Tag Archives: gear

Water cans

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So right around Paratus, these arrived in the mail:

I’m not an expert on fire extinguishers, but I know that, once in a while, the solution to something burning is to simply douche it with a lot of water. Yeah, yeah, it’s a different story for electric, chemical, and oil fires, but for the candle-left-too-close-to-drapes sort of conflagration some H20 is just fine.

What I did not know is that these types of fire extinguishers have a bit of DIY features in that they are reusable and rechargeable by any idiot with an air compressor. And, as it turns out, this idiot has an air compressor.

All these things are are giant pressurized super (duper) soakers. You unscrew the top, fill with liquid of your choice (more on that later), seal it up, and hook up a pump to the valve and pressurize. Easy peasy.

What this means is that you can re-use these things and refill/recharge them yourself. So, if like me you have a curious mind, you can play with one and see what kind of range and output you can expect and then just refill/reharge it to it’s ready state.

Now, of course you are supposed to fill this thing with water. (Or, as I read somewhere, water and a tiny bit of dish soap to increase the ‘wetness’ of the water). But…what if you’ve a more creative bent? Can I fill this thing with kerosene and use it to quickly prep a place for immolation? Or as an impromptu flamethrower? Can I fill it with water and food coloring and write hurriedly nasty messages in the snow on City Hall’s lawn? Can I fill it with urine and quickly run the hose into the vent of the car of someone I don’t like and make a statement? There is…potential.

In actuality though, these will get filled and charged, and then relegated to strategic locations around the house ‘just in case’. What makes them postworthy is that, naive fool I am, I had no idea they were rechargeable by the user. For a surivivalist who may need to use one of these someday its a handy thing to be able to reuse it by just filling it with tap water and charging it with a bicycle pump.

So, there you have it…the ultimate water gun.

ETA: Very useful link from the comments

Water

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I hate hot weather. I mean, I really hate it. I love the dress code as women in this college town suddenly start running around in sundresses and sports bras (summer is only second to Halloween for ‘lets dress skimpily because its socially acceptable at this moment’) but that’s barely enough to make the discomfort of the heat worth it.

And, of course, when it’s hot ya gotta ‘hydrate’…or as we used to say in the less-woke days, ‘drink’.

In the heydey of 70’s and 80’s survivalism your water toter of choice was the GI canteen. Plastic ones were just starting to turn up and you most likely had a metal one that could have been carried by grandpa in WW2 or Uncle Billy in ” ‘Nam “…(Why do people shorten it to ‘Nam’? Why not ‘Viet’?..”Yeah, we served together in Viet back in ’68”)  They were durable but they were loud and sometimes leaked at the seams.

As the 80’s rolled in, we got basically the exact same canteen but now made of green plastic. With an NBC cap. An improvement? Depends on who you ask. Some folks didnt like that youy couldnt heat up the plastic canteens.

Fast forward a bit more and the Middle Easy is now where the action is. ‘Hydration bladders’ are the thing…basically a giant IV bag and tubing. Convenient? Yes. Carries a lot of water? Yes. Bulky? Yes. But, no two ways about it, its a handy way to drink on the go.

For the survivalist who isn’t fetishicizing military gear, the ubiquitous Nalgene bottle, with it’s amazing aftermarket accessory support, really comes pretty close to being Numbah One choice. The accessories available make the Nalgene bottle the AR-15 of water storage – modular, adaptable, and cheap.

Another alternative that I highly recommend are the collapsible Nalgene/Platypus ‘water bottles’. These are basically hydration bladders that are used by themselves as drink containers. Their huge advantage is that a) when empty you can roll them up to take up virtually no space in your gear and b) as you drink from them you can squeeze out the air so there is no sloshing noise like you’d get from a half-filled canteen. Big improvement.

And, interestingly, splitting the difference..the guys at Nalgene make a version of the GI canteen that comes pretty close to replacing the GI model, but with the convenience of lighter weight and transparency. Nalgene also makes a bladder-like product that uses the same screw-on lids as the rigid Nalgene bottles…which means that you can use all your accessory lids with it. Handy.

