Category: EPrep

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Sometimes, Specializing Is the Way to Go, Ya Know?

Onychorrhexis can be caused by many different factors, but it seems to be a generational thing in my case (maternal great grandmother, grandfather, mother, to some degree, older sister [confirmed] and me, AFAIK, in sibs). as a result, even after factoring in best nutrition, etc., the shorter I can keep my fingernails (and to a lesser degree, even toenails) the better. And that’s the primary reason my Swiss Army Knife has had nail care as its main function for quite some time. Since I also carry a multitool, its other functions are pretty much superfluous. So, replacing it with a specialty Swiss Army tool was the route I’ve taken. Like it.

Victorinox Folding Pocket Knife/Nail Clip

Still has tweezers, toothpick, scissors, and one small knife blade, so essentials for a SAK are covered. N.B. I did change out the dinky lil split ring for a larger, more substantial flat one so it’d be easier to attach and remove from my “belt loop” keychains. . . that I hang from belt clips for “pocket carry.”

Meanwhile, my daily carry Swiss Army Knife (I have others, of course) goes in my EDC bag. Just in case. 🙂

Continue reading “Sometimes, Specializing Is the Way to Go, Ya Know?”

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Eprep Funzies

Back before The Great TP Panic of 2020, I purchased a pack of Chinese TP – 36 very, very tightly wound rolls of very high quality. double-sheet TP with no cardboard tubes in the middle. I have since used part of one roll, just to evaluate it. The individual sheets separate along perforations with quite some difficulty compared to ordinary Charmin, etc. The individual sheets are also about 25% larger in size than usual grocery store fare. And I did imply that they are strong, didn’t I? Very, compared to usual TP strength.

Nice texture (very smooth), strong, larger sheets: a superior product that is simply not quite as handy to use because of the lack of a cardboard tube in the middle. So. . . Still useful.

Shrink wrapped in smaller packs, now. Five as individual packs for EDCs, BOBs, etc.

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Neighborhood Watch

[N.B. Sorta-kinda-halfway tongue in cheek?]

Home Made Mortars?

No neighborhood watch should be without one. Or five.

(For when the Felonious Barony of Iniquity parks 1/4 mile away before launching yet ANOTHER illegitimate assault on a citizen’s inalienable rights? Maaaaaybe. . . 😉 )

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What’s in YOUR EDC bag?

Soup. Save the ketchup packages from fast food meals and include them (along with jerky, and other long-term foods) in your EDC bag. Ketchup + (real) cream powder + lil bit of water + jerky; boil (in your EDC cup over EDC camp stove made from tuna tins, if you wish): nice lil soup. Pre-soak some dried corn or wasabi peas to add. Get creative. (More fun than just cracking open an MRE, for sure.)

And – of course! – your combo knife-fork-spoon (I like my Coleman version) is already in one of 16 or so pockets in your ADC (All Day Carry) vest, along with your Emergency Sandwich and your Backup Emergency Sandwich. . . *heh*

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It Ain’t Prep If You Ain’t Got Fire

Sure, I carry at least two means of making fire (well, three once I don my ADC vest) in my ADC (all day carry) load on my person, but just a means of making a flame isn’t enough, so in my Zippo belt pouch, I also carry a bit of tinder, ‘cos why not? 😉

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ADC

Hmmm, wondering whether I need to expand or cut back on my “ADC” (All Day – “pocket/belt” – Carry). It’s now at a little over six pounds. (Of course, I’ve cut my weight pack – almost all day “exercise” to increase my load-bearing capacity – back to thirty-five pounds, so. . . ). If I can locate the right multitool, one that replicates the tools in both a mini-multitool and my Swiss Army Knife, I might be able to at least cut the bulk a little. Looser-fitting pants have meant easier access to pockets and room for an ITWB bellyband, but the *cough* items *cough* carried there add only a little over a pound, more or less.

It’s a work in progress, and part of that progress is having different belt-carried “keychains” with configurations for different days’ expected needs, along with just general EPrep. As soon as a new pouch comes in, I’ll have a small of the back carried (using Velcro™ attachments) IFAK, slanted toward a Stop the Bleed IFAK (CAT, blood clotting agents, bandages, etc.). My mini-trauma kits are here in the house and with my EDC Car Kit. (Already used the FAK in the car kit for a person who fell in a parking lot.)

