Review: ITW GrimLOC

 When you start to collect a lot of gear, gadgets and kit, the question of "how do i get this to stay on, when I stow it, but come off when I want to use it?" comes up. I've used carabiners for years and years, to attach my keys, wallet and the like to me, mostly using the lightweight accessory carabiners you find hanging by cash-registers. Occasionally I have purchased proper climbing-rated ones, for when I've either been climbing, or wanted to carry some serious gear.

The natural progression for me is to see what others are using, which lead me to these: Apparently originally designed to allow Marines to add hydration systems to their webbing, this is the ITW Grimloc, and they offer a lightweight alternative to metal carabiners for gear storage and utility.

The high strength polymer provides a corrosion resistant, solar heating thermally resistant and lightweight alternative to steel or even aluminium carabiners, for non-load rated tasks. I've read that the breaking rating on the GrimLOC is 80lbs (36kg) and this is actually a design feature.  It prevents the wearer becoming caught up in slings and gear and trapped in potentially a threatening situation. It is also strong enough to take a fair amount of rough treatment, as a sling connection point to a plate carrier, for instance, without compromising utility.

 The way it works is that the curve of the D is hinged, with a locking end which operates by a push button. This mechanism is spring loaded, and incorporates a very clever Self Purging "SP" ports along the sides of the D to eliminate sand from blocking the mechanism.

These ports, along with the deeply fluted sides of curve of the D also add to the positive grip needed for   wet or gloved hands. This also reduces mass and adds strength.



 The locking mechanism will pop open given sufficient force, but will also open with a simple one handed press on the button, and opens partially, or with a little more force locks into an open position.

I've used this to hook my phone case to, run hydration tubes and comms cables over and round my shoulder straps and even offer a quick spot to dangle a bag.

The real magic of the design however, is the built in PALS/MOLLE loop feature.

That angled slit 1/4 along the length of the bar of the D allows enough of a standard 1" webbing strap to be fed into the gap that it will be able to be slotted in, secured into position, without compromising the strength of the clip, and eliminated the dreaded "carabiner roll" where the gate can migrate away from where you want or need it, usually pinching you in the process.

Here are a couple holding my ZuluNylonGear CAOS Admin Pouch to my Platatac Bullock Echo

When fitted properly, the GrimLOC will sit in place, where you need it, for as long as you need it, and come out without any fuss or tools.

I usually fit mine such that when they open, the gate forms a hook, rather than dropping my gear down to the ground. I suppose if I really wanted to go for the "high-speed/low-drag" alternative, I could flip them around, but really, I'd prefer to keep my gear snagged to me at this stage. I know, such a Geardo ...

These are great clips, come in a variety of colours to math your kit, and fill the gap that el-cheepo accessory carabiners simply can't be trusted  to fill.

Home Front: survival nutrition

 Its always interesting to see how food and nutrition is handled in disaster situations in film and TV. From The Walking Dead's baby formula and prison storerooms  to The Day After Tomorrow's vending machines, not to mention ZombieLand's Twinkies and Bill the (delicious) Donkey in The Postman.

I did a little reading about the "average adult daily energy intake" which lead to some interesting findings.

It is common to see "8,700kJ" as the average recommended intake, usually quoted on fast food menu's and the like, (as seen here on this poster for some tasty poultry products seasoned with 11 secret herbs and spices, as devised by a well known Kentucky Colonel.)

This figure is based in part by the Food Standard Code as published by the Australia New Zealand Standards Code (FSC). The FSC lists that value for daily intake levels based on an average adult diet. It is interesting to note however, that this doesn't take into account activity levels, and lifestyle.

It is it seems, more of a "minimum level" for and it has been suggested that it is more suited to bed-ridden individuals, rather than active survivalists, running, ducking, dodging and weaving their way through the ruins of civilization.