My preference? For static places like in the vehicle or at a temporary base, I like the 64 oz/ 2 L. size large bottles. For day-to-day use I like the regular rigid 32 oz, bottles. However, for tromping around in the boonies, I prefer the .5L or 1.0L Platypus for its stealthy properties and space-saving potential.

Another nice thing about the Nalgene and Platypus is that its extremely convenient to fill them about 1/3 of the way up and then freeze them. Once frozen, fill the rest of the container with water and go about your day. Very refreshing.

As an aside, the water I keep in the vehicle is store-bought bottled water. Why? Because those little plastic bottles are darn near impervious, cheap, and handy. They freeze/thaw without damage, and are handy to throw in a pocket if needed. In the summer, when i travel, I don’t screw around..I throw a 5-gallon water jug in one of the gas can racks in addition to the usual on-board water supply. I don’t mind being hungry for a day or two, but nobody likes being thirsty for a day.

Whatever you choose for your preferred water-carrying container, get a bunch of them. More than you think you’ll need. I’ve a collection of Nalgene bottles that must number almost a dozen. Theyre cheap and work perfect for their given task…why wouldn you have extras?

How’d that shoulderbag search go?

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Well, funny you should ask…I narrowed it down to two candidates and, being a bit of a gear queer, ordered them both. First one to show up today was the Emdom. Expensive? Oh yes*, but on first blush I have to admit…it’s got some interesting design features. I’ll be banging it around for the next week and see how I like it. It’s a bit heavy on the ‘tactical’ side of things…more of a tactical bag than a ‘wandering the boonies’ bag. But we shall see.

The other one I ordered was this guy. I like the looks of it, we’ll see how it’s utility stacks up.

There are two roles I’m looking to fill. One, is a smaller, handier, version of my Bag O’ Tricks. Something that lends itself to a bit more ‘everyday use’ without looking like Burt Gummer. The other role is as a bag for any activity in the boonies. Fishing, hunting, hiking, geocaching, etc…something to carry the Ten Essentials, a jacket, water, food, compass, FAK, and the usual stuff. But a smaller kit than my hunting pack.

So far, the Emdom is pretty sweet. I need to load it up and give it a good workout. Stay tuned.

 

* = Expensive gear is, often, worth it. I’m not one of these survivalists who craps on people who buy ‘expensive yuppie survivalist gear’ because a) I can afford it and b) just because you want to take pride in poverty doesn’t mean I have to.

The little things

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It’s funny…when The Walking Dead started I said that I was more interested in how people dealt with the increasing infrastructure failure than I was with the gratuitous zombie-killing violence. I was more interested in how people coped with the loss of gasoline, electricity, communications, etc, etc. And now that TWD has hit the stage where infrastructure has failed epically I find myself not really watching the show much. But, I watched tonights episode and it reminded me of some things.

Backstory: will-they-or-wont-they couple, Carol and Daryl are walking along a trail heading back to their camp. Carol is having trouble prying open the cover on her canteen and Daryl hands her his Swiss army knife so she can use, presumably, the screwdriver blade to pry the thing open.

Later, Daryl is far from home and his motorcycle sputters to a halt. He find that the fuel hose has rotted through and torn. He scavenges some hoses from abandoned vehicles and prepares to repair his bike…and then notices he never got his Swiss army knife back. He tries to use his large fighting knives but they are too big to get into the small reaches of the bike motor. With no tools to fix his bike, he goes looking for tools until he finds a couple zombified military personnel. He dispatches them, rifles their web gear, and finds a couple Gerber multitools. With multitool in hand, he repairs his bike and can return to his camp.

The takeaways seemed to be: two is one, one is none -when he ‘lost’ his primary multitool he had nothing to back him up. Even one of those dorky keychain multitools would have helped. And although he really should have had a small basic tool kit on his bike, in a world where getting stranded can be life-or-death it might be a good idea to have spares of critical gear like multitools.

