Tag Archives: gear

first aid kit musings, waterproof, kitchen cabinet, battery size standardization

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Generally, if you have an injury that can be fixed with a band-aid, you dont have an injury. In perusing some of the ‘first aid’ kits at the local shops it seems like theyre mostly band-aids, a couple 1×1 gauze pads and an aspirin. If you have a problem that requires any of those, its not really a problem…its an inconvenience. Does that mean I dont carry band-aids and itty-bitty gauze pads in my kit? Nope..I carry ’em, but I carry alot more than that. Historically, my injuries are usually enormous weeping scrapes and abrasions from bicycle accidents, various stitch-requiring tears and cuts, and the infrequent burn. (I’ve been quite lucky in the osteo department…no broken bones.) In looking at prepackaged first-aid kits it seems they are either way too weenie (anything worse than a deep laceration and youre screwed) or way to extensive and expensive. Now, I have to admit, the first aid kits I carry or keep are not designed for ‘I cut myself in the garage and need a bandage’…certainly, they are good for that sort of thing. Rather, theyre designed for ‘whatever is in this bag is the only medical access Im going to have for at least x amount of days’ so it tends to carry things like rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, betadine, lotsa 4x4s and tape, various non-OTC things, burn gel, lotsa antibiotics, compress bandages, etc, etc. And lotsa stuff to keep injured areas clean and germ-free. To my mind, the most common injuries that Im going to face in an unpleasant sudden ‘wheels fly offa western civilization’ scenario are various cuts and puncture wounds, maybe some burns, the possible gunshot. I cant fix a gunshot wound (except maybe a graze or through-and-through) but I can deal with it alot better with my own kit than some puny 2×2 gauze pads and 1/4″ tape.

Band-aids are necessary, esp. since a small cut can become an infected major problem in short order if its not taken care of……but just band-aids and bactine? Bleah. I (and you) can put together something much more comprehensive for not much more money.

By the way, if you do decide to build your own kit, its alot easier to buy multiples of the contents and make several kits at once. The advantage is that if they are all stocked equally and arranged identically, it makes things easier than making another kit later on when you realize you need one for the car, one for work, one for home, etc. Its also cheaper.

My point is, figure out what possible injuries youre going to sustain and build around that…and especially take into consideration ‘can I get into this bag and open these pouches/packages with my weak hand in the dark when Im bleeding?’. Seriously. ‘Cause if its just you by yourself and you’ve got a problem with your good arm or hand youre really gonna want a kit that you can access easily.
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Post-Katrina New Orleans is rapidly becoming my paradigm for theoretical failure testing…I ask myself “would this be a good [item/strategy/plan] if I were camping out on a rooftop in a flooded out wasteland of a city?”
Its also stressing the importance of portability of items and ,very importantly, waterproofing of containers and items. The ubiquitous GI ammo can gets big nods for being near-bombproof in terms of protection and waterproofing. Loses a couple points for weight and size, though. Pelican cases are great, as are other hard-side waterproof containers. Of course, its also nice if your gear is generally unaffected by moisture. (My Glock and AK, for example, can pretty much be left in a mud puddle for a faw days with virtually no ill-effect.) Critical electronics, though, are easily worth the $ youre going to spend for a good, hard, waterproof case. Pelican makes some small fairly affordable cases that are ideal for small electronics like radios, GPS, palmtops and that sort of thing. And, naturally, if youre going to get a little waterproof hardcase for your electroninc goodie be sure to leave some room in there for some spare batts.
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After the canned goods shopping spree at Albertsons last week I needed to make some space in the kitchen cabinets. My top cabinets are have no shelves and thus items must be stacked and the space isnt utilized as well as it could be. (Jars of spaghetti sauce stacked on top of each other three jars high is just asking for trouble.) Fortunately for $10 a couple shelf standards and brackets were had and some scrap 3/4″ plywood was cut down to fit and the next thing you know -presto- adjustable shelving is in the formerly shelfless cabinet. This frees up a good amount of space since I can now store more in that particular cabinet than I could before. Which means other cabinets now have more room since stuff was taken from them to put in the newly-shelfed cabinet. Moral: utilizing available storage space as efficiently as possible can be cheap and pay off big in terms of giving you more usable space to store things.
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Speaking of batts…..