Interestingly when I looked up the nutritional content of current MRE kits, they suggested that servicemembers (who were classified as highly active men between the ages of 18 and 30) typically use about 4,200 Calories a day. The conversion is  1 kJ = 0.2 Calories (Cals)or 1 Calorie = 4.2 kJ, giving a figure of 17,640 kJ a little over double the "average adult intake diet".

Lets assume that post-disaster, you will not be having a sedentary desk-job life, and will be a rugged, fighting, and self-reliant survivor, chopping wood for fire, hunting and foraging (or farming) for food, and perhaps battling off marauders, zombies, triffids or the elements.

According to the FSC, and "MyDailyIntake.net", a "balanced diet for an average adult" is made up of the following nutrients each day:

Nutrient	Quantity Per Day
Energy	8,700 kilojoules
Protein	50 grams
Fat	70 grams
Carbohydrates	310 grams
Sugars	90 grams
Sodium (salt)	2.3 grams
Dietary Fibre	30 grams
Saturated Fatty Acids	24 grams

To meet up with our projects "serviceman" levels, you basically have to double that. Obviously, people have done with much less, for millennia and still managed to fight, survive and prosper, till you now find humanity all over the world. 

These "USCG/ SOLAS standard exceeding" food-bars state on their wrapper that  A daily maritime diet (being stuck on a life-boat, i presume) equals 3,333kJ, and a similar land based situation (say, stranded on a desert island) equates to 5,000kJ. However this is a base-survival diet, and wouldn't be much fun, or enough on its own to keep you fighting-fit.

Again, looking around at the figures, I found the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council published this table.

The average amount of kilojoules required daily is represented in the following table:

Age	Male	Female
12-15 years	10 900 kj	9 550 kj
16-18 years	12 900 kj	10 200 kj
19-50 years	11 550 kj	9 300 kj
51-70 years	10 450 kj	8 800 kj
Adults over 70 years	9 450 kj	8 300 kj

Source: NHMRC, Canberra. These figures represent average requirements for the Australian population. Actual energy needs for individuals will vary considerably depending on activity levels, body composition, state of health, age, weight and height. 

This follows the same sorts of levels as I might expect of an average, active person, lying as it does between the "sedentary 8700kJ" and the "active serviceman 17,640kJ", and well above the "marooned on a lifeboat 3,333kJ" levels the USCG suggest.

So, how do you get that level of nutrition, and maintain it, with limited resources?

Prison-style nutra-loaf?

Stockpiles of MREs?

Mainstay Survival Rations?

Pemmican?
a truckload of 2280 kJ Quarter Pounders?


There are lots of choices out there, and it comes down to how you aim to prepare, what you are preparing for, and how you want to live, before and after a crisis comes.

Home Front: Winterising

I really don't like the cold. That's one reason I have stayed in Melbourne, its very mild here in the winter. it rarely drops below freezing, had only snowed in urban areas perhaps twice in the last 20 years and winters, whilst chilly and et at times, blustery and overcast, are short, and pretty much a doddle. Especially when considering I compare those to Calgary, where i lived for two winters, having been evacuated from Dubai, UAE on New Years Eve 1990, or living in England for three years in the 1980's in an old Edwardian house.

My current house is a poorly insulated, rendered weatherboard with wide sliding windows.  It gets hot in summer, and in winter can get cold enough to see our breath indoors. 

Lacking central heating, or even functional fireplaces, we have two options: use the aged wall mounted electric heaters of dubious qulaity and upkeep, or portable heaters like oil radiators.

The third option is to improve on what we have!

I have used long strips of electrical tape to create flaps to cover the seams of our windows, which in turn has reduced the drafts, as well as rattle. We also make judicious use of our venetian blinds, and the available daylight for passive solar heating and heat retention at night.

I have the Pot Belly Stove working nicely, but its purely an outside solution in the rental, in this non-disaster situation, although i could install it, and flute it pretty easily. 