I suppose another takeaway would be that you never loan out your personal equipment to help someone else if the lack of that equipment will harm you later. Carol should have handed him back the knife after she was done with it, and he should have had presence of mind to make sure it was immediately returned to him.

I have a nice Leatherman Wave that was gifted to me about..hmmm… 15 years ago, I used to carry it around all the time but it chewed holes in my jeans at an amazing pace. But it has tremendous sentimental value so I keep it. My everyday pocket knife is one of these  which I have been extremely pleased with. But…there’s a very good reason to keep a multiool around and I need to get back into the habit of having one as an everyday carry item. Nine times out of ten, if I need a screwdriver or somerhing like that, I’d rather just grab a purpose-built tool from the tool rack and do what needs doing. But I need to remember that the whole point of survivalism is to be ready for the unexpected which often occurs at the worst time, at the worst place, under the worst conditions. Like trying to replace a fuel hose on your motorcycle as the zombies shuffle closer and closer.

Multitools have improved over the last 15 years, and they have some lighter ones that still offer a lot of useful functions without costing me a pair of new Carharts every five months. I actually have a gen1 Leatherman tool in my Bag O’Tricks. That thing really needs to be upgraded…but its better than no multitool. I suppose at some point I should go shop for new ones and see what sort of cool developments have hit the market in the last decade and a half.

But…the eipsode of TWD was thought-provoking in that it showed how a small failure…not getting the Swiss army knife back…could cascade into bigger problems in a post-apocalyptic world. So…either don’t loan out critical gear (my first choice), or make sure to get it back immediately. And, a spare isn’t a bad idea.

 

Mussete bag

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Back in the day, Ahern’s pulp-series, ‘The Survivalist’, had it’s main character carrying his spare speedloaders, binoculars, and other small items in what was called a ‘musette bag’. Basically, its one of those little buttpack bags that you see from time to time in military surplus venues.

I’ve been wanting something similar, but just s smidge bgger, and am having no luck. Don’t confuse it with a messenger bag, although they are very similar. The musette bag is a bit smaller, in some armies it was called a bread bag, or a foraging bag,  and is usually carried by a sling that clips to a couple attachment points on the bag.

Anyway, I’ve been trying to find a modern version with absolutely no luck. I’m looking for something made in the USA, has a large flap covering, a couple exterior pockets, removable sling, tactical color, and perhaps a bit of MOLLE. Tried Spec-Ops, SOE, and a couple other features. This is almost exaclty what Im looking for, but its always out of stock. And before you suggest one of the myriad of ‘active shooter bags’ out there, no, that isn’t quite right either. Those are too blocky..I want something less rigidly formed. Also be nice if it could fit an MP5k.

Open to suggestions…..and, hey, don’t just say “You should go look at X”…that’s helpful but not as helpful as actually providing a link to X.

We can haz can

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This was in the comments earlier.

Well, two is one so four must be two, right? I ordered up a four pack, w/ gasket and spout, for $241, w/ ‘free shipping’. (In quotes because, really, shipping isn’t free…they just fold it into the price.)

Anyway…ordered up this afternoon and had a FedEx tracking number four hours later. So..fingers corssed, but looks like a decent deal that is good to go.

Since I’m beating the topic of fuel cans to death with these last few posts, lets get all the fuel can related stuff done:

Spouts v. Funnels – I don’t usually bother with spouts. Unless they fit and seal perfectly 100% of the time (which they never do) they are just a bother. I use long, plastic funnels that you can usually pick up at an automotive store for five or six bucks. I buy one for every two fuel cans and paracord them onto one can so they are always there. (I am told, but have not tried it, that you can improvise a funnel in a pinch from a plastic pop bottle.) Some people prefer to use a siphon pump of some type, and they certainly have merit if you have trouble holding a 40# jug of gas at sternum height for the time required to fill your tank. I don’t have that problem (yet) so I just use a funnel.