My plans revolve around exactly two sizes of battery for personal devices: “D” and “AA”. If a device doesnt take them, I find one that does or I modify them to take them. Why? Here’s an example….I was tromping in the boonies earlier this year and the batteries on my GPS were going out on me. I pulled my LED 4-AA flashlight out of my bag and swapped the batteries. The LED light works fine even with near-dead batteries since the power requirements are so small and the GPS continued to chug along for the rest of the day. All because my gear used a common battery size. To be honest, with the advent of LED technology I could probably eliminate the “D” batts from my gear since they are used almost exclusively for MagLites….but there are a few other devices that use them (my AN/PS1 seismic intruder system system, for one). “C” batteries? Getting to be pretty uncommon. The only thing I’ve seen taking C-batts in a long time are vibrators and not much else. 9-volt? Sure, lotsa devices out there use them but I try to stick to the AA’s for those devices. Although they are sometimes hard to find in “D” size, “AA” and 9-volt lithium batts are available at Lowe’s/HomeDepot…. theyre very much worth the extra money. Theyre far more resistant to the affects of temperature extremes and, most importantly, they store for years with little if any degradation of power….meaning that a lithium batt thats sat on the shelf for ten years should still have almost all its original power.

The Japanese are supposedly coming out iwth a new battery technology thats supposed to be even better than lithiums, but I havent found much in the way of details.

So, if you can get your flashlight, GPS, radios, and other goodies to all take one common battery size……..well, you can see the advantages, right?

Bargains

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You know, it really doesnt take a huge amount of money give yourself an edge and stockpile the little niceties that will make riding out the next uber-disaster a bit easier.

Case in point:
Package of SIX pairs unlined vinyl mittens for $0.99 – Which means that while the wool mittens are keeping me warm, the cheap vinyl mitts go on over them and keep out wind and evil, cold water. And at that price I can leave a couple pair in the vehicle. Turns any pair of gloves or mitts into a waterproof pair. And, that less than seventeen cents per pair. Cowabunga!

Also from our friends at Cheaer Than Dirt
Used German HK91 dual-mag pouches for $0.99 ea. – And, yes, they will hold FAL mags(and M1A mags.). Theyre heavy guage rubber/vinyl, fit most belts, and are ridiculously cheap. And, kids, the W. German military did NOT make crap…their gear is good.

Seriously…how can you resist a half dozen pairs of mittens for less than the cost of a 20 oz. Coke?

TT armour carrier

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Oh! Oh! Oh! I got the new Tactical Tailor catalog in the mail today (along with a new buckle to replace the shattered one on my bag) and I saw this bad boy. I have got to get one of those. I can just take the panels out of my current regular ‘ol body armour, drop ’em in this thing, and get the advantage of armouring my torso along with a place for mag pouches and other gear. In OD green, of course. Me want!

Impromptu Nalgene destructive testing

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So I go to pick up the BunkerBabe from her civillian job…and she’s not outside yet waiting, so I sit in the truck and wait patiently at the curb. Then I notice a nalgene water bottle sitting over by the doorway. Hmmm. Im guessing a bicyclist left it when he unlocked/locked his bike to the rack. Anyway, I get out of the truck and examine it. Its a genuine Nalgene brand, hard plastic, full of water. Probably a good quart of water right there. Now, Im not about to keep a water bottle I find on the street..not out of ethics but more from hygiene. On the other hand, I was curious how durable these bottles were and now was my chance to find out. Full bottle. Heavy. I hold it over my head at arms length and let it drop to the concrete. I made sure to drop it so it would land at an angle for maximum damage.

Nothing. Nada. A gouge on the edge of the bottom from the concrete but no cracks, no splits, no holes, no nothing. Hmmm. Tried it again. Same results.

I’ll be buying a half dozen later this week.