We also tend to cook longer, slower, bulkier foods, partially to provide bigger, hotter meals, but also as the cooking process again acts as "passive" heating, as well as being more likely to use candle-light accents around the house, which also put out heat.  Just recently I inherited a clothes-dryer, which we put in the lounge room. Noisy, but that added heat is very welcome.

Rugging up is the simplest option, and I have a collection of coats (my Platatac Harry 1.2 Softshell is getting a lot of wear this season), gloves (like the Condor Combat Nomex gloves, which have been great on the frosty mornings, like when i scraped enough ice from my window to make this snow-ball) and more often the Ironclad landscaper glovesbecause I've cut the iPhone/iPad because I've cut the finger tips off of the index finger and thumbs for iPhone/iPad touch screen use. Headsox, bandannas and Headover are also the go. I'm not shy of wearing my LazyPatch doona suit either.

The cold totally killed my late crop of tomatoes too .... but at least it doesn't look like i'll need to take "The Day After Tomorrow" steps just yet.

Last days for backers - MS Cleaning kits

 Hi all, I am still looking for people to buy-in with me to help these guys get their project over the line.

my original post is here:
Aussie-readers MS Cleaning Kits

they can ship a dozen kits to Australia for $60 for shipping, on top of the item pledge levels.... or 2 for $40 shipping...

Peter did a podcast which explains the MS Clean and the direction of the company... among other things. Check it out.
http://www.ar15podcast.com/034/


drop me a comment, email or IM if you're keen....

Review: TruSpec Combat Shirt

 I snapped up this shirt from eBay, and have gotten a lot of utility from it. Not surprising considering its design origins.

This is the TruSpec Combat Shirt from Atlanco.

The key thing about this kind of shirt, and the reason I wanted one, was that it combines a 60/40 cotton/nylon blend t-shirt material body with a rugged 65/35 polyester/cotton ripstop blend arms and shoulders. Cool and comfortable torso, tough and rugged arms and shoulders for hard wear and outdoorsy adventure.

Basically I wanted a work shirt that would be good to wear in the long hot Australian summer, in or out of my gear. I always look first to military gear, because i know that it is often built extra hardy, and, essentially, for badassness.

The TruSpec shirts however, have added functionality that is well worth covering. As well as being a breathable, wicking and fast drying ,aterial, the "No Melt, No Drip" Cordura Baselayer fabric is reported to reduce the severity of burn injuries and helps protect against flash fires.

Considering my proclivity for being too close to fires, both controlled, wild and just being stupid, I thought this was a great additional feature that whilst I didn't intend to test to stringently, would come in handy.  As well as what it is made of, the folks at Atlanco gave some thought to those who might be wearing it, and what other utility they would look for. Both biceps house a zippered storage pocket, angled for ease of use.

They also feature loop-fields for attachment of patches, here i've got one from Strike Industries, who make the Simple Plate Carrier pack and Tactical Sling Catch i'm so fond of. 

I've also got a double sided call-sign panel from PatchPanel and one of their IR IFF squares in the built in tape-covered area. Very clever way of making this a "need-only" system of ID.

The other arm features flag, rank and nametape fields, as well as the zippered pocket.

You can also see here the padded elbow patch, with its double stitching and placement to really add to the build.

It was also great to not e that there were no shoulder seams, and all the seams were flat, which really minimizes chafing and pinch-spots, especially noticeable when carrying a pack, or doing repetitive work like chopping wood or digging in a field.

I also liked the cuffs, which also featured hook-and loop closures, to keep nature out, but also the gusseting that kept the fit true.

They offer these in several different sizes, in a variety of colour schemes. I opted for Large/Long in order to accommodate my super long arms, but could have done with a "medium" body fit, i think. The Khaki/Sand option sat nicely for me. You can see here how the tough shirt sleeves poke out of my First Spear OAGRE vest, whilst my torso has the softer wicking cotton/nylon t-shirt.