Date tags – Anything you write on is going to fade in the sun and rain. I cut a small metal tag of soft aluminum from a pop can and use a nail to ‘engrave’ the date on the tag. Tag gets corded to the can so I know how old the gas is. Its worked quite well for me.

Can preservation – the bottom of the can comes into contact with the ground, concrete, truck bed, etc. That constant contact, impact, and friction will wear and chip the paint away after a while exposing bare metal. I bought a spray can of that rubber coating they use for ..well..whatever you normally rubber coat…and sprayed the the bottom third of the cans all around. (Didn’t have it when I originally did it, but FlexSeal would probably work well for this.)  It doesnt change the dimensions of the can enough to cause problems fitting in a gas can rack or holder, but it protects the bottom of the can from damage and moisture.

Lock and cable – Gas cans will walk away under the most benign and peaceful circumstance. In a crisis, when everyone needs fuel, they’ll fly outta your truck the minute your back is turned. I use a bike cable and a ‘Sesame’-type padlock to keep things from going away. I dislike keyed locks because the keys are a failure point. Yes, these types of locks are susceptible to picking but so is a keyed lock. When I need to grab fuel and go, go, go, I don’t want to be scrambling for keys. And don’t say “Just keep the key on the same ring as the truck key”. There are plenty of scenarios where I’d need the fuel but not the vehicle, so having the truck keys with me at that moment is not a sure thing. Or I have the keys and am elsewhere and someone needs the fuel outta the truck. And its easier to tell someone a combination in texting or over the phone than it is to arrange a key drop.

Cover – Up to you, but a cover of some type to protect things and perhaps conceal them a bit might be in order. Google “jerry can cover” and you’ll see a nice mix of ideas and products. Getting outta Dodge, in your Dodge, is a lot easier when the five jerry cans ratcheted against the tailgate in the back of your truck are obscured or hidden from view by some type of non-gas-can looking cover.

STFU – When it really comes down to a crisis where people are desperate for fuel, you really don’t want everyone in the neighborhood knowing you have some tucked away. It doesnt have to be TEOTWAWKI….even something as mundane as a blizzard or hurricane can put your neighbors on your doorstep asking (or demanding) ‘just a little bit’ of your fuel. Only you know the level of discretion and camouflage youre going to want. What you don’t want is every idiot in the area coming by because they bought a generator ‘just in case’ and completely neglected the fuel side of things.

Stabilizer – I’ve gone over this a buncha times but short version is: I use PRI-G. Stabil probably works just as well but I’ve read more good things about PRI-G than I have Stabil. Really, either one will work but I’ve used PRI-G and since I’ve never had any problems, even with six year old gas treated with the stuff, that’s good enough for me.

Inspection – You absolutely must do this. Must. MUST. I’ve had surplus military cans that were quite serviceable but had a dent or two here and there. After a couple years of expansion/contraction from being out in the heat/cold there would sometimes be a pinhole leak develop if the dent exposed the metal, it got rusty, and time went on. Inspect every can, especially the bottoms. Try to store them on a surface that lets air flow beneath them. If at all possible, store them in a manner that protects them from weather exposure and ground moisture. Heck, build a little ‘gas can coop’ or something. I built a rack out of 2×4 that is nothing more than a crib that holds five cans side-by-side a few inches off the ground. I cover them with a vinyl shower curtain and use a couple bicycle inner tubes as giant rubber bands to keep the vinyl wrapped around them,. Cover with a camo tarp and call it a day.

And although it is only tangentially related, when it comes to fuel for your vehicle, I always give a 50% margin. For example, if I have 10 gallons of gas and my vehicle gets 15 mpg, the math would say those two five-gallon cans will get me 150 miles of distance towards (or away from) whatever I need. I err on the side of extreme caution and calculate 50% of that… I figure between idling in traffic, having to backtrack, take detours, getting lost, having to ‘take the long way’, and all the other possibilities of what could go wrong ‘bugging out’, I’ll be using a lot more fuel than I would in ‘peace time’ to cover the same distance. So..I build in a 50% margin.