Well, lefthand front pocket “ADC keyfob/chain” hanging from belt hook now has

  • micro flashlight
  • Swiss Army Knife
  • Mini-multitool
  • Lansky Pocket Medic (blade sharpening tool)

Added 16-pocket vest. Is handy when I get hungry, too. Was out and about around Noon the other day and appreciated having a loaded “Sandwich Pocket.” Yum. (The Backup Sandwich Pocket wasn’t loaded, but that was OK, since the loaded Sandwich Pocket was sufficient.) Also, small IFAK loads nicely in inside upper righthand pocket, so waistband carry is unnecessary.

Lansky Pocket Medic moved to its own “keyring/fob” flipped to D-ring on vest and zipped into pocket. Taking its place in left pants pocket is Zippo lighter fluid canister (neat lil thingy). Other vest contents:

Cell phone (inside upper left pocket)
Kershaw assisted opening pocket knife, “tanto” blade (lower inside left pocket)
3×5 notebook and 2 pens (outside upper left pocket)
Snack food (3rd pocket down, outside left)
Lansky Pocket Medic (4th pocket down, outside left)
Cash/ID, etc. (bottom pocket, outside left)

Pocket NT and pack of gum (upper right pocket)
“Keychain,” Mini-flashlight (second pocket down, outside right)
Small IFAK (in repurposed “backup sandwich” pocket)
Small “tactical” LED flashlight (4th pocket down, outside right)
Day’s purchase receipts (bottom right outside pocket)

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Speaking of Neverending EPrep Tasks. . .

First aid kits (FAKs) need to be regularly checked, refreshed, and updated. Here’s a wee tip:

If you are making up a new FAK or refreshing an old one you may find costs have risen to uncomfortable levels for some things that need replacing or refreshing. Use alternate materials. Sterile pads for wounds? Get a double whammy by using. . . ladies’ panty liners. no, seriously! Most even contain hydrophilic homopolymers or copolymers that help contain blood lost. Oh, and duct tape is sometimes appropriate as a substitute for medical adhesive tapes. Sometimes.

And about that bleeding. . . clotting agents. Quickclot, Woundseal, et al, can be a wee tad pricey for what is essentially a finely-ground clay (kaolin), but if you reach into your kitchen cabinet (or wherever you keep your spices and such) and pull out some alum, you’ll have something that works nearly as well. There are LOADS of workable first aid materials available in nearly every household. The key is identifying them by function and getting one’s head around using them properly for first aid. (Then, of course, one has to make sure they are included in one’s kits. 😉 )

One thing I do not recommend replying on ad hoc substitutions for effective results is “field expedient” tourniquets as first line equipment for stopping large bleeds. Nope. Shell out for a good CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet) for each FAK. Just do. (An “Israeli pressure bandage” might also be a goof addition.)

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Eprep Is Not a “One and Done” Thing.

It’s constant, ongoing.

Setting up a new “ADC” (All Day Carry) system to supplement my regular EDC bag. It involves adding a “dooty” (nah, NOT “duty”) belt hanging from my regular belt, and various tools and equipment attached to that via keychains (actually leather loops w/d-ring connectors on each end) to enable draping most things into my front pockets. It’s comfortable and handy so far, but I still have yet to add a multi-tool (though I doubt I’ll need to have much of one for All Day Carry, since I have a really good one in my EDC bag). Glad I have some baggy pockets. . .

Next to be added: an easily-detachable IFAK for small of back wear on “dooty” belt.

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Layers and Layers of the Onion

Putting a tall fence around one’s house gives potential intruders a way to hide from third party observers, but it also gives you a way to hide your “capsaicin claymores” from potential intruders, so. . . Command or sensor detonation is the obvious decision tree. Switchable by remote?

Also working on a way to make a capsaicin fogger from my fog machine, and way to sensor trigger it (including safing it for yard use, & other controls). BTW, “capsaicin claymores”? #3 food can, CO2 cartridge, tripwire, Ghost Pepper powder, etc. When combined with things like Osage Orange as an ornamental face for a fence/wall, blinding strobes, etc., yeh, can have a tall fence/wall and be relatively safe from home intruders. Relatively. (A moat with gators would be nice, though.)

OTOH, Can live in a hardened bunker and not be safe from militarized law enFARCEment thugs.