All in all a very comfortable, rugged and practical shirt, and one that I expect to get a lot of hard wear out of, no matter what I throw at it, or myself into.

Review: Fishbones - Piranha

Yes, here I am again with another Kickstarter project. I'm actually reporting this one out-of-sequence, as through some kind of fulfillment time warp, this is the second of two projects that Brent and Eldrick Garcia put forwards. The first being their very cute "Fishbones" but I haven't had a chance to properly review those just yet.

These are the "v 2.0" product, the Piranha "Knotless gear tie"

As you might have noticed, I am rather enamored of paracord and so should you be! It's great stuff, but one of its great advantages can also be a disadvantage. It holds great knots! Sometimes trying to pick apart a tightly cinched knot can be very arduous, and Brent and Garcia came up with a very elegant solution with their Fishbone tools.

The Piranha is the result of a number of design stages, and really offers great utility as well as a great aesthetic.
Cut from 3/16th" thick 304 Stainless Steel the Piranha measures 60mm (2 1/4") from lip to tail, and 28mm (1 1/4") from crest to fin. There is also a titanium option, for the mass-conscious.

It fits nicely into  MOLLE channels, with the dorsal fin hooking neatly over, and being held in place with the tail-fin notch. I found that that tail-fin notch was a snug fit for Type 111paracord, which proved to be very useful in snagging and camming the cord into place.

Speaking of camming, it is worth noting the Fishbones teams own warning about these devices

"Note: Not for climbing or load bearing applications where failure would cause damage or injury."

So, with that in mind, lets have a look at some of the fun things that you can do with them.

The stonewashed edges of the steel are smooth and rounded,  having been sharp cut originally, but that significantly bites into the cord, so the current models are rounded to avoid this.

You might worry that the rounded edges would slip and not hold the loops, as seen above, in a top and bottom view of one of my preferred hitches, but they hold fast.

The two hook gaps are sized to interlock, giving you a solid connection of two ends of cord if you prefer.

Splicing two lines together is also a breeze with the Piranha, simply by winding one through the other, friction will hold  the lines together, even once tension had been released. Again, here are top and bottom views of this splice.

This was a really nice way to link two ends of cord together, without adding a knot that would likely bind and bite, making undoing troublesome.

One of the things I liked about the balance of the took, was that the "tail fin" notch allowed a loop to be fitted snugly, and dangled to make a fish hook. I successfully snagged and hauled my Bullock Echo from one of its D-rings through this method. For extra security,  I could have threaded a leader through the keychain opening, but that hole is too small for paracord, unless you are using the inner cord after gutting it.



 I also found that I could set three lines simply by using the dorsal notches which gave me a no-slide anchor from which I feel would give a very adequate hold for a tent guy rope, or any other three way roping you might need.

The versatility, small size and light weight (well, at just over 25g per unit in the 304 stainless steel) means that this is going to find its way into my EDC in no short time. If nothing else, they feel great in the hand or pocket, and gives me a fidget-focus when I need to keep my hands busy.

The hook gap also doubles as a bottle opener, adding some multi functionality that I really appreciate, as well as the other uses that the guys behind the Piranhas have already stated.

One of the awesome things that they offered is a quick summary of some modifications that you could apply to the Piranhas. I'm going to give a couple of these a try (and I'll get back to you with how they turn out ... )

 I also found that I could wrap the Piranha around an already strung line, given sufficient slack, to give a mid-line attachment option. So many options, such versatility. I'm also going to cover their original Fish Bones and the heavy-duty Snapper so stay tuned!

Review: Platatac - Bush Dax pants

I was very sorry to hear that some of my favorite pants, the Platatac Urban Dax (wearing them right now, in fact) didn't make it out of prototyping, and certainly not to market.

There are all kinds of business reasons for this kind of thing to happen, but in the end, I am just grateful that I got to grab a pair whilst they were available.  I saw some advertised on the Platatac eBay shop but not in my size,and I was worried that I might never get another pair like them.