Mag inventory

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Hmmm…the AK and AR mag situation is better than I thought, but still lots of room for improvement.
For the AR
46 – Military 30-rd
10 – Military 20-rd
02 – Steel 20-rd
01 – Commercial 10-rd
07 – Eagle plastic 30-rd (Actually, theyre good mags)
66 magazines total

On the AK front, not as good but a decent amount for the short term
03 – 40-rd
16 – 30-rd
02 – 5-rd mags that Im not even counting towards a total
19 magazines total

FAL is set with a solid 32 20-rd metric mags

The Glocks make a respectable showing with
G26 – 2×10 rd
G17 – 14×17 rd
G19 – 7×15 rd, 5×10 rd.
G18 – 8×33 rd. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

The Ruger 10-22 comes in with 45×25 rd, 8×10 rd.

Still havent gotten to the P35 and 1911 yet.

Fuel can blues, Texas evacuations, mag/ammo inventory, ingenuity, flectar,

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The way I figure it, I want the steel jerrycans for long-term storage for their durability, impermeability, and convenience. For short-term storage and banging around in the back of the truck, I like the plastic gas cans. I am, however, not thrilled with the spout/cap device on the Blitz plastic cans. The nozzle is an L-shaped piece of plastic that, when not in use, is flipped over and inserted into the can. Convenient, yes. But if it isnt seated properly against the mouth of the opening its possible for a slow leak of gasoline to occur. This is, naturally, not good. Fortunately WalMart automotive sells, also by Blitz, replacement cap/nozzle assemblies that are alot simpler and, in appearance, more reliable. $1.78 ea. I’ll be trying them out later.
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Texas had the New Orleans model to work off of and their evacuations weren’t very much smoother. Its readily apparent that you simply cannot evacuate a large urban/metropolitan area with anything approaching timeliness or efficiancy. The bottleneck, it seems, isnt only the drivers (who somehow thought that they had enough gas in their vehicles even though any sane individual could have told them theyre going to spend hours idling in traffic.) but the government officials who didnt change the traffic flows to accomodate the exodus until late in the game. They do get points, however, for trying to bring fuel to stranded motorists.
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An ammo & magazine inventory is sorely needed. Summer shooting and various classes have taken a bite out of the stockpile and that needs to be refreshed. While I am perfectly content with the amount of 10/22 and FAL mags that are on hand, I am only mildly at ease with the amount of AR mags..they average around 13 mags per gun which is less than I’d like. Glock mags are fair…the G17 mags will fit in all flavors of Glock that we have. Doing okay on 1911 mags. P35 mags could be a little better. Big question is AK mags. Off the top of my head I think we’ve maybe a dozen or so and I’d really like to get that up into the 20-odd amount at least. Fortunately the AK mags are fairly cheap…$10 ea. in bulk. Additionally, I’ve started marking some magazines as strictly for ‘training’ or range use to avoid having a battered and heavily-used mag wind up in storage. For the Glocks, this was easy – blaze orange baseplates. For the AK and AR’s, equally easy – a band of blaze orange duct tape around the bottom of the mag.

Ammo is another story. I’d like to store factory ammo as a reserve and do practice/recreational shooting with reloads. Fortunately the standardization of calibers leaves us with only a handfull of calibers to keep on hand – .223, .308, 7.62×39, 9mm, .45, .38/.357, 12 ga. and .22 LR. We’re pretty good on .22 LR since its only $20 for a thousand rounds at any WalMart. 12 ga. is also pretty cheap and easy to keep. The other calibers…not so much. 7.62×39 has gone up almost 50% in the last year…thats interesting. Still, its the cheapest centerfire around. In other calibers Remingtons new ‘yellow box’ 250-round packages are a fair deal these days. If you buy the bulk Rem. yellowbox, repackage it into plastic 50-rd boxes or something. And dont forget to cahce a small sampling of various calibers in a box for your vehicle.

Anyway, some inventory tomorrow.
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Mad Zero props to for managing to keep updating on hurricane Rita through a blackout by running an inverter out of his vehicle to power his computer and cable modem. Most folks wouldn’t have thought of that. And the good Doctor Hamm also had the forethought to have a camp stove for cooking on during the outage. I like to think its my influence. But Sam, didja have any extra gasoline for all the idling you were doing?
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According to my math, I am responsible for no less than 11 flectar parkas being sold in the last week to various LJ people. Theyre good parkas and if youve been on the fence about getting one, you really should snap to it…theyre cheaper than ever and I bet every person on LJ who ordered one would have absolutely no qualms about the quality of them. Backtrack a post or two for a link to them. There may be a ‘Show Us Your Flectar’ thread later.
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“And god sent a rainbow as a sign…won’t be water, but fire next time.”