I’ll post about the arrival of the cans when they get here. Pretty confident these will be just what the Zero needs to continue the relentless slog towards resilience, but we’ll know for sure this weekend. (Assuming FedEx does their part.)
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Testing out the Kifaru pullover

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Kind of a medium-cold today (unless you live in the land of possums and banjoes, in which case it would be considered apocalyptically cold). It was about ten degrees this morning. (Thats -12 C. if youre in a country that never landed a man on the moon.) So, seemed like a good opportunity to try out the Kifaru pullover that I picked up a few weeks back. Verdict? Really nice. It definitely does a good job of keeping me warm and it compresses down into a reasonable size when I’m not wearing it. I got it on sale for $200 and I’d say it was quite worth it. It’s not something I’d wear everyday, I have a couple sheeps worth of Filson for that, but for packing it away in a bag for when I’m hunting or otherwise out in the elements and want to have something for an emergency…perfect.

it’s funny…years ago, spending $200 on something like this would have seemed like a much bigger deal than it does now. The cynic in me says that its not as big a deal because $200 today ain’t what $200 was a few years ago, but the real reason is that I’ve (so far) navigated my life to the point that, once in a while, I can just say “Eh, why not?”.

But, anyway… if you’re like me (and, Crom, I really hope youre not) and want a good, compressible piece of outerwear you can tuck away for those times when the bottom drops out of the thermometer unexpectedly and you’re away from home….excellent choice.

Kifaru goodness

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I swear to Crom, the mail is so slow these days I could literally walk most of it to its destination before those idiots could get it delivered….

It shouldnt take 15 days to get a parcel from Colorado to Montana, but apparently it does. But that vote by mail thing? That’ll work just fine….

Anyway….

I have a collection of Filson outer wear. About six years ago I got a Filson Double Mackinaw Cruiser, which had been on my wish list for a long time.

A year or two ago Filson ran off a  limited run of a wool anorak. I desperately wanted this limited-run and very expensive item. By the time I got the money put together…*boom* they were out of stock with no resupply date. I was bummed. But the webpage for the anorak stayed up. I checked it, literally every day, for a year until a ‘coming soon’ banner appeared on it. When they finally had them available, I ordered one. And…it was everything I hoped for. Still wildly expensive, but it’ll last forever and I really, really like it. (Yeah, it’s spendy..and other companies do make a similar wool product. But this was a case of ‘I had the money’ and, honestly, a bit of brand preference. Once in a while, I’m a brand-name junkie. Not often, but in this case….yeah.)

And while I liked the wool product a lot for its ability to repel cold, evil, and shoddy workmanship, it was a bit bulky. It doesn’t compress very well. And although I like the Filson product, and have worn it pretty much every day this winter, I wanted something that would be just as nice but more compact for packing around when I didn’t need it at that moment. Ideally, I wanted something that would crunch down into a tight little package that would sit in my scout pack when I was out in the woods. And, sadly, the Filson wouldn’t do that.

Turns out Kifaru makes the same product, basically, but using the same materials as they use in their highly-recommended Woobie and Doobie products. It was on sale back in November for $200 and I ordered one up. Finally got it today. TPIWWP, so….

This is the Filson wool anorak/pullover which I cannot say enough nice things about. If you amortize it over the rest of your life it becomes more economical than first imagined. It is not cheap, but it literally will last you a lifetime. Problem is – bulky to pack. Enter the Kifaru product:

Heavy-duty (really heavy-duty) cordura on the wear points, detachable hood, drawstring waist…pretty nice. The color, which was advertised as coyote, is more gold than coyote. But…the elk won’t notice. More importantly, how does it compress? Well, Kifaru makes some equally nice and equally expensive compression sacks but for now I’ll just pick one up at REI.

This will be one of those pieces of gear that gets tossed in a bag ‘just in case’ when I’m off in the boonies because…a lot can happen in a hurry, and none of it good, if you aren’t careful. So..new piece of gear, Zero approves.