I'd seen some of the Platatac TacDax in the "news" and when I pestered the guys about bringing back the Urban Dax, or if they had any laying about in the warehouse, they hooked me up with a set of their in-between line, the Bush Dax.

"Dax" (or dacks), for those of you who aren't aware are an Aussie colloquialism for pants, especially track suit pants. Rhyming slang ... I've never really gotten it, but, there you go.

The Bush Dax follow the same generous lines as the Urban Dax, with some interesting variations and different features.

First up, the material is slightly different, perhaps a combination of treatment and weight of fabric, but felt more like cotton duck than the Urban Dax. With the same generous crotch, with both reinforced seat and crotch, I have been perfectly confident squatting, throwing my leg over walls and generally scrambling about in them. I've torn the crotch out of so many lesser pants I cant begin to state how important that is to me.

Next up are the array of pockets available.

Like the Urban Dax, these have a variety of ambidextrous pockets, ten in total: Regular "jeans-style" pockets right where you expect them , and are nicely placed, and a good depth. I'm so glad I have pants with pockets and am allowed to use them ... The jeans-pockets don't have any internal pockets.

 Same goes for the backside pockets, hook-and-loop secured flaps cover up essentially a standard jeans-seat pocket.

The front and sides are where the magic starts. There are two small pockets on the front of each quad. These are billowed, and also feature hook-and-loop closures, and easily fit my iPhone in its Strike Industries BattleCase with quick-pull ring.

The sides of the ubiquitous cargo-pocket feature a mesh-lined side pocket, with a zipper closure, which in turn are deep enough to easily store my hefty HexBright Flex flashlight and keep it in place for when i need it, especially if I'm sitting.

You can also see that I have connected my lanyard to one of the integral accessory loops that are found at each of the 60mm belt loops, offering a solid place to anchor your gear without clogging up your belt and belt loops.

As with all the Platatac gear, and clothes, these are seriously well put together, double stitched on all the major load-bearing seams, and bartacked at the joints.



 Here is the most important feature, to my mind, and my principle test. The main cargo-pocket, with its twin spot hook-and-loop closures, and billowed sides, for high capacity storage, with happily fit my iPad.

Silly you might think, or at the best, totally POG of me, but given my day-to-day activity, having somewhere I can stash my iPad is quite a benefit.  It also gives a nice standard measure. So, with my excuses aside, I can run, climb, crawl around under things and then whip out my iPad to access whatever data or app i need ... great pocket. Again, it lacks any of the internal compartments that the Urban Dax had, but that simplicity probably saved the design from the cutting-room floor.

I have a lot of EDC gear, and the spacious pockets of the Bush Dax meant that I didn't have to worry about jamming it all into ta couple of pockets, but distribute it into workable zones.

The position and placement of the pockets was really comfortable, something is is occasionally missed (or perhaps, given my preying mantis proportions, I just don't fit where makes expect pockets to sit), but with the Bush Dax, I had nothing to complain about.

One thing I didn't may much attention to was the elastic drawstring blousing available in the ankles. (which are the saem as found in the ADF DPCU uniform, apparently). Good for keeping crap out of your legs, but for my needs, a bit too much, so i left them slack, and able to drape over my boots, to keep me looking a little bit civilized ..

Lastly, a really cool feature that I haven't had a lot of success with, are the knees.





Each knee has a hook-and-loop closing pouch at the base of the knee, which opens up to allow a knee-pad to be inserted, with a little effort, and placed one of my smaller pads in the pouch (I left one out to give an idea of scale, these are Team Wendy KEPS Sleak elbow pads.

I found that the opening was very narrow, even for a narrow pad like an elbow pad.
Perhaps there is a better way of doing it?

Anyone?

So, that aside, these are some great pants, not heavy, or stiff, but neither are they lightweight, and offered me versatility in my wardrobe, without sacrificing utility or hardiness.