Texas, gasoline concerns, fun with drums, NRA/GOA lawsuit, flectar, SG HQ cat, lightsticks

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So, it looks like this week its Texas’ turn in the barrel. Im mentally preparing myself for the self-righteous onslaught that will result from the ‘federal relief to illegal aliens’ noise that this will surely generate.

You would think that with FEMA and the other ‘relief’ agencies already just down the street in Louisiana, Texas oughtta get lots of attention pretty quickly if things get ugly. Then again, I think most Texans are probably smart enough to not live below sea level.
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As posted, people who (typically) waited to the last minute to evacuate are not only getting stuck in traffic jams of biblical proportions, but are also having to contend with gas stations running out of the stuff. Have these people learned nothing? Less than three weeks ago Katrina pwned New Orleans and the papers were full of “I should have evacuaqted sooner” and “I would have evacuated if I had gas” stories. Assuming that your vehicle gets, mmm, 15 mpg then a five-gallon can of gas gives you 75 miles of range. Seventy five. Thats enough to get out of the path of most hurricanes. Ten gallons? 150 miles – plenty of distance. Now, for some fast math. Call it $3.00 a gallon, $6 a piece for gas cans, sixty cents for gas treatment for ten gallons (yes, you’d have to buy the whole bottle of PRI-G or Sta-Bil, but maybe your buddy has some he uses with his lawnmower.) So, for less than $43 you could guarantee yourself enough fuel to get at least far enough to be out of the way of the hurricane. (And thats giving a generous 50%-wasted-idling-in-traffic handicap) $43. I will bet you fifty bucks theres no shortage of motorists on those highways, nervously eyeing their fuel guage and the “NO GAS” signs (as well as the mile-long lines) who would be thrilled to give you $50 for a five-gallon can of gas right now. But, if a month ago you said “Hey Tex, have you thought about spending fifty bucks to keep two gas cans in your garage ready to go in case of emergency?” you’d have probably been dismissed as paranoid or a worrier.
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In news of the Very Very Interesting, it appears that the folks that make the double-snail-drum 100-round Beta-Mags for the AR are going to be bringing out a 100-rd mag for the Mini 14. This is mildly amusing. Here’s the part thats going make your tires spin: they are also bringing one out for the M1A. 100 rounds of .308. A couple of those babies and you become a one-man roadblock. If there is a god, they’ll make a magazine tower adapter for the FAL. However, given the usage of the M14-type rifles these days, plus the inevitable military interest in Iraq and ‘Stan, the money is going to be in making it for the M1A. Think about it…you could slap a bipod on your M1A, dig in, slap in a drum and be quite the force multiplier. Drawbacks? As I read it, the loaded mag is about 11.5 pounds and I’ll bet its as noisy as the .223 when loaded. Which reminds me, I really would like to get a drum or two for the AK’s.
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The NRA and GOA have gotten off their butts and are bringing suit regarding the gun confiscations in New Orleans. This will be interesting…at least in the Chinese way. The best you could hope for out of this is .gov stopping what theyre doing and admitting they were wrong. Worst is that some court could refuse the case saying that theres some sort of emergency powers act that no one knew about. Regardless of how it shakes out, theres obviously a lesson in there for all of us. If you havent figured out what it is, well, ask the looters real nice and maybe they wont hurt you.
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The fabulous flectar parkas arrived yesterday for the BunkerBabe who, after trying them on, had that sexy ‘surplus military’ smell about her for an hour. Mmmmm. The tremendously-less-sexy daddygod also received his yesterday and was pleased. I may need to start a ‘Show Us Your Flectar’ thread some day. If you havent jumped on the bandwagon yet, these are very warm, extremely comfortable, and ridiculously cheap German surplus field jackets with liners. And the camo pattern works quite well, I might add. They are a seasonal offering so buy ’em now. Cheap enough to have spares, good enough to wear every day. And, oy, talk about comfortable!
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Which reminds me, if you already get the Sportsmans Guide catalog, be aware that they have a second catalog of just military surplus gear and it is far more useful than their regular catalog. Call Sportsmans Guide ( 1-800-888-3006 ) and tell them you want the ‘HQ’ gov’t surplus catalog. Seriously. They get some great stuff I havent seen offered elsewhere. Prices are usually pretty good.
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Halloween is approaching. Lotsa places will be selling lightsticks and having post-Halloween closeouts on them so start setting a few bucks aside now. CostCo, around here anyway, usually has a 15 pack of individually foil-packed lightsticks for about $13. I buy one pack each year and rotate the previous years stock to secondary usage status. Theyre cheap and work in environments that a candle or lantern might not be good in. Get some.

