections are easily fitted to the stove-body, which features a small section proud of the cook-top for ease of mounting. Its worth noting that one section of pipe features a flue control valve, just a simple spinning disk on a rod that can be angled to choke down the fire as needed.  The five stove-pipe sections do not feature a spark arrestor, or an end-cap, but it has been easy enough to make one with a re-purposed soup-can and a couple of tent pegs. With all five pipes connected the whole stove tops out at 2.45m (~8'), which puts smoke well out of the way, but well worth staking the feet to avoid any tippage. The stove top measures  45 x 24 cm (1'5" x 9 3/4") and has a trio of divots pressed in for rigidity, as well as a 15 cm (3") diameter removable burner lid, with retaining notches and a recess for a hook to pull it off the fire. 

The door is a simple circle, hinged on one side, with a notched latch to secure the fire closed, or cracked open for air-flow. 

The door is also 15 cm (3") diameter, which along with the internal length of the stove at 43cm (17") or so, limits the sice of the wood it is loaded with, but not unreasonably so. A small curved ash-lip is also provided, and slots in under the door to catch and embers that spill whilst filling or stoking the fire. It also provides a nice rest for roasting foods on a stick, in the stove. 

With the burner lid off you can get quite a a roarimg fire going, especially good once the fuel has all caught and the flue is drawing any smoke through. This lets you build a good bed of coals to cook with. You - could- cook directly on the stove top as the bare metal gets quite hot, but I prefer to put a pan or pot on, to assist with cleaning. I've found that the surface does rust if left in the open so have taken to oiling it, as I would to season a cast iron pan which has helped protect it. Obviously this can lead to a bit of smoke as it burns on, but well worth it to keep the stove in good condition and leaves a great finish.

 

A piece of good fortune came in the form of the thick walled cast iron pot that I salvaged and restored fits perfectly into the burner lid opening, which both speeds the hating process but eliminates any smoke escaping. Its important to keep an eye on the cooking progress as with any wood fired stove, it can develop hot spots. 

Whilst obviously not a hiking stove, all together in its canvas carry bag the stove is quite portable, with space inside to carry the stove sections as well as a couple of fire poker tools. 

I dont have a hot-tent, nor much desire to do much cold -weather camping, but if I did, i'm certain this stove would make a fine addition to camp. My famly certainly enjoy the occasional fire-side, back-yard gather, without the concerns of smoke in the face or embers blowing that an open fire would bring. 

Whether its kranskies on-a-stick, a pot of beans, that old classic marshmallows, or a simple pot of tea, there is somehing magical about having your own fire. 

Easy enough for littlest-coyote to set up on their own, compact enough to throw in the back of the bug-out vehicle. 

Blog rating!

I happened across a mention alert in one of my feeds for this blog and was very pleased to find that the aggregator service Feedspot had rated and included Apocalypse Equipped in their rankings. They ranked "Tactical blogs" by Relevancy, authority, social media followers and freshness. Based on their assessments, this blog ranked 35th out of 60 (out of thousands that exist)

Needless to say,I'm thrilled and proud. 

Since starting this blog in January 2012, I've made 724 posts, and received some 1,862,102 views. I've had the good fortune to work with Industry leaders like Platatac, Propper, 5.11 and Breach Bang and Clear

I've slowed the pace of my reviews in the last few years, focusing more on living life with my family, but look forwards to sharing many more needful items, tips and tricks, continuing to bring you all my honest, considered and thorough reviews of kit and gear.