Frag the mayor, winterizing, generator, AK red dot, learning curve, MiniMag LED assembly

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Its like a horrific traffic accident that I cant look away from. The mayor of New Orleans demands everyone leave, sends goons to reinforce that position, then a few days later starts letting folks back in and now he’s telling ’em to leave again. If this were Vietnam he’d have been killed by one of his own men by now.
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Winter approaches here in the Land O’ Mountains. Soon it’ll be time to start toting my Cold Weather Module around in my backpack, make sure the winter survival gear is in the truck, and generally take a few precautions to prevent freezing to death. One nice thing about winter, if the power goes out my freezer full of meat just gets emptied to an outside location where it’ll stay frozen. Hell, alot of the time its warmer in the freezer than it is outside.
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Still, I do need to get a small generator for the freezer. Actually, just a small generator for general purpose. My anticipated power needs during an outage are quite small. Some 12v lighting (LED mostly), radios, a battery charger for the handhelds and thats about it. It wouldnt be too hard to draw up a list of requirements in terms of usage, pad it a bit, and match it to a small generator. A large generator, would of course, be nice but that demon money is always souring the sweetest intentions. With the exception of the freezer, almost all of my needs are DC rather than AC and are fairly small draw…so a bank of batteries charged from either house AC, solar panels, or a small generator might be the way to go.
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One of the LMI picked up a side-mount (mounts on the siderail) AK red dot sight. We’re going to take it out and see how it does. I’ll do some with/without shooting and see how much of a difference it makes. Stay tuned.
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I’m sure I’ll have a longer (much longer) post on this subject later but one thing I’ve learned as far as preparedness goes  is that you cant learn just one thing as far as preparedness goes. Its a huuuuuuuuge skill set…just off the top of my head: compass skills, small unit tactics, first aid, sewing, radio theory and practice, rappeliing and ropework, plumbing, electrical, gun handling, carpentry, camping, hunting, fishing, computer skills, cryptography, map reading, spreadsheet usage, reloading, food preservation and canning, bicycle repair, fuel handling, urban survival skills, gardening, wilderness survival skills, organization, etc, etc, etc…and always logistics. Talk about being a well rounded individual….

Yeah, I know – whine, whine, whine.
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Was in the local sporting goods shop and found an LED replacement bulb assembly for the MinMag. Only $10. I love the MiniMag for its durability and wide availability. If I can get it to run using LED’s and get the associated battery life then this may be a good ting indeed. Will probably pick it up in the next few days and give an evaluation of it here and on the website.

Flectar parkas, ZipLoc body bags?, recipe, topo mapware, chokepoint musing,Mayoral musings

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Sportsmans Guide is again selling the fabulous Flectar parka combo – liner and parka for $20. Their #JX5M-86391X ( http://www.sportsmansguide.com) I’ve got four of these (one for everyday use, one for the truck, two for storage) and am thoroughly pleased with them. When the girlfriend BunkerBabe took her shooting class and the weather turned nasty she was immensely pleased to find one of these parka/liner combos stowed in a drybag in the bag of the truck…that was worth $20 right there.Theyre superior to the US issue field jackets in a bunch of ways. It looks like these are seasonal offerings so get ’em while you can. Good stuff.  Zero approved.
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I was in Albertsons the other day and found, check this out, extra-humongoid ZipLoc bags. Seriously. ZipLoc is making body bags! (“Keeps freshness out!”) Actually, theyre not quite that big…but they are 2’x2.7′ (“XXL”) and 2’x1.7′ (“XL”). Not sure I’d trust them on long-term waterproofness but they would be just the ticket for storing your sleeping bags or backpacks in such a way as to keep dust, dirt and moisture off them. These would be perfect if you had to toss your pack in the back of a truck and didnt want the rain/snow to get to it. Multitudes of uses limited by your imagination. I’ve picked up a couple boxes and will give a review of them later. In KatrinaWorld these would be great for keeping sleeping bags, clothes, portable devices, etc, etc protected from mold, damp and moisture. Im quite excited.
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Homemade noodles in chicken broth
1½ cup flour (either freshly ground whole wheat
or white
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs, reconstituted or fresh
Place flour in mound on board, making a nest or well in the center of the mound. Pour eggs into nest. Beat the
eggs with a fork, gradually bringing the flour into the mix. Work the dough into a ball with your hands, picking up only as much flour as it takes to make a stiff, but workable ball. Knead the dough for about five minutes. It should not stick to the board. If it seems too moist, add a little more flour; if too dry, dampen your hands and knead longer. Divide the ball into quarters. Cover three and reserve one to work with immediately. Lightly sprinkle board with flour and roll out dough, pulling it into a uniform thickness oval. Make it as thin as workable and let rest in a warm, dry place. Repeat with other three quarters. When all dough is dry, but not stiff and brittle, roll like a jelly roll, cutting into desired thickness with a sharp knife. You can then either fluff out to separate and then carefully hang to dry or lay it flat to air dry for an hour. Pour a quart of chicken broth (or use dry chicken granules to make a broth) into a large pot. Add diced, canned, or freeze dried chicken meat, if desired, as well as onion, carrots, and spices as wanted. Bring to a medium boil, then carefully add noodles, simmering just long enough to make them tender. The flour on the noodles provides natural thickening. You’ll get raves for this simple, yet satisfying meal.

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One of the things Ive been wanting to buy is map software for printing out your own topo maps. I see alot of uses for this stuff…not the least of which are:

  • Evaluating routes and alternate routes out of your area
  • Getting a broader picture of a property’s layout
  • Using in conjunction with a GPS for geocaching
  • Scoping out hunting and camping areas

Where it would really shine is if you found a pice of property you wanted to purchase for a retreat or other use, you could generate the top, check it against GPS coords, and then get the satellite image. How utterly cool would that be? Know where every ravine, gully, draw, creek, and neighbor is without getting away from your computer. (Although, obviously, theres no substitute for boots-on-the-ground.)
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I was thinking about how if you had survived Katrina, had five gallons of gas in your car, and decided it was time to leave you’d be severely screwed by not knowing what bridges, overpasses and other chokepoints were still usable and which weren’t. And you could really use up gasoline in a hurry driving through town looking for a bridge that wasnt washed away. The solution is to first of all know where all these chokepoints are, then find out somehow which ones are still usable. Maybe recon on bicycle? Ask a passing NG, if they look harmless. Tough situation to be in. Just enough gas for one chance and you can’t blow it. So, either have lotsa gas or lotsa info or both. And think ‘outside the box’ in terms of avenues of exits. Roads work, but so do railroad tracks/rightofways, bicycle trails and other usually-not-used-with-a-car avenues. This is where maps come in handy. I like to think that local broadcasting would be making announcements about which avenues were accessible and which werent but we’ve all seen how relying on gov’t pays off, right?
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Speaking of the Big Sleazy, it appears the mayor is now going to allow people to start repopulating parts of New Orleans. Never mind that a week ago he had his flunkies enthusiastically shoving grandmothers into cattle cars trucks to be taken for ‘processing’ for their own ‘safety’. FIrst off, as far as Im concerned the mayor of New Orleans is a puppet-figurehead for who’s really calling the shots – the feds. And thats fine, I can see him wanting to look like he actually has something to do. But I guarantee you this man’s career in politics , anywhere else in the country, would be toast…but Louisiana has a political history that beggars logic. Were it up to me, he’d never have a job in government again..which, unfortunately, means thats exactly what he’s going to have.

Speaking of beggars, I want to point out that the biggest recovery efforts in terms of rehabbing buildings, removing debris and the like are being done privately. Businesses are taking the steps to get up and running on their own and thats why they will succeed and rebuild cheaper, faster and better than the government will do it.